July 10 (UPI) — Canada and the state of Michigan on Friday announced that a long-planned new bridge linking Ontario and Detroit will open at the end of July, 14 years after construction started.

The $4.4 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge between the two cities is set to open on July 27 and is set to offer improved transit on what leaders from Canada and Michigan called one of the busiest transportation corridors in North America.

The mile-and-a-half-long bridge includes new ports of entry on either side, with Canada and the United States establishing a 15-year economic development fund that has been tied to profits from crossing tolls.

President Donald Trump earlier this year threatened to prevent the bridge from opening over disagreements with previously existing trade agreements, his administration’s tariff regime and objections to Canada making trade deals with China.

“The Gordie Howe International Bridge has always been a great deal for our state,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement.

“Thousands of Michigan workers built this critical bridge, which will speed up auto production, lower costs, ease traffic, strengthen agriculture and give people on both sides of the border better-paying jobs and brighter futures,” she said. “This bridge is a testament to the enduring partnership between Michigan and Canada.”

The bridge project originated with the state’s then-Republican Gov. Rick Snyder agreeing to the six-line bridge because it would alleviate congestion accommodate future travel and create new transportation capabilities between U.S. and Canadian manufacturing regions.

Canada’s minister for housing and infrastructure, Gregor Robinson, hailed the completion and impending opening of the bridge as “strengthening one of the world’s most important trade corridors.”

“This nation-building project is a testament to what Canada can accomplish when we come together with a shared vision,” Robinson said in a statement.

“The Gordie Howe International Bridge will create new opportunities, strengthen our economy and bring economic benefits on both sides of the boarder for generations,” he said.

Spanish star has scored just one goal in the World Cup, where he’s been sharing celebrations with his little brother.

Despite not scoring a goal in Spain’s quarterfinal win over Belgium, Lamine Yamal was named the player of the match for his contributions and capped off the win by sharing a touching moment with his little brother during the post-match celebrations in Los Angeles.

Yamal, who has not scored since Spain’s group-stage win over Saudi Arabia on June 21, said after the match on Friday that nobody will care about his lack of goals if Spain win the World Cup.

At a tournament where stars like Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane have been prolific, 18-year-old Yamal has just one goal to date, in a routine 4-0 group drubbing of Saudi Arabia. He failed to find the net once again as Spain booked their place in the World Cup semifinals for the second time.

“Obviously I want to score, but I don’t go onto the pitch thinking about that. I do it thinking about helping the team,” said Yamal.

“If we win the World Cup, no one will remember whether I scored goals … The important thing is winning,” said the Barcelona star, after the victory in Los Angeles set up a semifinal clash with France.

“I know I can contribute even if I don’t score. I know my movements draw in many opponents, so I do everything I can to help the team,” he said.

Despite the lack of goals, Yamal has performed consistently for La Roja and has also broken records along the way.

On Friday, he made his sixth FIFA World Cup appearance, the outright most by a player aged 18 or younger in the competition.

Breakout star

Two years ago, then aged 16, Yamal was the breakout star of the Spanish team that won the European Championships in Germany.

He only scored once during that victorious campaign – a stunning strike in a 2-1 semifinal win against France.

“There’s an idea that I should be scoring more, like at the Euros, but we won the Euros with me scoring just one goal. And I have one goal here too, so I’m relaxed about it,” he said, with a smile.

But Spain will be hoping Yamal, who turns 19 the day before the semifinal, can bag further goals if his side is to see off the free-scoring tournament favourites France.

“There are two possibilities – either they reach three consecutive World Cup finals, or we beat them three times in a row. We’ll see what happens,” said Yamal.

“We aren’t afraid at all.”

Yamal shares endearing moment with brother Keyne

Amid Spain’s post-match celebrations, Yamal and his half-brother Keyne were caught in a sweet moment when the younger sibling was shown on the big screen.

The three-year-old was screaming and stuck his tongue out when the camera panned on him. Keyne then blew a kiss at his brother, making the teen Spanish star laugh and wave at him.

Keyne, who often accompanies Yamal to award shows and other public events, has been a fan favourite for the crowds at the World Cup.

He has been picked up by the cameras on multiple occasions, drawing a chuckle from his older brother and cheers from the crowd around him.

Christina Boyd on Coronation Street could face an uncertain future on the ITV soap, as her shocking secret has finally been exposed to several Weatherfield residents

Christina in Coronation Street may need to watch out, after making an enemy of two characters.

Her secret was finally exposed during Friday’s episode, after weeks of shifty behaviour. There’s been mystery meet-ups, secret messages and cryptic phone calls.

George Shuttleworth feared his partner might be cheating on him, while his sister Glenda Shuttleworth told him that Christina was conning him and others. She’d found some credit card statements in Christina’s handbag.

In a twist though, they were not cards that belonged to her. Christina had taken out credit cards in the names of Mary Taylor and Christina’s ex-husband Lenny.

On Friday, George prepared to confront his partner, while he also followed her, after she claimed she had to pop out again. When George tracked her down he saw her with a man, and demanded answers.

Christina explained that the man was Lenny, her ex, and Lenny had found out that Christina had taken out a credit card in his name. Lenny found this out on the night that Theo Silverton died, and this is why Christina lied about her alibi, because she was meeting with Lenny.

It was Lenny she had been messaging too. That’s not all though, as Christina confessed she’d also got a credit card in Glenda’s name. George demanded answers and Christina finally confessed to the credit cards, before explaining she had a spending addiction.

George was unsympathetic at first, as Christina claimed it was “a disease”. As she detailed the addiction and the impact it had on her life, she revealed that Lenny had asked her to go a support group.

Christina confirmed she had attended the meetings before, as the addiction was something she had battled previously before managing to overcome it. Recent stress led to a relapse, she claimed, with her spending so much money, she felt she had no alternative but to get credit cards to continue her sprees.

Christina begged George not to leave her, and he attended the meeting with her where she explained her addiction further. George encouraged Christina to take ownership as he vowed to stand by her.

But other characters were not so forgiving. Glenda blurted out to Todd Grimshaw and Mary that Christina was a scammer, before she exposed what Christina had done. Christina then explained the full story, and opened up about her addiction.

As everyone listened, Glenda fumed at George for forgiving Christina, before making it clear she did not buy her story. She tried to get the others to agree, but Mary was trying to process it all.

