• Saints still in position to make moves this offseason
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    With $28 million available, New Orleans still has positions to address before the 2025 season.
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  • Bizarre injuries, comebacks -- and a whole lot of winning: What we've learned so far about the Dodgers
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    We knew they'd be good. Here are some things we didn't quite expect about MLB's superteam.
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  • What MLB players and coaches are saying about torpedo bats
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    We canvassed the sport for takes on the hottest trend of the 2025 season so far.
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  • Neymar, Memphis fume as Brazil FA bans skill move
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    Neymar and Memphis Depay are among the stars to criticise Brazil's Football Confederation's new rule to punish players that stand on the ball with both feet.
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  • How Ipswich striker Delap became Man United's top transfer target
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    Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap is in demand and Man United have him above Viktor Gyokeres, Benjamin Sesko and Victor Osimhen in their transfer shortlist. Here's why.
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  • Can USA Hockey get more elite players to go to the World Championships?
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    For years, the tournament has been an afterthought for many NHL players. Here's how that could change.
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  • Meet the Mexican soldier trying to revamp a musical genre accused of glorifying cartels
    apnews.com
    A soldier plays an accordion during the performance of a corrido for the media at a military base in Mexico City, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)2025-04-07T05:07:07Z MEXICO CITY (AP) At a Mexican military base, Captain Eduardo Barrn picks up not a rifle but a microphone. Swaying boot-to-boot, he belts out a song as the sounds of trumpets and accordions roar from a band of a dozen camouflage-clad soldiers.The rhythmic style known as a corrido is recognizable to just about every soul in the Latin American nation of 130 million. But Barrns lyrics diverge sharply from those blaring on speakers across Mexico.I still remember the day I joined the military, he crooned. This is a dream my soul longed for, and if I were to live another life, Id become a soldier again.Barrn, who performs under the name Eddy Barrn, began releasing music videos and songs on Spotify last year in coordination with the Mexican military. His lyrics extol the armys virtues, celebrate proud parents and honor the fallen. They stand in stark contrast to the controversial narco corridos, a subgenre that has sparked controversy as famed artists pay homage to cartel bosses, portraying them as rebels going against the system.Faced with the challenge of addressing a musical style that depicts cartel violence, local governments across Mexico have increasingly banned performances and pursued criminal investigations of bands and musicians. Mexicos president even vowed to reduce the popularity of narco corridos while promoting other, less violent musical styles. But Barrn, 33, is taking a different approach. Instead of censorship, he wants to build upon the momentum with his own military corridos, an effort to both infuse the genre with more socially acceptable lyrics and recruit young people to the military.Narco life is in style and they make it sound really pretty but the reality is different, he said. Were playing our part to invite young people to join this movement of positive music. A vow to change Mexican musicBarrons military ballads are part of a wider government push spearheaded by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has proposed that the government promote corridos about love, falling out of love and peace.She even announced a government-sponsored Mexican music competition in the northern state of Durango showcasing music that avoids glorifying violence, drugs and discrimination against women.It will completely change Mexican music, she said.But in a subculture long defined by resistance and putting words to the harsh realities facing the poor, the governments initiatives around the genre have been met with skepticism about official attempts to promote family-friendly narratives.I dont think using corridos as a way to incorporate other kinds of narratives, is a bad idea, said Jos Manuel Valenzuela, a Tijuana sociologist who studies the genre. There are a lot of songs that sing of peace and love. Its just that those arent the ones that are turning out to be hits because were living in a moment of aggrieved youth. Singing through social issuesCorridos were born in the 19th century, their classical band instruments and the accordion rooted in German and Polish migration to Mexico. At a time of widespread illiteracy, they were used widely to pass on oral histories.The ballads took off during the Mexican revolution, when they were used to share stories of war heroes and glory from the conflict.That is why Barrn says he didnt invent military corridos, but that hes simply bringing them back.Corridos come from the revolution, and were doing the same thing as those soldiers and revolutionaries, albeit in a different age, but the result is the same, he said.The genre evolved over generations, from singing about smuggling tequila during the 1920s Prohibition era in corridos tequileros to grappling with the rising wave of cartel violence in Mexico with narco corridos.All the big social issues are told through corridos, Valenzuela said. Its a metaphor to speak about what weve been living through. Weapons and barbed wire as inspirationBarrn said he would play guitar with his fathers Mexican regional music band as a teenager, and write his own music. He would bring his guitar to play on deployments after he joined the army at 20.In 2021, he said he began writing his own songs about his time in the military and singing with a military FX Band, named after the type of gun the military uses. But the music never went public.Around 2023, the genre exploded when artists like Peso Pluma, Fuerza Regida and Natanael Cano began to mix the classic style with trap music in what are known as corridos tumbados. That same year, Peso Pluma bested Taylor Swift as the most streamed artist on YouTube.A year later, the Mexican army decided to post Barrns music under his artistic name.The music videos, which have clocked tens of thousands of views on YouTube alone, are layered with images of heavy duty weapons, the Mexican flag, barbed wire and Barrn belting out in camouflage and infrared goggles pulled above his military helmet. Originally intended to entertain troops and boost military recruitment among young Mexicans, Barrns songs took on a different meaning amidst the renewed controversy that has come with the corridos boom.The musical style has long been criticized for romanticizing cartel violence, but has hit an inflection point in recent years.Mexican states have implemented performance bans, and prominent artists have received death threats, often claiming to be from rival cartels whose leaders are glorified in their music. And musicians have been forced to cancel shows due to concerns about potential violence.The controversy intensified last week, after the face of top cartel boss Nemesio Rubn El Mencho Oseguera was projected onto a large screen behind the band Los Alegres del Barranco at a music festival in the northern state of Jalisco. The incident, occurring shortly after Osegueras cartel was linked to a ranch under investigation as a training camp and body disposal site in Jalisco, sent shockwaves across Mexico.The performance was met with a cascade of criticisms. Two Mexican states announced criminal investigations, concerts were cancelled and the Trump administration revoked the U.S. visas of band members.It also marked a hardening in tone by Sheinbaum, who called for an investigation into the concert, adding: You cant justify violence or criminal groups.Barrn, who opposes a ban on corridos, believes the solution is to continue to sing cloaked in camouflage with the hopes of reclaiming the Mexican music from his childhood from the negative stereotypes that have grown to define it.He said the army is already planning to release new songs in the coming months.Sadly, weve been stuck with this label of corridos as negative music, he said. A better approach is to reclaim the genre and take a different path to shift the conversation.____Follow APs coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
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  • Author Correction: Recapitulation of premature ageing with iPSCs from HutchinsonGilford progeria syndrome
    www.nature.com
    Nature, Published online: 07 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08924-0Author Correction: Recapitulation of premature ageing with iPSCs from HutchinsonGilford progeria syndrome
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  • Your guide to the men's national title game: How Florida, Houston could each win
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    We're at the final game. With everything on the line, what must Florida and Houston do to come out ahead -- and what could stop them?
