CATIA LA MAR, Venezuela — Rescuers pulled a 43-year-old security guard alive from a collapsed basement early Thursday, ending a grueling dayslong operation that became a symbol of hope after the devastation of twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela eight days earlier.
Hernán Alberto Gil Flores emerged to safety atop a stretcher surrounded by helmet-clad rescue workers after being trapped since June 24 under rubble in the basement of the Galerías Playa Grande shopping center in the coastal town in La Guaira.
Rescuers, who initially made contact with him over the weekend, worked for more than 100 hours to free him — navigating a highly unstable structure, torrential rain, and persistent aftershocks to tunnel down to the survivor.
Teams carrying flags from around the world cheered as rescuers carried Gil Flores, wearing an oxygen mask and covered in an orange tarp, through throngs of people to an ambulance.
One Chilean rescuer carrying his stretcher pumped his fist in joy. A group of men in red Costa Rican Red Cross uniforms embraced and laughed in relief. Others broke out into applause.
“When we found him, he asked us not to tell his wife that he was alive, just in case he wouldn’t make it,” Costa Rican Red Cross rescuer Minyar Collado told the Associated Press, but she added “We were never going to leave him here.”
The rescue was considered a small miracle cutting through a week of tragedy. By supplying Gil Flores with food and water while they excavated the concrete, rescue teams were able to keep him alive far longer than the 48- to 72-hour threshold most operations give to find survivors in disasters.
Gil Flores, who worked as a night-shift security guard at the complex, was inside his small security cabin when the first violent tremor struck. While the surrounding concrete structure collapsed around him, his cabin held ground, shielding him from crushing debris and creating a vital pocket of air.
A specialized team from the Costa Rican Red Cross first detected signs of life and established contact with him Sunday.
His wife, Gusbimar González, told the AP that she grappled with despair for days before hearing that rescuers made contact.
“When I learned he was alive, I saw a ray of light in the darkness,” she said. The couple has two children, ages 8 and 10.
The operation was coordinated by an urban search and rescue team of Chilean firefighters, who worked around the clock with specialized teams from the United States, Portugal, Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Venezuela.
Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez celebrated the rescue on social media at a time that her government has come under fire for what many Venezuelans say has been an inadequate crisis response.
“We celebrate the greatness of humanity, when it is united for a single purpose: to save another. Thank you to our rescuers and to the support of the international rescuers,” she wrote on a post on X.
Teams used a telescopic camera to help maintain constant contact with Gil Flores, passing water and liquid nutrients through a narrow shaft to keep him hydrated during the final three days of the rescue.
María Paz Campos, a veteran firefighter from Chile, talked him through the entire operation and kept him calm during the final excruciating hours Thursday.
In a video published by Chilean firefighters in the hours before the rescue, Gil Flores is seen drawing, seemingly to pass the time. Campos then gently tells him to look at the camera and to wear protective goggles.
“I need you to keep the goggles on, for the small particles that are falling, to avoid them getting into your eye,” Campos told the Venezuelan survivor.
The collapse of the building was triggered by two back-to-back earthquakes on June 24 that registered magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, respectively. The shallow, violent tremors damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of buildings across northern Venezuela, killing more than 2,200 people, injuring over 11,000 and leaving La Guaira state as the hardest-hit region in the country.
Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said Thursday that he hasn’t spoken to Zack Wheeler about his postgame comments from the night before.
But he also isn’t bothered that Wheeler was upset. Wheeler was direct about his frustration at being removed from his start against the Pirates on Wednesday after 4⅔ innings with an 8-3 lead, leaving two runners on base for Kyle Backhus. The righty was at 104 pitches on a hot day, matching a season high, but said he felt he had earned the chance to finish the fifth inning.
Since he departed with two outs in the fifth, he was ineligible to get credit for what ultimately was a 10-6 win.
“I don’t think he wants to talk to me yet. Maybe he’ll settle down, and we’ll talk a bit later,” Mattingly said pregame Thursday. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet. I mean, it really doesn’t bother me at all that he’s upset. I think the great ones never want to come out of the game, and he’s no different.”
Mattingly compared managing Wheeler to managing the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw, who he said similarly never wanted to be taken out. In this situation, his justification for removing Wheeler in that moment was to protect the rotation as a whole.
Zack Wheeler gave up four runs against the Pirates and was pulled from the game with two outs in the fifth inning on Wednesday.
“Our rotation is obviously a great rotation, but the depth of it is not filled with four Paul Skenes down in the minor leagues ready to pop in and fill the spot,” Mattingly said. “So my job is to make sure that this guy stays available through the course of the season, and we’ve got a long way to go. So I really don’t mind guys being upset, that’s what the greats do, but I still have to make decisions for the whole club.”
Mattingly was concerned that the next batter, Pirates center fielder Jake Mangum, would work a long at-bat, driving up Wheeler’s pitch count even further. Pittsburgh had already fouled off 20 of Wheeler’s pitches on Wednesday.
Backhus took over and hit Magnum with a pitch. He also hit the next batter to force in a run charged to Wheeler.
Mattingly said the fact that Wheeler was one out away from becoming eligible for his ninth win of the season did not factor into his decision. Wheeler, whose ERA crept up to 2.36 after Wednesday’s start, has been forthright about his ambition to win a Cy Young Award.
“I think more about the situation that we’re in as a club. I think it probably helps that nowadays wins aren’t really a big thing anymore,” Mattingly said. “It used to be that you’d let that guy try to finish it. And in a different time, you may be letting the guy throw 130 [pitches], but that’s not the time we’re in. That’s not the situation that we’re in right now.”
Phillies manager Don Mattingly said of Zack Wheeler: “I really don’t mind guys being upset, that’s what the greats do, but I still have to make decisions for the whole club.”
