Ingested Articles

The Miami Heat are losing, and their highest-paid player isn’t happy. Jimmy Butler labeled the reigning Eastern Conference champions as “soft” after a loss in Minnesota on Friday night, Miami’s third straight defeat and one that dropped the Heat to 28-28 with 16 games left in the regular season. It was Miami’s 10th loss in its last 16 games. Says Butler: “It’s not frustrating because we do it so often. It’s almost like it’s expected.”

Hard-right House Republicans are discussing forming an America First Caucus. One document obtained by The Associated Press describes its goals as championing “uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions.” It also warns that mass immigration is putting the “unique identity” of the U.S. at risk. The caucus document was first reported by Punchbowl News, a news outlet that covers Capitol Hill. The AP could not independently confirm the organization’s origins or current status, but Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz said he was joining and indicated that Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was behind it. 

A judge in Sicily has ordered former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini to stand trial for having refused to let a Spanish migrant rescue ship dock in an Italian port. Salvini is accused of kidnapping for having kept the migrants at sea off the coast of Lampedusa for days in August 2019. The judge set the trial date for Sept. 15. Salvini, who is the leader of the right-wing League party, was on hand for the preliminary hearing Saturday in the bunker courtroom of the Palermo tribunal. He tweeted that he was certain he did the right thing under Italian law, “defending the security and dignity of Italy” by refusing entry to the Open Arms rescue ship. 

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe has begun releasing about 3,000 prisoners under a presidential amnesty aimed at easing congestion to reduce the threat of COVID-19 in the country’s overcrowded jails. About 400 prisoners were released from Chikurubi prison and other…

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has lately shied away from coming face to face with reporters as he faces sexual harassment allegations. The Democratic governor gained national attention last spring for televised news briefings at which he answered barrages of questions from journalists. But the Democrat hasn’t had an in-person news conference since December. That's when he switched to interacting with the media only via telephone and Zoom conference calls. The governor’s sudden refusal to allow reporters to freely question him has rankled media outlets. The governor says it is a needed pandemic safety precaution.

The sprawling, monthslong hacking campaign came to be known as SolarWinds for the company whose software update Russian intelligence agents stealthily seeded with malware to penetrate  government and private networks. Yet it was Microsoft whose code the cyber spies persistently abused in the campaign’s second stage as they rifled through emails and vital files of high-value targets and hopped undetected among victim networks. And that has put the world's third-most valuable company in the hot seat. Lawmakers are insisting that Microsoft swiftly upgrade security to what they believe it should have provided in the first place, and do it without fleecing taxpayers. 

MOSCOW (AP) — An American astronaut and two Russians have returned to Earth after six months aboard the International Space Station. A Soyuz space capsule carrying NASA’s Kate Rubins and Russians Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov landed at 0455 GMT…

Police in Portland, Oregon, declared a riot on Friday night after authorities said protesters smashed windows and burglarized businesses. Demonstrations had started earlier in the day in a park after police fatally shot a man while responding to reports of a person with a gun. Deputy Portland Police Chief Chris Davis earlier Friday said that police shot and killed a white man in his 30s. The man killed was not identified, but a witness said he appeared to be experiencing a mental health crisis. Authorities say the investigation into the shooting was hampered by a crowd that gathered at the scene and pulled down police tape designed to keep people away. 

Jacob deGrom and the Mets hope to finally play some baseball. New York had four games in six days either postponed or suspended due to weather, including a snow out Friday night for the opener of their series at Colorado. The club has had seven postponements, including all three games of its opening series against Washington, which was called off due to the Nationals’ COVID-19 outbreak. Saturday’s forecast in Denver looks chilly but clear for a doubleheader. Also, the Cubs are growing frustrated as they lead the majors in hit by pitches for a second straight year.

Corey Seager hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer on Tim Hill’s first pitch of the 12th inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 11-6 in a tense, entertaining first matchup this season between NL West rivals who have visions of deep playoff runs. The teams met for the first time since the Dodgers swept the Padres in their Division Series last year en route to winning the World Series. Seager homered to center, his second, with Mookie Betts on second base after making the last out of the 11th. The Dodgers added three more runs in the inning. 

LONDON (AP) — Here is the full list of mourners who will attend the funeral of Prince Philip on Saturday at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle: 1. Queen Elizabeth II 2. Prince Charles, eldest child of the queen and Prince…

Jacob deGrom and the Mets hope to finally play some baseball. New York had four games in six days either postponed or suspended due to weather, including a snow out Friday night for the opener of their series at Colorado. The club has had seven postponements, including all three games of its opening series against Washington, which was called off due to the Nationals’ COVID-19 outbreak. Saturday’s forecast in Denver looks chilly but clear for a doubleheader. Also, the Cubs are growing frustrated as they lead the majors in hit by pitches for a second straight year.

BEIJING (AP) — China's Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng spoke with The Associated Press on a range of issues from U.S.-China relations to human rights. Below are highlights from Friday's interview: US-CHINA RELATIONS Le took on President Joe Biden's strategy…

A grim video of a Chicago police officer fatally shooting a 13-year-old boy puts a spotlight on the policies that govern foot chases. The video shows a 19-second chase that ended with the officer firing one bullet into the chest of Adam Toledo. It demonstrates the dangers of such pursuits and raises questions of what, if anything, can be done to prevent such deadly encounters. The Chicago Police Department does not have a formal foot pursuit policy but says it is drafting one. Mayor Lori Lightfoot demand a policy that would protect officers, suspects and bystanders.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A group of nervous fish sellers got very close to La Soufrière, the volcano on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent, on the morning of May 7, 1902. “The top of the mountain was covered in…

Even before his arrest, a local Florida official, who is friends with U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, was a lightning rod for controversy. Former local tax collector Joel Greenberg has been charged with trafficking a minor, stalking a political opponent, producing fake IDs, identity theft, embezzlement and bribery. But it's his friendship with Gaetz that is attracting the most attention now as federal investigators have launched a sex trafficking probe into the Republican congressman from the Florida Panhandle. Two people familiar with the matter tell The Associated Press that the scrutiny of Gaetz stemmed from the Justice Department’s probe into Greenberg.