1 (1 1/2-lb.) skinless salmon fillet, cut into 1/2″ cubes
2 scallions, thinly sliced, plus more for serving
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
4 Tbsp. Japanese mayonnaise (such as Kewpie), divided
2 1/4 tsp. sriracha, divided
Kosher salt
2 tsp. black and white sesame seeds
Directions
Arrange a rack in upper third of oven; preheat to 400°. Lightly coat a standard 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.
Scoop 1 heaping Tbsp. sushi rice into the center of each piece of nori. Transfer nori to prepared tin rice side up. Using a spoon, gently pack rice into an even layer in bottom of cup.
In a large bowl, toss salmon, scallions, oil, 2 Tbsp. mayonnaise, 2 tsp. sriracha, and 1/4 tsp. salt until combined. Divide salmon mixture among muffin cups (about 1/4 cup each), spooning on top of rice.
Bake until salmon is almost cooked through, about 11 minutes.
Turn on broiler and broil, watching carefully to ensure salmon doesn’t burn, until tops are charred in places and salmon is cooked through, 2 to 4 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine remaining 2 Tbsp. mayonnaise and 1/4 tsp. sriracha.
Arrange sushi cups on a platter. Drizzle with mayonnaise mixture. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and scallions.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Dozens of dogs found living in packed, filthy conditions were removed from a North Carolina home.
Animal control officers responding to a complaint in Raleigh discovered 101 dogs crammed in stacked cages or roaming in confined quarters at the home on Wednesday, the Wake County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said on Facebook. Many of the dogs were small breeds. Among those rescued were several puppies and older dogs.
The homeowner agreed to relinquish the dogs, along with 21 chickens, news outlets reported. The dogs were taken in by eight different shelters and were undergoing medical assessments, the SPCA chapter said. Many dogs had matted fur as well as skin and dental issues.
It wasn’t known whether the homeowner faces charges. A telephone call to the Raleigh police department wasn’t immediately returned Friday.
On Friday, the chapter said that several dogs under its care were “getting the spa day of their lives — and their first taste of fresh air, possibly ever. We’re seeing a lot of smiles from these guys.
“This is the biggest moment in these dogs’ lives, and we are feeling so grateful to be a part of their healing.”
CHICAGO (AP) — A bottlenose dolphin at a Chicago zoo gave birth to a calf early Saturday morning with the help of a fellow mom, in a successful birth recorded on video by zoo staff.
The dolphin calf was born at Brookfield Zoo Chicago early Saturday morning as a team of veterinarians monitored and cheered on the mom, a 38-year-old bottlenose dolphin named Allie.
“Push, push, push,” one observer can be heard shouting in video released by the zoo Saturday, as Allie swims around the tank, the calf’s little tail fins poking out below her own.
A bottlenose dolphin at the Brookfield Zoo Chicago gave birth to a calf early Saturday morning with the help of a fellow mom. (AP Video)
Then the calf wriggles free and instinctively darts to the surface of the pool for its first breath. Also in the tank was an experienced mother dolphin named Tapeko, 43, who stayed close to Allie through her more than one hour of labor. In the video, she can be seen following the calf as it heads to the surface, and staying with it as it takes that first breath.
“That’s very common both in free-ranging settings but also in aquaria,” said Brookfield Zoo Chicago Senior Veterinarian Dr. Jennifer Langan in a video statement. “It provides the mom extra protection and a little bit of extra help to help get the calf to the surface to help it breath in those couple minutes where she’s still having really strong contractions.”
In a written statement, zoo officials said early signs indicate that the calf is in good health. They estimate it weighs around 35 pounds (16 kilograms) and stretches nearly four feet in length (115-120 centimeters). That is about the weight and length of an adult golden retriever dog.
The zoo’s Seven Seas exhibit will be closed as the calf bonds with its mother and acclimates with other dolphins in its group.
As part of that bonding, the calf has already learned to slipstream, or draft alongside its mother so that it doesn’t have to work as hard to move. Veterinarians will monitor progress in nursing, swimming and other milestones particularly closely over the next 30 days.
