By PAUL WISEMAN, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump pulled out of trade talks with Canada Thursday night, furious over what he called a “fake’’ television ad from Ontario’s provincial government that quoted former U.S. President Ronald Reagan from 38 years ago criticizing tariffs — Trump’s favorite economic tool.

The ad features audio excerpts from an April 25, 1987 radio address in which Reagan said: “Over the long run such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer.’’

Trump attacked the ad on Truth Social Friday posting: “CANADA CHEATED AND GOT CAUGHT!!! They fraudulently took a big buy ad saying that Ronald Reagan did not like Tariffs, when actually he LOVED TARIFFS FOR OUR COUNTRY, AND ITS NATIONAL SECURITY.″

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute criticized the ad on X Thursday night posting that it “misrepresents the ‘Presidential Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade’ dated April 25, 1987.”

While Trump called the ad fake, Reagan’s words were real. But context is missing.

Here’s a look at the facts:

Reagan, who held office during a period of growing fear over Japan’s rising economic might, made the address a week after he himself had imposed tariffs on Japanese semiconductors; he was attempting to explain the decision, which seemed at odds with his reputation as a free trader.

Reagan did not, in fact, love tariffs. He often criticized government policies – including protectionist measures such as tariffs – that interfered with free commerce and he spent much of 1987 radio address spelling out the case against tariffs.

“High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars,” he said. “The result is more and more tariffs, higher and higher trade barriers, and less and less competition. So, soon, because of the prices made artificially high by tariffs that subsidize inefficiency and poor management, people stop buying. Then the worst happens: Markets shrink and collapse; businesses and industries shut down; and millions of people lose their jobs.”

But Reagan’s policies were more complicated than his rhetoric.

In addition to taxing Japanese semiconductors, Reagan slapped levies on heavy motorcycles from Japan to protect Harley-Davidson. He also strong-armed Japanese automakers into accepting “voluntary’’ limitations on their exports to the United States, ultimately encouraging them to set up factories in the American Midwest and South.

And he pressured other countries to push down the value of the currencies to help make American exports more competitive in world markets.

Robert Lighthizer, a Reagan trade official who served as Trump’s top trade negotiator from 2017 through 2021, wrote in his 2023 memoir that “President Reagan distinguished between free trade in theory and free trade in practice.’’

In 1988, an analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute even declared Reagan “ the most protectionist president since Herbert Hoover, the heavyweight champion of protectionists.’’

Reagan, though, was no trade warrior. Discussing his semiconductor tariffs in the April 1987 radio address, he said that he was forced to impose them because the Japanese were not living up to a trade agreement and that “such tariffs or trade barriers and restrictions of any kind are steps that I am loath to take.’’

Trump, on the other hand, has no such reticence. He argues that tariffs can protect American industry, draw manufacturing back to the United States and raise money for the Treasury. Since returning to the White House in January, he has slapped double-digit tariffs on almost every country on earth and targeted specific products including autos, steel and pharmaceuticals.

The average effective U.S. tariff rate has risen from around 2.5% at the start of the 2025 to 18%, highest since 1934, according to the Budget Lab at Yale University.

Trump’s enthusiastic use of import taxes — he has proudly called himself “Tariff Man” — has drawn a challenge from businesses and states charging that he overstepped his authority. The Constitution gives Congress the power to levy taxes, including tariffs, though lawmakers have gradually ceded considerable authority over trade policy to the White House. The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in the case early next month.

Trump claimed Thursday that the Canadian ad was intended “to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts.’’

A state House committee opened hearings Thursday on a possible ban on medical research using dogs in Michigan.

 The bill would outlaw medical research and testing that could cause “pain or distress” in dogs. It’s aimed largely at hypertension and cardiovascular research at Wayne State University.

Ryan Merkley, director of research advocacy at the Washington D.C.-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine told the House Regulatory Reform Committee that experimenting on dogs is becoming a rarity at research labs across the country.

   “You can see the trend and you can also clearly see that human health research can be done without causing dogs to suffer,” he said.

Former research veterinarian Sally Christopher said using live dogs for medical experiments is outdated and cruel.

