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Former Los Angeles Lakers owners Joey and Jesse Buss are interested in being among the investors in French EuroLeague team ASVEL. ASVEL has long been considered one of the teams that might leave the elite league, but they’ve changed their mind and will continue to play in it. Now, they are ready to take a step further and secure significant funds.

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype:Joey and Jesse Buss eye investment in Tony Parker’s ASVEL Basket

After deviating from the usual format during recent weeks, this edition of the Trade Analyzer is back to focusing on some buy-low and sell-high options. And this week’s group is comprised entirely of hurlers, which has been an underrepresented position in recent articles.

The sporadic nature of pitching appearances tends to make the stats of hurlers fluctuate wildly early in the season, but we are reaching the point in the campaign where many pitcher stat lines have begun to normalize, which gives smart fantasy managers the data they need to make smart trades.

Sell High

José Soríano, SP, Angels:After a memorable start to the season that included a 0.24 ERA in his first six starts, Soriano has looked more like previous iterations of himself over his past five outings. The right-hander has logged a 5.34 ERA and 1.40 WHIP over that five-start stretch, while posting a 31:14 K:BB ratio that is acceptable but not special. When looking at his season-long statistics, there is little that stands out as notably different from previous seasons, beyond an improved strikeout rate.

We also need to factor in that Soriano pitches for the team with the American League’s worst record (21-34) and one that is known for doing a poor job at developing pitchers. Managers should be happy to trade the 27-year-old for a sizable return while he still has ace-like ratios (2.44 ERA, 1.07 WHIP).

Nick Martinez, SP/RP, Rays:Managers who believe that the Rays are in the midst of a magical season where everything goes their way can keep Martinez. Everyone else should trade him away.

The 35-year-old has logged a dazzling 1.51 ERA on the strength of an unsustainable 92.9% strand rate. His lowly 14.9% strikeout rate is his worst mark since his 2022 return from a stint in Japan. Managers who can get anything of value for the right-hander should make the move, as his skill set is easily replaceable from the waiver wire.

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Eduardo Rodríguez, SP, Diamondbacks:Rodríguez has plenty of similarities to Martinez, with fortunate marks in BABIP (.259) and strand rate (84.9) driving his fantasy production. The southpaw with an excellent 2.31 ERA has earned marks in the range of 4.00 from every major ERA estimator. There won’t be a significant trade market for Rodríguez, but small deals can sometimes reap large rewards in the long run.

My plan would be to use him to sweeten the pot in a larger deal and then replace him with a better pitcher who remains on the waiver wire.

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Paul Sewald, RP, Diamondbacks:Sewald has been one of this season’s waiver wire gems, as he ranks fourth in the majors with 13 saves. And although there isn’t heavy statistical evidence for making this move, my gut says that managers should cash him out on the trade market in the coming weeks.

The 36-year-old has had an inconsistent career, and across 2024-25, he logged a 4.40 ERA over just 59.1 innings. He deserves credit for improving his strikeout rate this season, but he has also enjoyed the benefits of a .140 BABIP despite allowing plenty of hard contact. Sewald’s skills or luck could regress as the season progresses, which would make him a shaky saves source.

Buy Low

Jesús Luzardo, SP, Phillies:Death, taxes and Luzardo enduring wild fluctuations with his ratios. Perhaps no pitcher excites and exasperates fantasy managers as much as Luzardo, who regularly rotates from seven shutout innings to giving up 5+ runs over fewer than five frames. He has notched the latter stat line in four of his 11 starts this season, which has heavily contributed to a 4.38 ERA and 1.28 WHIP.

His underlying stats continue to paint the left-hander as an ace, including a 3.13 xERA and a 72:17 K:BB ratio. Fantasy managers who need to take a chance with their pitching staff can acquire Luzardo in hopes that he irons out the rough patches this summer.

Garrett Crochet, SP, Red Sox:Acquiring Crochet at a discount is a sensible Hail Mary for managers who need to take drastic steps to fix a disappointing pitching staff. The left-hander has been ineffective or injured this season, which has resulted in a 6.30 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. His return date from the IL continues to be pushed back, and what was once expected to be a minimal stint is now destined to be five weeks or more. Still, when Crochet is at his best, he can impact the fantasy standings more than virtually any pitcher, which we saw when he went 18-5 with 255 strikeouts and terrific ratios (2.59 ERA, 1.03 WHIP) last season. As you’ll see on theYahoo Trade Market, some of his recent returns have been underwhelming.

Devin Williams, RP, Mets:At first glance, Williams looks like a bust. After all, he has earned just seven saves while also producing poor ratios (6.35 ERA, 1.65 WHIP). A closer look shows that the right-hander allowed all of his earned runs during a four-appearance stretch from April 15-23 and on May 24, while logging a 12:2 K:BB ratio and 0.41 WHIP in between those outings.

