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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The NFL is challenging innovators to improve the facemask on football helmets to reduce concussions in the game.

The league announced on Friday at an innovation summit for the Super Bowl the next round in theHealthTECH Challenge series, a crowdsourced competition designed to accelerate the development of cutting-edge football helmets and new standards for player safety.

The challenge invites inventors, engineers, startups, academic teams and established companies to improve the impact protection and design of football helmets through improvements to how facemasks absorb and reduce the effects of contact on the field.

"We're trying to get this out through all the channels we typically do to try to engage, not necessarily the helmet industry alone, but engineers, engineering schools, people involved in material science and others," Jeff Miller, the NFL's executive vice president overseeing player health and safety, said at the innovation summit. "They might have different ideas around architecture, might have different idea around materials. Participate in this, make your ideas win a prize. I hope, like we've done in the past, that this is going to advance the thinking."

Most progress on helmet safety has come from improvements to the shell and padding, helping to reduce the overall rate of concussions. Working with the helmet industry, the league has brought in position-specific helmets, with those for quarterbacks, for example, having more padding in the back after data showed most concussions for QBs came when the back of the head slammed to the turf.

But the facemask has mostly remained the same. This past season, 44% of in-game concussions resulted from impact to the player's facemask, up from 29% in 2015, according to data gathered by the NFL.

"What we haven't seen over that period of time are any changes of any note to the facemask," Miller said. "As a football fan, if you look back five or seven years ago, it looks exactly the same as it was before. It's made up of the same materials. ... Now we see, given the changes in our concussion numbers and injuries to players, that as changes are made to the helmet, fewer and fewer concussions are caused by hits to the shell, and more and more concussions as a percentage are by hits to the facemask."

Arik Armstead, an 11-year veteran defensive lineman, was also part of the panel and said he welcomed change. Armstead recently changed helmets to a model deemed safer by testing.

"This is awesome," he said. "I think a lot is happening in our approach to improving these things. A challenge like this is amazing because you're bringing solicited, new creative minds into the process. ... Let's bring some different brains and minds into the equation and see what could be possible. I think it's really cool."

Selected winners will receive up to $100,000 in aggregate funding, as well as expert development support to help move their concepts from the lab to the playing field.

The winner will be picked in August and Miller said he expected helmet manufacturers to start implementing any improvements into helmets soon after that.

AP NFL:https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

The Pro Football Hall of Fame will consider making changes to the voting panel and process of choosing Hall of Famers following a year whenBill Belichick's omissionfromthe 2026 classgenerated outrage.

Hall of Fame Football

Hall of Fame President Jim Porter said in an interview Thursday night after the five-player class was announced that there are several possible tweaks that could be made, adding that those changes aren't specific to Belichick's perceived snub.

But Porter seemed less inclined to alter a recent rule change that grouped coaches and contributors with old-time players that played a role in Belichick missing out despite winning a record six Super Bowls as a head coach.

Porter said that the Hall plans to return to in-person voting and discussion for the 50-member committee after moving to a virtual meeting room following the COVID pandemic. He also said the vote will likely happen closer to the annual reveal at NFL Honors to reduce the chances of leaks and said the Hall would consider releasing vote totals and individual ballots in the future but won't do it for this year's class.

Porter said the Hall will also look at replacing any voters who might have violated the rules either by publicly discussing the off-record debate about the candidates or by not voting for the "most deserving" candidates in each category.

"I'm not here to tell them who the most deserving is," Porter said. "If the Hall was to tell who the most deserving is, we wouldn't need them to vote. We understand that. We just want the rules followed."

Voter Vahe Gregorian of the Kansas City Starwrote a columnexplaining his reasoning for choosing seniors players Ken Anderson, Roger Craig and L.C. Greenwood instead of Belichick even though he believed Belichick shouldn't have had to wait for induction.

"In the end, though, I felt more compelled by what I perceive to be last chances and looming lost causes within the system as we have it — a system I hope the Hall will see fit to change now," Gregorian wrote.

But Porter said picking seniors players over a coach because the players might not be guaranteed another chance as a finalist was not allowed.

"That's not an option," Porter said. "You have to pick the most deserving. Those are the instructions that were read four times."

Some voters have expressed frustration over rule changes put in place last year that have grouped players in the seniors category who have been retired for at least 25 years, along with coaches and contributors. The new rules also made it harder for anyone to reach the 80% threshold.

In this year's vote, Belichick andNew England Patriots owner Robert Kraftwere grouped with the three seniors players. Instead of an up-or-down vote on each candidate, voters got to choose three of the five with the leading vote-getter and anyone else above 80% getting into the Hall. Craig was the only one of the five to get in this year after Sterling Sharpe was the lone one last year with coach Mike Holmgren not getting enough support.

