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nament. The five-time major champion said Saturday he has done "absolutely nothing wrong."
• A federal official briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press the FBI and Securities and Exchange Commission are analyzing trades Mickelson and Las Vegas gambler Billy Walters made involving Clorox at the same time activist investor Carl Icahn was attempting to take over the company. When Icahn's intent became public, the stock price jumped.
• The official was unauthorized to speak about the investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. Reports of the investigation appeared in several newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal.
• Smiling as he stood before a room packed with reporters and cameras, Mickelson said the case had not been a distraction until FBI agents approached him after his opening round Thursday.
• He said it would not affect his preparations for the U.S. Open in two weeks, the only major he lacks for the career Grand Slam.
• ___

• DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- One of two candidates challenging Bashar Assad in next month's election has almost nothing but praise for the Syrian president, saying his handling of the country's conflict has proven he is a "great leader." His only, slight criticism is that officials in Assad's government have mismanaged the economy.
• Still, Hassan al-Nouri insists he is serious about his candidacy in the June 3 vote, which Assad is almost assured of winning. In a 30-minute interview with The Associated Press, al-Nouri said he was running to represent the "silent majority," and called himself a "great candidate and a strong contender."
• The election comes more than three years into an uprising against Assad's rule that has killed more than 160,000 people and forced another 2.7 million to seek refuge abroad. The civil war has destroyed much of the country, unleashed a regional humanitarian crisis and ripped apart the nation's economy and social fabric.
• The Syrian opposition and its Western allies have denounced the vote as a sham designed to lend Assad a veneer of electoral legitimacy. The government, meanwhile, has touted the vote as the political solution to the conflict.
• Assad has held power since 2000, when he took over after the death of his fa

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