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The sports world was shaken up on Saturday when PGA Tour golfer Grayson Murray died at the age of 30. The two-time PGA Tour winner had withdrawn from the Charles Schwab Challenge on Friday, two holes shy of completing his second round, citing an illness – he had been five-over on the day and three-straight bogeys, and +3 in the tournament. Murray's parents, in breaking their silence on Sunday, confirmed that Murray died of suicide. "We have spent the last 24 hours trying to come to terms with the fact that our son is gone. It's surreal that we not...

@AFP #BREAKING UK general election to be held on July 4: media, quoting sources

As of 05/21/2024 text has not been received for H.R.8445 - To amend title 38, United States Code, and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide for the eligibility of United States citizens who serve in the Israeli Defense Forces for certain protections relating to such service.

The defense rested in Donald Trump’s criminal trial on Tuesday, without the former president himself testifying. Trump had previously railed about being silenced and falsely claimed he was not allowed to testify, but ultimately elected of his own volition not to take the stand in his own defense. Trump’s decision came without fanfare. The move was not surprising – defendants in criminal cases rarely testify, because they would be subject to cross-examination, during which they could easily say something that harms their defense – but followed several instances of Trump claiming he was not allowed to do so. The judge,...

Five of the 10 highest-paid athletes in the world are soccer players, with Jon Rahm and LeBron James ranking as the top earners among non-soccer stars. Per Forbes' ranking of the 10 highest-paid athletes in 2024, Cristiano Ronaldo made more money than anyone with earnings of $260 million between his salary with Al Nassr and sponsorship deals. Here is the full top-10 list: Cristiano Ronaldo (Soccer): $260 million Jon Rahm (Golf): $218 million Lionel Messi (Soccer): $135 million LeBron James (NBA): $128.2 million Giannis Antetokounmpo (NBA): $111 million Kylian Mbappé (Soccer): $110 million Neymar (Soccer): $108 million Karim Benzema (Soccer):...

In late 2009, the question everyone was asking was put to the man himself. What made Usain Bolt – an era-defining champion of immense speed and consummate ease at just 23 – so fast? Bolt cited his God-given talent, while crediting a diet that ranged from ultra-processed chicken nuggets to the Jamaican staple of yams. But he also pointed to the cruelties of man. "I think over the years what makes Jamaica different is because of slavery really," he said of his sprinting roots. "The genes are really strong." It is a hypothesis that existed before Bolt's comments and has...

The surprise social media return of the trader who helped ignite the meme stock frenzy in 2021 sent GameStop shares skyrocketing Monday. The surge had nothing to do with the troubled company’s fundamentals — and everything to do with a cartoon of a gamer that the trader, nicknamed Roaring Kitty, shared on X. GameStop shares surged 74% on Monday after the account run by Keith Gill shared a meme on X, marking its first post in three years. The shares skyrocketed by more than 110% earlier and were halted for volatility several times on Monday morning. Short sellers have seen...

For the first time in United States history, a school district that changed the name of schools that honored Confederate generals, voted to restore the Confederate names years later. The Shenandoah County School Board held a public hearing on May 9 at Peter Muhlenberg Middle School to discuss restoring the names of Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School to Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby Lee Elementary School. At the hearing, residents voiced their opinions on the school’s current names and whether they agreed with the restoration or were against it. In 2020, the school board elected...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill banning lab-grown meat in his state Wednesday, in what he described as an effort to “save our beef.” “Today, Florida is fighting back against the global elite’s plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish or bugs to achieve their authoritarian goals,” DeSantis said in a press release Wednesday. “Our administration will continue to focus on investing in our local farmers and ranchers, and we will save our beef.” The bill, S.B. 1084, makes it “unlawful” for people to “manufacture for sale, sell, hold or offer for...

Louisiana State Police are investigating the Archdiocese of New Orleans for possible child sex trafficking linked to widespread sexual abuse committed by priests over several decades, WWL reported from a criminal warrant Tuesday. The warrant says that Louisiana State Police are seeking all documents linked to the archdiocese's sexual abuse scandal including letters and emails, as well as priest assignments, transfers and personnel files. State Police are also asking the archdiocese turn over records of all complaints of sexual abuse made to archdiocesan officials and financial records related to the archdiocese's sexual abuse cases and documents that led to priests...

When Raymond Dolphin became assistant principal of a middle school in Connecticut two years ago, it was clear to him that the kids were not all right. The problem was cellphones. Students were using the devices in class, despite a rule against it. Social media was exacerbating nearly every conflict among students. When Dolphin walked the hallways or surveyed the cafeteria, he invariably saw heads bent over screens. So in December, Dolphin did something unusual: He banned them. The experiment at Illing Middle School sparked objections from students and some parents, but it has already generated profound and unexpected results....