“The pain and suffering by dogs at Wayne State is plain to see in the university’s own records,” she said. “What’s equally concerning is the fruitless nature of these experiments, which have not yielded benefits for human patients.”

A Wayne State University veterinary researcher told the committee that experimenting on dogs is, indeed, rare and is handled humanely.

Dr. Michael Bradley said his laboratory uses dogs in experiments on congestive heart failure and hypertension. He told the House Committee on Regulatory Reform that the National Institutes of Health funds the research because it helps save lives.

“Over the 30-plus-year history of this research at Wayne State, there have been numerous scientific advancements that have been added to the body of knowledge of cardiovascular physiology,” he said. “Contrary to recent claims, our research has produced meaningful, peer-reviewed results.”

The regulatory reform committee is chaired by Representative Joe Aragona (R-Clinton Township), who sponsored the bill.  It already has wide bipartisan support, but the committee did not vote on the bill Thursday.

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The Environmental Protection Agency is starting to feel the effects of the government shutdown.

While it did not have to implement a full furlough plan at the beginning of October because it operates with multi-year funding, the agency ordered its first large-scale furloughs this week.

As time goes by and the carryover funding goes down, the total lapse would be an 89% furlough at EPA, EPA head Lee Zeldin said. But again, were not there yet.

RELATED STORY | Senate rejects competing bills to pay federal workers amid government shutdown

The EPA is responsible for enforcing environmental laws, protecting air and water quality and conducting research on public health and the environment.

The agency had already been scaled back after President Donald Trump took office as part of an effort to reduce the size of the federal government. At the beginning of the year, the EPA had about 16,000 employees. Zeldin said he plans to reduce the workforce to about 12,500 employees, which he says will save the agency an estimated $750 million annually.

IN RELATED NEWS | Trump orders Pentagon to pay troops despite ongoing government shutdown

Zeldin argues the downsizing will help the agency operate more efficiently, including by increasing its use of AI.

Its all about setting priorities, focusing on our statutory obligations, he said.

To watch the full interview with Lee Zeldin, click play on the video above.

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government shutdown likely means there won’t be an inflation report next month for the first time in more than seven decades, the White House said Friday, leaving Wall Street and the Federal Reserve without crucial information about consumer prices.

“Because surveyors cannot deploy to the field, the White House has learned there will likely NOT be an inflation release next month for the first time in history,” the Trump administration said in an email.

Some of the inflation data is collected electronically, but most is gathered in person by government employees who visit stores across the country. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which prepares the inflation report, has already reduced the data collected each month because the Trump administration’s hiring freeze left some cities without surveyors.

The announcement follows Friday’s release of September inflation data, which showed prices ticked higher but remained lower than many economists had expected. That report, which was delayed by nine days from its originally-scheduled release, was based on data that was collected before the shutdown began Oct. 1.

In past shutdowns the consumer price index — the government’s principal inflation measure — was compiled based on partial data. But it may be too late to gather even that level of information, the Labor Department said.

Millions of college students could face significant new obstacles paying for graduate school after federal loan limits were signed into law this summer as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Starting July 1, 2026, Grad PLUS loans will be eliminated. Those loans previously allowed graduate students to borrow up to the full cost of attendance.

New borrowers will be limited to $200,000 for professional degrees like law and medicine. Students in other graduate programs can borrow up to $100,000.

WATCH: New federal loan limits eliminate Grad PLUS loans and cap borrowing at $100,000-$200,000

New federal loan limits threaten graduate school access for millions of students

The lifetime limit for all federal student loans is now $257,500 per person.

But experts say the average cost of a bachelor's degree can reach $224,000 at private universities. Add law and medical school, and the total can exceed $390,000.

"Getting Master's and PhDs are going to be out of the question for a lot of students in a lot of areas," said Rodney Coates, a global and intercultural studies professor at Miami University.

"They don't have people who can be a co-signer, so that's already an option taken away because of that," said Pranathi Suhas, a third-year medical student.

The new limits could especially impact students from less prosperous backgrounds who rely on federal loans to pursue advanced degrees. Students say private loans aren't always an option.

For medical students, the financial burden is particularly steep.

"First years, or even ones that are applying right now, will definitely need to reevaluate their financial situations," said Suhas. "Just because of this, medical school is already such a huge financial burden. People have loans that grew up to like $300,000, even more, depending on what school you go to."

