Reddit is launching a new feature for advertisers that slots positive posts from Reddit users right under their ads.
The new alpha feature, called Conversation Summary Add-ons, “dynamically integrates positive content from Reddit users directly below an advertiser’s creative, putting community conversations front-and-center in the user experience and blending AI-driven efficiency with real human perspectives,” according to a post from Reddit.
As shown by Reddit, you’ll be able to scroll through the posts that appear under an ad. You’ll also see a short summary of what Reddit users are saying about the advertiser. Jackbox Games and Lucid are alpha testers of the feature.
Powering this new feature is an “engine” Reddit calls Reddit Community Intelligence. According to the company, Reddit Community Intelligence can turn the platform’s more than 22 billion posts and comments “into structured intelligence for smarter marketing decisions.”
As part of today’s announcements, which Reddit is making alongside the Cannes Lions festival, the company is also introducing a “scalable, AI-powered social listening tool” called Reddit Insights. “Informed by proprietary metadata, it provides precise, real-time insights that help marketers confidently plan campaigns, validate creative ideas, and make smarter business decisions,” Reddit says.
Zach Kram is a national NBA writer for ESPN.com, specializing in short- and long-term trends across the league’s analytics landscape. He previously worked at The Ringer covering the NBA and MLB. You can follow Zach on X via @zachkram.
An unexpectedly competitive, but expectedly entertaining, NBA Finals have transformed from a best-of-seven to a best-of-three, as the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder alternated wins in the first four games.
Recently, they’ve even alternated winning styles, too. The Thunder led most of Game 3, but the Pacers surged ahead with a big fourth quarter, and Oklahoma City pulled the same comeback trick in Game 4.
Through four games, the two teams are separated by just six points, and they could be headed for the first Finals Game 7 since the clash between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors in 2016. In advance of a pivotal Game 5 (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC), here are seven plays that have defined the tactics and narratives of the 2025 Finals, explaining how the series reached 2-2 and where it might be headed.
Let’s start in Game 3, when the Pacers took one of their favorite tactics to the extreme. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s pick-and-rolls have set the stage for a delightful game-within-a-game in the Finals. The Pacers harried him in Game 1, so Oklahoma City tweaked its screening tactics in Game 2, setting more picks high up the court to open space for the league MVP.
Then, Indiana responded, denying Gilgeous-Alexander the ball. If he doesn’t have possession, it doesn’t matter where the Thunder would prefer to screen for him. Through Game 2 of the Finals, Gilgeous-Alexander had brought up the ball on 61% of the Thunder’s possessions when he was on the court, according to an analysis of GeniusIQ tracking data.
But against Indiana’s intense full-court pressure in Games 3 and 4, that percentage dropped by half, as SGA brought up the ball on just 30% of the Thunder’s possessions in each game. That’s a major change of pace for Oklahoma City’s offense: Out of 342 games that Gilgeous-Alexander has played over the past five seasons, these were his second- and third-lowest percentages.
After Indiana’s first made shot of Game 3, Andrew Nembhard denied Gilgeous-Alexander the inbounds pass, preventing him from initiating Oklahoma City’s offense. And though that first possession still produced a bucket for Williams, SGA never touched the ball.
More often than not, that setup is a win for Indiana — like on this possession midway through the first quarter of Game 3, when Oklahoma City’s most talented offensive player didn’t touch the ball and an out-of-control Williams committed a turnover.
Overall, the Thunder are averaging 122 points per 100 half-court possessions in the Finals when Gilgeous-Alexander brings up the ball, versus just 107 when he’s on the court but doesn’t bring up the ball, per GeniusIQ. That’s not the whole story.
Not bringing up the ball could help Gilgeous-Alexander avoid early fatigue, setting him up for better luck in crunch time, as was the case in Game 4. But it helps illustrate why Indiana’s middling defense has slowed the Thunder, who had the No. 3 offense in the regular season.
