I published an edited book titled Homophobia: How We All Pay the Price in 1992, not long after I read a book by Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), a man who escaped the bitter tyranny of slavery to become a preeminent leader for civil rights in the United States during the 19th century. His book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, published in 1845, is a memoir reflecting on slavery and abolition during Douglass’ time in Lynn, Massachusetts: the first of his three autobiographies. What particularly sparked my interest was Douglass’ profile of Sophia Auld, wife of Hugh Auld: an estate owner and cruel ruler. Related Here’s what the United States might have become if Kamala Harris had won the presidency… A young seven-year-old Frederick Douglass was sent from the bitter plantations of the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 1825 to reside with the Aulds in Baltimore to care for their young son, Thomas. Before Douglass arrived, Sophia was never in charge of an enslaved person, and she treated him with kindness and sensitivity as she would with any human being. Since Douglass did not know how to read or write, Sophia went against social norms of the time by taking it upon herself to teach him the alphabet and simple Bible words, as a loving mother would teach her child. Once her husband discovered this, he forcefully forbade her from continuing Douglass’ lessons by claiming that providing an education to any enslaved person would do them great harm by making them “discontented and unhappy.” Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today As Sophia internalized the social rules of conduct between whites and enslaved African Americans, her temperament quickly transformed from a caring and sympathetic woman into a cruel wife of an estate owner. Douglass highlights Sophia Auld’s conversion from kind to cruel as an example of how the misuse of power corrupts the soul and moral center of those who use their power destructively. He described the dehumanizing effects of slavery not only on those enslaved alone, but also on white slavers whose position in slavery corrupted their humanity. Douglass reflected on the case of Sophia Auld, that “No man can put a chain about the ankle of another man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck.” From Douglass’ example of Sophia Auld and my own observations, I have come to understand that, within the numerous forms of oppression, though it cannot be denied that oppression serves the interests of dominant group members, their actions will eventually backfire, and the chain will take hold of them. Therefore, I have concluded that members of subordinated (sometimes called “minoritized,” or “targeted”) groups are oppressed, while on many levels, members of dominant (sometimes called “agent”) groups are hurt. Although the effects of oppression differ qualitatively for specific dominant and subordinated groups, in the end, everyone loses. This is true as well within the social oppressions called “heterosexism” and “cissexism.” I define “heterosexism” as the overarching system of advantages bestowed on heterosexuals. It includes the institutionalization of a heterosexual norm or standard, which establishes and perpetuates the notion that all people are or should be heterosexual, thereby privileging heterosexuals and heterosexuality, and excluding the needs, concerns, cultures, and life experiences of people who do not define as heterosexual or gender normative. “Cissexism” (a.k.a. “Binarism,” “Transgender Oppression,” “Genderism”) comprises a conceptual structure of oppression directed against those who live and function external to the gender/sex binary, and/or the doctrine that they do not exist at all. In truth, heterosexism and cissexism are pervasive throughout society, and each of us, irrespective of our sexual or gender identities and expressions, stands at risk of their harmful effects. Attacks on James Talarico Recently, I was yet again reminded of the ways that heterosexism and cissexism negatively impact us all. This was brought to mind by the scurrilous and incessant attacks by Republican political operatives lodged against a young rising star in Texas politics and current Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, James Talarico. Mr. Talarico worked as a public middle school English teacher, and he has served four terms in the Texas House of Representatives. He has been consistent with his strong progressive voice on issues advocating for the clear separation between religion and government, and on the responsibilities of government to investigate political corruption. As a devout Christian, Talarico has cited Jesus’ teachings on progressive issues about serving “the least of these” when defending social safety net programs. He discusses the moral duty we have in protecting life when advocating for gun violence prevention efforts, and he has described environmental stewardship as humans’ responsibility to protect God’s creation. The fact that this young man of 37 has yet to marry, however, has left him vulnerable to right-wing attacks challenging his masculinity, sexuality, and gender identity since his pristine background and resume have allowed virtually no openings for his opponents. Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, has led the attacks by stating that Talarico is “transitioning to a woman,” and that Talarico is the Democrats’ “first transgender Senate candidate,” that his blood is soy milk, and that he has less testosterone than Black Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), whom he defeated in the Senate primary. Miller said during a late-May 2026 appearance on Fox News that Texans are “some of the toughest, roughest, strongest men and women,” so they will naturally vote for “a real conservative, patriotic, god-fearing, and truly beloved statewide figure” like Ken Paxton, his Republican rival, instead of “somebody with that much soy” like Talarico. Soybeans, many have falsely argued, reduce testosterone levels. Republicans are charging that Talarico’s hormone levels are more like those of women than of men. Other Republicans have “accused” him of dating a man (which all reports indicate that he is not), and that he is a “freak” and a “creep,” which are epithets often used to attack LGBTQ+ people. They also accused him of being a vegan, which he has denied. Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, during his victory remarks after winning his party’s Senatorial nomination, characterized Talarico with a collection of mocking nicknames: “Tofu Talarico,” “Six-gender Jimmy,” “James Tala-freako” and “Low T Talarico.” He also condemned Talarico’s progressive positions on issues related to gender-affirming care, race, immigration, energy, and religion. Trump chimed in after Paxton’s primary win on Truth Social that Talarico “may be the worst TEXAS candidate I have ever seen,” and that he is “a strong Open Borders advocate, he is WEAK ON CRIME, believes there are 6 genders, is insulting to Jesus Christ, will never support the Military, was a big Mask Wearer until recently, and is a Vegan who dislikes meat, not exactly a good way to be if your wanting to win an Election in Texas.” Though Talarico has denied some of these charges, he has turned some of them around into positives. For example, he has fully embraced his “Talafreako” moniker lodged against him by Paston by selling T-shirts with the slogan “I’m a Talafreako.” One of the most exploited ways of degrading males within our overarching patriarchal sexist society is by feminizing or demasculinizing males. This process exposes our society’s blatant and covert forms of misogyny. It, nonetheless, has often been used successfully in political contexts. How Heterosexism and Cissexism Impact Us All I have identified several specific ways that heterosexism and/or cissexism negatively affect all people. Heterosexist and cissexist conditioning compromise the integrity of people by pressuring them to treat others badly, which is an action contrary to their basic humanity. It inhibits one’s ability to form close, intimate relationships with members of one’s own sex, generally restricts communication with a significant portion of the population, and, more specifically, limits family relationships. Heterosexism and cissexism lock all people into rigid gender-based roles, which inhibit creativity and self-expression. They often are used to stigmatize, silence, and, on occasion, target people who are perceived or defined by others as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender but who actually define as heterosexual and/or cisgender. In addition, heterosexism and cissexism are some of the causes of premature sexual involvement, which increases the chances of teen pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Young people, of all sexual and gender identities, are often pressured to become heterosexually active to prove to themselves and others that they are “normal.” Societal heterosexism and cissexism prevent some LGBTQ people from developing authentic self-identities and add to the pressure on them to marry someone of the opposite sex, which in turn places undue stress and oftentimes trauma on themselves as well as their spouses and children. Heterosexism and cissexism, combined with sexphobia or erotophobia (fear and revulsion of sex), result in the elimination of discussions of the lives and sexuality of LGBTQ people as part of school-based sexuality education programs, keeping vital information from all students. Such a lack of information can kill people in the age of HIV/AIDS. And heterosexism and cissexism (along with racism, sexism, classism, and sexphobia) inhibit a unified and effective governmental and societal response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. With all the truly important issues facing the world, heterosexism and cissexism divert energy and attention from more constructive endeavors. They also prevent heterosexuals and cisgender people from accepting the benefits and gifts offered by LGBTQ people, including theoretical insights, social and spiritual visions and options, contributions in the arts and culture, to religion, to education, to family life, indeed, to all facets of society. Ultimately, they inhibit appreciation of other forms of diversity, making it unsafe for everyone because each person has unique traits that are not considered mainstream or dominant. Therefore, we are all diminished when any one of us is demeaned. The meaning is quite clear: When any group of people is targeted for oppression, it is ultimately everyone’s concern. We all, therefore, have a self-interest in actively working to dismantle all the many forms of oppression, including heterosexism and cissexism. I believe we are all born into an environment polluted by heterosexism and cissexism (two among many forms of oppression), which falls upon us like acid rain. For some people, spirits are corroded to the core, others are marred on the surface, and no one is completely protected. Therefore, we all have a responsibility, indeed an opportunity, to join together as allies to construct protective shelters from the corrosive effects of prejudice and discrimination while working to clean up the heterosexist and cissexist environments in which we live. Once we take sufficient steps to reduce this pollution, we will all breathe more easily. Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

The Maine Republican, who is in the middle of a tumultuous re-election race, became the first senator in history to reach the threshold without missing a vote.

I couldn’t believe it. READ MORE...

The first game with an official date at Mizzou Arena has been revealed.Missouri basketball will play Pittsburgh in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Dec. 1 in Columbia, the Tigers announced in a news release Friday. It is the first game confirmed at MU’s home arena for the 2026-27 season.The tipoff time and TV designation for the game will be announced at a later date.The ACC/SEC Challenge pits all 16 Southeastern Conference in both men’s and women’s basketball members against all but two of the ACC’s members. SMU and California will not play in the event this season from the ACC. Mizzou now has seven games that have either been reported or confirmed for its nonconference schedule this upcoming season — a tally that includes five teams that made the NCAA Tournament last year and five high-major programs.More: Contract details for 4 new Mizzou basketball coaches, including Jason Crowe Sr.More: Where all former Missouri basketball players landed in transfer portalMissouri will face Kansas in the Border War on Dec. 6 in Kansas City, and the Tigers will play Illinois on a still-to-be-determined date later in the month in the Braggin’ Rights matchup in St. Louis.MU also has scheduled a neutral-site contest against Nebraska on Dec. 12 in Kansas City, and the Tigers will travel to Chicago to play Marquette at United Center. There have been multiple reports that Missouri will play Saint Louis on Nov. 6 at Enterprise Center, and SLU head coach Josh Schertz told reporters Thursday that the teams are “working through contract logistics,” per Stu Durando.A competition contract obtained by the Tribune also shows that Missouri is scheduled to play Howard in the final leg of a three-game series this season at Mizzou Arena, but there is no official date for that game yet.Pittsburgh, which is coached by Jeff Capel, went 13-20 last season with a 5-13 mark in ACC play.Mizzou beat the Panthers 71-64 on the road in the first year of the ACC/SEC Challenge in the 2023-24 season. Missouri is 2-1 in the challenge with wins over Pitt and California and a loss last season to Notre Dame.This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri basketball to play Pittsburgh in ACC/SEC Challenge

