World
Charles Oakley, MSG Still Sparring as Judge Weighs Dolan Testimony
A federal judge in New York last Thursday issued a mixed set of rulings in retired New York Knicks star Charles Oakley’s long-lasting litigation against Madison Square Garden Networks over Oakley’s removal from his seat at a Knicks game in February 2017. The rulings indicate that unless the parties reach a settlement, a dispute that began shortly after Donald Trump became the 45th president could last well into Trump’s term as the 47th president.
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Sullivan sided with MSG on its demand that MSG chairman James Dolan face deposition only after MSG personnel are deposed. Sullivan agreed with MSG that having Dolan go last would help to “narrow the scope” of Dolan’s deposition. The judge reasoned that MSG employees “who were directly involved in Oakley’s removal and thus have the knowledge most relevant to determining whether unreasonable force was used against Oakley” should go first.
The fact that MSG employees haven’t yet been deposed is partly a reflection of the litigation’s turbulent path. The case has been dismissed twice at the trial level but reinstated twice by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, meaning it’s now in round three at the Southern District of New York. There are also disputed questions about key testimony and evidence that could further bog down the case. In the current version of the litigation, Oakley’s civil case is related to assault and battery claims stemming from his removal.
While Sullivan agreed Dolan would face deposition after MSG personnel, he sided against MSG’s request that Dolan not face deposition at all.
The judge explained that Oakley’s assault and battery claims “ultimately boil down to two considerations.” The first is the amount of force MSG staff used to remove Oakley from the Garden and, second, whether that force “was objectively reasonable under the circumstances.”
Oakley believes Dolan instructed staff to remove him. Sullivan reasoned that Dolan’s potential testimony is relevant in that he would have to answer under oath about whether he instructed—by words and/or “hand gestures”—the security guards to push Oakley and use excessive force. If Dolan gave an instruction to use force, his testimony, Sullivan wrote, “would support the reasonable inference that the guards followed Dolan’s instructions and would therefore make it more probable that the guards did in fact push him.”
Sullivan further observed that Dolan’s testimony is relevant to a key factual question: Whether the security guards “only resorted to force after Oakley physically escalated the situation.” Oakley’s case would be hampered by a finding that he instigated the altercation, since, Sullivan explained, “it might have been reasonable for the security guards to use greater force if Oakley was behaving aggressively.”
The judge was similarly unpersuaded that Dolan ought to be exempt from deposition on account of the apex-witness doctrine. As Sportico detailed in September when Sullivan rejected MSG’s earlier attempt to invoke this doctrine, high-ranking executives are sometimes exempt from depositions since they lack personal knowledge of key facts. In his latest ruling, Sullivan said Dolan “is not the prototypical apex witness who sits in the knowledge or involvement in the underlying conduct.”
Instead, Dolan literally “had a courtside seat to the action” and is accused of being involved in the incident. “The apex doctrine is plainly inapplicable here,” Sullivan insisted.
Sullivan also disagreed with MSG that Oakley is merely trying to depose Dolan to harass him. MSG cites text messages sent to Oakley from people urging the former player to go after Dolan, with one text saying Oakley should “sue the [expletive] out of Dolan.” Another text encouraged Oakley to use the discovery process to inflict a “public relations, social media, [and] social responsibility toll.” With negative attention stemming from the case, MSG might be more inclined to cut a deal. Sullivan didn’t find this evidence indicative of an intent by Oakley to harass, as there’s no evidence Oakley responded or otherwise endorsed the texts.
“We are pleased that the Court denied James Dolan’s latest attempt to avoid being deposed in this case,” Wigdor Law partner Valdi Licul, who is one of Oakley’s attorneys, told Sportico in a statement.
In September, the two sides told Sullivan their “present best estimate” was that a trial would take a couple of weeks. The judge at the time indicated there would be a post-discovery conference on March 4, 2025, though the parties’ recent disagreement about discovery suggests the case has a long way to go.
(In the next-to-last paragraph, Wigdor Law amended its original statement, replacing “to be excused from deposition in this case” to read “to avoid being deposed in this case.”)
Note: Map shows the area with a shake intensity of 3 or greater, which U.S.G.S. defines as “weak,” though the earthquake may be felt outside the areas shown. The New York Times
A strong, 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck in the Gulf of California on Tuesday, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The temblor happened at 1:45 p.m. Mountain time about 47 miles southwest of El Progreso, Mexico, data from the agency shows.
As seismologists review available data, they may revise the earthquake’s reported magnitude. Additional information collected about the earthquake may also prompt U.S.G.S. scientists to update the shake-severity map.
Subsequent quakes have been reported in the same area. Such temblors are typically aftershocks caused by minor adjustments along the portion of a fault that slipped at the time of the initial earthquake.
Aftershocks detected
Quakes and aftershocks within 100 miles
Aftershocks can occur days, weeks or even years after the first earthquake. These events can be of equal or larger magnitude to the initial earthquake, and they can continue to affect already damaged locations.
The New York Times
When quakes and aftershocks occurred
Sources: United States Geological Survey (epicenter, aftershocks, shake intensity); LandScan via Oak Ridge National Laboratory (population density) | Notes: Shaking categories are based on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. When aftershock data is available, the corresponding maps and charts include earthquakes within 100 miles and seven days of the initial quake. All times above are Mountain time. Shake data is as of Tuesday, June 30 at 2:02 p.m. Mountain time. Aftershocks data is as of Tuesday, June 30 at 6:01 p.m. Mountain time.