The calf will eventually take a paternity test to see which of the male dolphins at the zoo is its father.
Zoo officials say they will name the calf later this summer.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) — Sovereignty bested Journalism on Saturday in a Kentucky Derby rematch to win the 157th Belmont Stakes, the second hosted at Saratoga.
Sovereignty and jockey Junior Alvarado traversed the field of eight on a fast Saratoga track after downpours throughout the morning and early afternoon dried up before post time.
Journalism ended up in second again and Baeza was third — the same 1-2-3 as the Kentucky Derby.
Journalism entered the gate at the Belmont as the 2-1 favorite, with Baeza the third favorite at 7-2.
Sovereignty led off the first leg of the Triple Crown by winning the Derby in early May. The Bill Mott-trained colt also edged Journalism in that race.
After the Derby win, the Godolphin-owned 3-year-old opted out of the Preakness to focus on the Belmont, forfeiting a shot at history to win the Triple Crown. The Triple Crown hasn’t been won since 2018, when Bob Baffert’s Justify won the 105th Belmont Stakes to secure the third jewel.
Journalism was the only horse to run in all three legs, winning the Preakness.
3 pounds of assorted beef cuts: chuck, bottom round, shanks
2 pounds lamb shanks
3 tablespoons oil
3 peeled and roughly chopped white or yellow onions
5 garlic cloves
4 cored roughly chopped vine-ripe tomatoes
4 seeded and stemmed dried guajillo chiles
4 seeded and stemmed dried ancho chiles
8-10 allspice berries
½ cinnamon stick, broken up
12-15 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 ½ tablespoons dried oregano
1 ½ tablespoons dried thyme
2 cups of water
1 gallon of water or beef stock
sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
juice of fresh lemons
diced yellow or white onions, diced radishes, and chopped fresh cilantro for garnish
Directions
Season both the beef and lamb well on all sides with sea salt and pepper. Set aside.
Next, add the oil to a large pot or rondeau over high heat. Once it begins to smoke add in the meat and lamb and sear until well browned on all sides, about 6-8 minutes per side.
Remove the beef from the pot and set it aside.
Now, place in the onions and cook over medium heat for about 20-25 minutes or until caramelized.
Place in the garlic and give it a quick sauté with the onions for about 4-5 minutes.
Next, pour in the tomatoes, chiles, allspice berries, cinnamon, peppercorns, bay leaves, cumin seeds, oregano, and thyme and stew on medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes to soften up the peppers and cook the tomatoes.
Deglaze with 2 cups of water and continue to cook on medium-high heat until the liquid is reduced by ½ or about 15 minutes.
Transfer the mixture to a blender and puree at high speed until smooth. See note on how to blend hot food.
Pour the mixture back into the pot along with water or beef stock. Season this mixture well with salt and pepper.
Place the seared meat back into the pot, cover, and cook on medium-medium-high for about 2 hours, or until the meat is easily shredded. The liquid should be at a rapid bubble or a very low boil the entire time.
Remove the meat, discard any bones, and roughly chop on a cutting board. Keep aside.
Next, strain the remaining liquid through a fine-mesh strainer or chinois and return it to the pot along with the chopped meat.
To serve: Place the desired amount of birria consomé into a bowl and garnish with fresh-squeezed lemon juice, onions, radishes, and cilantro.
NEW YORK (AP) — Inside a Walmart store in New Jersey, a worker puts the finishing touches on a cake with an edible ink Sponge Bob on top. A colleague creates a buttercream rosette border for a different cake, while another co-worker frosts a tier of what will be a triple-deck dessert.
It’s graduation season, the busiest time of year for the 6,200 employees the nation’s largest retailer trained to hand-decorate cakes per customers’ orders. The cakes themselves come, pre-made, frozen and in a variety of shapes and sizes, from suppliers, not Walmart’s in-store bakeries.
But there’s no sugar-coating the importance the company places on its custom cake business. Its army of icing artisans are the highest paid hourly workers in a typical U.S. Walmart, excluding managers. Cake decorators earn an average of $19.25 per hour, compared with $18.25 for all non-managerial store workers, a company spokesperson said.
