LILLE, France (AP) — Right-back Achraf Hakimi scored a hat trick and added two assists as Paris Saint-Germain earned a sixth straight league win with a 5-1 victory over Le Havre on Friday.
Elye Wahi also netted a hat trick in a 5-2 win for Nice over Rennes, while Olivier Giroud's late winner gave second-place Lille a 1-0 victory over Lens.
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Lens' Amadou Haidara reacts during the French League One soccer match between Lille and Lens in Lille, France, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
Lens' Amadou Haidara, right, heads the ball ahead of Lille's Hakon Haraldsson during the French League One soccer match between Lille and Lens in Lille, France, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
Lille players celebrate their victory at the French League One soccer match between Lille and Lens in Lille, France, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
Elversberg's Felix Keidel celebrates his goal during a Bundesliga soccer match between SV Elversberg vs. FSV Mainz 05, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, in Elversberg, Germany. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
Elversberg's Felix Keidel (43) scores a goal with a free kick during a Bundesliga soccer match between SV Elversberg vs. FSV Mainz 05, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, in Elversberg, Germany. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
In Spain, struggling Espanyol beat Villarreal 1-0 with a goal from captain Leandro Cabrera, while Bundesliga newcomer Elversberg continued its impressive start by scoring three goals in a commanding first half on its way to a 4-1 win over Mainz that lifts it into the top five.
Josh Maja’s third goal in two games put Le Havre ahead in the 18th minute but PSG struck back with two quick goals from Mika Godts and Hakimi to take a 2-1 halftime lead.
Hakimi extended the lead by curling home a free kick in the 55th and and then set up Senny Mayulu for the fourth before completing his hat trick in the 69th — raising three fingers to the camera as he celebrated — as PSG extended its winning streak to nine games in all competitions.
PSG has 20 points, two ahead of Lille and and four clear of Rennes.
In Nice, Wahi converted two penalties in the 12th and 34th minutes, either side of Sebastian Szymanski's equalizer.
Jonathan Clauss took a pass from Wahi and added a third for Nice in first-half stoppage time and Mohamed Amoura made it 4-1 early in the second half.
Boulaye Dia’s penalty brought Rennes back into contention after 58 minutes but Wahi’s third capped a superb night for the Ivory Coast international.
The 23-year-old forward, who is on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt, now has five goals and two assists in his last three games for Nice, which climbed into seventh.
In Lille, Giroud replaced Ethan Mbappe with 17 minutes remaining and the veteran striker followed up on the rebound in the 86th to net the winner after goalkeeper Robin Risser had spilled Nabil Bentaleb’s long-range shot.
Elversberg’s previous three games featured 13 goals and the Saarland side started in the same vein, scoring three without reply in a scintillating first half.
Felix Keidel curled a free kick around the Mainz wall to put the home side ahead in the seventh minute and then Francis Onyeka held off the attentions of the Mainz defense to fire home a second after 26 minutes. Bayern Munich loanee Maurice Krattenmacher made it 3-0 on the stroke of halftime.
United States international Cole Campbell made it 4-0 with a volley in stoppage time before Benedict Hollerbach scored a consolation for Mainz, which had Stefan Posch sent off at the end.
The results lifts Elversberg into fifth spot with 13 points, the same as Freiberg and Bayer Leverkusen, who are above it on goal difference and have a game in hand.
Mainz fell one place to eighth.
Uruguayan Cabrera scored after an hour to give Sergio García a memorable night as interim coach.
Garcia replaced Manolo González this week after Espanyol was knocked out of the Copa del Rey by fourth-tier side Sestao but his replacement Eder Sarabia missed Friday's match through suspension.
Cabrera scored the winner by smacking home a low cross from the left on the hour mark.
It was only Espanyol's third win of the season and lifted it six places into 12th. Villarreal is in 10th.
See AP’s full soccer coverage here
Lens' Amadou Haidara reacts during the French League One soccer match between Lille and Lens in Lille, France, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
Lens' Amadou Haidara, right, heads the ball ahead of Lille's Hakon Haraldsson during the French League One soccer match between Lille and Lens in Lille, France, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
Lille players celebrate their victory at the French League One soccer match between Lille and Lens in Lille, France, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
Elversberg's Felix Keidel celebrates his goal during a Bundesliga soccer match between SV Elversberg vs. FSV Mainz 05, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, in Elversberg, Germany. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
Elversberg's Felix Keidel (43) scores a goal with a free kick during a Bundesliga soccer match between SV Elversberg vs. FSV Mainz 05, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, in Elversberg, Germany. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The top federal prosecutor in Alaska confirmed Friday the existence of a criminal investigation related to an alleged scheme to confuse voters by putting a Senate candidate on the ballot with the same name as the Republican incumbent.
