Stephen and Ayesha Curry are celebrating their roles as All-Star hosts in the Bay this weekend

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — There are parties on Stephen and Ayesha Curry's calendars this weekend. There will be celebrations, brunches, dinners, all that stuff. Red carpets, tons of photos, late nights, early mornings and after all that, there's an All-Star Game on Sunday night.

But first, there was a dump truck-sized load of mulch to spread, 300 volunteers to greet, 800 plants to get into soil, things to build, courts to dedicate and children to help.

The Currys — the unofficial hosts of this All-Star weekend in the Bay Area — are using their platform for these three days to highlight many of their loves: basketball, fashion, food, friends and giving back. It's why their weekend started Friday at an elementary school in Oakland, where the couple's Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation hosted a day of service and a playground renovation as part of their ongoing commitment to helping schools and kids that need it most.

“We just love Oakland,” Ayesha Curry said, standing next to her husband, in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday. “This is where we both became adults, where we started our life together, where we had our first child. And so for us, Oakland has always left this enormous impact on our spirits. And we’ve always said that we would continue to be a part of the community, even if we weren’t necessarily right in Oakland every single day.”

There is that element, and it's not an insignificant one. Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors don't play in Oakland anymore, but the Currys vowed that they would not turn their backs on Oakland just because the team moved across the Bay to San Francisco.

“We have an amazing team behind us that is taking the direction and the commitment that Ayesha and I have to Oakland and leverage that to create amazing impact," Stephen Curry said. "This is our 17th playspace renovation. And when you think back to our favorite moments, it is showing up, doing an unveiling, feeling the energy from kids, the teachers, administration. When they feel seen and they give you that energy back, it makes the world of difference.”

He was born in Ohio and grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. She's from Toronto. But Golden State is where Stephen Curry has played for his entire career — and he'd like to see it stay that way — so they consider the Bay Area home.

“We do plan on staying here after basketball’s done,” Stephen Curry said. “It’s definitely home.”

Their foundation — which they founded about five years ago, around the time the COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated the need for help — has taken off quickly. They both have wildly successful careers: He's considered the greatest shooter of all time and a four-time NBA champion; she's a chef and restaurateur among many other things. But the work outside of their jobs consumes them, and that's why they try to show how much it matters.

The foundation is focusing on the basics — nutrition, exercise, schoolwork — and has taken a particular focus on literacy in recent months.

“That’s going to mean that kids are graduating and that’s going to mean that kids are moving on to something better in the future,” Ayesha Curry said.

It will be a hectic three days, without question. The Warriors played road games Wednesday and Thursday. They arrived home around 2 a.m. Friday, allowing Stephen Curry the chance to get a few hours of sleep, and then it's go-go-go the rest of the weekend.

Tiring? Sure.

But Stephen Curry — now an 11-time All-Star selection, this one a few months removed from him helping the U.S. win Olympic gold at the Paris Games — isn't complaining.

This weekend is just a slew of opportunities in his eyes. Some of them, like the All-Star Game, will be shown to 214 countries around the world on Sunday night; some of them were seen by hardly anyone on Friday, but kids will enjoy their benefits for years.

“This is a great opportunity to kind of reflect on everything that’s gone into our experience here in the Bay,” Stephen Curry said. “Celebrate it. Being the de facto host is kind of a responsibility, but I think we’re embracing it. It's going to be crazy, a whirlwind and you can take a collective breath when Sunday is over. But I’m excited about it all because it means we have an opportunity to shine a light on the Bay and everything that the Bay is about and everything that we’ve experienced for these last 16 years.”

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Stephen Curry and his wife Ayesha speak to students of East Oakland Pride Elementary School as part of the NBA basketball league's Day of Service, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Stephen Curry visits with students of East Oakland Pride Elementary School as part of the NBA basketball league's Day of Service, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Stephen Curry and his wife Ayesha visit East Oakland Pride Elementary School as part of the NBA basketball league's Day of Service, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Stephen Curry, right, talks to his ex-teammates Andre Igoudala and Shaun Livingston during a visit to East Oakland Pride Elementary School as part of the NBA basketball league's Day of Service, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Former player Shaun Livingston helps with landscaping during a visit to East Oakland Pride Elementary School as part of the NBA basketball league's Day of Service, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Stephen Curry and his wife Ayesha visit East Oakland Pride Elementary School as part of the NBA basketball league's Day of Service, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Stephen Curry and his wife Ayesha speak to students of East Oakland Pride Elementary School as part of the NBA basketball league's Day of Service, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Stephen Curry and his wife Ayesha visit East Oakland Pride Elementary School as part of the NBA basketball league's Day of Service, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.

The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.

The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.

The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”

The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.

Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.

The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.

On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.

Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.

“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”

Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.

Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.

“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.

Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)