Walmart’s cake decorators, the chain’s top non-manager hourly earners, are driving strong business during graduation season with affordable, custom-designed cakes. (AP Video: Ted Shaffrey)
Melissa Fernandez, 36, started working in the electronics area and then the wireless services department of the Walmart in North Bergen, New Jersey, before she transferred to the deli area in search of better pay. But Fernandez had her eye on a cake decorating job and after spending two months getting trained by a store colleague, she picked up a piping bag full-time in 2021.
“I love baking at home. I love painting,” Fernandez said. “I love doing anything artistic, and I just always wanted to be a part of it.” After 11 years with Walmart, she said she now makes about $24.40 an hour.
Despite their elite status within Walmart, the retailer’s cake decorators have attracted detractors on social media.
The company promotes its personalized baked goods on TikTok, and the workers behind such creations do the same with their own profiles. As the content has grown in popularity, critics have accused Walmart decorators of stealing ideas and undercutting the work of professional cake artists with their low-priced products.
After TikTok videos praising Walmart’s $25 heart-shaped cakes with borders that resemble vintage lace cropped up before Valentine’s Day this year, a few bakers produced their own videos explaining why their cakes cost so much more and critiquing Walmart’s.
Debates ensued in the comments sections over whether Walmart represented evils of capitalism or served the needs of the masses.
A customized sheet cake that can be sliced to serve 96 people costs $59 at Walmart, about one-third to half the price that a nationwide sample of independent bakeries list online for similarly sized cakes. For $5.20 more, Walmart customers can add strawberry or “Bavarian creme” fillings, which like the bare cakes, are vendor-supplied.
The slice of the celebratory occasion cake market Walmart holds appears vast based on company-supplied figures. One out of four cakes sold in the U.S. comes from Walmart, and its employees will collectively decorate more than 1 million cakes during May and June, according to a company spokesperson.
The number of cakes decorated each day at the location where Fernandez works nearly doubles to 50-60 when school graduations come around, compared to 30-35 a day during the rest of the year, said Michael DeMarco, the manager of the store’s fresh food department. He credits the decorators’ talent and promotional efforts on TikTok.
“We’re getting a lot of repeat customers. We’re doing a lot more business because of just the viral sensations,” DeMarco said.
A TikTok video that showed Fernandez designing a $24 version of a customized bouquet cake — 12 cupcakes that are individually decorated and arranged to look like a bunch of flowers — received nearly a half-million views. The bouquet design was one of the North Bergen store’s most popular cakes last month, a company spokesperson said.
The dressy heart-shaped cakes, as well as cakes that resemble meals like sushi or a pile of spaghetti and meatballs, are popular too, she said. Fernandez also has created “burn away” cakes: an iced cake topped with an image printed on paper, which is set ablaze to reveal a different image underneath.
“TikTok helps me stay up to date,” she said. “A lot of trends that I see on there, within that week or within that month, customers will come asking about it. And we’re pretty up to date as well.”
Jazzing up a cake by hand requires skill, whether or not someone else did the baking, she said. Funneling buttercream frosting through a bag and various sized piping tips to yield the desired design without misplaced blobs is not the same as drawing or painting, Fernandez explained.
“There’s a lot of pressure points that you have to practice in order to get the borders correct and the right thickness or the right texture,” she said.
Tiffany Witzke, who has been a Walmart cake decorator since July 2016 and works at a store in Springfield, Missouri, has more than 912,000 followers on TikTok. The job attracts people who “can be extremely skilled and talented,” Witzke said, adding that customers want increasingly complicated designs.
“When I first started, it was basically just borders and writing,” she said. “Now, everybody wants more and more and more on their cake.”
Liz Berman, owner of The Sleepy Baker, in Natick, Massachusetts, said she’s not worried about losing customers to Walmart because of her attention to detail and the premium ingredients she uses.