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This is the third straight year no coach got the honor, leading to calls from some people — including voters — to separate coaches and contributors from the seniors.

Porter didn't seem inclined to change that process, saying that for more than 50 years coaches and contributors were grouped with players before changes about 10 years ago.

"The question is, what changed?" Porter asked. "What was it that the selectors could do that for the 50-some years but now can't. They could get the right person in that didn't require a category. I don't know. We'll find it out. We'll talk to a lot of people. .. But there's a responsibility there. The responsibility is to pick the most deserving. They got down to where that number was. So my question is, is everybody picking the most deserving."

This was also the second straight year with fewer than five modern-era candidates getting in after a rule change. Instead of an up-or-down vote on five players, seven made it to the final stage with voters allowed to pick five. The top three and anyone else above 80% gets into the Hall.

Last year, only three players reached that threshold and there were four this year: Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Luke Kuechly and Adam Vinatieri. Willie Anderson, Terrell Suggs and Marshal Yanda fell short and will automatically be in the final 15 next year.

After 12 straight years of at least seven people getting inducted, there have been only four and five the past two years.

"The number got really high," Porter said.

Porter said he hopes shortening the time between the vote and announcement — it was more than three weeks this year — will reduce leaks but he still wants enough time for the tradition of Hall of Famers delivering the news in person to the new class in what is known as "The Knock."

He is open to changes overall but doesn't see the need for an overhaul of the process.

"We'll do some tweaks and we'll take a look," he said. "We're going to do what's best for the Hall of Fame. My job is to protect the integrity of the Hall, protect the integrity of the process."

AP NFL:https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

LIV Golf spent four seasons promoting 54 holes as a core part of its identity. On Friday in Riyadh, it revealed a new side as the third round concluded with a leaderboard that didn't decide anything yet. This is the league's first regular-season event staged over 72 holes, a notable change for 2026.

After three rounds at Riyadh Golf Club, new LIV player Elvis Smylie and original league member Peter Uihlein are tied at 16-under 200, with Talor Gooch a shot back and 19 players within six of the lead.

Under LIV's old format, Smylie and Uihlein would've been headed to a playoff. Instead, they get 18 more holes.

"Yeah, thanks for bringing that up," Uihlein said, smiling after his 6-under-par 66. "I feel like 72 holes fits me a little better. If you would have told me at the beginning of the week, 'Hey, you'd be tied for the lead after 54 and you have a chance to win on Sunday,' that's where you'd want to be. So I'd take it."

Smylie is making his first start with Ripper GC and doesn't have any LIV history with the 54-hole rhythm. He played his way into a tie for the lead with a bogey-free 7-under 65.

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"I want to prove my worth in this league," Smylie said, "and I want to establish myself as one of the best guys in this league, and the best way to do that is by going out and making a statement this week, and that's what I'm doing a really good job with so far."

In the team competition, Torque GC moved to 46-under, two clear of Smash GC after matching 65s from Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz. Smash GC is also trying to deliver a win in Gooch's first event as captain, while Ripper GC sits one shot further back in third.

Ancer, who knows what it's like to win in the shorter version of LIV, believes the longer tournaments can favor consistent golfers.

"I feel like 54 holes was good enough to figure out who's playing the best golf. You just feel like it's a little bit more of a sprint, have a little bit less time for you to make mistakes and come back from them," Ancer said. "But then playing 72 holes, you feel like if you're a steady player, that would maybe help you rise to the top of the leaderboard."

That's the new LIV reality. The league has added a fourth round. Now it's about seeing who can handle it.

--Field Level Media

HAVANA (AP) — After a day spent selling books, Solanda Oña typically boards a bus from a wealthy seaside district inHavanato her home in the city's working-class center.

APTOPIX Cuba Daily Life

But on Thursday night, the bus never came. The 64-year-old bookseller spent the night sleeping in a nearby restaurant instead, worried that this could be the new normal if the gas that fuels the island runs out.

Anxieties simmered in Havana on Friday, a day after CubanPresident Miguel Díaz-Canelwarned that U.S. efforts to block oil supplies would take a heavy toll on the Caribbean nation and asked Cubans to endure further sacrifices to weather the impending hardship.

Many Cubans, already reeling from years of deepening economic crisis, were left asking: What more can we sacrifice?

"I'm very worried," Oña said. "Before, things were always difficult. But there was always one bus. One way to get home. Now, there are none."

By Friday morning, working class residents like Oña were already seeing an inkling of what the future might hold.

Already unreliable public buses stopped running altogether, leaving many stranded for hours. Others were left walking large distances or hitchhiking.Long gas lines and black outs, a constant on the island, have grown even worse as U.S. President Donald Trump presses down on Cuba with an increasingly heavy hand.

