Churchill Downs, host of the famed Triple Crown horse race the Kentucky Derby, announced new safety initiatives as an ongoing investigation continues into a series of horse deaths at the track.

Officials will continue to hold thoroughbred races as planned but said they would pause “track-based incentives such as trainer start bonuses and purse pay-out allocations to every race finisher through last place.”

Other initiatives, to go into effect immediately, include restricting horses to four starts during a rolling eight-week period. The racetrack will also establish ineligibility standards for horses that finish 12 or more lengths back in five consecutive races.

There have been 12 horse deaths at the facility since March 30, according to Churchill Downs Incorporated, which owns the track and others in several states.

On Tuesday, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority – the national organization overseeing integrity and safety within thoroughbred racing – held an “emergency veterinary summit,” which included members from Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to review all available information related to the deaths.

As the probe continues, authority CEO Lisa Lazarus said, “Everyone is committed to seeing what is happening and stopping it to the extent it can be stopped.”

The authority said in a news release Thursday “no obvious or specific pattern” has emerged so far in its probe into the recent deaths at the Louisville track.

It said it will implement several measures, including an increased number of health screenings of race horses to minimize risks and a review of the death examinations of horses, in addition to the racetrack’s initiatives.

The track said equine surgeon Dr. Ryan Carpenter “provided educational information and tools to trainers and practicing veterinarians about advanced interventions that can be considered for certain equine injuries.”

“Any decision must be made first and foremost with the long-term well-being of the horse in mind,” Dr. Will Farmer, the equine medical director for Churchill Downs Incorporated, said in a statement. “It is imperative that all available, educated and informed options can be efficiently, confidently and thoroughly relayed to the owners.”

The safety authority said an expert has begun his analysis of the Churchill Downs’ racing surfaces. The facility has a 1-mile dirt course and a 7/8-mile turf track.

The current racing session ends July 3.

The first Friday in June — June 2 this year — is National Donut Day.

Started by the Salvation Army in Chicago in 1938, the day honors the group’s “donut lassies,” who served treats and provided assistance to soldiers on the front lines during World War I. (And this isn’t to be confused with National Doughnut Day, which is in November and honors the actual food; though both days are celebrated by eating doughnuts.)

Doughnuts have been around since long before the First World War, and we have the Dutch to thank for them. The Dutch would make “olykoek,” which translates to oily cake. The first Dutch doughnuts didn’t have a hole, but they were fried in hot oil and the dough was sweet.

It wasn’t until 1847 that the holed-out doughnut we know and love today appeared. Hanson Gregory, 16 at the time, claimed credit. Sick of doughnuts with a raw center, he used a pepper pot to punch out holes to help his doughnuts cook more evenly.

By 1920, Adolph Levitt, a Russian living in New York, had invented a doughnut machine. Thirteen years later, doughnuts were proclaimed the “Hit Food of the Century of Progress” by the World’s Fair in Chicago.

Many doughnut stores, including national chains like Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Kreme, are giving away free or discounted doughnuts to celebrate the occasion.

A man has pleaded guilty to intentionally disturbing wildlife following an encounter with a newborn bison calf at Yellowstone National Park that resulted in the young animal being euthanized.

Clifford Walters pleaded guilty to one count of feeding, touching, teasing, frightening or intentionally disturbing wildlife, the US attorney’s office for Wyoming said in a news release.

Walters was charged a $500 fine, a $500 community service payment to Yellowstone Forever Wildlife Protection Fund, a $30 special assessment and a $10 processing fee, the release said.

The legal action comes after Walters was seen on May 20 disturbing a bison calf in the Wyoming portion of the park, the National Park Service said.

“The calf had been separated from its mother when the herd crossed the Lamar River. As the calf struggled, the man pushed the calf up from the river and onto the roadway,” prosecutors said. “There was nothing in the report that revealed Mr. Walters acted maliciously.”

After that encounter, the calf was seen following cars and people in the park, officials said.

“Interference by people can cause wildlife to reject their offspring,” the park service said.

After park rangers failed in their attempt to reunite the calf with its herd, they decided to euthanize the calf, as “it was abandoned by its herd and was causing a hazardous situation to approaching cars and people along the roadway,” the park service said.

Park regulations state that people need to stay at least 25 yards away from bison, elk and most other wildlife, and 100 yards away from bears and wolves. Approaching wild animals can affect their well-being and their survival, the park service says.