Game 4, third quarter: OKC commits a shot clock violation
Facing a growing deficit in front of a frenzied Pacers crowd, Oklahoma City called a timeout to regroup. But that plan failed. After Alex Caruso brought up the ball — because of Nembhard’s continued denial of SGA in the backcourt — Isaiah Hartenstein‘s handoff was almost a turnover, then Nembhard stonewalled Gilgeous-Alexander’s attempt to isolate in the midrange.
Eventually, with the shot clock winding down, the ball deflected out of bounds, and after another deflection of the inbound pass, Indiana forced a violation.
This possession illustrates Oklahoma City’s sudden lack of offensive flow. It’s astonishing how much the Thunder have relied on tough one-on-one scoring in this series, as opposed to rhythmic playmaking as a team. The three lowest-assist games of Oklahoma City’s season are:
Game 4 of the Finals: 11 assists.
Game 1 of the Finals: 13 assists.
Game 3 of the Finals: 16 assists. (The Thunder had more than 16 assists in every regular-season game except Game No. 82, when they had 16 with all their starters resting.)
That’s a massive shock to OKC’s system, as the team averaged 27 assists in the regular season and 25 in the playoffs until the Finals. In Game 4, Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t have an assist for the first time in five years.
Game 4, fourth quarter: Aaron Nesmith fouls Gilgeous-Alexander
Though Nesmith was the Pacers’ key defender in the Eastern Conference finals, as he had the greatest success guarding the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, Indiana prefers Nembhard to guard Gilgeous-Alexander. Nembhard has matched up against Gilgeous-Alexander on 187 possessions in the Finals, per GeniusIQ, versus 119 for the rest of the Pacers combined.
The results show why. Out of 27 defenders who have guarded SGA for at least 10 matchups this postseason, his three highest points-per-matchup figures are against non-Nembhard Pacers: Bennedict Mathurin (0.89 points per matchup), Nesmith (0.73) and Myles Turner (0.73). For comparison, Gilgeous-Alexander has scored only 0.33 points per matchup against Nembhard.
Gilgeous-Alexander is still getting his typical share of points in the Finals (32.8 points per game, versus 32.7 in the regular season), but Nembhard is making him work a lot harder for them than anyone else.
Those numbers might reflect a small sample, but down the stretch of Game 4, the Thunder geared their offense toward shifting Nesmith onto Gilgeous-Alexander instead. Oklahoma City — which typically asks its guards to set the most picks in the league — repeatedly sent Gilgeous-Alexander to screen for Williams, who was being guarded by Nesmith, to coax Indiana into a switch.
Gilgeous-Alexander set five picks for Williams in the fourth quarter of Game 4 — tied for the most in any quarter of their careers playing together, per GeniusIQ. The other time was the fourth quarter of Game 4 against the Dallas Mavericks in last year’s playoffs, another must-win game for the Thunder. They clearly trust this action in desperate moments.
Against Indiana, those five plays produced excellent results as the Thunder completed their comeback: a layup, a 3-pointer, two shooting fouls (which led to Nesmith fouling out) and an open midrange jumper that he missed. The Thunder evened the series, and Gilgeous-Alexander scored the most points in the last five minutes of a Finals game (15) since 1971.
Indiana’s first made field goal of the Finals showcased one advantage for the Pacers: Siakam is too big and too adept at finishing to switch a guard onto him. Cason Wallace is an excellent perimeter defender, but on this play, he couldn’t offer meaningful resistance as Indiana recognized the mismatch, cleared out one side of the court and let Siakam go to work.
Siakam, who won a title with the 2018-19 Toronto Raptors, leads the Pacers in the Finals with 18.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, and he’s contributing 1.8 steals and 1.3 blocks. He’s on pace to become the 12th player this century to average 18/7/1/1 in the Finals, joining an elite list: Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan (twice), Dwyane Wade (twice), Kevin Garnett, LeBron James (three times), Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Andrew Wiggins.
But it’s Siakam’s ability to overwhelm smaller defenders on the block that has had so much impact on the Finals. It’s not just that it allows Siakam to generate easy buckets, which are rare against this historically great Thunder defense. It’s also that Siakam forced Thunder coach Mark Daigneault to change his game plan. For Game 4, Daigneault reinserted Hartenstein into the starting lineup, replacing Wallace to give the Thunder more size.
