BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has dismissed speculation surrounding possible action against teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi following his heated altercation with Sri Lanka A cricketer Vishen Halambage during the recent tri-nation A series match, insisting that the Indian board has no role in matters that fall under the jurisdiction of match officials.The incident occurred after Halambage allegedly made provocative remarks during Sri Lanka A's Super Over victory over India A. Tempers flared as the Sri Lankan player came close to the 15-year-old batter, prompting Sooryavanshi to push him away during the exchange.Responding to widespread social media chatter over a possible BCCI crackdown, Saikia expressed surprise at the speculation."A lot of things are going on in the social media that BCCI is contemplating action, etc. Do you want BCCI to step into the domain of match referee?" Saikia counter-questioned, while speaking to news agency PTI.'BCCI have no role to play'The BCCI secretary stressed that disciplinary matters on the field are handled by the designated officials and that the board would not interfere with the established process."The BCCI is not an authority, we should not intrude into the area where the match referee and the umpires are the main persons who can take any decision regarding any incident that had happened in the playground," Saikia said."Whatever had happened, it was a part of the game, and the BCCI have no role to play. The role is of the match referee. If anything is going wrong, he will take a call, the umpires will take a call, and there is a system in place," added Saikia, who is also an eminent lawyer.Sri Lankan players sanctioned after ugly scenesMeanwhile, as per a PTI report, Sri Lanka Cricket-appointed match referee Pradeep Jeyapragash handed sanctions to Halambage and senior wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella for separate offences arising from the match.The report indicated that Halambage was penalised for provocative comments directed at Indian batters after Sri Lanka's Super Over triumph, while Dickwella, who had attempted to prevent the confrontation from escalating, was sanctioned for excessive appealing.The exact nature of the punishments remains unclear, and there has been no official confirmation on whether Indian players, including Sooryavanshi and captain Tilak Varma, received warnings or any disciplinary action.The flashpoint came after both teams finished on 265, forcing a Super Over. Chasing 17, India A managed only nine runs, with Sooryavanshi scoring six off the final three deliveries bowled by left-arm pacer Kugathas Mathulan.

HENDERSON, NEVADA - JUNE 03: Defensive coordinator Rob Leonard of the Las Vegas Raiders attends a news conference after an OTA offseason workout at the Las Vegas Raiders Headquarters/Intermountain Health Performance Center on June 03, 2026 in Henderson, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) | Getty Images The Las Vegas Raiders’ defense has a new beginning going into the 2026 NFL season as they have hired Rob Leonard as their new defensive coordinator and they have added several new starters.So, it’s time for the Las Vegas defense to end a long drought. It’s time for the Silver and Black’s defense to pitch a shutout. The Raiders have gone 13 seasons without have a defensive shutout. It’s tied for the fifth longest shutout-less streak in the NFL. Here’s the complete list provided by NFL analyst Warren Sharp. years without a defensive shutout0 – KC, BAL, SEA, HOU, PHI, MIN, CAR1 – DEN, GB2 – CLE, MIA, TB, DAL, JAX, LAC, NO3 – SF, NE4 – BUF, TEN, IND567 – LAR, DET8 – ARI91011 – CIN1213 – ATL, LV14 – PIT15 – CHI16 – NYJ, NYG171819202122232425262728293031…— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) June 8, 2026The Raiders’ last defensive shutout was on December 12, 2012 when they beat the Kansas City Chiefs 15-0 in Oakland. Now, is the time to end the streak.In other Raiders’ news:Turnaround time: NFL.com looks at what teams are primed to end a playoff drought.Most versatile:The Athletic looks at the most versatile players in the league this season.

Serena Williams.Credit: Gonzalo Marroquin/Getty for NetflixThe tennis G.O.A.T. is back in competition mode.Serena Williams will make her Fanatics Fest debut this summer when the world's largest arena for sports and collectibles returns for its third annual installment at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City from Thursday, July 16 to Sunday, July 19.The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, 44, will face off against some of the biggest names in sports — including Tom Brady, Novak Djokovic, John Cena, Rob Gronkowski, Cam Skattebo, Jordan Chiles, Jaxson Dart, among other stars — in the anticipated Fanatics Games, PEOPLE can confirm.Serena Williams of the USA at The Queen's Club, London.Credit: Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty"We've got 50 of the greatest athletes, celebrities and artists competing against 50 average Joe fans," Fanatics founder and CEO Michael Rubin tells PEOPLE exclusively ahead of the event. "Brady, Williams, Djokovic, that's the quality of people we have competing in these games.""I was watching a back and forth text change between Djokovic and Brady about who is going to get first place," he adds of the games, which are stacked with more than $2 million in prizes. The winner gets $2 million cash, second gets a Ferrari and third gets a rare Messi trading card valued at $250,000.Williams, who recently returned to tennis for the first time in four years and will soon play doubles at Wimbledon with sister Venus, will take on a different form of competition at Fanatics Fest — and it won't involve the sport.Novak Djokovic of Serbia in action against Joao Fonseca of Brazil during the Men's Singles third round match on Day Six of the 2026 French Open.Credit: Daniel Kopatsch/GettyThe professional athletes will face the fans in an array of athletic challenges, including NFL Clutch Kick, NBA Game Winning Shot, WWE Superstar Entrance, UFC Striking, MLB Pitching, NHL Shoot & Score, Dick's Sporting Goods Putting and FIFA Ultimate Goal.The variety of skill challenges across a mix of sports is fitting given the timing of Fanatics Fest and its unique alignment with the number of sporting events happening around N.Y.C. The event kicks off the day after the ESPYs and concludes on the same day as the World Cup Final at MetLife Stadium.Related: https://people-app.onelink.me/HNIa/kz7l4cufFollow your favorite athletes on and off the field with PEOPLE's free sports newsletter — sign up now!"What's going to make this year so special is it's in the middle of the World Cup Final. You have the biggest stars in the world descending to Fanatics Fest... it's just going to be absolutely spectacular," says Rubin, who notes the World Cup Finals presser will also be held at the Javits Center."We'll have the two captains two days before they're going to play in the biggest match of their lives," he adds. "If it's a repeat of 2022, you'd have the coach and team captain. In that case, you'd have [Kylian] Mbappé and [Lionel] Messi at Fanatics Fest with tens of thousands of fans going crazy for their team," says Rubin, referencing Argentina's win over France in Qatar's World Cup four years ago.Tom Brady speaks at the Fanatics Fest NYC 2024.Credit: Roy Rochlin/GettyTo level up Fanatics Fest this year, the New York Knicks will be in attendance following their 2026 NBA Finals win over the San Antonio Spurs, securing the championship title for the first time in 53 years."We'll have big presence from the current New York Knicks and former Knicks every day throughout the four-day event," confirms Rubin.Basically, the entire team is coming: Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, Mitchell Robinson and more. Plus, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart will be doing a live taping of their podcast, The Roommates Show, where they'll interview New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge.Tom Brady and Kevin Hart onstage during the "Cold As Balls" stage at Fanatics Fest NYC 2025 at Javits Center on June 21, 2025 in New York City.Credit: Rob Kim/Getty"Day after day the content is spectacular. The guests are incredible. I was thinking about Wemby, who's coming to Fanatics Fest, and just how we need to make sure to increase security for him," Rubin says of Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, whose team fell to the Knicks in five during the championship series."We're going to make sure it's an egg-free environment for Wemby," he quips. "We're going to protect our guy. He's incredible. He's one of the nicest and best human beings in the world. We're going to make sure to give him a New York Fanatics Fest experience, not a New York Knicks experience."Above all, Rubin places the fans at the forefront of the experience."Everything's got to be about the fans," he tells PEOPLE. "It's the biggest fan give back we do. It's the hardest thing we do each year. We plan for it from the second it ends until the next one. How do we raise the bar? How do we keep making it better? This year, there are so many ways."Read the original article on People

Motorsport photoIf there is one thing KTM’s MotoGP history has made clear, it is that handling rider relationships has not always been the company’s strongest point. Johann Zarco, Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner have all endured difficult departures from the Austrian brand after lengthy battles to secure their releases.After switching from the Aprilia factory to KTM’s satellite Tech3 team for the 2025 season, Vinales now finds himself in a similarly uncertain position. A clause in his contract prevents him from signing with another team until the end of this month. KTM has until then to decide whether to exercise its option to extend his stay at Tech3 for a third season or release him entirely.Should the latter happen, the Spaniard could find himself without a place on the 2027 MotoGP grid, given how quickly the rider market has moved and how few seats remain available.Speaking at Brno, where he continues to recover from the shoulder injury that has hampered him ever since his accident at the German Grand Prix last summer, Vinales did not hide his frustration when asked about the uncertainty surrounding his future.“I’ve always shown my loyalty to KTM,” Vinales said. “During the winter, I was told I was in the factory team. Then at Tech3. And now I don’t even know where I stand.“I could have signed with another team despite the restrictions I had in my contract, but I didn’t.”Maverick Vinales, Red Bull KTM Tech 3Maverick Vinales, Red Bull KTM Tech 3The Spaniard is fully aware that his future depends entirely on the plans KTM and its owner, Indian conglomerate Bajaj, have for him.“I could have sorted out my future during the winter, not now,” he added. “The team is asking for results at a time when I’m injured. Maybe I can’t perform at my maximum level right now, but I will be able to in two months.”The rider from Girona is contesting his 12th MotoGP season in 2026. Over the course of his premier-class career, he has raced for four different manufacturers and won races with three of them: Suzuki, Yamaha and Aprilia.The only brand with which he has yet to claim a victory is KTM, something that appears increasingly unlikely as his future remains unresolved.“I have a contract that says I have to wait until a specific date. I’m not breaking any agreements,” he said. “I just have to wait because there’s no other option.”Adding to his difficulties going forward, Vinales will be unable to take part in Monday’s post-race test at Brno, which will provide riders with their first opportunity to evaluate the 2027 prototypes, featuring the new 850cc engines and Pirelli tyres.KTM has chosen Pedro Acosta - who is set to join Ducati in 2027 - to take part in the test ahead of Vinales. What irritated the Spaniard most was the way he learned of the decision.“I found out through the media that I wouldn’t be doing the test,” he said. “Not through the team.” Read Also: Top MotoGP riders being benched for Brno test “not the best idea” - Francesco Bagnaia Despite the uncertainty, Vinales is convinced his future lies in MotoGP.“I don’t see myself in World Superbikes,” he insisted. “In motorcycle racing, MotoGP is where I wanted to achieve everything. If I leave here, then it will be time to enjoy life.”To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.

Could the Lions be interested in Brendan Sorsby?Detroit has experienced the consequences firsthand of players violating the league’s gambling policy, with four players suspended back in April 2023.But every situation is different, and head coach Dan Campbell was asked on Thursday if the club had any interest in utilizing a pick in the supplemental draft.“All I can tell you is that we look at everything,” Campbell said, via transcript from the team. “[General Manager] Brad [Holmes] looks at everything, and so nothing is off the docket, so our eyes are open. Doesn't mean we will make a move or we won’t.”The Lions don’t have much urgency to add another quarterback, with Jared Goff under contract through 2028, Teddy Bridgewater in the building as the team’s backup, and rookie Luke Altmyer having just arrived as an undrafted free agent.But the team also cannot be ruled out as a potential suitor for Sorsby.

The Netherlands will ban conversion therapy after the Senate voted 75 to 57 in favor of legislation to eradicate the harmful practice. The Dutch House of Representatives has already approved the bill, which will reportedly punish anyone who practices conversion therapy on children or vulnerable adults with up to two years in prison and a fine of up to 27,500 euros (about $31,500). Therapists could also lose their licenses. The country already bans some of the more extreme methods of conversion therapy, like medication and shock therapy, according to the NL Times, but the authors of the bill did not feel existing law was comprehensive enough. Related Judge upholds decision to keep anti-trans referendum off Maine’s ballot this year During parliamentary debate about the bill, Senator Peter Nicolaï, a member of the left-wing Partij voor de Dieren, reportedly emphasized the need to also cover the dangers of exorcism, prayer-based therapy, psychological pressure, and pseudo-therapy sessions. The D66 and VVD parties, who spearheaded the bill, celebrated the victory and declared that “years of commitment to freedom, equality, and human dignity have been rewarded.” Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The Dutch LGBTQ+ Rights Group COC Netherlands celebrated the bill’s passage. “We have been fighting for the ban with victims and colleague organizations for almost 15 years and are very happy with this result. We see it as a victory for the victims,” the group said on social media, according to Facebook’s translation tool. Numerous scientific studies on conversion therapy show that the abusive practices substantially increase the suicidality of its victims. A 2013 survey, for example, showed that 84% of former patients who tried ex-gay therapy said it inflicted lasting shame and emotional harm, and in 2022, a report found that LGBTQ+ people who participated in sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts were more likely to experience negative impacts than those who did not, including serious psychological distress (47% vs 34%), depression (65% vs 27%), substance abuse (67% vs 50%), and attempted suicide (58% vs 39%). Editor’s note: This article mentions suicide. If you need to talk to someone now, call the Trans Lifeline at 1-877-565-8860. It’s staffed by trans people, for trans people. The Trevor Project provides a safe, judgement-free place to talk for LGBTQ youth at 1-866-488-7386. You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

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The Montilivi Forum positively values the new season ticket campaign.The Montilivi Forum held a new working session this week in which the Girona FC season ticket campaign for the 2026-2027 season was analyzed.During the meeting, representatives of the various groups present at the Forum gave very positive feedback on the main innovations of the campaign presented by the club. Particularly well-received was the decision to reduce the price of season tickets by 50% in most sectors of Montilivi compared to the previous season, a measure considered an important gesture towards the fan base and a clear commitment to keeping the Montilivi stadium full match after match.The Forum members also discussed various aspects related to the waiting lists for accessing new season tickets. In this regard, the convenience of exploring alternative criteria to seniority as the sole prioritization factor was expressed, with the aim of finding more equitable formulas that encourage active engagement with the club. It was debated whether the order of registration on the list should prevail and whether or not to consider when a member declines the opportunity to become a season ticket holder because the options offered do not convince them.Another key point of the meeting was the reflection on season ticket holders' attendance at matches. Participants agreed on the need to study mechanisms that incentivize the effective presence of members at the stadium while also strengthening measures aimed at reducing empty seats on match days. Among the various contributions, the possibility of establishing greater penalties for repeated unjustified absences was raised, as well as promoting new initiatives to facilitate the transfer or release of seats when the season ticket holder cannot attend.During the session, the 2026-2027 membership campaign information dossier, detailing the conditions, benefits, and new features planned for the upcoming season, was also distributed among attendees.The Montilivi Forum continues to establish itself as a space for participation and dialogue between Girona FC and its fans, contributing proposals and reflections aimed at strengthening the sense of belonging and the involvement of members in the life of the Club.The meeting was attended by Enric Creus (Non-Season Ticket Members), David Herrera (Season Ticket Members), Albert Falgueras (Family Audience), Cristóbal Sánchez (Supporters' Clubs), and Eugeni Bou (Over 65s).On behalf of the Club, the president, Delfí Geli, the general director, Ignasi Mas-Bagà, and the communications director, David Torras, as well as Júlia Barbany from the Club's Operations area, were present.