Mattingly added that he doesn’t expect this frustration to linger. When things cool off, he wants to discuss the move with Wheeler, but it also won’t change how he manages.
“I want to know his feelings on it, and all that stuff, but I’m still making the decision based on the club and the team and moving forward, where we want to go,” Mattingly said. “So I don’t mind him hearing my side of it. I don’t mind hearing his side of it, and, again, just have to deal with being mad about it or doesn’t like it. I understand it, but I still have to do what I have to do.”
Extra bases
Brad Keller (right forearm tendinitis) is scheduled to start a rehab assignment Friday with triple-A Lehigh Valley in Rochester, N.Y. … Following Friday’s off day, Jesús Luzardo (6-4, 3.88 ERA) is scheduled to start the series opener against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.
Jahylin Melchur, 21, is wanted in connection with two homicides and the shooting near the large North Philadelphia park, according to police.
He is accused of killing 45-year-old Martin Higgins in the park on June 20. Officers found Higgins on the bleachers of the baseball field around 10 p.m. that evening suffering from a gunshot wound to the torso, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Less than a week later, police said, Melchur shot and killed 29-year-old Sharef Holman not far from where Higgins was killed.
Officers responded there on June 26 just before 11 p.m. and found Holman suffering from multiple gunshot wounds near the basketball courts. He was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he died a short time later.
And on May 29, investigators said, Melchur shot a 55-year-old man in Juniata Park, about two miles from the recreation center. The victim told police Melchur had attempted to rob him before shooting him in the elbow and torso.
Police are seeking the public’s help in finding Melchur, who they say is considered armed and dangerous and whose image, captured on surveillance footage at a Broad Street Line station, was circulated widely last week in an effort to locate him.
Law enforcement sources said the victims were found partially clothed, and that they were looking into whether they had met the suspect through a dating app.
Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore declined to address that aspect of the investigation in a news conference last week and said police were looking into whether the incidents were related to robberies.
Who were the victims?
Sharef Holman’s loved ones said the 29-year-old lived a life of faith and compassion, and that he was the life of any party he attended.
His mother, Danielle, said her son was beloved on both sides of his large family.
“He was tall in stature, and the children in our family loved to climb him,” she said. “The reason why I start there is because Sharef had a heart for the youth.”
Sharef Holman, a 29-year-old man who was shot and killed near the Hunting Park Recreation Center in June.
Holman, who was born in Philadelphia and graduated from Samuel Fels High School in Crescentville, loved playing the saxophone and dancing, his mother said. He excelled in his school’s musical theater program, and once played Ebenezer Scrooge, the lead role in A Christmas Carol.
He had most recently worked at The Belvedere nursing home in Chester, where he assisted residents with recreational programs, and he tutored schoolchildren with the Greenhouse Project, a nearby Christian nonprofit.
For a time, his mother said, Holman struggled with drug addiction, and she remembers the pride she felt when he graduated from a rehab program two years ago.
“He had been fighting addiction for some years, and this last one was the one where he was the most successful,” she said, adding that her son’s progress allowed him to get an apartment of his own.
Danielle Holman said she and her family are planning a celebration of her son’s life this weekend. As they prepare to honor and remember him, she said, they hope police will find and bring their son’s killer to justice.
The family of Martin Higgins, who was shot and killed days before Holman, declined to be interviewed as they deal with their loss.
Higgins, 45, was a graduate of Temple University’s business school and worked as an inspector for the city’s Community Life Improvement Program, according to his obituary.
He had a “kind heart, generous spirit, and unwavering support for those he loved,” the obituary said, and he “was the person who showed up when someone needed him, always making time for family and friends no matter what was going on in his own life.”
Police ask that anyone with information about Melchur contact the homicide unit at 215-686-3334 or submit an anonymous tip by calling 215-686-TIPS (8477).
Philadelphia-based restaurateur Stephen Starr and his company, Starr Restaurants, settled with the National Labor Relations Board in May over union-busting allegations at his D.C. steakhouse St. Anselm, according to a copy of the settlement agreement obtained by the Inquirer.
The move is the latest in a lengthy dispute between Starr Restaurants and D.C. union Unite Here Local 25 at St. Anselm, where staffers voted 51 to 42 in favor ofunionizing in February 2025. Now more than 16 months later, Starr restaurants has yet to recognize the union, with more pending litigation leaving St. Anselm workers in limbo.
Reached on May 25, the settlement resolves a set of unfair labor practice (ULP) allegations that Local 25 filed with the NLRB on behalf of St. Anselm employees in June 2025. They alleged that Starr and a St. Anselm supervisor made promises of improved benefits for workers who voted against the union and directly coerced employees with false information. In one instance, they alleged, Starr interrogated a host about her involvement with Local 25 during a one-on-one conversation.
Starr “made a lot of promises about sick pay, about vacation pay,” Ana Reyes, a St. Anselm line cook, previously told the Inquirer, recalling a meeting the restaurateur had with staff during the union drive.
After an investigation, the NLRB’s general counsel found merit in the accusations that Starr Restaurants had violated the National Labor Relations Act, and it pursued charges against the company.
The settlement is not an admittance of wrongdoing and is similar to the standard penalty Starr Restaurants could have received had the case played out fully, according to James M. Cooney, a Rutgers University labor and employment law professor.
St. Anselm, Stephen Starr’s D.C. steakhouse.
The agreement requires Starr Restaurants to post a notice in St. Anselm for 60 days stating that the company will not:
“Threaten you that it would be futile” to unionize,
Solicit complaints and “imply that we will fix them” in order to discourage union support,
Give new or better wages and benefits to discourage unionizing,
Or “promise to pay you for previously unpaid leave” to dissuade workers from supporting a union.
