Archive

2025

Browsing

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba practiced with Inter Miami for the first time this week, coach Javier Mascherano said, before their highly anticipated match against first-place FC Cincinnati on Saturday, July 26.

Inter Miami is still awaiting whether Messi and Alba could face a one-game suspension for skipping the MLS All-Star Game in Austin, Texas earlier this week.

Alba, who suffered a knock and was a late substitution in Inter Miami’s 5-1 win against the New York Red Bulls on July 19, may have a better excuse to avoid suspension than Messi, who Mascherano said has felt the fatigue from an overworked schedule in recent weeks.

“He showed normal fatigue from the number of games and minutes he’s been playing,” Mascherano said. “Look, players always have [minor injuries], especially when they play every three days. But luckily, he’ll be back [Friday].

“Let’s hope he can train with the group so we can count on both of them for [Saturday’s] game. We haven’t received any notification so far.”

Messi has played every minute in 22 of 23 matches since April 2, with his lone absence in a 4-3 loss at home to FC Dallas on April 27.

Since Inter Miami’s first match in the FIFA Club World Cup on June 14, Messi has played nine matches in a 35-day span without missing a minute.

“Miami has had a schedule that is unlike any other team. Most of our teams had a 10-day break. Miami hasn’t. We had Leo playing 90 minutes in almost all the games that he’s played. We have to manage through that as a league. [At] the same time, we do have rules, and we have to manage through that as well,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said during his midseason press conference before the All-Star Game.

“So, we would have loved to have Leo here. We’d have loved to have every player that was selected for the All-Star team here. And after this All-Star Game, we’ll figure out what needs to happen this weekend.”

Inter Miami’s match against FC Cincinnati, which beat them 3-0 on July 16, could again pit Messi, the 2024 MLS MVP, against Evander, a leading candidate along with Messi for 2025 MVP award.

Cincinnati sits atop the MLS Supporters’ Shield standings with 48 points, while Inter Miami is fifth place in the Eastern Conference with 41 points. Inter Miami has three games in hand to play this season due to their congested schedule.

How to watch Messi, Inter Miami vs. FC Cincinnati match?

The match on Saturday, July 26 will be played at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. It will be available to live stream on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

President Donald Trump said Friday that former President Barack Obama ‘owes me big’ following the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling. 

Trump on Tuesday claimed that Obama was the ‘ringleader’ of Russiagate, calling for him to be criminally investigated amid new claims that members of his administration allegedly ‘manufactured’ intelligence that prompted the Trump–Russia collusion narrative. Obama has denied the allegations, with a spokesperson for him describing them as ‘bizarre.’

‘It probably helps him a lot. Probably helps a lot. The immunity ruling, but it doesn’t help the people around him at all. But it probably helps him a lot,’ Trump said Friday. ‘He’s done criminal acts, there’s no question about it. But he has immunity, and it probably helps him a lot… he owes me big, Obama owes me big.’ 

The intelligence community did not have any direct information that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to help elect Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election, but, at the ‘unusual’ direction of then-President Barack Obama, published ‘potentially biased’ or ‘implausible’ intelligence suggesting otherwise, the House Intelligence Committee found, according to a Fox News report earlier this week.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard had declassified a report prepared by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence back in 2020.

The report, which was based on an investigation launched by former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., was dated Sept. 18, 2020. At the time of the publication of the report, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., was the chairman of the committee.

The committee focused on the creation of the Intelligence Community Assessment of 2017, in which then-CIA Director John Brennan pushed for the inclusion of the now-discredited anti-Trump dossier, despite knowing it was based largely on ‘internet rumor,’ as Fox News Digital previously reported.

According to the report, the ICA was a ‘high-profile product ordered by the President, directed by senior IC agency heads, and created by just five CIA analysts, using one principal drafter.’

‘Production of the ICA was subject to unusual directives from the President and senior political appointees, and particularly DCIA,’ the report states. ‘The draft was not properly coordinated within CIA or the IC, ensuring it would be published without significant challenges to its conclusions.’

The committee found that the five CIA analysts and drafter ‘rushed’ the ICA’s production ‘in order to publish two weeks before President-elect Trump was sworn-in.’

In a statement Tuesday, Obama denied Trump’s ‘bizarre allegations’ that he was the Russiagate ‘ringleader.’

‘Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response,’ Obama spokesman Patrick Rodenbush said in a statement. ‘But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one.’ 

‘These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,’ Obama’s spokesman continued. ‘Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes.’ 

