Three spectators died and more than 70 others were injured after falling from the upper stand of a stadium following MC Alger’s second straight Algerian top-flight title win, the Algerian ministry of health said on Sunday.
“The Beni Messous University Hospital received 38 injured people, while three deaths were recorded,” the Algerian ministry of health said in a statement via Facebook, adding: “Ben Aknoun Hospital also received 27 injured people, while Bab El Oued Hospital received 16.”
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune offered his condolences and wished a speedy recovery for the injured.
“It is with great sadness and sorrow and with hearts that we received the news of our supporter Younes Amguzzi, who passed away after falling from the upper stands,” MC Alger said earlier in an Instagram post.
The club has yet to comment on the other fatalities.
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If the seasons can transform, then so can you. It’s time to shed your spring self and become the hottest, most confident version of yourself this summer.
If you’ve been stuck in a beauty rut or have been something of a wallflower, some might say you’re about to become unrecognizable.
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These little beauty add-ons will make a subtle yet noticeable difference, to the point where people will be asking you what you’ve had done.
We’ve found products that will help you achieve full, lush eyelashes and fluffy eyebrows. Our experts picked out a whitening system for your brightest and most beautiful smile. Never get razor burn again: shop our favorite ways to remove unwanted hair. We’ve even found a variety of ways you can tan, contour, and tone your skin with and without makeup.
No matter your style, skin tone, hair type, or budget, there’s something here that will work for you.
Ready to become the best version of yourself? Click through to start your glow-up now, because your hot-girl summer starts today.
It took months of planning and included over 125 planes, a submarine and 14 “bunker buster” bombs.
BBC Verify’s Merlyn Thomas describes how the US mission “Operation Midnight Hammer” took place and analyses new satellite imagery that reveals the damage at Iran’s nuclear sites Isfahan, Natanz and Fordo.
Produced by Aisha Sembhi. Graphics by Mesut Ersoz.
President Trump said on Sunday that the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement should drop Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) after the his pushback Saturday night against the U.S. strikes against Iran.
In a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform, Trump called Massie “not MAGA” and “a simple minded ‘grandstander’ who thinks it’s good politics for Iran to have the highest level Nuclear weapon.”
“Massie is weak, ineffective, and votes ‘NO’ on virtually everything put before him (Rand Paul, Jr.), no matter how good something may be. He is disrespectful to our great military, and all that they stand for, not even acknowledging their brilliance and bravery in yesterday’s attack, which was a total and complete WIN,” Trump said in his post.
The president name-checked Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (R) because both he and Massie have opposed the president’s “big, beautiful bill.”
“Massie should drop his fake act and start putting America First, but he doesn’t know how to get there — he doesn’t have a clue! He’ll undoubtedly vote against the Great, Big, Beautiful Bill, even though non-passage means a 68% Tax Increase for everybody, and many things far worse than that. MAGA should drop this pathetic LOSER, Tom Massie, like the plague!” he added.
On Saturday, Trump announced that the U.S. had bombed three Iranian nuclear sites.
On Tuesday, Massie introduced a war powers resolution to prohibit U.S. involvement in Iran as its conflict with Israel intensifies, signaling they may force a vote on the matter. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said he would co-sponsor the measure.
The Hill has reached out to Massie and Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) office for comment.
While President Donald Trump’s social media posts make it seem as though his tariff moves are executed at his whim, it is clear that at least some industries have a seat at the negotiating table.
The auto industry’s top executiveshave said they are in close contact with the White House and have even praised the president and his White House team for hearing their concerns.
However, it is also clear that Trump’s interest in protecting the auto industry’s bottom line is minimal.
Ford, Stellantis, and General Motors — America’s Big 3 automakers — have all said that Trump’s tariffs will cost them billions, and they’ve pulled their guidance due to a lack of visibility.
Trump has made it clear to every industry that he doesn’t want prices to increase, even going as far as telling companies like Walmart to just “EAT THE TARIFFS.”
So, every time the auto industry has been observed raising prices in recent months, it has denied that it has anything to do with tariffs.
Others, like Mazda, have indeed eaten the tariffs, with the Japanese automaker sending a letter to its U.S. dealers informing them that it would not raise its sticker prices or tack on import fees for any vehicles already on dealership lots or that will come into the country before May 1.