The settlement “allows us to move on and get back to the business of delivering amazing hospitality to our guests,” a spokesperson for St. Anselm said in a statement. “We have vigorously denied, and continue to deny, all allegations listed in the original complaint, and are fully complying with the terms of the settlement while making no admission of violation.”
A delegation of workers pose in front Stephen Starr’s D.C. steakhouse St. Anselm before delivering their union petition in Feb. 2025.
That case remains open, and a hearing was held in mid-June where the NLRB heard testimony from witnesses on both sides. Unite Here Local 25, which represents more than 7,500 hospitality workers, is optimistic that settlement will open up a path to union recognition.
“We feel vindicated,” said Paul Schwalb, Local 25’s executive secretary-treasurer. “It’s the same board that’s going to oversee [the unionization case], and we are quite confident — because we did actually follow labor law — that at the end of the day this unit will be certified, and all the objections that Stephen Starr and his many lawyers have filed will be thrown out because they are not true.”
Legalese that ‘meant nothing’
The battle between Starr Restaurants and Local 25 began last January, when the union began to organize at three of Starr’s seven D.C restaurants: Pastis, a French bistro; the Parc-inspired Le Diplomate; and St. Anselm, an upscale steakhouse.
The efforts — which coincided with union drives at two other high-profile D.C restaurants — stood to add 500 members to Local 25. St. Anselm was the only one that voted to unionize. (Local 25 lost the union election at Pastis, and Le Diplomate’s has been suspended indefinitely.)
A picket line outside of Stephen Starr’s D.C. restaurant Le Diplomate, led by Unite Here Local 25 after Starr Restaurants challenged a unionization vote at St. Anselm.
Almost immediately, relations soured between Starr Restaurants and Local 25. The restaurant group hired anti-union consultants to meet with St. Anselm staff, Washingtonian magazine reported, while other employees told food publication Eater that Local 25 organizers were ambushing them at their homes to sign cards indicating they wanted a union vote.
Local 25 also called for an ongoing boycott of Starr’s D.C. restaurants — including those where no union efforts were taking place. Top Democrats such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes, and Sen. Chuck Schumer signed on.
Legally, the settlement doesn’t state that Starr Restaurants broke any laws or affirm any of the union’s allegations. In practice, however, Cooney said that workers and employees might have a different interpretation.
Posting a notice “doesn’t sound very intimidating on its face, but employers will sometimes fight tooth and nail over the wording” or try to hide them, said Cooney. “Looking at it from the viewpoint of the common worker, if they see that notice … I think they would see it as an indication that a company violated the law.”
Starr Restaurants posted the notice required by the settlement inside St. Anselm on June 16 and also emailed a copy to staff.
Greg Varney (left) and Ana Reyes, both with Unite Here Local 25, outside Starr headquarters at 134 Market St. in July 2025.
When St. Anselm server Abigail Dunki-Jacobs received the email, it felt like “a bunch of legalese … that meant nothing,” she told The Inquirer. Dunki-Jacobs, who voted against the union, said she hasn’t heard much chatter among her colleagues after it was posted.
“It just feels like a list of facts to me,” she said. “Nobody even really gives a shit about it.”
Delays upon delays
Local 25 organizers and employees who voted for the union also find the settlement meaningless.
Starr Restaurants “didn’t have to admit to doing anything wrong with the statement they made,” said Ellery Grimm, a member of support staff at St. Anselm who helped organize the union drive. “We’ll be vindicated when we have our contract.”
St. Anselm’s union election case has sat unresolved with the NLRB for nearly a year and half, which Cooney said was abnormal. The agency tends to prioritize certifying election results over unfair labor practice allegations.
The NLRB has been beleaguered by delays for more than year, first from the firing of a board member that left the agency unable to issue rulings, and then from a government shutdown that furloughed employees.
The delays have caused at least one St. Anselm employee to quit. Bridget Killburn, a baker at the steakhouse, left in April after more than three years at the restaurant. She now works at a bakery in Maryland that she said offered higher pay and more time off — two things she hoped the union would’ve won by now.
A chef in the kitchen at Le Diplomate, one of Stephen Starr’s three D.C. restaurants that Unite Here Local 25 attempted to unionize.
“I’m someone who wants a very stable job with good pay, good benefits. At this rate, it felt like I was never going to get those things so I needed to try and find a workplace who would allow me to have them,” Killburn said.
Schwalb acknowledged that Local 25 hasn’t done any public campaigning at St. Anselm in months, and has abandoned the union drives at Starr’s other restaurants until all litigation is resolved.
“Rome and the restaurant union — neither one will be built in a day,” he said.
Delaware County is investigating a hack of its network after “unauthorized activity” interfered with systems in late June, disrupting county services.
The countygovernment is “in the process of restoring network access,” according to a statement, and internet and phone service has been restored.
“The County responded to these attempts by taking the proactive but necessary step of shutting down our network to continue to protect sensitive information and critical systems while following industry best practices in response to the intrusion attempts,” the county said.
The scale of the latest hack remains unclear, but the county said in its statement that since the 2020 incident, it has “established critical protections and followed industry recommendations about how to best secure its network assets, and those protections have proven valuable in recent days.”
The public first became aware of disruptions last Friday, when Delaware County Council posted on social media that there was a “network outage” at the Government Center Complex in Media.
Delco also said it plans to reestablish network access, services, and work with cybersecurity experts.
“All our offices remain open and ready to continue serving our residents, and we appreciate the efforts of our staff and departments to find alternate ways to perform their duties throughout this period of network interruption,” the county said.
The delays and detours in services have become frustrating for residents who may have to reschedule appointments with departments like the Register of Wills or at the courthouse.
