LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — NBC Sports host Mike Tirico said on social media he hates being a “late scratch” from Saturday's 151st Kentucky Derby because of a “significant” nut allergy reaction during coverage of the marquee race at Churchill Downs.
Ahmed Fareed took over coverage for the veteran broadcaster, who was scheduled to host coverage of the first jewel of horse racing's Triple Crown for the ninth time. Tirico left the storied track in late afternoon and returned to his hotel, an NBC Sports spokesman said.
Tirico referred to the allergy on his official account on X and added that, “If you have one you know how it can knock you down.”
He thanked Churchill Downs for their care along with network horse racing colleagues Randy Moss, Jerry Bailey, Fareed and his “Syracuse fam” for stepping up “to do a great job.”
AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing
Tractors prepare the muddy track at Churchill Downs before the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby horse race Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Horses prepare for a race on a muddy track at Churchill Downs before the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby horse race Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A former Polish justice minister who faces prosecution in his homeland over alleged abuse of power said Monday that he has been granted asylum in Hungary.
Zbigniew Ziobro was a key figure in the government led by the nationalist conservative Law and Justice party that ran Poland between 2015 and 2023. That administration established political control over key judicial institutions by stacking higher courts with friendly judges and punishing its critics with disciplinary action or assignments to far-away locations.
Current Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government came to power more than two years ago with ambitions to roll back the changes, but efforts to undo them have been blocked by two successive presidents aligned with the national right.
In October, prosecutors requested the lifting of Ziobro's parliamentary immunity to press charges against him. They allege among other things that Ziobro misused a fund for victims of violence, including for the purchase of Israeli Pegasus surveillance software.
Tusk’s party says Law and Justice used Pegasus to spy illegally on political opponents while in power. Ziobro says he acted lawfully.
Hungary, led by nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has hosted several politicians close to Law and Justice while Polish authorities were seeking them.
In a lengthy post on X Monday, Ziobro wrote that he had “decided to accept the asylum granted to me by the government of Hungary due to the political persecution in Poland.”
“I have decided to remain abroad until genuine guarantees of the rule of law are restored in Poland,” he said. “I believe that instead of acquiescing to being silenced and subjected to a torrent of lies — which I would have no opportunity to refute — I can do more by fighting the mounting lawlessness in Poland.”
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest on Monday that Hungarian authorities have granted asylum to “several” individuals who would face political persecution in Poland, according to his ministry. He declined to specify their names.
In an English-language post on X, Tusk wrote that “the former Minister of Justice(!), Mr. Ziobro, who was the mastermind of the political corruption system, has asked the government of Victor Orbán for political asylum.”
“A logical choice,” he added.
FILE - The leader of the Polish junior coalition partners Zbigniew Ziobro, speaks to reporters alongside in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, file)