Toyota is the latest Japanese automaker to make a pricing move, but it isn’t blaming the move on tariffs.
Toyota’s recent pricing move might be an unwelcome surprise for customers.Image source: Shutterstock
Toyota sold over 2.3 million vehicles in the U.S. last year, a 3.7% year-over-year increase. Between April 2024 and March 2025, the company built 1.96 million units in the U.S., according to Statista.
So, despite a U.S. production capacity that can handle nearly 2 million vehicles a year, Toyota still ships in nearly half a million vehicles from overseas to sell in the U.S.
On June 21, Toyota said that prices for several Toyota and Lexus brand vehicles will rise by an average of $270 and $208, respectively, starting in July, according to an email seen by Bloomberg.
While the price increase could be seen as a response to the 25% duties Trump has placed on auto imports, Toyota insists that the move is just part of its regular price review process.
In April, fellow Japanese automaker Mitsubishi said it would hold its vehicles in port for the foreseeable future instead of offloading them and being forced to pay duties.
“We have sufficient stock on the ground at dealers for the moment to not impact customer choice,” the company said at the time.
While it was unclear how much cargo was in the ports, Mitsubishi’s 330 U.S. dealers sold 109,843 vehicles in the U.S. in 2024, a 25.8% year-over-year increase and the brand’s best performance since 2019.
Earlier this month, the company announced that it is raising prices on three models, also saying that the move was just a regular adjustment and not a reaction to tariffs.
Japanese car companies aren’t the only ones afraid to pin their price increases on tariffs.
In May, Ford sent a notice to dealers saying it planned to raise prices on the Mustang Mach-E electric SUV, Maverick pickup truck, and Bronco Sport SUV by as much as $2,000 on some models.
Those vehicles are made in Mexico.
More Automotive news
A Ford spokesperson confirmed that the price increases will be seen on vehicles built after May 2. Those vehicles will start arriving on dealer lots in late June.
The company emphasized that its employee pricing promotion remains for all of its vehicles through the July 4 weekend.
Just like Mazda and Toyota before it, the company says the increase was due to its usual midyear pricing actions, but it was also “combined with some tariffs we are facing. We have not passed on the full cost of tariffs to our customers.”
In 2018, when Bitcoin was trading around $4,000 and most Americans, at least, thought cryptocurrency was a fad, Katie Haun found herself on a debate stage in Mexico City opposite Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist who had dismissed digital assets as near worthless. As Krugman focused on Bitcoin’s wild price swings, Haun steered the conversation toward something else — stablecoins.
“Stablecoins are really interesting and really important to this ecosystem to hedge against that volatility,” she argued on stage, explaining how digital tokens pegged to the U.S. dollar could offer the benefits of blockchain technology without the ups and downs of traditional cryptocurrencies.
Krugman dismissed the idea entirely.
It wasn’t exactly a turning point in Haun’s career, but it was one moment among others that have helped define it. A former federal prosecutor who spent more than a decade investigating financial crimes, including creating the government’s first cryptocurrency task force and leading investigations into the Mt. Gox hack and corrupt agents in the Silk Road case, Haun had an unusual background for a crypto champion. She wasn’t a libertarian ideologue or a tech founder. Coming instead from law enforcement, she understood the criminal potential and legitimate uses of digital assets.
By 2018, she had already made history as the first female partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where she co-led their crypto funds. Founding Haun Ventures in 2022, with more than $1.5 billion in assets under management — its team is now investing from a brand-new set of funds that have yet to officially close — she has been even more free to pursue her specific convictions about the future of money.
The leap to hanging her own shingle hasn’t been without its complexities. Despite her role at a16z and the industry connections that came with it, the two haven’t publicly co-invested in anything since early2022, shortly after she launched her fund, and Haun, who joined the board of Coinbase in 2017, stepped off it last year, while Marc Andreessen, who took colleague Chris Dixon’s seat in 2020, remains a director.