The Thunder’s double-big lineup opens holes elsewhere, though, because it reduces Oklahoma City’s speed on the floor — which is necessary when countering Indiana’s high-octane attack. The Pacers are well-rounded enough that they force trade-offs from their opponents, and Siakam, with his ability to run the floor and power through defenders at the rim, is the epitome of that strength.
The Thunder allowed the most corner 3s this season, and the Pacers have taken advantage. On this play, some clever Tyrese Haliburton head and ball fakes created an open look for Nembhard. But NBA teams try to avoid helping off the strong-side corner — because this kickout pass would be easy for any guard, let alone the playoff leader in assists per game.
The Thunder are more aggressive with this sort of help than other teams. Usually, that’s to their benefit and they have the personnel to make it work, but Indiana has twisted the Thunder’s tendencies against them. The Pacers are 25-for-52 on corner 3s (48%) in the Finals, versus 27-for-87 (31%) above the break. Corner shots account for nearly half of their 3-point makes on only about a third of their attempts.
For comparison, Oklahoma City has matched Indiana with 27 above-the-break 3s, but has gone only 11-for-33 from the corners. That disparity has granted Indiana 14 more 3s overall, or 42 extra points from beyond the arc.
Indiana’s hot shooting from the corners likely won’t regress much as the Finals continue. Throughout the postseason, the Pacers are shooting 47% on corner 3s. That’s the best mark for any team (minimum 100 attempts) since the Phoenix Suns shot 48% from the corners in the 2009-10 playoffs.
So, if the Pacers are generating some mismatches, even against the Thunder’s ferocious defense, and are feasting on corner 3s, then why is Indiana scoring just 109.8 points per 100 possessions in the Finals, after topping 116 in the previous playoff rounds?
This bucket gives a hint. It was the result of a dynamite play from Haliburton, who intercepted a pass, created a 3-on-2 fast break and tossed in a sprinkle of razzle-dazzle as he went behind the back in midair and found Toppin cutting to the hoop.
But this sequence stands out, in part, because of how absent that open-court verve, which defines Indiana’s offense, has been in these Finals.
Over the postseason, the Pacers have scored 127 points per 100 chances in transition, versus just 102 points per 100 chances in the half court, per GeniusIQ. Among teams that advanced at least one round, only the Minnesota Timberwolves had a larger gap, so it’s crucial for Indiana to run.
That’s easier said than done against Oklahoma City. Transition play has accounted for 11% of the Pacers’ chances against Oklahoma City, per GeniusIQ, versus 15% in the first three rounds and 16% in the regular season. Indiana was one of the most frequent transition teams earlier in the playoffs but has fallen to the bottom of that statistic against the Thunder.
Minnesota followed a similar pattern: The Timberwolves had an above-average transition rate in the first two rounds, but a mere 11% transition rate against the Thunder in the conference finals. That’s a big reason the Timberwolves’ offense sputtered and Oklahoma City reached the Finals, and it’s why Indiana is struggling to score more than ever.
Game 2, second quarter: Indiana loses the ball out of bounds
Haliburton doesn’t have the reputation of an isolation master, but his numbers tell a different story. Over the past three seasons, Haliburton leads all high-volume players with 1.16 points per isolation that leads directly to a shot, turnover or foul, per GeniusIQ. (SGA is second, 0.002 points per iso behind Haliburton.)
That effectiveness mostly continued through the conference finals. But against Oklahoma City, the Pacers have scored just 0.50 points per Haliburton isolation. It’s a small sample, but an important one, because several of Haliburton’s failed isolations came as Indiana’s offense stalled down the stretch of Game 4.
On this play from Game 2, Haliburton failed to find an opening against Chet Holmgren in space, ultimately forcing a pass that trickled out of bounds for a turnover. Haliburton has maneuvered past Holmgren for contested layups a couple of times in the series, but this early play presaged his difficulty attacking any Thunder player by himself.