Coates pointed to the broader implications for workforce shortages in critical fields.

"If you are already dealing with a shortage of individuals in these areas. Adding this to that only exacerbates this," said Coates. "The changes eliminate what was previously guaranteeing that they would have access to graduate school."

This article was written by De'Jah Gross for the Scripps News Group in Cincinnati.

The U.S. military is sending an aircraft carrier to the waters off South America, in the latest escalation and buildup of military forces in the region, the Pentagon announced Friday.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group to deploy to U.S. Southern Command to bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a social media post.

The USS Ford is currently deployed to the Mediterranean Sea along with three destroyers. It would likely take several days for the ships to make the journey to South America.

Deploying an aircraft carrier is a major escalation of military power in a region that has already seen an unusually large U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean Sea and the waters off Venezuela.

Hours before Parnell announced the news, Hegseth said the military had conducted the 10th strike on a suspected drug-running boat, leaving six people dead and bringing the death count for the strikes that began in early September to at least 43 people.

The Pentagon told reporters it had nothing further to add beyond the statement.

Hegseth said the vessel struck overnight was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang. It was the second time the Trump administration has tied one of its operations to the gang that originated in a Venezuelan prison.

RELATED STORY | US carries out 10th strike on boat suspected of carrying drugs in the Caribbean

The pace of the strikes has quickened in recent days from one every few weeks when they first began to three this week, killing a total of at least 43 people since September. Two of the most recent strikes were carried out in the eastern Pacific Ocean, expanding the area where the military has launched attacks and shifting to where much of the cocaine from the worlds largest producers is smuggled.

In a 20-second black and white video of the strike posted to social media, a small boat can be seen apparently sitting motionless on the water when a long thin projectile descends, triggering an explosion. The video ends before the blast dies down enough for the remains of the boat to be seen again.

Hegseth said the strike happened in international waters and boasted that it was the first one conducted at night.

If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat Al-Qaeda, Hegseth said in the post. Day or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you.

US focus on Venezuela and Tren de Aragua

The strike drew parallels to the first announced by the U.S. last month by focusing on Tren de Aragua, which the Trump administration has designated a foreign terrorist organization and blamed for being at the root of the violence and drug dealing that plague some cities.

While not mentioning the origin of the latest boat, the Republican administration says at least four of the boats it has hit have come from Venezuela.

The attacks and an unusually large U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean Sea and the waters off Venezuela have raised speculation that the administration could try to topple Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro, who faces charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S.

In the latest move, the U.S. military flew a pair of supersonic heavy bombers up to the coast of Venezuela on Thursday.

The Trump administration maintains that its combating drug trafficking into the United States, but Maduro argues that the operations are the latest effort to force him out of office.

Maduro on Thursday praised security forces and a civilian militia for defense exercises along some 2,000 kilometers (about 1,200 miles) of coastline to prepare for the possibility of a U.S. attack.

In the span of six hours, 100% of all the countrys coastline was covered in real time, with all the equipment and heavy weapons to defend all of Venezuelas coasts if necessary, Maduro said during a government event shown on state television.

The U.S. militarys presence is less about drugs than sending a message to countries in the region to align with U.S. interests, according to Elizabeth Dickinson, the International Crisis Groups senior analyst for the Andes region.

An expression that Im hearing a lot is Drugs are the excuse. And everyone knows that, Dickinson said. And I think that message is very clear in regional capitals. So the messaging here is that the U.S. is intent on pursuing specific objectives. And it will use military force against leaders and countries that dont fall in line.

Comparing the drug crackdown to the war on terror

Hegseths remarks around the strikes have recently begun to draw a direct comparison between the war on terrorism that the U.S. declared after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the Trump administrations crackdown on drug traffickers.

President Donald Trump this month declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and said the U.S. was in an armed conflict with them, relying on the same legal authority used by the Bush administration after 9/11.

When reporters asked Trump on Thursday whether he would request Congress issue a declaration of war against the cartels, he said that wasnt the plan.

I think were just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country, OK? Were going to kill them, you know? Theyre going to be like, dead, Trump said during a roundtable at the White House with homeland security officials.