When asked Wednesday night at TechCrunch’s StrictlyVC event about her relationship with Andreessen Horowitz, she downplayed any potential friction while acknowledging they aren’t collaborators exactly. “There’s no gentleman’s agreement,” she said, echoing this editor’s question about whether there’s any understanding to avoid competing with her former employer. “In fact, I still talk to Andreessen Horowitz. You’re right that we haven’t really done any deals together of late.”
The apparent lack of co-investment could reflect the cutthroat industry or the challenges associated with leaving one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent firms to compete directly with former colleagues. Whatever the case, Haun is now charting her own course, and at the heart of it is stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a stable value by being pegged to traditional assets like the U.S. dollar.
Unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum, which can swing wildly in value, stablecoins like Circle’s USDC or Tether’s USDT are meant to trade at exactly $1, creating a digital representation of traditional currency that can move on blockchain networks.
Indeed, fast-forward to today, and Haun’s belief in stablecoins looks increasingly prescient. Stablecoins — which barely existed in 2015 — now represent a quarter of a trillion dollars in value. They’ve become the 14th largest holder of U.S. Treasuries globally. Reportedly, for the first time last year, stablecoin transaction volume exceeded Visa’s.
“I think people who looked at stablecoins a few years ago thought, what is the value prop?” Haun said Wednesday night. “You’ve asked me this before. You said, ‘Why do I need stablecoins?’ And I said, “I refer to this as an ‘If it works for me, it works for everyone’ problem.”
In reality, for most Americans, the existing financial system works reasonably well. We have Venmo, bank accounts, credit cards. But Haun, drawing on her prosecutor’s understanding of global financial systems, says she has long been aware that the U.S. experience isn’t universal.
In countries with unstable currencies or limited banking infrastructure, stablecoins offer something unique, she argues, which is instant access to stable, dollar-denominated value that can be sent anywhere in the world for pennies. “People in Turkey don’t think of Tether as a cryptocurrency,” she said Wednesday, “They think of Tether as money.”
The technology has evolved dramatically since those early debates, certainly. Stablecoins once cost $12 to send internationally. And Circle says its USDC stablecoin is fully backed one-to-one by dollars held in JP Morgan bank accounts and audited by Big Four accounting firms.
Little wonder the corporate world is taking notice in a big way. Walmart and Amazon are reportedly exploring stablecoins, as are other goliaths like Uber, Apple, and Airbnb. The reason is simple economics. Stablecoins provide a way to move the value of U.S. dollars using cryptocurrency rails instead of traditional banking infrastructure, potentially saving these retail-heavy companies billions in processing fees.
But the shift has critics worried about economic chaos. While Circle and Tether are committed to having enough reserves to support their tokens, unlike traditional banks, there’s no insured government protection behind these reserves. Relatedly, if major corporations can issue their own currencies, what happens to monetary policy and banking regulation?
The concerns run deeper than just economic disruption. Not all stablecoins are created equal, and many lack the backing and oversight that companies like Circle provide. While well-regulated stablecoins like USDC are backed by actual dollars in U.S. Treasury securities, others operate with less transparency or rely on complex algorithmic mechanisms that have proven vulnerable to collapse. (TerraUSD has had the most specular crash to date, wiping out $60 billion in value when it nosedived.)
Corruption concerns in particular came into sharp focus recently when President Donald Trump’s family issued its own stablecoin, a move that highlighted potential conflicts of interest in an industry where political influence can directly impact market value and regulatory outcomes.
These concerns came to a head as Congress debated the GENIUS Act, legislation that would create a federal framework for stablecoin regulation. The bill passed the Senate early last week with bipartisan support, with 14 Democrats crossing party lines to support it. It now awaits a House vote before potentially reaching the president’s desk.
But Senator Elizabeth Warren, the ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee, has been particularly vocal in her opposition, calling the legislation a “superhighway for Donald Trump’s corruption.” Her criticism centers on a notable gap in the bill: while it prohibits members of Congress and senior executive branch officials from issuing stablecoin products, it says nothing about their family members.
Asked about Warren’s concerns on Wednesday night, Haun practically rolled her eyes. “I think it’s really ironic that Elizabeth Warren or other Democrats who do call this corruption are not running to pass crypto legislation,” she said. “Had there been rules of the road in place [already], there would have been a framework, there would have been clear rules for what’s a security, what’s a commodity, and what are the consumer protections around that.”