How lax intellectual property rules created a nerd culture phenomenon This year marks the 50th anniversary of the original edition of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), the granddaddy of tabletop role-playing games and one of the urtexts of nerd culture. The golden anniversary could hardly have come at a better time; over the past decade, the game has undergone an unexpected renaissance, reaching levels of cultural saturation and sales that exceed even its 1980s heyday. Critical Role, a live-play D&D podcast, sold out London's 12,000-seat Wembley Arena last October. Even a passingly good Dungeons & Dragons movie helped mark the game's...

The NFL has adjusted its rules to allow players the option of using Guardian Caps in regular-season games to enhance their protection against head injuries, the league confirmed Friday. The padded headgear was mandated for players at certain positions during training camp in 2022 and 2023. Speaking earlier this year, NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller said that Guardian Caps have contributed to a nearly 50% reduction in concussions for the position groups that wore them during those time periods. In a statement provided Friday to ESPN, Miller said: "We now have two years of data showing significant concussion reductions...

The former leader of Northern Ireland’s biggest unionist party was jeered as he left court Wednesday following his appearance on sexual abuse charges dating back nearly four decades. Some members of the public shouted at Jeffrey Donaldson and lunged toward him, and he had to be surrounded by police as he left Newry Magistrates’ Court following his first appearance since his arrest last month. Donaldson, 61, faces one charge of rape, a single charge of gross indecency and nine indecent assault charges dating from 1985 to 2006. His wife, Eleanor Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, 58, faces four counts of aiding and...

Since the 2021 admissions cycle, Cornell University’s eight undergraduate colleges have adopted test-optional and test-blind policies. However, starting in the 2026 admissions cycle, all colleges will mandate prospective students to submit a standardized test score with their applications. Although colleges will continue test-optional and test-blind policies for the Fall 2025 admissions cycle, students are encouraged to submit SAT and/or ACT scores. Cornell initially suspended standardized test requirements for applicants in April 2020 due to SAT and ACT test cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many peer institutions — including Yale and Dartmouth — recently announced that they would reinstate the...

The Supreme Court brushed aside a lawsuit Monday from Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake challenging the use of electronic voting machines in Arizona. Lake, who filed the lawsuit during her failed campaign for governor in 2022, challenged whether the state’s electronic voting machines assured “a fair and accurate vote.” Two lower courts dismissed the suit, finding that Lake and former Republican state lawmaker Mark Finchem had not been harmed in a way that allowed them to sue. Calling the precise nature of Lake’s claim “not clear,” the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals said the lawsuit was based on speculative...

Following Donald Trump's masterful recounting of the Battle of Gettysburg, the world has been awaiting his descriptions of other famous battles. That wait is now over, as Trump has provided his synopses of an all-star list of the world's most well-known confrontations. The Babylon Bee is proud to reveal Trump's commentary on the following battles: 1. Battle of Stalingrad: "The Germans came in. You really gotta hand it to Hitler. Bad guy, don't get me wrong. But he came into Stalingrad. Rommel tried to tell him. 'Don't get involved in a land war in Asia, me boys,' he said. But...

Netflix reported its first-quarter 2024 earnings Thursday, revealing it added a whopping 9.33 million paid subscribers. Analysts consensus estimates were for Netflix to add 3.93 million paid subs globally in Q1 (to reach 264.21 million), according to StreetAccount. Per Netflix, it has now climbed to 269.60 million subs as of March 31. These impressive Q1 results come following a better-than-expected 13.1 million subscribers added for the fourth quarter of 2023, which was a Q4 record for Netflix. Despite this back-to-back growth worth boasting about, Netflix announced Thursday it will stop reporting quarterly sub totals beginning in 2025, a move that...

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a bill Thursday that will allow universities in the state to pay athletes directly for NIL endorsements. Before putting his signature on the bill, Youngkin said HB 1505, which won't take effect until July 1, helps Virginia schools be competitive in athletics and provides a level of added oversight: ESPN's Dan Murphy noted it's the first piece of legislation by a state that would nullify the NCAA's rules regarding how athletes are compensated for NIL deals. Rather than schools paying student-athletes NIL money directly, they've often leaned on independent collectives in which major boosters and...

Truth Social, the media firm owned by Donald Trump, has announced plans to create a live TV streaming service focused on “news networks” and “religious channels,” along with “content that has been canceled, is at risk of cancellation, or is being suppressed.” The Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) says it will launch the streaming service in three phases, with the first involving the rollout of the company’s content delivery network (CDN). A CDN, such as those operated by Cloudflare and Akamai, is a service websites use to help webpages load faster. TMTG says its CDN will operate “independent of...