If Congress passes the bill being sponsored by Sens. Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell to end the Wild West era in college sports, the federal government will have essentially conspired with the NCAA to do something that simply does not happen in American life.It will, in practice, be issuing a unilaterally imposed paycut on an entire class of workers. And do you know what people sometimes do when their paychecks get cut?They go on strike.In the discourse around the “Protect College Sports Act,” there has been an enormous amount of back-and-forth over various elements of the bill, including whether the SEC and Big Ten can support legislation that restricts their rights to future conference expansion.But there has been almost no conversation about the unintended consequences of taking a system that has created enormous wealth for thousands of college athletes over the last few years and essentially pulling the circuit breaker overnight.Even if you believe college sports badly needs a mechanism to pull back some control over a system that has created unsustainable spending on football and men’s basketball rosters, it is difficult to predict what would happen after a sudden turn back to a world where schools are adhering to spending caps and the College Sports Commission has real power to deny fake NIL deals.Current college athletes and high schoolers on the cusp of cashing in have grown up in a world where their contemporaries have used the system to make tremendous amounts of money. If that abates, nobody really knows whether athletes will accept a new normal they had no part in creating or whether it will lead to what many in college sports had long feared before NIL: Athletes boycotting games en masse.Think of it this way. Schools at the top level are essentially paying $40 million for their football rosters and $20 million in basketball right now. If that pool of money shrinks by half — and it likely would, by design, if the Protect College Sports Act becomes law — it would be a huge mistake to underestimate the wildfire of discontent that could follow.“There’s a virality to it,” one source who operates in the space told Yahoo Sports.Historically, organizing college athletes into a real labor movement has been an impossibly difficult task. Various groups have tried to build underground movements, but they only go so far.It’s not just a numbers problem — try getting a football locker room of 100 diverse backgrounds to do anything in unison, then multiply that by the amount of teams you need to execute a real national boycott — but an issue of incentives. Pre-NIL, most athletes fell into two camps: They were either making a pit stop before the NBA/NFL or they had no future in pro sports and just wanted the education. Neither had much reason to rock the boat.As former Michigan basketball player Duncan Robinson revealed to The Athletic after graduating, he and two teammates started down the road of organizing a player boycott of the open practice on the Friday before the 2018 Final Four. They approached players on the other teams, who also had interest. And then, because of concerns it wouldn’t be a unified front, they backed away.And that was just for an open practice, not a Final Four game with millions of people watching and massive amounts of money at stake.From the NCAA’s perspective, this is how an unjust and ultimately illegal system stayed in place for so long. Yes, administrators deeply feared what could happen if a team refused to play in a Final Four or CFP game. But ultimately they counted on the athletes to be too disjointed and too focused on their own goals to do anything about it. The athletes largely obliged.Make no mistake, those challenges are still firmly in place. Several people contacted this week who work in the athlete-advocacy space came back with the same answer about whether a real boycott could happen: No way. Too big, too complex, too many people who wouldn’t be willing to risk a paycheck on a greater cause when it might be the last one they’ll get for being an athlete.But when that paycheck is smaller than it once was because the rules have changed — rules imposed by the government, not collectively bargained by a union — college sports will be playing with fire in a way that it hasn’t before. As one administrator acknowledged: “Labor costs never go backwards.”Another person pointed to the summer of 2020 after the murder of George Floyd and the real moment of power athletes seized. You had Oklahoma State’s locker room on the verge of mutiny over Mike Gundy’s response to the social justice movement sweeping the country at that time. You had Clemson players forcing stubborn-as-nails Dabo Swinney to acknowledge a racially charged incident that happened with an assistant coach in 2017. You had Iowa players coming forward with allegations of racial bias against Hawkeyes strength coach Chris Doyle, forcing his removal.Memories have faded a bit about what that moment felt like, but it was the first time administrators and coaches were truly frightened by the power athletes collectively held over their programs and their careers. And nobody really saw it coming until it was on their doorstep.Could the same kind of movement sweep college football if the money that has been growing exponentially every year suddenly shrinks — all while the coaches and ADs, assuredly, continue getting raises?None of us can really predict that. But in their thirst for Congress to legislate college sports back to a more controlled world, nobody is giving nearly enough thought to what the aftershocks might look like.And by the way, the same agents that are successfully convincing players to enter the transfer portal every year are going to get their fees capped at 5 percent if this bill goes through. You think they might have incentive to throw some wrenches into that system?The Protect College Sports Act is a big piece of legislation that is creating strange bedfellows on both sides of the aisle. The Big Ten and SEC, which spent years and millions of dollars lobbying for congressional help, are now suddenly against this version of the bill. It’s still unclear whether there’s enough time and political alignment before the November midterms for it to pass.But more than any particular element of the bill, the biggest danger for college sports is that its primary goal — stabilizing player costs — will accidentally give life to a real organizing principle around unionization that has never existed before. It’s irresponsible how few people are even considering what that might look like.Simply by refusing to play one regular season game, college football players hold the power to make hundreds of millions of dollars go up in smoke for schools, sponsors and television networks. If that ever becomes a real risk, the Protect College Sports Act could turn into a case where the cure is worse than the disease.

Mississippi State basketball announced four games on its schedule for the 2026-27 season, including the season opener and SEC/ACC Challenge.The Bulldogs' season will begin Nov. 2 at Humphrey Coliseum against Tennessee Tech. Meanwhile, their SEC/ACC Challenge opponent is Georgia Tech for the third time in the last four seasons. MSU beat Georgia Tech, 85-73, last season in Atlanta.That game will take place Dec. 2.Also on Mississippi State's schedule will be Northwestern State on Nov. 5 and Alabama A&M on Dec. 7, both at Humphrey Coliseum. The Bulldogs (13-19) missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time under coach Chris Jans, losing six straight games to close the season.Star Josh Hubbard will return for his senior season, where he's 195 points away from breaking the program's career scoring record held by Jeff Malone. Seven transfers were also added to the roster.MORE: Why Gehrig Frei's parents named Mississippi State leadoff batter after Lou GehrigMississippi State women's basketball vs VirginiaMississippi State women's basketball's SEC/ACC Challenge opponent was announced, too. It will host Virginia on Dec. 3.No other games on the schedule have been announced.Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State basketball 2026-27 schedule season opener, ACC/SEC

Report: Milan keen on Sporting defender Goncalo InacioMilan have made initial contact over a potential move for Sporting CP centre-back Goncalo Inacio.According to Portuguese outlet Record, via MilanNews, the identity of who is driving the interest at the club remains unclear given Milan’s current leadership vacuum – yet the Rossoneri are linked with a move.The 24-year-old defender made 46 appearances across all competitions this season, contributing three goals and three assists, and is contracted to Sporting until 2030.His market value is estimated at around €40 million by Transfermarkt, and he is expected to feature for Portugal at the World Cup in the coming weeks.SEPTEMBER 03: Gerry Cardinale (L) of AC Milan and AC Milan Sporting Strategy & Development Director Paolo Maldini (R) before the Serie A match at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on September 03, 2022 in Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)Milan’s defensive search continues despite leadership uncertainty at Casa MilanThe approach comes at an unusual moment for the club, who have been without a CEO, sporting director, technical director and head coach for eleven days following the wholesale dismissal of Giorgio Furlani, Igli Tare, Geoffrey Moncada and Massimiliano Allegri.The fourth floor of the club’s offices, as the Italian press has noted, remains conspicuously empty, making it difficult to establish which figure within the club has initiated contact with Sporting.Nevertheless, the interest in Inacio reflects a genuine need.The Serie A side’s defensive options require reinforcement regardless of who eventually takes charge, and the Portuguese international’s technical profile, composed, left-sided and comfortable in possession, fits the kind of modern centre-back the club have been seeking.Whether the pursuit can be formalised before the Rossoneri’s new structure is in place remains to be seen.

Two teams set to miss out on the FIFA World Cup 2026 collide as Slovakia hosts Montenegro.How to Watch Slovakia vs MontenegroDate: Friday, June 5, 2026Time: 12:15 PM EDTChannel: fubo Sports NetworkStream: Fubo (try for free)Montenegro makes the trip north to Košice on Friday to face off against Slovakia in a friendly between two nations set for very stale summers. While Europe’s best and brightest are away at FIFA World Cup 2026 in the coming weeks, both these teams will be watching from the sidelines.Despite beating Germany early on in the qualifying process, the Falcons couldn’t deliver on that promise and bowed out in the UEFA playoffs. Their 4-3 defeat to Kosovo came after a 6-0 humiliation at the hands of the Germans, which ruled them out of challenging for a first-place finish.Montenegro, on the other hand, was ruled out of the qualification picture much earlier on after a stretch of four straight defeats in qualifying. Its recent record has shown improvement, however, with a return of four wins from its last six outings. Former Juventus and Roma striker Mirko Vucinic is now in charge of the national team and will hope to lift the Brave Falcons to a maiden win over Slovakia. The two teams shared the spoils in a four-goal feast the last time they met in 2022, with Slovakia aiming to secure a third straight friendly win ahead of its summer off.Live stream Slovakia vs Montenegro on fubo Sports Network with Fubo: Start your free trial now!With Fubo, you can watch live television without cable on your phone, TV, or tablet. Fubo carries a wide array of sports and entertainment channels, including local sports packages and top national channels like ABC, FOX, CBS, ESPN, FS1, MTV, Comedy Central, and much more. The best part is you can try it out today for free.Regional restrictions may apply. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation.

🌘Subscribe to 404 Media to get The Abstract, our newsletter about the most exciting and mind-boggling science news and studies of the week. The U.S. military has likely been quietly broadcasting codes for its global encryption network using public GPS for nearly 20 years, turning each satellite into a hidden “numbers station,” according to Steven Murdoch, an information security expert, who detailed his findings in a new article in Inside GNSS.That means every device that uses GPS has been receiving hidden government information for years, and nobody outside the military knew it until now. Murdoch, a professor of security engineering and head of the Information Security Research Group at University College London, presented evidence that a 176-bit GPS sequence labelled “Subframe 4, Page 17” is encrypted material from the Pentagon’s Over-the-Air Distribution (OTAD) network, which delivers cryptographic keys to military personnel around the world.“I think the evidence that it's for key transmission—for use in distributing the keys for accessing the military GPS signals—is pretty strong now,” Murdoch said in a call with 404 Media. He noted that the military has “specialized receivers that have the ability to have keys loaded into them” and “presumably have the ability to decrypt these special messages.”In his new article, Murdoch described how this “forgotten 176-bit slot in the world’s most successful navigation signal turned out to be its quietest and most consequential broadcast.”Murdoch first spotted the sequence more than a decade ago while he was a graduate student tasked with writing a decoder for raw GPS data while working on a project funded by the European Space Agency.“I noticed that there was this random-looking data present in the subframe,” he recalled. “I looked at the specification, and thought that was a little bit unusual. I recorded a bunch of it to look for any obvious patterns, but that wasn't the main role of the project, so we moved on.”From the beginning, he suspected that the subframe field contained encrypted transmissions because the data was so random. “Random data is actually very unusual to get in nature,” Murdoch said. “If you see it, either it's been carefully designed to be random—but then, why is someone sending out random data?—or it's encrypted data. I thought encrypted data is by far the most likely explanation.”He returned to the subframe on and off over the years, and solicited guesses about its content on Stack Exchange in 2023. Ahmed Kamruddin, a master’s student at UCL, developed the project further in 2025. Then, this year, Murdoch put the last pieces of the puzzle together over several weeks by analyzing open archive Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) recordings collected since 2007 and kept by GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences. This dataset included more than 12 million observations of Subframe 4, Page 17, yielding 3,994 unique 176-bit messages. Within this corpus, Murdoch pinpointed key-repeating “sentinels” including a pattern that appeared in February 2010 and was broadcast on and off across dozens of satellites for more than a decade. Murdoch discovered that this particular sentinel was transmitted by all 31 operational satellites within a window of a few hours on May 26, 2011, potentially heralding the activation of a new operational system. He confirmed that this timeline coincided with the rollout of the military’s Over-the-Air Distribution (OTAD) and the Over-the-Air Rekeying (OTAR) by cross-referencing declassified documents, including a 2015 presentation about the dates of the operation. “There was a perfect match between the timeline and that presentation and the change points that were automatically identified from the data,” Murdoch said. “That was the smoking gun that made me think: This is what it's for.”These automated systems replaced the cumbersome manual distribution of cryptographic keying material, allowing military GPS receivers around the world to be rekeyed remotely through satellite broadcasts rather than through onsite procedures.For the next 11 years, this expansive rekeying operation was overlooked in public GPS data. In 2022, the system entered a new phase, according to Murdoch’s analysis. The dominant sentinel pattern began to fade out and was replaced by new message formats, including broadcasts carrying a distinctive "TEXT" prefix that has gradually spread across the constellation. Murdoch isn’t sure what explains the recent transition, though it could be a possible modernization of the infrastructure or the introduction of a new protocol. But to him, the bigger takeaway is that the signals were always available for anyone willing to take a closer look, a discovery that suggests that there could be more revelations hidden for the cryptographically curious among us.“Every receiver in the world decodes Subframe 4, Page 17,” Murdoch said in his new article. “Almost none of them have ever looked at it. The lesson generalizes: There is more to learn from the bytes already arriving at our antennas than from the bytes we wish were specified differently. The data are publicly available. The signal is overhead, twice a day, every day.” “Every GPS satellite is a numbers station,” he concluded. “The receivers were always listening. We just had not been.” 🌘Subscribe to 404 Media to get The Abstract, our newsletter about the most exciting and mind-boggling science news and studies of the week.