It is a rinse-and-repeat cycle in college football for the best teams. The USC Trojans thought they would benefit by seeing rival Oregon lose its top safety and linebacker to the NFL draft. This season, however, there will still be talent on the Oregon Ducks' defense and a number players who can give the Trojans' offense a tough day.In a recent article, Matt De Lima discusses some players generating buzz in the Big Ten for this upcoming season. He lists a rising player from the Oregon Ducks. Here is what he had to say about linebacker Devon Jackson: "The Omaha native was the top-ranked linebacker in Nebraska coming out of high school and a semifinalist for the Butkus Award. He logged 41 tackles in 2025 while working in a rotation that included Bryce Boettcher, who has since moved on to the NFL.Jackson steps into the featured role in Dan Lanning's defense, having spent four years absorbing the system. Insiders described him as a machine who runs a 4.3 forty at 250 pounds. That combination does not come around often and should lead to Jackson's ascension in a more-physical-than-you-think Ducks' defense."The Ducks' defense will not be missing a beat this upcoming season. Year in and year out, the Ducks are able to field a team full of insane athletes. Devon Jackson, for sure, will be a player to game-plan for before Week 5. This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Oregon Ducks will have new wrecking-ball athlete on defense vs USC

You cannot win the U.S. Open at Shinnecock on the first hole on Thursday, but you can absolutely lose it. Just ask Tiger Woods. Let's take you back to 2018, when, believe it or not, the Tiger optimism was at an all-time high. After missing the entire 2016-'17 season due to another back surgery, Woods returned in good health and began making golf fans believe with a T-2 at the Valspar Championship, a T-5 at Bay Hill and a T-11 at the Players. Coming into the U.S. Open, he was expected to contend for a 15th career major, 10 years after winning his last - the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. That dream died before he reached the second tee, unfortunately. Woods, who split the fairway with his drive at the opening hole, sailed the green with his approach, leaving him with one of the most difficult around-the-green shots on the entire property:Woods opened up the face and hit a mega flop, only for it to land just on the back edge of the green and roll off. It held up in the short grass, allowing him to attempt to putt it up the severe slope. His fourth shot suffered a similar fate:After sitting pretty in the middle of the fairway off the tee, Woods went on to make a triple. He shot 78 in the opening round and went on to miss the cut. Young, one of this week's favorites, had a nearly identical start eight years later. After finding the left side of the fairway, he went flag-hunting from 141 yards. His approach took a massive first bounce and wound up in a very similar spot to Woods' second in 2018:Like Woods, Young opted for the mega flop, which could very well have ended distrastously. But Young pulled off a masterpiece:Just an incredible recovery, and Young was able to save par - and possible save his week. Not to be hyperbolic, but that could prove to be one of the most important shots he hits all week. MORE GOLF DIGEST U.S. OPEN COVERAGEU.S. Open 101: Answering all your frequently asked questionsHow to watch the 2026 U.S. Open First and second round tee times at Shinnecock Hills Power Rankings: Every player in the U.S. Open field, rankedVideo: Every hole at Shinnecock HillsWhy can't the USGA get Shinnecock Hills right? Our interactive guide explainsWhat’s a ‘good’ shot at Shinnecock? The difference between our editos and tour averageBreaking down Scottie Scheffler’s chances to complete the career Grand SlamEvery chip shot you’ll see at Shinnecock Hills, explained

Pirates 'concentrating' on this area of their roster at MLB trade deadline originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.The Pittsburgh Pirates have been one of the best stories in baseball in 2026. They spent the offseason improving their offense, adding impact bats like Brandon Lowe and Ryan O'Hearn. Of course, the Pirates can beat anyone when Paul Skenes is on the mound. But there are areas of the roster the NL Central club would like to improve at this year's trade deadline. "The Pirates are concentrating on improving their run prevention, and that includes improvements to both their defense and bullpen quality and depth," The Athletic's Jim Bowden wrote Thursday."The Pirates believe they have some internal solutions but are open-minded to trades, as well." Currently, the Pirates have a +14 run differential. They finished last season with 62 more runs allowed than scored. A much-improved defender who may be available is second baseman Luis Arraez from the San Francisco Giants. But the Pirates already have Lowe at second base. MORE: 1 year later, new Rafael Devers trade rumors have arrivedArraez could also shift to the hot corner, but will his new skills with the glove translate? Oneil Cruz's defense in center field is subpar to say the least. It's a long shot due to his no-trade clause, but a right-handed power bat and superb defender, someone like Byron Buxton from the Minnesota Twins, would be perfect for the Pirates. More MLB news:White Sox are on an astounding stretch at homeA 'gentlemanly' baserunning move confused the umpires, and everyone elsePirates' Paul Skenes is in a bizarre stretchOutfielder retires from baseball to go play college footballDodgers have a very simple reason to trade for Tarik Skubal

How Shohei Ohtani 'pinch hit' during game Dodgers' two-way star started as pitcher originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.Conspiracy theorists will have to focus elsewhere. (They have plenty of room on the right.)By rule, Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani did nothing nefarious when he "pinch hit" in the sixth inning at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night.Users on social media did not see it that way, however"I’m sorry but this is absolutely ridiculous, how is this allowed?" Unbiased Mets Fan wrote.MLB Scoring Changes answered: "This is allowed because he isn’t pinch hitting. By rule, the DH bats in place of the pitcher, so it is perfectly legal to remove the DH and allow the pitcher to bat for himself, which is what this is. The Dodgers forfeited the DH once Ohtani entered the game to hit. This has been the rule for 50+ years."MLB rule allows unique lineup maneuversAs the starting pitcher, Ohtani (8-2) suffered a bloody blister and yielded a season-worst four earned runs, but earned the victory as the Dodgers edged the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-4. Officially relieved by Edgardo Henriquez, Ohtani batted during the sixth inning and grounded out, ending the frame.The managerial tactic, affirmed by MLB Rule 5.11(a), allowed Ohtani to take his turn in the batter's box. The move forced the Dodgers to forfeit their use of the designated hitter.For any brewing conspiracy theorists, there's no there there. Relax and go out for more pizza.More MLB news:Can Brewers' Jackson Chourio continue June power surge, make NL All-Star team?Phillies' Kyle Schwarber returns to first base, blasts MLB-leading 25th homerDisturbing trend: Tigers toppled by bottom of Astros' batting orderReds' Eugenio Suarez caps trifecta on offensive MLB achievement

The U.S. Supreme Court is seen, June 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)2026-06-18T14:08:02Z WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court sided Thursday with a Texas marijuana user who wants to legally own a gun, the latest in a line of firearm cases from a court that has expanded gun rights. The justices, in a unanimous decision, sided with Ali Danial Hemani, who argued that a law barring guns from anyone who uses drugs illegally violates the Second Amendment. Hemani wasn’t charged with any other crimes or accused of using the weapon under the influence. The decision is a loss for President Donald Trump’s Republican administration, which had defended the 1968 law despite arguing against other gun restrictions. The measure was also used in a case against Hunter Biden, who was convicted in Wilmington, Delaware, of buying a gun while addicted to cocaine in 2018. He was later pardoned by his father, then-President Joe Biden, a Democrat. The opinion is the latest in a series of firearm cases to reach the Supreme Court since a landmark ruling expanding gun rights in 2022 led to a wave of challenges around the country. Since then, the high court has upheld a law aimed at protecting victims of domestic violence and strict regulations on ghost gun kits but has struck down a ban on bump stocks, an accessory that enables rapid fire. The justices considered two firearm cases this term alone. The legality and use of cannabis, meanwhile, has also shifted significantly in recent years. More than half of U.S. states have now legalized it broadly, and it’s gained widespread use for health purposes. Read More Recreational use remains illegal on a federal level, however, even after the Trump administration reclassified medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug in April. It’s rare to see standalone criminal charges filed against people accused of owning guns and using drugs. The charge is more often filed against people also accused of other crimes. The case made for some unusual political alliances. The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Rifle Association both supported Hemani’s case, as did cannabis legalization groups like NORML. On the other side were gun safety groups like Everytown that usually oppose the Trump administration on Second Amendment issues.___Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court. LINDSAY WHITEHURST Whitehurst covers the Supreme Court and legal affairs for The Associated Press. She’s won multiple journalism awards in a career that’s spanned two decades. twitter mailto 获取更多RSS：https://feedx.net https://feedx.site

In a viral essay about how ludicrous the idea that LLMs are conscious is, science fiction writer Ted Chiang asked us to consider Microsoft Word:“Being open to the possibility that LLMs are conscious is the same as being open to the possibility that Microsoft Word is conscious, or, more precisely, that multiple distinct consciousnesses are dormant in every Word document containing a conversational transcript, and that they are awakened every time the document is loaded,” Chiang wrote. “Should you consider the possibility that every time you open a Word document, you are bringing multiple conscious interlocutors into existence, and every time you close one, you snuff their existence out? No. Contemplating that scenario is not a good use of your time.”Let me tell you about a Microsoft AI researcher, then, who recently spent quite a lot of time considering whether the legendary Microsoft real time strategy game Age of Empires II is conscious, and built a basic neural network within the video game using digital goats to prove his point. “If LLMs Have Human-Like Attributes, Then So Does Age of Empires II,” is the title of Adrian de Wynter’s paper showing his work. He told 404 Media that absurdity can be a powerful tool. “I have this tendency to dial up things to 11 when I really think I need to make a point,” he said. “I should also note that absurdism is pretty standard in philosophy and theoretical computer science.”And so De Wynter built an LLM within AoEII using goats. “The point of the paper is to formally show that we anthropomorphise too readily, and that sometimes the claims we make with regards to LLM capabilities are too strong,” he told 404 Media. “It's not an easy task, given that ‘human-like attributes’ is a bit of an abstract term.”AoEII has a scenario editor, a sandbox mode that allows players to craft their own maps and quests using the game’s assets, and De Wynter used that to build an operational NOT AND (NAND) gate and a 1-bit perceptron within the game. In this crude version of an LLM, grass is 0, bridges are 1, and goats are the bits. “Only one rail is active at a time, with a goat acting as the signal carrier. When the gate fires, the bit-goats are removed (they ded) and a new bit-goat is placed in its respective output rail,” Wynter explained on his GitHub.A perceptron is the simplest form of a neural network, it’s an algorithm that sorts an input into binary classes. YouTube is littered with videos of players doing the same thing with redstone in Minecraft. But no one claims the goats of AoEII are neurons in a thinking machine or that the complicated tracks of NAND gates players build in Minecraft show emergent intelligence.De Wynter’s point here is that it’s possible to build a neural network in AoEII that works the same as the ones underlying Claude, ChatGPT, CoPilot, and all the rest. It’s a simplified version, yes, but the basic technology is the same. Faced with the absurdity of viewing AoEII goats as carrying the spark of consciousness, we might reconsider Anthropic's assertion that Claude has a “constitution” and experiences anxiety. If you’re looking for human-like traits, you will tend to find them. De Wynter’s argument is that it’s possible to build a basic LLM within Age of Empires II that has many of the same internal traits of the chatbots people use everyday. The difference is the interface. When a person interacts with an LLM through the medium of AoEII and not a chat window the perception of human-like traits in the LLM vanishes even though the underlying tech is the same.He’d been playing AoEII since it came out in 1999 and thought it would be good for the thought experiment. “Age of Empires was an excellent way to drive the point home,” he said. “It is just about ‘alien’ enough to exemplify the representation-interpretation relation, but sufficiently well-known to really emphasise the point. It also works at a meta-level, since the example itself is a good representation of the argument.”According to De Wynter, the problem of anthropomorphizing large language models (the neural networks we commonly call artificial intelligence) begins before scientific research even starts. He reviewed 315 computer science papers released over the last two years and found that 57 percent% began with the assumption that LLMs have human-like traits.“What is common to some of these studies [...] is that they test and ascribe blanket human-like properties (e.g., anxiety or morality) to these LLMs while considering them the central subject of the experiment,” De Wynter’s paper said. “Regardless of these evaluations’ results being positive or negative, their core assumption–that LLMs possess anthropomorphic attributes–influences the experiment’s planning through (e.g.) the design of the test set, the interpretation of natural-language outputs, and even its null hypothesis. In turn, this directly impacts the conclusions made.”“We either start by thinking that tokens represent language to LLMs the same way they do to us, or that because an LLM outputs a relevant string, it must be understanding the concept/having theory of mind/empathy/etc,” De Wynter told 404 Media. “This goes both ways: we could also assume that LLMs are blobs of weights just floating about on a GPU, but that would not help explain some skills that they are shown to have.”Some people perceive their interactions with LLMs as “human” because the way they interface with it mimics a human conversation. “I propose that we need to stop assuming that LLMs behave like humans just because they were trained with natural language. Instead, we should perform experiments that allow us to see LLMs as how they are, not how we believe they should be,” De Wynter said.De Wynter said widespread anthropomorphization of LLMs among executives, scientists, and the public is becoming an intractable problem. “This is why I used the goats: there are things which make the LLMs what they are in themselves (i.e., the relationship between weights as defined by some operation), and there are things which makes them what they are perceived as.” Goats and AoEII break the perception that these machines are human.He’s also not ruling out that LLMs have some form of consciousness, but said that’s beside the point. “We tend to ascribe consciousness as some sort of binary construct (either it is or isn't!) but I'd argue that there are levels. It's hard to say that humans aren't conscious. But, what about a dog? Yes, of course. What about a potato? What about a virus? It's quite relative and we do tend to go for something human-like when we evaluate/define it, where, in reality, LLMs are things we have never seen before,” he said. “There was a recent article in science about bumblebees solving problems. Everyone was like surprisedpikachu.png — it's a great, amazing discovery. I love bumblebees and people understanding their behaviour is absolutely fantastic. But, did we really assume that they couldn't perform some sort of problem-solving? Why are we so surprised?”De Wynter wants us to focus beyond the window we use to interact with LLMs. “I pointed out that if goats could show emergent capabilities, that's great. But these properties need to be preserved if we remove the chat panel. After all, it's not like your neurons know they are part of a brain,” he said. “I think the #1 thing that one can do to mitigate these perceptions is to have appropriate disclosures, and use good alignment techniques where the model is explicit on its nature. I worked a lot on how users perceive LLMs, and they do tend to get attached when it appears to have some sort of warmth/personality. To put it in another way, I don't get attached to my toaster, but I definitely get attached to characters on a movie screen.”But people buy more objects—whether they’re toasters, phones, or LLMs—when they can empathize with them. “The issue here is that these capabilities and claims thereof are very strongly tied to marketing—after all, a lot of these models are products,” De Wynter said.This is, of course, the point. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has repeatedly implied that building out LLMs is a path to creating an AI god. Ilya Sutskever, a former OpenAI board member and scientist, often talked openly with employees about seeing the company’s LLM as a god-like consciousness. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei told The New York Times that he can’t be certain if AI is conscious or not.It’s good marketing for an industry that’s hemorrhaging money.