6ABC reported earlier this week that residents were not able to complete routine procedures at the courthouse, like filing a motion, and that cases were being taken out of order.
Check your change: You might have one of the U.S. Mint’s special-edition coins celebrating the nation’s 250th birthday.
For one year only, circulating nickels, dimes, quarters, and half-dollars will feature new historical designs. Part of the U.S. Mint’s Semiquincentennial program, many of the coins entered circulation at the beginning of the year.
“The program is the most significant redesign of the nation’s circulating coins in the past century,” said Jill Westeyn, acting chief of public affairs at the U.S. Mint. “These coins commemorate 250 years of American Liberty by reflecting our country’s founding principles and honoring our nation’s history.”
What’s on the coins
The quarter is a star of the program, boasting five different designs that highlight pivotal moments in American history.
The Mayflower Compact, signed in 1620 as one of the New World’s earliest documents establishing self-government, inspired one of the quarter’s designs, which features the iconic ship.
Motifs from the Declaration of Independence, the Revolutionary War, and the U.S. Constitution appear on three of the other quarters. Images include Philadelphia landmarks like the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.
The fifth quarter honors President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Meant to highlight the Civil War-era speech’s commitment to equality, the quarter depicts Lincoln on one side and clasped hands on the other.
The quarters are scheduled for circulation in separate intervals throughout the year. So far, the Mayflower Compact Quarter, the Revolutionary War Quarter, and the Declaration of Independence Quarter have been released. The remaining two designs will enter circulation later in the year.
The dime and half-dollar feature Liberty, an American allegorical figure of a mythical goddess. The dime includes her cap, a symbol of freedom in ancient Rome, and the half-dollar depicts Liberty gazing to her right, meant to convey looking toward the future.
The nickel may look familiar with its portrait of President Thomas Jefferson, but an addition of the dual date, “1776 ~ 2026,” updates the coin for the anniversary.
A collectible penny with the dual date is alsoavailable for purchase in annual sets sold on the mint’s website. The mint discontinued the copper cent in 2025 because it cost more to produce than it’s worth.
The bipartisan Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee had reportedly proposed designs for the 250th that will not see the light of day, including coins that would have commemorated the end of slavery, the women’s suffrage movement, and the civil rights movement. But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, tasked with making the final design choices, did not pick any of those.
Other coins
President Donald Trump’s 24-karat gold coins, which feature his portrait and were also intended to highlight the country’s 250th anniversary, are not among the program. The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts voted unanimously to approve the design in March, but the coins are not slated for production until after July 4.
The U.S. Mint has approximately 1,400 employees across four production facilities (one of which is in Philadelphia), a bullion depository, and its headquarters in Washington, D.C. It produced 8 billion coins during fiscal year 2025, per the organization’s annual report.
In the grand casino of the atmosphere, scheduling outdoor events on July Fourth in the Philly region is almost always going to be a rolling of the bones.
And on the day Philadelphia and the rest of the nation are holding a mass 250th birthday party, the odds may be dicier than usual, with thunderstorms and accompanying lightning possible Saturday afternoon and night, forecasters say.
The National Weather Service on Thursday listed a 50-50 chance of storms Saturday night, and the federal Storm Prediction Center, in Norman, Okla., bumped up the probability of severe storms — those with winds up to 60 mph — to 15%.
July happens to be the peak month for lightning-bearing thunderstorms in Philadelphia, occurring every five days on average, and who doesn’t want to be outside on the Fourth?
As if record-challenging heat and an atmosphere that feels like syrup weren’t enough.
Lightning injuries and fatalities are rare — on average in the last decade, 20 people have been killed annually by lightning in the United States, according to the National Weather Service. But among outdoor events with large crowds across the country, Philly’s July Fourth concert would be among the riskiest for lightning, according to Stephen Strader, disaster specialist at Villanova University.
“It’s way up there, a lot higher than I thought it was,” he said.
The city is well aware of the atmosphere’s capriciousness, the potential risks in July, and the potential effects on the Parkway celebration and the World Cup match in South Philly and has developed safety protocols, said Jeffery Kolakowski, communications director for the Office of Emergency Management.
Unfortunately, for attendees and planners, predicting the when and where for thunderstorms remains elusive.
“There’s uncertainty of the when and where of the storms,” said Rich Thompson, branch chief and lead forecaster at the federal Storm Prediction Center, in Norman, Okla., the source of those severe storm and tornado watches. “It’s still one of the great frontiers of meteorology. It’s incredibly difficult.”
‘Ring of Fire’ fireworks and the weekend forecasts
Readings soared to 97 on Wednesday, and the heat index shot past 105 in Philly as the atmosphere thickened in a hurry.
And it’s about to get thicker. The heat is forecast to peak Thursday and Friday with highs surpassing 100. It could cool down all the way to 99 on Saturday, said Matt Benz, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. Unfortunately that would indicate increasing volatility in the atmosphere.
High pressure though the atmosphere, the so-called heat dome phenomenon, has put a lid on convective storms, “but that starts to come off Friday into Saturday,” he said. That could lead to “ring of fire” thunderstorms, so named because they form on heat-dome edges. They can be especially nasty.
“We’re worried that something is going to be blowing up,” he said.
The storms could come in one bunch in the early evening and yield to a peaceful night, but they also could come in waves over a period of hours.
Even without strong storms — or storms not in the immediate vicinity of the festivities — lightning strikes are possible.
“Unfortunately that could be the biggest concern that day you’ve got lighting and people outdoors,” said Benz.
The lightning threat
The chances of being struck by lightning are remote, about one in a million in a given year, according to the weather service.
