INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Veronica Burton had 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists, Kayla Thornton added 18 points and eight boards, and the Golden State Valkyries beat the Indiana Fever 80-61 on Wednesday to spoil Caitlin Clark’s return.
The Valkyries held Clark to just 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting as the Fever scored their second-fewest points of the season.
Clark returned after missing the past five games with a left groin injury. The All-Star captain participated in practice Monday — the first time she’d done that since getting hurt on June 26.
Golden State led 41-32 at halftime and Kate Martin scored five consecutive points in the third for a 15-point lead.
SUN 93, STORM 83
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Tina Charles set season highs with 29 points and 11 rebounds to help Connecticut end a 10-game losing streak with a victory over Seattle.
Connecticut (3-16) won its first game since June 6.
Charles made a baseline jumper with 5:36 left in the fourth quarter to give Connecticut its first lead of the game at 79-77. Charles also made two layups in eight seconds — following a steal by Saniya Rivers — for a 91-81 lead.
The Sun pulled away by scoring 11 straight points late in the fourth.
Charles finished 11 of 22 from the field for her sixth 20-point game of the season. Jacy Sheldon added 16 points and Bria Hartley had 15. Rivers scored all 11 of her points in the opening five minutes of the third.
Skylar Diggins led Seattle (13-7) with 23 points and seven assists. Gabby Williams added 21 points and Nneka Ogwumike had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
MERCURY 79, LYNX 71
PHOENIX (AP) — Alyssa Thomas scored 12 of her career-high 29 points in the fourth quarter and Phoenix closed on a 19-4 run to beat Minnesota.
Thomas, who was coming off her 16th career triple-double on Monday, was 14 of 24 from the field to top her previous high of 28 points. She also had eight rebounds and five assists.
Phoenix tied it at 69 and 71 before Thomas scored on back-to-back possessions to take a 75-71 lead. She scored 10 points during the Mercury’s game-closing run.
DeWanna Bonner, Thomas’ fiancee and former Connecticut Sun teammate, signed with Phoenix as a free agent on Tuesday and played her first game since June 10. Bonner, who spent the first 10 years of her career with the Mercury and helped them win titles in 2009 and 2014, finished with seven points and six rebounds in 26 minutes.
Monique Akoa Makani added 13 points and Sami Whitcomb, coming off a career-high 36 points, scored 10 for Phoenix (14-6). The Mercury were without Satou Sabally (right ankle) and Kahleah Copper (right hamstring) for a second straight game.
Courtney Williams led Minnesota (17-3) with 21 points. Napheesa Collier added 18 points and Bridget Carleton scored 10.
SKY 87, WINGS 76
CHICAGO (AP) — Rebecca Allen scored a season-high 27 points including five 3-pointers and had three blocks to help Chicago beat short-handed Dallas.
Angel Reese finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds — her 13th double-double this season — and Rachel Banham had 11 points for Chicago (6-13).
Li Yueru had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Dallas (6-15). Rookie All-Star Paige Bueckers added 17 points on 5-of-20 shooting and JJ Quinerly scored 16.
The 6-foot-7 Li, who went into the game 4-of-8 shooting from 3-point range this season, hit 4 of 7 from behind the arc.
Golden State Valkyries' Tiffany Hayes (15) goes to the basket against Indiana Fever's Lexie Hull (10) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Doug McSchooler)
ADEN, Yemen (AP) — Saudi warplanes have reportedly struck on Friday forces in southern Yemen backed by the United Arab Emirates, a separatist leader says.
This comes as a Saudi-led operation attempts to take over camps of the Southern Transitional Council, or STC, in the governorate of Haramout that borders Saudi Arabia.
Tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE rose after the STC moved last month into Yemen’s governorates of Hadramout and Mahra and seized an oil-rich region. The move pushed out forces affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces, a group aligned with the coalition in fighting the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.
Meanwhile, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen accused the head of the STC of blocking a Saudi mediation delegation from landing in the southern city of Aden.
The STC deputy and former Hamdrmout governor, Ahmed bin Breik, said in a statement that the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces advanced toward the camps, but the separatists refused to withdraw, apparently leading to the airstrikes.
Mohamed al-Nakib, spokesperson for the STC-backed Southern Shield Forces, also known as Dera Al-Janoub, said Saudi airstrikes caused fatalities, without providing details. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify that claim.
Al-Nakib also accused Saudi Arabia in a video on X of using “Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda militias” in a "large-scale attack " early Friday that he claimed sepratists were able to repel.
He likened the latest developments to Yemen’s 1994 civil war, “except that this time it is under the cover of Saudi aviation operations.”
Salem al-Khanbashi, the governor of Hadramout who was chosen Friday by Yemen's internationally recognized government to command the Saudi-led forces in the governorate, refuted STC claims, calling them “ridiculous” and showing intentions of escalation instead of a peaceful handover, according Okaz newspaper, which is aligned with the Saudi government.
Earlier on Friday, al-khanbashi called the current operation of retrieving seized areas “peaceful.”
“This operation is not a declaration of war and does not seek escalation,” al-Khanbashi said in a speech aired on state media. “This is a responsible pre-emptive measure to remove weapons and prevent chaos and the camps from being used to undermine the security in Hadramout,” he added.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen demands the withdrawal of STC forces from the two governorates as part of de-escalation efforts. The STC has so far refused to hand over its weapons and camps.
The coalition's spokesperson Brig. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said Friday on X that Saudi-backed naval forces were deployed across the Arabian Sea to carry out inspections and combat smuggling.
In his post on X, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed al-Jaber, said the kingdom had tried “all efforts with STC” for weeks "to stop the escalation" and to urge the separatists to leave Hadramout and Mahra, only to be faced with “continued intransigence and rejection from Aidarous al-Zubaidi," the STC head.
Al-Jaber said the latest development was not permitting the Saudi delegation's jet to land in Aden, despite having agreed on its arrival with some STC leaders to find a solution that serves “everyone and the public interest.”
Yemen’s transport ministry, aligned with STC, said Saudi Arabia imposed on Thursday requirements mandating that flights to and from Aden International Airport undergo inspection in Jeddah. The ministry expressed “shock” and denounced the decision. There was no confirmation from Saudi authorities.
ِA spokesperson with the transport ministry told the AP late Thursday that all flights from and to the UAE were suspended until Saudi Arabia reverses these reported measures.
Yemen has been engulfed in a civil war for more than a decade, with the Houthis controlling much of the northern regions, while a Saudi-UAE-backed coalition supports the internationally recognized government in the south. However, the UAE also helps the southern separatists who call for South Yemen to secede once again from Yemen. Those aligned with the council have increasingly flown the flag of South Yemen, which was a separate country from 1967-1990.
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Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report.
Southern Yemen soldiers of Southern Transitional Council (STC) at a check point, in Aden, Yemen, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo)