“The safety of these animals, as well as human safety, depends on everyone using good judgment and following these simple rules,” prosecutors said.

Grace Dvornik is pretty used to cooking in tight spaces. She measures out ingredients before getting started, chops vegetables in advance and always cleans up as she goes.

The trick, says Dvornik, is “thinking about time and motion, it’s almost like choreography.” That way you avoid constantly opening and closing the fridge or getting stuff everywhere.

But unlike most 31-year-olds, Dvornik didn’t come to this realization through a decade of making dinner in cramped apartments.

Instead, Dvornik spent her twenties cooking up a storm on superyachts in the Caribbean, Bahamas and the US, rustling up meals for the 1% and perfecting the art of five-star cooking in often-tight galley kitchens.

And while her workspace might be small – and the job demanding – when Dvornik goes out on deck, she’s greeted with azure waters, sunshine and a billion-dollar boat with all the luxury trappings.

More recently, Dvornik’s expanded her repertoire to also include corporate aviation. Preparing meals on private jets equals an even smaller space and an even more pressurized environment – often her clients are only in the air for two hours, but they want to dine in style for the duration.

“It’s really fun,” says Dvornik. “It’s a great career.”

Falling in love with the water

Although Dvornik grew up enjoying cooking with her grandparents in her hometown of Clearwater, Florida, she became a chef by accident.

She stumbled across sailing when she graduated college with a theater and painting degree in 2015.

“I was just looking for an adventure, something different to do – especially for that summer when I graduated – and spontaneously applied for a job on a traditionally rigged sailing vessel,” says Dvornik.

On that first boat, Dvornik worked primarily as a deckhand. But when she wasn’t sweeping the deck or helping with the boat operations, Dvornik could be found in the galley, acting as the chef’s assistant.

“It was a lot of scrubbing pots and pans or peeling potatoes or helping with prep work, that kind of thing,” says Dvornik.

The boat was a wooden sailing vessel built in the 1870s, and the tiny galley only held a wood burning stove. But Dvornik observed that, for the boat’s chef, these limitations were just opportunities to get creative.

Over the course of that summer, Dvornik “fell in love with sailing.” When her contract came to an end, she applied to work on another sailing vessel. This time round, Dvornik was strictly a deckhand. But she still snuck down to the galley whenever she wasn’t on duty, assisting with meal prep and watching the chef at work.

After that contract, Dvornik started researching the yachting industry – she was intrigued by the promise of good pay and the chance to see the world.

“I loved sailing and wanted to have more opportunities for travel while being able to put more money into savings,” she says.

Still, Dvornik was unsure if she’d be hired on a yacht – she had zero white boat experience. She also loved the idea of working as an onboard chef, but had no formal training. She sent off applications anyway and got a surprising response.

The more I worked in the yachting industry, I built a bit of a name for myself. So captains or crew would recommend me, clients would recommend me to their friends.”

Grace Dvornik, private chef

“I was hired as a chef right away on a 64-foot sailing yacht,” says Dvornik.

This was an incredible opportunity – and a baptism of fire.

“I think looking back I’m surprised that I was able to do what I did,” says Dvornik. “It was almost like an ‘ignorance is bliss’ kind of situation, where I didn’t know what could go wrong, or the downsides of it.”

Dvornik pre-planned meals as much as she could, but also embraced spontaneity and creativity. She leaned on her theater degree too, acting “the character of the chef” when need be. Dvornik says that even today, her acting education is “her biggest asset” – and she’s only half-joking.

“When I present a meal to my clients, and they want to know where I got the idea or where the produce came from, I’m able to tell the story in a more interesting way,” she says.

Since then, Dvornik has completed some formal training – at the UK’s Ashburton Chefs Academy and George Brown College Chef School in Toronto, Canada.

She’s never worked in a restaurant, but she has cooked on land – at several private estates, including Wyoming cattle ranches. She’s also volunteered at a mental health nonprofit called Jae Foundation.

More recently she’s switched focus to working in private aviation, but Dvornik still has most experience at sea, where she’s worked as a chef-for-hire on private and charter yachts, ranging from 60 to 130 feet long.

“The more I worked in the yachting industry, I built a bit of a name for myself,” says Dvornik. “So captains or crew would recommend me, clients would recommend me to their friends.”

Life in the galley

Whether she’s on land, at sea or in the air, Dvornik always starts by learning her client’s preferences and requirements.

