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The biggest night in theater is back Sunday as fans gear up for the 78th annual Tony Awards, which gave nods to nearly three dozen Broadway shows.

Here’s what to know.

How to watch

The awards show takes place Sunday at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall, running from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET. The show will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+.

Some awards will also be announced during a preshow broadcast, hosted by Darren Criss (nominated this year for the first time for “Maybe Happy Ending”) and Renée Elise Goldsberry (who won a Tony in 2016 for her role in “Hamilton”), that will air on Pluto TV beginning at 6:40 p.m. ET.

Who is hosting and presenting?

Cynthia Erivo, who starred alongside Ariana Grande in the record-breaking film adaptation of the Broadway musical “Wicked,” will be hosting this year’s main show. Erivo got her own Tony Award in 2016 for her performance as Celie in “The Color Purple.” She’s also a Grammy and an Emmy winner.

“Cynthia is a remarkable talent and with her deep roots in the theater community, we are honored to have her host this year’s Tony Awards on CBS,” Mackenzie Mitchell, CBS’ vice president of specials, said in a statement. “There is no doubt with her innate creativity and captivating presence, she will deliver an unforgettable evening highlighting the extraordinary achievements of this Broadway season.”

Erivo is taking over the reins from three-time host Ariana DeBose, who will return to the stage as a presenter.

Other stars, including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Samuel L. Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, Sarah Paulson and Charli D’Amelio, are also expected to present.

Expect a night of performances

In celebration of the 10-year anniversary of “Hamilton,” the original cast is slated to reunite for a special performance.

The night will also be filled with performances from the casts of “Buena Vista Social Club,” “Dead Outlaw,” “Death Becomes Her,” “Floyd Collins,” “Gypsy,” “Maybe Happy Ending,” “Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical,” “Pirates! The Penzance Musical,” “Sunset Boulevard,” “Just in Time” and “Real Women Have Curves.”

A look at the nominees

Nominations run across 26 categories, with a full list of nominees available on the Tony Awards website. A few groups and individuals, however, will receive special awards on Sunday.

One award will go to the musicians who make up the band in “Buena Vista Social Club,” while another award will be presented for the illusions and technical effects of “Stranger Things: The First Shadow.”

Four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein will get a special award for lifetime achievement in the theater.

“Harvey Fierstein’s contributions to the American theatre, both as an artist and activist, represent an extraordinary legacy,” Heather Hitchens, president and CEO of the American Theatre Wing, and Jason Laks, president of the Broadway League, said in a statement.

And Celia Keenan-Bolger will receive the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award, which honors a member of the theater community who has “made a substantial contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations,” according to the Tony Awards.

The 2025 Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre will also be presented to PBS’ long-running “Great Performances,” theatrical producer Michael Price, performing arts nonprofit New 42 and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

A potentially history-making night

Audra McDonald, who holds the record for the most acting wins with six Tony Awards, could bolster her lead even more if she wins this year for her performance in “Gypsy.”

Kara Young, the first Black actress to be nominated for a Tony four years in a row, could also become the first Black person to win two consecutive Tony Awards. She is nominated this year for her performance in “Purpose.”

Daniel Dae Kim, who received his first Tony nomination for his performance in “Yellow Face,” became the first Asian nominee in the category of best leading actor in a play.

And Marjan Neshat and Tala Ashe, who star alongside each other in “English,” are competing in the same category on Sunday. Both have a chance to become the first female performers of Iranian descent to win a Tony Award.

Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers are making it official today.

Rodgers has arrived in Pittsburgh to sign his Steelers contract, according to Gery Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The Steelers and Rodgers have been expected to get a deal done for months, but Rodgers took his time about actually signing, and until a contract is signed, nothing is official.

Now Rodgers can get to work in learning the Steelers’ offense, getting to know his teammates and coaches, and beginning to establish himself as the Steelers’ starting quarterback and team leader.

