6:10 a.m. EDT – National News Summary

A precious moment in time of war: Flowers for a wife and daughter coming home to Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Flowers have always been linked with Ukraine’s culture but since Russia’s 2022 invasion, their significance has only grown. Blooms and specifically sunflowers have become a symbol of both resistance and hope for the war-torn country. Ukrainians take every chance they can to fill Kyiv and other cities with flowers from the country’s vast rural heartland. Flowers are depicted on Ukrainian banknotes, textile patterns and murals. Across the country, young men on dates and soldiers, sometimes missing a limb, carry bouquets on their return home. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy famously brought a bouquet on a hospital visit in 2022 to a teenage girl injured while fleeing advancing Russian forces outside the capital, Kyiv.

These oldest inhabited termite mounds have been active for 34,000 years

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Scientists in South Africa have been stunned to discover that termite mounds that are still inhabited in an arid region of the country are 34,000 years old, meaning they are the oldest known active termite hills. The mounds existed while saber-toothed cats and woolly mammoths roamed other parts of the Earth and large swathes of Europe and Asia were covered in ice. They predate some of the earliest cave paintings in Europe. Evidence shows they have been consistently inhabited by termite colonies. The researchers urge more study of termite mounds for the lessons they offer on climate change, sustaining ecosystems and perhaps even for improving agricultural practices.

LeBron James agrees to a 2-year extension with the Los Angeles Lakers, AP source says

LeBron James is coming back for a record-tying 22nd season in the NBA, one in which the league’s all-time scoring leader could share the floor with his son Bronny as teammates with the Los Angeles Lakers. James has agreed to a two-year contract to remain with the Lakers, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations. The second year of the deal is at James’ option and means he could become a free agent again next summer, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been announced publicly. The Lakers did announce that Bronny James already has signed his first NBA contract. It is a four-year deal.

US ends legal fight against Titanic expedition. Battles over future dives are still possible

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The U.S. government has officially ended its legal fight against an upcoming dive to the Titanic shipwreck. That’s because the expedition will no longer enter the ship’s hull or take artifacts from the site. The U.S. has said doing so would violate a federal law that treats the wreck as a memorial. The Georgia-based company RMS Titanic Inc. owns the Titanic’s salvage rights. It displays artifacts recovered from previous expeditions. The firm significantly scaled back its dive plans this year. Uncrewed submersibles will only take images of the wreck and debris field. The mission is scheduled for mid-July.

Police find remains of girl snatched by a crocodile while swimming in northern Australia

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Police have found remains of a 12-year-old girl two days after she was snatched by a crocodile while swimming in a creek in remote northern Australia. Police say the remains were found on Thursday in the river system near where the girl vanished at the Indigenous community of Palumpa, southwest of the Northern Territory capital Darwin. Injuries confirmed a crocodile attack. Efforts were continuing to trap the killer crocodile. Saltwater crocodiles are territorial and the killer is likely to remain in nearby waterways. The girl’s disappearance triggered an intense 36-hour land, water and air search.

Banned NBA player Jontay Porter will be charged in betting case, court papers indicate

NEW YORK (AP) — Court papers indicate that former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter will be charged with a federal felony connected to the sports betting scandal that spurred the NBA to ban him for life. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn filed what’s known as a criminal information sheet on Tuesday. The document doesn’t specify a court date or the charge or charges. But it does show the case is related to an existing prosecution of four gamblers charged with conspiring to cash in on tips from a player about his plans to exit two games early. The Associated Press sent voice and email messages to Porter’s lawyer on Wednesday.

Massive makos, Queen Bosses and a baby angel shark on Discovery ‘Shark Week,’ where women shine

NEW YORK (AP) — Imagine stepping into a life-sized whale carcass decoy and steering it into deep water. You’re looking — yes, looking — for a group of hungry sharks to spark a feeding frenzy. To attract them, you shoot out hundreds of gallons of synthetic blood and chum. Then watch them lose it. That’s what marine biologist Liv Dixon did for Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week,” one of several eye-popping moments during the 21 hours of new programming this year where scientists risk everything to understand the apex predators better. The week, hosted by John Cena, kicks off Sunday with Dixon’s hour-long “Belly of the Beast: Bigger & Bloodier.”

Jessica Campbell will be the first woman on an NHL bench as assistant coach with the Seattle Kraken

SEATTLE (AP) — Jessica Campbell will become the first woman to work on the bench of an NHL franchise after the Seattle Kraken hired her as an assistant coach Wednesday. Campbell has spent the past two seasons working as an assistant coach for Seattle’s AHL affiliate in Coachella Valley alongside head coach Dan Bylsma, who was hired in late May to take over the head job with the Kraken. Campbell was a decorated player in the NCAA, the Canadian Women’s Hockey League and Canada’s women’s national team, with whom she won silver at the 2015 world championship.

Shohei Ohtani says he won’t participate in Home Run Derby during All-Star festivities

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani won’t participate in the Home Run Derby on July 15 despite the Japanese superstar ranking second in the majors with 27 homers for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani has taken part in the Derby just once, exiting in the first round in 2021 at Coors Field in Denver. This year’s event is at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. He says he’s in the middle of his rehab from an injured elbow ligament and subsequent surgery last fall that is keeping him from pitching this season. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says it’s not Ohtani’s responsibility alone to the carry the sport.

Freya the rescued lion cub is safe in South Africa, but many other lions there are bred to be shot

PAARL, South Africa (AP) — A 6-month-old lion cub named Freya who was rescued from the wildlife trade in Lebanon has been relocated to a sanctuary in South Africa. As she settles in at the Drakenstein Lion Park, animal welfare groups are again drawing attention to South Africa’s contradictory position when it comes to lions. South Africa has an admirable reputation for conservation but also a huge captive lion business, where the big cats are bred to be killed in “canned hunting” experiences or for the lion bone trade. Freya won’t have that fate because she’s at one of the country’s ethical sanctuaries.