Even as they rebelled against a $1.8 billion fund for President Trump’s allies, Republicans looked the other way as his administration granted him potentially lucrative tax protections.

Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader, has remained officially neutral on the race, but in conservations with donors, he has been clear about which candidate he supports.

You'd never guess their prices, either! READ MORE...

[Getty Images]Actor, West Ham fan and captain Jarrod Bowen's father-in-law Danny Dyer says he is "still processing" the Hammers' relegation from the Premier League.Speaking on the latest episode of The Wayne Rooney Show, he said: "I'm still processing it all, it hurts. I'm very close to it."Three years ago we won the Conference League, he [Bowen] scored the winner, and three years later we're relegated."They've broken my heart most of my life like that."He continued: "We've had a lovely three years but the thing about us is we're one of those clubs where we're never going to go to the next level because whenever we get a good player, they leave us."They go to a bigger club and that's always going to be the case for us."Bowen's future remains uncertain, while the 29-year-old also missed out on selection for Thomas Tuchel's squad for the upcoming World Cup."I know he wants to stay but I've got no answers about that at all," Dyer added."He's devastated by it [relegation]. I can't tell you how much he takes it to heart."[BBC]Watch The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC iPlayer or listen on BBC Sounds[BBC][BBC]

Jake Minshull is a European U20 champion and world relay bronze medalist [BBC]Coventry 400 metres hurdler Jake Minshull says he wants to build on the "surreal" experience of winning a bronze medal at the World Relay Championships last month and have more success at the Commonwealth Games and European Championships this summer.The 21-year-old lives in Coventry and runs for the city's Godiva club, and is preparing for British Championships later this month in Birmingham.Minshull, who is at university in Birmingham, was part of the British quartet, which also included Alex Haydock-Wilson, Lina Nielsen and Yemi Mary John, that finished third in the mixed 4x400m final in Botswana in May, as they held off the challenge of Kenya to take bronze behind the USA and Jamaica.The World Relay Championships were Minshull's first senior event with Team GB and he said their moment of glory was incredible."As I came out I couldn't hear myself think, it was so loud, it was on another level, I couldn't hear anything," he told BBC Midlands Today."But just being in the buzz of that I was like 'right I've got my GB kit on, I'm in that crowd, I need to go and perform now' and yeah I did it. "I knew I had Yemi on last leg so I was like, right, if I can get her in a good position here I know she can go and do her thing."She did but as soon as she crossed the line, it was a bit like surreal to start with, I was like 'I've just got a medal'."Scotstoun could host athletics in scaled-back GamesGold 'definitely on the cards' After dabbling with the pentathlon and 800 metres, Minshull settled on becoming a one-lap hurdler and ran the second fastest time by a British athlete this season - 48.87 seconds - in Belgium last month.He is currently ranked 39th in the world."As I got into running more, the hurdles seem to be good and I'm good at four [hundred metres flat], so why not try four hurdles?" he said."It's not easy especially when you're coming down this home straight with a lactic [acid build up]. There's no other event really like it, but I feel like from doing multi-events I've sort of got the knack of hurdling."With the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow before the European Championships are held in the UK for the first time, in Birmingham in August, Minshull said challenging the best in those events was "in his sights"."They are both on my radar. "The Commonwealths were in Australia before, so it makes it a bit easier being in Glasgow and Birmingham."Birmingham does kind of feel like home to me."Minshull will also be putting out of his mind a fall in the home straight when well set for a medal in last year's British Championships in Birmingham, when he competes on the same track. "I fell over but I felt like I paced the race really well. It was really windy on the back straight and you can get that here sometimes," he said."I know how to deal with it but I measured myself well for the first 200 and then I came pushing through going into the home straight, but I felt so good, I literally just clipped hurdle 10."Hopefully I can amend that this year because I know I know gold was on the cards last year, so it's definitely on this year."Minshull targeting British record Despite his excitement, Minshull, whose personal best in the 400m hurdles is 48.74 seconds, said he is keen to take his career one step at a time, with Kris Akabusi's British record of 47.82 seconds and the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 as potential targets."I feel like everyone says the same. They want to become Olympic champion, want to start breaking records, but yeah I feel like realistically, I'm making the step each year," he said."This year we've got Euros and Commies [Commonwealth Games] and we want to get to that elusive 47 [seconds] in the four hurdles."There's a few of us that are eyeing that up this year but hopefully I'll be one of those to try and get to that first, and then, moving forward, we've got LA in '28 and then Brisbane in 2032, so as I'm still pretty young those are ones I'll be eyeing up for the next few years."

Regional champions have been named and the WIAA baseball tournament is onto sectionals. There are three Oshkosh, Fond du Lac area teams still playing who are two wins from making it to the state tournament. The sectional semifinals and sectional championship games will take place on Tuesday, June 9. The state tournament will go from Monday, June 15 to Thursday, June 18 and is held at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute. More: Big first inning powers Lomira softball to state tournamentDivision 1 Fond du Lac Fond du Lac is a No. 4 seed and got its postseason started with a five-inning 15-0 win over Oshkosh North. In its regional championship game against Menasha, Fond du Lac won 6-5 with a walk off hit by Hudson Burg. Fond du Lac will play No. 1 seed Germantown at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 9 at Manitowoc Lincoln. The winner of that game will play the winner of No. 3 Neenah vs. No. 2 West Bend West for a trip to the state tournament. Division 2 Waupun Waupun, a No. 2 seed, had a first round bye before it beat No. 7 Plymouth 12-0 in a regional semifinal game. It followed that up with a 5-0 win over Winneconne to advance to sectionals. Waupun will play No. 4 Waupaca at 1 p.m., Tuesday, June 9 at Chilton. The winner will then play either No. 2 Little Chute or No. 5 Xavier at 4 p.m. Division 3 Laconia Laconia is a No. 2 seed and had a first round bye. It then beat No. 10 Poynette 4-3 to advance to a regional championship where Laconia beat No. 3 Westby 5-1. Laconia will head to Riverdale at play No. 5 Viroqua at 10 a.m., Tuesday, June 9. The winner of that game will then play either No. 1 Dodgeville or No. 3 Fennimore. Contact or send game stats/info to Ben Schultz at BSchultz@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @benschultz52. This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Fond du Lac, Waupun, Laconia baseball are two wins from state

Celtic keen on signing Rodez winger Tairyk ArconteCeltic are interested in signing Rodez winger Tairyk Arconte this summer, according to French outlet Foot Mercato. Celtic are planning to strengthen their attack at the Parkhead club ahead of another Scottish Premiership title defence, and the Hoops have Arconte on their radar. The Guadeloupean bagged 14 goals and three assists in Ligue 2 during the 2025-26 campaign and is attracting suitors as a result. Celtic will face competition from Ligue 1 newcomers AJ Auxerre and English Championship club Millwall for Arconte.The Bhoys are said to be particularly fond of the 22-year-old’s explosive profile, and he could be keen on moving to Parkhead. They are playing in the Champions League next term and featuring in the elite European competition could appeal to Arconte. Celtic have yet to decide who will be their manager next season, with Martin O’Neill and Robbie Keane both contenders. Whoever is tasked with leading the Hoops in 2026-27 will look to impress in Europe and also win the three domestic trophies up to grabs.Much-needed squad changes are also expected at Paradise Park and Arconte could be one of those arriving.

Real Madrid rule out move for Manchester City star if Florentino Perez is re-electedReal Madrid President Florentino Perez has promised to pursue a record signing for the club next week, promising a €150m offer for an unnamed player. However it looks as if with it, Rodri Hernandez’s hopes of a return to the Spanish capital this summer are receding.Los Blancos have been linked to Rodri on and off for the past three years, with the Spain international seemingly considering a return to his home city. Real Madrid monitored his recovery from injury, but it appears they have not been satisfied. Two of the options for Perez’s €150m bid are Vitinha and Joao Neves, while new manager Jose Mourinho has identified Mateus Fernandes as a potential replacement.Perez against Rodri Hernandez signing this summerImage via El DesmarqueRodri, for his part, has remained non-committal on his future, stating that it would be decided after the World Cup. Manchester City are pushing for him to renew his deal, and have been given a boost in that regard. Matteo Moretto has told RadioMarca that Perez is not interested in signing him, and has ruled out a move for the 29-year-old, who has just a year left on his contract.Enrique Riquelme would pursue Rodri signinImage via AFP7 The opposite approach has been taken by Perez’s rival in the Real Madrid elections, who has promised that not only will he sign Rodri, but also will attempt to bring in Manchester City teammate Erling Haaland. It seems that if Rodri does want to return to Spain this summer, he will be rooting for Riquelme’s victory in the elections.The plans and promises of both candidates do reveal that there will be some movement in the midfield department this summer, after two seasons of Perez persisting with Fede Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni and Jude Bellingham to handle the change of generation.

Madonna kicked off Pride Month in New York City on Thursday evening with a free pop-up concert in Times Square. Part of her ongoing collaboration with gay hook-up app Grindr, the 15-minute show saw the 67-year-old pop music icon taking over The Square, a new performance venue overlooking the Midtown Manhattan tourist hub, to preview tracks from her upcoming album Confessions II, according to Billboard. Related Madonna calls out the Trump administration for “dismantling our freedoms” Fans and anyone who happened to be strolling through Times Square around 6:30 p.m. Thursday could see Madonna performing alongside producer Stuart Price — the producer behind 2005’s Confessions on a Dance Floor and Confessions II — in The Square, which opens from behind one of Times Square’s massive LED screens. Those same LED screens flashed footage of the performance along with a pink version of Grindr’s logo as Madonna gave the crowd a taste of Confessions II. She opened the surprise show with lead single “I Feel So Free,” before performing “Bring Your Love” — a duet with Sabrina Carpenter, who did not make an appearance — and debuting another new track, “Love Sensation.” Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today View this post on Instagram A post shared by Andre Veloso (@andrevelosoreal) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Night Time Accra (@night_timeaccra) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jacob Villegas (@jaketvillegas) “C’mon, gays. Happy Pride!” the singer shouted to the crowd on the street. A longtime ally and outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, Madonna certainly wasn’t subtle about making Pride a centerpiece of the high-profile spectacle at a time when those rights — particularly those of transgender Americans — are under attack and corporate divestment in local Pride celebrations across the U.S. Following the new songs, The Square lit up in the colors of the Pride flag, and the surrounding screens flashed black-and-white images of Pride marches and LGBTQ+ rights protests from across the decades, alongside photos of queer icons like Marsha P. Johnson, Robert Mapplethorpe, Keith Haring, and Klaus Nomi. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alexander Kacala (@faymeproblems) The singer then threw it back to 2005, performing three songs from Confessions on a Dance Floor: “Get Together,” “I Love New York,” and “Hung Up.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nick Sizemore (@sizemorenick) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Michael Major (@michaelmaj0r) As Billboard notes, Madonna’s collaboration with Grindr promoting Confessions II launched in April, with exclusive in-app features and product drops — including a limited edition vinyl version of the album and other merch. The album is due out July 3. Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

2026-06-05T15:47:56Z LONDON (AP) — Anthony Head, the suave, smooth-voiced British actor known for roles in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Ted Lasso,’ has died, his family said Friday. He was 72.Head’s daughters told the Press Association news agency that the actor “passed away peacefully of complications due to pneumonia, surrounded by his family.”The performer became known to British TV audiences in the 1980s as one half of a will-they, won’t-they romantic couple in a series of ads for Nescafe instant coffee.He achieved U.S. fame as librarian Rupert Giles in cult-favorite supernatural series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” which ran from 1997 to 2003.