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  • Wolves' late-season surge and Suns' next steps: What's at stake in the wild West
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    From the Suns' future to a potential Thunder-Nuggets showdown, here's what to watch in the West?
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  • How Tetairoa McMillan used volleyball to become a top WR prospect
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    McMillan reset records as a receiver at Arizona, but he also had a future in a different sport.
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  • Transfer rumors, news: Liverpool join race for Osimhen, Sesko
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    Liverpool are looking at Napoli's Victor Osimhen and RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko. Transfer Talk has the latest news, gossip and rumors.
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  • First 2026 ESPN 300 rankings release
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    Here's the first look at the top recruits for 2026.
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  • George M. Johnsons All Boys Arent Blue tops 2024 list of most challenged US library books
    apnews.com
    An LGBTQ+ related book is seen on shelf at Fabulosa Books a store in the Castro District of San Francisco on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Haven Daley,File)2025-04-07T10:02:06Z NEW YORK (AP) Removing books from library shelves is no longer just a story of objections from a local community or an individual parent, the American Library Association says. In its new State of American Libraries Report released Monday, the ALA found more than 70% of attempted bans of a given title or titles come from organized groups and elected officials, and just 16% originated with a parent.The most commonly criticized books, including Maia Kobabes Gender Queer and the late Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye, can be found on such websites as www.ratedbooks.org and through lists compiled by Moms for Liberty and other conservative activists.We can trace many of the challenges to lists of books that have been distributed by Moms for Liberty and other groups, said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, who directs the associations Office for Intellectual Freedom. As part of its annual report, the ALA unveiled its list of the 10 most challenged books of 2024, starting with George M. Johnsons All Boys Arent Blue, and also featuring Gender Queer, The Bluest Eye, Stephen Chboskys The Perks of Being a Wallflower and John Greens Looking for Alaska. Most of the books listed have LGBTQ+ themes, continuing a yearslong trend. Other objections include references to drug addiction, such as in Ellen Hopkins Crank, and to slavery and sexual abuse, including those in Patricia McCormicks Sold. The ALA defines a challenge as a formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness. The association, which compiles censorship data through media accounts and reports from librarians, has long believed the actual number of challenges is far higher than the numbers cited in its annual studies.The report comes at an especially perilous time for libraries. The Trump administration is implementing drastic cuts at the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which already is canceling grants to state libraries. Bans have surged in recent years and several states, from Texas and Florida to Iowa and Utah, have passed laws restricting what school libraries can acquire. While the ALA is reporting a sharp drop in challenges in 2024, down to 821 attempts compared to 1,247 the year before, the number remains far higher than before 2021. And Caldwell-Stone doesnt believe censorship is declining. Libraries are now more likely to avoid stocking books that are controversial, or may be prohibited by law, she says. I spoke to a librarian from Texas who told me she was looking over a political book and wasnt sure if she could add it to the collection, Caldwell-Stone said. Librarians dont want to get prosecuted or otherwise face legal trouble. A lot of librarians are operating under these kinds of threats.The 10 Most Challenged Books of 20241. All Boys Arent Blue, by George M. Johnson2. Gender Queer, by Maia Kobabe3. (Tie) The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison3. (Tie) The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky5. Tricks, by Ellen Hopkins6. (Tie) Looking for Alaska, by John Green6. (Tie) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, by Jesse Andrews8. (Tie) Crank, by Ellen Hopkins8. (Tie) Sold, by Patricia McCormick10. Flamer, by Mike Curato RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site
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  • 'Careless People' Is the Book About Facebook I've Wanted for a Decade
    www.404media.co
    In 2018, I spent two days at Facebooks Menlo Park campus doing back-to-back on-the-record interviews with executives who worked on the companys content policy teams. This was after we had published article after article exposing the many shortcomings of Facebooks rules, based on internal guidebooks that were leaked to Joseph. We learned, for example, that Facebook would sometimes bend its rules to comply with takedown requests from governments that were threatening to block the service in their country, that Facebook had drawn an impossible-to-define difference between white supremacy, white nationalism, and white separatism that didnt stand up to any sort of scrutiny, and that it had incredibly detailed rules about when it was allowable to show a Photoshopped anus on the platform.After months of asking for interviews with its top executives, Facebooks public relations team said that, instead, I should fly to Menlo Park and sit in on a series of meetings about how the rules are made, how the team dealt with difficult decisions, how third party stakeholders like civil liberties groups are engaged, and how particularly difficult content decisions were escalated to Sheryl Sandberg. SPONSORED This segment is a paid ad. If youre interested in advertising, let's talk.Your Personal Data May Not Be Hidden. Take Control with DeleteMe.Don't want just anyone finding your information on Search Engines? Remove your personal information from Data Brokers using DeleteMe. Use code 404MEDIA for 20% off Learn more One of the people I interviewed while at Facebook headquarters was Guy Rosen, who was then Facebooks head of product and is now its chief information security officer. I interviewed Rosen about how it could be possible that Facebook had failed so terribly at content moderation in Myanmar that it was being credibly accused of helping to facilitate the genocide of the Rohingya people. What Rosen told me shocked me at the time, and is something that I think about often when I write about Facebook. Rosen said that Facebooks content moderation AI wasnt able to parse the Burmese language because it wasnt a part of Unicode, the international standard for text encoding. Besides having very few content moderators who knew Burmese (and no one in Myanmar), Facebook had no idea what people were posting in Burmese, and no way to understand it: We still dont know if its really going to work out, due to the language challenges, Rosen told me. This was in 2018; Facebook had been operating in Myanmar for seven years and had at that time already been accused of helping to facilitate this human rights catastrophe.Posters that were hanging at Facebook HQ in 2018. Image: Jason KoeblerMy time at Facebook was full of little moments like this. I had a hard time squaring the incredibly often thoughtful ways that Facebook employees were trying to solve incredibly difficult problems with the horrendous outcomes we were seeing all over the world. Posters around HQ read REDUCE CLICKBAIT, DEPOLARIZE, REDUCE MISINFO, and UNSHIP HATE. Yet much of what I saw on Facebook at the time and to this day are, well, all of those things. Other posters talked about having respect for employees, as I wrote about a workforce that was largely made up of low-wage contractors around the world whose job was to look at terrorism videos, hate speech, graphic sexual content, etc. When I asked a Facebook executive about what it was doing to support the mental health needs of its content moderators and to help them deal with PTSD, the Facebook executive in charge of content moderator training at the time told me that they had designed actual physical environments in its offices where traumatized employees could just kind of chillax