A Texas gun owner who faced criminal charges after admitting to marijuana use argued that a federal gun law violated the Second Amendment.

The Detroit Pistons could be looking to bring back one of their top perimeter shooters.According to NBA insider Evan Sidery, the Pistons have recently been in contact with Malik Beasley’s representatives regarding a potential return to Detroit.Sidery reports that there is mutual interest between both sides in a one-year deal.Beasley Missed Entire 2025-26 SeasonBeasley did not play during the 2025-26 season as he remained sidelined amid an NBA investigation related to gambling.Despite the lost season, the veteran shooting guard appears to remain on Detroit’s radar as the franchise begins evaluating offseason roster moves following its 60-win campaign and Eastern Conference Semifinals appearance.Beasley Was Productive During His Last Pistons StintBefore missing the 2025-26 season, Beasley played a key role for Detroit during the 2024-25 campaign.In 82 games, he averaged 16.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists while shooting 43.0% from the field and an impressive 41.6% from three-point range. He knocked down 3.9 three-pointers per game and provided the floor spacing that helped open opportunities for Cade Cunningham and the rest of Detroit’s offense.Over his nine-year NBA career, Beasley has averaged 11.7 points per game while shooting 39.1% from beyond the arc.Shooting Remains a Priority for DetroitOne of the biggest takeaways from the Pistons’ playoff run was the need for additional offensive firepower and reliable perimeter shooting.Beasley would immediately address that need if a deal comes together. At 29 years old, he remains one of the league’s more proven three-point specialists and could provide another weapon alongside Cunningham, Ausar Thompson, Jalen Duren, and the rest of Detroit’s young core.For now, discussions appear to be in the early stages, but the possibility of a Beasley reunion is certainly one to watch as the Pistons enter what could be a pivotal offseason.

The United States is off to a dream start at this World Cup. The opening 4-1 win over Paraguay marked the first time the U.S. scored four goals in a World Cup match, and it was the first time the U.S. won a World Cup game by three or more goals since 1930. The No. 9 question that has plagued the U.S. for a decade appears to be answered by Folarin Balogun, who became the second American with two goals in a World Cup game — the first since Bert Patenaude had the first World Cup hat trick in 1930, also against Paraguay.All those past accomplishments are now merely prologue to Friday’s game against Australia (3 p.m., FOX). With a win, the U.S. would clinch a knockout-stage berth after only two games for the first time, and the U.S. could win the group if Paraguay also wins or draws.Australia’s scenarios are similar, in that three points against the U.S. will win the group — and if Türkiye also wins, Australia would win its World Cup group for the first time.World Cup schedule | Group schedule, results | StandingsWhile a draw would virtually clinch a knockout-stage berth for both teams, the upside of a win should mean that both teams should be fully motivated, with no reason to slow down at any point.Here are my best bets for Friday’s U.S.-Australia match:United States over 0.5 first-half goals (-135)I’m going back to this well even though the price isn’t as good as it was versus Paraguay, because Australia’s defense isn’t as good as Paraguay’s has been.Again, the U.S. has played 12 straight games against 2026 World Cup teams. In nine of those games, the Americans scored in the first half, and they were unrelenting in scoring three before the break against Paraguay. Like I said previously, the eye test and the underlying numbers line up here. The U.S. has had at least seven first-half shots in all five matches this year.Australia is a defense-first team, as suggested by holding 29% possession and getting outshot 30-9 against Türkiye in the opener. Plus, when the U.S. played Australia last October, Mauricio Pochettino had his team flying early with 69% of the ball and six shots to Australia’s one, and the game was tied 1-1 at half.I don’t expect anything to change here. The U.S. will be aggressive early and get a first-half goal, and if you’d rather play the U.S. on the first-half three-way money line at +115, I don’t hate that either.Folarin Balogun 4+ shots (+105)There’s a risk of recency bias here, but look at Balogun’s last three games. He had four shots in 45 minutes against Senegal, three shots in 72 minutes versus Germany and five shots in 72 minutes against Paraguay. The U.S. seems to be making a concerted effort to get him the ball, and the wing-heavy attack fits right into that plan. There’s a chance that Christian Pulisic won’t start, and that would certainly hinder the U.S. attack, but whoever moves into his wing role (Tim Weah? Gio Reyna? Malik Tillman?) is more than capable of sending in crosses to Balogun as well.When the U.S. played Australia last October, Balogun did not start, but still had two shots in 26 minutes off the bench. Repeating that rate is wholly within his reach again, and I’ll take plus money on him reaching four shots in this game.

Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty ImagesShohei Ohtani still left Dodger Stadium with a win against the Rays, but fans quickly spotted the worrying reason his outing looked so unlike the rest of his season.The box score told one story.The blood on his uniform told another.Shohei Ohtani’s blister explains his pitching struggle against the RaysOhtani allowed a season-high four earned runs in the Dodgers’ 5-4 win over Tampa Bay, giving up seven hits and one walk with five strikeouts across six innings.For most pitchers, that line would be manageable. For Ohtani’s 2026 standard, it stood out. He entered the start with a 1.06 ERA, then still walked away at 7-2 with a 1.47 ERA, showing how dominant he had been before one bad inning changed the conversation.The fifth inning was the problem. Tampa Bay reached for four runs after Ohtani had extended the Dodgers’ scoreless streak against the Rays to 20 innings, and fans then noticed the physical issue on his pitching hand.“Shohei Ohtani’s blister is bleeding during his start vs the Rays today. The blood dripped onto his pants but he’s still been fighting through it for the Dodgers.”A bleeding blister can matter for any pitcher because it affects grip, pressure, and release point. For Ohtani, who relies on sharp command and feel across a power arsenal, even a small change could help explain why the fifth unraveled so quickly.Dodgers still have historic Shohei Ohtani productionThe blister was not the only issue. Ohtani was also pitching days after leaving a game in Pittsburgh with left knee inflammation, and MLB.com reported before the Rays start that the Dodgers were monitoring him closely.Dave Roberts said before the game that Ohtani would not start if the Dodgers felt they were putting him in harm’s way. Ohtani had thrown a light bullpen session after the swelling went down, which cleared the final hurdle for him to face Tampa Bay.Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesEven after the roughest pitching line of his season, the overall numbers remain absurd. Ohtani is 7-2 with a 1.47 ERA, 73 2/3 innings, 78 strikeouts, and a 0.88 WHIP as a pitcher.At the plate, he is still carrying elite production too, hitting .296 with 15 home runs, 42 RBI, a .418 on-base percentage, and a .963 OPS.That is why the blister matters. It did not turn Ohtani into a liability, but it offered a visible reason for a rare wobble. The Dodgers will now need to make sure one bloody finger does not become a bigger summer problem.Read more:LA Dodgers announce bobblehead night for Los Angeles Lakers star Luka DoncicJalen Brunson calls out Josh Hart’s ‘hella weird’ pitching technique at Yankee StadiumHome Run Derby stat shows how new 2026 rules could change player totals

We’re close to the halfway point of the fantasy baseball season, meaning we’re dealing with a larger sample to digest. We discussed several multi-category players in last week’s hitter skill and luck factor article. This week, we’re examining a mixture of veterans with a lengthy track record. Have their skills changed? Or have they been unfortunate this season, leading to us trusting the larger sample? Alec Burleson, 1B/OF, Cardinals (93% Rostered)If we said the Cardinals would rank inside the top 12 in wRC+ (103) before the season, we probably would’ve wanted to invest more into their lineup. Alec Burleson is a key, steady part of the Cardinals’ lineup, batting in the top third. He has been showing consistent skill and production. Here's a look at the Cardinals slugger's rolling pull rate over the past three seasons.Corbin Young via FanGraphsBurleson’s plate discipline looks similar to previous seasons, with an 81.2% contact rate and a 9.3% swinging-strike rate. Both have been within 1-2 percentage points of his career averages. The main skill change involves Burleson’s batted ball approach, pulling the ball more (49.8%), 11 percentage points above his career average. Specifically, Burleson is pulling the ball into the air, with an 19.1% pulled air rate, over five points higher than in 2025. That coincides with Burleson barreling up the ball more consistently, with an 8.7% barrel rate per plate appearance, one point higher than his 2025 numbers (7.3%). When he pulls the ball into the air, Burleson’s barrel rate spikes to 31% with nine of his 13 home runs coming on balls pulled into the air. That aligns with the projections expecting a career-best home run total of 25+ this season.Burleson continues to be undervalued as a four-category contributor with more power upside than expected. Go buy high on Burleson if you need some offensive help.Michael Harris II, OF, Braves (95% Rostered)Michael Harris II often batted toward the bottom third of the Braves’ lineup. Around late-April and into the middle of May, Harris moved more into the middle of the lineup. However, since May 29, Harris has hit first or second in every game. The .339 BABIP is fueling his .306 batting average. However, Harris can run higher BABIPs, as seen in previous seasons. For most of Harris’ career, the launch angle has been an issue, evidenced by a career groundball rate at 49.2% and a single-digit launch angle (7.4 degrees). This season, Harris is hitting more flyballs (38.5%), up seven points from his career average. That’s also led to a four-degree increase in his launch angle (11.5 degrees). Here's a look at the Braves outfielder's average launch angle on specific pitches since 2022.Corbin YoungUnsurprisingly, Harris’ 11.2% barrel rate this season is up over three percentage points from the career norm. However, Harris’s swing tilt stayed the same, so hitting more flyballs could be something fluky that could regress. The swing tilt is the input, while the launch angle is somewhat of the outcome based on the swing tilt and swing path. Sometimes a hitter’s approach against different pitch types can also increase launch angles. For instance, his launch angle on breaking pitches (23 degrees) is up from 15 degrees (2025). There’s a slight increase in Harris’ launch angle against fastballs this season (8 degrees), up three points. The visual below shows hitters with a three-point increase in launch angle and a two-point increase in barrel rate per plate appearance (Barrel/PA).This chart shows hitters who have seen an increase in both launch angle and barrel rate per plate appearance season-over-season.Corbin YoungHarris is on the short list of players with a three-point increase in their launch angle and two-point jump in barrel rate per plate appearance this season. That list includes Drake Baldwin, Elly De La Cruz, Xavier Edwards, Shea Langeliers, Luke Raley, James Wood and Jacob Young. Harris is elevating the ball and hitting them harder, an optimal combination. It’s a minor note, but Harris is also tweaking with his batting stance, being 26 degrees open after 18 degrees open (2025) and 11 degrees open (career). Theoretically, Harris’ more open stance might allow him to hit different pitch types into the air more often. Interestingly, Harris’ stolen bases have been somewhat nonexistent. Harris has a 6% stolen base opportunity rate, three times worse than his career average (18%). For context, Harris stole 20 bases in seasons where his stolen base opportunity rate was at 20% or higher. The projection systems seem to be optimistic on his stolen bases, so there’s a good chance he finishes with 28-30 home runs and 12-15 stolen bases after being more around 20/20. With Ronald Acuña Jr. sidelined with another hamstring injury this season, Harris could soak up counting stats in the leadoff role for a while. There’s an estimated timeline for Acuña to return in late June, but the Braves could be cautious after he already suffered two hamstring injuries this season. At worst, Harris moves back into the middle of the order, instead of the bottom third like in the previous seasons. I would be buying into these launch angle changes for Harris since he already showed high-end power inputs (bat speed and exit velocity). Just be sure Harris is healthy, he’s been dealing with a back injury that forced him to exit Tuesday and was out of the lineup Wednesday. Bo Bichette, 3B/SS, Mets (95% Rostered) The Mets have surprisingly been third-worst in wRC+ (89), ahead of the Phillies and Padres. Injuries and struggles have been the themes for the Mets. They have Jorge Polanco, Francisco Lindor, Ronny Mauricio, Luis Robert Jr. and Tyrone Taylor on the injured list. Bo Bichette had a bounce-back season with the Blue Jays last year. When Bichette’s BABIP is high, his batting average tends to be higher. Bichette has a career-low BABIP (.285) aligning with his .254 batting average being significantly below his career norm (.290 BA). Sometimes line drive rate can boost BABIP. Unfortunately, Bichette’s 18.6% line drive rate is a career low, over three points below his career average. He is making more contact this season, with a 84.3% contact rate, over three points above his career norm. Meanwhile, Bichette’s 8.3% swinging-strike rate and 53.4% swing rate have fallen by 1-2 percentage points from his career averages, suggesting that he is being more selective. Most of Bichette’s power skill metrics have been stable with a 5.6% barrel rate per plate appearance similar to his career average (6.5%). We could speculate on what the power metrics would look like if Bichette attempted to pull the ball more, though that would significantly change his approach. The projection systems expect 20 home runs and Bichette’s batting average to regress.Bichette doesn’t seem to have the per-plate appearance upside, as he thrives on volume for counting stats. He is more valuable in deeper rotisserie leagues than head-to-head formats. It might be worth seeing what you could net in return for Bichette based on name value. A repeat of 2025 looks likely if we bake in a lower batting average. Christian Yelich, OF, Brewers (93% Rostered)Christian Yelich felt like an undervalued hitter after hitting 29 home runs and stealing 16 bases. That reminded us of what a peak Yelich season looks like when healthy. Yelich’s 69.9% contact rate is the lowest since 2020 and over seven points below his career average. He is swinging and missing more, given his 13.6% swinging-strike rate this season, nearly four points above his career norm. Those metrics typically have an inverse relationship, making sense to see Yelich’s lower contact rate and higher whiff rate.The visual below shows the hitters with a three-point drop in their average exit velocity on flyballs and line drives this season compared to 2025.This chart shows hitters with a decrease in exit velocity on fly balls and line drives.Corbin YoungGroundballs and launch angles have been problematic for Yelich throughout his career. Yelich has a 56.4% groundball rate this season, similar to his career average (55.9%). When hitters hit the ball into the ground often, we want them to crush flyballs and line drives. Yelich rocked a 96.5 mph average exit velocity on flyballs and line drives (FB/LD) in 2025, ranking 23rd. Unfortunately, Yelich’s EV on FB/LD fell to a concerning 90.3 mph (No. 222 out of 254 qualified hitters) this year. That further aligns with Yelich’s 4.4% barrel rate per plate appearance, being significantly lower than his career norm (6.2%). Based on Yelich’s track record, we should expect those numbers to regress, though age and previous injuries might cloud our judgement. The projections suggest Yelich should reach 15 home runs, but that’s probably not what fantasy managers expected.From a speed standpoint, Yelich has converted 100% of his stolen base chances while having a 10% stolen base opportunity rate. Yelich’s stolen base opportunity has fluctuated throughout his career with 13% in 2025, 22% in 2024 and a career average of 13%. His sprint speed took a bit of a hit this season, ranking in the 44th percentile after a 71st percentile (2025) or higher in recent seasons. He might need to be smarter on the bases if there’s a speed decline. There’s a good chance that Yelich matches his stolen base total from 2025.Maybe it was unrealistic to expect Yelich to be a 30/15 performer, with 25 home runs being probable. The projections expect a 15/15 type player, which can be more replaceable on waivers. Like Bichette, we can’t blame fantasy managers for shopping Yelich around based on name value.However, the difference between Yelich and Bichette involves Yelich flashing more upside recently, making him somewhat of a buy-low candidate. I would be buying low on Yelich. Eugenio Suárez, 3B, Reds (79% Rostered)Fantasy managers drafted Eugenio Suárez for power after hitting 49 home runs in 2025, though 36 of them came while playing with the Diamondbacks. Besides Suárez’s oblique injury, it’s fair to say he is underperforming expectations, with seven home runs and a .212 batting average. He hit two in one game against the Mets earlier in the week. Suárez has been struggling to make contact (67.9%) while whiffing often (15% swinging-strike rate). For context, Suárez’s contact rate is five percentage points below with the swinging-strike rate three points higher than his career norm. Here's a look at the Reds third baseman's barrel% per plate appearance year-over-year.Corbin YoungThankfully, Suárez makes up for his plate discipline struggles with hitting the ball hard. It might be fluky, but Suárez is pulling the ball (41.8%) less often while hitting significantly fewer flyballs (39.1%) this season. He has a 46.4% pull rate and a 42.4% flyball rate throughout his career. Unsurprisingly, pulling the ball less often into the air, aligns with his worst barrel rate per plate appearance (4.8%) since 2017. Hopefully, Suárez’s oblique injury isn’t lingering around, because that would impact him as a power hitter in a sport that relies on core strength and rotational movements.The projections expect Suárez to post 25 home runs with a .220-.230 batting average. That’s similar to Suárez’s last full season in Seattle in 2023. The underlying metrics for Suárez look worrisome, so I would be cautious on buying low if fantasy managers expect over 30 home runs.

