WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday said vandals are to blame for large swaths of dead grass on the National Mall near the World War II Memorial — in the same spot where Trump had a stage built and hosted crowds for his July 4 celebration.
Trump made the accusation in a social media post without saying why he believes it's the work of vandals instead of trampled turf from the Independence Day festivities. He posted a photo showing a once-grassy area by the World War II Memorial, now patchy and brown across much of the sprawling turf.
"Look what VANDALS did to the grass connecting the vandalized World War II Monument and the vandalized Reflecting Pool, which will be opened again, and better than ever, shortly," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
"Anybody who thinks the Reflecting Pool wasn't vandalized should go back to Law School!" he added.
Trump has repeatedly blamed vandals for damage to his renovation projects in the nation's capital, often without evidence and sometimes despite opposing accounts from his officials. Trump lashed out at U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro this month after her office concluded that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was the result of poor construction and not the work of vandals, as Trump claimed.

#World #memorial

Manchester City are blessed to have two elite options to play in the number ten role in their squad. Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki are excellent in the role and both figure to play prominent roles for Enzo Maresca throughout the 2026-27 season. Phil Foden started in the role across Manchester City's three preseason friendlies. He started again yesterday as City suffered a 3-0 defeat to ***** nal in the FA Community Shield. Cherki replaced him on the hour-mark. Phil Foden has a full preseason behind him, while Rayan Cherki only returned to City last Wednesday after his World Cup duties with France. Looking at who should start in the number ten role for Enzo Maresca's side, Rayan Cherki should be the favourite.
Earlier this summer, Phil Foden signed a contract extension with Manchester City. It is clear that City have full faith in the England international. Foden remains an important player for his team. He has gotten to work after a difficult 2024-25 season and seen a drop off last season after he began the 2025-26 season brightly. After missing out on selection in England's World Cup squad, Phil Foden should benefit from a full preseason working with Enzo Maresca and his teammates.
However, Foden's form over the three friendlies Manchester City have played and in yesterday's FA Community Shield fixture against ***** nal has been patchy. There have been flashes of quality shown by Foden. On other occasions he looks like a player still battling to return to his best. That is to be expected given how far back Phil Foden is coming back from in terms of his form.
If you were looking at who is more likely to start in the number ten role next weekend against Bournemouth in Manchester City's opening Premier League fixture and to begin the 2026-27 season, perhaps Phil Foden is the favourite. However, he does face stiff competition for that role from Rayan Cherki.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup was a frustrating experience for Rayan Cherki. He spent the majority of the tournament on the periphery of the French squad due to the vast array of attacking talent at Didier Deschamps' disposal. That disappointment could fuel Cherki to take his game to another level to avoid such disappointment in the future.

#foden #manchester #World

CharlesJohnson claims he's proficient in the Scottish twister.

Johnson (20-9) was originally scheduled to fight Jose Ochoain an Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight tilt. However, Ochoawithdrew after the tragic death of his Chute Boxe teammate, AllanNascimento.

Dana White's Contender Series graduate EduardoHenrique stepped up on three days' notice to replace Ochoaagainst Johnson, who earned a bonus for a sensational and raresubmission.
While Henrique was efficient on the feet, Johnson wore him out witha well-rounded approach. As Henrique was trying to reverse atakedown, "InnerG" caught him in a Scottish twister to force thetap in the third round. Johnson's Scottish twister was the secondever in UFC history, following MurtazaliMagomedov's win over MelsikBaghdasaryan this past June.

Johnson claims he regularly trains the move in practice andsuccessfully lands it at least once a week. The flyweight veteranalso revealed that he learned the move from former BellatorMMA bantamweight champion Patrick"Patchy" Mix.

"I hit that at least once or twice a week on people in practice, soit's just about getting there," Johnson said at the post-fightpress conference. "Patchy Mix actually showed me that move, so I'mgoing to give him his flowers, man. He showed it to me about a yearand a half ago."

Johnson has struggled for consistency in his last six outings, buthas remained active, already recording four fights this year.