Haun, whose venture capital firm has made numerous stablecoin investments including Bridge (acquired by Stripe for reportedly 10 times forward revenue), is largely supportive of the legislation, unsurprisingly. But she has one notable criticism: the bill’s prohibition on yield-bearing stablecoins.
“I’m not sure that yield-bearing stablecoins are a good idea for consumers in the U.S., but I’m not sure that a prohibition is a good idea,” she told StrictlyVC attendees. The issue comes down to who profits from the interest earned on stablecoin reserves. Currently, that money goes to companies like Circle and Coinbase. But Haun wonders why consumers shouldn’t get that yield, just like they would with a savings account.
“If you had a savings account or checking account and you’re getting yield on that, you’re getting interest,” she explained. “What if you just said, ‘No, the bank gets interest, not you,’ and they’re lending out your money?”
Haun was less nuanced when it comes to another Warren concern: that if the GENIUS Act is signed into law, stablecoins could become a vehicle for money laundering and terrorism financing.
“Criminals are great beta testers of all technologies,” said Haun. “But this technology is highly traceable, way more traceable than cash. The largest criminal instrument is the dollar bill.” (According to Haun, the Treasury Department has testified that 99.9% of money laundering crimes succeed using traditional bank wires, not cryptocurrency.)
Meanwhile, she said, the regulatory clarity that legislation like the GENIUS Act provides could actually make the system safer by distinguishing between legitimate, well-backed stablecoins from more experimental or risky variants.
In fact, as the stablecoin ecosystem continues to mature, Haun sees even bigger changes ahead. She envisions a future where all kinds of assets — from money market funds to real estate to private credit — get “tokenized” and made available 24/7 to global markets.
“It’s just a digital representation of a physical asset,” she explains. “BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, they’ve already tokenized their money market funds. That’s already happened.”
According to Haun, tokenized assets could democratize access to investments in ways similar to how Netflix democratized entertainment. Instead of having to be wealthy enough to meet minimum investment thresholds, someone with $25 and a smartphone could buy fractional ownership in a share of Apple or Amazon, for example.
“Just because something’s inevitable doesn’t mean it’s imminent,” Haun said on Wednesday. But she’s confident the transformation is coming, driven by the same forces that made stablecoins successful: they’re faster, cheaper, and, she insists, more accessible than traditional alternatives.
Looking back at that 2018 debate with Krugman, Haun’s persistence seems to have paid off. A major question now isn’t whether digital dollars will reshape the financial system but perhaps more importantly, whether regulators can keep pace with the technology while addressing legitimate concerns about corruption, consumer protection, and financial stability.
Haun doesn’t seem concerned. While critics point to the fact that stablecoins represent just 2% of global payments, questioning their product-market fit, Haun bats away that concern, too. Instead, she sees this as a familiar tech adoption story — one that has played out repeatedly and often takes longer than people initially imagine.
“We think it’s really early days,” she told the crowd.
These are the games — with little margin for error and everything on the line — that go down in the annals of history, particularly at this stage of the playoffs when they are rare. Since the NBA-ABA merger at the start of the 1976-77 season, there have been only eight winner-take-all games to decide the NBA title.
Sunday night will see that number grow to nine, when the host Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers square off in Game 7 of the NBA Finals — the first time that the league’s championship round has gone the distance since 2016. That game is, at a minimum, on the short list for the greatest game in the history of the sport, with LeBron James leading the Cleveland Cavaliers back from a 3-1 deficit in the best-of-7 series to dethrone the 73-win Golden State Warriors on their home floor.
The Thunder have been waiting for their first title since they left Seattle for Oklahoma City 17 years ago. The franchise has left the SuperSonics’ history in the past. Still, after several near-misses — including an NBA Finals trip in 2012 and conference finals appearances in 2014 and 2016 — Oklahoma City had the seventh-most wins in NBA history (68) this season. It will be the fifth-best team, in terms of wins, in the history of the sport if the Thunder can claim this year’s title.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, would put himself in rarified air if he’s able to win a championship after winning the scoring title and the league’s regular-season MVP award — something only Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have done.