“Allergies are the most important thing, of course, and then dietary restrictions or certain diets would follow,” she says. “I’ve accommodated most types of diets – keto, paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free.”

Dvornik will kit out the galley according to guests’ dietary requests, but she’ll always have extra produce on board too. Once you’re out at sea – or cruising 30,000 feet – it can be hard to accommodate a last-minute request, so it’s best to be prepared.

“I’ve been told before that people are very strict – no desserts, no dairy, no gluten, and then they get on board and because they’re on vacation, they want dessert with every meal or they’re fine with dairy and gluten, so you have to be able to adapt that way,” Dvornik says.

“Even if someone says ‘no desserts,’ I always keep at least ice cream or some type of chocolate on board, because there’s always a craving.”

On yachts, Dvornik’s also accommodated requests that verge on the eccentric – no green beans on Thursday, no pineapple in the morning – “little quirks,” as Dvornik calls them.

“Grilled meat has been requested with no grill marks,” she adds.

Dvornik’s also catered for clients’ pets and kids, some of whom eat the same haute cuisine as their parents, some of whom prefer chicken tenders.

Whenever she is faced with a surprising or more challenging request, Dvornik draws upon her theater background. In improv comedy, there’s no such thing as no – your approach is always “yes and.”

“If someone makes a request, in this type of field, ‘yes’ is the only option – because you want to go above and beyond for the client. And most of the time they’re willing to pay what they need to pay to have those items,” says Dvornik.

“So it’s, ‘Okay, yes, we can do that. And how can we make it special? Or how can we make it more memorable from the last time.’”

Every yacht guest is different, and Dvornik’s become adept at adapting not only her cooking, but also her work style and on board demeanor.

“There will be some clients on a yacht who interact with the crew all the time, and they’re very laid-back and they don’t care if the table has decorations on it, and maybe they come in the galley and hang out and talk all the time,” says Dvornik. “But then sometimes you have people who are more formal, and they want the table set with full place settings and are a little more formal in that regard.”

Dvornik’s clients are ultra-high-net-worth individuals – she says they are “innovators in technology, former US politicians, owners of professional sports teams, owners of well-known lifestyle brands, and Middle Eastern royalty.”

“I don’t get starstruck but to avoid nerves, I remind myself to do the best job that I can for that particular client,” says Dvornik. “In my personal experience, I haven’t had many celebrities.”

As well as accommodating a range of clients, Dvornik has also acclimatized to a revolving door of colleagues-slash-roommates. A yacht might be swanky, but the crew quarters are always tight: think bunk beds, shared bathrooms and no privacy.

“I think I’ve become very adaptable, just working with so many people over the years,” says Dvornik. “But I’m always just myself, and that’s the best way to go.”

While yacht deckhands – who are in charge of the yacht’s exterior – and yacht stewards – who are in charge of the exterior – work in a team, the chef usually works solo. But every meal service is a “collaborative effort” with the rest of the interior team.

“I’ll coordinate with the stew and say, ‘Okay, this is what I’m planning for the meal tonight. What are you thinking for table decor?’” says Dvornik. “We’ll coordinate on the flow of service and if there’s multi-courses, coordinate in that regard.”

Dvornik’s food is only ever as good as the service. She never wants meals to be sitting out, getting cold, so a good working relationship with the yacht stewards is key.

“I’ve had times where I’ve needed to communicate, ‘We need to pick up the pace here, because I am going to start plating, and then we need to get these dishes out as soon as they’re ready,’” she says.

It’s also Dvornik’s job to cook meals for her fellow crewmates. She usually whips up something similar to what she’s prepping for the guests – it makes things easier. But she’ll occasionally add in a few treats or prepare a crew member’s favorite meal.

While yacht crew are usually confined below deck, Dvornik says there are opportunities to enjoy the perks of living on a superyacht.

Certain spaces are off limits – “you would never go into the master cabin and just hang out there” and respect is key – “the boat doesn’t become the crew hangout when the guests leave.”

But “maybe the crew would have a movie night in the lounge or the main salon,” says Dvornik.

“Sometimes owners allow the crew to use the boat or maybe take the tenders on days off – things like that.”

What it’s really like ‘Below Deck’

For those who’ve never chartered a yacht themselves – AKA most of us – the closest we get to seeing what it’s like on board is the Bravo reality TV show “Below Deck” and its various spin-offs.