Then, Mary told Christina that she would not take legal action against her, as Christina vowed to fix things. Mary did say Christina had broken her trust however, and that she did not accept her apology.

So with Mary and Glenda refusing to forgive her, and Glenda not saying she would not call the police, does this mean Christina could face legal action? Could it also force her to leave the cobbles for good after her betrayal, and will George really stand by her?

Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITV X. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

PORTLAND, Maine — Graham Platner on Friday submitted his paperwork to formally withdraw from Maine’s U.S. Senate race, officially ending an upstart yet troubled campaign, the dissolution of which threatens Democrats’ pursuit of chamber control.

Platner’s paperwork was received by the Maine secretary of state’s office and reflected shortly thereafter in its online withdrawal list.

In a letter to the secretary of state’s office, which Platner also posted on social media, he wrote that the Mainers who had nominated him “voted for a new kind of politics” that is “representative of people down here in the real world — not billionaires, oligarchs, or the political establishment.”

It was the same outsider chord that had been a trademark of his tumultuous campaign, in which Platner drew backing from progressive leaders including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna of California. Both are among many who have since withdrawn their endorsements.

“I seek to further the movement we have built together and the future we believe in,” he went on, without elaborating.

Maine is considered a key state for control of the narrowly divided Senate, and Democrats were desperate for a candidate capable of defeating Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

The formal withdrawal comes two days after Platner said he would quit the race, facing an allegation of sexual assault that he has denied. Maine Democrats are seeking a new nominee, and several candidates have already begun jockeying for position.

State law includes a provision for Democrats to replace Platner before the general election, but the replacement must by named by July 27.

Just before Platner’s Wednesday announcement, more than 100 state Democratic Party committee members signed off on holding a nominating convention, in the event of his withdrawal, to choose the nominee. The state party has not publicly released details of when the convention will be held. Officials with the party did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

Several Democrats have announced plans to run for the Senate nomination this week. They include three candidates who lost the June primary for governor — former Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention director Nirav Shah, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson.

Others who have announced runs include Maine Beer Co. co-founder Dan Kleban; former 2nd Congressional District candidates Jordan Wood and Paige Loud; and former Maine Senate candidates David Costello and Andrea LaFlamme. State Rep. Valli Geiger has also expressed interest in the post but has not formally announced.

Kinnard and Whittle write for the Associated Press.

Max Holloway completed his transformation to welterweight as he prepares to face Conor McGregor in a rematch at UFC 329 on Saturday.

Holloway has campaigned at featherweight for the majority of his 36-fight career but makes his debut at welterweight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The 34-year-old’s past two bouts have taken place at lightweight as he beat Dustin Poirier to win the BMF title, before losing that belt against Charles Oliveira in March.

McGregor, 37, has not fought since breaking his leg in defeat against Dustin Poirier in 2021.

The Irishman has been involved in a series of controversies since, including court cases and missed drugs tests, and critics have questioned whether he deserves the spotlight.

Fans packed into the arena and greeted American Holloway with a mix of cheers and boos as he stepped on to the scales at 170lb (12st 2lb), while McGregor was 0.5lb heavier.

At Friday’s news conference, McGregor ripped Holloway’s glasses off before facing off, but there was no physical contact this time as they shared an intense stare down.

After being pulled apart, Holloway gave one final message before leaving the stage, saying: “I’m to ferocious, I’m too relentless. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

Emergency crews are searching for survivors after a Russian air strike on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia killed at least one person and injured 29, including two children. The city’s mayor says Russian troops have advanced to just over 20 kilometres away.

From an ad hoc podium Maria Corina Machado addresses the gathered reporters sprawled out on the White House lawn before her.  “Good morning.  Yes, I had a meeting with Mr. President just now,” she says, “and we were invited [to the White House] because he’s very interested to know the perspective of civil society about democratic values and the spread of democracy in particular in my country, Venezuela.”  Machado is the founder and director of Súmate (Join Up), a Venezuelan non-governmental organization (non-Venezuelan government, that is).  Her close ties to the White House, however, have been cause for concern in Venezuela for some time, where Súmate’s alleged neutrality has been called into question ever since it was founded in 2002.

According to Machado, Súmate is an objective non-partisan civil association.  Súmate is the third NGO founded and directed by Machado, including one that worked with Venezuelan municipalities in the 1990s to privatize homeless shelters.  To date, Súmate’s only political experience has been to agitate for the removal of Chávez by way of a recall referendum last August, though Chávez won nonetheless with 60 per cent of the vote.  Their controversial role conducting flawed exit polls during the referendum—specifically criticized by the Carter Center and OAS observation missions in Venezuela—and their subsequent rejection of the referendum results, though both the Carter Center and the OAS declared them to be free and fair, have cast doubt on Súmate’s professed “neutrality.”  When asked why Súmate has worked exclusively with the Venezuelan opposition since its inception in 2002, Machado said that their overtures to the government were regularly rebuffed.  She did not specify whether her presence at the swearing-in of the illegal government of Pedro Carmona during a short-lived April 2002 coup may have sullied her reputation with Chávez’s government.

On April 11th of that year Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez—democratically elected in 1998 and again in 2000—was overthrown in what proved to be a short-lived coup.  Before he was restored to power by massive popular protests and loyal elements of the military, however, a “transition government” was set up, and business leader Pedro Carmona Estanga sworn in as provisional President.  Carmona’s first act as provisional Venezuelan leader was to abolish the Bolivarian Constitution—ratified by popular referendum in 1999—as well as the Supreme Court, the National Assembly and the Human Rights Ombudsman in what became known as the “Carmona Decree.”  Present at Carmona’s swearing-in ceremony were several hundred prominent Venezuelans, including business-leaders, media barons, politicians, and members of “civil society,” whose signatures (below) confirmed their attendance.  Machado was one of the latter.

Less than 48-hours after coming to power, however, Carmona’s illegal junta was overthrown, and as the now defunct April 11th-government sped out the backdoor of the palace into their tinted SUVs and back into Caracas’ posh gated communities, his allies began back-pedaling.  In a recent article, Machado told Newsday that she did not know what she was signing, saying she innocently signed a blank piece of paper she had assumed was a reception sheet.  Yesterday, her story changed again.  Still flushed from her tête-á-tête with George W. Bush, Machado claimed that the Venezuelan government “know[s] clearly that I did not sign the decree. I was not present at the event,” she said.  Yet the evidence would appear to suggest otherwise.