After spending 18 years in Green Bay and the last two years with the Jets, Rodgers is signing a one-year contract for the 21st and perhaps final season of his NFL career. He’s eager to show that he can still play at an elite level despite his disappointing two-year stint with the Jets, and the Steelers are eager to get elite quarterback play to help them advance past the wild card round of the playoffs for the first time in eight years.

A top Taliban official said on Saturday that all Afghans who fled the country after the collapse of the former Western-backed government are free to return home, promising they would not be harmed if they come back.

Taliban Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund made the amnesty offer in his message for the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, also known as the “Feast of Sacrifice.”

The offer comes days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a sweeping travel ban on 12 countries, including Afghanistan. The measure largely bars Afghans hoping to resettle in the United States permanently as well as those hoping to go to the U.S. temporarily, such as for university study.

Trump also suspended a core refugee program in January, all but ending support for Afghans who had allied with the U.S. and leaving tens of thousands of them stranded.

Afghans in neighboring Pakistan who are awaiting resettlement are also dealing with a deportation drive by the Islamabad government to get them out of the country. Almost a million have left Pakistan since October 2023 to avoid arrest and expulsion.

Akhund’s holiday message was posted on the social platform X.

“Afghans who have left the country should return to their homeland,” he said. “Nobody will harm them.”

“Come back to your ancestral land and live in an atmosphere of peace,” he added, and instructed officials to properly manage services for returning refugees and to ensure they were given shelter and support.

He also used the occasion to criticize the media for making what he said were “false judgements” about Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and their policies.

“We must not allow the torch of the Islamic system to be extinguished,” he said. “The media should avoid false judgments and should not minimize the accomplishments of the system. While challenges exist, we must remain vigilant.”

The Taliban swept into the capital Kabul and seized most of Afghanistan in a blitz in mid-August 2021 as the U.S. and NATO forces were in the last weeks of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war.

The offensive prompted a mass exodus, with tens of thousands of Afghans thronging the airport in chaotic scenes, hoping for a flight out on the U.S. military airlift. People also fled across the border, to neighboring Iran and Pakistan.

Among those escaping the new Taliban rulers were also former government officials, journalists, activists, those who had helped the U.S. during its campaign against the Taliban.

After the Buccaneers selected Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka with the 19th pick in the 2025 draft, some assumed that the Bucs were concerned about veteran receiver Chris Godwin’s availability for the start of the season.

If the team has such concerns, those concerns didn’t make their way into the three-year, $66 million contract Godwin signed with the Buccaneers in March.

PFT has obtained and reviewed the contract. There’s no language regarding the injury. Nothing that, for example, conditions any of the $20.745 million 2025 roster bonus on passing a physical. (The second and final installment is due in six days.) Nothing that creates an exception for any aggravation of the injury or related condition.

Maybe the Bucs had no choice, given that Godwin had a better financial offer on the table from the Patriots. And while the Patriots ultimately signed receiver Stefon Diggs to a deal containing protections for the team against his torn ACL, Diggs didn’t have many (or maybe any) other options. Godwin possibly was able to leverage the interest of the Patriots and Buccaneers into a deal that didn’t protect the team against the injury that predated the contract.

Still, the contract becomes an important piece of tangible evidence to counter the notion that the Bucs drafted Egbuka because they’re concerned about Godwin’s health. If they were sufficiently concerned to use a first-round pick on his short-term replacement, why would they have committed $44 million in guarantees to Godwin?

So why Egbuka? Well, Mike Evans is entering his 12th season, and he’ll be 32 in August. They’ll need to have a replacement ready to go, at some point.

Besides, the Bucs don’t exactly have many pressing roster needs. They were able to take the best available player when they were on the clock. Which they did.

The Russia-backed Wagner Group said Friday it is leaving Mali after more than three and a half years of fighting Islamic extremists and insurgents in the country.

Despite Wagner’s announcement, Russia will continue to have a mercenary presence in the West African country. The Africa Corps, Russia’s state-controlled paramilitary force, said on its Telegram channel Friday that Wagner’s departure would not introduce any changes and the Russian contingent will remain in Mali.