The Mets’ overall win total and Williams’ save chances have been impacted by a sluggish New York offense that should improve at some point. The 31-year-old remains a useful closer, and wise managers will buy him at a significant discount on the premise that he hasn’t bounced back from his 2025 struggles.

David Bednar, RP, Yankees:Next, we move from the former Yankees closer to the current one. Bednar may be as easy to acquire as Williams, even though he has more saves (12), as he hasn’t pitched well in May (6.10 ERA, 1.45 WHIP).

The 31-year-old has done a great job of inducing grounders (58.5%), but unfortunately, too many of them have found holes in the infield (.369 BABIP). His 28:10 K:BB ratio is a strong mark, and unlike Williams, he has the support of a winning team. His 4.70 ERA should soon regress closer to his 3.21 FIP.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel said Wednesday it targeted and killed the new leader of Hamas' military wing duringairstrikes in Gaza Cityless than two weeks after killing his predecessor.

Israel Palestinians Gaza

Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz and the Israeli military said the strikes carried out Tuesday killed Mohammed Odeh. Hamas did not comment on Odeh.

At least five people were killed and 12 injured in Tuesday’s strike on a market including Odeh, his wife, son and daughter and another woman, local hospitals said. The attack came on the eve ofEid al-Adha, a major Muslim holiday.

Thousands of people gathered Wednesday for the joint funeral of Odeh's family in Gaza City. Mourners covered the four bodies with green Hamas flags and marched from a mosque through the city, chanting and firing shots in the air. Some carried posters with Odeh's poster emblazoned with the words “one of the chiefs of staffs of the Qassam Brigades,” referring to Hamas' military wing.

Katz called him “one of the architects” of theOct. 7, 2023, attacksthat triggered over two years of war in Gaza and said it was the fourth time Israel has killed the head of Hamas’ military wing since that massacre.Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the previous head, was killed on May 16.

“We pledged to eliminate everyone who led the October 7 massacre and this is what we will do: they are all bound to die, everywhere,” Katz wrote on X on Wednesday. “We pledged that Hamas will not hold civilian or military rule.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is preparing for elections in the fall, also threatened that Israel will target everyone involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

A grim Eid in Gaza

The attack came as Muslims prepared forEid al-Adha, normally a joyous time of family gatherings and large meals.

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The holiday once again is subdued this year in Gaza, where the vast majority of people remain displaced and live in tents or temporary shelters after a devastating war. Around 90% of Gaza’s more than 2 million people have lost their homes, according to U.N. estimates, with most of them now sheltering in huge tent camps with rat infestations and pools of sewage. They are dependent on aid to survive.

Eid al-Adha, or “Feast of Sacrifice,” is an Islamic holiday celebrated by millions of Muslims across the globe. The four-day holiday, which begins duringthe Hajj pilgrimage, also is known for being a joyous occasion during which families gather, and children are given new clothes and gifts.

“This is not Eid ... we’re dead,” said Mahmoud Saqer, a displaced man from Khan Younis, who described people as being distressed by the ongoing human suffering and killings in the territory.

In Khan Younis and Gaza City, amid destroyed buildings, including a ruined mosque, people gathered for Eid prayers with few signs of celebration beyond a few clusters of balloons lining one street. Tahrir al-Khatib said the joy that accompanies Eid has been silenced in Gaza.

“There’s no Eid. My children were killed. Eid is only for the people who lost no one,” said Ayda Al-Banna, a displaced women from Gaza City, who prayed Eid prayers with her granddaughter.

Fragile ceasefire holds in Gaza

A ceasefirereached between Israel and Hamasin October remains fragile. Israeli attacks have killed more than 880 Palestinians since the ceasefire took effect. Israel says its attacks are in response to violations by Hamas or threats to its soldiers, but Palestinian health officials say scores of civilians have been among the dead. Four Israeli soldiers have also been killed during this period in Gaza.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks in October 2023, which killed some 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage.

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza says over 72,803 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire. The ministry, part of Gaza’s Hamas government, does not give a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths. ___

Associated Press writer Fatma Khaled contributed from Cairo.

By Aaron Ross and Emma Farge

FILE PHOTO: Congolese Dr. Tibenderana Katho Blaise who died of Ebola virus buried in Bunia

LONDON/NAIROBI/GENEVA, May 27 (Reuters) - In an Ebola outbreak, hours matter.

Yet the response to the deadly and fast-spreading epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo is weeks if not months behind - and missing thousands of people who may be at risk.

Interviews with global health officials and documents from a meeting led by the World Health Organization and Africa Centres ‌for Disease Control and Prevention show how behind the curve authorities are in fighting the latest outbreak.

Caused by a strain of the virus known as Bundibugyo for which there is no vaccine or treatment, ‌the outbreak has already caused a suspected 220 deaths and 900 cases, according to the WHO. It has spread to Uganda, where there are seven cases.