Lawmakers from both major political parties have expressed concerns about Trump ordering the military actions without receiving authorization from Congress or providing many details. Democrats have insisted the strikes violate international law.

Ive never seen anything quite like this before, said Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., who previously worked in the Pentagon and the State Department, including as an adviser in Afghanistan.

We have no idea how far this is going, how this could potentially bring in, you know, is it going to be boots on the ground? Is it going to be escalatory in a way where we could see us get bogged down for a long time? he said.

But Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, who has long been involved in foreign affairs in the hemisphere, said of Trumps approach: Its about time.

While Trump is a president who obviously hates war, he also is not afraid to use the U.S. military in targeted operations, Diaz-Balart said.

I would not want to be in the shoes of any of these narco-cartels, he added.

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On Sunday, October 26, Spotlight on the News will take viewers inside the New Economy Initiative and Gilbert Family Foundation's digital small business helper for Southeast Michigan entrepreneurs. We'll also introduce viewers to a unique program in Plymouth serving local youth called Growth Works. Our Sunday morning guests will include Wafa Dinaro, Executive Director, New Economy Intiative; Darnell Adams, V.P. of Detroit Community Initiatives for the Gilbert Family Foundation; and Nick Griswold, CEO, Growth Works.

Spotlight on the News, now in its 60th season, is Michigan's longest-running weekly news and public affairs television program. It airs every Sunday at 10:00 a.m. on WXYZ-TV/Channel 7 in Detroit, is streamed live on wxyz.com and broadcast at 11:30 a.m. on 23.1 WKAR-HD in East Lansing.

Johnny Depp appears set to return to the mainstream as Ebenezer Scrooge in Paramount Pictures’ adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” helmed by horror movie director Ti West.

The 62-year-old “Pirates of the Caribbean” star — whose career suffered for years in the wake of abuse allegations leveled by ex-wife Amber Heard — is said to be in final talks to star in “Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol,” according to Variety and Nexus Point News.

Andrea Riseborough, similarly no stranger to controversy albeit of lighter fare, is also set to star.

While West is primarily known for making horror films, including the recent “X” trilogy, it’s not yet clear whether his version of “A Christmas Carol” will flirt with the gory genre.

The movie, which Paramount hopes to release next November, will mark Depp’s first role from a major studio since 2018’s “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.”

He has slowly but surely been returning to the cinematic forefront after Heard, now 39, seemingly accused him of domestic abuse in an op-ed for The Washington Post, just over a month after the release of that film.

The allegations, after which Depp was fired from both the “Fantastic Beasts” and “Pirates” franchises, resulted in the exes facing off in a 2022 joint defamation trial that captivated the internet and led both performers to becoming persona non grata.

Riseborough, for her part, may best be known now for her eyebrow-raising Best Actress nomination at the 2023 Academy Awards. Her consideration campaign for “To Leslie” was accused of violating Academy rules by somehow enlisting a slew of celebrities to publicly sing her praises and increase her chances of a nomination.

The nod spurred a probe, which found “tactics that caused concern,” though the nomination was not rescinded.

NEW YORK (AP) — The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people, including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures, on charges of illegal sports betting has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of professional sports gambling across the U.S.

Since widespread legalization, the multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy to place wagers on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. It’s just about impossible to go to a basketball, football, baseball or other pro game today — or watch a matchup on TV — without seeing ads for sports betting.

Fans can place wagers from their stadium seats, while “Bet” tickers scroll on TV sports broadcasts. Star athletes are frequently at the center of ads promoting it all.

Regulating sports wagering has proven to be a challenge — and experts warn about the ramifications for gamblers who typically lose money. Professional leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has raised eyebrows.

Sports betting also faces criticism for opening the door to addictive gambling.

“The fact that it’s normalized, the advertising is aggressive, it’s available 24/7, the micro bets — all of this is adding up to tremendous increase in usage across individuals,”  Wayne Taylor, a professor of marketing at Southern Methodist University, told the Associated Press, citing algorithms and other incentives betting platforms use to increase engagement.

Isaac Rose-Berman, whose research focuses on sports betting as a fellow at the American Institute for Boys and Men, noted that platforms make the most off of returning “biggest losers.” Recent research suggests that young men in low-income communities are particularly affected by financial consequences tied to sports gambling.