“Mission accomplished. Private Military Company Wagner returns home,” the group announced via its channel on the messaging app Telegram. It said it had brought all regional capitals under control of the Malian army, pushed out armed militants and killed their commanders.

Mali, along with neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has for more than a decade battled an insurgency fought by armed groups, including some allied with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.

As Western influence in the region has waned, Russia has sought to step into the vacuum, sweeping in with offers of assistance. Moscow initially expanded its military cooperation with African nations by using the Wagner Group of mercenaries. But since the group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed in a plane crash in 2023, after mounting a brief armed rebellion in Russia that challenged the rule of President Vladimir Putin, Moscow has been developing the Africa Corps as a rival force to Wagner.

Africa Corps is under direct command of the Russian defense ministry.

According to U.S. officials, there are around 2,000 mercenaries in Mali. It is unclear how many are with Wagner and how many are part of the Africa Corps.

Beverly Ochieng, a security analyst specializing in the Sahel for Control Risks consultancy, said the Russian defense ministry had been negotiating with Mali to take on more Africa Corps fighters and for Wagner mercenaries to join Russia’s state-controlled paramilitary force.

“Since the death of Prigozhin, Russia has had this whole plan to then make the Wagner Group fall under the command of the Ministry of Defense. One of the steps they made was to revamp or introduce the Africa Corps, which is the way in which the Russian paramilitaries would retain a presence in areas where the Wagner group has been operating,” Ochieng said.

Wagner has been present in Mali since late 2021 following a military coup, replacing French troops and international peacekeepers to help fight the militants. But the Malian army and Russian mercenaries struggled to curb violence in the country and have both been accused of targeting civilians.

Last month, United Nations experts urged Malian authorities to investigate reports of alleged summary executions and forced disappearances by Wagner mercenaries and the army.

In December, Human Rights Watch accused Malian armed forces and the Wagner Group of deliberately killing at least 32 civilians over an 8-month span.

The announcement of Wagner’s withdrawal comes as the Malian army and the Russian mercenaries suffered heavy losses during attacks by the al-Qaida linked group JNIM in recent weeks.

Last week, JNIM fighters killed dozens of soldiers in an attack on a military base in central Mali.

Rida Lyammouri, a Sahel expert at the Morocco-based Policy Center for the New South, said the major losses might have caused the possible end of Wagner’s mission.

“The lack of an official and mutual announcement from both the Malian authorities and Wagner indicate possible internal dispute which led to this sudden decision. Simultaneously, this could point to a new framework for Russian presence in the country,” he said.

Replacing Wagner with Africa Corps troops would likely shift Russia’s focus in Mali from fighting alongside the Malian army to training, said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

“Africa Corps has a lighter footprint and focuses more on training, providing equipment and doing protection services. They fight less than the ‘Rambo-type’ Wagner mercenaries,” Laessing said.

Under the damaged dome of al-Albani Mosque in Khan Younis, families stood on broken stone and dust, raising their voices in takbir, the declaration of god’s greatness, to mark the first morning of Eid al-Adha on Friday.

In Gaza, the holiest of the two major Muslim holidays is traditionally a time for communal worship, the sacrifice of lambs, and shared meals. Families gather around piles of bread baked on the saj and morsels of liver fresh from the slaughter.

But this year in Khan Younis, there was no feast. No lambs to sacrifice. No smell of meat cooking, no joyful reunions. The celebration, stripped of its customs, pressed on in grief.

“We don’t eat meat, we don’t eat liver, we are not happy like other times waiting for the Eid with joy,” Eftarag Abou Sabaa told NBC News’ team in Khan Younis.

Rather than the ritual sacrifice of a lamb, Abou Sabaa said, “We sacrifice the blood of martyrs. We sacrifice our sons, our daughters, and our mothers; we sacrifice ourselves in a way that sets us apart from other people.”

That morning, crowds moved quietly to the Khan Younis cemetery to visit loved ones lost to the war, and greeted each other by the tombstones of children, parents, and friends.

Only the buzz of Israeli drones overhead filled the solemn silence.