or, if you want to go play a game, or if you want to just walk away, you know, be by yourself.The biggest question I had for years after this experience was: Does Facebook know what its actually doing to the world? Do they care?In the years since, I have written dozens of articles about Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg, have talked to dozens of employees, and have been leaked internal documents and meetings and screenshots. Through all of this, I have thought about the ethics of working at Facebook, namely the idea that you can change a place that does harm like this from the inside, and how people who work there make that moral determination for themselves. And I have thought about what Facebook cares about, what Mark Zuckerberg cares about, and how it got this way.Mostly, I have thought about whether there is any underlying tension or concern about what Facebook is doing and has done to the world; whether its values, to the extent a massive corporation has values, extend beyond making money, amassing power, growing, crushing competition, avoiding accountability, and stopping regulation. Basically, I have spent an inordinate amount of time wondering to myself if these people care about anything at all.Careless People, by Sarah Wynn-Williams, is the book about Facebook that I didnt know I had been waiting a decade to read. Its also, notably, a book that Facebook does not want you to read; Wynn-Williams is currently under a gag order from a third-party arbitrator that prevents her from promoting or talking about the book because Facebook argued that it violates a non-disparagement clause in her employment contract.Wynn-Williams worked at Facebook between 2011 and 2017, rising to become the director of public policy, a role she originally pitched as being Facebooks diplomat, and ultimately became a role where she did a mix of setting up meetings between world leaders and Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, determined the policy and strategy for these meetings, and flew around the world meeting with governments trying to prevent them from blocking Facebook.The reason the book feels so important and cathartic is because, as a memoir, it does something that reported books about Facebook cant quite do. It follows Wynn-Williams interior life as she recounts what drew her to Facebook (the opportunity to influence politics at a global scale beyond what she was able to do at the United Nations), the strategies and acts she made for the company (flying to Myanmar by herself to meet with the junta to get it unblocked there, for example), and her discoveries and ultimate disillusionment with the company as she goes on what often feels like repeated Veep-like quests to get Mark Zuckerberg to take interactions with world leaders seriously, to engineer a spontaneous interaction with Xi Jinping, to get him or Sandberg to care about the role Facebook played in getting Trump and other autocrats elected.Facebook HQ. Image: Jason KoeblerShe was in many of the rooms where big decisions were made, or at least where the fallout of many of Facebooks largest scandals were discussed. If you care about how Facebook has impacted the world at all, the book is worth reading for the simple reason that it shows, repeatedly, that Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook as a whole Knew. About everything. And when they didnt know but found out, they sought to minimize or slow play solutions.Yes, Facebook lied to the press often, about a lot of things; yes, Internet.org (Facebooks strategy to give free internet to people in the developing world) was a cynical ploy at getting new Facebook users; yes, Facebook knew that it couldnt read posts in Burmese and didnt care; yes, it slow-walked solutions to its moderation problems in Myanmar even after it knew about them; yes, Facebook bent its own rules all the time to stay unblocked in specific countries; yes, Facebook took down content at the behest of China then pretended it was an accident and lied about it; yes, Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg intervened on major content moderation decisions then implied that they did not. Basically, it confirmed my priors about Facebook, which is not a criticism because reporting on this company and getting anything beyond a canned statement or carefully rehearsed answer from them over and over for years and years and years has made me feel like I was going crazy. Careless People confirmed that I am not.It has been years since Wynn-Williams left Facebook, but it is clear these are the same careless people running the company. When I wonder if the company knows that its platforms are being taken over by the worst AI slop you could possibly imagine, if it knows that it is directly paying people to flood these platforms with spam, if it knows it is full of deepfakes and AI generated content of celebrities and cartoon characters doing awful things, if it knows it is showing terrible things to kids. Of course it does. It just doesnt care.Throughout the book, Wynn-Williams grapples with the morality of what shes being asked to do, and whether it feels ethical for her to be doing it at all. This is her book, of course, and she generally comes off as someone fighting to do the right thing at a company that often did not do the right thing. But even this retrospective introspection hit hard for me; Wynn-Williams is a funny, colorful, and sometimes heartbreaking writer. She writes about staying at Facebook even as shes treated terribly and asked to do horrible things following a near-death health emergency she suffered during childbirth because she needs the health insurance, she talks about sexual harassment she says she endured from her boss and Sheryl Sandberg, and about being fired after reporting it.It is obvious why Facebook doesnt want people to read this book. No one comes out looking good, but they come out looking exactly like we thought they were.
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  • Dancing in the Rain: Victor Jacksons Triumphant Return to 54 Below with April Showers
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    On April 7, 2025 Victor Jackson will take the stage at 54 Below for a highly anticipated one-night-only performance, April Showers. This electric evening promises to be nothing short of transformative, as Jackson invites the audience to experience the depth of his musical journey. With his unparalleled vocal talent and infectious energy, he will offer [...]The post Dancing in the Rain: Victor Jacksons Triumphant Return to 54 Below with April Showers first appeared on GLAAD.
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  • Where do proteins go in cells? Next-generation methods map the molecules hidden lives
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    Nature, Published online: 07 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01045-8Spatial proteomics is helping biologists to uncover how cells work by mapping where proteins operate.
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  • From Hippocrates to COVID-19: the scientific fight to prove diseases can be airborne
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    Nature, Published online: 07 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00960-0Science journalist and author Carl Zimmer joins us to talk about his new book Air-borne.
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  • What we've learned so far about the Dodgers
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    We knew they'd be good. Here are some things we didn't quite expect from MLB's superteam.
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  • Is Barcelona vs. Real Madrid the Champions League final we all want?
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    Yes, we're only at the quarterfinal stage, but a Champions League final Clsico is on the cards. How likely is it that the two LaLiga giants can both make it through Munich?
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  • Wolves' lateseason surge and Suns' next steps: What's at stake in the wild West
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    From the Suns' future to a potential Thunder-Nuggets showdown, what are the biggest storylines to watch in the Western Conference?
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  • Van Dijk reveals progress with Liverpool contract
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    Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has revealed there has been "progress" made in his contract negotiations amid continued speculation over his future.
