The Balogun play was a simple play and it’s ended in a gross misuse of VAR, making a mockery of the system and FIFA.
The red card handed to U.S. men’s national team striker Folarin Balogun will be remembered as a central turning point for the Americans in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The public outcry has been palpable as fans have relayed their dissatisfaction with the red card, especially given the repercussions of call. Balogun won’t play in...
Claus was previously investigated by his home country due to an inquiry on match-fixing and sports betting.
Democratic Arizona AG Kris Mayes walked into office all but declaring war on President Donald Trump and his policies. But apparently, she’s done more than declare war — she’s killing it.“The Democrat has filed 43 lawsuits against the Trump administration since he took office one year ago,” reports the Phoenix New Times. “She’s been a frequent filer since … Trump took office in January, pushing back on his attempts to systematically change the entire U.S. government.”The Times reports Trump used the Department of Government Efficiency as a “machete” to slash grants, lay-off thousands of employees and dismantled entire government agencies. And while “a Republican-controlled Congress has essentially stood by and let it happen,” Democratic state attorneys general — including Mayes — have picked up the slack. “Arizona has filed several lawsuits over the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze federal funding, much of which is previously allocated in Arizona. [Mayes] has also filed suit to protect the personal data of Arizona residents and successfully sued to stop the Trump administration’s attempt to rewrite birthright citizenship, which is enshrined in the Constitution,” the Times reports.And “every other day, it seems, Mayes is announcing another lawsuit against Trump,” said the Times, with Mayes claiming her office’s “success rate is 80 percent, with wins, temporary restraining orders, permanent injunctions or the government dropping the change entirely.”Most recently, Mayes helped beat back Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship, having joined four other blue states in trouncing his plan this week.In a separate case involving Trump’s attempt to block federal funding, on March 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals largely affirmed a lower court’s decision to grant Mayes’ preliminary injunction to block the administration’s policy to freeze funding while the case plays out. As of now, nearly $1.4 billion in federal funding remains unfrozen for several Arizona state agencies.In a separate bid to protect Social Security numbers and veteran benefits from DOGE snoops, a district judge granted a preliminary injunction in February to block Musk and employees from accessing sensitive personal information.Trump also moved to cut “indirect cost” reimbursements that cover medical and public health research at universities and research institutions. But Mayes argued in court that the cuts would cause Arizona students and universities to “miss out on millions of dollars in critical funding and research support” that is “owed to Arizonans by law.” In January, the Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling to permanently prevent the Trump administration from cutting NIH grants, preventing Trump from slicing $35 million in NIH grants in Arizona.Trump and his cohorts also worked to dismantle the federal Department of Education, but guess who jumped up to be a nuisance? Mayes filed her lawsuit to stop the dismantling in March of 2025, and In May 2025, the district judge hearing the case granted Mayes and other plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction. That decision alone prevents the government from firing department staff while the case plays out.The administration must also reinstate employees and “restore the Department to the status quo,” reports the Times. That case is still moving toward trial.One of Mayes’ cases that infuriated Trump the most was a Supreme Court order upholding a lower court’s decision to strike down Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose his widely panned tariffs.
The job market entered the summer with less momentum than looked to be the case just a month ago.Why it matters: Call it a yellow card for the labor market. Thursday morning's employment report doesn't undo three months of stronger hiring, but it does warn that the rebound is less durable than first thought.Hiring has remained concentrated in a handful of industries, leaving fewer opportunities for Americans looking to switch jobs or reenter the workforce.What they're saying: "June's jobs report put a damper on the fireworks, coming in well below expectations and pointing to a labor market that's more fizzle than sparkle," Glassdoor chief economist Daniel Zhao wrote Thursday morning.Driving the news: Payrolls rose by 57,000 in June, roughly half the gains that economists expected. New revisions also show that hiring was weaker than expected over the previous two months, with payroll employment revised down by a combined 74,000 jobs.Payroll gains averaged 111,000 over the past three months, down from 164,000 in May. That's well above the 33,000 pace a year ago, but suggests that the labor market's spring rebound has faded.Zoom in: Fewer Americans were working in June, and fewer were looking for work — a combination that mechanically pushed the unemployment rate down a tick to 4.2%. Household employment fell by 507,000, while roughly 720,000 people left the labor force in June, driving the participation rate down 0.3 percentage point, to 61.5%.Fewer prime-age workers, those between 25 and 54, were working or looking for a job in June: The participation rate slid 0.6 percentage point, the biggest one-month decline outside the pandemic in at least a decade.The big picture: Slower hiring, downward revisions, weaker labor force participation and a narrower mix of industries creating jobs leave economic policymakers with a more difficult question than they faced a month ago.It's unclear whether the uneasy mix of labor market factors in June was a blip or the start of a slower labor market phase.One notable exception to the report's softer tone was wages. Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% in June — the second consecutive month of acceleration — and 3.5% from a year earlier, though slower hiring in lower-paying industries may have lifted the average.What to watch: Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh said last month that the labor market's three-to-six-month trend mattered more than any single jobs report, while noting that the job market had been "moving in a good direction."Financial markets' outlook for the Fed barely budged after the report. One weaker report is not enough to push off expectations that the central bank might have to raise interest rates to contain too-high inflation.Traders now see a roughly 78% chance of at least one rate hike by year-end, down only modestly from about 83% before the jobs report, according to CME FedWatch.