This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss controversial memes, good times at Meta, and more. EMANUEL: My recent story about Google employees internally sharing memes about how they hate the company’s AI product took a bit more time than it should because I had to recreate all the memes you see in that article. Rather than screenshot and repost the images Google employees shared with me, I went to imgflip.com/memegenerator and recreated the meme from scratch, making it look as close to the original as possible.I did this in order to protect my sources at Google. It might be unlikely, but it is possible that resharing the actual memes I was sent could help management identify who was sharing them. How dangerous doing something like that depends on the nature of the images, the company, the position the source is in, how the image was accessed and shared, and many other factors. At the end of the day, I felt that it’s better to take this extra step than not. The “original” images didn’t add that much to the story, and the risk to sources is not zero. Memegen, the internal Google meme generator in question here, has also been a source of controversy at the company before. I’ve heard but can’t confirm that has led to firings in the past, so better safe than sorry.

The Pentagon is viewed from the window of an airplane Aug. 27, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)2026-06-05T15:52:35Z WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military is still waiting for clarity from the Pentagon following President Donald Trump’s back-and-forth on troop levels in Europe, upending the lives of military personnel and potentially costing taxpayers millions of dollars, two U.S. defense officials told The Associated Press.NATO allies were bewildered in May when Trump said he would send 5,000 U.S. troops to Poland just weeks after ordering the same number pulled from Europe, following a spat with Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the Iran war. The Trump administration says troop reductions in Europe have long been planned and coordinated with allies.The Republican president announced on social media two weeks ago that he was sending troops to Poland — the same day the Pentagon had officially ordered the cancellation of a rotation of soldiers heading there, one of the defense officials said. The unit’s equipment was already on the way. Sending it cost the military $32 million, said U.S. Transportation Command, the military agency largely responsible for moving troops and gear across the globe.The abrupt changes are forcing the military to “retroactively engineer” a policy in line with the president’s latest pronouncement, the official said. Both officials were briefed on the decisions and, along with others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.The uncertainty is not only rattling European allies worried about the message being sent to Russia, but it also risks hurting morale among American troops — some of whom had their rotations canceled shortly before departure — and comes as the Army budget is already strained. Changes to troop deployments to Poland add up The rotational deployment to Poland of 4,000 troops from the Army’s 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, based in Fort Hood, Texas, was canceled in a memo sent to the military at the beginning of May. European allies found out mid-month.Some of those troops were told shortly before traveling not to get on a flight to Poland, while those who had been sent ahead — initially around 1,000 troops — are still waiting for confirmation they are being sent back, a U.S. military official said.The military also is still waiting for details from the Pentagon on how to satisfy Trump’s order to send 5,000 troops to Poland, that official said. The working assumption is that they will come from units already in Europe, rather than an additional deployment from the U.S., the official said. Read More U.S. Transportation Command had chartered a ship to take the team’s equipment from Texas to Poland and transport a departing unit’s gear back to America. The incoming team’s portion of the cost was $32 million, including chartering the ship and loading and unloading the gear. Because the ship was chartered to take one unit to Europe and bring another back, it is hard to say if that amount would have been saved had the decision to halt the deployment been made before the new team had already begun moving overseas.However, the military official said the unscheduled move of personnel and equipment back from Europe is most likely not a cost the Pentagon budgeted for and would be an additional expense. Total costs of canceling the rotation are hard to quantify because of many factors, said Joe Costa, a former senior Pentagon official who now focuses on challenges faced by the U.S. military as director of the Atlantic Council’s Forward Defense program.They most likely stem from returning equipment and troops sent ahead of the deployment and would probably be on the low end of the rotation’s overall cost, Costa said. The greater impact is on the readiness of troops who were trained for one mission and may be deployed on another, he said.U.S. military contracts with private companies to transport troops and equipment contain cancellation clauses that often add extra fees if a deployment is called off, said John Deni, a senior nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council who has studied such costs.“The question is what additional costs were incurred by deciding to send them back prematurely, changing the arrangements, changing the plan?” said Deni, a former U.S. military adviser and planner who focused on forces in Europe. It is not clear if the Pentagon can recoup those costs or those associated with moving the unit to Europe. The Defense Department did not answer questions about the costs of changing the deployment plans, and the White House referred a request for comment to the department.Pentagon officials have repeatedly said they planned to lower troop levels to have Europe shoulder more of its own defense and that the decision was part of a “comprehensive, multilayered process.”Last month’s memo also led to the cancellation of a deployment to Germany of a battalion trained in firing long-range rockets and missiles. Pulling troops stationed in Germany would be more expensiveWhen Trump first threatened to remove 5,000 troops from Europe, Pentagon officials initially suggested pulling back the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, which is based permanently in Germany, the defense official said.Instead, officials decided to cancel the rotation of the other unit to Poland. Then Trump threw that plan into confusion as well.Pulling the troops stationed in Germany could cost in the low billions because there is no dedicated space and infrastructure in the U.S. to accommodate them and their families, Costa said.“The other option is basically breaking up the unit,” Costa said. “They move the equipment in different places. They move the people to different places. That carries significant readiness costs because now you’re artificially jamming pieces of units into places where they don’t necessarily belong.”Pulling or pausing deployments also can hurt morale among soldiers and families because they plan for them months and years in advance, Deni said. The uncertainty can be disruptive. “That’s often the last thing you want to do to military families,” Deni said. It is still unclear what will happen to U.S. troops stationed in Europe, the two officials said. Options include moving military units assigned to Germany to Poland, but that could take several years and cost more, the military official said.Troop changes happen during an Army budget shortfallThe moves come as the Army is facing a budget shortfall, which the service’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Christopher LaNeve, recently acknowledged to Congress.Estimates put the deficit somewhere between $2 billion and $6 billion, according to an Army official who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive defense matters. One impact has been cutting training courses for soldiers nationwide, which ABC News earlier reported.In a statement, the Army said it has issued guidance to its commands to “make tough and sound resource decisions that optimize and prioritize resources toward their most critical requirements, to include major training and readiness events.”The Army official also noted that the service has been tasked with missions like the National Guard deployment in Washington, a bolstered presence along the U.S.-Mexico border and its part in the Iran war — all of which have strained its budget.The Department of Homeland Security expects to reimburse the Army for its role in the border mission.Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told lawmakers at a May 15 hearing that he was “optimistic” there would progress on those payments “within a week or two.” But to date, the Army has not been reimbursed. “We want those backfilled payments,” Driscoll said then.The U.S. military in Europe also is scaling back support for non-combat related training and ruthlessly prioritizing critical functions, the military official said. ___Burrows reported from London. EMMA BURROWS Burrows covers security, defense and intelligence for The Associated Press in Europe. She is based in London. twitter

📄This article was primarily reported using public records requests. We are making it available to all readers as a public service. FOIA reporting can be expensive, please consider subscribing to 404 Media to support this work. Or send us a one time donation via our tip jar here.Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to give potentially more than a thousand local law enforcement agencies a facial recognition app that would query a database of hundreds of millions of images to verify someone’s immigration status, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document obtained by 404 Media.The app would be a dramatic escalation in the technology being used to carry out the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda. ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are already using Mobile Fortify, a facial recognition app that taps into a wide array of DHS and other government databases, on U.S. streets, stopping people and scanning their faces. With that app, ICE officers point their phone camera at a person, the app scans their face, and the app returns a wealth of biographical information and whether they have been issued an order of removal. The app has made mistakes and been used against American citizens.With this second app, much of that capability would now be in the hands of local police who essentially have become extensions of ICE.“This embarrassingly cursory document utterly fails to acknowledge the harms that will flow from putting a flawed face recognition app in the hands of many thousands of local police,” Nate Wessler, deputy director with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, told 404 Media. “Sending local cops out to indiscriminately scan our faces, with a system that is known to generate false matches, that saves our data for 15 years, and that ensnares police into making immigration decisions that they are untrained for and that will undermine community safety efforts, is a recipe for disaster and for terrorizing members of communities across the country. DHS’s privacy regulators fell down on the job. Now it’s up to lawmakers to ensure this dangerous technology stays off our streets.”💡Do you know anything else about this app? Are you a current or former ICE or CBP employee? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at joseph.404 or send me an email at joseph@404media.co.“These ICE non-federal officers will use the TFM [Task Force Module] app during an encounter to verify the target of an operation’s identity, and if warranted, investigate and determine the target’s immigration status (i.e., whether the individual is subject to removal) through facial recognition,” the document reads.The name of the app is the “ICE Task Force Module App (TFM App),” according to the document. When an officer scans someone’s face, the app will run their face against a database of more than 250 million DHS and State Department records, and then provide instructions to the officer. Either “not detain or arrest under ICE jurisdiction,” or the app will provide a reference code the officer can use to get additional information from ICE.A screenshot of the document. Image: 404 Media.404 Media previously reported the existence of Mobile Identify, which appears to be the same app under a different name, in November. It was removed a short while later from the Google Play Store and has not returned. The new document also mentions making the app available through the Apple App Store.It is not clear when, or if, ICE or other DHS components will roll out the app to local police. DHS did not respond to a request for comment, and the document lists the launch date as September 24, 2025. But the new document describes in detail the plan behind giving this facial recognition app to local police. “The collection of face images allows ICE non-federal law enforcement officers to verify identity and immigration status (whether the individual is removable),” the document adds. ICE acknowledges in the document that the app may be used on U.S. citizens. “It is conceivable that a photo taken by an ICE non-federal law enforcement officers using the TFM mobile application could be that of someone other than a removable individual, including U.S. citizens,” it reads.A screenshot of the document. Image: 404 Media.“ICE non-federal law enforcement officers do not know an individual's citizenship when first encountered and will use the TFM mobile application to determine or verify the individual's identity and confirm that they are a match to CBP TVS,” it reads. TVS is the Traveler Verification Service, the CBP system usually used to verify people entering the country at ports of entry, but which ICE has now turned inwards onto American streets.The app is designed for members of the 287(g) program, an ICE initiative that grants local and state police certain immigration enforcement powers. It “essentially turns police officers into ICE agents,” according to the New York Civil Liberties Union. More agencies have joined the program recently, including Texas’s Highway Patrol. At the time of writing, 1,220 agencies in 32 states and 2 U.S. territories participate in the program, according to ICE’s website. These are the agencies that would potentially be given access to the app, as the document points specifically to 287(g) as the legal basis of the app. “This document confirms our worst fears about the spread of ICE's abusive surveillance technology. Face surveillance was already a dangerous infringement of civil liberties in the hands of ICE agents,” Cooper Quintin, security researcher and senior public interest technologist with the EFF, told 404 Media. “Putting it in the hands of ICE's local partners will subject even more Americans to omnipresent surveillance and unjust detainment.”After 404 Media revealed the existence of both Mobile Fortify and Mobile Identify, a group of six democratic lawmakers proposed legislation that would rein in the apps, and entirely kill the local enforcement version. 404 Media obtained the document through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with CBP. 404 Media previously obtained a similar document from CBP for Mobile Fortify. That document said ICE believes people cannot refuse to be scanned by its app.At a recent border security conference, Matthew Elliston, assistant director of Law Enforcement Systems & Analysis at ICE, said Mobile Fortify has been used more than 200,000 times, multiple attendees of the conference told 404 Media.Based on comments from that conference and an DHS source, 404 Media reported that ICE plans to develop its own smartglasses to “supplement” its facial recognition app.Update: this piece has been updated with comment from the EFF.

2026-06-05T17:09:02Z BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday struck down a Trump administration policy enacted after the shooting of two National Guard members that made it harder for immigrants from dozens of countries to stay and enter the country.In a ruling harshly criticizing the administration, U.S. District Chief Judge John McConnell Jr. said the policy “threw the lives of countless immigrants living in the United States into indeterminate legal limbo,” and he accused the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of ignoring the law.“In enacting its latest immigration policies, USCIS: claims statutory and regulatory authority that it does not possess; makes decisions without the reasoned explanations that it must provide; acts without regard for the reliance interests of applicants that it must consider; and justifies its actions with pretextual concerns of ‘national security’ that mask anti-immigrant sentiments that it is forbidden from letting influence its decision-making,” he wrote. “In legal terms that means USCIS’s actions are contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious.” The policies enacted after the National Guard shooting last year meant that immigrants from 39 African, Asian, Latin American, and Middle Eastern countries have been “categorically barred” from receiving final decisions on, among other things, their asylum, work permit, green card, and citizenship applications. “This ruling reaffirms a basic principle: the federal government cannot shut down lawful immigration pathways or discriminate against people based on where they come from,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “These unlawful policies caused enormous harm to families, workers, asylum seekers, and communities across the country who were left in limbo, unable to work, access protections, or move forward with their lives.” 获取更多RSS：https://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Nature, Published online: 05 June 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-01831-yNature staff discuss some of the week’s top science news.