“This is not an Eid of joy; it is an Eid of mourning and death,” Ahmed Darwish, displaced from Rafah to west Khan Younis, told NBC News as he stood beside the graves. “Our children and women are in pieces. Instead of sacrificing animals, we collected body parts this morning.”

On Eid, Israeli strikes continued as families wept by the bodies of their loved ones, killed before celebrations could begin.

Reda Abdel Rahim Eljara told an NBC News team that Israeli air strikes had already killed her husband and one of her sons. On the first day of Eid al-Adha, she lost two more sons and her daughter-in-law.

“Three months ago, on Eid al-Fitr, my son Qais got married,” she told NBC News. “Today, on the main Eid, he is martyred with his wife.”

Umm Ahmad Al-Qatati said her son, Omar, 11, was shot as he left his tent to shower and get ready for a visit to see his father.

“He was so excited for Eid morning, but they sent him to the morgue instead,” she said. “Instead of celebrating Eid, he went to be with his Lord.”

Those for whom death had not come, trudged forward.

At the ruins of al-Albani Mosque, Thaer al-Salmi, 14, continued to pray.

“We try to find some joy by praying and wearing a few clothes to feel the Eid spirit,” he said. “I hope this war ends, and that next Eid will be like it was two years ago — a real celebration without war.”

The Eagles’ pass rush that relentlessly pressured Patrick Mahomes was a big part of the reason they won Super Bowl LIX, but that pass rush will look different in 2025: Josh Sweat, who led the team in sacks in the regular season and had 2.5 sacks in the Super Bowl, is gone. Milton Williams, who was third on the team in sacks in the regular season and had two sacks in the Super Bowl, is gone. Defensive ends Brandon Graham and Bryce Huff are gone.

But Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio isn’t worried.

Fangio mentioned Nolan Smith, Jalyx Hunt, Josh Uche and Azeez Ojulari as players he thinks he can count on to be a big part of the pass rush this season.

“I feel good about Nolan,” Fangio said. “I think we’ll feel good about Jalyx now that he’s gonna get a lot of reps and develop. He played good for us down the stretch last year, and played a lot, as you saw, so I feel good about those two guys, and I think they’ll continue to improve. We’ve got Uche, we’ve got Azeez, we’ve got three other guys there. I think we’ll be fine.”

The Eagles suffered heavy losses on defense in free agency, but Fangio has repeatedly said he trusts General Manager Howie Roseman to give him a roster he can succeed with. The roster will look different in 2025, but that doesn’t mean it can’t again land in the Super Bowl.

A professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco filed a lawsuit Wednesday, alleging that the university violated her freedom of speech by suspending her for her online comments on Israel’s war in Gaza, according to court documents.

Rupa Marya’s social media posts included expressing “solidarity with the hospitals and healthcare workers that Israel was attacking in Gaza,” according to court documents.

The complaint stated that Marya “felt an obligation to speak out and did so using her X account.”

Israel’s war in Gaza has left more than 52,000 people dead since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and took 251 people hostage. Israel has received intense criticism from around the world, including from the United Nations, for its actions in Gaza.

“Firing Dr. Marya doesn’t only violate her right to free speech, it threatens all of us,” attorney Mark Kleiman said in a statement. “We all need to urgently speak up against these kinds of attacks on our basic rights to advocate for justice, and we expect the Court will agree with us that Dr. Marya’s rights have been violated and must be remedied.”

Marya was placed on leave in September 2024 and her clinical privileges were suspended by the UCSF Executive Medical Board on Oct. 1. The board called her a “possible imminent danger” and cited social media posts, according to court documents. Her privileges were reinstated on Oct. 15.

According to court documents, Marya received “rape and death threats” as well as “repeated harassment and threats” because of her posts, according to court documents.

Before her suspension, Marya had several interactions with the university regarding her online activity.

In November 2023, the dean of UCSF’s School of Medicine notified Marya that the school would be assessing whether her social media activity violated university policies.