This is a moment the Thunder were expected to be in all season. The same cannot be said for their opponents, however, as a win for Indiana will cap what has to be one of the most unexpected runs to a championship in the NBA. The Pacers have completed one historic comeback in each of the four rounds of the playoffs, including star guard Tyrese Haliburton completing an unparalleled run of clutch shotmaking to go along with Indiana’s penchant for wearing down its opponents.
Coach Rick Carlisle, who led a similarly constructed Dallas Mavericks team to a title against a massive favorite in the James-led Miami Heat in 2011, has already won seven games in the Finals as an underdog, the most in NBA history.
Indiana would also earn its first NBA championship after making the Finals with Reggie Miller leading the way 25 years ago. It won a couple of ABA championships behind Hall of Famers Mel Daniels and Roger Brown in the 1970s.
The Pacers and Thunder will sit 48 minutes away from immortality when they take the court Sunday night. Only one thing is for certain: Whatever happens, the game will never be forgotten. — Tim Bontemps
The biggest keys for the Thunder: Home-court advantage
Give the home crowd a reason to stay loud. The Thunder earned the right to host the most important game of the season by rolling to 68 wins and the best record in the league. The Paycom Center has been an awfully tough place for opponents to play this postseason.
The Thunder are 10-2 at home with nine double-digit wins, including victories by 30- and 32-point margins in elimination games the past two rounds.
The fans in Oklahoma City — a small market with only one big-league franchise — provide a true home-court advantage that Jalen Williams has compared to a high school football powerhouse, the kind of program that an entire town revolves around. The stands will be packed with folks wearing the same T-shirts by the time the layup lines begin. They’ll be loud, providing the Thunder “the wind behind our backs,” as coach Mark Daigneault puts it. — Tim MacMahon
The biggest keys for the Pacers: Controlled chaos
Limit turnovers and control the pace. It’s easier said than done against a defense as swarming as the Thunder’s, but the Pacers have been at their best when they’ve managed to win the turnover battle and stop Oklahoma City from getting out in transition.
The results are twofold. Not turning the ball over allows the Pacers to attempt more field goals instead of coming away with empty possessions and it stops the Thunder from getting easy transition baskets, which makes their offense thrive.
The Pacers want a chaotic game controlled in their favor, similar to Game 6, when Indiana was the team flying around the floor while Oklahoma City got stagnant trying to run an offense in the half court repeatedly. — Jamal Collier
Caruso wreaked havoc as the primary defender against three-time MVP Nikola Jokic that afternoon, a major factor in the 23 turnovers that the Thunder converted into 37 points. He was a plus-40 in 26 minutes.
He’s one of the toughest competitors in the NBA, a guy who lives for this type of highest-stakes situation. Caruso has had his fingerprints all over Oklahoma City’s playoff run so far. Count on that continuing in Game 7. — MacMahon
Indiana Pacers
The Pacers’ depth has been their strength throughout this playoff run and T.J. McConnell has stepped up with a fantastic performance in this series. His high-energy style for 19 minutes per game has provided a spark in each contest he checks into, and he’s averaging 11.3 points and 4.5 assists in the series on 54% shooting.
Haliburton played through a calf injury in a high-stakes Game 6 and was effective, but not as mobile as usual, which means the Pacers are going to need a variety of ball handlers to help keep their pace and run their offense.
McConnell almost certainly won’t win the Finals MVP with the efforts of Haliburton and Pascal Siakam coming up big for Indiana all series, but the way McConnell and the bench unit have energized the team — and outplayed their reserve counterparts from OKC — is a major reason the Pacers have an opportunity to win this series. — Collier
If the Thunder win Game 7, we’ll remember their title as _____.
Crossing the finish line for a historic season — and taking the first step in a potential dynastic run.
Oklahoma City profiles statistically as one of the most dominant teams of all time with the best regular-season point differential ever. The only champion to finish the season with more total wins than the Thunder’s 84, if Oklahoma City finishes the job, was the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.
Oklahoma City is in this position with almost its entire core consisting of ascending talent.
Gilgeous-Alexander is an MVP who is just entering his prime. Williams is an All-NBA sidekick still in the relatively early stages of his development, as is Chet Holmgren, who has All-NBA and Defensive Player of the Year potential.