The investigation has been ongoing for several months, but revelations this week from The New York Times that Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan have resulted in a “significant surge of law enforcement assets to Alaska,” U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman told reporters.
Separately, and days before Tuesday's ranked vote general election, the U.S. Department of Justice — as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed last week — asked a federal judge to order that state elections officials isolate ballots ranking Dan J. Sullivan to investigate potential voter “confusion” with the two-term incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan.
Assistant U.S. Attorney E. Bryan Wilson in Alaska, in a filing, said the government “seeks to preserve and segregate all ballots ranking Daniel J. Sullivan for the purposes of investigating whether such ranking was the product of voter confusion, should such an investigation become necessary.”
The Department of Justice also filed with the court a list of proposed questions it seeks to compel the Peltola campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee as part of the civil case seeking to block certification of the Senate race if the incumbent loses. President Donald Trump has said he told the department to file the case.
Peltola denied Thursday that she knew anything about the effort to put Dan J. Sullivan on the ballot. Democrats, including the DSCC, have repeatedly denied that they were involved in any campaign trick. Dan J. Sullivan has long denied he was running at Democrats’ behest.
The race is among a handful of Senate contests expected to determine control of the chamber.
The Department of Justice request to segregate the ballots in Alaska comes after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Justice Department’s request for California to set aside disputed ballots received in the midterm election sent to some 20,000 people the administration contends may not be U.S. citizens. California officials argued the list is highly unreliable and most likely includes many people who are U.S. citizens.
Department attorneys in the Alaska case said there is a “substantial risk” that Dan J. Sullivan's candidacy “will mislead voters and ultimately result in an electoral process that lacks integrity.”
“To guard against this danger, the United States seeks an order directing Defendants to preserve and segregate all ballots ranking Daniel J. Sullivan for the purposes of investigating whether such ranking was the product of voter confusion, should such an investigation become necessary,” the filing states. It requests a decision by Monday.
Attorneys for the state have argued that Alaska elections officials already took steps to distinguish the two Sullivans on the ballot. The senator is listed as Dan S. Sullivan, Republican and incumbent, while the challenger is listed as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation. That's the same way in which they appeared on the August open primary ballot.
They also have argued that the state’s ranked voting system further addresses concerns about potential confusion by allowing voters to rank both Sullivans.
Heyman on Friday would not say what potential crimes authorities are looking into or the targets of the probe, but asked members of the public to come forward with tips that could help investigators.
It’s highly unusual for Justice Department officials to publicly discuss a criminal investigation or even confirm its existence. The timing of the press conference is particularly notable given the Justice Department has had a longstanding practice of avoiding taking public steps in the weeks leading up to an election that could be perceived as attempting to influence a political outcome.
At a campaign event in Juneau late Thursday, Peltola began her speech by saying she wanted to “clear the air.”
“I knew nothing about any other candidates on the ballot except for me and the incumbent. That is all I have ever known about," Peltola said. "I am not interested in tricking voters.”
Federal prosecutors this week issued dozens of grand jury subpoenas and requests to preserve records, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
Separately, Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said, following The New York Times' reporting, that he'd ordered an investigation into whether any violations took place.
Durkin Richer reported from Washington. Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Matthew Schlegel of the Anchorage field office participates in a news conference on a criminal investigation related to an alleged scheme to confuse voters by putting a Senate candidate on the ballot with the same name as the Republican incumbent, at the James M. Fitzgerald U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
U.S. Attorney for the District of Alaska Michael J. Heyman holds a news conference on a criminal investigation related to an alleged scheme to confuse voters by putting a Senate candidate on the ballot with the same name as the Republican incumbent, at the James M. Fitzgerald U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
U.S. Attorney for the District of Alaska Michael J. Heyman holds a news conference on a criminal investigation related to an alleged scheme to confuse voters by putting a Senate candidate on the ballot with the same name as the Republican incumbent, at the James M. Fitzgerald U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
FILE - This combination photo shows Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, left, in Palmer, Alaska, Aug. 17, 2026, and a candidate in Alaska's Senate race, Dan Sullivan, right, in Petersburg, Alaska, July 3, 2026. (AP Photos/Mark Thiessen/Becky Bohrer, File)
Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola speaks during a campaign event Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026, in Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo/Chloe Anderson)
A sample election ballot is displayed in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)