The show, which first premiered in 2013, follows young yacht workers’ day-to-day lives on board gleaming white vessels. Below Deck’s always been popular, but took on a new lease of life during the pandemic when the incredible locations, outrageous guest requests and compelling crew interpersonal drama offered the perfect slice of escapism.

Such is the popularity of the series that Dvornik’s parents are forever stressing to their friends that while yes, their daughter does work on yachts, no her life isn’t much like “Below Deck.”

Dvornik says while she doesn’t relate to some of “Below Deck”’s on-screen “craziness”, it is true many yacht workers embrace a work-hard-play-hard lifestyle.

“It may be a little bit exaggerated,” she says of the on-screen partying. “But yes, yacht crew definitely love a nice party and love going out, blowing off steam.”

Yacht crew definitely love a nice party and love going out, blowing off steam.”

Grace Dvornik, private chef

The pay in yachting is “excellent,” says Dvornik, and yacht crew are often excited to splash cash on days off.

“Because a lot of your basic needs are taken care of when traveling – your travel expenses, or your meals while you’re working, things like that – there is extra money to go out and spend on a nice dinner or to go out and have a fun night on the town.”

Dvornik’s noticed that the popularity of “Below Deck,” which is also on various streaming services internationally, has “sparked a lot of interest in the yachting industry.”

“People are joining because they’ve seen the TV show, and they think it’s very interesting, they want the opportunity to travel,” she says.

Dvornik’s reputation in the yacht industry and social media presence (she has over 73,000 TikTok followers) has caught the attention of the “Below Deck” production team, but Dvornik is adamant she’d never appear on the show, even though she’s been “contacted by casting and producers many times.”

“I’ve always respectfully declined. It’s not my style,” says Dvornik.

Plus she’s pivoted to commercial aviation in the last year. There’s yet to be an equivalent reality TV show lifting the curtain on the private jet industry, but Dvornik posits that such a show could generate “big interest,” even if getting a camera crew on board a private jet might be tricky.

“I don’t know logistically how it would work,” she says. “But I think it’d be very interesting.”

Up in the air

Dvornik started working in private aviation last year, after some friends who worked in that arena encouraged her to give it a shot.

In contrast to a yacht, on a jet Dvornik is usually the only employee on board, besides the pilots. She acts not only as chef, but also as server and chief flight attendant.

Dvornik enjoys this challenge – she sees making reheated food taste and look incredible as a skill in itself.

Say, for example, a jet client requests a meal from their favorite restaurant.

“It’s not as easy as just ordering and then serving on board,” explains Dvornik. “Maybe you have to order that meal the night before, because you’re serving it for lunch the next day and you aren’t able to get that item in the morning. You really have to plan and communicate with the restaurant.”

Dvornik’s culinary background allows her to think up workarounds. If a client wants steak from their favorite restaurant served medium, Dvornik will instruct the restaurant to cook it medium rare, so the meal won’t get overcooked after it’s reheated on board.

And until the flight is in the air, Dvornik will keep all the elements of a dish separate – each ingredient of a salad will be boxed up individually, garnish and dressings divided – to avoid it getting soggy.

The goal, says Dvornik, is maintaining the “integrity” of the dish, even at 30,000 feet.

One element that’s similarly unpredictable both at sea and in the air is the weather.

On a yacht, Dvornik will adapt a menu if she knows she’s sailing into stormy seas – she’ll be more likely to slow-cook dishes in the oven, and will avoid using knives as they can be dangerous in rocky waters.

In the air, Dvornik will find ways of maximizing a shortened in-flight serving time if turbulence hits.

In the past Dvornik’s been on boats where the power’s gone out, so now she always packs a headlamp. On a yacht, there’s always the option of using the grill on the yacht sundeck, illuminated by her flashlight. Dovnik always packs the headlamp on flights too.

“Most of the time, I use my headlamp if I am working onboard the plane but the power is not booted up,” she explains. “For example, if I spend a day on the plane in the hangar to take inventory, clean and organize, it’s not feasible to have the power running all day.”

She’ll also use the flashlight to check the airplane interior for any stray smudges or fingerprints – cleanliness is of the utmost importance in luxury travel.

A big misconception of Dvornik’s job is that she is “on vacation all the time.” She’s not – sometimes on yachts she only sees sunshine when the boat docks and she goes to take the trash out.