Gabbard later told ‘Jesse Watters Primetime’ on Wednesday that there were ‘deep state obstacles’ to releasing her information about the Trump-Russia collusion investigation and that some people within the intelligence community (IC) didn’t want it to ‘see the light of day.’

‘There are a lot of deep state actors still here within Washington. President Trump wants us to find the truth. I want to find that truth. The American people deserve the truth, and they deserve accountability,’ she said.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report. 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Senate Democrats have begun to ramp up their push for the full release of documents related to the late, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, while Senate Republicans have tried to focus their attention elsewhere.

‘The story Republicans hoped would quietly fade is growing louder by the hour,’ Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor.

Schumer has led the charge among Senate Democrats in demanding more transparency on the Epstein issue, and has used the drama in recent weeks as a political cudgel to go after congressional Republicans and the White House.

His remarks come after a recent Wall Street Journal report alleged that President Donald Trump’s name appeared in the documents surrounding Epstein, and that he was told by the Justice Department about it before publicly saying he was not among the untold number of names within the documents.

Trump also ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to ‘produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony’ on the matter, and top Justice Department official Todd Blanche met with Epstein accomplice Ghislane Maxwell in Florida on Thursday to discuss the late pedophile and alleged sex trafficker.

‘It has the stench of a cover-up,’ Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Fox News Digital. ‘The only right outcome here is to release and disclose all the files. There should be no secret meetings or secret deals.’

However, the Epstein saga has not had near the effect in the Senate as in the House, where House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., sent lawmakers home early this week for a monthlong break after some Republicans and Democrats joined forces in their calls to bring the so-called Epstein files out in the open.

Senate Republicans, meanwhile, have downplayed the issue, arguing that Congress has far less power to obtain the information than the Justice Department does.

Sen. Ron Johnson, who chairs the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, told Fox News Digital that he does not like ‘duplicating efforts,’ but noted that he is still curious to know more information about the Epstein documents.  

‘I’m like every American who knows anything about this – I’m curious,’ the Wisconsin Republican said. ‘It doesn’t make any sense to me, starting back with his original trial and very light sentence. But I think there are far more important things to worry about.’

Senate Democrats are trying to force the issue, however. Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., again tried to introduce a non-binding resolution that called on Bondi to release all files related to Epstein, and the move was again blocked by Sen. Markwaye Mullin, R-Okla. 

Gallego said that the White House continues to make the issue ‘political theater,’ something that began on the campaign trail.

‘They fed this monster, and now they have to figure out the solution to what the American public is asking for, which is, you know, resolution and answers to their questions,’ he said.

Mullin, however, introduced his own resolution that comported with the president’s order for state and federal courts to release all Epstein documents surrounding the criminal investigation and prosecution against him. But when Gallego offered to combine the two, he objected, and accused him of turning the issue into a ‘political football.’

‘One, in this particular case — in a lot of cases — we’re not willing to stretch the truth to tell something that’s not accurate,’ Mullin said. ‘We want to be accurate with what we’re telling the American people. And the truth is, what can Congress do?’

So far, Mullin’s resolution is the only action offered by Senate Republicans in the ongoing Epstein saga. When asked if he would be interested in bringing the resolution to the floor for a vote, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said ‘obviously there is some interest in taking action on it, and we’ll see how intense that feeling is.’

Still, some Republicans want to focus their efforts elsewhere.

‘I hope we don’t waste our time on that,’ said Sen. John Cornyn, R-TX, and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. ‘We’ve got enough to do.’ 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

House Republicans are already discussing contours for a potential second ‘big, beautiful bill’ advancing President Donald Trump’s agenda.

The Republican Study Committee (RSC), the 189-member-strong group that acts as a de facto ‘think tank’ for the House GOP, is launching a working group to look at what a second budget reconciliation bill would look like, Fox News Digital has learned.

It’s the largest organized effort so far by congressional Republicans to follow through on GOP leaders’ hopes for a second massive agenda bill.

‘We must capitalize on the momentum we’ve generated in the first 6 months of a Republican trifecta in Washington,’ RSC Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. ‘To fulfill the promises we made to the American people, conservatives must begin laying the groundwork for the second reconciliation bill to ensure we continue to drive down the cost of living and restore America’s promise for future generations.’

House Republicans left Washington on Wednesday to kick off a five-week recess period, where they’re readying to sell the benefits of their first massive agenda bill to their constituents. 

Meanwhile, Pfluger also directed lawmakers part of the new working group to begin reaching out to colleagues, conservative senators, and GOP organizations about potential policy proposals for a new bill, Fox News Digital was told.