“Upwards of 90% of sports bettors are not really going to experience significant negative impacts — but it’s really concentrated among those big losers and it’s going to be devastating for them,” he said.

So, how do you know if you have a gambling problem?

If you’re hiding the fact that you gamble to your friends and family, do it when you’re stressed and experience mood changes, you may be showing warning signs of a gambling addiction. The Associated Press explains in the video below:

Kim Kardashian got candid about a recent health scare, revealing on the season 7 premiere of “The Kardashians” that she’d been diagnosed with a brain aneurysm.

The SKIMS founder fought back tears while talking about the diagnosis in a trailer that played at the beginning of Thursday’s season opener.

In the clip, the 45-year-old can be seen lying in an MRI machine and later telling her family the scan found “a little aneurysm.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, a brain aneurysm is “a bulge or ballooning in a blood vessel in the brain.” Though most aren’t serious, especially if they’re small, the condition can become life-threatening if an aneurysm ruptures, causing bleeding in the brain.

Kardashian went on to tell her family that her doctor blamed the aneurysm on stress. Elsewhere in the premiere, she admitted that a lot of her stress comes from her ex-husband, Kanye West, with whom she shares four kids between the ages of 6 and 12.

“I feel more stressed probably just because I have to protect my kids,” she said. “Everyone around can handle (the drama), but I want to protect my babies.”

She noted that for years she’s been “able to hide” her ex-husband’s controversies and public outbursts from their kids, but it’s getting harder to do so as they get older. Kardashian later said her relationship with West feels like “a little bit of Stockholm syndrome.”

“I always felt really bad and always wanted to help,” she explained. “(People think) I should have stuck it out and I could have helped. … (But) as much as people think that I have the luxury of walking away and not dealing ever again, that’s not my reality. This person — we have four kids together.”

Kardashian also partly blamed her ongoing psoriasis flare-ups to the stress of co-parenting with West.

“I haven’t had psoriasis since my divorce (in 2021), but it’s starting to come back,” Kardashian told a producer while looking at the red rashes on her legs. “It always flares up whenever I start feeling stressed.”

Still, the mother of four said she isn’t looking for an apology from her ex and just wants to find peace no matter how he behaves.

“I’m not looking for it,” she explained. “I don’t care. Is it sad, it’s so f—ing sad. But I can’t stress too much about that. I have to worry about other things.”

A new study suggests mRNA coronavirus vaccines effectively prolonged the lives of certain cancer patients.

The study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, examined health records of patients who received the vaccine within 100 days of starting immunotherapy for lung and skin cancer.

The researchers at the University of Florida and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center believe the vaccines awakened the body's immune system to the presence of cancer but exactly how isn't clear.

ICYMI | Former CDC director warns 'many people will suffer' from funding cuts to mRNA vaccine development

Researchers compared the records of more than 1,000 patients who received mRNA vaccines with those who hadn't.

According to the study, the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines nearly doubled the median survival length of patients who received them.

The implications are extraordinary this could revolutionize the entire field of oncologic care, said co-senior author of the study, Dr. Elias Sayour, a UF Health pediatric oncologist and the Stop Childrens Cancer/Bonnie R. Freeman Professor for Pediatric Oncology Research.

The study's lead author says more research is needed. Other experts pointed out that while the findings are not yet proven to be causal, it marks a pivotal step in the ongoing research.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

The Trump administration has identified a new country where it intends to imminently send Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man wrongly deported to El Salvador earlier this year, the Department of Justice said in a court filing Friday.

The West African nation of Liberia has agreed to accept Abrego Garcia, the DOJ officials said, and the Department of Homeland Security is aiming for a removal date as early as Oct. 31.

Although [Abrego Garcia] has identified more than twenty countries that he purports to fear would persecute or torture him if he were removed there, Liberia is not on that list, DOJ lawyers wrote. Liberia is a thriving democracy and one of the United Statess closest partners on the African continent.

The Trump administration expects to file further notices pertaining to Abrego Garcias removal before a federal court in Maryland later Friday, the filing added, and U.S. officials have "received diplomatic assurances regarding the treatment of third-country individuals removed to Liberia from the United States and are making the final necessary arrangements for [Abrego Garcias] removal.