The North Carolina legislature, where Democrats recently introduced three bills to reform the state’s courts and protect the separation of powers between its branches of government Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images Democratic lawmakers in North Carolina introduced a trio of constitutional amendments this week aimed at protecting traditional powers of the state’s governor and reforming oversight of its court system. The effort was prompted in part by ProPublica’s reporting, including an investigation that found that over nearly a decade, Republican lawmakers had pushed through law after law shrinking the powers of North Carolina’s governor, always a Democrat during that time. At a press conference on Wednesday, the bills’ sponsors readily acknowledged that the initiatives are unlikely to pass, at least in the current legislative session: Republicans hold majorities in North Carolina’s House and Senate. But in proposing the measures as changes to the state constitution, the group of eight Democrats said their goal was to make them less vulnerable to the persistent partisan warfare that has engulfed the narrowly divided swing state. Republicans “won’t always be in the majority,” said Rep. Phil Rubin, the primary sponsor of one bill. “And when they’re not, they’re going to suddenly think these are great rules. So let’s do them now.” Republican leaders in the House, Senate and court system did not respond to requests for comment on the bills. Experts have long maintained that Republican power grabs have thwarted the will of North Carolina voters, removing the Democratic governor’s control or partial control over numerous boards, entities and executive prerogatives and leaving him the nation’s weakest. (Republican officials have defended the shifts, pointing out that voters also elected a GOP legislative majority.) Rubin’s measure would bar the legislature from stripping away additional gubernatorial powers, as well as block majority leaders from what he called “government by ambush” — springing major legislation on the minority and public without notice. “ProPublica’s reporting shows the perils of not having this law,” Rubin said. Voters should have “the opportunity to secure their constitution, demand absolute transparency in lawmaking and ensure that people, not backroom deals, have the final say.” The two other constitutional amendments unveiled this week target aspects of the judicial system. The first, authored by House Rep. Marcia Morey, would make disciplinary hearings and sanctions by the courts’ internal watchdog, the Judicial Standards Commission, public. GOP rules currently cloak the commission’s work in secrecy. Behind closed doors, ProPublica revealed, the majority-Republican state Supreme Court quashed the commission’s recommendations that two Republican judges who’d admitted to committing egregious conduct violations be publicly reprimanded. (Spokespeople for the North Carolina Supreme Court and the Judicial Standards Commission declined to comment or respond to a detailed list of questions about the matter.) Morey’s bill would also change who appoints the commission’s members, a step she called critical to preventing the “weaponization” of its work. Currently, Republican legislative leaders and Paul Newby, the state’s conservative chief justice, appoint a majority of the commission’s members. As ProPublica has reported, in 2023 Newby encouraged the commission to investigate a Black Democratic justice who’d criticized his decision to effectively shut down a racial equity commission. (Newby, as well as spokespeople for the court and the Judicial Standards Commission, declined to comment for the story.) Morey’s measure would divide commission appointments equally among the chief justice, the governor and the North Carolina State Bar. “Who makes decisions about discipline and who appoints the decision-makers,” she said, are critical to making the system “fair and effective.” The second bill, sponsored by Rep. Deb Butler, would disqualify state Supreme Court justices from hearing cases in which family members are parties. Justice Phil Berger Jr. has caused controversy by ruling in multiple cases in which his father, the leader of the state Senate, is a defendant in his legislative capacity. (Berger referred recusal requests on these cases to the Republican majority on the Supreme Court, which ruled he could participate.) Butler’s measure would also compel justices to disclose more information about large stock transactions, outside sources of income and sponsored travel. A ProPublica investigation found Newby didn’t disclose a trip to a luxurious Hawaiian resort, paid for by a conservative judicial education program. Newby and court spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment about his decision not to disclose the trip. Butler described her bill as an effort to restore public trust. “People deserve complete confidence in the integrity of their court,” she said. In the unlikely event that the bills pass, the public would then have the chance to vote on them in November. If not, the sponsors said, they’d revive them in the next session, by which time even some Republican strategists think that a blue wave may have flipped the North Carolina House. “We’re committed to following through on these bills to ensure fairness and impartiality in our courts and legislature,” Morey said. “This should be the norm, not the partisan bias we have now.” The post North Carolina Democrats Propose Changes to Block GOP Power Transfers and Secrecy appeared first on ProPublica.

Tech titans and Silicon Valley transplants changed the Columbus area, but not everyone is thrilled about the rapid transformation.

Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim said on Friday in an email to their colleagues that they had reached the decision after a period of frustration.

Unemployment is steady and companies are hiring, but wage growth is not keeping up with higher prices.

Brendan Banfield of Herndon, Va., was found guilty of murdering his wife and another man, who was lured in through a fetish website. The plan involved his lover, who is now serving 10 years in prison.

Elon Musk’s rocket company, on the cusp of the largest initial public offering ever, will soon end up in index funds after rule changes by Nasdaq and other index providers.

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Samantha Busch said Friday that “the prayers, messages, flowers, meals, hugs, and countless acts of kindness have carried us through the most heartbreaking days of our lives” after her husband Kyle Busch’s death.Busch, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, died on May 21 at 41 after he contracted sepsis while dealing with a case of bacterial pneumonia. Busch’s death came hours after his family announced he had been hospitalized with a “severe illness” and would not be racing in the upcoming Coca-Cola 600.View this post on InstagramIn Samantha’s first Instagram post since Kyle’s death, she thanked people for their support. The Busches have a son Brexton and a daughter, Lennix.“The love that has surrounded our family during this unimaginable time has brought comfort in the middle of so much pain,” she wrote. “Knowing the impact Kyle had on others and seeing how they are honoring him through each unique act of generosity is a true testament to how special Kyle is to so many people. There are moments when the weight of this loss feels impossible to carry, yet time and time again God, through you all, has shown us we are not alone.”Busch’s 234 NASCAR national series wins are the most by any driver. In addition to 63 Cup Series wins, Busch is the all-time wins leader in NASCAR’s No. 2 O’Reilly Series and No. 3 Craftsman Truck Series.His death certificate noted that Busch had bacterial pneumonia for “days to weeks” before he became septic. Busch was dealing with a cough during the May 10 race at Watkins Glen and requested a doctor over his radio at the end of the event.According to 911 audio obtained by TMZ, a caller from the General Motors Charlotte Technical Center in North Carolina said that Busch was coughing up blood, had “shortness of breath” and was “very hot” while thinking he was going to pass out. Busch was at the tech center testing in a racing sim ahead of the 600.Busch’s last NASCAR win came less than a week before his death when he won the Truck Series race at Dover. When he was asked after climbing out of his truck why winning never got old, Busch replied “because you never know when the last one is.”

Only one Roland-Garros semifinal was played on Friday, as Matteo Arnaldi was forced to pull out 20 minutes before his scheduled match against the 10th-seeded Flavio Cobolli with a viral illness, the tournament announced.Cobolli will advance to Sunday’s final and face No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev in the final, after the German defeated No. 26 seed Jakub Mensik in four sets earlier Friday. A first-time Grand Slam champion has been guaranteed to be crowned since Novak Djokovic fell in the third round.It is a brutal development for Arnaldi, an unseeded player who entered the tournament ranked 104th in the world. He had never reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal before this year’s Roland-Garros, but defeated Francis Tiafoe in the fourth round then advanced after Matteo Berrettini had to retired mid-match on Wednesday.Play 2026 Soccer Pick 'Em with FOX One and make your picks for the world's biggest soccer tournamentSpeaking with reporters after the announcement, Arnaldi said he encountered a stomach bug overnight and was unable to play despite a doctor’s help:“It’s difficult to be here. It’s not what I wanted to do, but last night I started to feel not very well. Yesterday I was feeling OK. I came here to practice, I did everything I had to do. I was feeling fine. I had dinner. I started to feel so-so with my stomach. I was like ‘Alright, just didn’t digest very well.’ But then I woke up at 1 a.m. and I started vomiting. I wasn’t feeling the best. Then I tried to sleep.“I couldn’t sleep at all. At 6, 7 a.m. I vomited again. This time it was pretty bad. We called the doctor in the room, he came and gave me some stuff. I was hoping it could just be something from dinner or something like that, but throughout the day I couldn’t eat. Every time I ate something or would drink I would go back to the bathroom. So it’s tough. It’s tough. For how the tournament was, for how many hours I spent on court I was feeling actually very good.“To have to withdraw from my first Slam semifinal is not something you wish to anybody. I tried to get ready and tried to stay as much as I could here. Tried to see if I could go on court, but every time I get up I feel dizzy and I don’t feel the best. I’m pretty sure if I eat again I’m not going to feel good, so that was the right decision for me to take.”When asked if the issue was an illness or food poisoning, Arnaldi said he believed it was a virus because he experienced chills and a fever during the day.Arnaldi now faces the question of whether he will ever get an opportunity like this again. This year’s Roland-Garros has been defined by a barrage of upsets, leaving Zverev and hardcourt specialist Felix Auger-Aliassime as the only ATP top 10 players left after the third round. Arnaldi has shown promise in the past — and will move to 34th in the rankings just by reaching the semifinal — but every player wants to win a Grand Slam. There may never be a more open on than this.For his part, Cobolli said he was sad for his friend, but didn’t deny being excited about the opportunity. Reaching a Grand Slam final alone has vaulted him into the top 10 in the ATP rankings after entering with the No. 14 ranking:“When it came to me almost one hour ago, I almost cried. It’s something that you don’t expect at all. I was ready to play this match and when it came, I was completely sad for him. But at the same time, of course I’m really happy for the result I’ve received this week. My dad also came to me right before him and we had a big hug together with the whole team for achieving the top 10.“I’m sad and happy at the same time.”A win over Zverev would catapult Cobolli into the top 5.

Baker Mayfield's take on his contract situation was the juiciest bit of information to come out of his first media session of the offseason, but he also had a chance to weigh in on a significant change to the team's receiving corps. Mike Evans left for the 49ers as a free agent and Mayfield said that there's no way to sugarcoat that it is "disappointing to not have him back" for the 2026 season. Mayfield then pivoted to praising Chris Godwin's leadership of a receiving corps and expressing confidence in a group that also includes Jalen McMillan, Emeka Egbuka, Tez Johnson, and third-round pick Ted Hurst."To also have J-Mac, Chris and Emeka really, really healthy right now, feeling good — to lead those guys and just to watch the steps from Year 1 to Year 2 when it comes to Meck and Tez and watching them help Ted Hurst out as well," Mayfield said, via Jenna Laine of ESPN.com. "There's a lot of weapons in that room. And so when you lose a guy like that, you got to have a lot of people fill those shoes, not just one person and we have that."If the Bucs don't sign Mayfield to an extension ahead of the season, his performance with that group of wideouts will likely determine whether there's an appetite for continuing the relationship in Tampa. If that appetite does not develop, the Bucs could be looking at another significant change next offseason.