Harry Kane is England's record goalscorer followed by Wayne Rooney (53 goals in 120 appearances), Sir Bobby Charlton (49 in 106) and Gary Lineker (48 in 80) [Getty Images]Gary Lineker thinks Harry Kane is "the greatest English striker we've ever had" after the England captain equalled his record of 10 World Cup goals on Wednesday. Kane, 32, scored twice as England opened their tournament campaign in Dallas with a 4-2 victory against Croatia in Group L. Former Three Lions striker Lineker, 65, reached his tally between the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and Italia 90, while Kane is playing at his third tournament after featuring in Russia in 2018 and Qatar four years ago. "Welcome to the double-figures club. It's great. I mean, it may have taken him a World Cup more," ex-Match of the Day presenter Lineker joked on The Rest is Football podcast."In all seriousness, Harry Kane is, I think, the greatest English striker we've ever had. I genuinely think that now." Kane now has 81 goals in 115 international appearances and leads the list of England's record goalscorers. England face Ghana in their second group game on 23 June at 21:00 BST.Bayern Munich's Kane gave England the lead with a retaken penalty early in the first half, before scoring a powerful header to restore his side's lead three minutes before the break. "I'm absolutely delighted that Kane equalled my record," Lineker continued. "His all-round game is, for me, what separates him from all the others."Kane's standout performance comes after Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick for Argentina against Algeria, Kylian Mbappe opened his account for France with two goals in the win over Senegal and Manchester City's Erling Haaland also scored a brace in Norway's victory against Iran. Lineker's co-host Alan Shearer, who scored 30 goals for England including two at the 1998 World Cup, said: "Harry Kane has seen Messi, Mbappe and Haaland all come on straight away and get the goals."It's only a matter of time before he breaks your record."Manchester United defender Harry Maguire, who was left out of England boss Thomas Tuchel's squad for this summer's tournament, said Kane is not just the Three Lions' best player, he's "one of the best players in the world".He added: "You can't speak highly enough of him. On the pitch, he's unbelievable, but, off the pitch, he's a massive leader." Tactical analysis: England look exciting but how can they tighten up?Play BBC Sport's new World Cup predictor gameWorld Cup fixtures and group standingsHow to watch the World Cup on the BBCEverything you need to know about the World Cup

The Trump administration updated the language describing a small federal grant program in what experts are calling a “Trojan horse” that could have sweeping implications for IVF access and reproductive rights overall. The Embryo Adoption Awareness and Services Program is a public awareness campaign through the Department of Health and Human Services aimed at shedding light on the surplus of frozen embryos available for adoption. It also provides funding to a small group of organizations seeking to help prospective parents adopt embryos. Related Trump admin sues world’s leading trans medical group, alleging financial blackmail of parents But the 62-page handbook describing the program now contains a stark message: that the program considers embryos as existing children. The program “recognizes embryo adoption first and foremost as a response to the needs of children who already exist and are in need of a family,” the description states, purporting to place “the best interests of the child at the center of all activities.” The handbook also states that grant funds cannot be used to “facilitate the donation of human embryos to embryo-destructive research” or to “pay for, subsidize, promote, or otherwise support discarding or destroying human embryos.” Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Dorianne Mason, senior director of health equity and contraceptive access at the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), told HuffPost the updated language is “essentially a Trojan horse” and “incredibly harmful,” despite the fact that on its face, the program seems relatively non-controversial. Anti-abortion activists have long advocated for the law to recognize both embryos and fetuses as having the same rights as fully born human beings, which could have tremendously detrimental effects on both IVF and abortion rights. As states increasingly grant legal rights to unborn children in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, the debate has grown over whether embryos count as human beings or personal property that can be used, donated, or destroyed at will. Republicans are now stuck between trying to assure the majority of Americans they support IVF access while also catering to their more extreme far-right backers who want those who want the destruction of embryos to be considered legal murder. In Alabama, for example, a 2024 state Supreme Court decision ruled that embryos have the same legal rights as children, creating widespread fear that IVF providers could face criminal charges if they mishandle or destroy an embryo. Discarding unused or abandoned embryos is a routine part of the IVF process, and the court even acknowledged that its ruling would effectively end IVF treatment in Alabama. Several major providers in the state halted IVF treatment in the ensuing weeks, leaving LGBTQ+ couples, single people, and those who struggle with fertility issues with dwindling access to the most common method of assisted reproduction. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) then signed a bill shielding in-vitro fertilization (IVF) providers from civil and criminal liability, but the underlying issue of embryonic personhood remains in the state. Heather Shumaker, NWLC’s senior director of state abortion access and lead on fetal personhood work, said the Trump administration’s declaration of embryonic personhood in the adoption program “is all part of their long-term plan to eventually ban abortion.” “In order to do that, they have to have examples of embryos being treated as children in public policy and law,” Shumaker explained. “So, this is just fuel for that fire – to say, ‘Look, the federal government says that an embryo is in fact a child’ – and that becomes something to lean on when making these arguments.” In the wake of the Alabama decision, other states across the country began to consider legislation that would define embryos and/or fetuses as people, causing many prospective parents – especially LGBTQ+ people, who disproportionately rely on assisted reproductive technology to have children – to become terrified for the future.A 2024 study released by surrogacy agency SurrogateFirst in 2024 found that a whopping 98% of intended parents of all identities are concerned about legislation seeking to restrict family-building services. The SurrogateFirst study found that 50% of same-sex couples said they are “extremely concerned” about fetal personhood bills, compared to 41% of heterosexual couples. 67% of same-sex couples also expressed extreme concern that IVF and surrogacy could be negatively impacted by these bills, compared to 29% of heterosexual couples. But the national outrage spurred by the Alabama ruling made it clear that Americans on both sides of the aisle (including a significant number who are anti-abortion) overwhelmingly support easy access to IVF and other fertility treatments. This has placed Republicans in a tricky position, as these court decisions directly stem from their successful crusade to overturn Roe v. Wade. Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Vibeforge Trust & Safety Protecting the community starts before spam, bots, and fake accounts ever get comfortable. At Vibeforge, we use CleanTalk.org because building a social platform is not just about creating features, profiles, feeds, groups, and community tools. It is also about protecting the people who use the platform. A healthy online community depends on trust, and...

Watching UFC Freedom 250 reminded me of what boxing has been getting so wrong of late.There were so many defining images from the MMA market-leader’s signature show, that it was hard to keep track of them all. It went beyond the U.S. Navy combining with the Air Force for a spectacular flyover of Blue Angels and Thunderbird jets, to U.S. President Donald Trump getting his own walkout alongside UFC boss Dana White. The pageantry would have meant little if the fights fizzled out, but each of the seven bouts all seemed to over-deliver. And it was all punctuated with American fighter, Justin Gaethje, pulling off the mother of all upsets by breaking Ilia Topuria’s face in two places.But that’s not what stuck most with me, looking at the event from my boxing lens.No, it was actually the introduction of the former heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, during a moment that over-promised and under-delivered.Tyson Fury appeared at UFC Freedom 250 to make an announcement for an announcement ... sort of.Jeff Bottari via Getty ImagesFor weeks, White was seemingly convinced that he would be involved in the prospective showdown between Fury and his longtime British rival, Anthony Joshua. And so, when you see Fury at a UFC show on Paramount+, the natural mental leap was that he’s either the latest big-name prizefighter to sign terms with White’s upstart firm Zuffa Boxing, or that the Battle of Britain may not actually take place in Britain at all.When encouraged by UFC commentator Jon Anik to make an "announcement involving Dana White," Fury said only: "I think I'm going to let Dana do the speaking, and let him do his announcement."In that very moment, the inability of boxing to move forward had found its way to the grandest of stages, as the UFC, who had given Fury the presidential treatment, got literally nothing back in return.There was no announcement. There is no fight.For now.Boxing cannot help but get in its own way. And it’s been a theme throughout the year, despite a handful of tentpole events like David Benavidez vs. Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, Mario Barrios vs. Ryan Garcia, and Xander Zayas’ upcoming unified super welterweight world title defense against Jaron “Boots” Ennis on June 27.We've not had nearly enough marquee shows considering we are already halfway through the year. And it is not enough when many fighters seem to talk more about boxing than have actual fights, like Conor Benn in particular appears to do.The boxing-related news that seems to resonate right now focuses on Floyd Mayweather’s alleged finances, Adrien Broner’s live streams, and the continued rise of Misfits.All is not lost, though. And there are at least three ways in which the sport can yet salvage a barren year.The most obvious way to accelerate after the skids is to recapture momentum by booking the biggest bouts you can. Fury vs. Joshua is an obvious one that appears to be in motion behind-the-scenes, regardless of who is involved. Benavidez and Dmitry Bivol have an opportunity to create a bonafide pound-for-pound showdown too. And should Vergil Ortiz free himself from a legal abyss with Golden Boy Promotions, then a fight against the Zayas-Ennis winner is a no-brainer.Jaron Ennis (R) is one of the rare bright spots on the boxing calendar right now.Mark Robinson via Getty ImagesIt’s not just fights that need to get made, though, but how we view them needs to change too.DAZN has become the home of boxing, having secured deals with UK fight firm BOXXER and longstanding American mainstay Top Rank, to go along with its contracts with Queensberry Promotions, Matchroom and Golden Boy Promotions. That increasingly leaves Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on an island, and so, when its contractual obligations with Prime Video expire, there is only one place for PBC to go that would benefit both fight fans and the sport: DAZN.Lastly, the women’s game has never had better infrastructure considering the rising status of Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) and its deals with ESPN and Netflix, but it remains, nonetheless, in a precarious position.Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor are two fighters who helped shoulder the sport between them, and they are both retiring in 2026. They have incredible legacies and could, in theory, leave significant gaps in the sport unless boxing acts fast to determine its next female face.Considering the talent at his disposal, women’s boxing promoter Jake Paul has the ability to do just that. In Alycia Baumgardner and Caroline Dubois, MVP has a possible transatlantic fight that could erupt on either side of the pond.But the problem is that only one of them seems to want to dance. Dubois has long called for her shot. Baumgardner, though, insists that there are levels between them.And therein lies an issue. The stagnation that happens in the men’s game has infected the women’s side too. It's so frustrating because from the outside looking in, it is all so avoidable.Boxing has spent six months promising all kinds of announcements. But the only way the rest of the year can be salvaged is if it actually starts to keep some.

