Los Angeles Dodgers donate $1m to families affected by Ice raids

Team, which said it stopped Ice agents entering parking lot on Thursday, makes donation to immigrant families

The Los Angeles Dodgers have donated $1m to assist families affected by two weeks of immigration raids in southern California.

The World Series champions also said they intend to form partnerships with the California Community Foundation, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and other organizations to continue providing aid to immigrant families.

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Los Angeles Dodgers say they denied Ice agents entry to Dodger Stadium

Baseball team says Ice agents were denied permission to access parking lots but agency claims agents ‘were never there’

The Los Angeles Dodgers said on Thursday they denied US immigration enforcement agents access to the parking lot at Dodger Stadium earlier in the day.

“This morning, ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots,” the baseball team said in a post on X.

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NWSL’s Angel City wear ‘Immigrant City Football Club’ shirts after Los Angeles raids

  • Team handed out 10,000 shirts bearing message

  • Protests have erupted across LA in response to raids

Angel City, Los Angeles’ NWSL team, wore shirts that proclaimed themselves “Immigrant City Football Club” before Saturday night’s game against the North Carolina Courage.

The team also printed 10,000 t-shirts bearing the same message, with “Los Angeles is for Everyone” on the back in English and Spanish, and gave them to fans at the game. The move was in solidarity with immigrants in the city who have been targeted by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

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US sprinter Fred Kerley arrested for allegedly punching former girlfriend

  • Olympic medallist not running at Grand Slam Track
  • The 29-year-old charged with ‘battery-touch or strike’

Fred Kerley, twice an Olympic 100m medallist, has been arrested for allegedly punching the hurdler and his former girlfriend Alaysha Johnson in the face, and the American sprinter will not compete in the Grand Slam Track event in Miami this weekend.

The alleged incident occurred on Thursday at a hotel where Johnson, who is listed as a competitor in the Miami event, had an appointment with her conditioning coach when she told police she ran into Kerley.

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The Smashing Machine: Dwayne Johnson fights for an Oscar in first trailer

Actor makes dramatic bid for awards glory as UFC fighter Mark Kerr in biopic also starring his Jungle Cruise co-star Emily Blunt

Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt aim for awards glory in the first trailer for fact-based sports drama The Smashing Machine.

The wrestler-turned-actor plays the MMA fighter Mark Kerr in the film inspired by the 2002 documentary with the same name. Kerr won multiple awards and medals in his career and also struggled with substance abuse.

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Missouri State star Todric McGee dies after suspected accidental shooting

  • Police found 21-year-old at home after wellness check
  • Safety was a decorated high school player in Kansas

Missouri State safety Todric McGee has died at the age of 21 after what has been described as a possible accidental shooting.

A Springfield Police Department spokesperson said officers had gone to McGee’s home for a wellness check on Friday morning after receiving a call. They found McGee, who they believe had suffered a “possible accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound”. He was taken to a local hospital but died from his injuries.

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JD Vance fumbles Ohio State’s national title trophy during White House visit

  • Vice-president unable to hang on to trophy
  • Buckeyes were celebrating last season’s title win

JD Vance, the man entrusted as America’s back-up in times of emergency, may not be the safest pair of hands if Monday’s events are anything to go by. The vice-president ended the Ohio State football team’s visit to the White House by fumbling the team’s national championship trophy.

After laudatory speeches by Donald Trump, Buckeyes coach Ryan Day and Vance on the South Lawn, the Vance – an Ohio State graduate – tried to lift the trophy. He didn’t appear to realize that the top of the trophy is detachable from its base. After a moment of struggle, the vice-president lost his grip on the two pieces. OSU running back TreVeyon Henderson, standing behind Vance, grabbed the football-shaped top of the trophy, but the base fell to the ground, forcing Vance to grasp around as it rolled away from him.

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World Series champion Octavio Dotel killed in Dominican Republic nightclub collapse

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Octavio Dotel was among the dozens killed when the roof of a nightclub in the Dominican Republic collapsed during the early hours of Tuesday morning.

At least 58 people died and 160 were injured at the nightclub in Santo Domingo where a crowd that included athletes and politicians were attending a merengue concert.

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Former Yankees star Brett Gardner left with ‘many questions’ after son’s death in Costa Rica

  • Miller Gardner died in sleep on Friday morning
  • Authorities awaiting analysis of toxicology testing

A former New York Yankees player and his wife say they have “many questions” and “few answers” after their youngest son fell ill and died during a family vacation.

Miller Gardner – the son of Brett and Jessica Gardner – was 14.

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Tiger Woods confirms relationship with Donald Trump’s former daughter-in-law

  • Golfer announces relationship on social media
  • Vanessa Trump was married to Donald Trump Jr

Tiger Woods has confirmed he is in a relationship with Donald Trump’s former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump.

Woods announced the news on Sunday. “Love is in the air and life is better with you by my side! We look forward to our journey through life together,” Woods wrote on X to his 6.4 millions followers … At this time we would appreciate privacy for all those close to our hearts.”

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Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe says he was fired from coaching job after Maga protest

  • 43-year-old was arrested at city council meeting
  • Former player was coaching local high school

Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe says he has been fired from his job as a high school football coach after his protest at a city council meeting in California.

Kluwe was arrested at the Huntington Beach city council meeting last week, at which he spoke out against the decision to erect a plaque at a local library. The plaque features the words “Magical, Alluring, Galvanizing and Adventurous” and the city commission confirmed it was a reference to Maga. The former Minnesota Vikings player then made critical comments about the Trump administration before saying he would “engage in the time-honored American tradition of peaceful civil disobedience” and walked on to the meeting’s stage. He was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for disrupting an assembly.

