MIAMI (AP) — Inter Miami announced the signing of Brazil midfielder and five-time Champions League winner Casemiro on Wednesday, and Major League Soccer is now investigating whether the reigning league champion engaged in tampering to get that deal done.
The 34-year-old Casemiro — who appeared in all five of Brazil’s matches at this year’s World Cup, scoring one goal — is under contract with Inter Miami through the end of next year’s sprint season, with an extension option through June 2029.
Casemiro’s discovery rights were held by the LA Galaxy, and by league rule that would have prevented Inter Miami from negotiating with him. The teams reached a settlement that allowed Inter Miami to get the long-awaited signing done, but the league is still probing the tampering allegation.
“The league is gathering all relevant information and will refrain from further comment until the review is complete,” MLS said in a statement. “While Inter Miami CF and the LA Galaxy have reached a settlement for the Discovery Priority to sign Casemiro, the terms will be released upon conclusion of the tampering investigation.”
It’s unclear when Casemiro will debut for Inter Miami. The team said he is still waiting on the necessary visa.
Casemiro spent the past four seasons with Manchester United, and the bulk of his professional career prior to that with Real Madrid.
“He is a winner who has achieved so much in the game and after such an incredible career with Real Madrid and Manchester United I’m delighted that he’s decided to make Miami his next home,” Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham said.
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FILE - Brazil's Casemiro (5) celebrates his side's second goal by Matheus Cunha (9) during the World Cup Group C soccer match between Brazil and Haiti in Philadelphia, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File
FILE - Brazil's Casemiro (5) kicks the ball in the first half during the World Cup Group C soccer match between Brazil and Morocco in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File(
PARIS (AP) — France recorded at least 5,700 more deaths than usual during a historic heat wave last month, the public health agency said Wednesday, sharply increasing its estimates of the feared toll from record-shattering temperatures.
Public Health France said regions hit by the heat from June 17 to July 2 recorded 21,674 deaths from all causes. But without a heat wave, those same regions would have been expected to have seen far fewer deaths, or 15,910, based on statistical modeling using data from previous years, it said.
The difference between expected and actual deaths — a total of 5,764 — are therefore considered to be “excess” deaths during the heat wave, the agency said.
It said the excess mortality, with 36% more deaths that would normally have been expected, was the highest from any heat wave since 2003. A historic heat wave that year caused an estimated 15,000 deaths in France.
France registered its hottest-ever days on June 24 and June 25 this year — with a national average of 30 C (86 F) — as well as record heat at night and peak temperatures that soared well above 40 C (104 F) in many places.
Just over half of the unexpected deaths occurred during and in the immediate wake of that hottest period, over three days from June 25 to June 27, the public health agency said.
“This unprecedented episode, characterized by its early onset, intensity, and duration, exposed nearly the entire population to extreme heat during a period when school and work activities were still in full swing,” the agency noted.
All told, across Europe, extreme temperatures that hit exceptionally early and hard this year saw well over 10,000 more deaths at the height of the heat wave than would normally have been expected, according to figures that are still emerging across the continent.
In France, the Paris region appears to have been hardest hit, recording 1,999 unexpected deaths — around 80% more than would otherwise have been anticipated without a heat wave, the French health agency said.
Funeral service directors in Paris said they struggled to find places to store bodies before burial or cremation, with some mortuaries saying they were full and having to turn bodies away.
Nearly half of the more than 21,600 people who died passed away in hospitals, which wrestled with surges of patients suffering from heat-related ailments. About a third died at home and the rest were mostly deaths in care homes for older people, the agency said.
The latest estimated death toll, which the agency said will be updated later in the year with more complete data, was sharply higher than initial figures it had given. It had previously reported around 2,000 additional deaths from all causes for the week of June 22 to June 28, the peak in France of the heat wave that also broke temperature records in many other parts of Europe.
Experts caution that it takes a while for a full picture to emerge, and that many heat-related deaths will never formally be recorded as such. For example, a heart attack, which can be triggered by extreme heat exposure, especially in people who are older or have underlying health issues, may be listed on a death certificate simply as a heart attack.
Two women cool off under misting sprayers in Paris during a heat wave, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