FLOWERY BRANCH, GEORGIA - MAY 27: Casey Washington #82 of the Atlanta Falcons runs through drills during OTA's at IBM Performance Field on May 27, 2026 in Flowery Branch, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) | Getty Images I’m running a bit late to this news, but it’s surprising during minicamp. The Atlanta Falcons have signed three former UFL players they’ve worked out in recent days, and one of their three cuts qualifies as a bit of a shocker.That would be Casey Washington, who was an interesting addition as a sixth round pick to a thin Falcons receiving corps in 2024. The surprise isn’t that Washington won’t make this team—that was always a possibility with a new regime and plenty of additions at the position—but that it’s happening this early in the year. Washington leaves with seven receptions for 108 yards in 15 games as a Falcon. We’ll wish him well wherever he lands, as well as defensive linemen Elijah Garcia and CJ Nunnally IV. The #Falcons have announcing the signings of WR Antwane Wells Jr., DT Devonnsha Maxwell and DE Keshawn Banks.In corresponding moves, Atlanta has released WR Casey Washington, DL Elijah Garcia and DE CJ Nunnally IV.Cutting Washington is the biggest surprise. He was a Falcons…— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) June 17, 2026That out of the way, all three of Atlanta’s additions are interesting ones, and all of them come to the Falcons from the UFL. Devonnsha Maxwell is fresh off a season where he put up four sacks for the DC Defenders, and he adds some more pass rushing juice to the group of interior defensive linemen this summer. He’ll compete for a deep reserve or practice squad role, but if he can show out during the summer, Maxwell has a decent chance of grabbing a spot given that Nate Ollie can never have enough aggressive, quarterback-chasing defensive linemen.Keshawn Banks appeared in three games with the Patriots early in his career, taking on a special teams role there, before putting up five sacks and a league-high 11 tackles for a loss with the Orlando Storm of the UFL in 2026. The ability to play special teams and the UFL production should help him as he chases a practice squad spot in a fairly deep outside linebacker group, especially if James Pearce Jr. is suspended as expected early this year.Finally, there’s Antwane Wells Jr., who boasts similar size to Washington and is fresh off a season where he managed 25 receptions for 237 yards and two touchdowns for the Columbus Aviators. Wells is a rugged possession receiver who will try to latch on to a practice squad spot in a re-tooled receiver corps, competing with the likes of veterans Chris Blair and Dylan Drummond and a handful of undrafted free agents. Give a warm welcome to all three, and we’ll see if they can turn this opportunity into a productive summer and a spot on the team.

Oklahoma City's Zach Ehrhard drives in a run during a minor league baseball game between the Oklahoma City Comets and the Albuquerque Isotopes at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Friday, March 27, 2026. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Three separate starting pitchers struggled heavily in a disappointing day across the Dodgers’ minor league system, particularly in the higher levels.Player of the dayWhile it wasn’t enough for the win, Zach Ehrhard did his part and then some, recording two home runs and four RBI in what has been an absurd month of June for the twenty-three-year-old.Zach Ehrhard with another multi-homer game!☄️ pic.twitter.com/Xx9hdE4Ctf— Oklahoma City Comets (@OKC_comets) June 18, 2026Ehrhard is batting .345 with eight homers since the start of the month, securing nearly as many walks (12) as he has strikeouts (14), scoring 17 runs, and driving in 18.Triple-A Oklahoma CityRiver Ryan dug too big a hole for the Comets to dig themselves out of as the right-hander allowed eight runs in 4.1 innings of work against the River Cats in a 9-6 loss. The deficit could’ve even been larger, but the River Cats left 13 on base against just five from the Comets, whose offense didn’t have a lot going on besides Zach Ehrhard.The Comets’ leadoff hitter managed his third multi-homer game this month, going deep in both the third and seventh innings to reach 11 homers on the season. Unfortunately, the two hitters behind him, James Tibbs III and Jack Suwinski, didn’t reach base once, combining to strike out five times. The only other standout hitter for the Comets in the game was catcher Eliezer Alfonso, accumulating three hits, all of them doubles.Double-A TulsaRyan wasn’t the only Dodgers’ minor league starter who struggled on Wednesday, as Patrick Copen also didn’t give his team much of a fighting chance against the Naturals, letting in six of their seven runs in a 7-2 win against Tulsa.With one of the Drillers’ runs coming on a wild pitch, allowing Mike Sirota to score, their only RBI came from the leadoff spot with Josue De Paula hitting a solo shot in the third. Speaking of Sirota, though, the offense’s issues didn’t go through him, who reached base four times.High-A Great LakesAnother game, another starter getting his doors blown off, as Zach Root allowed in 10 hits and seven runs, five of them earned, more than enough for the Captains to handsomely beat the Loons, whose 0 for 11 performance with runners in scoring position proved costly.Take Charles Davalan, for example. The Loons’ number two hitter went three for four and yet didn’t score a run or drive in one, with the two hitters surrounding him going 0 for 8. All three of the Loons’ runs came from the bottom of the order in sacrifice flies or errors.There was a second game scheduled between these two clubs, but the doubleheader was postponed for today, June 18th.Single-A OntarioAt last, a win. Starter Cam Leiter tossed three scoreless innings, recording strikeouts in seven of his nine outs. Even with that, the bullpen didn’t make it easy in this eventual 8-5 affair with reliever Jholbran Herder coughing up a four-spot in the sixth.Chase Harlan and Ching-Hsien Ko both homered in this one—Ko’s homer was of particular significance, breaking a long streak for a hitter whose last long ball had come nearly a month ago, on May 20th. First baseman Easton Shelton secured a couple of RBI behind those two, and in doing so, he reached 60 on the season.Wednesday’s scoresOklahoma City 6, Sacramento 9NW Arkansas 7, Tulsa 2Great Lakes 3, Lake County 7Ontario 8, Rancho Cucamonga 5Thursday’s schedule10:05 a.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Christian Romero) vs. Sacramento (John Michael Bertrand)2:35 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Christian Zazueta) at Lake County (Braylon Doughty)Game 2: Great Lakes (TBD) at Lake County (TBD)5:05 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Peter Heubeck) at NW Arkansas (Steven Zobac)6:35 p.m. PT: Ontario (Dylan Jordan) vs. Rancho Cucamonga (TBA)

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 16: CJ Abrams #5 of the Washington Nationals looks on during the game between the Kansas City Royals and the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on Tuesday, June 16, 2026 in Washington, District of Columbia. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images Entering the season, I would guess that Paul Toboni fully anticipated being sellers at the trade deadline. However, year one under this new regime has exceeded all expectations. The Nats are currently 39-36 and tied for the third wild card spot. This could create a conundrum for the Nats new President of Baseball Operations at the August 3rd trade deadline.Yesterday, Jeff Passan released an article ranking trade candidates and also listed some potential suitors. There were 100 names on the list, but he only gave a suitor list for the first 25. The Nats were listed as a potential fit for Joe Ryan, Reid Detmers, Jose Soriano, Luis Arraez and Matt Chapman. With that news out there, this could turn out to be a very entertaining deadline.Free at ESPN: The top 100 trade candidates before the Aug. 3 deadline — with the likelihood they move and potential landing spots. @kileymcd and I will be updating this list periodically as the deadline approaches to reflect teams' evolving statuses. https://t.co/4DX6hlcWkx— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 17, 2026The last time the Nats were buyers was all the way back in 2019, when Mike Rizzo patched up a leaky bullpen. Since then, the Nats have still been very active at trade deadlines, but they have been selling pieces off instead of buying.We still have a long way to go before August 3rd, but the fact the Nats are listed as potential buyers is exciting. Unsurprisingly, almost all of the names listed as fits for the Nats have team control beyond 2026. The only rental listed is Luis Arraez, who seems like an unlikely target to me.In my opinion, the cleanest fits for the Nats are either of the two Angels pitchers. Reid Detmers and Jose Soriano would both slide into the top of the Nats rotation alongside Cade Cavalli. Both have premium stuff and are under control for two years after this one. If the Nats want to maximize CJ Abrams, who is on the same timeline, these would be fun fits.For most of the season, it seemed like Soriano would be the bigger fish. However, despite having a sub-3 ERA, he has really cooled off lately. Soriano has an ERA close to 5 since allowing only 1 run in his first 37.2 innings. Despite the hot and cold results, Soriano has nasty stuff and is going fairly deep into games. His fastball averages 97, and his splitter and curve are nasty. Soriano just needs to clean up his control.A package with Ronny Cruz, Luke Dickerson, Alex Clemmey and maybe one more smaller piece may be enough. In my opinion, Detmers is likely to cost even more despite having a higher ERA and less velocity. The lefty has a 3.68 ERA, but that is dropping fast and his FIP is under 3. With Detmers, you don’t need to change much about his arsenal or control, you can just plug him in.For a while, I was a Detmers guy because it seemed like you would be buying low. However, you are certainly not going to be buying low at this point. The Angels will and honestly should be asking for a similar value to what the Nats got back for MacKenzie Gore, maybe a little bit more.I actually think Soriano is the smarter play of the two. He is likely to cost slightly less and needs to make a couple tweaks. However, his upside is even higher than Detmers, and he would be a fun project for Simon Mathews. Passan even noted that Soriano could be a fun target for teams with savvy development teams.One final name that intrigues me is Matt Chapman. He is a different sort of target. Chapman is 33 years old and is under contract until 2030. However, acquiring the veteran could be a 3D chess move for Paul Toboni. As we all know, there is a looming CBA battle. There seems like a good chance that some sort of salary floor will be put into place.Acquiring Chapman and the final 4.5 years of his 6-year $151 million deal would be a good way of getting ahead of that. Chapman still has gas in the tank, with 1.5 fWAR and 2.9 bWAR. Taking on a big chunk of that contract would be a good way to get closer to a potential floor and acquire a good player for not a lot of prospect capital. The Giants seem desperate to clear salary and build around Bryce Eldridge. Meanwhile, the Nats could get a veteran presence and an elite third baseman who still has a lot in the tank.Another avenue the Nats could explore is to look for bullpen help. As we all know, this Nats bullpen is not very talented. Beyond Brad Lord and Orlando Ribalta, there are a bunch of question marks. One name I like that is actually 36th on Passan’s list is Daniel Lynch IV of the Royals.While Lynch allowed a 3 run homer to Curtis Mead the other day, he is having a wonderful season. His ERA is 2.61, while his FIP and xERA are in the low 3’s. Lynch is a lefty with swing and miss stuff, which the Nats desperately need. He also has 2.5 years of control left. It would take a solid prospect haul, but the Nats would not have to send out any truly high end prospects either.With the Nats playing the Royals and having a winning record, I thought about the idea of trading for Royals lefty reliever Daniel Lynch IV. Lynch has a 1.80 ERA in 30 games with impressive statcast metrics. The 29 year old has 2.5 years of control. What would you give up for him— federalbaseball (@federalbaseball) June 15, 2026However, it is far from a guarantee that the Nats buy. In fact, a soft sell, or some combination of buying and selling feels most likely at this point. Rentals like Foster Griffin, Miles Mikolas and Zack Littell could still be on the block, especially if the Nats fall back in the standings.There is also the looming question of CJ Abrams, who is 5th on Passan’s big board. However, Passan only gives an Abrams trade a 15% chance of happening right now. Teams would love to have Abrams, but Toboni’s asking price was high in the offseason and is likely even higher with the start Abrams and the team are having.On the selling side of things, CJ Abrams was 5th on the list but Passan only gave him a 15% chance of being moved. Griffin and Littell further down the list https://t.co/BTZhsOAkhU— federalbaseball (@federalbaseball) June 17, 2026Abrams also has some warts in his profile that may prevent teams from meeting the sky high asking price. Between his rough defense, his streaky hitting and Toboni’s monster ask, it feels like teams will be scared off. Honestly, they should be scared off because the Nats should hold on to Abrams unless a team gives them an offer they can’t turn down.The 25 year old has been in the middle of the Nats league leading offense, and why should Toboni break up a good thing. With this team ahead of schedule, they should be looking to compete in 2027 and 2028, rather than keep rebuilding. Toboni may have had plans to trade Abrams at this deadline, but it feels like times have changed.If the Nats go on some big losing streak in July, we can revisit this, but for now CJ Abrams is a National for the rest of the year. Foster Griffin is a more likely candidate to move, but his future also depends on how the Nats do in these next six weeks. If the Nats remain in a playoff spot, it would be tough to sell off pieces.This is shaping up to be the most fun Nationals deadline in a long time. Instead of looking at the prospect rankings, I am looking at other teams rosters to find potential targets. Of course, the situation is fluid, but buckle up folks because the next six weeks should be a doozy.

The New England Patriots may need another edge rusher this offseason.Patriots rookie linebacker Gabe Jacas is dealing with an injury to his knee, which he had a procedure on this spring, and is the only second-round pick from this year’s draft class that has yet to sign with their respective team. Though New England is in good hands with Harold Landry and Dre’Mont Jones on the edge, a third star added to the rotation stands to benefit the team greatly in 2026.According to Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay, the Patriots are the perfect landing spot for star free agent edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney.“The New England Patriots are a fantastic fit for Clowney,” Kay said. “The team needs to bolster the edge after coming up just short of a Super Bowl last season, adding some firepower to combat the top-tier opposing signal-callers the squad is set to come up against during the 2026 campaign.”Clowney played at a high level last season in his 12th year in the league. The South Carolina native recorded 8.5 sacks across only 13 games played, six of which he started for the Dallas Cowboys in 2025. He was a disruptor in the pass rush and showed that he’s still a high-end edge rusher in the league.With Landry coming off an injury from the end of last season, and Jones still needing to prove himself after a career-year in 2025, Clowney offers security as a proven former second-team All-Pro honoree with the ability to be a fixture in the Patriots’ defense as a potential starter.Follow Patriots Wire on Twitter and Facebook.This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: Patriots named as best landing spot for former All-Pro edge rusher

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Official: SC Paderborn capture Preußen Münster full-backJano ter Horst has officially transferred from recently relegated second-division side Preußen Münster to SC Paderborn.The newly promoted Bundesliga team reported that transfer fee of over €300,000 will be paid to their former league rivals.Ter Horst is expected to be a direct replacement for right-back Laurin Curda, who is linked with 1.FC Köln and Hamburger SV.Last season, the 23-year-old was one of Preußen Münster's better performers, providing three assists in 32 appearances.“Jano's profile is a great fit for our club. He's versatile in defense,” said SCP sporting director Sebastian Lange about the signing."He's also fast, a team player, and has potential for further development. Jano also impresses with his tremendous mentality and excellent physical attributes. “We're really looking forward to him at SC Paderborn and are convinced he'll showcase his qualities in the Bundesliga.”