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  • Sources: Vini Saudi move increasingly unlikely
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    A move for Vincius Jnior to the Saudi Pro League is now increasingly unlikely, sources have told ESPN, with no fresh contact between the forward and the Saudi Pro League, and talks having begun with Real Madrid over a new deal.
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  • Hearing on landmark $2.8 billion NCAA settlement could lock in seismic changes for college sports
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    Auburn guard Tahaad Pettiford (0) moves on the court against Michigan State during the second half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)2025-04-07T10:30:07Z Hours before college basketball crowns its next champion, the future of college sports will be hanging in the balance in a California courtroom. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilkens scheduled hearing Monday in a courtroom in Oakland is expected to be the last one before the changes will truly begin under an industry-changing, $2.8 billion settlement of a five-year-old lawsuit against the NCAA and the nations largest conferences. Among other things, it will clear the way for schools to pay up to $20.5 million each with their athletes.Wilken has already granted preliminary approval for the settlement. It was unknown whether she will give final approval at Mondays hearing, which is expected to include testimony from some of those objecting to details of the sprawling plan. LSU gymnast and influencer Olivia Dunne is among the 18 people scheduled to testify, though she is expected to appear via Zoom. The new structure outlined by the settlement, which represents a shift in billions of dollars from the schools into the pockets of athletes, is supposed to go into effect on July 1. Universities across the country have been busy making plans, under the assumption Wilken will put the terms into effect. Were going to have a plan going into July 1, then were probably going to spend the next year figuring out how good that plan is and how we need to modify it going forward, said Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin, whose department is among the biggest in the country and includes a Gators mens basketball team playing for the national title late Monday against Houston. The so-called House settlement, named after Arizona State swimmer Grant House, actually decides three similar lawsuits that were bundled into one. The defendants are the NCAA and the Southeastern, Big Ten, Atlantic Coast, Big 12 and Pac-12 conferences, all of whom have been touting the settlement as the best path forward for their industry. Its a huge step forward for college sports, especially at the highest level, said NCAA President Charlie Baker, whose organization continues to seek antitrust protections from Congress. My biggest problem with the way the whole thing works right now is the schools have been removed from the primary relationship with the student-athletes.The most ground-shifting part of the settlement calls on schools from the biggest conferences to pay some 22% of their revenue from media rights, ticket sales and sponsorships which equals about $20.5 million in the first year directly to athletes for use of their name, images and likeness (NIL). Still allowed would be NIL payments to athletes from outside sources, which is what triggered the seismic shift college sports has endured over the last four years. For instance, Cooper Flagg of Duke reportedly makes $4.8 million in NIL deals from groups affiliated with the school and others. The settlement calls for a clearinghouse to make sure any NIL deal worth more than $600 is pegged at fair market value. Its an attempt to prevent straight pay for play deals, though many critics believe the entire new structure is simply NIL masquerading as that. Another key element is the $2.8 billion in back damages to athletes who played sports between 2016 and 2024 and were not entitled to the full benefits of NIL at the time they attended schools. Those payments are being calculated by a formula that will favor football and basketball players and will be doled out by the NCAA and the conferences.The settlement also calls for replacing scholarship limits with roster limits. The effect would be to allow every athlete to be eligible for a scholarship while cutting the number of spots available. There will be winners and losers under such a formula, though some fear it could signal the end of the walk-on athlete in college sports and also imperil smaller sports programs that train and populate the U.S. Olympic team. ___AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
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  • Trump digs in his heels as global markets keep dropping over tariffs
    apnews.com
    President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at the White House on Marine One, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)2025-04-07T11:56:43Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump remained defiant on Monday as global markets continued plunging and fears of a recession grew after his tariff announcement last week. He said other countries had been taking advantage of the Good OL USA! in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform.Our past leaders are to blame for allowing this, and so much else, to happen to our Country, Trump wrote. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!Trump has insisted his tariffs are necessary to rebalance global trade and rebuild domestic manufacturing. He has singled out China as the biggest abuser of them all and criticized Beijing for increasing its own tariffs in retaliation. The Republican president also called on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. On Friday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that the tariffs could increase inflation, and he said theres a lot of waiting and seeing going on, including by us, before any decisions would be made. Trump spent the weekend in Florida, arriving on Thursday night to attend a Saudi-funded tournament at his Miami golf course. He stayed at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach, and golfed at two of his properties nearby. On Sunday, he posted a video of himself hitting a drive, and he told reporters aboard Air Force One that evening that he won a club championship. Its good to win, Trump said. You heard I won, right? He also said that he wouldnt back down from his tariffs despite the turmoil in the global markets.Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something, Trump said. Goldman Sachs issued a new forecast saying a recession has become more likely even if Trump backtracks from his tariffs. The financial firm said economic growth would slow dramatically following a sharp tightening in financial conditions, foreign consumer boycotts, and a continued spike in policy uncertainty that is likely to depress capital spending by more than we had previously assumed. On Monday, the president is scheduled to welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers to the White House to celebrate their World Series victory. Hes also meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and theyre expected to hold a joint press conference in the afternoon.Trump has strived for a united front after the chaotic infighting of his first term. However, the economic turbulence has exposed some fractures within his disparate coalition of supporters. Bill Ackman, a hedge fund manager, lashed out at Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Sunday as indifferent to the stock market and the economy crashing. He said Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial firm led by Lutnick before he joined the Trump administration, stood to profit because of bond investments. On Monday, Ackman apologized for his criticism but reiterated his concerns about Trumps tariffs. I am just frustrated watching what I believe to be a major policy error occur after our country and the president have been making huge economic progress that is now at risk due to the tariffs, he wrote on X. Top White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told Fox News Channel that Ackman should ease off the rhetoric a little bit.He insisted that other countries, not the United States, are going to bear the brunt of the tariffs.Billionaire Elon Musk, a top adviser to Trump on overhauling the federal government, expressed skepticism about tariffs over the weekend. Musk has said that tariffs would drive up costs for Tesla, his electric automaker.I hope it is agreed that both Europe and the United States should move ideally in my view to a zero tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America, Musk said in a video conference with Italian politicians.He added, That certainly has been my advice to the president.Peter Navarro, a Trump trade adviser and tariff proponent, later told Fox News that Musk doesnt understand the situation. He sells cars, Navarro said. Thats what he does. He added that, Hes simply protecting his own interests as any business person would do.___Follow the APs coverage of President Donald Trump at https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump. CHRIS MEGERIAN Megerian covers the White House for The Associated Press. He previously wrote about the Russia investigation, climate change, law enforcement and politics in California and New Jersey. twitter mailto
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  • Studying seabirds with a cactus as a research assistant
    www.nature.com
    Nature, Published online: 07 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01070-7Ecologist Cecilia Soldatini tracks the movements of magnificent frigatebirds.
