MON SIX

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The U.S. military conducted a rapid response exercise involving Marines and military aircraft in Venezuela’s capital Saturday, over four months after theouster of then-President Nicolás Maduro.

Venezuela US Drill

Two Marine Corps Osprey aircraft, which have characteristics of both a helicopter and a fixed-wing airplane, flew overthe recently reopened U.S. Embassy in Caracas. They landed in the parking lot with the downdraft blowing tree branches. Forces then descended from the aircraft.

“Ensuring the military’s rapid response capability is a key component of mission readiness, both here in Venezuela and around the world,” the embassy said on Instagram.

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Venezuela’s government had announced the drill earlier this week. Foreign Minister Yván Gil said the U.S. would conduct the exercise to prepare “in the event of medical emergencies or catastrophic emergencies.”

The drill comes almost two months after the U.S. formally reopened its embassy in Caracas. The reopening followed the restoration of full diplomatic relations with the South American country afterMaduro's ouster in early January.

Some Caracas residents Saturday gathered near the embassy to watch the aircraft, while a few dozen others gathered elsewhere in the city to protest the exercise. Protesters held a Venezuelan flag with the message “No to the Yankee drill” written over it.

U.S. military aircraft last flew over Caracas on Jan. 3, when elite forces rappelled down from helicopters and captured Maduro and his wife. Both were taken to New York to face drug trafficking charges. They have pleaded not guilty.

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Jovan Buha: "I don't know what (LeBron James) expects if I'm being completely honest here, but I think he expects to be paid close to what he is worth.He was an all-star last year. Once he became the number one option, he went back to putting up number one option-level numbers. He was the best player on a team that won a first-round playoff series. You could argue he's worth 35, 40, 45 million based on the season he just had. So I think the expectation will probably be somewhere in line with that.

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype:LeBron James not taking a pay cut in free agency?

Detroit Red Wings rookie Emmitt Finnie hasn't been getting much ice time for Canada at the world hockey championship in Switzerland, but he's making the most of his opportunities.

Finnie scored his first goal of the round-robin tournament and added an assist in only 5:57 of ice time, as Canada (5-0) defeated Slovenia, 3-1, on Friday at the BCF Arena in Fribourg.

More:Seven Red Wings competing at world championships: 'It's a great honor'

Finnie, a seventh-round draft choice who had 13 goals and 17 assists for 30 points with a minus-10 rating and 131 hits in his first season in Detroit, has played in only two of Canada's five games.

"My role here is a little different from what I'm used to, but everyone here is a great player," Finnie said after the game at iihf.com. "Whether I'm playing or not it's not going to deteriorate my confidence. I'm just trying to work as hard as I can and make an impact when I'm out there."

Finnie scored his goal early in the third period by going to the net and tipping in a shot from Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly at 6:41, his first career goal with Team Canada.

"It's not easy for him," Maple Leafs forward John Tavares said. "Maybe he's not always taking a regular shift when he's in, but he's really enjoying being around the group and he's learning a lot, being a sponge.

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"I'm thrilled for him to get on the board and be named Best Player of the game."

Ex-Spartan Porter Martone was scoreless in 8:11 of ice time for Canada. He has one goal and four assists for five points in five games.

The win keeps Canada in top place of the Group B standings without a loss, their only blemish being a 6-5 OT decision against Norway on Thursday.

Canada has a day off before playing Slovakia on Sunday in a battle of undefeated teams.

"I think our game was more connected today than yesterday," Tavares said. "It would have been nice to put the puck in the net a little more today, but we possessed it a lot.

"We were in control pretty much the whole game, but we can always find ways to be better."

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News:Emmitt Finnie of the Detroit Red Wings scores first goal at worlds

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tulsi Gabbard resigned as President Donald Trump's director of national intelligence on Friday, saying she needed to leave office as her husband battles cancer. She is the fourth Cabinet member to depart during Trump’s second term, all of them women.

In her resignation letter, which she posted on social media, Gabbard said she told Trump she would leave her job overseeing the coordination of 18 intelligence agencies on June 30. She said her husband had recently been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and “faces major challenges in the coming weeks and months.”

“At this time, I must step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him through this battle,” she wrote in the letter, which was reported earlier by Fox News.

Trump, in his own social media post, said “Tulsi has done an incredible job, and we will miss her.” He said her principal deputy, Aaron Lukas, will serve as acting director of national intelligence.

While Gabbard says her departure is for personal reasons, the juxtaposition between her long-held, anti-interventionism stance and Trump’s series of overseas military operations had seemed to put them on a collision course.