She charges $205 and up for a half-sized sheet cake, the bouquets made up of two dozen miniature cupcakes cost $110. All the cakes are made from scratch, and Berman said she designs everything herself.
“It’s just a totally different business model,” she said. “Everything I do is custom.”
For Walmart, the cake decorating business delivers higher profit margins than some other areas, such as groceries and electronics, according to Marshal Cohen, chief retail advisor at market research firm Circana. But it’s also resonating with shoppers looking for affordable luxuries.
“We’ve gone into a period where the consumer is saying, ‘This is good enough,’” Cohen said.
Customers interviewed at the North Bergen store on a recent weekday seemed to be satisfied. George Arango, 34, picked up two customized cakes, one to celebrate a co-worker’s retirement and the other for a colleague getting another job. After researching prices on various store websites, he decided to give Walmart a try.
“The price is fantastic,” he said. “I’m walking out with two cakes for $40.”
By MICHAEL R. SISAK, LARRY NEUMEISTER and DAVE COLLINS Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs ‘ recent ex-girlfriend returned to the witness stand Friday in his sex trafficking trial, after testifying that he pressured her into drug-fueled sex marathons similar to those described by another former girlfriend, R&B singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura.
The woman using the pseudonym “Jane” is among several witnesses at the trial — now at the end of its fourth week — who accuse Combs of violence, including Cassie. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to running his business empire as a racketeering enterprise that enabled and concealed the abuse of women over two decades. If convicted, he faces 15 years to life.
Prosecutors questioned Jane about sexual subjects right from the start Friday, beginning with a 2023 trip to Las Vegas where Jane said she and Combs had a “hotel night” with an “entertainer.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey asked if Combs ever used the word “freak.” Jane said he would say “he wants his freak.” She said she understood that to mean “he wanted me to be wild and sexual.”
Her description of “hotel nights” has closely paralleled Cassie’s earlier testimony about numerous “ freak-offs ” she had with male sex workers under Combs’ direction.
Jane said during her first day of testimony Thursday that she repeatedly told Combs, in person and in writing, that she didn’t want to have sex with other men. But Combs, who paid her rent and controlled other parts of her life, kept pressuring her and she felt “obligated” to take part in the “hotel nights,” she said.
Jane said Thursday that she got to know Combs during a “girls trip” to Miami in 2020 and dated him from 2021 to 2024. She said it began as a loving and passionate relationship, but he soon began sharing his fantasies involving her with other men and role playing. She said she came to regret it.
After May 2021, she said 90% of the times she had sex during her relationship with Combs, it was with other men while he watched. Asked if she wanted to have sex with other men, Jane softly said, “No… just Sean.”
Both Jane and Cassie have described trying to rush through the encounters just to get them over with. Jane said the encounters sometimes lasted over 24 hours.
The judge has taken steps to protect Jane’s anonymity, including warning observers not to describe or sketch her in a way that would reveal her identity. The Associated Press does not identify people who say they’re victims of sexual abuse unless they choose to make their names public, as Cassie has done.
On Thursday, Judge Arun Subramanian threatened to eject Combs from the courtroom if he continued “nodding vigorously” at jurors, telling lawyers that there should be no attempts by him to have an interaction with the jury.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — With her college gymnastics days behind her, influencer and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Livvy Dunne is moving on with life — but that doesn’t mean she’ll be far from the public eye.
Dunne, who has more than 13 million followers on social media, created a multimillion-dollar personal brand while competing as a gymnast at LSU. Now she’s trying to help other female athletes do the same, helping to educate them about name, image and likeness deals and personal branding.
“I’m going to miss gymnastics so much because it has been a part of me for almost 20 years,” Dunne told The Associated Press at AthleteCon, where she had a speaking engagement. “What’s next? Everything. I want to do all of the things that I couldn’t do while I was a gymnast” because of the time constraints of being a student-athlete.
“So there are some really cool opportunities — stay tuned,” she added.
Dunne didn’t disclose any details, but it’s clear she plans to maintain her personal brand, which she developed along with the help of older sister and manager Julz Dunne.