But working in private aviation, Dvornik gets to spend a bit more time exploring.

“Layovers are a time to explore the city,” she says. “And from a culinary standpoint, that’s such a fun opportunity, I recently was able to go to Italy and spent one whole day with one of the pilots walking around and exploring and we found some really unique places. And I was able to bring some items back for the plane to serve on board.”

Dream job

Dvornik loves traveling for a living, but she admits there is a trade off – and it’s one that her friends and family have become very familiar with.

“I’ve had friends recently who got married, and I had to tell them, ‘I won’t be able to attend a bachelorette party, I may not be able to attend a bridal shower,’” she says.

But Dvornik made sure to prioritize the actual weddings – working freelance gives her a little more flexibility to turn down jobs for special events when necessary.

And while she hates to miss big life events on land, Dvornik says she wouldn’t trade her job for anything.

“I’m so grateful for my career and that I was able to make a career out of my love for travel and for cooking,” she says.

“There has been a lot of really hard work behind the scenes – whether it’s taking care of myself, so that way, when I go back to work, I know I’m refreshed and ready to go. But also learning new skills and keeping up with culinary trends and what’s going on in the food world. It’s a really wonderful job.”

Nearly 1.4 million people have now been displaced in Sudan since conflict between two rival generals erupted in April, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Sunday in a new report that exposes the scale of the catastrophe engulfing the African nation.

Even before the fighting intensified, years of political instability meant Sudan had several million people internally displaced. The country also hosted 1.13 million refugees from other conflict-ridden countries, including South Sudan, Eritrea and Syria, according to UNHCR data.

The new outbreak of violence has forced a fresh wave of people to leave their homes, either moving elsewhere in Sudan or crossing into neighboring countries.

The new estimate cited figures from several UN agencies.

Since fighting broke out on April 15, more than 1 million have been displaced internally in the country as of May 23, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s Displacement Tracking Matrix.

“The number of newly internally displaced people in just over five weeks (15 April to 23 May) is comparable to that recorded for all displacement in the country from 2020 to 2022,” the release said.

As of May 26, a further 345,000 had fled Sudan into neighboring countries including Egypt, Chad and Ethiopia, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Amid the vast displacement, there have been increasing reports of gender-based violence and domestic violence, especially among internally displaced Sudanese populations, the UN Population Fund said.

Alarmingly, reports of “sexual violence against women and girls, including allegations of rape, committed by the parties to the conflict,” have also been recorded, said Pramila Patten, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict.

The current conflict pits the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) against its rival the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Fighting has continued despite the agreement for a seven-day ceasefire that started on May 22, brokered by Saudi Arabia and the United States.

There are fears of further escalation with the ceasefire expected to end on Monday.

Thousands of foreign nationals have escaped the country as Western and regional powers stepped in to evacuate their own citizens, but thousands of families have risked perilous journeys from the capital Khartoum and other parts of Sudan as they have been left to fend for themselves, or flee to neighboring poverty-stricken countries.

At least 730 individuals have been killed and about 5,500 others wounded as of May 23, according to Sudan’s Federal Ministry of Health.

Since the conflict began, at least eight humanitarian workers and eight health workers have been killed, the UN said.

A separate toll kept by the Preliminary Committee of Sudan Doctors’ Union said at least 850 people have been killed with some 3,400 wounded.

Deadly attacks have been reported in multiple parts of the war-torn country and civilian facilities were damaged with reports of looting and unexploded devices seen in urban areas, the UN release said.

There have been at least 38 attacks on health care premises in Sudan since April 15, the World Health Organization reported. This includes 22 attacks on health facilities, six attacks which impacted warehouses, and nine attacks which affected supplies, among others.

In East Darfur, more than 30 babies died in a hospital in Ad Du’ayn, including six newborn babies, due to problems including lack of oxygen and an electricity blackout, WHO reported.

In the western Sudanese town of Zalingi, there have been reports of looted homes, schools, banks, government institutions and humanitarian locations, the UN said.

“Water and electricity services have been disconnected, and telecommunication services have been disrupted,” the statement added.

There are also growing reports of unexploded ordnance in Khartoum and in several other urban areas in Sudan, including in buildings, roads and roadsides, according to the UN Mine Action Service.

The UN said humanitarian partners are working quickly to move relief supplies to areas where they are most needed, but there are insecurity and transportation challenges.