The fact that Súmate has received a series of grants from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the United States Agency for International Development (AID) does not speak to their neutrality.  Neither organization has a history of objectivity; they are both on the frontlines of attempts to spread US influence under the rubric of “promoting democracy.”

Subverting Democracy in the Name of Democracy

The NED was formed in 1983, as US foreign policy shifted from a focus on “national security,” which often involved alliances with and support for authoritarian regimes, to “democracy promotion.”  The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) was formed, along with a series of other foundations, think tanks, and NGOs, and given funding from congress and a mandate to “promote democracy” as a new and more effective way to support United States policies abroad.

Two of the first test cases are particularly relevant to present-day Venezuela: the democratization movement in the Philippines that culminated in the election of Corazon “Cory” Aquino in 1986, and Violeta Chamorro’s defeat of the Sandinistas in the Nicaraguan elections of 1990.  According to veteran journalist and academic William I. Robinson who teaches at the University of California-Santa Barbara, the US successfully intervened in the Philippines to prop up an elite leadership of the democratization movement calling for an end to Marcos’ dictatorship.  Only months before the scheduled elections, US Chargé d’Affaires Philip Kaplan convinced the divided anti-Marcos elite to unite and Cory Aquino was selected as the opposition’s candidate.[1]

Four years later a similar model was employed in Nicaragua, where the US had waged a decade-long illegal insurgency against the Sandinista government, destroying the Nicaraguan economy and holding the specter of continued aggression over voters’ heads.  Again, just months before scheduled elections, the US—operating through a complex web of government, non-governmental, and private sector proxies—united the fractured anti-Sandinista opposition.  According to ex-CIA agent Philip Agee who spoke with Venezuelanalysis.com last March, the US managed to unify the Nicaraguan opposition primarily through bribes.

The Formula

“In order to get the anti-Sandinista vote out and to monitor the elections,” says Agee, “the CIA and NED established a civic front called Via Civica and their ostensible job was political education and activism…non-partisan civic action.  When in actual fact all their activities were designed to strengthen the anti-Sandinista side.”  US “democracy promotion” theory may have been young in the mid-1980s, but by 1990 in Nicaragua a formula had been developed.  It consisted more or less of three stages, including the formation of a political alliance, a civic alliance, and an opposition-wide unified front.  “First there was the Coordinadora,” says Agee, referring to the Coordinadora Democratica Nicaraguense, “then Via Civica, and finally the unification of the opposition.”[2]

Venezuela has its own Coordinadora—the Coordinadora Democratica (CD)—or it did, until it imploded last September after Chávez’s referendum victory, which had grouped all of the major anti-Chávez parties and NGOs.  Venezuela’s version of Via Civica is Súmate, which will likely evolve into a national civic alliance, perhaps renamed Via Civica, or Alianza Civica—something “civica” anyway.  The dissolution of the CD is irrelevant to the opposition since, according to their “democracy promotion” schedule, it’s about time for stage three: the unification of the opposition into a new organization and the nomination of a common candidate.

According to Robinson, who has theorized the “democracy promotion” strategy in Promoting Polyarchy: Globalization, US Intervention, and Hegemony (1996), this strategy “as it actually functions, sets out not just to secure and stabilize elite-based polyarchic systems, but to have the United States and local elites thoroughly penetrate civil society, and from therein assure control over popular mobilizations and mass movements.”[3]

A Bush-Machado alliance in Venezuela, then, is key.

Presidential Grooming?

In Nicaragua, once the US had secured a unified opposition candidate in the person of Violeta Chamorro, the White House arranged for a variety of photo-opportunities: Chamorro with Bush, Thatcher, even John Paul II.  As news of Machado’s meeting with Bush spread in Caracas yesterday, the possibility that Machado could be Chávez’s contender in the 2006 Presidential elections seemed to grip the country all at once.  Pro-Government Congresswoman Iris Varela told the press that the meeting could not possibly mean anything else.  And US-Venezuelan lawyer and Freedom of Information activist Eva Golinger appeared on television in the early evening to say the same, drawing a parallel to Chamorro.  “There they are sitting together, holding hands, smiling, one hiding a terrorist and the other backing a coup,” said lawmaker Cilia Flores, who called for Machado’s prosecution. “She went there to receive instructions, to see what other mischief they can get up to in Venezuela,” she said.

Robinson describes the strategy during Chamorro’s time fittingly.  “The purpose of these visits [to the US], in which photo-opportunities were stressed and statements kept to a minimum, was to have the image of Chamorro beside world leaders reverberate in the minds of the Nicaraguan electorate.”  Machado’s meeting with Bush apparently lasted only 15 minutes, but judging from the crowd in the above photo, it would appear to have been a success.

Nor is this the first such visit Machado has had with state leaders and high-level foreign diplomats.  In January, the Súmate leader was in Ottawa meeting with representatives of Canada’s Foreign Affairs department and NGO and business leaders.  According to a spokesperson at the Canadian embassy in Caracas, Súmate came away with a grant of approximately US$18,000 from the Canadian Embassy in Venezuela.  And one month later, during his February visit to Venezuela, Machado met with Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Zapatero.

This weekend Machado will get a chance to plead her case before the entire hemisphere as one of the civil society groups given permission to present before the Organization of American States when the group meets in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from June 5 to 7.  The US has been pushing for the OAS to acquire some teeth in its mandate to protect democracy in the hemisphere, but representatives from other countries see the move as a poorly camouflaged attack on Venezuela.  Another initiative supported by the US is the creation of a mechanism to give civil society a voice in the Permanent Council—the group’s day-to-day governing body—to denounce threats to democracy in their countries.  Machado is clearly thrilled at the prospect.  At her press conference yesterday on the White House lawn, she voiced her support for opening the OAS to civil society groups, and the private sector as well.

But wait.  The Private sector needs a voice at the OAS?  The concept, though absurd, is perhaps understandable coming from Machado, whose comments were directed not so much towards Venezuelans, as towards private and “civil society” actors in the US and the Americas who stand to gain from the fusion of democracy and capitalism.  Reflecting Bush administration rhetoric, Lawrence J. Korb of the New York think-tank Council on Foreign Relations noted recently, “contrary to what some believe, democracy and capitalism do not spread inexorably on their own. The United States therefore needs to assume a leadership role in spreading and accelerating the growth of free-market democracies.”