Health teams are racing to find thousands of people who may have been exposed to the virus while also grappling with myriad challenges ​that make it difficult to contain.

Problems at a local level include lack of basic supplies as well as mistrust from a community scarred by previous outbreaks. Globally, the response is hampered by the withdrawal of the U.S. from the WHO and wider funding cuts, many health sources said.

Documents from Friday's virtual coordination meeting show that, as of last week, only 7% of the 1,261 people identified as contacts of suspected Ebola patients had been found and followed up. The WHO put the number at more than 2,000 on Wednesday.

‘OUTPACING THE RESPONSE’

The outbreak is "outpacing the response", WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on Wednesday.

"Attacks on health facilities make tracking cases and their contacts nearly impossible."

In eastern Congo, the worst-hit area, hospitals have been ‌attacked and isolation tents burned by angry mobs reclaiming bodies of loved ones, ⁠apparently unaware of risks from infectious corpses.

That is hindering the operation to stop the spread of the virus and track those at risk in an area already wracked with conflict and with poor health infrastructure, three experts said.

In a document summary of the meeting on Friday, the partners agreed that reaching more contacts is now the key priority as funding ⁠and emergency response personnel trickle in.

"Bottom line: No vaccine exists. No therapy exists. The virus circulated undetected for six weeks. Cross-border spread is confirmed. Healthcare workers are dying. Every day without a fully resourced response is a day the outbreak gains ground," a presentation by the WHO Africa team from the meeting reads.

Professor Salim Abdool Karim, a leading South African epidemiologist and one of the key figures advising Africa CDC, said the outbreak was moving at “breakneck speed”.

“If you had to choose a bad place for ​this ​to happen, it would be Ituri,” he added of the province at its epicentre.

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While Congolese officials are well-versed in fighting Ebola - this ​is the 17th outbreak since 1976 - shortages remain a problem, including of the right ‌tests to detect Bundibugyo rather than other Ebola viruses.

This was also a factor delaying initial detection.

“There are very few people on the ground – and there are other problems as well, like getting fuel for the vehicles. It goes on and on,” Karim said.

U.S. MISSING

Several sources, including one U.S. official briefed on the Ebola response and another working with WHO, said problems would have been solved more easily and quickly in the past, when the U.S. worked with WHO and often co-led the international response to outbreaks.

The U.S. left the organization in January and has cut international aid funding more broadly, alongside a number of other wealthy countries.

“The organisations that would have been able to do this work are not there anymore,” said one U.S. official briefed on the response.

Amadou Bocoum, CARE’s country director, said his emergency response team had been cut by a third.

With the scale and origins of the outbreak unclear, it was a "hell ‌of a job" to find all potential cases and contacts, said Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist on the WHO's emergency committee.

Ebola spreads ​through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people once they have symptoms, contaminated materials, and bodies of those who have ​died with the illness. The contacts of Ebola patients need to be found and then watched over for ​21 days, the incubation period of the virus. If they get symptoms, they can isolate, stopping further spread.

“We’re going back to the basics of Ebola outbreak responses when we didn't ‌have the means to contain it like we did before vaccines and therapeutics,” said ​Dr. Alan Gonzalez, deputy director of operations for Medecins Sans ​Frontieres, which has asked staff worldwide to apply to reinforce the workforce in Congo.

There is also a major psychological obstacle.

“People are afraid,” said Mamadou Kaba Barry, head of mission in Congo for the Alliance for International Medical Action, which has run 60 health centres in Ituri for several years. He said some cases are disappearing and other suspected cases are not being reported because of the mistrust.

He and many others ​fear a repeat of the worst-ever Ebola outbreak, which spread across West Africa in ‌2014-2016 and caused more than 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths.

“In West Africa, people hid, thinking, 'What's the point of dying and having my family unable to recover my body?'" he said, adding that ​a decade on, some lessons still need to be learned.

“We never get used to Ebola. It's always frightening.”

(Reporting by Jennifer Rigby in London, Aaron Ross in Nairobi, Emma Farge and Olivia Le ​Poidevin in Geneva, Clement Bonnerot in Dakar, and Silvia Aloisi in Nairobi; Editing by Silvia Aloisi and Andrew Cawthorne)

WASHINGTON — It looks like a rollercoaster soaring above the White House.

But this isn't a theme park.

The centerpiece of a make-shift UFC arena on the South Lawn of the White House took form on May 25 as construction crews installed asoaring 90-foot tall, open-air structurethat stands out dramatically from most views of the building.

Below the arc will be a 5,000-seat arena and octagon-shaped cage where UFC fighters will square off on June 14 ‒ a spectaclePresident Donald Trumphas promised will be the "biggest event we've ever had at the White House." The event falls on the president's 80th birthday and Flag Day.