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has signed some of the harshest anti-LGBTQ laws in the world, the speaker of parliament said, defying international pressure, including from the United States which said it was “deeply troubled.”

The bill includes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality’ which includes sex with a minor, having sex while HIV positive and incest.

The bill criminalizes sex education for the gay community and makes it illegal not to expose what it calls perpetrators of aggravated homosexuality to the police. It calls for “rehabilitation”– widely discredited conversion therapy – for gay offenders.

Museveni sent the bill back to parliament for revisions earlier this year. The latest version of the bill passed earlier this month.

Uganda’s longtime president has already faced extensive criticism from Western governments over the law.

“The United States is deeply troubled by Uganda’s passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, a law that undermines the human rights, prosperity, and welfare of all Ugandans,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Monday.

Blinken added that the law would damage Uganda’s “reputation as a destination for investment, development, tourism, and refugees,” and he said he had directed the State Department to update the guidance for Americans traveling to Uganda.

The speaker of the parliament Anita Annet Among celebrated the bill’s signing, saying parliament had “answered the cries of our people.”

“I thank His Excellency, the president, for his steadfast action in the interest of Uganda. With a lot of humility, I thank my colleagues the Members of Parliament for withstanding all the pressure from bullies and doomsday conspiracy theorists in the interest of the country,” she added.

Civil society groups are already looking to challenge the law.

“The civil society in Uganda together with the LGBTQI community are prepared to take this to the courts and challenge the law. Because this law is a deeply discriminatory and repressive law that doesn’t meet any international human rights and local standards.”

The courts could indeed offer an avenue for Uganda’s gay community. A similarly homophobic law was struck down by the courts in 2014.

Ugandan rights lawyer Sarah Kasanda said the law was already being challenged.

“We are very hopeful that the Constitutional Court will nullify this law because it does not stand any constitutional scrutiny. It goes against the bill of rights enshrined in Uganda’s own constitution.”

“Ugandans are fighting back. This bill does not reflect our values,” she added.

US President Joe Biden described the bill in a statement on Monday as “a tragic violation of universal human rights.”

He said he had instructed the National Security Council “to evaluate the implications of this law on all aspects of US engagement with Uganda, including our ability to safely deliver services under the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and other forms of assistance and investments.”

Biden also warned that his administration is considering additional steps, including sanctions and restrictions on entry to the US for “anyone involved in serious human rights abuses or corruption.”

British and European leaders also condemned the law, with the European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell describing it as “deplorable.”

It is the tale of two of the NBA’s most beloved players.

There’s Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets – the hulking Serbian center who has battled underappreciation and misinterpretation to become one of the league’s greats and a two-time Most Valuable Player.

Then there’s the Miami’s Heat Jimmy Butler – another undervalued player whose grit and never-say-die attitude against the odds has earned him plaudits and fans in recent years, but in particular, these playoffs.

It’s the performances of Jokić and Butler which help to explain why the NBA Finals are being contested by Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat as the 2022/23 NBA season concludes.

The two teams have a lot in common; both are led by a star player with complimentary contributors around them and both have long-tenured head coaches at the helm – Miami’s Erik Spoelstra has the second longest active spell as a team’s head coach while Denver’s Michael Malone has the fourth longest.

After sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, the Nuggets have had over a week off while the Heat have come off a grueling seven-game series with the Boston Celtics, so tiredness could be a factor.

Whoever is left standing with the Larry O’Brien trophy held high come the end of the Finals – whether it be Jokić or Butler – is likely to be a great story for neutral fans, with both players aiming to win their first rings.

How to watch

Game 1 of the NBA Finals begins on Thursday, June 1 at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, with Game 2 taking place on Sunday.

The series then travels to Miami for Games 3 and 4 before returning to Denver for Game 5 if necessary. If required, Game 6 will be held in Miami and Game 7 in Denver.

The finale of the NBA season will be broadcast on ABC in the US, while all games are available via the NBA League Pass.

International viewers can watch all the action on the League Pass, as well as through local broadcasters.

Jokić’s crowning moment?

For the Nuggets, a run to the Finals was the only acceptable outcome at the beginning of the season after years of near misses. And as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, they have made good on those desires.

Jokić has become a transformative player for Denver over recent years; but this season in particular, the two-time MVP has gone from regular-season monster to postseason juggernaut.

The 28-year-old has averaged a triple double of 30.4 points, 13.8 rebounds and 10.2 assists in 13 games this postseason as Denver has romped through the playoffs.