But they do happen: They’re what Strader calls “low probability events” with “high consequences.” In 2019, several people were injured when lightning struck at a PGA tournament in Georgia.
In 2014, a severe thunderstorm forced thousands of concertgoers at Philadelphia’s Made in America Music Festival to evacuate the Parkway for a short time that Sunday evening.
But for the most part, Fourth of July fireworks have been confined to the manmade kind.
In his analysis, Strader looked at thousands of outdoor events attended by 10,000 or more people, what he called “large outdoor public gatherings,” to calculate which ones would expose the most people to cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, taking into account location and time of year.
He found that both the Parkway and World Cup events in Philly this year would rank among the top 6%, using his criteria. The Parkway would be particularly problematic given the lack of shelter options.
All during the events the City’s Emergency Operations Center will be operating with a “play by play” from a National Weather Service forecaster, said Kolakowski.
In the event of lightning he said, “an evacuation of the area could be issued and people would be asked to leave the event ground in a safe manner and seek shelter.”
He said weather messages would be broadcast on screens, loudspeakers, social media, and text alert.
He added that people can get free event or safety alerts by texting CUPPHL or AMERICA to 888-777.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Malik Tillman’s shoe was broken.
He’d been stepped on by a Bosnian player, not hard enough to need to leave the game but enough to need a replacement cleat from the bench.
The new one didn’t have any magic dust, but it didn’t need it. Tillman practices free kicks a lot, so he was ready when the moment came.
His team was a goal up, a man down, and fighting with every ounce it had to secure its first men’s World Cup knockout win in 24 years. In the 82nd minute, the chance to regain momentum finally arrived.
Bosnia’s Stjepan Radeljić held back Sergiño Dest, earning the U.S a free kick just outside the 18-yard box. Tillman, with a bloodied sock underneath that new shoe, stepped up to score the goal that clinched the 2-0 win.
“I’ve been dreaming about this game. I’ve been dreaming about maybe taking a free kick and scoring a free kick,” he said. “I practiced this in training, and today I think I showed what I can do.”
Soccer now has its own version of Curt Schilling’s bloody sock saga in the American sports history books — though Tillman is much more soft-spoken than the former pitcher who played for the Red Sox, Phillies, and more.
As Tillman ran toward the end line to celebrate, his teammates joined him in a joyous mass, fusing its energy with a crowd that had dug in just as much down the stretch. That energy came through loud and clear all night, in hopes of seeing a new chapter in a story that began when the Bay Area hosted the U.S. men’s soccer team’s first World Cup knockout game of its modern era in 1994.
“I’m a different type of person on the pitch,” Tillman said. “Of course, maybe you don’t really see my emotions, but if you score a goal like this, you guys saw my emotions. It’s a great feeling, and, of course, a very proud moment for me.”
It’s easy to say that the Americans don’t face the kind of pressure as the world’s traditional powers like Brazil, Argentina, England, and Germany. Even next-door neighbor Mexico deals with more, thanks to a rabid fan base that spans both sides of the Rio Grande.
But this time, the weight on the U.S. was massive. A squad of players long hyped as a golden generation had to win this game, or else they’d be tarred as failures in the big moment.
The stakes rose even higher when cohosts Canada and Mexico won their round of 32 contests first. Imagine the reaction in the soccer world had the U.S. failed to match them.
— FIFA World Cup 26 Philadelphia™ (@FWC26Philly) July 2, 2026
There still will be plenty at stake when the Americans play Belgium in the round of 16 on Monday in Seattle. This team still hasn’t beaten a really good opponent in this World Cup, or in general for a while. Nor has anyone forgotten that the ninth-ranked Red Devilsthumped the U.S., 5-2, in March in Atlanta, even if that was a friendly with different squads.
The U.S. also still has a poor all-time record against European teams in World Cups. Wednesday’s win was just the fourth win in 26 such games, against 15 losses and seven ties. Raising the win total to five now would make an all-time impact.
The call certainly was controversial, and by the letter of the law, referee Raphael Claus might have relied too much on slow-motion replay footage instead of watching at real-time speed.
But the decision was not totally wrong. First and foremost, any time a replay shows a player dragging his studs down an opponent’s calf and landing on the foot almost certainly will be a red.
An obvious counter to that is that Lionel Messi wasn’t sent off in Argentina’s group game against Algeria for landing his studs in an opponent’s calf even more directly.
This is life in the sport, and every player knows it. Had Balogun been hit in a similar way, even though the initial collision was 50/50, U.S. fans surely would have brayed for the opponent’s dismissal.
Also, if Balogun had been given a yellow card right away, the odds might have decreased that a video review would upgrade the call to a red.
Referee Raphael Claus (left) showing the red card to Folarin Balogun.
Because there was no card initially, when Claus went to the monitor, all he could do was give a red or let it go. The rules mandate that a video review of a call with no card can’t lead to a yellow. FIFA’s rules also mean U.S. Soccer can’t appeal the decision, though it almost certainly would have lost.
“Typical FIFA,” U.S. veteran Tyler Adams said of the rule book. But he didn’t totally argue with the call.
“You’re asking the wrong person, with how I tackle,” he said. “I think it’s a yellow card. I think when you slow everything down, it’s always going to look worse. I don’t want to say too much.”
It definitely will sting the U.S. to face Belgium’s stars without the striker who has more than justified the hype around his talent. Ricardo Pepi presumably will start, with Haji Wright coming off the bench.
Ricardo Pepi (right) subbed on in the 87th minute to help close out the game.
Pepi didn’t stop to talk with the media after Wednesday’s game, but Wright did. The last U.S. striker to score in a World Cup before Balogun’s three this summer declared himself “always ready and always prepared to give my best for the team.”
There also was lots of support for Balogun from his teammates.