RELATED STORY | Kilmar Abrego Garcia moved to a Pennsylvania detention facility

In a statement to Scripps News, Abrego Garcias attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg blasted the DOJs new proposal.

"Having struck out with Uganda, Eswatini and Ghana, ICE now seeks to deport our client Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia a country with which he has no connection, thousands of miles from his family and home in Maryland. Costa Rica has agreed to accept him as a refugee, and remains a viable and lawful option. Instead, the government has chosen yet another path that feels designed to inflict maximum hardship. Their actions are punitive, cruel and unconstitutional, Sandoval-Moshenberg said.

Unless Liberia guarantees that it will not re-deport Mr. Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, then sending him to Liberia is no less unlawful than sending him directly to El Salvador a second time."

RELATED STORY | Abrego Garcia says he was subjected to psychological torture in El Salvador jail

Abrego Garcias name was thrust to the spotlight when he was deported to El Salvador's notorious CECOT prison in March, despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation there due to fear of persecution. The Trump administration has claimed Abrego Garcia, who had been living in Maryland with his wife and children, was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, though he and his attorneys deny that allegation.

He was returned to the U.S. in June, only to immediately face new charges of human smuggling in Tennessee.

Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty to those allegations and has sought to force Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to testify in an upcoming hearing concerning Abrego Garcia's claim that his prosecution was unconstitutionally vindictive in nature.

The DOJ on Wednesday said it opposed that request, describing it as an open-ended fishing expedition.

Judge Paula Xinis, overseeing Abrego Garcias case in Maryland, has barred his removal while hes awaiting trial in the Tennessee case. She had not yet weighed in on the DOJs new proposal to remove him to Liberia as of Friday afternoon.

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MIAMI (AP) — As a new NBA season opened this week, coach Rick Carlisle and the Indiana Pacers received their annual briefing on the do’s and don’ts of gambling.

Betting in casinos is generally allowed. Betting on other sports, provided it is legal, is also allowed.

Betting on NBA basketball is not.

For veterans of the sport, it’s the type of training that can seem routine — almost boring, perhaps. But the potential repercussions for breaking the rules are now abundantly clear after Portland coach Chauncey Billups and Miami guard Terry Rozier were among nearly three dozen people arrested Thursday for what federal law enforcement officials described as their involvement in various illicit gambling activities.

The developments pose an unexpected challenge for a league that hoped to begin its season on a strong note, fueled by an opening night game watched by millions as it went into a thrilling double overtime. There have been amazing performances already: Victor Wembanyama scoring 40 points in his season debut with San Antonio, reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 55 for Oklahoma City, Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Denver’s Aaron Gordon putting on an I-can-top-this show.

Those should be the talk of the league right now. That’s not the case. All that has been overshadowed. The NBA now faces questions about the pervasiveness of gambling in basketball, and uncertainty about what might happen next.

“A shocking day,” said Carlisle, who said he unsuccessfully tried to connect with Billups to offer support. “This is a very serious situation.”

The accusations against Rozier and Billups

Rozier, who was arrested in Orlando, Florida, where the Heat opened the season against the Magic, stands accused of telling an associate that he was going to play sparingly in a game on March 23, 2023, when he was with the Charlotte Hornets. Rozier played just under 10 minutes and fell well short of many of the lines set for prop bets regarding his performance.

More than $200,000 worth of wagers were won, federal officials said, based on the information Rozier shared.

Billups — a Hall of Fame player — was arrested in Lake Oswego, Oregon, and charged with being involved in a poker scheme that federal officials said cheated victims out of at least $7 million. Billups was one of 31 people arrested on the poker-related charges, and some of those arrested were, according to officials, members of three Mafia families.

The indictments for the insider betting and poker cases were separate, but it appears Billups was mentioned — albeit not by name — in the betting one as well. Someone who matches Billups’ resume, an Oregon resident who played in the NBA from 1997 through 2014 and has been a coach since 2021, was alleged to have given insider information to someone who used it to craft wagers involving Trail Blazers’ games in 2023.

That person is described in that document only as Co-Conspirator 8.