While Oklahoma City and Indiana boast two of the deepest rotations in the league, this closely contested Finals might be decided in crunch time by Haliburton and Gilgeous-Alexander, and whether they can beat their man one-on-one. In Game 1, SGA missed a midrange jumper, and Haliburton took advantage with a game winner.
In Game 4, Gilgeous-Alexander tormented Nesmith down the stretch while Haliburton squandered a couple of crucial isolation opportunities, letting the Thunder back into the series and setting the stage for a furious best-of-three to finish the 2024-25 season.
Among her updates was a video chronicling her growing baby bump during her pregnancy with Elliott. She captioned the May 11 post, which also included clips of her son’s first weeks of life, “Growing you has been the greatest gift of my life. Thank you for making me your mommy baby boy.”
And the family of three have a number one fan in Hailie’s father, Eminem(real name Marshall Mathers). After all, when his daughter’s first wedding anniversary fell on the same date as one of his shows, the rapper made sure to share a special shoutout onstage.
“Long time, no see, Detroit,” Eminem said in a clip shared to social media after performing with Jelly Roll. “One more time, make some noise for Jelly Roll, y’all. Hailie and Evan, happy anniversary, I love y’all.”
A woman looks out of her bomb-damaged flat in Tehran
Israel’s conflict with Iran may look like a mismatch on paper – a nation of nine million people taking on a giant of the Middle East, home to 88 million.
But Israel’s formidable and sophisticated military forces – with an arsenal largely, but not exclusively, provided by the United States – are enabling it to overpower a much larger enemy.
The BBC looks at the military balance in the latest war in the Middle East.
What has Israel achieved so far?
Israel already says it has gained control over the skies over Tehran. It has been a complete mismatch in the air – with no sign of Iran’s few ageing fighter jets even getting off the ground.
Israel’s fleet of modern, US-made fighters have been able to drop guided bombs from short range – with apparently little concern of being shot down.
Much of the threat from Iran’s air defences was destroyed in an earlier Israeli strike in October – using longer range “stand-off” weapons to target Iran’s S300 missile systems.
In recent days Israel’s air force has continued to target ground-based radar and launchers. Even before the attack got under way, Israel had intelligence operatives inside Iran preparing to disrupt its response.
Mossad agents used drones smuggled into the country to target Iran’s remaining air defence systems.
Israeli attacks also wiped out many in Iran’s top level of command, which would have also undermined Iran’s response.
Is Iran still able to strike back?
Before Israel began its attacks, Iran had what the US described as the “largest ballistic missile arsenal” in the Middle East.
Estimates vary from between 2,000 to 3,000. Some of those, and the factories in which they were produced, have already been hit by Israel.
But Tehran has still been able to fire wave after wave into Israel, and some missiles have penetrated its sophisticated air defences.
The Israeli military says it has now destroyed a third of Iran’s surface to surface launchers. But while Iran’s missile programme will have been degraded, it has not been destroyed. It remains the greatest direct threat to Israel.
And despite Israel’s attacks, Iran still has many short range air defence missiles.
Justin Bronk, of the defence think tank Rusi, said that while Israel may now be able to claim air superiority over Tehran, it has still not achieved air dominance and the threat of short range missiles remain.
EPA
The US said Iran had the biggest missile stockpile in the Middle East.
Does Iran have allies – and what could they do?
Iran has for years invested in Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon with military advice, weapons and technology.
But their ability to threaten Israel on its frontiers has been greatly diminished by Israeli action over the last two years: Hamas has been all but destroyed in Gaza, and Hezbollah’s potency reduced to the point where it has not responded to Israel’s attack on its paymaster.
The Houthis, while more distant in Yemen, have still been able to fire the occasional salvo of missiles into Israel.
They survived a sustained US bombing campaign earlier this year, and were able to bring down several US Reaper drones with short range ground-to-air missiles.
Could other countries be dragged in?