OFFICIAL STATEMENT: SUZANNE BAKKERAC Milan is delighted to announce that Suzanne Bakker has renewed her contract with the Club until 30 June 2027.Coach Bakker, who took charge of the Rossonere dugout in the summer of 2024, has brought professionalism, expertise and a clear playing identity, contributing to the growth of the First Team’s technical project.Over the course of several seasons, she has placed particular emphasis on the development of young players from the Youth Sector, supporting their integration into the First Team and helping to enhance their talent.

Florida State has casted its net all the way out west to Las Vegas, Nevada, in search of talent. They have extended a scholarship offer to 2028 four-star wide receiver Zyren Menor out of Bishop Gorman High School."Honored and Blessed to have received an offer from Florida State University!!," Menor said on social media.He has offers from all across the country, and it includes some premium programs. The USC Trojans, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Oregon Ducks, Arizona Wildcats, Arizona State Sun Devils, Miami Hurricanes, and Tennessee Volunteers have also put offers on the table for Meron.The 6-foot, 180-pounder is the nation's No. 92 overall player and the No. 13 wide receiver per the 247Sports composite rankings. He's also the No. 1 recruit in the state of Nevada.Meron played in 10 games as a sophomore, and although he didn't catch a lot of passes, him made them all count. He gained 577 yards on just 22 receptions (26.2 per catch) and scored 14 touchdowns. Honored and Blessed to have received an offer from Florida State University!! #blessings#GoNoles@BrandonHuffman@BlairAngulo@GregBiggins@adamgorney@TomLoy247@BishopGormanFB@CoachT_HarrisJRpic.twitter.com/76MRRda0vf— Zyren Micah Menor (@zyrenmenor_) June 17, 2026Contact/Follow us @FSUWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida State news, notes and opinions. You can also follow Matthew on X @StarConscienceThis article originally appeared on FSU Wire: FSU Football: Florida State offers wide receiver Zyren Menor

Yankees get bad trade prediction on Orioles' All-Star catcher originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.The New York Yankees have the best record in the American League and can improve the roster at the trade deadline. New York has a clear need for a right-handed hitting catcher. Austin Wells and J.C. Escarra have provided little on offense, and Wells' injury replacement, Ali Sanchez, is a short-term option. ESPN's Buster Olney recently linked the Yankees to Ryan Jeffers of the Minnesota Twins, and he appears to be the best potential available backstop if the AL Central club decides to sell. If Jeffers stays with the Twins or goes elsewhere, the Yankees could turn to the Baltimore Orioles. But the odds of the two AL East teams connecting for a trade seem unlikely. "They also have been searching for a right-handed hitting catcher, with the Twins’ Ryan Jeffers being a name that’s been bandied about. They’d love to be able to find a way to trade for Adley Rutschman of the Orioles, but a blockbuster like that is unlikely," The Athletic's Jim Bowden wrote Thursday."Other possibilities include Keibert Ruiz of the Nationals and Agustín Ramírez of the Marlins." Rutschman, a two-time All-Star, would help the Yankees balance their lineup.The switch-hitter has eight home runs and an .802 OPS after hitting just nine with a .673 OPS in 90 games in 2025. MORE: 1 year later, new Rafael Devers trade rumors have arrivedRutschman is a major offensive upgrade over Wells and won't reach free agency until after the 2027 season. Acquiring the former first overall pick seems more far-fetched than a deal for Jeffers, but the Yankees would be thrilled with either behind the plate. More MLB news:White Sox are on an astounding stretch at homeA 'gentlemanly' baserunning move confused the umpires, and everyone elsePirates' Paul Skenes is in a bizarre stretchOutfielder retires from baseball to go play college footballDodgers have a very simple reason to trade for Tarik Skubal

[Newport County AFC]Newport County have signed forward Shaquille Gwengwe from Southern League Premier Division South side Poole Town.The 24-year-old arrives in south Wales after a remarkable campaign in which he scored 46 goals in 46 appearances for the Dorset club, form that County say had "attracted widespread interest from across the football pyramid".In a statement, Newport added that they had "beaten off strong competition" to secure the striker's signature, with Gwengwe regarded as "one of non-league football's most sought-after forwards".The forward spent one season at Poole Town having previously played for Dorchester and AFC Totton, where his goalscoring pedigree followed him.His arrival provides head coach Christian Fuchs with an additional attacking option for the upcoming League Two season, particularly following the departures of Bobby Kamwa and Michael Spellman last week."Everyone at Newport County would like to welcome Shaquille to the club and wish him every success in amber," the Welsh club added.The move continues a busy week at Rodney Parade, with defenders Cameron Evans and Ciaran Brennan both signing new contracts as Newport continue preparations for the 2026-27 campaign.

In May, the Colorado Supreme Court ordered Children’s Hospital Colorado (CHC) to resume providing gender-affirming care to trans youth after it suspended the program in January. Now, it says that they are resuming the program, but that doctors are refusing to provide the care for fear of losing their medical licenses or facing criminal charges. The doctors say they individually sought legal counsel before reaching their decisions. In a communication to the families being denied care, they said, “We were each individually forced to make a very difficult decision, and none of us reached this decision lightly. Ultimately, each of our decisions is driven by the serious risk of federal action that could result in the inability to continue serving and caring for any patients for years into the future.” Related 2nd major hospital opens detransition clinic under pressure from Department of Justice The gender-affirming care provided to minors through the CHC is limited to puberty blockers and hormone therapy prescriptions, and they do not provide surgeries to anyone under 18. The doctors who work at CHC’s TRUE Center for Gender Diversity are actually employed by the University of Colorado School of Medicine, so the hospital theoretically cannot force them to provide any treatment or prescription that they don’t want to, according to a senior CHC official who spoke anonymously to The Denver Post. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The official went on to say that the doctors don’t object to providing gender-affirming care to minors, but are concerned that they will be targeted by the federal government if they provide it. John McHugh, an attorney for the plaintiff families, has criticized the hospital’s move, claiming it is an attempt to “side-step” the court order and shift blame from the administrators to the doctors. “It is, I think, devastating to our clients, to have fought this far… and to have the hospital trying to play games with compliance and to try to throw their providers under the bus,” McHugh said. CHC suspended its gender-affirming care for minors back in January. Like many other hospitals in the country, CHC had received a subpoena from the Department of Justice (DOJ) demanding full records on patients and providers for any gender-affirming care given to minors over the last several years. Many of these subpoenas have been quashed (including the one targeting CHC) with judges describing them as “fishing expeditions” that are intended to “intimidate” and “harass,” and noted that the “Government seeks to fulfill its policy agenda through compliance born of fear.” However, in December, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared without evidence that gender-affirming care for minors was not safe or effective and that hospitals could be punished for providing it. CHC was then referred to the Office of the Attorney General for investigation, and they chose to suspend their gender-affirming care for those under 18 in January. Families of those denied care filed a class-action lawsuit, and in May the Supreme Court of Colorado ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, saying that the suspension violated Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act. The court then instructed a lower court to issue a preliminary injunction to resume care while the main case proceeded through the courts. Since that injunction was issued, CHC has worked to avoid complying with the order. Defending against the lawsuit before the Supreme Court’s ruling, the hospital argued that resuming care could expose it to federal action, legal costs, and the loss of funding. With that argument as support, earlier this month they requested that the plaintiff families put up a $250,000 bond before care was resumed, which they said would help to cover costs if it was later found that the injunction had been wrongly ordered. Attorney Paula Greisen, representing the families, argued against that bond, noting that “If somebody else sues them, then go after that party for whatever damages it causes you. Don’t go after the children. Stop throwing up roadblocks to get around the court order.” Greisen argued that the bond should instead be $1, a common practice in discrimination cases, and a district judge agreed. The doctors’ professed concern for federal retaliation is not unfounded. Texas Children’s Hospital settled with the DOJ in May to stop providing gender-affirming care to minors and to terminate five doctors, revoking their admitting privileges, preventing them from seeing patients at that hospital in the future. A clinic in Ohio also settled with an agreement to cease gender-affirming care for minors for 20 years. Both the Ohio and Texas institutions also had to agree to fund the establishment of detransition clinics. Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

The reversal comes after the Senate passed a bipartisan bill on Wednesday to block the removal of deep-sea monitoring instruments.

A new book by John Leganski, the floor manager for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, offers a rare behind-the-scenes account of how President Trump wields his power through threats and intimidation.

Former England spinner Graeme Swann heaped praise on Ishan Kishan after the wicketkeeper-batter's sensational century powered India to a dominant 170-run win over Afghanistan in the second ODI in Lucknow, sealing the three-match series with a game to spare.Kishan played a stunning knock of 125 from just 79 balls, striking 14 boundaries and seven sixes. His innings formed the backbone of a massive 224-run third-wicket stand with India captain Shubman Gill, who produced a brilliant 154. Their partnership helped India amass 402 before restricting Afghanistan to 232.Speaking on JioStar, Swann admired Kishan's team-first attitude and his ability to fit seamlessly into any role required by the side.“He is the sort of player who will do whatever job you ask of him without any complaints. The fact that he’s come back into the team and looks like he’s never been away is remarkable,” Swann said.The former England spinner also highlighted the way Kishan paced his innings before shifting gears dramatically. According to Swann, the left-hander showed excellent game awareness rather than relying on reckless strokeplay.“He came to the crease and was circumspect for his first fifty, but then took just 19 deliveries to go from 50 to 100, which is ridiculous. It wasn’t crazy hitting or slogging either. He was simply being sensible, picking his spots on the leg side, forcing the bowlers to change their lines, and then playing those gorgeous lofted extra-cover drives.”Swann felt Kishan's transformation reflected the hard work he has put into improving specific areas of his batting.“It’s a sign of sheer class. That shot, wide of long-off, is something he’s worked on over the last two years. It was an area where bowlers could shut him down, but he went away, worked on it, and turned it into a strength, which is brilliant,” he added.Kishan brought up his hundred in only 71 deliveries and ensured India's momentum never slowed. Alongside Gill, he dismantled Afghanistan's bowling attack and set up one of India's biggest ODI totals in recent years.India then completed a comprehensive victory as Arshdeep Singh and Gurnoor Brar picked up three wickets each. Rahmat Shah fought hard with 79, but Afghanistan were eventually bowled out for 232, handing India an unbeatable 2-0 lead ahead of the final ODI in Chennai.

Barcelona superstar’s chances of starting for Spain vs Saudi Arabia growingSpain had one of the most disappointing starts to the 2026 FIFA World Cup as they were held to a goalless draw by minnows Cabo Verde.It was a toothless attacking display from La Roja, who were missing the attacking flair of Lamine Yamal. The youngster was benched on account of his caution over his injury, though he did later come on as a substitute. Following Spain’s mishap against Cabo Verde, there are calls for Yamal to start the next game against Saudi Arabia, in what could be a must-win encounter for Luis de la Fuente’s men.Yamal’s chances of starting against Saudi ArabiaAccording to COPE, Yamal’s chances of starting against Saudi Arabia are increasing as Spain is more anxious about the need to win their first match of the World Cup.Will Yamal start vs Saudi Arabia? (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)As evident after the match against Cabo Verde, the decision to deploy Gavi on the flanks did not quite work, while Ferran Torres and Mikel Oyarzabal offered little to no productivity upfront.That is where Yamal’s flair and ability to create something out of nothing could come in handy for Spain as they look to secure an early breakthrough.Yamal featured for 19 minutes as a substitute against Cabo Verde. So he should be fit enough to start against Saudi Arabia.What’s the catch?All eyes on Yamal’s fitness heading into the Saudi Arabia game. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)However, the report adds that Yamal, even if he starts the game against Saudi Arabia, may not feature in more than 45 minutes.That means the Spanish international could be taken off at half-time by de la Fuente, as the Spanish team does not want to take any risks with his fitness.That means Spain must start the game well if they decide to go ahead and put Yamal in the starting eleven. Yamal, for his part, is keen on starting against Saudi Arabia as well.The onus will be on the Barcelona superstar to create chances or even score a goal himself, knowing Spain lacks the presence of a potent number nine that other big teams have.

Tyler Reddick still leads the NASCAR Cup Series standings, but Denny Hamlin has quietly turned the regular-season championship battle into one of the biggest storylines heading into NASCAR’s inaugural San Diego weekend.Following Pocono Raceway, Reddick sits atop the standings with 704 points. Hamlin is second with 685, trimming the gap to just 19 points with 10 races remaining before the playoffs begin.Now the series heads to Naval Base Coronado, where NASCAR will compete on a temporary street circuit unlike anything currently on the Cup Series schedule. While every driver will face a learning curve, the track type could play directly into one driver’s strengths.And that’s not Hamlin.Tyler Reddick’s Track Record Makes Him a FavoriteOver the past several seasons, Reddick has established himself as one of NASCAR’s premier road-course racers.The 23XI Racing driver owns four career Cup Series victories on road-course and street-style circuits, including wins at Road America, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, and two victories at Circuit of The Americas.His recent results on similar tracks are even more impressive.In his last six road-course starts entering San Diego, Reddick has finished fifth, first, tenth, ninth, sixth, and third. He also opened the 2026 season by winning at COTA, further cementing his reputation as one of the sport’s most complete road racers.Those numbers help explain why many observers will view Reddick as one of the favorites this weekend despite the unknowns surrounding NASCAR’s newest venue.For the No. 45 team, San Diego also represents an opportunity to regain momentum in the standings race. While Reddick still holds the lead, Hamlin has steadily chipped away at his advantage over the past several weeks.A strong finish Sunday could help create some breathing room once again.Hamlin Has Closed the Gap, but San Diego Could Be a ChallengeHamlin arrives in Southern California carrying plenty of momentum.The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran has four victories this season and remains firmly in the hunt for the regular-season championship. More importantly, he has reduced Reddick’s lead to fewer than 20 points, putting real pressure on the standings leader entering the second half of the season.The challenge is that road courses have not produced the same level of consistency.Hamlin’s lone Cup Series road-course victory came at Watkins Glen in 2016. More recently, he has recorded just one top-10 finish in his last five road-course starts entering San Diego, a stretch that includes finishes of 10th, 16th, 23rd, 25th, and 20th.Those results are respectable, but they do not match the standard Reddick has established on similar circuits.That is what makes this weekend so intriguing.If Reddick performs like he has throughout much of his road-course career, he could leave San Diego with a larger cushion atop the standings. But if Hamlin can match or beat Reddick on a track type that has historically favored the No. 45 team, the fight for the regular-season championship could tighten even further.With 10 races remaining before the playoffs begin, every point matters.Reddick still holds the advantage.Hamlin keeps getting closer.