Iran put Gabbard and Trump at odds

There had been rumblings that Gabbard would split with Trump after the president's decision to strike Iran, which caused some division within his administration. Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center,announced his resignationin March and said he “cannot in good conscience” back the war.

Gabbard, a veteran and former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, built her political name on her opposition to foreign wars. This put her in an awkward position when the U.S. joined Israel in launching attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.

During a congressional hearing in March, her measured comments were notable for their careful non-endorsement of the Iran war. She repeatedly dodged questions about whether the White House had been warned of potential fallout from the conflict, including Iran’s effective closure of theStrait of Hormuz, a waterway crucial for global oil shipments.

Gabbard said in written remarks to the Senate Intelligence Committee that there had been no effort by Iran to rebuild its nuclear capability after U.S. attacks last year “obliterated” its nuclear program. That statement contradicted Trump, who has repeatedly asserted that the war was necessary to head off an imminent threat from the Islamic Republic.

This created several awkward exchanges with lawmakers who asked Gabbard for her opinion on the threat posed by Iran as the nation’s top intelligence official. She repeatedly said it was Trump’s decision to strike, not hers.

“It is not the intelligence community’s responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat,” she said.

Gabbard’s departure follows Trump havingousted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noemin late March, in the midst of mounting criticism over her leadership of the department — including the handling of the administration’s immigration crackdown and disaster response.

The second Cabinet member to leave was Attorney General Pam Bondi, in response to growing frustration over the Justice Department’s handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. And Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned in April, after being the target of various misconduct investigations.

Lukas, who will be taking over for Gabbard, was an intelligence aide to the acting director of national intelligence, Ric Grenell, in 2020 during Trump's first term. A former policy analyst at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, he also served as deputy senior director for Europe and Russia at the National Security Council in the final year of Trump’s previous administration.

A surprising choice for the job

A military veteran but without any intelligence experience,Gabbardwas a surprising choice for director of national intelligence. She ran for president in 2020 on a progressive platform and her opposition to U.S. involvement in foreign military conflicts.

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Citing her military experience, she argued that U.S. wars in the Middle East had destabilized the region, made the U.S. less safe and cost thousands of American lives. Gabbard later dropped out of the race and endorsed the ultimate winner, PresidentJoe Biden.

Two years later, she left the Democratic Party to becomean independent, saying her old party was dominated by an “elitist cabal of warmongers” and “woke” ideologues. She subsequently campaigned for several high-profile Republicans and became a contributor to Fox News.

She later endorsed Trump, who also was a strong critic of past U.S. wars in the Middle East and campaigned on a pledge to avoid unnecessary wars and nation-building overseas.

Iran caused early tensions

But friction with the president started soon after he began his second term and tapped Gabbard to lead ODNI, which was set up after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to improve coordination between the nation’s intelligence agencies.

Shortly after taking on the job and before this year's war, Gabbard testified before lawmakers that there was no intelligence suggesting Iran was seeking to develop nuclear weapons. After Trump launched attacks on Iranian nuclear sites last June, he said Gabbard was wrong and thathe didn’t care what she said.

She appeared to be back in Trump’s good graces when she took a lead role in Trump’s effort to relitigate his 2020 election loss to Biden. She appeared at an FBI search of election offices in Fulton County, Georgia, even though her office was created to focus on foreign espionage, not state elections.

Gabbard made big changes in her time in office

Gabbard vowed to eliminate what she said was the politicization of intelligence by government insiders. But she quickly used her office to support some of Trump’s most partisan arguments — that he won the 2020 election.

She also worked tounderminethe results of earlier investigations into Trump’s ties to Russia.

In her year on the job, Gabbard oversaw a sharp reduction in the intelligence workforce, as well as the creation of a new task force that shecharged with considering big changesto the intelligence service.

Earlier this year, an intelligence sector whistleblower filed a complaint that Gabbard was withholding intelligence for political reasons, a complaint that prompted calls from Democrats for Gabbard’s resignation.

Gabbard, 44, was born in the U.S. territory of American Samoa, raised in Hawaii and spent a year of her childhood in the Philippines. She was first elected as a 21-year-old to Hawaii’s House of Representatives but had to leave after one term when her National Guard unit deployed to Iraq.

As the first Hindu member of the House, Gabbard was sworn into office with her hand on the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu devotional work. She was also thefirst American Samoan elected to Congress.

During herfour House terms, she became known for speaking out against her party’s leadership. Her early support for Sen.Bernie Sanders’ 2016 Democratic presidential primary run made her a popular figure in progressive politics nationally.

Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C.

It is a special World Cup for Mexico, with El Tri playing its group stage on home soil. Win the group? The next two games also would take place in Mexico.