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Emergency workers in Venezuela on Tuesday rescued a 2-year-old boy who had been trapped beneath the rubble for six days, marking the only reported rescue of a survivor on the sixth day of operations following last week’s devastating earthquakes.
Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez said in a Telegram post that Jordanian emergency workers pulled the child from a collapsed building in La Guaira, an area hit the hardest by last week’s earthquakes.
The child, identified by authorities as Klieber Moran, was rescued after spending six days trapped beneath the rubble, Rodríguez said.
Moran was taken to a hospital for treatment, she added.
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A Jordanian team works to rescue a child trapped under rubble following earthquakes in Venezuela, in a location given as Caracas, Venezuela. (Jordan Public Security/Handout via REUTERS)
National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez said in a televised address Tuesday that officials remain hopeful more survivors will be found.
“We must hold onto the hope of continuing to find people alive beneath the rubble,” Jorge said. “Early this morning, a 2-year-old boy was rescued and is currently receiving care at a health center in Caracas.”
Rescue efforts have continued since magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck Venezuela’s northern coast last Wednesday.
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Emergency workers rescued a 2-year-old boy after he spent six days trapped beneath the rubble following last week’s earthquakes in Venezuela. (Jordan Public Security/Handout via REUTERS)
The death toll from the twin earthquakes rose to 1,943 on Tuesday, with more than 10,500 people injured, according to Venezuelan officials. On Monday, the death toll stood at 1,719.
Tuesday’s rescue marked another glimmer of hope amid the disaster that has devastated the South American country.
On Saturday, the U.S. State Department shared video showing American search-and-rescue teams pulling an infant alive from beneath the rubble in Venezuela.
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A child receives emergency medical attention after being rescued by a Jordanian team from under rubble following earthquakes in Venezuela. (Jordan Public Security/Handout via REUTERS)
The infant, who is 9 months old, was rescued along with her mother, the State Department told Fox News Digital. Both suffered only minor injuries, according to the rescue team.
“Against impossible odds, hope endures,” the State Department posted on X.
On Tuesday, a shipment from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) containing 47 metric tons of humanitarian supplies arrived in Venezuela.
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Emergency workers rescued 2-year-old Klieber Moran from beneath the rubble of a collapsed building in Venezuela six days after the country’s devastating earthquakes, according to Venezuelan officials. (Jordan Public Security/Handout via REUTERS)
The shipment includes emergency health kits for urgent medical care, including supplies for safe births, newborn care, disease prevention and treatment, according to the United Nations.
Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams from Virginia, California and Florida were dispatched to Venezuela on Friday to help search collapsed buildings.
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According to the State Department, the three USAR teams include 312 personnel and 18 canine teams, made up of firefighters, physicians, structural engineers and canine search specialists, and deployed with more than 200,000 pounds of specialized rescue equipment.
Reuters contributed to this report.
European Union monitors say the first half of 2026 was ‘marked by sustained and exceptional ocean warmth’ and forecast more to come.
Published On 1 Jul 2026
The world’s oceans experienced their “warmest June ever observed” and could see further record-breaking highs in the months ahead as El Niño and climate change push temperatures higher, according to a new report.
The European Union’s Copernicus Marine Service said on Wednesday that “record global sea surface temperatures” of 21.0 degrees Celsius (69.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in June beat the previous records in the same month in 2023 and 2024.
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“The first six months of 2026 were characterised by persistently elevated sea-surface temperatures and widespread marine heatwaves across much of the global ocean,” the EU’s marine environment monitor said in a statement.
“Marine heatwaves expanded steadily throughout the period, ultimately affecting around 82 percent of the global ocean,” said Simon van Gennip, lead oceanographer for the Copernicus Marine Service.
“The Mediterranean, the central North Atlantic and the equatorial Pacific all emerged as hotspots, and these regional signals paint a consistent picture of an ocean under sustained thermal stress,” Van Gennip said in a statement.
The onset of a potentially powerful El Nino weather pattern could boost global heat in the oceans and atmosphere even further in 2026, and into next year, according to scientists.
“Current conditions could indicate the beginning of a new phase, leading, once more, to uncharted territory,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the EU’s climate monitor.
“With ocean temperatures at these levels and El Nino on the horizon, we are likely to see more temperature records fall in the coming months,” Buontempo said in a statement.
El Nino is marked by unusually warm waters in parts of the Pacific Ocean, releasing more heat into the atmosphere and influencing wind, cloud and weather patterns around the globe. This can raise the risk of weather extremes, ranging from floods in Peru to droughts in parts of Africa and wildfires in Australia.
Land and sea temperatures reached an all-time high in 2024 at the tail end of the last El Nino, and 2026 could be among the warmest years recorded with the onset of the next El Nino this year.
The Copernicus report follows a warning issued in a major UN scientific assessment last month, which declared that the world’s oceans were in a “deepening crisis” as seas were warming and rising faster.
Oceans are a key regulator of Earth’s climate because they absorb some 90 percent of the excess heat caused by humanity’s release of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide.
Warmer oceans increase moisture in the atmosphere, providing fuel for tropical cyclones and destructive rainfall.
Hotter seas also directly contribute to sea-level rise – water expands when it warms up – and create unbearable conditions for tropical reefs, whose corals can bleach and die during prolonged marine heatwaves.
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