#patchy

Tuesday's news headlines suggested Myles Lewis-Skelly could be on the move, with two Premier League clubs reportedly interested.
One source told BBC Sport that Lewis-Skelly was offered to Manchester United in January, but ****** nal say they have not actively offered him to anyone.
United do need a left-back though with Patrick Dorgu, their most recent signing in the position, playing in an advanced role throughout pre-season.
Dorgu was mostly injured after Michael Carrick took charge, but all of his Premier League appearances under the United boss were on the wing or in a wide attacking role.
Luke Shaw started every Premier League game last season, but his overall fitness record is patchy.

#lewis #offered

Patchy Mix knew he wouldn't get his hands raised Tuesday in Tokyo, as he missed weight for his RIZIN 54 co-main event bout with Shoko Sato and any other result other than a loss would be immediately overturned to a no-contest, and the two-point deduction for the miss made the difference in the end.
Mix was more than six pounds over the bantamweight limit, the reason why he was docked two points, and decided to go for the finish early on. Sato survived a rear-naked choke in the opening round, and another submission attempt in the third, damaging Mix's leg when on the feet. Sato was declared the unanimous decision winner (28-27 x3), extending Mix's losing skid to four.
Rising 20-year-old prospect Kyoma Akimoto dominated and beat former champion Kleber Koike in the main event to secure a shot at the 145-pound belt – which will be put on the line in September — alongside the inaugural PFL ****** le — between Razhabali Shaidulloev and AJ McKee.
Akimoto was able to stop the Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist from taking the fight to the ground, fighting smart from the distance to land enough to leave Koike with a ****** face to win a decision.
"A lot of people are saying I don't need to fight for the belt," Akimoto said after the win. "Right now, I'm the only one who can bring an overseas belt back to ****** an, so I want to fight the winner of AJ McKee and Shaidulloev in the main event at Nagoya Dome [on NYE]. But I think this [left] hand might be broken. I'm gonna take a little time off and then work my way back toward the belt."

#sato #akimoto #main #mckee

With a crowd of more than 10,000 fans at Toyota Arena Tokyo,Rizin Fighting Federation put on Rizin54 on Tuesday in Tokyo. The card was headlined by afeatherweight ****** le eliminator between top MMA prospect KyomaAkimoto and former Rizin champion KleberKoike Erbst.

After three hard-fought rounds, Akimoto (13-1, 8-1 Rizin) emergedvictorious, while Erbst (35-10-1, 1 NC; 10-5, 1 NC Rizin) may haveseen his path back to the ****** le derailed.

Koike was active with kicks in the first round and landed dozens toAkimoto's legs and midsection during the first two minutes alone.Akimoto stayed calm as Koike chased him with punches. A counterleft hook rocked Koike and backed him into a corner, but herecovered quickly and took Akimoto's back. Akimoto remained on hisfeet and wobbled Koike again with punches during the final 30seconds.

Koike pressed forward with punches in the second round, but Akimotobegan to time his strikes and snapped Koike's head back with jabsand crosses. Koike bled from his nose and tried unsuccessfully topull guard. Akimoto prevented Koike from taking him down from backcontrol and backed Koike into a corner with jabs as more cutsopened on Koike's face.

Akimoto jabbed Koike in the nose and easily avoided his takedownattempts in the final round. Koike dropped to his back and daredAkimoto to follow him to the ground, but the 20-year-old declined.Koike's left eye swelled and blood began to cover his face asAkimoto's jabs forced him to retreat. The bout went to thescorecards, and all three judges sided with Akimoto for a unanimousdecision victory. He is expected to challenge for Rizin'sfeatherweight ****** le by the end of the year.
The only other bout on the card to go the distance was the co-mainevent between Shoko Sato(39-17-2, 1 NC; 5-2 Rizin) and Patrick"Patchy" Mix (20-5, 1-2 Rizin), who came in more than sixpounds over the bantamweight limit. As a result, Mix was penalizedwith a two-point deduction, which proved to be the difference after15 minutes of fighting.

The fighters exchanged inside leg kicks in the opening minutebefore "Patchy" took Sato down directly into back control. Mixsecured a tight rear-naked choke, but Sato refused to submit andbroke Mix's grip. Sato hurt Mix with two leg kicks to begin thesecond round, and Mix immediately began to favor his right leg.Sato kept his distance and continued to throw kicks as Mix slowed.Mix was unable to take Sato down, and Sato repeatedly punished himwith leg kicks.