GM Sam Presti still has an unprecedented treasure chest of first-round draft picks to utilize to continue adding talent and perhaps eventually replace some core players if difficult payroll decisions result in departures.
This should be the first of many Junes when the Thunder is the focus of the basketball world. — MacMahon
play
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Hibbert: Title would solidify Haliburton as a Pacers great
Roy Hibbert says Tyrese Haliburton’s legacy in Indiana would be cemented with a championship ring.
If the Pacers win Game 7, we’ll remember their title as _____.
The biggest upset in NBA history.
Indiana entered the playoffs as a No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. Its run through the East was filled with buzzer-beaters and thrilling comebacks as the Pacers defied the odds, and they still began the Finals facing the longest odds of a team in 20 years in the championship series.
They will not be the favorites in any of the seven games in this series, but it all sets Indiana up on the doorstep of one of the most unlikely championships in league history.
The Pacers don’t profile like a usual championship contender, but they’ve spent the playoffs disproving any notion that they are not. — Collier
The matchups and adjustments that will decide the champ
Historic home-court advantage
In 12 playoff games at the Paycom Center, the Thunder have a plus-20.6-point differential, which is the second-largest margin of victory in home-court playoff history (minimum 5 games played), behind the 1995-96 Utah Jazz’s plus-20.7.
Oklahoma City’s only playoff losses at home were in Game 1 against Indiana and Game 1 against the Nuggets, and they led in both of those contests until the final seconds.
The occasional shooting woes that have plagued Oklahoma City in the playoffs haven’t been an issue at home. The Thunder have made just 29.9% of their 3-point attempts on the road in the playoffs, vastly underperforming their expected mark of 36.5%, according to GeniusIQ. But at home, they’ve made 37.5% of their 3s, a perfect match for their 37.5% expected 3-point mark.
Other than Williams, every member of the Thunder’s rotation has shot better from distance at home. — Zach Kram
An unfamiliar low-scoring game
Don’t expect a lot of points Sunday because, historically, Game 7s in the Finals have been low-scoring affairs. The past five ended 93-89, 95-88, 83-79, 81-74 and 90-84, respectively. Not since 1988, when the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons 108-105, has a team reached triple digits in a Finals Game 7.
It’s unclear which team that sort of game will favor because neither has played many like it all postseason. The Pacers haven’t won a playoff game with fewer than 108 points, but they just turned in their best defensive effort of the postseason, allowing only 91 points in Game 6.
The Thunder, meanwhile, are just 1-6 in the playoffs when they’ve scored 110 points or fewer. But OKC does have one low-scoring win — 92-87 in Game 4 against the Nuggets — and should be more accustomed to grind-it-out games.
The Thunder have held their opponents below 100 points six times in the playoffs, five of them at home. But Oklahoma City hasn’t done so once against Indiana in the Finals. — Kram
The turnover battle
The 2025 playoffs have been defined by turnovers. Overall, teams that commit fewer turnovers than their opponents have a record of 58-21 (.734). Given Oklahoma City led the league in avoiding turnovers and forced the second most on a per-possession basis, the Thunder both drove and benefited from that trend. Against Western Conference opponents, Oklahoma City won the turnover battle in 14 of 16 games.
But Indiana has been able to flip the script in the Finals.
After stealing Game 1 despite 25 giveaways, the Pacers had the turnover edge in their Game 3 and Game 6 wins and played the Thunder to a draw in Game 4. Thursday was the biggest outlier. Oklahoma City’s 10-turnover deficit was twice as big as in any other playoff game.
McConnell’s ability to turn routine efforts to bring the ball up into costly steals has been a key factor in Indiana doing to the Thunder what Oklahoma City has done to teams all season. Owen Phillips of the F5 Newsletter noted Saturday that the Thunder have committed 10 turnovers in this series before getting the ball past the 3-point line, as compared to just one for the Pacers.