Groups like Súmate, the NED, USAID, Development Alternatives Incorporated (the consulting firm distributing US-beneficence in Venezuela) are not so much interested in promoting democracy—if they were they’d be more impressed by the nine elections Chávez has won in the past six years—as they are in promoting a particular limited form of democracy that dovetails nicely with capitalist globalization—what William Robinson calls “low-intensity democracy.”

In a forthcoming interview with Venezuelanalysis.com, Robinson states it plainly: “This is a full-blown operation, a massive foreign-policy operation to undermine the Venezuelan revolution, to overthrow the government of Hugo Chávez, and to reinstall the elite back in power in Venezuela.”  “‘Democracy promotion’ will continue unhindered,” says Robinson, “and if the chance and the opportunity arises for…Venezuela to be isolated by international organizations such as the Organization of American States (OAS), the United Nations, and so forth, then the US will go ahead and promote that type of diplomatic aggression.”

Is Machado launching a presidential bid backed and organized, like her ideological predecessors Aquino and Chamorro, by Washington?  Maybe.  But a more likely scenario in the short-term is the Súmate-led formation of a Venezuelan civic alliance, a key component of any anti-Chávez strategy hiding behind the cynical rhetoric of democracy.  And the OAS convention on Sunday would be the place to do it.

[1] William I. Robinson, Promoting Polyarchy: Globalization, US Intervention, and Hegemony (Cambridge University Press, 1996).

[2] “The Nature of CIA Intervention in Venezuela: Interview with Philip Agee,” Jonah Gindin, Venezuelanalysis.com.

[3] p.69, emphasis added.

The Grantchester star has opened up about his heartbreak at the news that ITV’s long-running detective drama is coming to an end after 11 seasons

A former Grantchester star has opened up about his devastation after learning that the show is coming to an end.

Tom Brittney, who played the Reverend Will Davenport in six seasons of the ITV detective drama before leaving in 2024, shared his emotional reaction to the announcement admitting his “heartbreak”.

“Oh, I was both heartbroken, in the sense of like, it was one of the longest running shows I think that ITV had had in that way,” he told Radio Times.

“And so I was very proud of the creators. Because I know after James Norton (who played Reverend Sidney Chambers) left, they were like, ‘We’ll try and get a new guy, it’ll probably fail, but we’ll try it,’ and so there’s no pressure on me to try and keep it going.”

The actor added: “And then luckily, it did, and I did six or seven wonderful series of that, and I loved it. It will always be a special place in my heart.”

The cosy crime drama, based on James Runcie’s collection of novels, first graced our screens in 2014 and has charted the partnership between a Cambridgeshire vicar and police detective for more than a decade.

However, it was announced last year that it was coming to an end. in the final ever series, Robson Green returns as Geordie with Rishi Nair as Alphy, Al Weaver as Leonard Finch, Tessa Peake-Jones as Mrs. C.

Kacey Ainsworth as Cathy Keating, Oliver Dimsdale as Daniel Marlowe, Nick Brimble as Jack Chapman, Bradley Hall as DC Larry Peters and Melissa Johns as Miss Scott.

Speaking about the show coming to an end, actor Robson Green who plays Detective Inspector Geordie Keating said: “From the very beginning, I have had the incredible fortune to be part of this extraordinary team of talented, passionate, and dedicated individuals who have become more than colleagues.

“They have become family. I have made friendships forged through shared laughter, challenges, and triumphs.”

He added: “The bonds we’ve formed extend far beyond the camera lens, and I know that they will endure long after the final scene within the Grantchester world has been filmed. Thank you to everyone who has been part of this incredible journey.”

You can catch up on Grantchester on ITVX.

WASHINGTON — The Senate is often a stuffy and self-serving institution enlivened mainly by the unintended gaffe, but senior Republicans Bob Dole of Kansas and Alan K. Simpson of Wyoming are standout exceptions.

As Gerald R. Ford’s vice presidential candidate in 1976, Dole delivered tart one-liners and showed a slashing political style that was partly blamed for the defeat of the ticket. After the campaign, Dole reflected on his image and admitted that he had been “going after the jugular–my own.”

“Many people come in and say, ‘I hated you in ‘76,’ ” Dole reflected. “These are generally Democrats. But that was my job; go out and feed them the raw meat. Now they say, ‘Boy, you’ve really changed.’ ”

As the Senate Republican leader and a likely presidential candidate, Dole restrains himself.

“I don’t say you soften, but you understand that certain things work, certain things don’t work,” he said. “I think sometimes you have to say, ‘Don’t say it, let it pass.’ I’ve probably missed some great lines that way.”

His forte is one-liners. He has the delivery of an expert fly-caster and a poker player’s deadpan.

“You don’t hurt people,” Dole said. “Even though people might laugh, and hurt, they think, ‘That was kind of mean.’ And I haven’t done many roasts; they get pretty tough.”

Dole’s material is topical, drawing from events around him.

“I was speaking at the Outlaw Inn at a Republican meeting in Kalispell, Mont.,” Dole said. “I thought, ‘There’s got to be a joke there somewhere.’

“My question (to a Republican audience) was: ‘Why are we having this meeting in Democratic headquarters?”

Simpson’s mere appearance inspires jokes–he is 6-foot-7, nearly bald and rail-thin–and he first developed his humor as a shield against pain.

“Humor for me came from the fact I weighed 185 pounds in the seventh grade and was 5-7 or so,” he said. “I had knock-knees and . . . I couldn’t outrun anybody or outfight anybody or outdo anybody.

“That’s where you’ve got two choices–go and suck your thumb, or learn humor.”

He still debunks his physique. His shiny pate is “the solar panel for a sex machine.”

“Humor is very good for me,” he said. “Especially when you begin to think you are the great potentate of powers and prowess, the high this, the chairman of that. It’s good to look at yourself in the mirror in the morning and say, ‘Al, you are full of it.’ ”

He is frequently ribald in private, but careful not to hurt.

“There’s a fine line between good humor and smart-ass, and I sometimes cross it,” he said. “You know when you’re doing something unseemly. There is a misuse of humor around town, like roasts.

“There’s nothing funny about how close you can get to sticking it in some guy. I’ve watched those roasts. The guy goes home and he’s in pain.

“I don’t like ethnic humor. Somebody will come up, say with some story about some minority and I don’t laugh.

“I know that if I laugh . . . or use that kind of humor, that means I have a seed of that stuff cooking in me.”