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Doubts raised over US travel system during 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics

  • US will host 2026 tournament with Canada and Mexico
  • Report raises concern about visas and infrastructure

The United States is unprepared for the burdens placed on its air travel system when the country hosts the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The US Travel Association, a non-profit that represents the travel industry, commissioned a report written by former government officials and industry experts. The report raises concerns about visas, creaking infrastructure and poor security technology.

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Jordan Mailata makes history as first Australian to win a Super Bowl

  • Eagles player completes journey from reserve-grade rugby league
  • Mailata plays big hand in Phildelphia’s 40-22 win over Kansas City

Jordan Mailata, the giant rugby league convert from Bankstown, has made history by becoming the first Australian to play in a Super Bowl victory. The offensive tackle, taking part in his second NFL championship decider, played no small part in the Philadelphia Eagles’ stunning win over the Kansas City Chiefs in this year’s showpiece game held in New Orleans.

In front of a star-studded Superdome crowd and a global audience of tens of millions, Mailata’s journey from humble beginnings in Sydney’s south-west to the pinnacle of world sport was completed, as he helped the Eagles to a one-sided 40-22 win over the Chiefs, whose hopes of securing a three-peat were dashed in spectacular fashion.

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Trump heads to New Orleans as first sitting president to attend Super Bowl

NFL replaces ‘End Racism’ written into end zone with ‘Choose Love’ before Trump’s arrival at Louisiana stadium

Donald Trump is due to give himself a term report on his contentious first three weeks in office at tonight’s Super Bowl while becoming the first sitting president to attend the NFL’s title game between the Philadelphia Eagles and two-time defending championship winning Kansas City Chiefs.

The US president was expected to arrive at the Caesars Superdome where the game will be held in New Orleans at 3.50pm, according to the White House, and appear on the field about 4pm when he will be joined by House speaker Mike Johnson and New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson.

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Sexual abuse survivors grill NFL amid New Orleans Saints church scandal

Victim support groups call for investigation into whether Saints flouted NFL’s own commitments to prevent abuse

Clergy sexual abuse survivor support groups have called on the National Football League to investigate whether leaders of the New Orleans Saints flouted the NFL’s goals by campaigning alongside the city’s Roman Catholic archdiocese to soften critical media coverage of how the church handled its clerical molestation scandal.

A statement from the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (Snap) pointed out how the NFL’s website expresses a commitment to “addressing and preventing domestic violence and sexual assault”. Yet emails first reported on Monday morning by the Guardian, its reporting partner WWL Louisiana, the Associated Press and the New York Times establish how the Saints – owned by the devout New Orleans Catholic Gayle Benson – and team executives were far more involved in helping its local archdiocese spin media coverage of the abuse scandal than the organizations had previously acknowledged.

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‘Shame on them’: anger and dismay from survivors over Saints clergy-abuse emails

Clergy abuse survivors and their supporters express pain over sports officials’ efforts to soften coverage of scandal

Survivors of Catholic clergy abuse and their supporters expressed disgust, pain and disbelief after the Guardian and WWL Louisiana’s investigation on Monday into hundreds of emails showing officials with the NFL’s Saints and NBA’s Pelicans aided New Orleans’ Roman Catholic archdiocese efforts to soften critical media coverage about the church’s management of a clerical molestation scandal.

Richard Windmann said it was “disturbing” to see the emails mention his decision to go public about his abuse as a child at the hands of a priest and janitor at Jesuit high school in New Orleans in the 1970s.

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Toronto Raptors fans boo US national anthem after Donald Trump tariffs

  • Canadian NHL fans also booed Star-Spangled Banner
  • Applause breaks out during Canadian national anthem

Fans at a Toronto Raptors game on Sunday continued an emerging trend of booing the American national anthem at sporting events in Canada.

Fans of the NBA’s lone Canadian franchise booed the US anthem before the Raptors’ game against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Scotiabank Arena in downtown Toronto. Similar reactions broke out on Saturday night at NHL games in Ottawa and Calgary, where the Senators and Flames faced the Minnesota Wild and Detroit Red Wings respectively. Those games came hours after Donald Trump made his threat of import tariffs on Canada a reality.

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Ohio State hold off Notre Dame to claim first national football title in 10 years

  • Ohio State Buckeyes 34-23 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  • Jeremiah Smith’s big play clinches championship

Instead of having to mull over another collapse, Ohio State can celebrate another national title after holding off a Notre Dame comeback bid on Monday night to walk away with a nailbiter of a 34-23 victory over the Fighting Irish.

Will Howard hit big-play receiver Jeremiah Smith for 56 yards on a late third-and-11 to lock down a game that had been a laugher, then turned into something else. Trailing 31-7, Notre Dame scored two touchdowns and two two-point conversions to make it a one-score game late in the fourth quarter.

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Thanasi Kokkinakis and doubles pair inspire Australia to Davis Cup win over USA

  • Doubles pair Jordan Thompson and Matt Ebden seal victory
  • Italy or Argentina await in semi-final

Inspired captaincy, a nail-biting underdog’s win for Thanasi Kokkinakis and good old-fashioned Australian doubles pedigree has powered Australia into the semi-finals of the Davis Cup in Spain.

Lleyton Hewitt outduelled his USA counterpart Bob Bryan in the key captaincy decisions of their quarter-final tie in Málaga on Thursday as Australia defeated the Americans 2-1 in the battle between the two nations who have won the men’s “World Cup of tennis” more than any other.

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Rays’ Wander Franco arrested in DR over incident in which ‘guns were drawn’

  • Shortstop held by police over incident on Sunday
  • Player facing separate charges over sexual abuse claims

Police in the Dominican Republic have arrested Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco after an altercation involving firearms.

ESPN reported that authorities held Franco and an unnamed woman for questioning on Monday after an incident in the parking lot of an apartment complex on Sunday “in which guns were drawn.”

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