He has fended off challenges from a long list of superstar opposition – LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker have all fallen by the wayside.

It’s Jokić’s unique combination of passing, scoring and vision that have made him such a dominant force and, paired with Jamal Murray’s scoring ability, the Nuggets have been almost unstoppable on offense.

Due to some savvy additions in recent years – in particular, Aaron Gordon and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – Denver’s defense has also been stifling.

Jokić admitted that the celebrations were short-lived after the Western Conference Finals sweep of the Lakers as Denver’s goal is lifting the title.

But he admits that if they are able to claim that ring, he might allow himself to fully soak it all in.

“I’m going to have bigger emotions, yes. We won the (Game 4 against the Lakers) and I was really happy, yes, yes, we made history, this, that,” Jokić told reporters. “But at the end of the day, next year, nobody is going to remember us or two years from now.

“So maybe, if we win it all, maybe it’s going to be different, but we will see.”

The Nuggets have remained unbeaten in home games these playoffs, and with home court advantage in the Finals, Denver is a strong favorite to claim a first title in franchise history.

Against the odds

While the Nuggets’ journey to the Finals wasn’t unexpected, the Heat’s run certainly was.

Having stumbled through the regular season – battling consistent injuries and shooting woes – Miami eventually booked a spot in the Play-In tournament.

But even then they struggled, first losing to the Atlanta Hawks before overcoming a late deficit to squeak past the Chicago Bulls into the playoffs.

Their reward for squeaking through the Play-In route was a match-up with the No. 1 seeded Milwaukee Bucks. Miami was given little hope, but five games later, the Heat had shocked the Bucks 4-1 and advanced to the next round.

The New York Knicks were the next to succumb to Butler and Co. and the Boston Celtics, despite recovering from a 3-0 deficit to force a Game 7, failed to get the better of the Heat.

The 33-year-old Butler has been at the forefront of Miami’s extraordinary run and has been consistently unfazed in the face of unimaginable pressure.

This postseason, he has averaged 28.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.7 assists as he has led the Heat to within four wins of a first title in 10 years.

But more than that, his confidence has been praised even when the odds seem stacked against his team.

Following the Heat’s demolition of the Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals – having lost three games in a row prior to it – Butler pointed to the team spirit which has gotten them to where they are now.

“I’m not going to say losing three in a row is part of the Heat culture we like to talk about because we don’t play to lose and we don’t want to lose. [The Celtics] are an incredible team over there and they will be for a while,” he told reporters.

“I just think the guys that Coach (Spoelstra) and Coach Pat (Riley) put together, when a guy goes down, the next guy could fill in that gap and do exactly what that guy that went down did and do it at a high level.

“Then be humble enough to know that when that guy comes back, you’ve got to take a step back and get back in your role. Nobody ever complains. They always do exactly what you ask of them to do, which is why you want to play with guys like that, which is why they are the reason we win so many games.

“I don’t call them role players; I call them teammates because your role can change any given day, especially how many games I’ve missed, in and out of lineup, off nights, whatever you want to call it.

“But we have some hoopers. We have some real-deal basketball players that can score, can defend and can pass and can win games for us.”

Will it be the wily old veteran or the Serbian superstar to claim their first ring? We will soon find out.

Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris helped save a drowning child in Las Vegas this past weekend, according to ESPN.

Morris was at the Encore Las Vegas with his family when he saw a young boy drowning in the hotel pool. The boy was taken out of the pool by his father and brought over to the lifeguard, ESPN reported.

While the lifeguard started CPR compressions, Morris offered to help before getting an automatic external defibrillator (AED).

“I saw people calling 911 so my first question was, where is the AED?” Morris told ESPN on Wednesday. “When I got back, we had a doctor on site that was able to start the compressions. I was able to hand the AED to him, get it open for him, put the pads on the child, and he ended up being OK.”

Morris gave credit to the teams’ recent CPR, AED and first aid training for knowing the proper protocols.

“I’m just thankful I knew what to do,” Raheem Morris added to ESPN. “You just never know when you’re going to need that stuff.”

Morris also mentioned Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin and the drowning death of Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Shaquil Barrett’s two-year-old daughter in April helped increase “awareness and preparedness” in situations like this.

In January, Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field during the team’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic has stood by his decision to send a political message about Kosovo at the French Open.