Billups and Rozier appeared in court on Thursday and are out of the league indefinitely, being placed on leave by the NBA just hours after their arrests. An attorney for Billups called his client a “man of integrity” while a lawyer for Rozier said the player is “not a gambler” and “looks forward to winning this fight.”

In a statement, the NBA said it takes “these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”

Betting is big in pro sports

Yet betting has become big business for the NBA, as it has with virtually all pro sports leagues in this era where sports wagering is legal in much of the country. The practice is allowed in some form in 38 states now. Missouri will join that list later this year, and it’s also permitted in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

“It’s a world that’s a different world than it was a few years ago with the advent of legalized gambling,” Carlisle noted.

Some leaders in the league encouraged the growth of legalized gambling. In 2014, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wrote an op-ed in The New York Times noting a “thriving underground business” of illegal sports gambling that “operates free from regulation or oversight.” He called for a “different approach.”

A 2018 Supreme Court decision ultimately cleared the way for the modern era of legalized sports gambling. Today, the NBA has two official gaming partners, FanDuel and DraftKings Sportsbook, and has relationships with at least 12 authorized gaming operators. There is even a portion of the NBA’s website devoted to gambling — NBABet.

As legalized gambling has taken off, Silver has expressed some worries about the implications.

“Obviously, I’m very concerned if there’s any illegal activity going on in our league,” he said in July. “But I’d say similar to the way a public financial market works, the fact that there might be insider trading doesn’t mean you’re necessarily going to shut down those public markets. Often the way they are catching insider traders is because they have a system, a complex system, that detects aberrational behavior.”

“But,” he added, “anybody in this league, any player who engages in that activity, there’s no question they are putting their livelihood at risk.”

Golden State coach Steve Kerr said an unfortunate reality for players and coaches in this betting era is that fans reach out — often angrily, sometimes while sitting courtside — to complain that this or that happened and they lost their bet or parlay.

Kerr has even gotten emails from people who want to complain about how they believe he has personally cost them money.

“Our guys get nasty social media posts from people who have bet on games,” Kerr said. “And that’s the thing that I don’t like about this the most. Our players should not have to deal with that, but they do. … It’s just kind of the modern life.”

Billups’ arrest hit home for the Denver Nuggets. Rodney Billups, Chauncey’s brother, is a member of Denver’s coaching staff.

Michael Porter Jr. was with the Nuggets in 2024 when his brother, Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter, was banned for life after a league probe found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors and wagered on games — sometimes even betting on the Raptors to lose.

There have been other probes since, none quite like what the NBA finds itself dealing with now.

“This is not how we want to start the season in the NBA,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said.

— By TIM REYNOLDS, Associated Press

By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A 2018 Supreme Court decision opened the floodgates to legalized sports-betting industry, now worth billions of dollars a year, even as it recognized that the decision was controversial.

That high-court ruling is back in the spotlight after the arrests on Thursday of more than 30 people, including an NBA player and coach, in two cases alleging sprawling criminal schemes to rake in millions by rigging sports bets and poker games involving Mafia families.

What did the Supreme Court decide?

The court’s ruling struck down a 1992 federal law, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, that had barred betting on football, basketball, baseball and other sports in most states.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his majority opinion that the way Congress went about the gambling ban, barring states from authorizing sports betting, violated the Constitution’s Tenth Amendment, which protects the power of states.

“The legalization of sports gambling requires an important policy choice, but the choice is not ours to make,” Alito wrote. The court’s “job is to interpret the law Congress has enacted and decide whether it is consistent with the Constitution. PASPA is not.”

The trouble with the law, Alito explained, was that Congress did not make betting on sports a federal crime. Instead, it prohibited states from authorizing legalized gambling, improperly infringing on their authority. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy, Neil Gorsuch and Elena Kagan joined Alito’s opinion.

Dissenting justices said the court should have acted more narrowly

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote that even if the part of the law regulating the states’ behavior should be struck down, the rest of it should have survived. In particular, Ginsburg wrote that a separate provision that applied to private parties and betting schemes should have been left in place.

Writing for Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer, Ginsburg said that when a portion of a law violates the Constitution, the court “ordinarily engages in a salvage rather than a demolition operation,” preserving what it can. She said that instead of using a “scalpel to trim the statute” her colleagues used “an axe.” Breyer agreed with the majority that part of the law must be struck down but said that should not have doomed the rest of the law.