Cal Poly vs. West Virginia baseball box score: Live stats from NCAA Baseball Championship Game originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.The West Virginia Mountaineers baseball team is hosting their first-ever NCAA Super Regional and appear to be in the driver's seat. They'll welcome the Cal Poly Mustangs into Morgantown for a possible three-game series.First pitch is set for noon ET on ESPN2. This is the first game of the Super Regional round on the way to the College World Series in Omaha. 2026 NCAA Baseball Championship 123456789RHECal Poly (39-22)00010150West Virginia (43-15)3005860Cal Poly vs. West Virginia baseball box score: Live stats from NCAA Championship Super RegionalCal PolyBatterPOSABRHRBIBBSOAVGOBP7Nate CastellonSS200001.325.4025Alejandro Garza3B200001.323.3564Dylan KordicRF212100.281.37116Ryan TaymanC200001.359.45015Cam HoilandDH101000.318.4142Jake Downing2B200002.275.3621Casey Murray Jr.CF201001.322.40612Gavin Spiridonoff1B200002.288.3556Dante VachiniLF201001.286.335Total220132355136623792B: Hoiland 1 (15)H: Kordic 1 (10)RBI: Kordic 1 (38)PitcherPOSIPHRERBBSOBFERA27Griffin NaessP3.268831204.611Brady EstesP0.10000013.7Total4.06883121Estes 3 (3 strikes)Naess 63 (34 strikes)West VirginiaBatterPOSABRHRBIBBSOAVGOBP5Armani GuzmanRF312000.313.4102Gavin Kelly2B300000.376.4776Paul SchoenfeldCF210010.343.44011Sean SmithDH222300.319.409Matthew GravelineC200000.285.36317Matt IneichSS110010.293.43212Brodie Kresser1B211100.289.38824Ben LumsdenLF110011.254.4078Tyrus Hall3B211400.271.398Total200926644037622412B: Guzman 1 (20)Smith 1 (11)H: Smith 1 (9)Hall 1 (6)RBI: Smith 3 (52)Kresser 1 (32)Hall 4 (32)PitcherPOSIPHRERBBSOBFERA35Chansen ColeP4.051109182.9Total4.05110918Cole 78 (53 strikes)How to watch: Cal Poly vs. West Virginia 2026 NCAA Baseball Championship GameDate: Friday, June 5Time: Noon ETTV: ESPN2More NCAA NewsSaint Mary's vs. UCLA baseball box score: Final stats from NCAA Baseball Championship Game 1Milwaukee vs. Auburn baseball box score: Final stats from NCAA Baseball Championship Game 1Arkansas vs. Georgia box score: Final stats from 2026 SEC Baseball ChampionshipBill Belichick, Jordon Hudson at Kentucky Derby leaves everyone saying the same thingDemond Williams bombshell could have resulted in Lane Kiffin fired by LSU

2026 Nordic Darts Masters Day 1 first round live results, scores, schedule & bracket originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.Jonny Clayton started the night with a whitewash win over Andreas Harrysson, averaging 104.86 in the 6-0 win.The 2026 World Series of Darts resumes on Friday, with Day 1 of the 2026 Nordic Darts Masters.The world's best players, including Luke Littler, Gerwyn Price, Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen, will take the stage, as eight exciting matches will be played.On Day 1, each of the eight PDC representatives will play against one of the eight Nordic & Baltic qualifiers.2026 Nordic Darts Masters Day 1 schedule & resultsFriday night's session consists of the first round.MORE: 2026 Nordic Darts Masters: Draw, schedule, prize money and format explainedFirst round (first to 6 legs)MatchDateTime (local)ScoreJonny Clayton vs. Andreas HarryssonFri., June 57:15 p.m.6-0Gerwyn Price vs. Darius LabanauskasFri., June 57:45 p.m.Stephen Bunting vs.Viktor TingstromFri., June 58:15 p.m.Michael van Gerwen vs. Oskar LukasiakFri., June 58:45 p.m.James Wade vs. Madars RazmaFri., June 59:15 p.m.Luke Littler vs. Cor DekkerFri., June 59:45 p.m.Luke Humphries vs. Jeffrey de GraafFri., June 510:15 p.m.Gian van Veen vs. Daniel LarssonFri., June 510:45 p.m.MORE: 2026 Nordic Darts Masters: Predicting which PDC players could lose to Nordic and Baltic qualifiersBracketHere is the bracket for the second round on Day 2.van Gerwen/Lukasiak vs. Bunting/TingstromPrice/Labanauskas vs. ClaytonLittler/Dekker vs. Wade/Razmavan Veen/Larsson vs. Humphries/de GraafMore Darts articles:Explaining the significance of the World Series of DartsLuke Littler contract details: Teenage phenom signs richest endorsement deal in darts historyHow much prize money did Luke Littler earn in the 2026 Premier League of Darts season?Every Premier League Darts play-off night 9-darter: From Luke Littler to Phil TaylorLuke Littler vs. Luke Humphries: All of the stats from a historic Premier League Darts final

A day after a bombshell report dropped revealing disgraced ex-congressman George Santos is the target of a federal probe over insider trading on the prediction market Kalshi, the convicted felon was making more news, and another possible case for prosecutors. Bobby Allyn, the veteran technology correspondent who broke the story for NPR, says Santos threatened him in a phone call on Wednesday afternoon, predicting “a gun in your face” for reporting the investigation. Related George Santos allegedly bet on himself. He may be going to prison again for it. Sources at Kalshi had shared with Allyn that Santos was flagged by the prediction market for manipulating bets on his possible appearance at the State of the Union address in February. They said the case was being investigated by the Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The call from a blocked number rang on Allyn’s phone just after 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Santos claimed Allyn’s story was riddled with errors, and that “my lawyers have been calling the Department of Justice all day, and they can’t find any investigation.” Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today “As we were talking, I asked if I could record the call,” Allyn wrote in a story published Thursday night. “He said no. I was in front of a keyboard, though, furiously jotting down every word. “I asked him who his lawyers are, and he refused to answer. I questioned whether he really does have attorneys. He replied: ‘I’m George f*cking Santos, of course I have a legal team.'” Santos then tore into NPR’s reputation, with “the kind of invective that’s common when reporting on people who try to discredit reporters and news organizations for stories they don’t like,” Allyn wrote. “What Santos said next took me aback, even by his outlandish and brazen standards.” “‘This story is going to get you a gun in your face,’ Santos said.” “I asked him what he meant by that.” “‘You know what I mean'” Santos replied. After the call, Allyn texted another number for Santos, who launched into a denial immediately. “I NEVER SAID ‘this story would get a gun in your face, I said ‘it’d blow up in your face,” Santos wrote in a text. After the ex-rep called Allyn “an insane person” and “a clown, among other broadsides,” Santos took to X to deny the threat ever happened — before Allyn even reported it. “I’ve interacted with hundreds of reporters in my life… not once was I ever threatening or aggressive… sassy? Sure but aggressive and threatening? NEVER!” Santos posted with a list of perceived transgressions the reporter was guilty of. “He’s made up investigations out of thin air, made up loss amounts and fabricated allegations about intent,” Santos wrote of Allyn. Then, in classic Trump fashion, Santos projected his own threatening behavior on Allyn, accusing the reporter of “demanding I disclose the names of my lawyers ‘or else’ (only God knows what that means.)” Allyn called that accusation “a fiction.” “I did ask him who his lawyers are, but the ‘or else’ is Santos fantasy, perhaps his way of turning me into the menacing actor in all of this.” The clown at NPR @BobbyAllyn is now making things up…1. Saying I threatened him.I’ve interacted with hundreds of reporters in my life… not once was I ever threatening or aggressive… sassy? Sure but aggressive and threatening? NEVER! 2. He’s mad that I didn’t give him…— George Santos (@Georgesantos) June 4, 2026 Allyn added that more news amid the fallout from his reporting had broken. On Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that prediction platform Polymarket, a rival to Kalshi, has cut ties with Santos, who had been paid by the company to boost social media posts featuring some of its prediction markets. “A Polymarket spokesperson said the company was in the process of terminating the contract as a result of this week’s revelations,” the news agency said. “Santos did not respond to phone calls and text messages from the AP.” Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Just yesterday, The Advocate published a column calling Trump gay as an insult, proving why we still need Pride Month. The publication’s reasoning centered around the upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) cage fight scheduled to take place at the White House on June 14, because the fighters are muscular men who fight shirtless. Related Gavin Newsom lobs homophobic insult at MAGA influencer: “Got a call from Grindr” The fight “falls on Trump’s 80th birthday,” The Advocate‘s John Casey wrote. “I hope his frail health can handle being surrounded by such splendid male beauty. If I were him, I’d probably leave the poppers at home to avoid any sudden heart attacks.” Similarly, earlier this week, a rumor spread online that gay men were buying all the tickets to the UFC fight. The rumor was started by a post from a satirical X account (“The Halfway Post”) that wrote, “So many LGBTQ+ groups are reportedly buying tickets to Trump’s White House UFC fight to co-opt it into an ‘America’s Coming Out Of The Closet Party’ that Trump’s website crashed.” Later, that same joke account said that “hundreds of gay men are actually buying tickets and planning to show up shirtless, glittered up, and very flamboyant.” Dive deeper every day Join our newsletter for thought-provoking commentary that goes beyond the surface of LGBTQ+ issues Subscribe to our Newsletter today In case it’s not clear: they’re laughing at us, not with us. There’s no reason to believe that LGBTQ+ people are flocking to support a Trump administration event, or that UFC fans are particularly gay. But the allure of calling one’s political opponents a bunch of fa***ts is too enticing for many to resist, including people on the left, including many LGBTQ+ people themselves. There is nothing gay about Trump. He is the (barely) walking embodiment of heterosexual privilege and violence. But instead of calling him out for his misogyny, the go-to is to lob accusations of being gay at him like a schoolyard insult. Being gay is still the worst thing a man can be, worse than bragging about raping women. Worse than having a jury find one liable for sexually abusing a woman or being accused of sexual violence by dozens of women. Worse than cheating on multiple women. Worse than drawing pictures of naked underage girls and sending them to known child rapist Jeffrey Epstein. Casey went so far as to call the UFC fight Trump’s “Pride celebration,” which it is not. Trump has refused to acknowledge Pride for years because he is beholden to Christian fundamentalists. Casey’s reasoning stays at about the middle-school level. Trump is gay because he likes the song “YMCA,” which is also a popular song among straight people that they’ve played at weddings and community events for decades. Trump is gay because he has poor taste in decorating. (Casey called this Trump’s “Liberace-esque flair for gilded interiors.”) Trump is gay because he invited male celebrities like The Rock to the UFC fight. Casey calls the appearance of The Rock and other male celebrities “a guest list assembled like a gay-porn casting call,” which is a pretty gross and degrading way to describe these people. The column even parrots the debunked claim that Republican get-togethers crash Grindr, a fake internet rumor made up as a f*g joke about Republicans, debunked by The Advocate’s sibling publication, Out. Casey even links a story as proof that Grindr crashed during the 2024 Republican National Convention, but following that link shows that it’s actually a story about how the same satirical Twitter account behind the UFC claim – The Halfway Post – was also behind the 2024 RNC rumor as well. This is all a part of a larger body of internet myths that, if one believed them, would make a person think that gay men are some of the most regressive and misogynistic people to walk the Earth, which contradicts what evidence we have of reality. It has become a trend online to call misogynistic straight men anti-gay slurs or joke about how they’re secretly gay, with the logic being, “If you hate women, that must mean you love men, which is GAY!” This “logic” is bizarre to those of us who spend time in reality, where, by any reasonable metric that can be tested through polling, gay men are far less misogynistic than straight men and often less misogynistic than straight women. (For example, this poll found that LGBTQ+ people were far more likely than women to support abortion rights, and exit polls in 2024 showed that 80% of queer men voted for a pro-choice woman to be president, far above the 53% of women who did so.) The gay men I know have lots of women friends and plenty of respect for women. The idea that same-sex love is caused by hating women is incorrect and hurtful. My sexuality has nothing to do with hatred and everything to do with love. The point, though, isn’t to actually call misogynists gay. No one thinks that these men are actually gay. The point is to use gay as an insult. It’s related to the silly notion that homophobes are secretly gay, something that makes an appearance in The Advocate’s column when Casey suggests that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is gay because… he has supported anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Johnson is married to a woman and has never shown any sign of being queer in any way. Moreover, the vast majority of prominent homophobes have always been perfectly straight: James Dobson, Ronald Reagan, Dan White, Phyllis Schlafly, Tony Perkins, Pat Robertson, Anita Bryant, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jerry Falwell, Jesse Helms… straight, straight, straight, straight, straight, straight, straight, straight, straight, straight. There’s an attraction to pointing out hypocrisy, so much so that people will make up hypocrisy where there is none. It is, perhaps, a more interesting story to think that haters are battling their inner demons instead of being people who – like the rest of us – were raised in a society that taught them to hate queer people. In other LGBTQ+ UFC news this week, one prominent UFC fighter – the current middleweight champion, Sean Strickland – posted an AI-generated video to social media that depicted him beating a trans woman up, something he shared because he wanted to express how happy he was that he had “yet to see one rainbow flag” in Pride Month. The video is graphic enough that I won’t embed it here. I don’t think people need to see a cis man beating up a trans woman, even if the video is fake. Pride is about celebrating who we are as LGBTQ+ people, standing up to a culture that tells us we should be ashamed of ourselves. Every year, a bunch of straight people will complain about Pride Month, ask why we need a month to celebrate it, and then proceed to demonstrate exactly why it’s needed. And part of fighting that larger cultural shame is refusing to use “gay” or “trans” or “queer” as insults. Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Donald Trump has been making increasingly wild claims about how much he won the 2024 election by. He didn’t even win a majority of the popular vote in that election, but has been saying he won in a “landslide” for over a year. He apparently found a way to claim that he won the election by even more, saying in comments at the Oval Office yesterday – during an event that was supposed to be about “Beautiful, Clean Coal” – that he “probably won all 50 states if we had an honest count.” Related Trump reportedly fell asleep during the first day of his hush money trial Trump: "I probably won all 50 states if we had an honest count" pic.twitter.com/VikgXb216I— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 4, 2026 When all eyes were no longer on him because EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin was speaking, Trump had trouble staying awake, slumping to one side of his chair while everyone else around him stood, fully awake, and listening. Trump is now sitting back in his chair and dozing off pic.twitter.com/376koU6XNK— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 4, 2026 At the same press event, Trump also claimed that he has “ended eight wars, and soon to be ninth. It could be ten.” This is, of course, not true, and something that he made up last year, although the number appears to be growing. He added that he doesn’t think a president has ever even “ended one war,” which would mean that he thinks that all wars in U.S. history were still ongoing by the time he took office. He should be in a room with padded walls. 25th Amendment. https://t.co/ed4FPh70O3— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) June 5, 2026