AthleteCon CEO Sam Green, who has helped land more than 1,000 NIL deals, invited the Dunne sisters to speak to college athletes as part of a two-day seminar. Athletes met with representatives from social media platforms including TikTok, Snapchat and Meta, created live content and competed for NIL deals. They learned how to turn a creative idea into a brand.
More than 100 athletes attended, with another 150 turned away because of space constraints.
Green’s company slogan is “all athletes are creators.”
“I’m really big on giving athletes the tools to monetize their brand,” Green said.
Few, if any, have done that better than Livvy Dunne.
She helped the Tigers to the 2024 national championship as a junior before missing this past season because of an injury. But she was better known on social media, where she amassed more than 8 million followers on TikTok and 5.3 million on Instagram before leaving LSU.
Advertisers took notice.
She was the highest-paid female college athlete across all sports during her time with the Tigers, earning more than $4.1 million, according to On3. She worked with brands like Nautica, Crocs and Sports Illustrated, where she recently did a split on the catwalk on a “triple dare.”
“She’s it,” Green said. “She’s the road map. She’s the blueprint and she was the first to do it. The Dunnes are so innovative and they have done it with genuine intent. Livvy is the definition of NIL, in my opinion, at least true NIL and what it was meant to be from the start.”
“I learned that you don’t have to do one thing and be great at that one thing,” Dunne said. “You can do multiple different things and find success in tons of different areas.”
But there were trying times as she balanced classes, competition and the constant demand for multiple daily social media posts.
She remembers walking into LSU gymnastics coach Jay Clark’s office in tears because of stress about her schedule.
She fought through it and is glad she did.
“I hope people here take away that you are more than your sport and everybody deserves to capitalize on their name, image and likeness,” Dunne said. “Curiosity is key. Ask questions, network, and just create because, who knows, the sky is the limit. It got me to where I am today. Don’t just consume, but create.
“Keep posting,” she added. “The audience is there. People are interested. They want to see what you have to offer. Everyone’s story is different and has to be told.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers slowed hiring last month, but still added a solid 139,000 jobs amid uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s trade wars.
Hiring fell from a revised 147,000 in April, the Department of Labor said Friday. The job gains last month were slightly higher than the 130,000 economists had forecast. But revisions shaved 95,000 jobs from March and April payrolls.
The unemployment rate stayed at a low 4.2%.
Healthcare companies added 62,000 jobs, bars and restaurants 30,000. But the federal government shed 22,000 jobs, the most since November 2020, as Trump’s job cuts and hiring freeze had an impact. And factories lost 8,000 jobs last month, a sign, said Glassdoor economist Daniel Zhao, that manufacturers might be cutting back in the face of higher costs arising from Trump’s tariffs.
Average hourly wages rose 0.4% from April and 3.9% from a year earlier – a bit higher than forecast.
Trump’s aggressive and unpredictable policies – especially his sweeping taxes on imports – have muddied the outlook for the economy and the job market and raised fears that the American economy could be headed toward recession. But so far the damage hasn’t shown up clearly in government economic data.
“Even during peak trade uncertainty, the labor market remained fairly solid,” Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, wrote in a commentary. “Payrolls are still robust territory and, although there are clearly cracks forming and employment data is likely to show clearer signs of softening towards the end of summer, this is not a labor market which is starting to fall apart at the seams.
Economists expect Trump’s policies to take a toll on America’s economy, the world’s largest. His massive taxes on imports — tariffs — are expected to raise costs for U.S. companies that buy raw materials, equipment and components from overseas and force them to cut back hiring or even lay off workers. Billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has slashed federal workers and cancelled government contracts. Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration is expected to make it harder for businesses to find enough workers.
For the most part, though, any damage has yet to show up in the government’s economic data.
The U.S. economy and job market have proven surprisingly resilient in recent years. When the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve raised their benchmark interest rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023, the higher borrowing costs were widely expected to tip the United States into a recession.
Still, the job market has clearly decelerated. So far this year, American employers have added an average of less than 124,000 jobs a month. That is down from 168,000 last year, 216,000 in 2023, 380,000 in 2022.