But Alito, in his majority opinion, wrote that Congress did not contemplate treating the two provisions separately.

Opponents of gambling warned about corruption

Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey, a former college and NBA star, was a sponsor of the law that he said was needed to protect against “the dangers of sports betting.”

All four major U.S. professional sports leagues and the NCAA had urged the court to uphold the federal law, saying a gambling expansion would hurt the integrity of their games. They also said that with legal sports betting in the United States, they’d have to spend a lot more money monitoring betting patterns and investigating suspicious activity.

The Trump administration also called for the law to be upheld.

Alito acknowledged in his majority opinion “the legalization of sports gambling is a controversial subject,” in part for its potential to “corrupt professional and college sports.”

He included references to the “Black Sox Scandal,” the fixing of the 1919 World Series by members of the Chicago White Sox, and the point-shaving scandal of the early 1950s that rocked college basketball.

But ultimately, he wrote, Congress couldn’t require states to keep sports gambling prohibitions in place.

More than 350,000 curling irons are being recalled due to a burn hazard.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the barrel on the Bio Ionic One-Inch Long Barrel Curling Iron can snap and detach during use. The agency said the company has received 258 reports of the barrel detaching, including six reports of minor burn injuries.

The recalled irons have model number LXT-CL-1.0 and a date code between 0722 and 1223.

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"Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled curling iron, unplug it, and contact Bio Ionic to register for a free replacement curling iron," the CPSC said. "Consumers will be asked to cut off the plug and return the plug to the recalling firm using a prepaid shipping label."

The curling irons were sold at beauty supply stores nationwide, including Ulta and Sephora, as well as online at Amazon and BioIonic.com from August 2022 through July 2024. They retailed for about $165.

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Nike announced it has launched Project Amplify, calling it the worlds first battery-powered footwear for walking and running.

The footwear is designed to help runners and walkers move a little bit faster and farther with less effort, the company said. Nike says the system augments lower-leg and ankle movement, providing an unparalleled boost to anyone who wants to move.

Nike compared Project Amplify to electric bikes, which have surged in popularity in recent years. The first-generation system includes a lightweight motor, drive belt and rechargeable cuff battery that integrates with carbon fiberplated running shoes.

The goal, according to Nike, is to make slower running, jogging and walking easier and more fun, focusing on athletes who run between a 10- and 12-minute mile pace.

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Nike claims the footwear could help athletes running a 12-minute mile improve to a 10-minute mile.

Our job is to dream big while keeping athletes at the center, said Michael Donaghu, vice president of Create The Future, Emerging Sport and Innovation. Project Amplify started with a single question: What if we could find a way to help athletes move faster and farther with less energy and a lot more fun? At its core, Project Amplify is about seamlessly adding a little more power to your stride. The fun comes from realizing you can do more than you thought you could whatever more means to you.

The footwear system remains in the testing phase. Nike said it has tested Project Amplify with 400 athletes, logging 2.4 million steps.

A broader consumer launch is anticipated in the coming years.

New York Attorney General Letitia James pleaded not guilty on Friday to federal charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution.

The Department of Justice alleges that James falsely claimed on mortgage paperwork for a Virginia home that it would be her primary residence, even though she primarily lived and worked in New York. Prosecutors say the misrepresentation allowed her to secure more favorable loan terms, saving her about $18,000.

James, who has sued Trump and his administration numerous times, has called the indictment politically motivated.

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"This is not about me. This is about all of us, and about a justice system which has been weaponized a justice system which has been used as a tool of revenge," James said outside court. "This justice system which has been used as a tool of revenge and a weapon against those individuals who simply did their job and stood up for the rule of law. And a justice system which unfortunately is being used as a vehicle of retribution."

In court documents obtained by Scripps News, James is seeking to have the case dismissed because the indictment was brought by interim United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan.

Halligan, President Trump's former personal attorney, replaced the previous U.S. attorney after they reportedly expressed concerns about bringing the charges.

Former FBI Director James Comey is also challenging Halligan's appointment after he was indicted for lying to Congress.

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