The goal of the new group is to create a framework for what a second ‘big, beautiful bill’ could look like, and to recommend that framework to GOP leaders.

The first bill was a massive piece of legislation advancing Trump’s agenda on taxes, the border, immigration, defense, and energy.

It made much of Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) permanent, while imposing new work requirements on Medicaid and food stamps, among other measures.

After passing the House and Senate, Trump signed it into law during a celebratory event on the Fourth of July.

But the political fight to get just one reconciliation bill took Herculean political efforts across both the House and Senate, with debates and even heated arguments ongoing for months before the bill passed.

Notably, however, Republicans did get the legislation to Trump’s desk by July 4 – meeting a goal that many in the media and even within GOP circles thought impossible.

The budget reconciliation process allows the party controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress to pass massive partisan policy overhauls, while completely sidelining the other side – in this case, Democrats.

Reconciliation bills can pass the Senate with a simple majority rather than 60 votes, lining up with the House’s own passage threshold. But the legislation must adhere to a specific set of rules and only involve measures related to fiscal policy.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told ‘Sunday Morning Futures’ earlier this month that he was eyeing multiple reconciliation bills.

‘With President Trump coming back to the White House, and us having the responsibility for fixing every metric of public policy that Biden and Harris and the Democrats destroyed over the previous four years –  so the big beautiful bill was the first big step in that,’ he told host Maria Bartiromo.

‘But we have multiple steps ahead of us. We have long planned for at least two, possibly three, reconciliation bills, one in the fall and one next spring.’

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

JERUSALEM— The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is under growing pressure to extradite the self-confessed female Hamas terrorist Ahlam Aref Ahmad al-Tamimi, who engineered the terrorist bombing at a Jerusalem pizzeria in 2001 that murdered three Americans among 16 people, half of whom were children.

Frimet and Arnold Roth, the parents of Malki Roth, a 15-year-old U.S. citizen murdered in the 2001 Sbarro pizzeria bombing, held a virtual meeting on July 17, 2025 with Jeanine F. Pirro, United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. 

The U.S. State Department has a $5 million reward for information leading to al-Tamimi’scapture, even as reports claim Jordan’s King Abdullah II has played hardball, refusing to extradite the accused mass murderer. 

‘You have the capacity to push for her extradition, to ensure that the 1995 treaty is honored, to show Jordan and its population along with the watching world that harboring terrorists has consequences,’ Arnold Roth told Pirro during the meeting, according to a family press release following the meeting. 

The 24th anniversary of the Aug. 9, 2001 bombing is next month.

Roth added, ‘We’re here today to implore you to act. Jordan needs to know the U.S. cannot tolerate the protection of a murderer of American citizens. U.S. justice needs to be respected by the world and, without hammering this point too hard, by America’s lawmakers and senior officials.’ 

The Roths said that the meeting focused on the need for ‘concrete steps’ to advance the long-delayed extradition of al-Tamimi.  

Al-Tamimi’sterrorist bombing also killed Judith Shoshana Greenberg and Chana Nachenberg in the 2001 attack. ‘All the victims deserve justice,’ Arnold Roth said, stressing that Tamimi’s extradition should become a ‘true priority’ for the U.S. Department of Justice. 

When asked if the extradition of al-Tamimi was raised by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in his Wednesday meeting with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, ‘The United States has continually emphasized to the Government of Jordan the importance of holding Ahlam al-Tamimi, the convicted terrorist released by Israel in a 2011 prisoner swap, accountable in a U.S. court for her admitted role in a 2001 bombing in Jerusalem that killed 15 people, including Americans Malka Chana Roth, Judith Shoshana Greenbaum, and Chana Nachenberg. The United States continues to impress upon the Government of Jordan that Tamimi is a brutal murderer who should be brought to justice.’

The State Department referred Fox News Digital to the Department of Justice for more information about the U.S. criminal case against al-Tamimi.

The Justice Department and Pirro’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital press queries.

Al-Tamimi is on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list. She is the second female to appear on the terrorism list.

Frimet Roth told U.S. Attorney Pirro that ‘We cannot carry this fight alone any longer. Judge Pirro, please, be the voice for Malki and the other American victims. Be the advocate for justice that has been denied for too long. We beg you to act—not for our sake alone, but for the integrity of American law and the sanctity of every life lost to terror.’ 

The Roths also delivered a petition to U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee in May 2025, with some 30,000 signatures urging the Trump administration to press Jordan for al-Tamimi’s extradition. 