Iran has the ability to strike western interests in the region. Iranian-backed militant groups in Iraq have targeted western military bases in the region. The US and the UK have been preparing for the worst.
There are still around 100 UK personnel based in Baghdad alongside the US military. Their safety is one reason why Kier Starmer, the British prime minister, recently ordered additional RAF Typhoon jets to Cyprus.
US and UK military naval personnel and ships are also stationed in Bahrain. The longer this war goes on the greater the risk for western forces in the region.
Iran still has the ability to disrupt or choke one of the world’s main shipping lanes in the Straight of Hormuz. It may not currently seem wise for Tehran to widen the conflict, but it could do so if it chooses.
Getty Images
Israel has US-made jets, like the F-35, but are they enough to achieve its goals in Iran?
Can Israel achieve its goals?
Israel has the upper hand, but the continuation of its military campaign is still largely dependent on US backing.
It receives billions of dollars of US military aid each year. Most of the weapons being fired from their American-made jets have been flown in from the US. Even some of the interceptor missiles for its own Iron Dome air defences are made in the US.
The “bunker busting” bombs Israel has been using to target Iran’s underground nuclear programme are mostly US-supplied. Donald Trump, the US president, has so far been willing to back their use, though it is reported that he vetoed Israeli plans to target Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
Nor has the US given Israel access to the one weapon that would probably be needed to penetrate Iran’s underground nuclear complex at Fordow – the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a 30,000lb (13,600kg) bomb, which also can only be delivered by US B2 strategic bombers.
Even with continuing US military support there will be limits to what Israel can achieve. Air power may set back Iran’s nuclear programme, but it won’t destroy it. Israeli hopes of toppling the Iranian regime seem highly unlikely.
Air campaigns can create fear and chaos and rubble. But think of Libya in 2011, or Israel’s continuing assault on Gaza: they rarely result in a clear-cut victory.
Federal prosecutors unveiled murder and stalking charges Monday against the man suspected of shooting two Minnesota state lawmakers and their spouses.
Vance Boelter, 57, was arrested on state murder charges Sunday night after a two-day manhunt. Minnesota does not have the death penalty, but federal prosecutors could try to execute him if Boelter is convicted on his six new federal charges.
Authorities say Boelter shot and killed former Minnesota Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, at their home early Saturday. He also stands accused of injuring State Sen. John Hoffman (D) and his wife Yvette in a shooting at their home about 8 miles away the same morning.
According to a newly unsealed affidavit, Boelter also visited the homes of two other elected officials that morning. Boelter left one after finding that no one was home, and police saw him in a dark SUV at the other before he drove off.
Boelter faces a stalking charge for each lawmaker he shot, murder charges for the killings of Hortman and her husband and two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence.
Joe Thompson, the acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, at a Monday press conference announcing the charges said Boetler “stalked his victims like prey.”
“It is no exaggeration to say this is the stuff of nightmares,” Thompson said.
He declined to say whether he would seek the death penalty but did not rule it out.
“It’s too early to tell, but that is one of the options for several of the charges,” he said.
The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) is one of America’s largest food products companies known for its well-known brands such as Folgers and Dunkin. The stock has bled 14% year-to-date primarily on the back of an unbelievable 15.6% share price drop in June. The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)’s shares tanked after the firm’s midpoint annual earnings per share guidance of $9 missed average analyst estimates of $10.23 by a wide margin. During the call, the firm’s management warned that its green coffee supply could be impacted by tariffs and added that it expects to continuously face demand and inflationary pressures. The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)’s quarterly revenue of $2.14 billion also missed analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. Cramer was shaken by the results:
“But the Smucker disaster yesterday was jarring. Including the gigantic charge they took on Hostess Twinkies. Mark Smucker should not have bought that.”
The J. M. Smucker Company (SJM): The Disaster Was “Jarring,” Says Jim Cramer
A wholesaler distributing peanut butter, fruit spreads and specialty spreads to a retailer.