During April 1963, Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference joined together with the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights in a massive nonviolent action to protest Birmingham’s system of segregation during the Easter holiday season, the second-largest shopping period for merchants. The organized desegregation campaign was launched on April 3 with a succession of mass meetings, direct actions, lunch counter sit-ins, marches on City Hall, and a general boycott of downtown merchants. During his stay in Birmingham, Dr. King spoke with Black residents about the philosophy of nonviolence, and he invited them to volunteer in the actions. Related The man who taught nonviolence to Martin Luther King Jr. The city government, however, on April 10 obtained a state circuit court injunction against allowing the demonstrations. Organizers debated whether to continue, and King declared, “We cannot in all good conscience obey such an injunction, which is an unjust, undemocratic, and unconstitutional misuse of the legal process.” King concluded that he must risk going to jail in Birmingham, and he told other protest organizers, “I don’t know what will happen; I don’t know where the money [for bail] will come from. But I have to make a faith act.” Dive deeper every day Join our newsletter for thought-provoking commentary that goes beyond the surface of LGBTQ+ issues Subscribe to our Newsletter today King was subsequently arrested on April 12, Good Friday. He was placed in solitary confinement by the Birmingham police department. During his imprisonment, he wrote his now iconic “Letter from Birmingham Jail” on pieces of toilet paper and in the margins of the Birmingham News, in reaction to an article published in that newspaper by eight Birmingham clergymen condemning the protests. In his writings, King used a metaphor to describe types of organizations. “There was a time when the church was very powerful,” he reflected, “in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days, the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.” He was asking whether the church merely reflects the social and religious temperature of a nation like a thermometer gauges the warmth or coolness of a person or of the environment, or whether the church regulates the climate like a thermostat to change the social climate towards progress. King was released from jail on April 20, when organizers collected sufficient bail money, though his stirring words have remained with successive generations, inspiring civil and human rights advocates all across the United States and around the globe. His metaphor about the thermometer and thermostat remains in a greatly expanded form, now referring not only to organizations like the Church, but also to groups of people and individuals. So, how do you see yourself: as a thermometer, which reacts to what is occurring around and neither influences nor changes what it records? Or are you a thermostat that sets the temperature or agenda of the environment, regardless of the surroundings? | Shutterstock Since I virtually never validate binaries of either/or, I claim that for anyone to attain and maintain a requisite degree of individual and group power over the course of their lives, and for any leader, they must become both the thermometer to assess the social climate in order to set the thermostat to the desired temperature for success. This need not be understood as the thermometer versus thermostat metaphor, but rather as a thermometer and thermostat symbolic representation. The thermometric/thermostatic individual understands the social, political, economic, religious, and governmental environment as well as their constantly fluctuating emotional environment so that they can chart a course forward. Such an individual is then better able to adapt to changes in their environment, and they can alter their actions accordingly when necessary. This “dual” person, as opposed to those with only one of the metaphoric tendencies, responds proactively with a greater self-awareness, providing a clearer view toward the future. The “dual” individual continually self-reflects and develops a strong degree of emotional intelligence and is mindful of important events around them. After gauging the current climate (as well as the changes from past environmental climates), they are better able to set the boundaries for their needs and where they want to go. They are also better equipped to seek and take into consideration the feedback of others they trust. In the Trumpian age of our declining democratic institutions, the thermometer/thermostat analogy has implicit implications for individuals, groups, political candidates, and entire political parties intent on dismantling and replacing the MAGA movement with progressive policies and actions to get our country back onto its trajectory of making the United States of America “a more perfect union.” They must become the thermometer accessing the country’s history, searching out the political trends from all past eras, identifying significant change strategies (and the reasons why these failed or succeeded and to what degrees for each), looking at the political parties and leaders from different time periods to understand their strategies and methods for attaining their agendas. They also need to chart the trajectory following the rise and growth of political right and far-right movements in the United States and elsewhere in order to understand how each became so powerful as they exist today, as a research tool to discover a possible cure and vaccine to eliminate their possible future reentry into the body politic. With this assessment and diagnosis, like the medical technologist and attendants, political activists, candidates for elective office, and parties will then have gained the ability to chart a treatment, giving it a better chance of success. And once again, Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. has reached over to our current generations to assist us in bending the arc of history toward justice. Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Executive compensation is accelerating while rank-and-file workers lag, widening the pay gap in corporate America.

A look inside Dataland in Los Angeles, dedicated entirely to A.I.-generated art. Refik Anadol, its founder, says it’s for human dreamers. Will critics be convinced?

What’s the matter, can’t you take a joke?

The journalist Helen Lewis examines the ancient, angry gender politics of the New Right.

Scott Pelley’s firing is the latest in a string of controversies and staffing shake-ups that have plagued CBS’s news division.

UFC Vegas 118 is all about momentum, with former welterweight champion Belal Muhammad looking to get back on track and Gabriel Bonfim aiming to keep building his.Last year wasn't kind to Muhammad, whose welterweight title reign already feels like a fever dream at this stage. His stellar title win over Leon Edwards was followed by back-to-back losses at the hands of Jack Della Maddalena and Ian Machado Garry. The former champ is now back inside the UFC’s Meta Apex, tasked with the rising contender Bonfim. Outside of a loss to Nicolas Dalby, the Brazilian has been perfect in his 20-fight career.The co-main event of UFC Vegas 118 sees middleweights clash, as perennial contender Brendan Allen takes a wildly odd backward step after upsetting Reinier de Ridder. He'll be met with the surging Edmen Shahbazyan, who appears poised to finally vault into serious contention after experiencing several early speed bumps in his once-promising career.UFC Vegas 118 is a bit of a weird card — the name value is present throughout Saturday’s lineup, but not necessarily overly eye-catching. It could function as an on-the-road Fight Night event for the UFC in 2026, which is better than can be said about most Apex cards these days, but wherever it was held, it would still only be serviceable at best.👑 UFC Vegas 118's lineup Crown grade: C-. 👑Belal Muhammad hopes to snap a two-fight losing skid. NurPhoto via Getty Images170 pounds: Belal Muhammad (-125) vs. Gabriel Bonfim (+105)There appears to be a lot of revisionist history coming into play these days with Muhammad's run to welterweight supremacy. I'm never one to be that guy, and still believe his championship was well earned, but Father Time defeats all.With the exception of Sean Brady, everyone Muhammad, 37, beat on his win streak was a seasoned veteran on the wrong side of 30. In his past two defeats, that youth difference was extremely noticeable. Della Maddalena's durability and speed shined brightly with his crisp boxing, battering Muhammad over five rounds. The same could be said for Garry, who picked Muhammad apart at will and thwarted all seven takedown attempts.Bonfim, 28, is entering his prime and starting to emerge as a real player in the loaded 170-pound division. A consistent finishing machine, Bonfim wiped off any lingering stench from his split decision over Stephen Thompson with a chilling knockout of Randy Brown in November. He's dangerous everywhere, and that's plenty of cause for concern to Muhammad.This fight essentially comes down to Muhammad avoiding those dangerous moments when he’s in harm's way. The former champ will be required to take some to land some — and, ideally, close the gaps to secure his dominant grappling positions, and smother and tire out Bonfim. Despite his age and experience, Muhammad has yet to see his chin cracked. He's only been finished once, and that was an admitted anomaly in 2016.For this matchup, in particular, Bonfim's knee knockout over Brown might not have done him any favors. He faded down the stretch of the Thompson fight, and didn't get a chance to prove he'd sured that hole up by finishing Brown early in Round 2. The longer this fight goes with Muhammad's pace and pressure, the more he'll overwhelm Bonfim. It's a bit of a coin flip, but I'm not ready to entirely count out Muhammad just yet.Pick: Muhammad185 pounds: Brendan Allen (-220) vs. Edmen Shahbazyan (+180)It's still so bizarre that this is Allen's next fight after upsetting de Ridder, and it may be more of a case of poor management on his end than anything else, really.Nonetheless, Allen has quietly turned himself into one of the division's most reliable contenders. After bouncing back from losses to top names, he rattled off statement wins over Marvin Vettori and the aforementioned de Ridder, reminding everyone that his combination of pressure, grappling and submission hunting can be a nightmare for most middleweights.Meanwhile, Shahbazyan is trying to complete one of the sport's more surprising turnarounds. Once hailed as a future title contender before crashing into a brick wall of veteran competition, Shahbazyan has rebuilt himself with three straight wins and still possesses the same fast hands and genuine knockout power that made him such a hyped prospect in the first place.The problem is we've seen this movie before. Shahbazyan is dangerous early, but Allen is exactly the type of fighter who tends to expose Shahbazyan’s biggest weakness. Allen doesn't need to win a kickboxing match. He just needs to survive the opening storm, get his hands on Shahbazyan and turn this into a grappling fight. Once that happens, the advantage swings heavily in his favor. The paths to victory are clear for each.Shahbazyan is live for a first-round scare because he's just better early on. But over 15 minutes, Allen is the far more trustworthy investment. Like Muhammad, he doesn't get much finished, if ever.Pick: Allen155 pounds: Farès Ziam (-325) vs. Tom Nolan (+260)It's about time we start respecting Farès Ziam as one of the UFC's most underrated lightweights. It's almost like the 155-pound division can be two divisions in one sometimes, and we see that with cases like what the Frenchman has put together: Six straight wins, a completely overlooked spot in the rankings, and a game that's evolved far beyond the lanky kickboxer who debuted back in 2019. He now mixes sharp distance striking with timely wrestling and clinch work, making him a much tougher puzzle than his reputation once suggested.Tom Nolan isn't exactly showing up to be a stepping stone, though. The Australian has rebounded from a disastrous UFC debut with four straight wins, reminding everyone why he was viewed as one of the promotion's more intriguing prospects off Contender Series. He's a large dude for lightweight and carries real finishing ability. Nolan's comfort levels are only increasing fight by fight.The problem for the Aussie here is that Ziam feels like the exact guy you don't want to face when you're trying to crack the rankings. Ziam is more experienced, more defensively sound, and has already proven he can win ugly, win clean, or find a finish if the opportunity presents itself. Nolan has the size and power to make things interesting, but Ziam has spent the past few years turning these types of tests into résumé builders.Again, this is a bit of a coin flip. But momentum-wise, Ziam is really on a good run.Pick: ZiamBryce Mitchell is gaining steam in his new weight class. Chris Unger via Getty Images135 pounds: Bryce Mitchell (-145) vs. Santiago Luna (+120)Bryce Mitchell's move to bantamweight has given him a chance to reset and try to establish himself as a real title threat. Dropping from featherweight initially sounded kind of counterproductive, just because bantamweight is arguably the deeper division, but stylistically it could be a more favorable division for Mitchell to climb higher. Grappling remains his calling card, and there still aren't many fighters who enjoy spending 15 minutes tangled up with him — outside of the obvious examples, like Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov.Santiago Luna is an intriguing, undefeated prospect with a strong, well-rounded game and plenty of confidence. That alone makes him an interesting sophomore bout for Mitchell at 135 pounds. But this is also a massive jump in competition for Luna against a veteran who's spent years facing ranked opposition and elite athletes.Luna's vicious combo work was on display in his last bout, and he might be the real deal — one day. But this feels like the kind of matchup designed to remind everyone that prospect status and proven ability aren't the same thing. Mitchell has the perfect counter to the approach Luna is comfortable with. For me, it's too much too soon.Pick: Mitchell205 pounds: Iwo Baraniewski (-375) vs. Junior Tafa (+280)Iwo Baraniewski has been given every matchup to succeed as greatly as possible thus far in the UFC. The guy is an absolute cannon of a light heavyweight, having won all his fights in the first round, and his last three under 90 seconds. He is a true "don't blink" fighter.Junior Tafa, meanwhile, is still chasing knockouts after leaving heavyweight. The power is real, but so are the gaps in his game once he gets wrestled. He won't have to worry about that in this one, but Baraniewski is simply the better fighter and on a warpath right now.Pick: BaraniewskiPreliminary NotesMarcus McGhee is back after suffering a hard-fought loss to the now two-time bantamweight champion Petr Yan. Despite his age of 36, "The Maniac" can still be a notable player in the 135-pound division, and there's obviously no shame in the Yan loss, which was a wild fight to see booked in the first place.Saturday’s prelims overall appear to be a likely rollercoaster. Expect mismatches and some stylistic lulls. Quick picks:Alessandro Costa (-700) def. Matt Schnell (+500)Marcus McGhee (-475) def. John Yannis (+350)Édgar Cháirez (+115) def. Bruno Gustavo da Silva (-140)Chelsea Chandler (-125) def. Priscila Cachoeira (+105)Joanderson Brito (-210) def. Jordan Leavitt (+170)Jeisla Chaves (-400) def. Yuneisy Duben (+310)Ketlen Souza (-300) def. Ariane Carnelossi (+240)