MAGA loyalists were melting down Thursday after President Donald Trump's Social Security Administration announced a new design for babies born this year.The limited edition "Freedom 250" logo-themed cards will be issued for babies born between now and the end of the year, The Washington Post reported."Freedom 250 is the public-private initiative the Trump administration launched last year to organize events — often aligned with the administration — for the nation’s semiquincentennial. It is different from America250, a nonprofit established by Congress in 2016 to organize such celebrations," according to The Post.But MAGA fans, still apparently upset over the Supreme Court's ruling this week to uphold birthright citizenship, were outraged online. Some right-wing commentators claimed the cards would be used for "anchor babies" and shared their anger over the high court's decision. "Notice how they don’t say American Children? Oh yea that’s because 5 people destroyed what it meant to be an American the week of our independence. Being an American is nothing sacred anymore the Supreme Court just cemented that," user Cori, who frequently shares MAGA-aligned content, wrote on X."Doesn’t feel the same knowing they’ll also be going to anchor babies," user Alexandra, whose profile states "all I want for Christmas is mass deportations," wrote on X."It boils my blood that some baby tourist is going to have one of these while they live in China or somes---," Renlos Malik, a user who frequently shares MAGA-related material, wrote on X."Anchor babies too... or nah?" Tim Young, Heritage Foundation media fellow with more than 1.1 million followers, wrote on X."I wonder, how many illegal birth tourism anchor babies will enjoy this very special honor?!!!!" Luce Wood, author and self-described "proud conservative" with more than 18,000 followers, wrote on X.
The latest economic figures for President Donald Trump's economy raised all sorts of red flags for one analyst on Thursday. The Department of Labor reported that just 57,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy over the last three months, which is far below the 129,000 jobs that were cited in the last report. The unemployment rate also dropped to 4.2%, which is often a sign of a healthy economy, but the numbers were not comforting to David Goldman, CNN's senior business reporter. Goldman reacted to the numbers on "CNN News Central" on Thursday. He noted that the data suggest certain sectors of the economy, such as health care and hospitality, are struggling to hire workers. For instance, he noted that just 22,000 nursing jobs had been added over the last year, far below the 38,000 added at this time last year. "That is something that we need to watch," Goldman said. He also noted that the figures showed a significant decline in hospitality hiring, which seemed hard to believe because multiple cities are hosting World Cup games. "I think, and there are a number of economists who are smarter than me who think, that this might change as we get those revisions in the future months, because this is kind of defying logic and defining what we can see with our own eyes," Goldman said.
On Wednesday, right-wing Fox News reported that the Trump administration is planning a special limited-edition Social Security card that will include the Freedom 250 logo. And a NOTUS reporter is calling out that use of the logo as wildly inappropriate.On X, Fox News reported, "EXCLUSIVE: Babies born during America's 250th birthday celebration will receive a special piece of history. The Social Security Administration is launching a limited-edition commemorative Social Security card featuring the Freedom 250 logo for children born in the U.S. between July 2 and Dec. 31, 2026. According to an announcement exclusively shared with FOX Business, the card functions just like a standard Social Security card, but will serve as a unique keepsake marking the nation's 250th anniversary."But NOTUS reporter Oriana González believes the Freedom 250 logo doesn't belong on government-issued Social Security cards.González, on Thursday, tweeted, "so babies born between July 2 and Dec. 31 of this year will receive a social security card with the logo of a private company."In a separate X post, González had a different criticism of Freedom 250.Linking to a July 1 article by fellow NOTUS journalist Anna Kramer, González wrote, "more from @NOTUSreports on how Freedom 250 is taking taxpayer money that it's not supposed to be receiving."Freedom 250 and America 250 are two different terms. While America 250 refers to the United States' 250th anniversary in general, Freedom 250 is more specific to President Donald Trump and his administration. Freedom 250 refers to the White House Task Force on Celebrating America's 250th Birthday, a public/private partnership Trump created after returning to the White House in January 2025. Trump, on January 29, 2025, was nine days into his second presidency when he signed an executive order that established the partnership. The White House Task Force on Celebrating America's 250th Birthday is separate from the United States Semiquincentennial Commission, which was established in 2016 under then-President Barack Obama.The term America 250 could be used in connection with anniversary celebrations promoted by Democratic or GOP mayors or governors; Freedom 250 has much more of a MAGA/Trumpian connotation.The United States' 250th anniversary is only a few days away. It was on July 4, 1776 that the American Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia's Independence Hall (which was called the Pennsylvania State House at the time).