“He’s done so much for us, and now we’ve got his back,” Christian Pulisic said, and Chris Richards said nearly the same words.
Christian Pulisic (right) consoles Folarin Balogun after the striker’s ejection.
Freese’s satisfaction
Let’s close this piece on a positive note.
Matt Freese grew up in Wayne idolizing Tim Howard, the U.S. Hall of Famer who cemented his legend with 16 saves in the 2014 World Cup’s 2-1 loss to Belgium. Freese didn’t have to be that busy against Bosnia, but his three stops and command of his box still were plenty to confirm his status as the No. 1 in net.
Now he has a historic reward: being the goalkeeper of record for the first World Cup knockout win in so long.
“It means, really, more than I can say,” Freese said. “You dream of putting your name up there with the guys that you watched growing up. And there’s a lot more to do, but it’s an honor and a privilege to be in goal for this team.”
Matt Freese (center) making one of his big stops in Wednesday’s game.
After a relatively slow start to NBA free agency, the Sixers made a shocking trade Wednesday evening, acquiring Jaylen Brown for Paul George and four draft picks.
Since the Brown trade, the Sixers have also emerged as potential suitors for LeBron James. Here’s everything you need to know.
The Sixers are suddenly contenders again after the Brown trade, writes columnist David Murphy, who believes it was a steal for the Sixers. The national media seems to agree.
Report: Kyle Lowry to retire as a member of the Raptors
Sixers guard Kyle Lowry passes the basketball against the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday, April 12, 2026 in Philadelphia.
A bit of unsurprising news: Kyle Lowry, the Philly native-turned-Sixers veteran guard, is officially retiring from the NBA, per a report from Sportsnet.
Per Sportsnet’s report, Lowry will make good on his long-publicized commitment to sign a one-day contract with Toronto, where he became a franchise icon and won the 2019 NBA title, to retire as a member of the Raptors.
At the end of the 2024-25 season, Lowry said he wanted to play one more season to reach 20 for his career, though was more coy when asked about that plan in recent months.
Lowry, who played in 14 games last season, was almost exclusively a trusted and enthusiastic veteran on the bench and locker room, particularly for All-NBA point guard Tyrese Maxey. Lowry initially joined his hometown Sixers off the buyout market in 2024, and averaged 4.7 points and three assists in 72 games with the franchise.
Shortly after ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Sixers are making a pitch to LeBron James, his ESPN colleague Brian Windhorst also linked James to the Sixers and discussed how the Sixers might go about trying to recruit James: by using Tyrese Maxey’s connection through agent Rich Paul and Klutch Sports.
“A key factor in any sort of Philadelphia pursuit of LeBron is Tyrese Maxey. That is not only because of his talent, which is awesome, but he’s one of Klutch’s core clients,” Windhorst said. “He’s basically a part of LeBron’s extended family, so you would not only have Jaylen Brown as the addition, you would have Tyrese Maxey as your drawing card.”
The Philadelphia 76ers are expected to emerge as a strong suitor for LeBron James due to the Tyrese Maxey connection, per @WindhorstESPN
Maxey, who shares the same Klutch Sports agency as LeBron, is viewed as a major recruiting tool for Philly. pic.twitter.com/6GCoUHgl9y
Shams: Sixers are ‘trying to make a pitch to LeBron James’
"I'm told the Sixers are also trying to make a pitch to LeBron James… Include the Sixers & maybe 1 or 2 other teams in due time in that mix. The Sixers get Anfernee Simons & they’re obviously trying to continue to add to this team.”
Jalen Brown says he’s ‘still processing’ in first statement since trade
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown is ready to get after it in Philly.
New Sixer Jaylen Brown has spoken. On Thursday, less than 24 hours after he was traded from Boston to Philly, the veteran released a statement on social media. Here it is in it’s entirety:
“First and foremost, thank you to the Most High, even in the midst of adversity. I’m here with gratitude.
“I’m still processing how this all went down. I’m excited and disappointed at the same time. I earned my respect from this city. I never asked for shortcuts or special treatment. I simply showed up every day, put my head down, and accepted every challenge.
“The relationships I built here, the battles we fought together, the championship we brought to this city, and the connection I shared with the fans, I’ll carry on with me.
“Saying goodbye isn’t easy when you’ve invested your heart into something.
“I’m big on respect and actions speak louder than words. To the people of Boston, thank you. To the community I built here I love you, and to the shiftaz we are locked in for life
“As one chapter closes, another begins.
“I’m excited for what’s ahead and grateful for the opportunity to join Philadelphia. Every city has its own identity, its own passion, and its own expectation. I respect that, and I’m looking forward to earning that respect the only way I know how.. through the work.
Anfernee Simons has agreed to sign a two-year, $12.3 million contractwith the 76ers, a source confirmed to The Inquirer Thursday afternoon.
After trading for star Jaylen Brown Wednesday night, the Sixers turned to bolstering their bench after losing sixth man Quentin Grimes, who will reportedly sign with the Los Angeles Lakers. Simons has shot 38.1% on 6.6 career three-pointers during his eight-year career with the Portland Trail Blazers, Boston Celtics, and Chicago Bulls.
Simons also one of Brown’s former teammates with the Celtics last season. Simons averaged 14.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 49 games before being traded to Chicago for reserve center Nikola Vucevic.
To sign Simons and stay under the first apron, where they are hard capped, his contract will come out of the nontaxpayer midlevel exception. Ariel Hukporti’s one-year, $3.4 million deal, which was agreed to Wednesday, will come out of the $5.5 biannual exception.
LeBron’s connection to Sixers president Mike Gansey
Sixers president Mike Gansey (left) and NBA star LeBron James competed in high school, where James beat out Gansey for Mr. Basketball Ohio in 2001.