And former Fed economist Claudia Sahm warns that the job market of 2025 isn’t nearly as durable as the two or three years ago when immigrants were pouring into the U.S. job market and employers were posting record job openings.
“Any signs of weakness in the data this week would stoke fears of a recession again,” Sahm, now chief economist at New Century Advisors, wrote in a Substack post this week. “It’s too soon to see the full effects of tariffs, DOGE, or other policies on the labor market; softening now would suggest less resilience to those later effects, raising the odds of a recession.’’
Recent economic reports have sent mixed signals.
The Labor Department reported Tuesday that U.S. job openings rose unexpectedly to 7.4 million in April — seemingly a good sign. But the same report showed that layoffs ticked up and the number of Americans quitting their jobs fell, a sign they were less confident they could find something better elsewhere.
Surveys by the Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, found that both American manufacturing and services businesses were contracting last month.
And the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level in eight months.
Jobless claims — a proxy for layoffs — still remain low by historical standards, suggesting that employers are reluctant to cut staff despite uncertainty over Trump’s policies. They likely remember how hard it was to bring people back from the massive but short-lived layoffs of the 2020 COVID-19 recession as the U.S. economy bounced back with unexpected strength.
Still, the job market has clearly decelerated. So far this year, American employers have added an average 144,000 jobs a month. That is down from 168,000 last year, 216,000 in 2023, 380,000 in 2022 and a record 603,000 in 2021 in the rebound from COVID-19 layoffs.
Trump’s tariffs — and the erratic way he rolls them out, suspends them and conjures up new ones — have already buffeted the economy. America’s gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — fell at a 0.2% annual pace from January through March this year.
A surge of imports shaved 5 percentage points off growth during the first quarter as companies rushed to bring in foreign products ahead of Trump’s tariffs. Imports plunged by a record 16% in April as Trump’s levies took effect. The drop in foreign goods could mean fewer jobs at the warehouses that store them and the trucking companies that haul them around, wrote Michael Madowitz, an economist at the left-leaning Roosevelt Institute.
Proof yeast: Stir 2 tbsp warm water, 1/2 tsp sugar & 2 1/2tsp active dry yeast in a tall glass. Leave to rise for 5-10 minutes or until doubled in volume and foamy. If it does not rise and foam up, discard the yeast and buy a fresh batch of yeast before you proceed with the recipe.
Make donut dough: Mix together 3 1/4 cups flour, 1 cup warm milk, 2 oz room temperature butter, 3 yolks, 2 tbsp sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and the proofed yeast mixture in mixer on low speed, with the dough hook attachment until the dough comes together, about 2 minutes. Slightly increase the speed and knead for another 15-20 minutes or until the dough is tacky to touch. If you continue kneading past the point of smooth and stretchy dough, the dough will overknead and make doughy donuts, so keep a close eye on the dough.
Shape donut dough: Pick up the dough, form it into a ball. Butter a large bowl (for proofing), place the dough ball back in the greased bowl, then grease the dough ball itself to prevent it from forming a crust.
Proof: Cover with a clean kitchen towel, place in a warm draft-free place and allow to rise for 1-2 hours (depending on how warm it is) until at least doubled in volume.
Cut out 5″x5″ squares of parchment or wax paper.
Punch down the dough, turn it out onto the greased surface (can use nonstick spray) and roll it to ½ inches thickness. Cut out as many rounds as possible with a 3 inch round cookie cutter and place 1 dough disk on 1 piece of prepared parchment paper. Keep re-rolling and cutting out as many donut disks as you can until all donut dough is used up.
Cover cut out doughnuts with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise for 45 min to 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Heat 1½ inches oil in a heavy pot (cast iron) to 350F. To fry donuts, drop several of them at a time and allow to become golden before turning to the other side, about 1-2 minutes per side.
Transfer to paper towels or wire rack to drain. Let cool.
Once the doughnuts are cool enough to handle, roll them in granulated sugar or powdered sugar.