After his first-round victory on Monday, Djokovic wrote “Kosovo is the [heart symbol] of Serbia. Stop the violence” on a TV camera lens in response to violent clashes in Kosovo.

Tensions have been rising in the past week in Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008. There were clashes with protesters on Monday over the installation of ethnically Albanian mayors in a disputed election.

Dozens of NATO peacekeepers were injured on Monday after clashes erupted with Serbian demonstrators trying to block the newly elected mayors from taking office in the northern municipality of Zvecan.

Djokovic, whose father was born in Kosovo, said this week that he felt obliged to “give my support to our people and to the entirety of Serbia.”

His reference to the “entirety of Serbia” reflects the policy of the Serbian government, which still considers Kosovo to be an integral part of its territory and has not recognized the country’s independence.

“Of course, I’m aware that a lot of people would disagree, but it is what it is,” Djokovic said on Wednesday after his second-round victory against Hungary’s Márton Fucsovics. “It’s something that I stand for. So that’s all.”

He added that he had not spoken to French Open tournament director Amélie Mauresmo about the incident.

On Tuesday, the Kosovan Olympic Committee (KOC) called for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Tennis Federation (ITF) to take disciplinary action against Djokovic.

The KOC claimed that the 22-time grand slam champion had “yet again promoted the Serbian nationalist propaganda and used the sport platform to do so,” thereby raising “the level of tension and violence between the two countries, Kosovo and Serbia.”

However, the ITF said that players’ conduct at a grand slam is governed by the grand slam rulebook of the relevant organizer, in which there is “no provision … that prohibits political statements.”

The IOC said that athletes only fall under its authority during the Olympic Games.

Djokovic is no stranger to controversy at grand slam tournaments. At the Australian Open in January, he said that his father, Srdjan, didn’t intend to support “any kind of war initiatives,” having been filmed with a group of Russian supporters at the Australian Open.

Then at the 2022 Australian Open, the 36-year-old was deported from the country after arriving in Melbourne unvaccinated against Covid-19.

“A drama-free grand slam, I don’t think it can happen for me,” he said on Wednesday. “You know, I guess that drives me as well.”

Djokovic faces Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round of the French Open on Wednesday as he continues his bid to win a 23rd grand slam title – one more than Rafael Nadal at the top of the men’s all-time list.

Canadian officials announced a fine of more than $18,000 on Wednesday for anyone in Nova Scotia who violates a province-wide burn ban implemented this week as wildfires continue to rage in the region, which has prompted air quality alerts in the northeastern US.

The fires, which have spanned more than 42,000 acres as of Wednesday, destroyed buildings and produced huge plumes of smoke as Nova Scotia struggles with record-breaking heat. Officials on Monday announced the province-wide burn ban, expected to stay in place until June 25, due to the “seriousness of the current fires.”

“Yesterday I told you there were six burns overnight,” Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said during a news conference Wednesday. “Last night? At least eight. At least eight more reckless people chose to burn. I do not know what they are thinking.”

During the news conference, Houston said, “Anyone who burns in this province, anyone who disrespects the provincewide burn ban” can be subject to a fine of 25,000 Canadian dollars ($18,430).The fine was initially set at 237.50 Canadian dollars.

“The forests are simply too dry. The conditions are too volatile,” Houston said.

The province’s Department of Natural Resources and Renewables said Wednesday that 17 firefighters are traveling from New York and New Hampshire to help Nova Scotia fight the wildfires starting on Saturday, according to a news release.

“We’re taking every measure to prevent new fires from starting,” said Tory Rushton, the province’s minister of natural resources and renewables. “All Nova Scotians need to do their part – follow the burn ban, stay out of the woods and help keep your families and communities safe.”

There were at least 14 active wildfires burning throughout the province on Wednesday afternoon, with at least three that remain “out of control,” according to Scott Tingley, manager of forest protection for the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Renewables.

Province remains hot and windy amid wildfires

The National Weather Service issued a Code Orange air quality alert for New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania, including the Philadelphia region, which means air pollution concentrations in there may become unhealthy for sensitive groups, including the elderly and young children. Those groups should minimize time outdoors and avoid strenuous activity, the NWS added.

From Wednesday through Thursday, the region continues to be warm and windy without any rain in the forecast, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada, the country’s federal environmental agency. Thursday will be the hottest day of the week and scattered showers will begin to move into the region on Friday with rain expected this weekend, which will bring cooler temperatures.