As for the importance of home court for Game 7, however, Indiana has averaged 21 turnovers in three games at Paycom Center, as compared to 13.7 in three home games. If that split continues, the Pacers will face an uphill battle Sunday. — Kevin Pelton
MVP contenders
If Oklahoma City manages to win Game 7 and claim the championship, the only realistic option on the Thunder is an obvious one: the league’s regular-season MVP, Gilgeous-Alexander (minus-225).
Williams (plus-1300) has had some great moments in this series, including his 40-point explosion in Game 5, but it isn’t close enough to seriously tip the scales away from SGA in the event OKC is victorious.
Gilgeous-Alexander has the iconic sequence in the series to date with his fourth-quarter closeout in Game 4, and his stats across the board are superior.
If the Pacers win, however, the race is wide-open — and very likely will come down to how Game 7 itself plays out, and who has the biggest impact. The most likely scenario is that it will, like in the Eastern Conference finals, come down to a choice between the two Indiana stars, Haliburton (plus-1500) and Siakam (plus-300).
Haliburton, playing through a calf strain, has led the team in assists and had the game-winning bucket in Game 1 and a stellar performance in Game 3. Siakam, on the other hand, is leading the Pacers in points and rebounds, while averaging four assists and over a steal and a block.
The one true wild-card selection, depending on how he plays in a Pacers victory, is reserve guard McConnell (plus-10,000), who has had a fabulous series. It’s unlikely he will win the award, given that Siakam and/or Haliburton are all but assured of a big game if Indiana wins, but McConnell has had a big impact throughout the series as the leader of the Pacers’ second unit. — Bontemps
This is the 20th Game 7 in the NBA Finals in league history.
It is the first Game 7 in the Finals since 2016, when the Cavaliers defeated the Warriors to complete the only 3-1 comeback in Finals history.
Home teams are 15-4 in Game 7 of the Finals.
Each of the past eight Game 7s in the NBA Finals have been decided by single digits and 15 of the 19 Game 7s in the NBA Finals have been decided by single digits.
The average margin of victory in Game 7 of the NBA Finals is 6.9 points, the smallest margin among all Finals games.
The underdogs:
Since seeding began in 1984, only one team seeded fourth or lower won the NBA title. It was the 1995 Houston Rockets, who were a 6-seed.
The Pacers won 18 fewer games than the Thunder in the regular season. That would be the largest upset in terms of regular-season wins in an NBA Finals in league history.
The Pacers had a PPG differential 10.6 points lower than the Thunder. That would be the largest upset in terms of PPG differential in an NBA Finals in league history.
The Pacers have 10 wins as an underdog this postseason, tied for the most by any team in a single postseason in the past 35 seasons.
Best bets
Andrew Nembhard over 14.5 total points and assists (-120). While Haliburton was able to play well Thursday, he is still dealing with a calf strain and might be limited. Nembhard took on a larger role in Game 6, notching a series-high 17 points with four assists (21 P+A), and I expect him to be called upon again in Game 7.
Nembhard averaged 12.5 points and 5.0 assists (17.5 P+A) in the first two games of the series, both in Oklahoma City, and the Pacers will likely need him to at least match those numbers in Game 7. — Andre Snellings
Jalen Williams over 22.5 total points (-125). Williams was in his scoring bag going into Game 6, averaging 31.0 points with at least 26 in each of the prior three contests. He got off to a strong scoring start in Game 6 with 16 points in the first half before the team got blown out in the third quarter. I look for Williams to bounce back in Game 7, playing at home, and generate another high-scoring effort. — Snellings
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When it starts to get warm out, I wear sandals every day. But, since I also live in New York City, I walk everywhere, so I need a pair of sandals that can hold up to running for the train, going on coffee runs, and chasing my preschooler down the street. But, you don’t have to live in the city to need a comfortable and functional pair of sandals.
Whether you’re traveling, on a hike, or just want some footwear that will hold up to a lot of steps, these are the best sandals for walking all day. I’ve put together a mix of styles, support, and waterproof options, and broke down what specs you should look for below.
So, keep on reading to find the best walking sandals for you. There’s a mix of shoe sizes, widths, styles, cushioning, and more, for every kind of activity. You’ll look great, you’ll feel great, and your feet will thank you.
At least 20 people have been killed and 52 others wounded in a suicide bombing at a church on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria’s interior ministry has said.