Ahead of the earnings, Cramer warned that The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) was going “nowhere”:
“But let’s look at the other way. Let’s talk about what old folks were interested in. There’s a company called J.M. Smucker. It makes coffee jams and pet food, Uncrustables, Twinkies. It’s covered by 15 different firms… It’s real. We’ve all bought their stuff. Two years ago, right at the time that the GLP-1 drugs came of age and we went nuts for the weight loss shots, J.M. Smucker didn’t seem to notice. They ran into the fire, they bought Hostess, that’s right, Hostess, maker of Twinkies, for $5.6 billion in November of 2023. Today, they took a $980 million impairment charge for that transaction. I doubt that’ll be the last one, as Twinkies and Ho Hos may not turn very well. Let’s just say they’re going nowhere. They also took a big hit from tariffs and higher coffee costs. Smucker’s talking about a 20% boost in coffee prices. That’s not going to help demand. In the wake of the news, the stock plunged more than 15%. Nearly every analyst who covers it had tough things to say about the business, all major firms.”
While we acknowledge the potential of SJM as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is a racing event that’s been going on since 1916. It’s a 12.42-mile run that climbs 4,720 feet and serves as a proving ground for carmakers to test the speed and agility of their new vehicles.
Electric cars tend to do well in the Pikes Peak race; they don’t have to deal with the problems of high altitudes and thinner air that can stymie racecars powered by fossil fuels, making it an ideal testing ground. The first electric car to win was in 2015, when Honda claimed victory with an electric CR-Z. Volkswagen’s ID R set a course record in 2018, blasting up the course at over 90 mph in just under eight minutes.
But for the past two years, one company has claimed the title of King of the Mountain with its wildly designed electric demonstrators: Ford. The engineers at the automaker’s racing division approach the race with the zeal of a mad scientist. First there was the SuperVan 4.2, a 2,000 horsepower (not a typo) “lightly modified” Transit van with a rear wing so enormous it looked like it could simply fly to the top of the infamous hill. Then there was the F-150 Lightning SuperTruck, a beastly version of the automaker’s electric pickup that, like the SuperVan, took home the top prize — even after briefly coming to a complete stop during its run.
For the past two years, one company has claimed the title of King of the Mountain with its wildly designed electric demonstrators: Ford
This year, Ford is switching things up with the Super Mustang Mach-E, an EV demonstrator with specs similar to the SuperVan and SuperTruck, with some key differences. Still, the Super Mustang Mach-E will have the same challenge: get to the top of the hill faster than anyone else.
And while SuperTruck was an evolution of SuperVan, the Super Mustang Mach-E is more of a “ground-up exercise,” said Zach Burns, F1 and EV demonstration program engineer, in an interview. That includes a new suspension, a full aerodynamic redesign, carbon brakes, and other additions designed to help the demonstrator charge up the notorious hill as fast as possible.
Much of that will come down to downforce, and Ford Performance has really outdone itself with this one. Perhaps you’ve noticed the enormous rear wing that’s reminiscent of a more traditional racecar design with endplates over the curved, body-joining structure. This will help the Mustang Mach-E generate a staggering 6,900 pounds of downforce at 150 mph, surpassing even last year’s SuperTruck high-downforce configuration.
“You’re only going to see that kind of level [of downforce in] F1 and LMP1 [vehicles] back in the day,” Burns said. “So it’s a very high downforce vehicle.”
The Super Mustang Mach-E is more of a “ground-up exercise”
Design work began last September, Burns said. By the end of October, the Ford Performance team had “fully committed” to the design of the vehicle. And final assembly took place about a month and a half ago in Austria by STARD Advanced Research and Development, Ford’s manufacturing partner in the project.
The team started with a point-mass model, cycling through “hundreds and hundreds” of iterations until they settled on the form factor that would be most competitive on the track, Burns said. “So you’re looking at wheelbase track, width, lengths, weights, power, downforce — just kind of all the different spectrums of a vehicle and to settle on the attributes you’d want to have,” he added.
Crucially, the Super Mustang Mach-E is a lighter and more nimble racer than its predecessors, with more regenerative ability and a more balanced weight distribution. This will help with the 12.42-mile course’s twisty ascent, Ford says.