The prospect of James coming Philadelphia was already picking up steam on social media following the Brown trade. Then, Steven Gansey, the younger brother of new Sixers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey, looked to add fuel to the fire.
On Wednesday, Steven posted a throwback photo of his brother (far right) alongside James (second from the right) in high school on X. He captioned the post with the eyeballs emoji, insinuating a connection.
As the photo shows, Gansey and James have crossed paths. The two Ohio natives competed in high school. Gansey, who went to have a memorable collegiate career at West Virginia, finished as the runner-up to James in the 2001 Mr. Ohio Basketball race.
Over a decade after facing LeBron on the court, Gansey served in a variety of roles in Cleveland during James’ second stint with the Cavaliers. In 2016, when James willed the team to a 3-1 comeback over the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, Gansey received a ring as the team’s director of development league operations.
Signing James would also be in line with the Sixers president’s resume. Gansey has previously shown that he is not scared of making splashy moves — and bringing in one of the NBA’s all-time greats is a cannonball.
As the Cavaliers general manager, Gansey was part of a front office that traded for stars Donovan Mitchell and James Harden. Now, during his first offseason leading the Sixers, he executed a trade for Brown — another top-tier player. So it wouldn’t appear Gansey is too risk-adverse to add another star to the Sixers roster.
The Sixers swapped Paul George and four draft picks for Celtics forward Jaylen Brown.
Wednesday’s trade between the Sixers and Celtics has left many puzzled, especially in Boston. In exchange for Paul George and four draft picks, the Sixers are getting Jaylen Brown back from Boston.
So who won the trade? Here is what the national media is saying …
ESPN — Sixers: A- | Celtics: D+
ESPN wrote that — with two guards like Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe and a center like Joel Embiid — Brown could be the fit that the Sixers needed, but that’s also not guaranteed. Meanwhile, the Celtics didn’t fair nearly as well.
“Swapping Brown for George makes the Celtics worse. It clearly makes them worse,” Zach Kram wrote.
The Athletic — Sixers: A | Celtics: D+
Swapping out George for Brown is what the Athletic predicts to be a big difference maker for the Sixers and their role in the Eastern Conference, especially when comparing their most recent seasons, in which Brown had one of the best of his career.
“The Sixers can now roll out a perimeter attack of Maxey, Brown, and Edgecombe, which is going to be nearly impossible for teams to match up against,” Zach Harper wrote. “On the nights Embiid is available and active, they could be one of the best teams in the East. On the nights when Embiid is struggling or unable to play, they’ll still be fine.”
CBS Sports — Sixers: A+ | Celtics: D-
When ranking the worst contracts in the NBA in March, the now-36-year-old George’s deal was No. 4. Moving off that contract and adding Brown is a win-win in CBS’s eyes.
“Brown is coming off a Second-Team All-NBA season. There is a credible reason to believe that the season was fool’s gold,” Sam Quinn wrote. “… He is not, in fact, a Kevin Durant-level individual scorer. But the 76ers did not pay a Durant-level price.”
However, not all outlets were quite as critical of the Celtics.
Yahoo! Sports — Sixers: A | Celtics: B
Yahoo! Sports minced no words in declaring that Philly got the better player in the deal, while also dumping a worse contract. There are, however, still concerns with Brown’s fit with the Sixers.
“Brown isn’t necessarily a strong outside shooter, which is a necessity alongside Maxey and, in particular, Embiid,” Morten Stig Jensen wrote. “Overall, though, Philly takes a step forward here with a pretty durable 29-year-old coming off an outstanding season.”
Bleacher Report — Sixers: A | Celtics: A
Like the rest of the experts, Bleacher Report gave Philadelphia high marks on acquiring Brown, but they also gave the Celtics an A, largely because of what they got back.
“For the Celtics, things had clearly gotten untenable between Brown and the organization. And getting multiple first-rounders for him, considering how widely accepted his future departure was, is good value,” the Bleacher Report staff wrote. “Plus, though he’s entering his age-36 season, George can still be helpful in a complementary role next to Jayson Tatum (and will be more willing to be in that role).”
— Mia Messina
// Timestamp 07/02/26 9:38am
Murphy: The Sixers are suddenly contenders again
Swapping Paul George for Jaylen Brown is a major upgrade.
The 76ers did the unthinkable on Wednesday. They did it to such an extent that it still isn’t thinkable. In fact, it’s barely believable.
Not only did the Sixers come from out of nowhere to stun the NBA by acquiring Celtics superstar Jaylen Brown, and not only did they do it for a criminally cheap price, they also somehow managed to ship out the remaining two years and $110 million remaining on Paul George’s contract.
And, just like that, a new window of title contention has arrived.
That’s the most important takeaway for Sixers fans. Brown is a player who transforms the Sixers in both the short and long term. The 2024 NBA Finals MVP and a sixth-place finisher in regular season voting this year, the longtime Celtics wing is basically the exact player you would create in a lab if you were dreaming up the prefect star to maximize a team with Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe in the backcourt. He has the size, versatility and defensive chops to help make up for however much of that they give away at the guard position. He is a straight-line player who can get to the rim through traffic with or without the ball in his hands. He is an adequate and willing three-point shooter who showed signs of being much more than that earlier in his career. He can alternate seamlessly between primary and secondary scoring roles. Basically, he is the exact player the Sixers would have been crossing their fingers to have a chance to draft at some point in order to make the Maxey-Edgecombe pairing a legitimate contender.
Even if only half of that was true, the Sixers would have still been justified in making this deal. The unprocessable thing about this deal is the mind-bogglingly low price that Gansey somehow managed to finagle from a Celtics team that doesn’t make many bad decisions.