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Less than 12 hours after his team blew a two-goal lead and lost in overtime, coach John Tortorella has no issues with where his Vegas Golden Knights stand in the Stanley Cup Final against Carolina that is now all tied up at 1-1.In true “Torts” fashion, he is not explaining why."I like our team, where we’re at," Tortorella said Friday. “We’re good. We’re ready to play. I like a lot of things about what’s gone on in the first two games. I’m not giving you specifics.”Tortorella and the Golden Knights return home for Game 3 against the Hurricanes on Saturday night with plenty of lessons to learn from. It's the first time in NHL history that each of the first two games of a Cup final featured a team erasing a multigoal deficit to win.Vegas trailed 2-0 in the opener and won 5-4, then led 2-0 on Thursday night until past the midway point of the third period. After Carolina scored three times in just over five minutes, it took captain Mark Stone tying it 6 on 5 with goaltender Carter Hart pulled for an extra skater to force overtime.“We have pretty good control, and then some minor mistakes and it ends up in the back of the net,” center William Karlsson said. “Just kind of ride it out all game long and hopefully not give Carolina any chances to come back.”Teammates credited the crowd in Raleigh for aiding the Hurricanes' comeback, and with that came an appreciation to be playing the next two games at the arena on The Strip nicknamed the Fortress. The Golden Knights have only been in existence for nine years, but their home-ice advantage quickly became one of the best in the league.“We feed off the crowd,” forward Keegan Kolesar said. "You can tell from (Game 2), once things started going their way, they’re playing a lot faster, a lot harder when their crowd is involved. Go back to even the COVID year, it makes you realize how important fans are because when they’re not in that building, it can be pretty miserable, so really excited to have that back in our building.”The Knights are 6-2 at home during the playoffs. They are also 7-3 on the road. Tortorella has preached consistency since taking over when Bruce Cassidy was fired in late March, and that applies to not changing much depending on where games take place.“There’s no difference," Tortorella said. "We’re going to play. We know how to play. We know how we want to play.”Carolina went a perfect 6-0 on the road through the first three rounds, including the Eastern Conference Final at hockey-mad Montreal.“I don’t think we really care, to be honest, where we play," said Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen, who has a 1.27 goals-against average and .931 save percentage away from home in the playoffs this spring. “We’re really just focused on our foundation in our game, and that’s really what sets us up for success.”Lingering over Vegas is the potential absence of top-pairing defenseman Brayden McNabb, who took an 87.3 mph slap shot to the face 11 minutes into Game 2 and did not return. If McNabb is unable to play in Game 3, fellow left-handed shooter Ben Hutton or righty Kaedan Korczak are likely replacements.___AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Photo by Phil Ellsworth / ESPN ImagesSean McDonough has delivered some of the best calls of this Stanley Cup Final, was named the 2025 National Sportscaster of the Year, and had Joe Buck calling him one of the two best play-by-play voices in any sport just a year ago. He’ll be the first to tell you it wasn’t always this comfortable.Appearing on the Sports Media Watch Podcast, McDonough opened up about just how difficult the adjustment was when ESPN reacquired the NHL rights in 2021 after a 16-year absence from the sport, and about experiencing something rare for a broadcaster of his caliber.“I’m completely comfortable now. It was an adjustment when we first got it five years ago,” he said. “I obviously followed it very closely as a fan in the 16-17 years that ESPN didn’t have the NHL, but I hadn’t broadcast a game. I had done some Frozen Fours in between, but I had no full realization of just how much the game had changed, especially in terms of the speed. Twenty years ago, you could look down at your notes, make sure you had the right name and number, find a little nugget in your notes, look up, and the puck was still making its way up the ice. Now, if you look down for a split second and you look up, it’s hard to find the puck.”McDonough has spent decades as one of the most versatile play-by-play voices in the business before ESPN tapped him as its lead NHL voice when the network reacquired the rights in 2021. His NHL résumé was thin by comparison. The last time he’d called a full NHL season was during ESPN’s previous run with the sport from 2000-203, and some questioned the hire given that Kenny Albert, who took the top job at TNT Sports that same year, had years of NHL experience on him. McDonough has long since answered those questions. But he’s the first to tell you the early skepticism wasn’t entirely off base.What made the adjustment to being the network’s lead NHL voice particularly hard, McDonough explained, was that the quality ESPN specifically hired him for — his storytelling — suddenly worked against him in hockey’s environment.“One of the reasons they hired me is they think I’m a good storyteller and they want to humanize the players more, so what I realized very quickly is it’s very hard to tell stories within action in hockey because the puck moves too fast,” he said. “…You have to be very judicious in when you tell stories and how you tell them. And, basically, I try to tell them now as just one-line nuggets… I kind of learned that the hard way. You have to really memorize the names and numbers, and you can’t look down when the puck’s in action.”For the first time in a career spent calling some of the biggest events in sports, McDonough felt out of his depth.“I was not good, to be quite candid about it, when we first started back five years ago,” he continued. “And it was the first time that I really felt — I never really felt inadequate — and I kind of did when we first got the hockey, to the point where I thought, ‘I used to think this was my best sport and so did a lot of other people who know me, now I’m not sure about this.'”He said the adjustment came once he figured out how to work within the sport’s constraints rather than fight them. The bigger ongoing challenge is simply not calling enough games, being that he also serves as the network’s No. 2 college football voice. ESPN’s regular-season NHL package is limited, which means McDonough goes stretches without being in a booth, and hockey play-by-play is uniquely dependent on rhythm and repetition in a way that other sports aren’t.“It’s still a little difficult, to be honest, because we don’t do that many regular-season games,” McDonough admitted, “so I find it’s really just now in the playoffs where we have a game every other night for the most part that you really do get in a rhythm, because hockey play-by-play is largely about rhythm and flow.”He was quick to add that he may have been harder on himself than warranted. But the standard McDonough holds himself to has never been a question. He pushed through illness during the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, consulting team doctors in Edmonton rather than stepping away, and his call on Seth Jarvis’s overtime winner earlier this week was as good as anything he’s produced in any sport. The broadcaster who thought he might not be cut out for hockey has become the standard by which ESPN’s hockey coverage is judged.Sean McDonough: “These gentlemen would quiet all the critics wondering where they’ve been if they score the game-winner in overtime… THEY SCOOOOORE! SETH JARVIS QUIETS THE CRITICS AND IGNITES THE CROWD!” #StanleyCupFinal#NHLpic.twitter.com/Yi8lzmq6iW— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 5, 2026“Most of the time, I feel very comfortable in the booth calling a game, and kind of feel like that’s where I’m supposed to be. But there were a few hockey games in the early days where I thought, ‘Oh boy, I better get better at this in a hurry.'”He did.The post Sean McDonough reveals he felt ‘inadequate’ during early days as ESPN’s lead NHL voice appeared first on Awful Announcing.

We have a fun episode of The Dunker Spot coming your way!Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones react to Thursday night's double-header, checking in on the Indiana Fever, Atlanta Dream, Minnesota Lynx and Golden State Valkyries. From there, the guys talk through the games they're most excited to watch over the next few days.If you ever have NBA or WNBA questions, email us at dunkerspot@yahoo.com01:28 -- Fever-Dream21:41 -- Lynx-Valkyries40:22 -- Games of the Week(end)JUNE 04: Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) is guarded by Atlanta Dream center Angel Reese (5) on June 4, 2026, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IndianaBrian Spurlock🖥️ Subscribe to the all new Yahoo Sports NBA channel on YouTube!🖥️ Watch this full episodeon theYahoo Sports NBA YouTube channelCheck out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at yahoosports.tv

The Brooklyn Nets were hoping to get the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft from May's Lottery, but they ended up in the unfortunate position of picking No. 6 overall. With that being said, Brooklyn is likely to still select a talented player with that pick and one of the players in that range believes he can fit in with what the Nets are trying to do."Yeah, I met with them today, actually. It was great. I got to meet them and the coaches and everybody," Arizona guard Brayden Burries said during his interview at the Draft Combine in Chicago last month. Burries is projected to be one of many guards available in the 5-10 range of the Lottery, but in his meeting with the Nets, he understood how he would fit in if taken by Brooklyn in the draft later this month."I know they're team got a lot of guards, but just being able to play like with anybody, I feel like that's a super big part of my game," Burries continued. "Being able to just fit in anywhere, I can play on the ball, off the ball." Burries mentioned earlier in his interview that he prides himself on being able to contribute in any way that's needed for his team, including defending and rebounding.Burries, listed at 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, averaged 16.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 49.1% from the field and 39.1% from behind the three-point line for the Wildcats during his rookie season. While Brooklyn has been linked to players like Tennessee forward Nate Ament, Michigan center Aday Mara, and Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr., Burries seems to be the kind of player that could surprise some people evaluating this draft class."In the late-lottery, he'll enter the best-player-available conversation for his physical, downhill attacking, three-level shotmaking, strong defensive tools and knack for scoring without needing heavy usage," Jonathan Wasserman wrote on Burries in his latest mock draft for Bleacher Report. Jun. 23 will show how the Nets feel about Burries with the No. 6 pick, but if he's available, he could present the level of versatility that head coach Jordi Fernandez loves to see from his players.This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Potential Nets 2026 NBA Draft pick Brayden Burries discusses fit