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  • AI for research: the ultimate guide to choosing the right tool
    www.nature.com
    Nature, Published online: 07 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01069-0Curious about using artificial intelligence to boost your research? Here are the programs you shouldnt miss.
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  • Red Sox's Duran shares story of suicide attempt
    www.espn.com
    Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran said his on-field struggles during the 2021 and 2022 seasons fueled his depression to the point that he attempted suicide.
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  • Can Volkanovski prove he's still got it?
    www.espn.com
    With Ilia Topuria out of the UFC featherweight picture, the door is open for the next star to walk through at UFC 314.
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  • Red Sox's Duran shares story of suicide attempt
    www.espn.com
    Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran said his on-field struggles during the 2021 and 2022 seasons fueled his depression to the point that he attempted suicide.
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  • Manchester derby shows City and United flaws, Real Madrid and Liverpool lose, more
    www.espn.com
    The Manchester derby showed how far both City and United have to go, while complacency was a theme for both Real Madrid and Liverpool in defeats to Valencia and Fulham, as Gab Marcotti recaps the weekend.
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  • Saka: No rush to sign new Arsenal contract
    www.espn.com
    Bukayo Saka has hinted his long-term future lies at Arsenal and also revealed his "dream" to one day win the Ballon d'Or.
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  • Ex-Mizzou QB Pyne commits to Bowling Green
    www.espn.com
    Quarterback Drew Pyne has committed to his fourth Division I school, telling ESPN he has committed to Bowling Green. Pyne, 24, was a starter at Notre Dame, Arizona State and Missouri, where he returned for a semester to earn his degree.
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  • American YouTuber who left a Diet Coke can for a reclusive tribe on an island is arrested in India
    apnews.com
    FILE Clouds hang over the North Sentinel Island, in India's southeastern Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Nov. 14, 2005. (AP Photo/Gautam Singh, File)2025-04-07T10:53:08Z NEW DELHI (AP) Indian police have arrested a 24-year-old American Youtuber who visited an off-limits island in the Indian ocean and left an offering of a Diet Coke can and a coconut in an attempt to make contact with an isolated tribe known for attacking intruders.Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, from Scottsdale, Arizona, was arrested on March 31, two days after he set foot on the restricted territory of North Sentinel Island part of Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands in a bid to meet people from the reclusive Sentinelese tribe, police said. A local court last week sent Polyakov to a 14-day judicial custody and he is set to appear again in the court on April 17. The charges carry a possible sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine. Indian authorities said they had informed the U.S. Embassy about the case. Visitors are banned from traveling within 3 miles (5 kilometres) of the island, whose population has been isolated from the rest of the world for thousands of years. The inhabitants use spears and bows and arrows to hunt the animals that roam the small, heavily forested island. Deeply suspicious of outsiders, they attack anyone who lands onto their beaches. In 2018, an American missionary who landed illegally on the beach was killed by North Sentinel islanders who apparently shot him with arrows and then buried his body on the beach. In 2006, the Sentinelese had killed two fishermen who had accidentally landed on the shore. Indian officials have limited contacts to rare gift-giving encounters, with small teams of officials and scientists leaving coconuts and bananas for the islanders. Indian ships also monitor the waters around the island, trying to ensure outsiders do not go near the Sentinelese, who have repeatedly made clear they want to be left alone. Police said Polyakov was guided by GPS navigation during his journey and surveyed the island with binoculars before landing. He stayed on the beach for about an hour, blowing a whistle to attract the attention but got no response from the islanders. He later left a can of Diet Coke and a coconut as an offering, made a video on his camera, and collected some sand samples before returning to his boat.On his return he was spotted by local fishermen, who informed the authorities and Polyakov was arrested in Port Blair, the capital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, an archipelago nearly 750 miles (1,207 kilometres) east of Indias mainland. A case was registered against him for violation of Indian laws that prohibit any outsider to interact with the islanders.Police said Polyakov had conducted detailed research on sea conditions, tides and accessibility to the island before starting his journey.He planned meticulously over several days to visit the island and make a contact with the Sentinel tribe, Senior Police Officer Hargobinder Singh Dhaliwal said.In a statement, police said Polyakovs actions posed a serious threat to the safety and well-being of the Sentinelese people, whose contact with outsiders is strictly prohibited by the law to protect their indigenous way of life. An initial investigation revealed Polyakov had made two previous attempts, in October last year and January, to visit the islands, including in an inflatable kayak.Police said Polyakov was drawn to the island due to his passion for adventure and extreme challenges, and was fascinated by the mystique of the Sentinelese people.Survival International, a group that protects the rights of Indigenous peoples, said Polyakovs attempted contact with the tribes of North Sentinel was reckless and idiotic.This persons actions not only endangered his own life, they put the lives of the entire Sentinelese tribe at risk, the groups director Caroline Pearce said in a statement.
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  • Wikipedia Editors Call It: Its the 2025 Stock Market Crash
    www.404media.co
    Its the first Monday after Donald Trump started implementing his so-called reciprocal tariffs and the markets are seeing red. At the time of writing the S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq are all down around four percent with the latter taking the hardest hit. And thats on top of the S&P 500s 10 percent fall last week. Things can still change quickly, and its up to historians to decide what to call Trumps decision to push the economy off a cliff when they write their history books, but Wikipedia editors, who are arguably writing one of the first drafts of history, have already called it the 2025 stock market crash.At the beginning of Donald Trump's second term, he was inaugurated inheriting a particularly strong domestic stock market, the top section of the Wikipedia article titled 2025 stock market crash reads. Whilst this was maintained for a period of a few weeks after his inauguration, the Trump administration began making and announcing increasingly aggressive trade policies in an attempt to practice protectionism and economic pressure, including heightening previous trade wars, starting new trade wars, heavy tariffs, and increasing tensions with allies; most prominently, Canada. As the administration continued to practice these policies, markets began to experience continued turbulence, volatility, and general uncertainty.While the current title of the article definitely calls it a stock market crash, it is, like every Wikipedia article, subject to change depending on how editors continue interpreting events. The article currently includes two disclaimers. The first notes that it may be affected by a current event, and the article may change rapidly as the event progresses. The second notes that there is a pending request from some editors to change the article title to 2025 stock market decline.The suggested renaming is just a placeholder, one editor who wants to call it a decline said in the talk page where Wikipedia editors debate the decision. I cannot find many reliable sources describing this as a "crash", at least not yet. A crash is generally considered to be a fall of >20%.[1] Most indices are bubbling around 910%; it is certainly contentious to label it a crash.The talk page for the Wikipedia article shows that previously there were two Wikipedia pages for the current economic turmoil caused by Trumps tariffs, one titled stock market crash and the other titled stock market decline. Editors agreed to merge the articles, and at least for now keep the crash title.Although there is no definition of a stock market crash it's generally accepted an abrupt double-digit percentage drop in a stock index over the course of a few days is a crash (which both have happened), the editor said, citing Investopedia. Also this is a really big crash, the last time the smp was at 5000 points was in April of 2024, meaning a year of progress has been wiped out in 48 hours. My personal stock portfolio dropped by 25%. But with that being said it might be better to change the title of the article to something like April 2025 stock market crash as there might be a bigger crash later.Just because Wikipedia says something doesnt necessarily mean its fact. Its a crowdsourced repository that ultimately reflects what Wikipedia editors decide. But its also one of the most useful and reliable repositories of information humanity has created, which feeds Google and countless other tools on the internet, and at the very least it reflects a prevailing point of view on what Trump did to the global economy.