Jun 17, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Jackson Chourio (11) rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the fourth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images The Milwaukee Brewers are looking for a sweep of the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday afternoon, as they’ll also look to lock up a 5-1 homestand against the Phillies and Guards.After a closely fought 2-1 win in Tuesday’s series opener, the Brewer bats came alive last night to win 9-4 against Cleveland ace Gavin Williams. They’ll try to keep things rolling today in a matchup of rookie southpaws, with Shane Drohan getting the start opposite the Guardians’ Parker Messick.Drohan, 27, is making his fifth start of the season and fourth consecutive appearance from the rotation. In those last three outings, he’s totaled 15 1/3 innings against the Giants, Rockies, and Phillies, allowing nine runs on 17 hits and three walks while striking out 16 in a pair of blowout victories and a high-scoring loss. For the season, he has a 3.59 ERA, 2.72 FIP, and 44 strikeouts over 42 2/3 innings.Messick, 25, was a second-round pick in 2022 out of Florida State. He debuted last August but held rookie status through this season. His stats in 2025 and 2026 are nearly identical, so I’ll summarize them as a whole: over 21 career starts, he has a 2.69 ERA, 3.21 FIP, and 120 strikeouts across 120 1/3 innings, totaling 3.7 bWAR. He’s coming off a pair of losses, though, as he allowed eight runs (seven earned) on 10 hits and four walks over 11 1/3 innings in losses to the Rangers and Yankees. He struck out four batters in both of those outings.In some negative injury news, we’ve learned that Quinn Priester, who has missed the entire season while dealing with thoracic outlet syndrome, has opted for “season-ending first rib removal surgery,” that will keep him out eight to 10 months until he’s fully healthy. Priester has had multiple rehab stints in the last two months, but he’s struggled with command, with a 15.75 ERA on 24 walks and 22 hits over just 16 innings over eight appearances. Here’s what he had to say about the injury:Brewers starter Quinn Priester will have thoracic outlet decompression surgery on Monday and will miss the entirety of this season. Here’s a detailed explanation for why he has no regrets about waiting this long to get to this point. pic.twitter.com/QEyuwToxyW— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) June 18, 2026First pitch is slated for 1:10 p.m. on Brewers.TV and the Brewers Radio Network.

NEW DELHI: Australia will look to continue their resurgence and seal the three-match T20I series when they take on Bangladesh in the second T20I at the Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium in Chattogram on Friday.After suffering a 1-2 defeat in the ODI series, Australia bounced back impressively in the shortest format, registering a four-wicket victory in the opening T20I to take a 1-0 lead in the series.The visitors produced a clinical all-round performance in the series opener, with their spin attack doing the bulk of the damage. Adam Zampa and Joel Davies claimed three wickets each as Bangladesh were bundled out for 131 in 19 overs. India-born all-rounder Nikhil Chaudhary, the first India-born male cricketer to represent Australia in six decades, also chipped in with a wicket.Bangladesh had started brightly after captain Towhid Hridoy won the toss and opted to bat, reaching 39/1 in the fifth over. However, Australia's spinners turned the game around as the hosts lost seven wickets for just 60 runs, surrendering control of the innings.In reply, Australia were briefly rocked by the early departures of skipper Mitchell Marsh, returning from an ankle injury, and Josh Inglis. But Cooper Connolly once again emerged as the star performer. Fresh from his match-winning 149 in the final ODI, Connolly smashed 47 off 39 balls, including four fours and three sixes, to guide Australia to 133/6 in 18.2 overs.Bangladesh's debutant left-arm pacer Abdul Gaffar impressed with figures of 2/32, including the prized wicket of Connolly, but it was not enough to prevent Australia from taking the lead.With momentum firmly on their side, Australia will now be aiming to clinch the series with a game to spare, while Bangladesh face a must-win situation to keep the contest alive.Bangladesh vs Australia, 2nd T20I: Live Streaming DetailsWhen will the Bangladesh vs Australia, 2nd T20I match take place?The Bangladesh vs Australia, 2nd T20I will be played on June 19.Where will the Bangladesh vs Australia, 2nd T20I match be held?The match will be played at the Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium in Chattogram.What time will the Bangladesh vs Australia, 2nd T20I start?The match will begin at 1:30 PM IST, while the toss will take place at 1:00 PM IST.Where can fans watch the Bangladesh vs Australia, 2nd T20I live?The match will be streamed live on FanCode.Where can fans follow the Bangladesh vs Australia, 2nd T20I online?Live updates, scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary will be available on TimesofIndia.com.Bangladesh vs Australia, 2nd T20I: Predicted XIsBangladesh: Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Soumya Sarkar, Saif Hassan, Parvez Hossain Emon (wk), Towhid Hridoy (c), Shamim Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Abdul Gaffar Saqlain, Mustafizur RahmanAustralia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Josh Inglis (wk), Cooper Connolly, Matt Renshaw, Tim David, Nikhil Chaudhary, Joel Davies, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Spencer Johnson, Adam ZampaBangladesh vs Australia, 2nd T20I: SquadsAustralia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Josh Inglis (wk), Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Matt Renshaw, Aaron Hardie, Nikhil Chaudhary, Joel Davies, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Spencer Johnson, Adam Zampa, Cameron Green, Riley Meredith, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Philippe.Bangladesh: Saif Hassan, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Litton Das (wk/c), Parvez Hossain Emon, Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Nurul Hasan, Nahid Rana, Abdul Gaffar Saqlain, Nasum Ahmed.

The New York Knicks celebrate with the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy after defeating the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Saturday, June 13, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)2026-06-18T04:08:49Z NEW YORK (AP) — New York is celebrating the Knicks in classic style Thursday, throwing a ticker-tape parade for the team that brought home the NBA championship longed for by generations of fans. The Knicks’ victory — after a 53-year drought — has electrified New Yorkers. Thousands of fans flooded lower Manhattan with splashes of Knicks blue and orange for the parade up the skyscraper-flanked “Canyon of Heroes.” Police said all the viewing pens along the route filled up more than three hours before the procession began at 10:30 a.m.Karl-Anthony Towns hoisted the Eastern Conference championship trophy and a cigar in his mouth on top of a parade bus, alongside a dancing Mayor Zohran Mamdani — a huge Knicks fan. On a nearby float with other alumni, Carmelo Anthony had a victory cigar of his own.“New Yorkers are, as they say, ‘lit’ right now,” Anthony said. “The whole city won.” Film director Spike Lee, perhaps the team’s most iconic fan, was also soaking it in. “I’ve never been to a parade — ever — and I’m glad it’s this one,” Lee said.OG Anunoby, who scored the go-ahead basket in Game 4 on a tip-in with 1.2 seconds left, left his float to interact with fans, holding the NBA Cup in-season championship trophy in one hand and a bottle of Patron tequila in the other.The parade will end at City Hall, where players are expected to get keys to the city. Knicks fans turn out in forcePeople streamed into the area on crammed subways, looking to get as close as they could or find any elevated spot to catch a glimpse.Several blocks from the parade route, fans stood shoulder to shoulder — sometimes on each other’s shoulders — or climbed traffic lights, sanitation trucks or Knicks-colored buckets they’d brought from home. Far away on the Brooklyn Bridge, people gathered just to hear the loudspeakers.“I had to be here today,” said Shareefa Wallace, 34, who got up at 3 a.m. to make her way from suburban Long Island. She grew up in the city going to Knicks games, and she sported the souvenir jersey of one of the legends from that era, Patrick Ewing.She arrived at 7 a.m., too late to get into one of the viewing pens, but “we have to soak up what she can get,” said Wallace, a school psychologist who was on summer break. Read More ‘The New York vibe’Nearby bars and delis filled with fans, some wishing they’d arrived at dawn. But many seemed at peace with the fact that they would only experience the parade from a distance.“We’re fine with the fray, we just want to be with the New York energy and the New York vibe,” said Jean Strong, who came to the parade from Harlem with his nephew and sister.Terrell Emerson, a chef who grew up in Queens before leaving New York, said he’d driven from Maryland with his daughter Madison – named in honor of the Knicks home arena, Madison Square Garden. AP AUDIO: New York Knicks parade brings generations of fans into the streets In an AP interview, fan Angel Oliva, a high school student, says he arrived at 3am and was still unable to get a good spot because of all the chaos and checkpoints, but is just grateful to be near City Hall where the ceremony takes place. Madison, beaming, held a handwritten sign announcing she’d skipped her fifth-grade graduation to be in attendance.“It’s been 53 years — come on. That was a no-brainer,” Emerson said. Sign up for Morning Wire: Our flagship newsletter breaks down the biggest headlines of the day. Email address Sign up By checking this box, you agree to AP's Terms of Use and acknowledge that AP may collect and use your data pursuant to our Privacy Policy. Stars and Knicks legendsKnicks legend Walt “Clyde” Frazier — a member of the ’70s champion teams — was riding along in style, wearing his NBA title rings. A person familiar with the plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the details before they were publicly announced, said Knicks play-by-play announcer Mike Breen was set to emcee the City Hall ceremony.Alicia Keys, the singer who collaborated with Jay-Z on the New York-loving 2009 hit “Empire State of Mind,” has been tapped to perform. “How could I not?” Keys said Wednesday in a social media video that featured her on the phone with Knicks forward OG Anunoby. A parade decades in the makingThe mere fact that the parade is happening is historic in itself. Although the Knicks won the championship twice in the 1970s, the city didn’t host a parade for them either time. Then-Mayor John Lindsay had cut down on ticker-tape extravaganzas for financial and other reasons, and he instead honored the Knicks at a 1970 reception at the mayoral mansion and a jam-packed 1973 ceremony outside City Hall. This time, the city is going all out. A police officer could be seen holding a sign reading, “This is really happening.” And a massive security operationPolice plan to deploy 10,000 officers to secure the event, which follows ebullient but sometimes chaotic street celebrations and some violence during the Knicks’ run to victory over the San Antonio Spurs. At one point before the parade, a small group of people were crushed against a barrier near Fulton Street, a key subway hub, pinned between a swelling crowd and a group of police officers shoving the barrier to keep fans penned in.Some 650 sanitation workers have been assigned to clean up what could be tens of thousands of pounds (kilograms) of debris, if recent history is any guide. Why does New York throw ticker-tape parades?Ticker-tape parades derive their name from the narrow strips of paper used by telegraph-era “stock ticker” machines. New York brokerage firm workers took to tossing the paper out their office windows during parades in the late 19th century, adding a swirling aerial spectacle to the festivities. Over the years, especially up to the mid-1960s, the city rolled out ticker-tape parades to honor visiting foreign leaders, mark historic anniversaries and hail feats in aviation, war, sports, music, space travel and more. The Knicks’ parade will be the 210th, and it comes after a ticker-tape bash for the WNBA’s New York Liberty in 2024.___Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz, Julie Walker and Stephen Whyno in New York and AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney in Southampton, New York, contributed. JAKE OFFENHARTZ Offenhartz is a general assignment reporter in the New York City bureau of The Associated Press. twitter mailto

A sign marks an entrance to a Moderna building in Cambridge, Mass., May 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes, File)prnto2026-06-18T11:10:08Z WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health advisers are debating a new kind of flu vaccine Thursday, the first made with the same mRNA technology that was key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic.Moderna is seeking Food and Drug Administration approval of its new shot, dubbed mFlusiva, as an option for people 50 and older. The FDA advisory committee meeting is a step toward a final decision ahead of the winter flu season.Tens of thousands of Americans die from influenza every year, and older adults are among the most vulnerable. There are various types of flu vaccines already available in the U.S., including three specifically recommended for people 65 and older. But vaccines made with the Nobel Prize-winning mRNA technology are faster to manufacture than other types — something experts say might help if the shape-shifting flu virus mutates in a way that requires suddenly brewing new doses to match. In a study of 40,000 people age 50 and older, Moderna’s mRNA vaccine reduced flu cases by about 27% compared to those given another routinely used vaccine brand. Ahead of the meeting, FDA published a favorable review of that data and reported no safety concerns. Moderna is seeking full approval for the vaccine’s use in the 50- to 64-year-old population — along with authorization for use in those 65 and older while it conducts additional testing.Earlier this year, Moderna’s data was at the center of a highly unusual public dispute as a then-top FDA official blocked the company’s application for its first-of-its-kind shot. Read More The embattled vaccine chief at the time, Dr. Vinay Prasad, said the company should have compared its shot to a high-dose flu vaccine recommended for seniors rather than a standard-dose brand. It was a sign of FDA’s heightened vaccine scrutiny under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.Moderna challenged that decision, noting that FDA staff had approved that main study’s design and citing a separate, smaller study comparing the mRNA shot with a high-dose vaccine for seniors. Days after the spat, the FDA accepted Moderna’s application. The expert panel also will assess that smaller study, which found Moderna’s shot generated flu-fighting antibodies similarly to a high-dose senior shot. The FDA’s initial review noted the new vaccine lacks data on very frail older adults and those with weak immune systems.____The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. LAURAN NEERGAARD Neergaard is an Associated Press medical writer who covers research on brain health, infectious diseases, organ transplantation and more. She is based in Washington, D.C. mailto MATTHEW PERRONE Perrone covers the intersection of medicine, business and health policy. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto

LILLE, FRANCE - JANUARY 29: Ayyoub Bouaddi and Olivier Giroud of Lille celebrate the victory following the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD8 football match between Lille OSC (LOSC) and SC Freiburg at Stade Pierre Mauroy, Decathlon Arena on January 29, 2026 in Villeneuve d'Ascq near Lille, France. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images) | Getty Images Ayyoub Bouaddi continues to attract attention from some of Europe’s biggest clubs, and now former France striker Olivier Giroud (and Bouaddi’s current teammate at Lille) has added his voice to the growing hype surrounding the Moroccan midfielder.Speaking in an interview with the BBC, Giroud offered an assessment of the 18-year-old, while jokingly pointing to the one area of his game that still needs improvement.“At Lille, we make fun of Bouaddi a lot because of his finishing. If he has that quality, he’ll be playing for Real Madrid next year. He’s very similar to Busquets. He’s got his head screwed on right. It’s going to be difficult to keep him at Lille. I’m sure they’ll pay more than 70 million for him.”The teenager has emerged as one of the most highly rated prospects in French football and has recently been linked with several major European clubs. Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly among the teams monitoring his situation closely, while Real Madrid have also been mentioned as a potential destination as the club continues to evaluate long-term midfield options.Despite the growing speculation surrounding his future, Bouaddi appears determined to keep his focus on matters on the pitch, speaking to the media after the game against Brazil:“I am truly happy to know that some clubs are interested in me. But at the moment I am focused solely on the World Cup and we will give everything to achieve the best possible result in the tournament.”