Satirist Mark Russell has used political humor for years, and the wit of Rep. Morris K. Udall (D-Ariz.) has entertained the nation for a generation. They admire the two senators.

“At his height in ‘76, when he had the hatchet man label, a reporter asked him what he thought of his image of a gut fighter,” Russell joked. “Dole smiled and kicked him in the gut.

“But he’s mellowed. It isn’t as damaging now; he is reflective.

‘Healthy Cynicism’

“Simpson epitomizes the Western disdain for ‘inside-the-beltway’ (Washington know-it-alls),” Russell said. “As did (former Interior Secretary James G.) Watt. But Watt was mean-spirited. Simpson has a healthy cynicism.”

Udall has watched Dole grow as a person and a humorist.

“People like a presidential candidate or majority leader to have a sense of humor and resent it if he is too cruel. He’s taken that to heart.”

Udall compares Simpson to “an old Abe Lincoln around a cracker barrel, always, ‘Let me tell you a story.’

“In the South and West, before television and radio, you had to be an entertainer. You had to go into town and exhort, to inspire folks, but do it in an interesting way and get a few laughs. He’s in this political tradition.

The Wit and Wisdom of Dole and Simpson

Sen. Bob Dole

“On election night in 1976, even at the point where we were 80 electoral votes behind, I went to bed and slept like a baby. Every two hours, I woke up and cried.”

After a congressional battle over banking legislation: “Not that I am unpopular with bankers, but just before I left home tonight, mine came by and picked up his toaster and set of dishes.”

“I was seated next to (Secretary of State) George Shultz and asked him what he thought about the Caribbean Basin. He said, ‘It’s OK, but personally, I like a shower better.’ ”

Of former Interior Secretary James G. Watt: “What can you say about a man whose dream is to have a parking lot named in his honor?”

Sen. Alan K. Simpson

Of former Sen. Howard Baker: “He dresses so loosely, he has to stay inside on trash pickup day.”

On a dubious nominee for appointive office: “He filled out an application form and in the blank where it said, church preference, he wrote, ‘red brick.’ ”

“They were doing a movie on Congress and when they got to the part where the congressman refused the bribe, they had to use a stunt man.”

“The rich are indeed different. Among the Republicans in Beverly Hills, the Internal Revenue Service is known as a terrorist organization.”

“I have come to know the difference between a horse race and a political race. In a horse race, the entire horse runs.”

The Belgian side that beat Algeria 2-1 in their opening group stage game of the 2014 World Cup read like an all-star fantasy team of players in their prime.

Courtois, De Bruyne, Witsel and Lukaku all started, as did Eden Hazard, Mousa Dembele and Vincent Kompany, with Dries Mertens and Marouane Fellaini coming off the bench.

Belgium topped their group in their first World Cup since 2002 and reached the quarter-finals, before going one better and reaching the final four in 2018 and winning the third-place play-off.

The same group of players reached the quarter-finals of both Euro 2016 and 2020, before crashing out of the group stages of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Critics say such a talented group should have achieved more, but for a nation of less than 12 million people, was international success ever a realistic aim?

“To be a golden generation you have to win some gold and then you can be called that,” said Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague.

“It’s put the expectations very high in Belgium and it’s interesting that people look back at that group of players because with Lukaku, De Bruyne, Tielemans, Trossard they have actually had a good run.

“They were third in the last World Cup and that seems to have been forgotten with Roberto Martinez as their manager. I’m not sure how much more you could ask for.

“In the context of other teams like an England side that had the golden age, with an Italy that have had such experience and managed to get a wonderful Euros, with Spain on the up as well, to demand Belgium to win is a maybe a little bit too much.”

Along with those celebrated names, Leandro Trossard (31), Brandon Mechele (33), Timothy Castagne (33), Hans Vanaken (33), and Thomas Meunier (34) have likely played their last World Cup minutes.

“I’m disappointed for those that maybe might not come back with the national team,” manager Rudi Garcia said after the match.

“I took a team that I wanted to take as far as possible. My veteran players, who are maybe on their way out, that they could have one last hurrah.

“It is a shame because I think everyone deserves to go far in this World Cup.”

July 10 (UPI) — Apple on Friday filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and former Apple employees that work their for stealing confidential product information for the artificial intelligence company’s use.

The lawsuit specifically names two former Apple employees who allegedly handed over information to OpenAI when they joined the company that related to products they worked on at their former employer, The Hill reported.

In its filing, Apple said that OpenAI has been telling employees it hires away from the company to bring design information, prototypes and other information on how it makes its products.

There are, reportedly, more than 400 former Apple employees working for OpenAI, in addition to the company’s partnership with former Apple design chief Jony Ive’s io and his effort to lead the AI company’s hardware development.

“At Apple, our teams are constantly developing breakthrough technologies to create the best products and services in the world, and protecting their work and intellectual property is something we take very seriously,” an Apple spokesperson told 9to5Mac.

“Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple’s secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, process and products,” the spokesperson said.

Apple alleged its former vice president of product design, Tang Tan, has told Apple employees that he is interviewing for roles at OpenAI that they should bring things from Apple headquarters for “show and tell” sessions.

OpenAI denied the allegations in a statement, saying that the company remains “focused on building innovative technology that empowers people” and has “no interest in other companies’ trade secrets.”

The provided text details the significance of Gospel Day, a national holiday in Kiribati typically observed on July 10th. This celebration honors the arrival of Christianity in the 19th century, which remains the country’s dominant religion primarily through Catholic and Protestant denominations. The holiday serves as a unifying event, encouraging citizens of various Christian branches to participate in joint services to foster communal strength. While the date is generally fixed, the article notes that the schedule can shift to accommodate a broader three-day holiday period. Overall, the source highlights how this spiritual anniversary functions to promote national harmony and shared gratitude a … 

Edward Pinto, co-director of the American Enterprise Institute Housing Center argues that the new US housing bill is unlikely to significantly ease the country’s housing crisis. He says it’s too limited to address the core issues – like restrictive local zoning. For the full segment, watch Al Jazeera’s ‘This is America’.

Ariana Grande was announced for American Horror Story’s next all-star cast on Halloween 2025.

American Horror Story is coming very soon with fans desperate to know of Ariana Grande ’s involvement.

FX announced yesterday, Thursday, July 9, that American Horror Story would be returning for season 13, on Thursday, September 24, in the US with no fixed date yet on its UK debut.