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  • How Tetairoa McMillan used volleyball to become a top WR prospect
    www.espn.com
    McMillan reset records as a receiver at Arizona, but he also had a future in a different sport.
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  • What MLB players and coaches are saying about torpedo bats
    www.espn.com
    We canvassed the sport for takes on the hottest trend of the 2025 season so far.
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  • Costas to host event honoring life of Uecker
    www.espn.com
    The Milwaukee Brewers will hold a public ceremony on Aug. 24 to honor longtime broadcaster Bob Uecker, who died in January at the age of 90.
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  • Putin congratulates Ovechkin on breaking record
    www.espn.com
    Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Alex Ovechkin for setting an "outstanding record" as the NHL's top career goal scorer.
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  • Champions League quarterfinals: How to watch, kick-off times, stats
    www.espn.com
    The Champions League quarterfinals get underway this week. Here's everything you need to know.
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  • Pep: Nunes not 'clever enough' to play midfield
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    Pep Guardiola wants Matheus Nunes to develop into a right-back for Manchester City, saying that he is "not clever enough" to play in midfield.
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  • Little suns in the classroom: Ukrainian city mourns children killed by Russian missile
    apnews.com
    Flowers and toys left on a swing seat to commemorate victims killed in Russia's missile attack on Friday, at a children play area near the damaged apartment buildings, in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo)2025-04-07T14:53:20Z KRYVYI RIH, Ukraine (AP) Anger and outrage gripped the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday as it held funerals for some of the 20 people, including nine children, killed by a Russian missile that tore through apartment buildings and blasted a playground.More than 70 were injured in the attack last Friday evening on Kryvyi Rih. The children were playing on swings and in a sandbox in a tree-lined park at the time. Bodies were strewn across the grass.We are not asking for pity, Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the city administration, wrote on Telegram as Kryvyi Rih mourned. We demand the worlds outrage.The U.N. Human Rights Office in Ukraine said it was the deadliest single verified strike harming children since the start of Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022. It was also one of the deadliest attacks so far this year. Ukraine has consented to a ceasefire proposed weeks ago by Washington. But Russia is still negotiating with the United States its terms for accepting a truce in the more than three-year war.U.S. President Donald Trump has voiced frustration at the continued fighting, and Ukrainian officials want him to compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop. Trump vowed during his election campaign last year to bring a swift end to the war. Were talking to Russia. Wed like them to stop, Trump told reporters Sunday. I dont like the bombing. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reaffirmed Monday that Putin supports a ceasefire proposed by Trump but wants Russian conditions to be met.President Putin indeed backs the ceasefire idea, but its necessary to first answer quite a few questions, Peskov said. In Kryvyi Rih, teacher Iryna Kholod, 59, remembered Arina and Radyslav, both 7 years old and killed in Fridays strike, as being like little suns in the classroom.Radyslav, she said, was proud to be part of a school campaign collecting pet food for stray animals. He held the bag like it was treasure. He wanted to help, she told The Associated Press. After Friday evening, two desks in my classroom were empty forever, Kholod said, adding that she still has unopened birthday gifts for them. How do I tell parents to return their textbooks? How do I teach without them? she asked.Russian missile and drone tactics continue to evolve, making it harder to shoot them down, Yurii Ihnat, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force Command, said on national television.Russias Shahed drones have undergone significant upgrades, while Moscow is also modernizing its ballistic missiles, he said.Only the U.S. Patriot missile defense system can help prevent attacks like the one in Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy said late Sunday.He said he had instructed his defense and foreign affairs ministers to work bilaterally on air defense, especially with the United States, which has sufficient potential to help stop any terror.Ukraine will send a team to Washington this week to begin negotiations on a new draft of a deal that would give the U.S. access to Ukraines valuable mineral resources, Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko told The Associated Press. Failure to conclude a mineral deal has hamstrung Ukrainian efforts to secure pledges of continuing U.S. military support.Britains Ministry of Defense and the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, a think tank, say Russias battlefield progress on the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line has slowed since November. But on Saturday night, Russia launched its biggest aerial attack on Ukraine in nearly a month.Both sides are thought to be preparing for a renewed spring-summer military campaign.In Kryvyi Rih on Monday, an air raid alert interrupted a planned memorial a reminder of the continuing threat for civilians. The frustration hit home for Nataliia Freylikh, the schoolteacher of 9-year-old Herman Tripolets, who was killed in last Fridays attack.Even mourning him properly is impossible, Freylikh said.___Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine.___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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  • WNBA mock draft: Paige Bueckers goes No. 1 to Dallas and Seattle selects French star Malonga 2nd
    apnews.com
    UConn guard Paige Bueckers (5) looks to shoot against UCLA during the first half of a national semifinal Final Four game during the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)2025-04-07T14:00:30Z NEW YORK (AP) Theres no doubt whos going first in the WNBA draft next Monday with Paige Bueckers the consensus top pick. After that it gets interesting with Olivia Miles decision to enter the NCAA transfer portal instead of the draft. The Washington Mystics, with a new coach and general manager, control the direction of the draft with the third, fourth and sixth pick. Five teams dont have picks in the opening round as New York, Indiana, Phoenix and Atlanta all traded away their picks. Las Vegas forfeited its pick following an investigation by the league in 2023 that found the franchise violated league rules regarding impermissible player benefits and workplace policies.Heres a look at how the first round could look on April 14:1. Dallas Wings: Paige Bueckers, UConnA generational player who averaged 20.0 points and shot 42.4% from behind the 3-point line this season. Bueckers is one of the most efficient players in college basketball and will pair with Arike Ogunbowale in the Wings backcourt. 