What moves can the Sixers still make — and is LeBron one of them?
LeBron James is a free agent. Do the Sixers make sense?
Swapping out Paul George’s contract for Jaylen Brown’s still creates a top-heavy cap sheet. The Sixers are now about $2 million under the luxury tax and $10 million below the first apron, where they are hard-capped. And assuming Hukporti’s salary comes out of the non-taxpayer midlevel exception, the Sixers still have $2.6 million from that to spend along with the $5.5 million biannual exception.
The Sixers could add two more players to reach 15 on the full-time roster, though they have often only carried 14 to stay under the luxury tax.
It is reasonable to expect the Sixers will focus on adding one more guard — unless LeBron James wants to come to Philly, of course.
James’ agent, Rich Paul, told Max Kellerman during the pair’s Game Over podcast released Wednesday that he had spoken to between 12 and 14 teams about James. The Sixers would be silly not to be among that group that has reached out, or to join it after the addition of Brown. Gansey’s brother, Steven, also threw gas on the social media speculation when he posted a photo on X of Gansey and James as high-schoolers in Ohio and the eyeballs emoji.
Additionally, Bona’s $2.3 million salary for 2026-27 becomes guaranteed on July 7, while Jabari Walker and Dalen Terry’s deals become fully guaranteed Jan. 10.
Resetting the Sixers depth chart after Jaylen Brown trade
The Sixers have added a few pieces — and lost a few more — so far in free agency, with players like Jaylen Brown and Dean Wade arriving and Paul George, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Quentin Grimes all moving on.
Here’s a look at how their depth chart pans out after those deals:
Point guard: Tyrese Maxey, Labaron Philon Jr.
Shooting guard: VJ Edgecombe, Dalen Terry
Small forward: Jaylen Brown, Justin Edwards
Power forward: Dean Wade, Dominick Barlow, Jabari Walker
Center: Joel Embiid, Adem Bona, Ariel Hukporti, Johni Broome
Legitimate movement occurred Wednesday, when the Sixers added Ariel Hukporti but rotation players Kelly Oubre Jr. and Quentin Grimes reportedly decided to join other teams.
It was a seismic winnow swing for new president of basketball operations Mike Gansey, banking on the Joel Embiid-Tyrese Maxey era rather than toggling between two timelines or fully pivoting into a rebuild around the Maxey-VJ Edgecombe backcourt. It also was an effort to keep up in an Eastern Conference that already boasts the NBA champion New York Knicks, along with revamped Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors teams that recently traded for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard, respectively.
To recap …
In: Jaylen Brown, Dean Wade, Ariel Hukporti
Out: Paul George, Kelly Oubre Jr., Quentin Grimes
Unsigned: Andre Drummond, Trendon Watford, Kyle Lowry
When the Pennsylvania Supreme Court authorized the state’s top prosecutor to review Philadelphia’s efforts to reverse tainted convictions, the message was clear.
The move was a stinging rebuke of District Attorney Larry Krasner and attempts by his office’s Conviction Integrity Unit to overturn verdicts it believed were marred by official misconduct.
It was also an unprecedented and dubious decision in which the cure may be worse than the disease.
The justices — Dougherty was joined by Daniel McCaffery, P. Kevin Brobson, and Sallie Updyke Mundy — ruled that any attempts by Krasner’s office to win exonerations must now be overseen by the attorney general.
Justices Debra Todd, Christine Donohue, and David Wecht disagreed, finding little to warrant such sweeping action by the court.
At the heart of the matter was the case of Lavar Brown, who was convicted in the robbery and fatal shooting of the manager of a North Philadelphia Rite Aid.
Krasner’s office believed Brown deserved a new trial because of past prosecutorial misconduct. The victim’s family accused Krasner of a conflict of interest over payments made to the district attorney by former law partners who had been involved in Brown’s case.
As Justice Wecht writes in his dissent, the court’s majority used the Brown case as a springboard to “scrutinize decisions made by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office in other, wholly unrelated cases.”
It has been well established that some police and prosecutors have been willing to bend the rules — if not break them — in order to facilitate convictions and arrests. Unlike too many of his predecessors, Krasner has held police officers accountable for unjustified use of force, charging dozens and convicting three.
In some instances, however, victims, law enforcement, and some judges have called foul, accusing Krasner of being overzealous.
The district attorney’s office itself recently withdrew a recommendation to overturn a murder conviction, saying prosecutors had filed court documents that were “not supported by the record.” This looks less like the systemic misconduct the court described than an office catching and correcting its own mistakes.
It is also important to note that Krasner’s integrity unit has not sought to undo the vast majority of convictions. According to the district attorney, just 1.2% of the cases have resulted in his office seeking exoneration. While Krasner and his team believe in the innocence of many of these defendants, it is also important that everyone gets a fair trial — even those who are ultimately found guilty.
Adding another wrinkle to the high court’s decision is the fact that people who had policy disagreements with Krasner at the district attorney’s office are now part of the state attorney general’s office, including some of the veteran prosecutors Krasner fired upon assuming office in 2018.
At the time, Krasner thoughtlessly compared the state office to Paraguay, a reference to the flight of high-ranking Nazi officials to Latin American countries after World War II. Some of those same prosecutors will now be overseeing some of the same convictions they obtained.
Wecht’s fellow justices should consider his words carefully and rethink this oversight measure, which he called “unprecedented and unconstitutional.” A more targeted remedy — one focused specifically on the issues identified in the ruling — would have been far less troubling.
Krasner is far from perfect. In an interview with this board, he acknowledged that some errors have been made by attorneys under his supervision. But for the court’s majority to take the drastic step of removing authority from Philadelphia’s top prosecutor, more substantive charges are required.