But going by the last series, American Horror Story could very well land on Disney Plus also in September or early October.

Excitement has been building for the anthology drama’s return since Halloween last year when it was revealed that singer and Wicked star Ariana Grande was set to star.

At the time, she was confirmed alongside American Horror Story regulars such as Sarah Paulson, Angela Bassett, Jessica Lange, Emma Roberts and Billie Lourd.

Will Ariana Grande star in American Horror Story season 13?

Unfortunately, Ariana Grande will no longer star in season 13 of American Horror Story, despite the initial casting announcement.

It has been reported that Ariana won’t make her debut because of conflicts with timing changes to the production dates of the horror series which are happening simultaneously with her Eternal Sunshine tour.

The 33-year-old hadn’t filmed any scenes for the new series with fans noticing her absence when the cast was previously spotted shooting exterior scenes.

Ariana rescheduled her Eternal Sunshine tour July concert dates at the end of June, shifting shows in Brooklyn and Boston to a couple of days later.

The star will continue her tour with upcoming stops including Canada, New York and London.

Unlike Ariana, previously announced stars Six Feet Under’s Frances Conroy and model Alex Consani were spotted shooting.

So far though, there has been no word on what American Horror Story season 13 will be about with details still under wraps.

American Horror Story is available to watch on Disney Plus.

John H. Rousselot, the conservative Republican who represented part of the San Gabriel Valley in Congress for 14 years, was an officer of the John Birch Society and who tried to buy Charles H. Keating Jr.’s failed Lincoln Savings and Loan Assn., died Sunday. He was 75.

Rousselot, of Mission Viejo, died at Irvine Medical Center of congestive heart failure, said his son, Craig. He said his father had suffered a heart attack a year ago.

A glad-hander and energetic campaigner, Rousselot was controversial and colorful as he surfed the changing waves of political power as public relations expert, legislator or lobbyist.

He first gained office in 1960 when he ousted incumbent Democratic Rep. George Kasem in the 25th District. But he was so outspoken in defending the right-wing Birch Society, which he had just joined, that he failed to win reelection. In 1970, he was returned to Washington for half a dozen two-year terms in the 26th District, which included his native San Marino.

The congressman’s elective status ended in 1982 after redistricting threw him into a new 30th District, stretching from Bell Gardens to Azusa. Too long out of office and tainted by his association with Keating, Rousselot failed in a 1992 comeback campaign for the 25th District.

In Congress, Rousselot became active on the Banking and Currency Committee, and later the Economic and Budget and Ways and Means committees, where he staunchly opposed spending and tax increases, proposed cuts in the food stamp program, and worked for deregulation of the savings and loan industry. He also advocated U.S. military occupation of Cuba two years before the Cuban missile crisis.

As then-Atty. Gen. Robert F. Kennedy and others criticized the Birch Society in the early 1960s, freshman Congressman Rousselot defended the group: “They are calm, firm, dedicated people who are merely trying to inform themselves about communism.”

If Kennedy read the group’s “blue book,” Rousselot told The Times in 1961, he’d know that “one of the main purposes of each chapter is to keep its members and guests who attend fully informed as to the nature, purpose and intent of the Communist conspiracy in this country.”

First turned out of Congress in 1963, Rousselot was named regional director of the Birch Society — heading the group in California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Nevada and Idaho from an office in San Marino. He also served as national Birch Society public relations chairman. In both positions, he continued to insist that the organization’s purpose was to educate rather than advocate or indoctrinate.

But Rousselot resigned from the Birch Society with characteristic drama on April 17, 1979, when he was contemplating running for the U.S. Senate [he didn’t], “to demonstrate to the citizens of California that I am my own man, controlled by no organization or individual.” He also said that he had become disillusioned because Birch Society founder Robert Welch had besmirched President Eisenhower as a Communist agent and Winston Churchill as a traitor.

After Rousselot left Congress, he was in the Reagan White House as special assistant for business matters, then served as Western states coordinator for Reagan’s 1984 reelection campaign.

From 1985 to 1988, Rousselot was president of the National Council of Savings Institutions, a Washington-based lobbying group for banks and savings and loans. In addition to deregulation he worked to enable savings institutions to expand their business beyond mortgage lending.

In 1989, after lobbying for Keating, Rousselot was named the final chairman and chief executive of Lincoln Savings and Loan. With four others, he tried to buy the institution shortly before it was shut down by federal regulators who said that its assets were dissipated. Critics alleged that the attempted purchase was a scheme to delay the federal shutdown in the largest thrift collapse in U.S. history.

“I did nothing illegal, improper or unwarranted,” Rousselot told The Times a few years later.

Nevertheless, in 1993 his former association with the scandal-plagued thrift forced Gov. Pete Wilson to withdraw his appointment to the California Board of Prison Terms when legislators refused to confirm him.

John Harbin Rousselot was born Nov. 1, 1927, in San Marino and majored in political science and business administration at Principia College in Elsah, Ill.

In the 1950s, he established a public relations firm in Los Angeles and became president of the California Young Republicans.

From 1958 to 1960, when he resigned to run for Congress, he was national director of public information for the Federal Housing Administration.

Twice divorced, Rousselot is survived by his son, Craig of Irvine; two daughters, Robin Edwards of Lake Forest and Wendy Sirugo of San Dimas; a brother, Norman of Sonora, Texas; and five granddaughters.

A public memorial service will be planned at a later date.

“Mikel is incredible,” Spain boss Luis de la Fuente said after the quarter-final win.

“He has many qualities. He is a player that across the whole World Cup could have played in whatever team and done great.

“For us he is the standard of this idea, of this model. It is a pleasure to have him, and others but especially him. We know that without fail he is always there.”

Always there he may be, but Merino himself feared he would not be fit enough to play at this World Cup.

“The fact of being here a few months ago was unthinkable,” Merino said after the Portugal win.

“Now I am, as I said before, at the highest point, enjoying one of the happiest moments of my career.

“Now I remember all those bad moments, all the people who have supported me, all the people who have pushed me when even I sometimes found it difficult to believe I could be here.”

Merino’s heroics will be a familiar sight for Arsenal fans, with the 30-year-old having done similar at the Gunners.

Traditionally a midfielder, his height has seen him utilised as a striker by Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, and the first time he was used in such a role was when he memorably came off the bench to score twice against Leicester in a 2-0 win in February last year.