Things have gone well for Mexico when it has hosted the World Cup. In both 1970 and 1986, the national team won a knockout match — something it thenfailed to do despite having a strong generation of players who excelled abroad. Manager Javier "Vasco" Aguirre is back for his third stint leading the national team, hoping that a home crowd once again helps push El Tri deep into the knockout stages.

Mexico has the added quirk of having some of the squad already together. Aguirre and Liga MX owners struck an agreement before the season that players called up for his World Cup squad would be released in the first week of May. Those players, we believe, are guaranteed to make the World Cup roster. Our projections reflect those call-ups.

Who will make Mexico's final list? We project the full 26-man squad here:

Mexico goalkeepers: Raul “Tala” Rangel, Carlos Acevedo, Guillermo Ochoa

Every since Américagoalkeeper Luis Angel Malagon suffered an Achilles injury, this looked to be the most likely trio of players. All three already are in camp and working with the national team, as is León prospect Oscar Garcia with an eye toward the future.

The real intrigue around the position group is not who is going, but if Ochoa will play. Chivas shot-stopper Rangel looked to have won the No. 1 job even before Malagon's injury, but is making a sixth World Cup roster enough for the 40-year-old or does he want to play in a fourth tournament? If Mexico isn't qualified going into the last group game, the coaching staff may have a tough decision to make.

Mexico defenders: Johan Vasquez, Cesar Montes, Jesus Gallardo, Israel Reyes, Jorge Sanchez, Julian Araujo

In the mix: Richy Ledezma, Everardo Lopez, Mateo Chavez, Jesus Angulo, Victor Guzman

With only six names on the list, this position group looks thin.

But there is more depth than initially meets the eye. Edson Alvarez could be listed as a defender on the final call-up, even if he's an option to play in the midfield as well. The same can be said of both Erik Lira and Luis Romo. That trio of players has played in the same style as current Mexico assistant Rafa Marquez, either in a line of three or as a central midfielder who slips between the center backs when the situation calls for it.

Still, there are depth concerns. Reyes, a converted central defender himself, is the likely starter at right back, and Araujo may not be fit in time for the tournament after missing the end of the season with Celtic.

This is the position group where Aguirre is most likely to break his own rule and bring in a player based in Liga MX but not in the training camp, be it Chivas fullback Richy Ledezma or Toluca center back Everardo Lopez.

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The good news is that if the starters stay healthy, the Vasquez-Montes pairing in the middle can be trusted, and you know what you'll get from Gallardo.

Mexico midfield: Gilberto Mora, Alvaro Fidalgo, Edson Alvarez, Erik Lira, Luis Romo, Orbelin Pineda, Luis Chavez, Brian Gutierrez, Roberto Alvarado, Obed Vargas

In the mix: Marcel Ruiz, Jordán Carrillo,Charly Rodriguez,Jordán Carrillo

Alvarez, Lira and Romo occupy the central positions, while rising star Mora, Spain-born Fidalgo and Alaska-born Vargas are among the options for two-way midfielders in the 4-3-3 system. Pineda, who reported to camp this week after helping AEK to a Greek title, is an old reliable who raises the floor if not the ceiling of the team.

Chivas teammates Gutierrez and Alvarado give plenty in attack, and Gutierrez's rise from Chicago Fire youngster to potential World Cup starter has been remarkable.

Chavez would make his Mexico return after tearing his ACL before the Gold Cup last summer. He's suited up several times for Dinamo Moscow, and his World Cup experience combined with the continued recovery could make him a good option.

Mexico forwards: Raul Jimenez, Hormiga Gonzalez, Memo Martinez, German Berterame, Alexis Vega, Julian Quiñones, Santi Gimenez

In the mix: Cesar Huerta

Alvarado, Mora, Gutierrez and Pineda in the last group give plenty going forward, and both Vega and Quiñones have been in superb form for the last year, Quiñones winning the top scorer award in Saudi Arabia over Ivan Toney and Cristiano Ronaldo, Vega keying Toluca to back-to-back Liga MX titles and helping the Diablos Rojos to the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal. Vega can play as a playmaker, a winger who cuts inside or a second forward, while Quiñones has been a central forward at the club level but also has excelled out wide.

The rest of the players listed are center forwards, and it's a lot of central forwards to take. But Pumas forward Martinez's inclusion in the domestic-based camp seems to indicate Aguirre will load up on No. 9s (even if only one player is actually wearing that number), perhaps with rotation in mind. That is great news for Santi Gimenez, who is in poor form in Europe but may still sneak into the last roster spot.