The attacker entered Mar Elias Church in Dweila during a service and opened fire with a weapon before detonating an explosive vest, the ministry said in a statement.
It added that he was affiliated with the jihadist group Islamic State (IS). There was no immediate claim from the group itself.
The Syrian Civil Defence – whose emergency teams are widely known as the White Helmets – posted photos and video from inside the church showing a heavily damaged altar, pews covered in broken glass and a bloodied floor.
One person told AFP news agency outside Mar Elias that “someone entered carrying a weapon” and began shooting. “[People] tried to stop him before he blew himself up,” he added.
A worker at a nearby shop said: “We saw fire in the church and the remains of wooden benches thrown all the way to the entrance.”
Security forces have condoned off the area around the church and are investigating the attack, according to the interior ministry.
It was the first such attack in Damascus since Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by rebel forces in December.
Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa – whose Sunni Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is a former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria – has repeatedly promised to protect religious and ethnic minorities.
However, the country has been rocked by two waves of deadly sectarian violence in recent months.
As Congress turns its attention to a budget reconciliation bill that could shape the nation’s energy future, it is essential not to overlook one of our most reliable and time-tested sources of baseload electricity: hydropower.
My company has been fortunate to contribute to this critical industry for more than 40 years. But much of the budget reconciliation process in Washington has ignored hydropower. The House-passed bill is missing big opportunities to support this technology. Without continued investment in our hydroelectric infrastructure, we could face dire consequences.
Our nation is currently focused on increasing domestic energy output, supporting technological innovation and creating jobs. Hydropower offers a compelling and often underappreciated value proposition. It is a foundation for emission-free grid reliability, economic development, job creation and energy independence.
Unlike other renewable sources of electricity, hydropower delivers energy around the clock, making it an essential source of baseload power. Without hydropower’s steady and reliable output, keeping the grid stable would become much harder and more expensive. Those rising costs don’t disappear; they ultimately show up in consumers’ energy bills.
What’s more, hydropower’s flexibility allows it to ramp up quickly when demand spikes or when intermittent renewables like wind and solar dip unexpectedly. It’s one of the few energy sources that can respond to grid needs in seconds. This makes it a vital partner in a grid increasingly dominated by variable demand and resources.
Beyond its value to the grid, hydropower is a direct economic engine for America’s communities. Hydropower facilities provide local jobs that are often high-paying technical positions, forging long-term career pathways for residents.
Many hydropower projects also create and maintain reservoirs and waterways that support flood protection, agriculture, water storage, tourism, fishing, and outdoor recreation, contributing millions of dollars annually to local economies. In our decades of work in this field, we have seen these benefits drive prosperity for generations.
Historically, hydropower hasn’t received the same level of federal support as other energy sources, despite its strong track record. That needs to change. Through the reconciliation process, Congress has a pivotal chance to correct that imbalance and invest in one of our most dependable forms of U.S. energy.
The bill text just released by the Senate is a step in the right direction, but there remains a host of critical priorities to strengthen our hydropower resources, such as extending the investment tax credits to dam safety and environmental upgrades at existing facilities and streamlining licensing and relicensing processes.
America’s hydropower fleet is aging, — most facilities are more than 65 years old. This longevity is a testament to hydropower’s durability and value, but it also signals an urgent need for reinvestment. We see this firsthand as we work to repair aging and deteriorated dam structures.
These facilities have the potential to serve our communities for decades to come as “forever assets,” but only if we modernize them. This requires updated tax incentives, streamlined licensing processes and policies that reflect the crucial role of hydropower in our energy mix.
If we let these critical assets deteriorate, the costs will fall directly onto consumers in the form of higher rates and lost services. We cannot let that happen. It is imperative that we act now.
If hydropower isn’t fully valued, our communities will pay the price with higher bills, fewer jobs and a less stable grid. I strongly urge lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to back hydropower and value it in the current budget bill and future legislative efforts. An investment in hydropower is an investment in the future of America’s communities.
Walter Rabe, PE, is the president and CEO of Schnabel Engineering, a national civil engineering firm specializing in dam and levee safety, geotechnical engineering, geostructural design, tunnel and underground engineering, and construction-phase engineering support.