“Merino is just one of those players who arrives at the right time, at the right moment in big games,” former England striker Wayne Rooney said on Match of the Day.

De la Fuente added: “He can be the best striker and the best midfielder because of his understanding of the game. He interprets the game perfectly.

“He is committed, he is generous, he is happy to do the work.”

July 10 (UPI) — The Trump administration on Friday rescinded a key provision of the Endangered Species Act that protected habitat crucial to imperiled wildlife.

For 50 years, the ESA definition of “harm” included not only specific species, but also their habitat from modification or degradation.

But on Friday, the administration said it was reversing the rule to focus on “actions that directly injure or kill listed wildlife.”

“For years, federal agencies abused the ESA to obstruct lawful land use and burden American families and businesses,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement.

“That approach turned routine activity into a regulatory trap, drove up costs that impacted people’s lives, and expanded federal authority beyond what Congress intended,” Burgum said. “This action restores common sense, respects private property, provides much-needed certainty for landowners and follows the statute Congress actually passed.”

Enacted in 1973, the ESA has played a vital role in maintaining biodiversity.

Conservation experts say the act was key in saving many species from extinction, including the whooping crane, bald eagle and gray wolf.

Environmental advocates have vowed to sue over the rule change.

“For the first time ever, a presidential administration now claims that species protected by the Endangered Species Act shouldn’t be safe from habitat modification that destroys where they live, raise their young, or search for food,” Earthjustice attorney Kristen Boyles said in a statement.

“Let’s be clear: there is no support for the Trump administration’s rule — no scientific support, no legal support, no public support,” Boyles added. “We will see the Trump administration in court.”

The government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has been accused of human rights abuses against critics.

Nicaragua’s government has stripped masses of lawyers of their licences to practise, in what critics see as yet another attack on the country’s critics.

On Friday, a United Nations expert called the government’s actions a “purge of the legal profession”, aimed at eroding the country’s final shreds of democratic checks and balances.

Nicaragua’s husband-wife co-presidents, Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, have led a government that has increasingly carried out an all-out crackdown on dissent.

That effort intensified after mass social protests in 2018 that the government violently repressed.

Since then, the government has imprisoned adversaries, religious leaders, journalists and others, forcing thousands to flee the country. It has also stripped hundreds of their Nicaraguan citizenship and possessions.

Since 2018, it has also shut down more than 5,000 nongovernmental organisations, largely religious groups, but also local rotary clubs and scouting organisations.

In recent days, lawyers noticed that their licences to practise law in Nicaragua were removed without explanation from the Supreme Court of Justice’s registry, according to Reed Brody, an American human rights lawyer and member of a UN panel of experts on the Central American country.

Other lawyers also confirmed their certifications were revoked.

There was no official notification by the government, and Nicaragua’s government did not respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press news agency.

Brody said the full scope of the revocation was not immediately clear, but it “would certainly appear to be at least hundreds, if not thousands of lawyers” who were affected.

“This follows the pattern that we’ve been seeing for years. First, they closed the NGOs, the universities, the independent media. You know, they’ve gone after the churches, and now it seems the legal profession,” Brody said. “Anyone who might stand between the government and citizens.”

Brody said he knew of at least 20 lawyers who had been affected.

Juan Diego Barberena, a lawyer and human rights defender exiled in Costa Rica since 2022, was among those stripped of his official certification and said he knew of at least 25 more colleagues like him.

On Thursday, Barberena tried to access his legal accreditation on the government’s database and said his name and licence number were wiped clean from the system.

“This is a means of exercising totalitarian control over the legal profession,” Barberena said. “This means that the dictatorship can decide who gets to practise and who doesn’t.”

The move echoes other steps the government has taken in recent years.

Many Nicaraguan exiles who were stripped of their citizenship and rendered “stateless” have reported similar stories. They or their family members would search for their birth certificates and other legal documents in official databases, only to be told they do not exist.

But Barberena and Brody said the move this week by authorities went a step further, noting that those erased from the system were not just dissenters. Some were simply Nicaraguans living abroad.

Others practised criminal or family law that didn’t touch on politics, while some were government sympathisers, Barberena said.

Brody framed it as a move to whittle away at any last remaining shred of independence in a judicial system already firmly under control of Ortega and Murillo.

“On one hand, it’s an arbitrary measure to punish political dissent,” Barberena said. “On the other, it’s the dictatorship looking medium-term and wanting to prevent lawyers, experts and academics from participating in the future of the country’s institutions.”

GEORGIA Toffolo has revealed her millionaire husband “thought he was gonna go to jail” after border control confronted him at the airport.

The couple got into a bit of a palaver on the way to their lavish holiday in Lake Como, Italy.

She posted a video to her social media explaining the situation.

Georgia’s man James Watt was approached by security while they were filming a TikTok video.

In the video, they were jokingly calling each other out for the annoying things they’d done so far that day.

But, they made the simple mistake of filming while going through security.

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In the background of the clip, jet setters could be seen taking their bags off their backs and putting them into trays.

Georgia and James had gone through the body scanner and were waiting for their belongings on the other side.

Fans could see the feet of the border control official approaching BrewDog co-founder James.

“I just had to delete the video,” said James as he sighed in relief.

Former Made In Chelsea star Georgia was in hysterics, laughing at her husband – who was convinced he was going to be locked up.

A giggling Georgia said: “He had border control with him standing, going through your whole phone, looking at your camera roll.

“They went ‘Did you delete all of them?’”

Beer tycoon James chimed in: “Yeah.”

While Georgia countered: “No,” before throwing her head back and laughing.

James continued: “I thought I was gonna go to jail.”

“That was awful right,” said Georgia.

She captioned the video: “How did I forget to post this. James nearly got ARRESTED at the airport.

“What a way to kick off Lake Como… meanwhile I’d been moaning that he wasn’t helping me film the TikTok. Sorry babe. Whoops.”

The loved-up pair met after being set up on a blind date in 2023 and the following year they were engaged.

They tied the knot in Aberdeen, Scotland, last year aboard a fishing boat after having given their guests just two days notice.

The Trump administration has signed off on a company’s plan to convert an oil and gas pipeline to pump groundwater from the Mojave Desert to thirsty California cities for the first time, a lucrative venture that critics say threatens natural springs and wildlife.

The federal Bureau of Land Management released documents Thursday saying that Cadiz Inc.’s plan to repurpose 162 miles of the pipeline to transport water “will not significantly affect” the environment.