Mix caught a kick and took Sato down early in the final round. Hepassed to side control and struck Sato's face with hammerfists.Sato attempted a modified buggy choke from the bottom before thebout went to the scorecards. Because of Mix's point deductions, allthree judges scored the fight 28-27 for Sato, giving him aunanimous decision victory. Mix has lost four straight fights.

The second Heavyweight Grand Prix ****** an semifinal between KingEdokpolo (4-0, 3-0 Rizin) and Mikio Ueda(5-4, 4-4 Rizin) got o

Johnny Fisher has become the latest fighter to join Zuffa Boxing, splitting from Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom to sign with the rival promotion.
Fisher has a cult following in London and Essex, and he had become one of Hearn’s biggest stars over the last three years, helped in part by the reach of his father “Big John”, a social-media sensation.
Fisher’s popularity has come in spit of his patchy recent form, however. The 27-year-old won a controversial decision over Dave Allen in late 2024, before suffering a fifth-round stoppage in their rematch last May, and even his comeback win – a fourth-round TKO of Ivan Balaz in December – saw Fisher hurt in the first round.
Perhaps Zuffa is trying to capitalise on Fisher’s popularity, in any case, or maybe this signing is another attempt to get one up on Matchroom.
After Zuffa launched in January, it signed Matchroom’s longtime fighter Conor Benn in February, with the British welterweight leaving Hearn despite the promoter’s support over a two-year saga that stemmed from Benn failing two drug tests.

For years electric vehicles were the auto industry's most significant growth story.
That story has become more complicated.
Demand has been patchy. Losses have stung. Car producers have been compelled to re-evaluate how swiftly they should invest in battery factories, electric lorries and software-heavy automobiles.
Now, Bank of America sees a different kind of potential emerging from that same industrial foundation.
The timing is everything. The artificial intelligence explosion is presenting a big electrical dilemma for technology companies, utilities and industrial suppliers.

The ball sat on the penalty spot in Kansas City and Riyad Mahrez did what he has done since he was a slight teenager ***** ody in Paris wanted. He paused. He looked up. Then he passed it into the corner with the casual disdain of a man who had settled the question long before the goalkeeper moved. It was his second goal of the night against Austria, and it hauled Algeria back from a losing position in a 3-3 draw that carried the Desert Foxes into the World Cup knockout rounds.
For Mahrez, now 34, the moment ran deeper than a group-stage scoreline. Algeria had not played at a World Cup since he was a young winger still learning the international game. They missed 2018. They missed 2022. A generation of Algerian talent watched two tournaments pass from their living rooms while rivals took the stage. On Saturday, captaining a side that needed almost everything to fall its way, Mahrez made certain the wait ended with his own boot.
Mahrez grew up in Sarcelles, a northern suburb of Paris built on tower blocks and noise, the child of an Algerian father and a Moroccan mother. He was small and skinny, the kind of player academy scouts glance at once and forget. Clermont, Le Havre and the rest of France’s production line passed him by in his early teens. He kept playing on concrete and patchy grass, kept beating bigger boys, and waited for someone to look twice.
His father Ahmed died when Riyad was 15, a loss that still shapes how he talks about the game. Mahrez has said he plays for him in every match. The town has since named a football arena after its most famous son, with a plaque honouring his late father set into the ground. A boy once judged too frail to matter now has his name fixed above the gates of the place that raised him.
The football world caught up late. Le Havre gave him a chance in France’s second tier. Leicester City took him in 2014 for a fee that now looks like a clerical error, and two years later he was the creative heartbeat of the most improbable league ***** le in English history. Manchester City and a procession of trophies followed. Through all of it, the international thread stayed knotted to Algeria, the country of his father rather than the country of his birth.

Daily Weather Review for South Australia
Issued at 4:30 pm CST on Friday 13 June 2025.

A high pressure system over SA today resulted in settled conditions. Areas of
fog were observed about the pastoral districts, West Coast, Eyre Peninsula,
with patchy … https://ift.tt/Cz4BgZ1

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