Mexico World Cup roster projection

Goalkeepers (3):Raul “Tala” Rangel, Carlos Acevedo, Guillermo Ochoa

Defenders (6):Johan Vasquez, Cesar Montes, Jesus Gallardo, Israel Reyes, Jorge Sanchez, Julian Araujo

Midfielders (10):Gilberto Mora, Alvaro Fidalgo, Edson Alvarez, Erik Lira, Luis Romo, Orbelin Pineda, Luis Chavez, Brian Gutierrez, Roberto Alvarado, Obed Vargas

Forwards (7):Raul Jimenez, Hormiga Gonzalez, Memo Martinez, German Berterame, Alexis Vega, Julian Quinones, Santi Gimenez

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Mexico national team 2026 World Cup roster prediction

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — Colorado Democrats voted overwhelmingly to censure one of their own, Gov. Jared Polis, forcommuting the prison sentenceof Tina Peters, the election conspiracy theorist who amplified President Donald Trump's baseless claims that mass fraud caused his 2020 election loss.

About 90% of the state party's roughly 700 Central Committee members voted Wednesday for censure. It means that Polis, who is term-limited and serving his final year in office, will be barred from being an honored guest, featured speaker, or officially recognized party representative at party-sponsored events.

Peters, 70, is a former county clerk who was sentenced to nine years behind barsafter being convictedin 2024 for a scheme to make a copy of her county’s electioncomputer system.

She is set for release June 1 after Polis commuted her sentence Friday.

Trump has championed Peters' cause. Reducing her sentence set a “dangerous and disappointing” precedent when democracy and voting rights are under attack nationwide, the Colorado Democratic Party said in a statement.

“It sends a message to future bad actors that election tampering has consequences, unless you’re friends with the president,” the statement said.

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About 700 state party members, including current and former elected officials, petitioned for the party to condemn Polis. The subsequent censure vote was taken in a regularly scheduled party Central Committee virtual meeting.

In April, a Colorado appeals court upheld Peters' conviction but ordered her to be resentenced, saying the judge wrongly punished her for speaking out about election fraud.

In commuting her sentence, Polis told Peters in a letter she deserved prison time but had been given an “extremely unusual and lengthy” sentence for a first-time, nonviolent offender.

He defended the commutation after the censure vote.

“The governor made this decision based on the facts of the case and what he believed was the right thing to do. Sometimes the right thing isn’t the popular thing with everybody. Democracy is strongest when disagreement is met with debate and dialogue, not censorship," Polis spokesperson Eric Maruyama said in an emailed statement Thursday.

Peters thanked Polis and apologized for her crime in a statement after her sentence commutation.

Peters sneaked an outside computer expert, an associate ofMyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, to make a copy of her county’s Dominion Voting Systems election computer server during a system upgrade in 2021. She then joined Lindell onstage at a “cybersymposium” that promised to reveal proof of election rigging, and photos of the upgrade, including passwords, were posted online.

Georgia president Jere Morehead doesn't think expanding the College Football Playoff to 24 teams is a good idea.

In fact, he said this to The Athletic: "A 24-team playoff is a mistake."

With the Southeastern Conference meetings set for next week in Destin, Fla., Morehead doesn't feel the Big Ten has thought out the long-term implications of going from a 12-game playoff to 24.

"It's going to devalue big games during the regular season," Morehead, the Georgia president since July 2013, said on Thursday. "I think it (would) devalue Georgia-Alabama or Georgia-Oklahoma (this) year. So I don't think that's a good idea.

"I was OK with going to 16. I thought that was a good number. But 24 scares me, particularly jumping from 12 to 24. If we went to 16 and tried that for a few years, see how it goes, and then we can evaluate whether we should go to 24. And from my standpoint, I would just stay at 12 then, if we can't get an agreement on 16."

Morehead said the opinion of SEC commissioner Greg Sankey matters the most to him.

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Whatever Sankey suggests, Morehead will likely be on board.

"As long as commissioner Sankey is at 16, I think we'll be at 16," said Morehead, "because I think there's great respect for his position on any issue."

Currently, the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 are in favor of the Big Ten's 24-team playoff plan. Independent program Notre Dame also is on board.

One of the big problems in Morehead's eyes is how a large playoff might impact the regular season.

"I think there's a lot of concern about what 24 is going to do to the regular season," Morehead said. "You know, we depend on these sellout home games, the high ratings that we get for our football games during the season. If those become devalued and if those ratings drop because people see it like the NBA, that these games don't matter anymore, then that affects our situation, in terms of being able to negotiate the next television contract. That's concerning to me.

"And I'm not sure that the Big Ten has really thought through the long-term implications of what this is going to do to the regular season."

--Field Level Media