In response to one of Marya’s social media threads that went viral in January 2024, UCSF posted a statement regarding a circulating ‘conspiracy theory.’

“Although the statement did not name Dr. Marya, Dr. Robert Wachter acknowledged in an email that it was in direct response referring to Dr. Marya’s social media thread from January 2,” the complaint claimed. “UCSF’s January 6 statement accused Dr. Marya of promoting a ‘racist’ and ‘antisemitic’ ‘conspiracy theory.’”

According to court documents, Marya’s posts “never impeded the performance of her duties as a physician or faculty member, or the regular operation of the University.”

“As a medical doctor, American citizen and as a person of South Asian descent raised in the Sikh religious tradition, Dr. Marya has long been concerned about American foreign policy, including in the Middle East and the issues surrounding the conflict between Israel and Palestine,” the complaint reads. “Her posts take aim at state policy and supremacist political ideologies, not at any religious or ethnic group.”

A spokesperson for the University of California, San Francisco said that because of privacy laws, the school is unable to comment on the lawsuit.

Marya completed her residency in internal medicine at the University of California at San Francisco in 2007, was subsequently offered employment and joined the faculty. For the past five years, however, Marya had no teaching duties and focused exclusively on patient care in the non-teaching hospital medicine services, according to court documents.

Marya was also appointed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to the Healthy California for All Commission in 2021, an initiative to advance a system for universal healthcare in the state.

A Department of Homeland Security request for 21,000 National Guard troops to support “expansive interior immigration enforcement operations” includes a call for troops to search for unaccompanied children in some cases and transport them between states, three sources briefed on the plan tell NBC News.

Having National Guard troops perform such tasks, which are not explained in detail in the DHS request, has prompted concern among Democrats in Congress and some military and law enforcement officials.

The tasks are laid out in a May 9th Request for Assistance from the Department of Homeland Security to the Pentagon. The document states that, “this represents the first formal request by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the deployment of National Guard personnel in support of interior immigration enforcement operations.”

The request calls for National Guard troops to be used for “Search and Rescue for UACs [Unaccompanied Alien Children] in remote or hostile terrain,” and “Intra- and inter-state transport of detainees/ unaccompanied alien children (UACs),” without clearly explaining what that would entail.

Most of the troops, about 10,000, would be used for transporting detained individuals, the DHS said. Roughly 2,500 troops would be used for detention support but the document does not specify where. Another 1,000 troops would be assigned to administrative support, such as processing detainees.

The request also asks for up to 3,500 troops to “Attempt to Locate — Fugitives” and to conduct “surveillance and canvassing missions,” as well as “night operations and rural interdictions.” It also asks for support for ICE in “joint task force operations for absconder/fugitive tracking,” according to the three sources familiar with the plans.

NPR first reported the details of the DHS request.

Concerns about the use of troops

Democrats in Congress and military and law enforcement officials have expressed concern about the use of National Guard troops to perform what they say are civilian law enforcement duties.

One characterized the plan as the Trump administration “finding a way to get the National Guard into the streets and into American homes,” saying, “I fear it’s going to look like a police state.”

A second source said, “Trump has said he wants to use the National Guard for law enforcement, and the Pentagon and other entities have always said, ‘Oh, don’t worry, it will never come to that.’ But this is it.”

Defense officials say the request has not been approved and is being evaluated by Pentagon policy officials, the General Counsel’s office, and other Pentagon leadership. The officials say the most likely course of action would be for some parts of the request to be approved and others rejected.

But one source briefed on the plans said that Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth is close to approving some elements of the request and considering which state governors to approach first regarding National Guard units. “We are so much closer to this being real,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

DHS is requesting the National Guard troops under Title 32 status, which means they would remain on state active duty under the command of their governor but would be federally funded. Title 32 status generally allows National Guard troops to conduct law enforcement activities without violating the Posse Comitatus Act, an 1878 law that bars the use of federal troops in law enforcement operations.

A National Guard member who opposes troops performing such tasks told NBC News, “I plan to leave the National Guard soon over this.”