Last week, Trumpsigned an executive orderthreatening to impose tariffs on countries providing oil to Cuba, a move that couldfurther cripple an islandplagued by a deepening energy crisis.

On Friday, the national transportation company also said it was cutting routes in the east of the island while the University of Havana said it would cancel some events and push for more remote learning, citing "energy deficits."

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Meanwhile, much of the city of 2 million – schools, banks, bakeries and shops – continued to operate as usual, underscoring how normal the crisis has become on the Caribbean island. Taxis, shared electric motorcycles and other transportation organized by some employers were still working in Havana's capital. However, taxi fares remain far out of reach for the many Cubans living on a state salary of less than $20 a month.

While the U.S. announced$6 million in aid to Cubans Thursday night, severing the island from its primary energy sources has dealt a blow to the nation, especially to civilians who often bear the brunt of the economic crisis. Cuba only produces 40% of the oil it consumes.

The island's communist government says U.S. sanctions cost the country more than $7.5 billion between March 2024 and February 2025, substantially more than the year before.

The crisis deepened after Venezuela — once Cuba's primary oil-rich ally — ceased shipments in January, following aU.S. military operation that captured then-President Nicolás Maduro. Then, in late January Mexico, a long vocal ally of Cuba,halted its oil exports to the island.

Left with few alternatives, many Cubans now say the current economic turmoil U.S. policies have wrought on their daily lives is comparable to the severe economic depression in the 1990s known as theSpecial Period, following cuts in Soviet aid.

"What does it mean to not allow a single drop of fuel to reach a country?" Díaz-Canel said. "It affects the transportation of food, food production, public transportation, the functioning of hospitals, institutions of all kinds, schools, economic production, tourism. How do our vital systems function without fuel?"

For Cristina Díaz, a 51-year-old mother of two, the answer was to walk to her work as a house cleaner. She was joined by packs of others in the capital that strolled along the side of the road on Friday, once again adapting to a new reality.

"We're living as best we can," Díaz said. "What can I do? I live here, I was born here and this is my lot. I have to walk to get to work and to be able to feed my children."

Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean athttps://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

WASHINGTON (AP) — Repairs on a pipe rupture that hassent sewage flowinginto the Potomac River northwest of Washington, D.C., will take weeks more to repair because of an unexpected blockage, according to the local water authority.

In a release posted on its website Thursday, DC Water, which operates the sewer system, said a video inspection of the pipeline revealed the blockage inside the collapsed sewer line "is far more significant" than originally thought. It said it discovered a large rock dam about 30 feet (9 meters) fromthe breach in the sewage line,which requires treatment before the current spill can be addressed.

It will take an estimated 4 to 6 weeks longer than initially anticipated to get a system in place, including bringing in bigger equipment, to address the problem and begin removing the large rocks and boulders inside the sewer line, DC Water said.

The 72-inch (183-centimeter) pipeline, called the Potomac Interceptor, collapsed Jan. 19, shooting sewage out of the ground and into the river just north of Washington in Montgomery County, Maryland. In its initial announcement, DC Water said the leak was causing an estimated 40 million gallons (about 150 million liters) a day of wastewater — enough to fill about 66 Olympic-size swimming pools— to escape into the Potomac River.

DC Water said it knew the pipe, first installed in the 1960s, was deteriorating, and rehabilitation work on a section about a quarter-mile (400 meters) from the break began in September and was recently completed.

The agency has been assessing water quality for bacteria contamination and said that while E. Coli levels are well beyond safe levels at the site of the leak, the levels are within safe levels at other sampling sites downstream into Washington.

The Washington Department of Energy and Environment said in an emailed statement that it was continuing to advise that the public and their pets avoid contact with the water until the situation is fully resolved and bacteria levels are reported as safe. "DC drinking water remains safe for everyone to drink and use."

Sherri Lewis, a spokesperson for DC Water, said the overflow was initially 40 million gallons a day and stayed at that level for five days. Since then there have been limited overflows when pumps are taken out of service because of clogs caused by items such as wipes and grease that reduce pumping capacity.

"Most days we have had none," Lewis said. "However, until we have full functionality restored to the Potomac Interceptor, there remains a risk of limited overflow, but the risk and amount are minimal."

Lewis said the drinking water supply was never impacted. The primary intakes for the water system are upstream of the collapse and that system is completely separate from the sewer system.

The notice came the same day that the Potomac Riverkeeper Network and researchers at the University of Maryland announced they had found high levels of fecal-related bacteria and disease-causing pathogens in the Potomac River and were calling for public health advisories in Washington and Maryland on recreational use of the river.

Dean Naujoks, the Potomac Riverkeeper and part of an environmental nonprofit, said he was concerned about the additional bacterial and pathogenic dangers and criticized DC Water for what he said was misleading information and changing versions of what had transpired.