2. Seattle Storm: Dominique Malonga, FranceThe 6-foot-6 center played for the French Olympic team last year and has a bright future in the WNBA. She averaged 15.0 points and 10.3 rebounds so far this season while playing for Lyon. While Seattle has a solid frontcourt with Ezi Magbegor and Nneka Ogwumike, its hard to pass up on this talented 19-year-old. 3. Washington Mystics: Sonia Citron, Notre Dame She averaged 14.3 points and 5.8 rebounds during her career at Notre Dame and also improved her defense to become one of the top defenders on the team. She would be the first of three first-round picks for a rebuilding Washington team and is in need of a solid wing. Citron has shot over 90% from the free throw line the past two seasons, one of the best percentages in the country.4. Washington Mystics: Kiki Iriafen, Southern California Was a star at Stanford before heading to USC for her last season. Shes risen her game since JuJu Watkins went down with an ACL tear and helped get the team to the Elite Eight. She averaged 18.2 points and 8.3 rebounds this season and will be another nice addition to a rebuilding Mystics team.5. Golden State Valkyries: Aneesah Morrow, LSUMorrow led the nation in double-doubles, averaging 18.7 points and 13.5 rebounds a game. She is second all-time in that category, behind only Oklahoma great Courtney Paris, having more than 100 in her career at LSU and DePaul.The 6-foot-1 Morrow has a toughness and nose for the basketball.6. Washington Mystics: Shyanne Sellers, MarylandThe Mystics will have had a lot of chances to see Sellers play in college with the Terrapins right up the road. She has size at 6-foot-2, but also plays the guard and wing spot. Her versatility makes her an attractive pick for the Mystics. She was the first player in Maryland history to have 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists in her career.7. Connecticut Sun: Juste Jocyte, LithuaniaJocyte showcased her scoring skills with a 22-point effort against Belgium in the EuroBasket qualifiers. Shes a versatile player who can play any of the guard positions and is really effective on the pick and roll. Has a toughness about her and is fundamentally sound. Sun coach Rachid Meziane, who has spent time coaching in the French league, is well aware of her talents. 8. Connecticut Sun: Sania Feagin, South CarolinaDawn Staley has produced a plethora of talented post players over the last few years, from Aja Wilson to Aliyah Boston to Kamilla Cardoso. The South Carolina coach believes Feagin could be the next one to have an impact in the WNBA, predicting over the weekend that shell be a lottery pick. At 6-3, Feagin has size and shoots over 60% from the field.9. Los Angeles Sparks: Maddy Westbeld, Notre DameWestbeld missed the first half of this season while recovering from a foot injury, and with Miles and Hannah Hidalgo getting the majority of the shots, it was difficult for the 6-3 forward to get back to the numbers she put up the year before. Westbeld averaged 14.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 2023-24. 10. Chicago Sky: Georgia Amoore, KentuckyThe Sky could pair Amoore with veteran guard Courtney Vandersloot to help the Australian learn the pro game. She averaged 19.6 points and 6.9 assists for Kentucky this season after transferring from Virginia Tech to play for Kenny Brooks, her former Hokies coach before he took the job in Lexington.11. Minnesota Lynx: Hailey Van Lith, TCUVan Lith became the first player to play on three different teams in the Elite Eight after seeing her college career revitalized at TCU. She averaged 17.7 points and 5.5 assists to help the Horned Frogs reach the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. She also has some pro experience helping the U.S. win a bronze medal in 3-on-3 at last years Paris Olympics. 12. Dallas Wings: Ajsa Sivka, SloveniaSivka is a multi-level scoring forward with efficient shot-making ability. She made over 42% from the 3-point line. At 6-4, she is a difficult matchup to defend.Other players to watch out for who could be taken in the first round or early in the second include: Te-Hina Paopao, South Carolina; Sedona Prince, TCU; JJ Quinerly, West Virginia; Sania Rivers, N.C. State; and Makayla Timpson, Florida State.___APs Mock WNBA Draft is an analysis on select players and their pro prospects. For more AP WNBA coverage, click here: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
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  • Elon Musk Is Hounded by Haters in Path of Exile 2 Chat
    www.404media.co
    On Saturday Elon Musk sat in his personal jet and tested out Starlinks in-air WiFI by streaming some Path of Exile 2. Less than five minutes into the stream, someone in game chat asked him to jerk off mr trump so he dies of a heart attack! For the next hour and 40 minutes, the worlds richest man frowned his way through a livestream while people yelled at him.Path of Exile 2 is an action role-playing game and Musk loves it, but hes terrible at it. He has claimed hes one of the top players in the world and later admitted hes paid people to help keep his account leveled up and full of the high-end gear it needs to play the game at the highest level.Over the weekend, in his jet, he was playing the game in hard core mode. When a player dies in this mode they cannot progress any further. Essentially, players have one life. Musk died a lot. The streams entire vibe was fucked. This is the richest man in the world sitting in a private jet playing a game by himself for an audience of strangers while techno music blasted through the speakers. Streaming on a platform he owns using technology he owns in a jet he owns, he sat stone-faced and grinded his way through the early portions of Path of Exile 2 while other players yelled at him.Elon. Its me, Ashley St. Claire. I have no other means of contacting you so I bought PoE2 early access. Please pay your child support. Thank you Elon, an account named YakubsWorstCreation spammed. The message was a reference to Musks newest (disputed) child.Some of the messages were supportive. One encouraged people to Buy TSLA. Another mentioned Musks deployment of Starlinks to storm ravaged areas in the Carolinas after Hurricane Helene. By the way, thank you for helping out Western NC with the starlinks, we really appreciate it, it said.There were a lot of references to Kekius Maximus, Musks Roman emperor aesthetic Pepe the Frog persona thats steeped in washed out 2016 online culture. Your Imperial subjects demand an audience, one DM said.But a lot of the messages, especially those that were spammed, were trolls. ELON ARE YOU A SMART FELLA OR A FART SMELLA, one asked.Among the juvenile jokes were more personal attacks. The account ELON_MUSK_IS_A_PEDOPHILE spammed Musk with the message YOU HAVE NO REAL FRIENDS AND WILL DIE ALONE.An account called ELON_MUSK_IS_PATHETIC sent messages several times. STILL NOT OVER GRIMES SHE NEVER LOVED YOU, the account spammed at a stoic Musk.Its possible to hide the chat in PoE2. Several times on the stream, Musks watchers spammed the /dnd or Do Not Disturb command at him in a misguided attempt to help save the billionaire from seeming a constant stream of hateful messages.But Musk never typed /dnd. He did not stem the flow of weird hate. He did, on occasion, silence individual accounts. But its hard to tell what the criteria is. At about 20 minutes in he muted the account HC_John_Wick after it spammed ELON HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO LOOK THIS DUMB AND UGLY WHY IS UR TESLA COMPANY FALLING APART AHAAHAAHAAH! WHAT HAPPENED BUDDY?ELON_MUSK_IS_PATHETIC returned several times before Musk finally silenced it. YOU WILL ALWAYS FEEL INSECURE IT WILL NEVER GO AWAY, it spammed. YOU RUINED THE COUNTRY JUST LIKE YOU RUINED ALL YOUR MARRIAGES, it said 2 minutes later.Anyone spamming the chat will get, uh, ignored, Musk said as he finally muted the account that had been harassing him for almost an hour.The day after the stream, the internet picked it apart for content. A post with screenshots of some of the funniest DMs went viral on BlueSky. Among the PoE2 community, dissecting Musks gameplay and making fun of it is a cottage industry. Quin69TV is a pioneer of the form and already has a 30 minute long video breaking down how much Musk sucks at the game.At about an hour in the stream, we saw Musks login screen and a list of his individual characters and their names. His level 46 amazon is AMAZON_DOT_COM_. A level 75 invoker is BeLessDumb. His level 7 monk is DOESNTMATTERANYWAY. Another invoker hes got at level 100 is FatalismFTW.