Jalen Brunson had the better basketball season by any traditional measure — a 26-point, 6.8-assist campaign capped with All-Star, All-NBA, NBA Cup MVP, Finals MVP and the Knicks' first title since 1973. But in 9-category fantasy basketball, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges quietly outperformed him, finishing 34th and 43rd to Brunson's 46th, despite neither averaging more than 17 points a game. Their value came from being the perfect complements: defense, efficiency and executing their roles.Anunoby's Finals performance was legendary. Bridges was well worth the picks. Let's dig into how they came out ahead of the superstar on their team, Brunson, in 9-cat.Defense and efficiency winsHere's the math behind it. Brunson had a 31% usage rate — among the highest in the league — and that kind of offensive workload comes with turnovers attached almost by design. But that's just the surface. Brunson's 9-cat shortfall stems from a lack of defensive and rebounding production. He's a near-zero in blocks, modest in steals and unspectacular on the glass. And can't forget the two turnovers a night. Anunoby and Bridges both build their case in the same core way: steals, 3s and shooting efficiency are the shared foundation that lets two sub-17-point wings outrank an All-NBA guard.From there, the two separate slightly. Bridges never misses games and barely turns the ball over, while Anunoby pulls ahead by adding real rebounding and shot-blocking that simply isn't part of Brunson's game.That separation barely registers in points leagues, where none of this matters. Anunoby and Bridges ranked just 87th and 104th in High Score, more than 50 spots behind their 9-cat finishes, while Brunson's scoring and assist volume kept him in the top 25.The OG and Mikal profile?And the part that should change how you draft: this isn't a Knicks thing at all. Pull the league-wide numbers and the same profile shows up (see below).Andrew Wiggins, Jaden McDaniels, Ausar Thompson and a handful of others all sitting inside the top 100 in 9-cat on sub-20% usage. Wiggins and McDaniels are the truest mirrors of Anunoby and Bridges, specifically — same forward slot, same modest box score, same quiet category impact. Thompson is the extreme version: 9.9 points a night next to a 2.0 steal average on just 17% usage.A few names in that group are worth a caveat, though — Collin Gillespie, Myles Turner and Donte DiVincenzo all shoot under 46% from the field, well off the efficiency Anunoby and Bridges bring, so they're not a clean match on that specific trait. But they still check other boxes that matter here — low usage, low turnover with real steal or block production — which is exactly why they're still worth knowing, even as outliers in shooting.Worth noting, too, that the group is almost entirely guards and forwards — the rim-protecting bigs who'd otherwise fit this mold (Donovan Clingan, Onyeka Okongwu and Rudy Gobert) get knocked out by rebound totals alone, which says a lot about how specific the Anunoby/Bridges archetype really is.So now what?Back to the Knicks (it's Parade Day after all), if I were drafting today, I'd still take Brunson near the late-second, early-third round of any 9-cat draft — the volume he provides in scoring, assists and 3s is too valuable to pass up even with the category gaps attached. But volume isn't always king. That's the lesson here.It's the hustle guys, the ones who maximize their opportunities, shoot efficiently and limit mistakes, who quietly become the backbone of a fantasy team. Draft your stars, but don't sleep on the role players who win you the categories your stars sometimes can't.

UFC fighter Sean O’Malley revealed that he told President Donald Trump he had “knocked out a Canadian for you” after his victory over Aiemann Zahabi at the White House’s UFC extravaganza. The 31-year-old floored Zahabi, who is Canadian, stopping his seven-fight winning streak, during the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House Sunday, which was held on Trump’s birthday and ahead of America’s 250th anniversary. “I said, ‘Happy birthday, I knocked out a Canadian for you,’” O’Malley revealed on The Ariel Helwani Show.He added, “I think that’s what I said. People keep asking me what I said, and I’m trying to recall.” O’Malley noted that Trump replied: “You should get the bonus.” UFC fighter Sean O’Malley revealed what he told President Donald Trump after winning his fight at UFC Freedom 250 on Sunday (AFP/Getty)While he was ultimately passed over for the performance bonus, as all seven fights ended in knockouts, O’Malley still recognized the tremendous weight of the historic fight. “It definitely felt a little bit different…because it was at the White House,” he said. “I was fighting the only Canadian on the card, Trump’s birthday, America’s birthday. All these extra things.” Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of Canada becoming the 51st state, even reviving the idea again in a social media post at the beginning of this month, NBC reports.The Freedom 250 event took over the White House’s South Lawn this past weekend, drawing in over 4,000 spectators to take in seven cage matches.The UFC said it invested $60 million in the event.Trump was joined by UFC CEO Dana White, as well as members of his family including first lady Melania Trump and sons Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Barron Trump.The UFC Freedom 250 was held Sunday, coinciding with Trump’s 80th birthday, and was meant to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary next month (Reuters)The event - which ran smoothly despite a rain relay - was somewhat overshadowed by a fighter calling former first lady Michelle Obama a “man” after becoming the heavyweight champion.Fighter Josh Hokit, 28, made the hateful and unprompted comment during an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan after winning his fight on the South Lawn. White, the UFC CEO, later slammed Hokit’s remarks, telling TIME: “I understand that the Obama’s are public figures but I’m completely against saying nasty and false things about people’s families. Everyone knows my position on free speech but I hate that kind of nonsense.”Days later, FBI Director Kash Patel shared that a “planned attack” targeting the big event had been thwarted and five people had been arrested as a result.

🏅 Best XI of World Cup round one has Vozinha and a powerhouse attackWith the end of the first round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Opta released its Team of the Round featuring the players who impressed the most.Now that the national teams have taken the field, it’s possible to get a good sense of who started the tournament in top form.Check out the Team of the Round for the opening matchday!Vozinha (Goalkeeper | Cape Verde): The 40-year-old veteran was a true wall in the historic 0-0 draw against Spain. With seven crucial saves, his heroic performance was key to securing one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.Amir Murillo (Right-back | Panama): Despite the loss to Ghana, the full-back stood out for his strong attacking support and excellent fighting spirit. He led the stats for ball progression and duels won on his side of the pitch.Pico Lopes (Center-back | Cape Verde): A true titan in Cape Verde’s defense, Lopes frustrated the Spanish attack from start to finish. His 11 clearances were vital in preserving the surprising result.Harry Souttar (Center-back | Australia): The Australian giant led the back line with a colossal display in the surprise win over Turkey. Dominating in the air and on the ground, he showed great physical presence and pace.Antonee Robinson (Left-back | USA): A tireless presence down the left flank, he shone in the 4-1 win over Paraguay. Robinson stood out for his excellent ball progression and constant involvement in creating chances.Ayyoub Bouaddi (Central midfielder | Morocco): The 18-year-old talent controlled the midfield in the draw against Brazil, showing impressive passing accuracy. He set the tempo and distributed the ball with the maturity of a veteran.Weston McKennie (Central midfielder | USA): Playing in a more advanced role, the Juventus man was a constant threat against Paraguay, with great chance creation and flawless dribbling. His technical quality and passing in the final third were decisive.Lionel Messi (Right winger | Argentina): With three goals in the 3-0 win over Algeria, Messi became the oldest player to score a World Cup hat-trick (38 years old). On top of that, he matched Miroslav Klose’s record as the tournament’s all-time top scorer, reaching 16 goals.Yan Diomande (Left winger | Ivory Coast): Unfazed by his debut, he was the player who created the most chances in the entire opening round. His surging runs and dribbling tormented Ecuador’s defense in Ivory Coast’s win.Erling Haaland (Striker | Norway): In his highly anticipated World Cup debut, Haaland scored twice and was the main attacking threat in the win over Iraq. Despite missing the chance to complete a hat-trick, he reinforced Norway’s status as a potential dark horse in the tournament.Kylian Mbappé (Striker | France): The superstar came alive in the second half to score two brilliant goals and secure the win over Senegal. In doing so, he became France’s all-time leading scorer and reached 14 World Cup goals, closing in on the overall record.Did anyone get left out? Let us know in the comments!This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

Alex Pereira and his coach, Plinio Cruz, are continuing their verbal onslaught on Herb Dean following the UFC Freedom 250 dispute.'Poatan' was one win away from being the only fighter in UFC history to capture gold in three separate weight classes. Knocking out Israel Adesanya and Jiri Prochazka to capture both the middleweight and light heavyweight titles, Ciryl Gane stood in the way of greatness. Unfortunately for the Brazilian, it wasn't to be, but the loss didn't come without controversy. After being dropped, Pereira was subject to multiple illegal shots to the back of his head, and the referee has come under fire for allowing those strikes to go unpunished.This wouldn't be the first time Herb Dean has been at fault for costly mistakes inside the octagon, but Alex Pereira isn't prepared to make peace with the official. Pereira believes that without the barrage of illegal strikes, he would have been able to recover as he has done several times before in his fighting career. Pereira claimed he would push for Herb Dean never to referee one of his future fights. The former UFC champion also shared what punishment should be in place for Dean's alleged sloppy officiating."Something's got to be done," Pereira said. "But one thing I'll tell you, I think his time is up. I think he already did enough, and just like on a regular 9-to-5, on a regular business, he's been there for too long already, and now he's starting to mess up. Maybe he shouldn't be there anymore. Something's got to be done so people don't end up getting hurt because of him.""Let's say that there was a punishment. The guy goes over there, Herb stops that fight [and] takes a point or whatever. The guy's going to complain but he should say, 'You knew you're not supposed to do this and you still done it.' But now when nothing is done, the guy's going to go, 'You know what, I'm just gonna do what I'm gonna do because he's not going to stop this fight. So then, I'll do whatever it takes to become a champion.'"However, Herb Dean contested Pereira's claims in a video released on social media. Dean insisted each shot from Ciryl Gane was legal, and there were no grounds for complaints."All respect to both fighters, I'm talking about Gane and Pereira; amazing fight," Dean said. "The rule we're talking about is the back of the head, and that's confusing. It's different from boxing. The way we enforce this rule is we focus on the nape of the neck. That's really what the rule should be called."View this post on InstagramHerb Dean's explanation, which revealed that a small section at the back of the head is off-limits rather than the entire back of the head, didn't go down well with Alex Pereira. "That doesn't really make sense," Pereira said in response to Herb Dean. "He kind of changed the line for his favor, even when he made those little lines. So, it's the same as saying, 'I'm going to put a little coin and say this is the area that cannot be hit.' Do you know the size of somebody's hand to be hit on the back of the head?"Pereira's coach, Cruz, considers Dean's justification video to be incriminating, with too many inconsistencies. The pair later went over a conversation they had with Herb Dean during the pre-fight rules meeting. Cruz was used to translate a specific warning to the referee about Ciryl Gane's history of unlawful tactics inside the cage, which was seemingly ignored once the fight unfolded.Alex Pereira then turned his attention to Gane, sharing his opinion on the Frenchman's style."I'm not going to say [he 's a dirty fighter]," Pereira continued. "It's just like I said before, I think it's just his survival instinct. He gets a little desperate. In his mind, he's desperate, and he just does these kinds of things. But he knows what he's doing."

A New Jersey cop who was fired for using an anti-gay slur on the job returned to work earlier this month, following a two-year legal battle. Roselle, New Jersey, police chief Stacey Williams was fired in July 2024 and had his law enforcement license suspended after an investigation by the Union County Prosecutor’s Office found that he had used a homophobic slur and other offensive language both during an October 2022 conversation at Roselle Police Department headquarters and when referring to other officers, according to NJ.com. Related Police are more likely to mistreat LGBTQ+ people, a disturbing new study finds Williams challenged his termination, which also came after the local Policemen’s Benevolent Association union accused him of “abusive, retaliatory, and bizarre behavior.” In May 2025, a judge threw out most of the disciplinary charges against him, reducing his punishment to a 30-day suspension. During a January 2025 hearing, Administrative Law Judge Thomas R. Betancourt reportedly heard how two of Williams’s subordinates – out Lieutenant Delmonte Pryor and Helder Freire – overheard him describing a personal friend as a “f***ot” during the October 2022 conversation. Pryor also alleged that Williams used the same slur in 2020. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Williams claimed he did not remember using the slur, but said it was possible he had. He also admitted to calling a fellow officer a “f*g” 10 years prior. Williams argued that using the slur was “like calling somebody a punk.” Williams argued that while he did not remember using the slur during the October 2022 conversation, he had joked “about a personal friend of mine, nothing to do with anybody homosexual whatsoever.” When Pryor’s attorney asked Williams if he thought the slur was funny, he replied that “it depends on how you look at it.” “Culturally, if you look into the Black neighborhood, people utilize f***ot and the N word,” said Williams, who is Black. Ultimately, Betancourt found that Williams did use the slur during the October 2022 conversation, but that his “use of the word was neither discriminatory nor targeted toward another officer or specific individual in such a manner exhibiting homophobia or disapproval of those who identify as homosexual,” the New Jersey Monitor reported. Betancourt also said he found Pryor’s discomfort over Williams’s use of the slur “overstated.” The New Jersey Civil Service Commission later upheld Betancourt’s decision. In February, lawyer for the Roselle Policemen’s Benevolent Association Peter Paris told NJ.com that Williams’s return to duty “would be a travesty.” “He is known to be retaliatory even before this, so we would expect immediate retaliation,” Paris said. But earlier this month, the New Jersey Police Training Commission reinstated Williams’ license, allowing him to return to his position as police chief on June 9 – despite Freire having been appointed to the position in the wake of his termination. “While there is a long and sordid history of homophobic behavior by police chiefs in Roselle and other towns, I never imagined that the Civil Service Commission would expressly condone the unapologetic use by a police chief of abusive, homophobic tropes toward a subordinate officer,” Paris, who also represents Pryor in his own lawsuit against Roselle, told the Monitor. “It is clear that bigoted police chiefs in New Jersey are protected by the powers that be.” Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Nature, Published online: 18 June 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-01947-1Reliance on artificial-intelligence tools degrades the abilities of physicians and software engineers, studies show.