“We’re excited to achieve this pivotal milestone. After many years of planning and environmental review, the project has now reached the construction stage,” said Susan Kennedy, chair and chief executive of Cadiz.

Environmental advocates and leaders of Native tribes, who have been fighting the project, criticized the decision.

“This groundwater mining proposal would drain the desert and rob the Mojave of its rare springs and wildlife habitat,” said Chance Wilcox, California desert associate director of the National Parks Conservation Assn. “It’s indefensible that the Trump administration would once again try to revive the pointless Cadiz project, by defying decades of scientific warnings and refusing to conduct an environmental review of the groundwater mining.”

The application for the federal authorization was filed by the Fenner Gap Mutual Water Co. The documents say the company plans to build seven pump stations, three of them located on federal land managed by the agency.

The 30-inch steel pipeline runs underground from Cadiz’s desert property, near the town of Amboy, northward to the town of Mojave.

The BLM said in its authorization that repurposing the pipeline for water “would comply with all applicable statutes and regulations.” The agency said it has “reasonably determined that the impacts of groundwater withdrawal associated with Cadiz’s groundwater extraction project are outside the scope of analysis.”

Cadiz’s attempts to export water from its property 200 miles east of Los Angeles have drawn controversy for decades.

In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation that requires the project to undergo scientific study and gain approval from the State Lands Commission before it can take water from the Mojave and sell it to California cities.

Activists opposing the company’s plans include civil rights leader Dolores Huerta.

“Cadiz spells destruction for water, sacred lands, and the desert economy,” Huerta said in a statement. “It is exactly this type of greed and injustice that I have dedicated my life to oppose.”

Leaders of nearby tribes have also objected to Cadiz’s plans to pump from the desert aquifer near the Mojave Trails National Monument and Mojave National Preserve.

“It is the living heart of the desert,” said Daniel Leivas, chairman of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe. “To drain it would be to drain the life out of the entire desert. No profit is worth such desecration.”

Chairman Timothy Williams of the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe said the company’s plan “to pump and sell 25 times more groundwater each year than the aquifer can replenish would desecrate our traditional territories.”

“Pumping more groundwater than is sustainably replenished is not only negligent, but dangerous to the American Desert Southwest,” he said in the joint statement with other opponents of the project.

For years, while pursuing its plan to sell water far away, the company has been using wells on its property to irrigate nearly 2,000 acres of farmland growing lemons, grapes and other crops. It has drilled more wells in anticipation of being able to export water once the government approved its pipeline.

The company intends to pipe water to communities in San Bernardino County and says it’s “expected to provide one of the lowest-cost sources of new water in the drought-plagued Southwest.” It says the federal permit “marks a key milestone as we finalize project financing with prospective investors.”

Cadiz bought the 220-mile pipeline from El Paso Natural Gas in 2020. Once construction is completed, the company says the pipeline will be able to transport up to 25,000 acre-feet of water per year — about 5% of what Los Angeles uses each year.

The Los Angeles-based corporation is also seeking to build a new pipeline along a railroad right-of-way to transport water to the south.

Environmental groups have repeatedly filed lawsuits challenging the project.

Ileene Anderson, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, called the Trump administration’s decision “a green light for environmental destruction.”

She said six of the proposed pumping stations slated to be built are in the habitat of desert tortoises, a species in decline.

“We’ve successfully fended off this project before and we’ll continue to fight to stop this zombie from coming back,” Anderson said.

In 2021, the Biden administration reversed a Trump administration decision that had cleared the way for Cadiz to pipe water across public land. In 2022, a federal judge scrapped the pipeline permit that the Trump administration had issued.

But during President Trump’s second term, the company has again made headway on its plans. In February, Cadiz announced that the federal Environmental Protection Agency had invited it to submit an application for a $194-million low-interest loan for the northern pipeline project.

The company said in May that it reached an agreement with the federal Bureau of Reclamation to provide funding for a review of its potential role in “augmenting water supplies” along the shrinking Colorado River.

The company has also been lobbying the Trump administration. The group Public Citizen said in a recent report that Cadiz, through its nonprofit Fenner Gap Mutual Water Co., enlisted former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s new lobbying firm, the Bernhardt Group, and has spent at least $330,000 on lobbying in 2025 and 2026.

Records show lobbyist Luke Johnson has repeatedly accompanied Kennedy at meetings with Interior Department officials.

“The extensive influence of David Bernhardt’s boutique lobbying firm on the agency he formerly led highlights how insider firms staffed with former Trump officials have grown in recent years,” said Alan Zibel, a research director with Public Citizen. He said Bernhardt and his lobbyists “have learned how to master influence-peddling in the anything-goes era of Trump 2.0.”

Earlier this month, an Arizona water agency announced it signed an initial “memorandum of understanding” agreement to buy up to 10,000 acre-feet of water per year from Cadiz’s Mojave Groundwater Bank. The Central Arizona Irrigation and Drainage District provides water to farmlands in Pinal County, where growers are dealing with water cutbacks.

The company said that for this to happen, it would need to build pipelines and reach deals to exchange water across state lines.

Members of California’s congressional delegation have raised concerns. In a recent letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, California Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla called for a thorough environmental review, saying that federal agencies and peer-reviewed scientific analyses have “warned of the significant and irreversible impacts that Cadiz’s project could have on federal lands and surrounding communities.”

Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Indio) said in a letter to Burgum that he is concerned about the company’s long-standing effort to extract and export groundwater.

“The area I represent cannot afford to absorb the long-term costs of a commercially driven groundwater export scheme,” Ruiz said.

Victor Wembanyama has signed what will be the richest contract in San Antonio Spurs history, a five-year extension that could exceed $250 million if the player option in the final season is picked up, a person with knowledge of the negotiations said Friday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because the financial figures were not disclosed by either side. The Spurs, who went to the NBA Finals this past season behind the All-NBA center and unanimous Defensive Player of the Year, announced that Wembanyama had signed, simply saying the sides agreed on “a multi-year contract extension.”

The agreement comes at a discount; Wembanyama could have agreed to a deal that topped $300 million — but chose a lesser amount to help give the Spurs flexibility going forward with their young core and in anticipation of the contracts some of those budding stars will be eligible for in coming years, the person said.

ESPN first reported the agreement.

Reynolds writes for the Associated Press.