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  • French Polynesia: Where LGBTQ+ inclusivity is a way of life
    www.pride.com
    Before visiting French Polynesia, I had no idea what to expect regarding LGBTQ+ inclusivity. Of course, I did the Is it safe for gays to visit? Google search because Ive heard one too many horror stories about idyllic tropical islands being less than idyllic for LGBTQ+ travelers.While some places make their stance clear with rainbow flags and stickers on storefronts, here, its different not because LGBTQ+ people arent welcome, but because openness is ingrained in the culture. Theres no need to advertise whats already understood: French Polynesia is for everyone.A natural embrace of identityAlso known as the Islands of Tahiti, French Polynesia is a collection of 118 islands in the South Pacific spread across an area the size of Europe. Despite its remote location, its surprisingly accessible, with direct flights from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Paris, Auckland, and Tokyo. The largest island, Tahiti, is home to the capital, Papeete, where most journeys begin.When I arrived, I noticed something distinct the mh (a traditional third gender in Polynesian culture) and rae-rae (a more modern term often referring to trans women) are respected members of society.I saw this firsthand at Le Tahiti by Pearl Resorts (letahiti.com), where mh staff were working throughout the hotel, and a Marquesan dance show featured mh performers exuding confidence and grace. Their presence wasnt tokenistic it was simply part of life here.No Pride flags, just pride in cultureAt first, I wondered why businesses, particularly the LGBTQ-owned ones, didnt display Pride flags, but locals made it clear: Its unnecessary. French Polynesia legalized same-sex marriage in 2013, bans discrimination based on sexual orientation, and takes hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people very seriously.One local put it simply: Everyone is welcome here. Thats just how it is.That said, if youre expecting a big queer nightlife scene, you wont find it here. While the LGBTQ-owned Malabar in Papeete draws a mixed, welcoming crowd, Tahiti isnt a party island its a place to connect with nature, culture, and people.Island-hopping 101During my trip, I split my time between Tahiti, Rangiroa, and Tahaa, each island offering a different experience.Tahiti is vibrant markets filled with fragrant monoi oils, tattoo artists continuing the ancient Polynesian tradition of tatau (which, by the way, is where the word tattoo originates), and waterfalls cascading through lush landscapes.Rangiroa felt like stepping into an entirely different world, where the lagoon was so impossibly clear and blue it looked photoshopped in real life. Staying at Hotel Kia Ora Resort & Spa (hotelkiaora.com) only added to the dreamlike experience beachfront bungalows, an infinity pool overlooking the water, and a swim-up bar that made it far too easy to justify just one more cocktail at sunset.But it was Tahaa that stole my heart. Known as the Vanilla Island, its small, quiet, and intoxicatingly fragrant literally, as the scent of vanilla drifts through the air from the many nearby plantations. I stayed in an overwater bungalow at Le Tahaa by Pearl Resorts (letahaa.com) a fitting choice since French Polynesia is the birthplace of the overwater bungalow. Here, my days consisted of snorkeling in coral gardens, paddleboarding at sunrise, and sipping fresh coconut water on my deck.While in Tahaa, I met a gay couple celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary. They had honeymooned in Bora Bora but decided to explore new islands this time a perfect reminder that French Polynesia always has something new to offer, no matter how many times you visit.As we talked over cocktails, they shared how changing gender here is legal, same-sex couples can adopt, and serving in the military as an LGBTQ+ person isnt an issue. Unlike other places where progress feels like a battle, Tahitis laws quietly reflect a reality that has existed here for quite some time being yourself isnt just tolerated; its respected.Leaving with a new perspectiveIf youre looking for a queer party scene, this isnt it. But if youre seeking a place where you can be yourself without question, where identity isnt debated but simply understood, French Polynesia offers something deeper than acceptance it offers belonging. And thats something Ill take with me long after my tan fades.This trip was funded by Tahiti Tourisme.
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  • Singh withdraws from Masters because of injury
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    Vijay Singh has withdrawn from the Masters with an undisclosed injury.
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  • Auburn's Pettiford to enter draft pool, stay eligible
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    Auburn freshman Tahaad Pettiford, who averaged 11.6 points this season, said will declare for the 2025 NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility.
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  • Waiver wire: Get these players on your roster immediately
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    The top players you should consider claiming off the fantasy baseball waiver wire this week.
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  • Yankees bring back veteran reliever Ottavino
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    The New York Yankees signed veteran right-hander Adam Ottavino to a major league contract on Monday, days after designating the 39-year-old for assignment.
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  • Juri exits Southampton after PL relegation record
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    Southampton have sacked manager Ivan Juri after the club's relegation from the Premier League, the club confirmed on Monday.
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