At the heart of the Super Mustang Mach-E are three STARD UHP 6-Phase motors producing over 1,400 horsepower, all fed by 50kWh of ultra-high-performance Li-polymer nickel-manganese-cobalt pouch cells. Like last year’s entry, the demonstrator operates on a voltage of 799V, but this year’s setup sheds critical weight — over 260 pounds — while delivering regenerative braking of 710kW. The car’s carbon braking system, forged magnesium wheels, and Pirelli P-Zero tires are engineered to withstand the punishing 156 turns up to the 14,115-foot summit.
At the heart of the Super Mustang Mach-E are three STARD UHP 6-Phase motors producing over 1,400 horsepower
Ford is eyeing a potential hat trick (or would it be a Triple Crown?) with this year’s race, which takes place June 22nd in Colorado. As with Ford’s previous Pikes Peak entrants, French racing impresario Romain Dumas will pilot the Mach-E to the summit. To mark Dumas’ milestone with the team, the Mustang Mach-E will carry the official race number 310 — a nod to his third entry with Ford Performance and tenth overall run up Pikes Peak.
But this is not some vanity project for Ford. Key learnings from the Super Mustang Mach-E and its counterparts are “actively influencing” the next generation of Ford EVs for production, the company says. This includes innovations in battery chemistry, thermal management, and high-performance electric drive units “tested under extreme stress at Pikes Peak.”
“These vehicles are the upper echelon of the peak of what you can see and what we do here,” Burns said. “I think that definitely helps validate and improve what we do on the production side.”
Hugo Lloris believes his former club Tottenham Hotspur have lifted a weight off their shoulders after winning the Europa League and praised Ange Postecoglou for ending their 17-year wait for silverware.
The 38-year-old goalkeeper departed Spurs in February 2024 after making 447 appearances across 11 years and is set to start for Los Angeles FC in Monday’s FIFA Club World Cup clash against Chelsea.
Lloris, who previously captained Tottenham, revealed his delight at their 1-0 win over Manchester United in Bilbao last month which ultimately was not enough to convince the Spurs hierarchy to keep Postecoglou after their worst-ever Premier League season was confirmed with a 17th-place finish.
“I am really pleased,” Lloris said of Tottenham’s triumph. “I am really happy for the club, for the people at the club, for the players.
“We ran many, many years after this trophy and finally they got it and I think they deserve it.
“Hopefully it will make their shoulders a little bit lighter for the future and I think it is also the moment to build on this success for Spurs. Even if I am not a Spurs player, I still follow the news, the team and the results.”
Postecoglou was last week replaced by Thomas Frank as head coach and when asked whether the decision surprised him, Lloris said: “No, nothing surprises me in football. But at the same time, it is hard to say something because I am on the other side. I don’t know what happened inside the club so it really hard for me to judge.
“If they made this decision it is because they believe there is another option which is better for the future of the club.
“What Ange Postecoglou did was just remarkable. He brought this Europa League trophy, he brought a lot of joy to the Spurs community, a lot of pride as well and we all have to be thankful for that.
“I am not here to discuss about the choice [of Tottenham’s new head coach]. He is a well-respected coach, He did an amazing job with Brentford. Now, like every coach, when you arrive in a new club, there is a new environment which you have to embrace. But if the club decided to appoint him, it is probably because they decide it is the best for the future.”
Reflecting further on Tottenham’s achievement, Lloris continued: “They had a really hard season. They had a lot of injuries as well that affected the team and performances and I think in the second part of the season, it looks like they decided to go all-in for the Europa League.
“They made it and you just have to congratulate them because it is another way to go to the Champions League. At the end of the day, I don’t know, if you finish 10th, 14th, 15th, 16th and if you get a chance to win a trophy on the other hand, it is just an amazing achievement.
“I was part of a really competitive team for many years and the target was to reach the top four but at which price? We could not find a way to win a cup, a league cup or even a Europa League cup but we managed to go and get the top four for many years. I don’t know, it is all about the optics of the club.”