Arnold Roth told Fox News Digital that ‘No senior figure from State has ever, in all the years of our fight for justice, agreed to speak with us. Their treatment of us and of the Tamimi case is deplorable. Victoria Nuland, then one of the top-ranking figures in the State Department. Nuland wrote to us in the names of President Biden and then-Sec of State Antony Blinken, and told us that the Tamimi case was quote ‘a foremost priority’ for the U.S. And that they would keep us informed. She then [they] ignored every follow-up letter that I sent her, and of course so said Biden and Blinken.’

Jordan’s government is a major recipient of U.S. Foreign Military Financing (FMF).

According to a January 2025 U.S. State Department fact sheet, ‘Since 2015, the Department of State has provided Jordan with $2.155 billion in FMF, which makes Jordan the third-largest global recipient of FMF funds over that time period.  In addition, the Department of Defense (DoD) has provided $327 million to the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) under its 333 authority since 2018, making Jordan one of the largest recipients of this funding.’

Al-Tamimi reportedly boasted about her terrorist operation in the Arab media and called for more terrorism against Israel. ‘Of course. I do not regret what happened. Absolutely not. This is the path. I dedicated myself to jihad for the sake of Allah, and Allah granted me success. You know how many casualties there were [in the 2001 attack on the Sbarro pizzeria]. This was made possible by Allah. Do you want me to denounce what I did? That’s out of the question. I would do it again today, and in the same manner,’ she said in 2011, according to a MEMRI translation.

In 2017, the U.S. Justice Department publicly announced that it had charged her with the Jerusalem suicide bombing. 

Fox News Digital sent multiple press queries to Jordan’s government and its embassies in Washington, D.C., and Tel Aviv.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

We have our first significant deal a week before Major League Baseball’s July 31 trade deadline, with the Arizona Diamondbacks sending first baseman Josh Naylor to the Seattle Mariners, the teams announced Thursday night.

The Diamondbacks are receiving rookie lefty Brandyn Garcia and pitching prospect Ashton Izzi in the deal.

Naylor is slashing .292/.360/.447 this season, with 11 home runs, 59 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. The Diamondbacks had acquired Naylor in an offseason trade with the Guardians, with the slugger coming off a 31-homer, 108-RBI campaign in Cleveland. Naylor, 28, is a free agent at the end of the season, making him a rental for Seattle.

Here’s a breakdown of the deal:

Josh Naylor trade grades

Seattle Mariners: A-

The Mariners were in desperate need of a corner bat and Naylor should immediately become the starting first baseman, pushing Luke Raley back to the outfield. Seattle’s first basemen have combined to hit just .233 this season and Naylor slots nicely into the lineup, giving some legitimate protection to Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh and Randy Arozarena.

If things go well over the next few months, perhaps Seattle considers signing Naylor to a multi-year deal come free agency.

Arizona Diamondbacks: B

The Diamondbacks landed two of the top 20 players in Seattle’s farm system in Garcia (No. 13) and Izzi (No. 16). Garcia is a big-league ready arm who has pitched in relief this year, and the Diamondbacks will have to decide whether they see him as a starter or reliever in the long term.

Josh Naylor trade details

Seattle Mariners receive

1B Josh Naylor

Arizona Diamondbacks receive

LHP Brayden Garcia
RHP Ashton Izzi

Josh Naylor contract

Josh Naylor is making $10.9 million in 2025 and is a free agent at the end of the season.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

The NHL said the five players acquitted of sexual assault in the Hockey Canada case aren’t eligible to play in the league while it conducts a review of the case.

“The allegations made in this case, even if not determined to have been criminal, were very disturbing and the behavior at issue was unacceptable,” the league said in a statement on Thursday, July 24, according to The Athletic. “We will be reviewing and considering the judge’s findings. While we conduct that analysis and determine next steps, the players charged in this case are ineligible to play in the league.”

Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton were found not guilty of sexual assault by a judge on Thursday and McLeod was acquitted of a secondary charge of being a party to the offense.

All five were in London, Ontario, in June 2018 for a Hockey Canada gala celebrating their gold medal in the world junior hockey championship. Police charged them with sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room, but Justice Maria Carroccia ruled that she didn’t find the complainant’s evidence ‘credible or reliable.’

All but Formenton were with NHL teams at the time they were charged in February 2024. The other four took leaves of absence and were cut loose when their teams didn’t give them qualifying offers that June. All five are unrestricted free agents.

The NHL Players’ Association disagreed with the league’s action, noting that the players had been acquitted of all charges.