Construction on the massive White House overhaulto prepare for the UFC fight got underway last week. Trump has said an additional 75,000-100,000 spectators can watch the UFC event for free on large screens further away from the White House Ellipse. Trump met with UFC CEO Dana White, a close ally, on May 5 to discuss the planning.

More:'All the best fighters': Trump unveils images of planned White House UFC cage

The temporary UFC arena has added to what's suddenly become a crowded White House skyline as two construction cranes for Trump's massive ballroom work on the east side of the White House campus.

The UFC undertaking has forced Trump to cease temporarily cease travel on Marine One to and from the South Lawn and instead rely on motorcade to go back and forth to Joint Base Andrews, where the president boards Air Force One.

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More:Dana White reveals more about UFC Freedom 250 at White House tickets

The UFC fight is part of the administration's year of celebrations to mark the250th anniversaryof the nation's founding.

A mock-up of the UFC structure going up at the White House was recently on display in Lititz, Pennsylvania.

Trump was joined in the White House on May 6 by UFC fightersJustin Gaethjeand Ilia Topuria, who are facing off in the headliner fight, as well asAlex Pereiraand Ciryl Gane, who will compete in one of the other seven fights.

"These are real warriors," Trump said of the UFC fighters. "When we talk about warriors, these are warriors."

Trump,an avid sports fan, often held boxing matches at his casinos during his real estate days in the 1980s and 1990s and sat ringside as the likes of Mike Tyson won their fights. In recent years, he's frequently attended UFC fights, including on April 11 in Miami.

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:White House fight arena soars high as Trump readies for UFC cage match

The Cincinnati Reds, ranked fourth in the NL Central with a 28-25 record, face the New York Mets, who are fifth in the NL East with a 22-32 record. Cincinnati is favored with a -130 moneyline compared to New York's +100. Chase Burns starts for Cincinnati with a 1.83 ERA, while the Mets' starter is TBD.

How to watch Cincinnati Reds vs. New York Mets

• Date: Tuesday, May 26

• Time: 7:10 p.m. ET / 4:10 p.m. PT

• Where: Citi Field, Flushing, Queens, NY

• TV Channels: SNY, Reds.TV

• Live Stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Team records

• Cincinnati Reds: 28-25 (fourth in NL Central)

• New York Mets: 22-32 (fifth in NL East)

Odds

• Spread: New York Mets +1.5

• Moneyline: New York Mets +105 / Cincinnati Reds -130

• Over/Under: 7.5

Starting pitchers

Cincinnati Reds:Chase Burns (6-1, ERA: 1.83, K: 64, WHIP: 0.95)

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New York Mets:TBD

Series:Game 2 of 3 (series tied)

Weather:73°F at first pitch

WASHINGTON — It looks like a rollercoaster soaring above the White House.

But this isn't a theme park.

The centerpiece of a make-shift UFC arena on the South Lawn of the White House took form on May 25 as construction crews installed asoaring 90-foot tall, open-air structurethat stands out dramatically from most views of the building.

Below the arc will be a 5,000-seat arena and octagon-shaped cage where UFC fighters will square off on June 14 ‒ a spectaclePresident Donald Trumphas promised will be the "biggest event we've ever had at the White House." The event falls on the president's 80th birthday and Flag Day.

Construction on the massive White House overhaulto prepare for the UFC fight got underway last week. Trump has said an additional 75,000-100,000 spectators can watch the UFC event for free on large screens further away from the White House Ellipse. Trump met with UFC CEO Dana White, a close ally, on May 5 to discuss the planning.

More:'All the best fighters': Trump unveils images of planned White House UFC cage

The temporary UFC arena has added to what's suddenly become a crowded White House skyline as two construction cranes for Trump's massive ballroom work on the east side of the White House campus.

The UFC undertaking has forced Trump to cease temporarily cease travel on Marine One to and from the South Lawn and instead rely on motorcade to go back and forth to Joint Base Andrews, where the president boards Air Force One.

Advertisement

More:Dana White reveals more about UFC Freedom 250 at White House tickets

The UFC fight is part of the administration's year of celebrations to mark the250th anniversaryof the nation's founding.

A mock-up of the UFC structure going up at the White House was recently on display in Lititz, Pennsylvania.

Trump was joined in the White House on May 6 by UFC fightersJustin Gaethjeand Ilia Topuria, who are facing off in the headliner fight, as well asAlex Pereiraand Ciryl Gane, who will compete in one of the other seven fights.

"These are real warriors," Trump said of the UFC fighters. "When we talk about warriors, these are warriors."

Trump,an avid sports fan, often held boxing matches at his casinos during his real estate days in the 1980s and 1990s and sat ringside as the likes of Mike Tyson won their fights. In recent years, he's frequently attended UFC fights, including on April 11 in Miami.

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:White House fight arena soars high as Trump readies for UFC cage match