Affleck, meanwhile, has been singing Garner’s praises in the parenting arena from the beginning.
“Jen is a superhero mom,” the Oscar winner gushed to E! News in 2016. “She is an amazing mother.” And when it came to the kids, “We try our best, we put them first and that’s what we do.”
He paid tribute to Garner and his own mom, Chris Anne Boldt, on Mother’s Day in 2019, calling them “two incredible mothers who have shown me the meaning of love.”
And in 2020, Affleck told People, “When you have children with somebody, you’re connected to them forever…Our marriage didn’t work, and that’s difficult. Both of us really believe that it’s important for kids to see their parents respect one another and get along, whether they’re together or not.”
Baroness Casey was asked to carry out the review in January
Lack of reliable data
The report highlights flaws in data collection, which it says means it is not possible to assess the scale of the issue.
It cites the Complex and Organised Child Abuse Dataset which identified around 700 recorded offences of group-based child sexual exploitation in 2023, saying this is the only figure on group-based child sexual exploitation.
The report says this is highly unlikely to reflect the true scale of the issue, given this crime is under-reported and suffers from confusing and inconsistently applied definitions.
Ethnicity of perpetrators
One key data gap highlighted by the report is on ethnicity, which is described as “appalling” and a “major failing”.
It says the ethnicity of perpetrators is “shied away from” and still not recorded in two-thirds of cases, meaning it is not possible to draw conclusions at a national level.
However, the report says there is enough evidence from police data in three areas – Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire – to show disproportionate numbers of men from Asian ethnic background amongst suspects for group-based child sexual exploitation.
It adds that the significant number of perpetrators of Asian ethnicity identified in local reviews and high-profile prosecutions across the country also warrants further examination.
In response, the government has said it will make it a formal requirement to collect both ethnicity and nationality data for all cases of child sexual abuse and exploitation.
National inquiry
Over the weekend, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer accepted the report’s recommendation that there should be a full national inquiry into child sexual exploitation in England and Wales.
The PM had previously dismissed calls for a national inquiry, arguing the issues had already been examined in a seven-year investigation by Prof Alexis Jay, which concluded in 2022.
Instead the government commissioned Baroness Casey’s review and unveiled plans for five local inquiries – to be held in Oldham and four other areas yet to be named.
But her report recommends both a national police operation to review cases of child exploitation not acted on, as well as a national inquiry.
It says this would be overseen by an Independent Commission, with full powers to compel witnesses to provide evidence, and should be time-limited and targeted.
The inquiry would review cases of failures by local services to identify areas where investigations should be instigated and coordinate a series of targeted local investigations.
‘See children as children’
The report also recommends tightening the law in England and Wales so adults who have sex with a child under 16 are always charged with rape, calling on society to “see children as children”.
Despite the age of consent being 16, it says there are too many examples of child sexual exploitation cases being dropped or downgraded from rape to lesser charges where a teenager has been “in love with” or “consented to” sex with the perpetrator.
In response, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has pledged to change the law as the report recommends, as well as work with the Crown Prosecution Service and police to ensure there are safeguards for consensual teenage relationships.
She also accepted a recommendation to review criminal convictions of victims of child sexual exploitation, “so that those convicted for child prostitution offences while their rapists got of scot-free will have their convictions disregarded and their criminal records expunged”.
Taxi licensing ‘loophole’
Taxis have previously been identified as a way children can be at risk of sexual exploitation, both as a potential way for perpetrators to meet their victims, as well as traffic them to different locations.
Taxi licenses are issued by local authorities but the report points out that some areas are much more stringent in their processes to protect children.
For example, in Rotherham the council has introduced taxi cameras and a 100% pass mark requirement for safeguarding tests for drivers.
However, the report says these efforts have been hindered by more lax approaches in other areas and legal loopholes which mean drivers can apply for a license anywhere in the country but then operate in another area.
It calls for this loophole to be closed immediately and for more rigorous licensing standards to be introduced.