‘After missing more than a full season of their respective NHL careers, they should now have the opportunity to return to work,’ the NHLPA said in a statement. ‘The NHL’s declaration that the Players are ‘ineligible’ to play pending its further analysis of the Court’s findings is inconsistent with the discipline procedures set forth in the CBA. We are addressing this dispute with the League and will have no further comment at this time.​’

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

Self had two stents inserted during a heart procedure that “went very well,” and he is expected to make a full recovery.

“He is in good spirits and expects to be released from the hospital soon.”

The university did not disclose any information regarding a timetable for Self’s recovery or whether he will miss the upcoming basketball season.

Self previously underwent a heart procedure and had two stents placed to treat blocked arteries in 2023. The veteran coach had experienced chest tightness and had concerns about his balance after watching shooting as his team was preparing for a Big 12 tournament quarterfinal game that year.

He recovered and was present at NCAA Tournament practices, but did not fully return to coaching on the sideline for games until the following season.

Who is Bill Self?

Bill Self has spent the past 22 seasons as Kansas’ head basketball coach, winning the national championship in 2008 and 2022.

The Jayhawks have qualified for the NCAA Tournament 21 times during Self’s tenure, only missing the 2020 season when the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He has compiled a 624-156 overall record during his time at Kansas.

When does Kansas open the 2025-26 season?

Kansas has exhibition games scheduled against Louisville (Oct. 24) and Fort Hays State (Oct. 28) before opening the season against Green Bay on Nov. 3 and North Carolina on Nov. 7.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

Venus Williams made her return to the tennis court this week after a 16-month absence.

The 45-year-old earned a victory in straight sets against 23-year-old opponent, Peyton Stearns, at the Citi DC Open on Tuesday night in Washington D.C.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion became the oldest player to win a tour-level singles match since 47-year-old Martina Navratilova defeated Catalina Castano at Wimbledon in 2004.

Williams could not overcome 27-year-old Magdalena Frech, 6-2, 6-2, in the second round of the tournament on Thursday, July 24. Williams has not won back-to-back matches since 2019.

Did Venus Williams compete in DC Open doubles?

Venus Williams and Hailey Baptiste won their first-round match in doubles play on Monday, but the duo fell short of reaching the third round.

Williams and Baptiste lost to second-seeded Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai, 6-4, 3-6, 10-6, in a champion’s tiebreaker on Wednesday, July 23.

Why did Venus Williams take time away from tennis?

Williams had taken time away from tennis as she recovered from surgery for uterine fibroids.

Williams also confirmed after her win on Tuesday that she’s engaged to actor Andrea Preti.

“My fiancé is here, and he really encouraged me to keep playing,” Williams told Rennae Stubbs after the match.

It was the first time Preti had seen her play.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

The New York Jets survived a scare on Thursday after Justin Fields went down with an injury, prompting him to be carted off the field.

Later revealed to be a toe injury, the signal caller was given a rude introduction to life as the team’s quarterback on just the second day of training camp.

While the team likely avoided the worst-case scenario, it still led to some uneasy moments for Fields, the Jets and their fans.

The attention has since shifted to Fields’ upcoming time on the sidelines as he recovers from the injury.

Here’s a look at how long the Jets can expect to be without their starting quarterback.

How long is Justin Fields out?

While the exact timetable for how long Fields will be sidelined is uncertain, the team announced he is listed as day-to-day.

The hope is that the quarterback will be ready for Week 1, when the Jets begin their season at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The most important thing for Fields and the Jets is that the injury is not considered serious, meaning the worst-case scenario has been avoided.

Justin Fields injury update

Fields suffered a dislocated non-big toe after being stepped on in practice on Thursday, reports say.

He was carted off the field after being checked out by trainers, prompting the concern. Fields was sent for tests after initial reports indicated there was no fracture.

Even though reports have indicated the issue isn’t severe, Fields is still set to be sidelined for an undetermined amount of time.

The quarterback will work to get ready for the season, but it does leave the Jets a player short in the room.

Jets QB depth chart

The Jets have three quarterbacks on the roster outside of Fields. Here’s how the depth chart looks without him:

Tyrod Taylor
Adrian Martinez
Brady Cook

Outside of Fields, Taylor is the only quarterback with any legitimate NFL experience – starting 58 games in 14 seasons.

Martinez was an undrafted free agent that played in the UFL in 2024 and spent the NFL season on the Jets’ practice squad.

Cook just wrapped up his college career at Missouri, signing with the team as an undrafted free agent following the 2025 NFL Draft in April.

All the NFL news on and off the field. Sign up for USA TODAY’s 4th and Monday newsletter.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY