Oklahoma State Bureau of InvestigationA religious group linked to the abduction and slaying of two Kansas moms has condemned the attack as a “senseless act of murder” that goes “against God’s word,” asserting it has no ties to the alleged murderers. The condemnation from the group, “God’s Misfits,” came days after probable cause affidavits revealed that the suspects accused of murdering Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley were part of an organization by the same name, which met weekly and was characterized by authorities as “anti-government.”Those suspects are Tifany Adams, the grandmother and guardian of Butler’s children, as well as her boyfriend, Tad Bert Cullum, and their friends, Cora and Cole Earl Twombly. Each were arraigned Wednesday on murder and kidnapping charges in an emotionally-charged hearing that nearly became violent.Read more at The Daily Beast.

Vegas needs two points against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday to claim the Pacific Division’s third seed.

Workers punished with discriminatory transfers waited decades for this decision.

Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty ImagesRep. Jake LaTurner (R-KS) announced on Thursday that he will not be seeking re-election, splashing into the steady stream of Congress members who are opting out of the rat race.In a statement, LaTurner said that he would stay in his seat for the remainder of his term, but that he would not seek re-election, so he could spend more time with his four children. The Kansas Republican wrote, “the busy schedule of serving in Congress has taken a toll. The unrepeatable season of life we are in, where our kids are still young and at home, is something I want to be there for.”Read more at The Daily Beast.

Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors fights for a rebound during the game between the Raptors and the Oklahoma City Thunder in Toronto, Canada, March 22, 2024. | Zou Zheng/Xinhua/Getty Images It’s a case that underscores how betting could continue to threaten the game. The NBA has banned Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter for life after an internal investigation found that he placed bets on basketball and gave information to a bettor to improve their odds. The Porter fracas is the latest involving athletes and sports betting as the gambling industry has exploded in recent years and as such transactions have become increasingly accessible. It also follows a recent scandal centered on baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, who has been charged with taking $16 million from the athlete to cover gambling debts. Porter’s gambling practices — including a willingness to change his gameplay to assist with certain bets — ultimately spotlight the ethical quandaries that sports betting poses for athletes and leagues as it becomes more popular. The betting industry has grown significantly since 2018, when the Supreme Court struck down a policy barring many states from allowing commercial sports betting. In the years since, the majority of states have legalized both in-person and online sports betting, making the practice available to far more people. In 2023, sports betting raked in a record $10.92 billion in revenue, bringing in roughly 45 percent more as an industry than the year before. As Porter’s case illustrates, a central question raised by the prevalence of sports betting is how sports leagues and athletes can maintain the integrity of their games as betting becomes more common and lucrative. “The recent case of the NBA’s Jontay Porter is, I am afraid, just the tip of the iceberg,” Sean McKeever, a Davidson College professor who teaches a course on sports and philosophy, told Vox. “The corrupting forces are powerful ones. ... And bettors stand to make significant sums if they can extract valuable information and behavior from players and those around them.” The Porter scandal and its mechanics, explained Porter, a 24-year-old now-former power forward for the Raptors, had been playing in the NBA for four seasons. His penalty for gambling was announced by the league earlier this week and has been viewed by sports observers as a warning shot to other players who might be tempted to try similar practices. “There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams and everyone associated with our sport, which is why Jontay Porter’s blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. Porter wound up getting caught after a bet that was placed on his performance got flagged as suspicious by licensed sports betting operators and an organization that monitors gambling markets, the NBA says. The NBA found Porter did three things wrong. Firstly, Porter bet on NBA games himself, which is strictly banned for players in the league. The NBA found that he had used someone else’s online betting account to place 13 bets that amounted to $54,094 total on multiple games. These bets did not include games that Porter played in, though they did include bets on Raptors games that he did not play in. Secondly, Porter gave a sports bettor information about his health status ahead of a March 20 game, inside information that could have helped that bettor place wagers and potentially make money. And thirdly, Porter altered his own actions in a game in order to help fulfill a wager that a bettor had made. In sports betting, people can bet on everything from who will score the most points to whether a player commits a foul. These are known as proposition bets, or prop bets, which focus more on developments in a game than just the outcome of a game. In Porter’s case, a bettor had placed a prop bet for $80,000 on the fact that he would underperform in a March 20 game. The payout for that bet would have been $1.1 million. In that game, Porter stopped playing after just three minutes, claiming that he felt sick. This bet, however, was flagged by betting operators and frozen. Following its investigation, the NBA has concluded that Porter claimed illness so that this wager would be successful. Porter’s actions highlight longstanding fears about how athletes could not only affect game outcomes for their own benefit but also take smaller actions to help bettors. The most aggressive version of such behavior would be to throw a game completely, but there is a range of other factors to manipulate, too, since bets can be placed on who scores the first basket, for example, or who has the most rebounds. The league’s penalty for Porter is the harshest that’s available, and it marks the first time the NBA has banned a player for gambling-related offenses since 1954. It is intended to indicate both its lack of tolerance for such activities and suggest that there are safeguards in place to catch this behavior while the league continues to collaborate with sports betting businesses. Sports leagues — including the NBA, NFL, and NHL — actively work with licensed betting platforms to promote sports betting in exchange for a significant cut of the revenue. The NBA, for example, works with FanDuel and DraftKings as its sports betting partners and has integrated live betting during games into its app. The NFL, similarly, has formal sports betting partnerships; the Washington Commanders even host a sports betting hub in their stadium. “It is everywhere around us in any sports programming we watch,” says Villanova University sports law professor Andrew Brandt. Porter’s case allows the NBA to argue that it can catch bad actors, despite being an active participant in boosting this industry itself. “The Jontay Porter bets were flagged by one of the ‘integrity’ companies used by these leagues to note irregular betting,” Brandt told Vox. “Now Porter is banished, and the NBA can claim integrity and simply remove a rogue player that transgressed.” This is a growing problem that isn’t going away The sports betting market is only expected to get bigger in the coming years, with Goldman Sachs predicting that it will eventually go from a $10 billion industry to a $45 billion one. For now, 38 states and DC have legalized the practice, with more likely to do so given the hefty tax revenues that come along with it. The prevalence and accessibility of sports betting are likely to expose more people — including athletes — to it, increasing the potential likelihood of addiction, exploitation, and situations like Porter’s. “As the proportion of the population who gambles grows, so will the proportion of athletes who gamble and who develop problems,” says Lia Nower, the head of the gambling studies center at Rutgers University. Nower notes that athletes in particular are more susceptible to developing problem gambling habits because they have a higher likelihood of betting on sports, which is a type of gambling more tied to problem gambling. Additionally, she says athletes as a group are more open to risk-taking and competitiveness, and they might believe they’re better at making wagers because of their background. Such concerns underscore the awkward line sports leagues have tried to tread as they seek to make money from sports betting while also attempting to ensure that their players don’t get caught up in it.

The bills, though, could be DOA, council sources said.

The Army and Air Force say they'll meet their enlistment targets this year, reversing previous shortfalls, using a swath of new programs and policy changes.

Asna Tabassum, a graduating senior at the University of Southern California majoring in biomedical engineering, is at the center of the latest firestorm on college campuses after the university named her valedictorian, then barred her from speaking at graduation. | Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images As the school year winds down, colleges are still grappling with student speech. Campus tensions over Israel’s war on Gaza have flared up again, this time at the University of Southern California, which this week barred its valedictorian from speaking at next month’s commencement ceremony. The school cited potential campus safety risks if Asna Tabassum delivered a speech. Provost Andrew T. Guzman said in an email to students and staff on Monday that public discussion had “taken on an alarming tenor” after the school announced its choice for valedictorian. “The intensity of feelings, fueled by both social media and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, has grown to include many voices outside of USC and has escalated to the point of creating substantial risks relating to security and disruption at commencement,” he wrote. Tabassum, a South Asian American biomedical engineering major who is Muslim and wears a hijab, says that she, along with other critics of the decision, believes the school canceled her speech because of her public support for the human rights of Palestinians. Pro-Israel USC student groups, including Trojans for Israel and the Chabad Jewish Student Center, had complained online about Tabassum’s views, calling them antisemitic. The Provost explained in the email that the decision “has nothing to do with freedom of speech” and made no mention of Tabassum’s political views. The Provost’s email did not state whether USC had already received specific threats of violence or disruption. Since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, campuses have been embroiled in controversy as student protests test the boundaries of freedom of expression. Many college and university leaders have struggled to make satisfactory public statements about the conflict and balance safety with speech protections. In the attack, Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took more than 200 hostage. Since then, Israel has killed 33,899 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Though schools have vowed to keep their students safe, some have reported facing violence and harassment. After failing to adequately condemn antisemitism in congressional testimony late last year, the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard resigned. A congressional hearing on Wednesday also brought Columbia University’s president before lawmakers to answer questions about the school’s response to antisemitism, showing that the quandary is far from over. The USC Provost referenced the broader turmoil on US campuses in his email: “We cannot ignore the fact that similar risks have led to harassment and even violence at other campuses.” Pro-Israel groups are celebrating USC’s decision, claiming that Tabassum’s speech, which she said she had not yet written, could have made Jewish students feel uncomfortable. Tabassum told Inside Edition that she hoped to share a message of hope in her speech. Meanwhile, critics say that it undermines free speech and is a signal that universities are caving to pro-Israel pressures. “USC cannot hide its cowardly decision behind a disingenuous concern for ‘security,” said Hussam Ayloush, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Los Angeles. “The university can, should and must ensure a safe environment for graduation rather than taking the unprecedented step of canceling a valedictorian’s speech.” Student groups and outlets including the LA Times and the Guardian have defended Tabassum and condemned USC. As the academic year comes to a close, the country is watching how similar situations might unfold on other campuses. It’s customary for students to make political statements during commencement speeches, but this year’s campus controversies could lead schools to keep buckling under pressure, raising concerns about students’ freedom of expression in the process. USC chose its valedictorian — then silenced her USC announced that Tabassum would be the university’s valedictorian on April 2, based on her grade point average, which topped 3.98, contributions to the campus community, essay submission, and performance in interviews. Tabassum, who also minors in resistance to genocide — studies about conflicts including the war in Ukraine, genocide in Darfur, and the Holocaust — was selected from more than 200 students who qualified for the award, and was slated to deliver the customary valedictory speech at the May 10 commencement. Then, Tabassum was notified that she wouldn’t deliver the address at commencement after all because of safety concerns. Critics began to speculate that USC was kowtowing to pro-Israel groups and people who complained about Tabassum being selected as valedictorian. The right-wing pro-Israel organization organization End Jew Hatred welcomed USC’s decision stating, “Ms. Tabassum’s speech as valedictorian was anticipated to be harmful to Jewish students and even potentially agitate anti-Jewish activists.” The USC campus group the Trojans for Israel wrote that Tabassum “openly traffics in antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric.” Tabassum told CNN that she received “hate and vitriol” for including a link to the website “Free-Palestine.Carrd.Co” on her Instagram profile. The homepage of the website contains the image of a woman holding up a Palestinian flag and a peace sign rising above flames and smoke, and links to help visitors “learn about what’s happening in Palestine.” USC’s Chabad argued that the linked website called for the “abolishment of the state of Israel” and called the words on the website, which Tabassum did not create, “antisemitic and hate speech.” Tabassum said in a statement that she believes there was a “campaign” of “racist hatred” on the part of “anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian voices” to prevent her from addressing her peers at commencement due to her “uncompromising belief in human rights for all.” “I am not surprised by those who attempt to propagate hatred. I am surprised that my own university—my home for four years—has abandoned me,” Tabassum said, adding that the school denied her request for more information about their threat assessment. Pro-Palestinian students and groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace have faced discipline, sanctions, and campus suspensions and bans over protest activity since October 7 — part of a long history silencing student activism for Palestine. Meanwhile, students advocating for Palestine have been labeled antisemitic for chanting phrases such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “globalize the intifada.” Student protesters say the phrases don’t advocate for harm to Israelis, while critics say the phrases are threatening and call for violence. School leadership has often said the groups were reprimanded for violating school policies amid a rise in antisemitism and anti-Muslim sentiment on campus. On Thursday, police in riot gear arrested more than 100 pro-Palestinian Columbia students at President Minouche Shafik’s direction, while administrators suspended three Barnard students, including, Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar (D), for setting up “unauthorized” protest encampments on campus. USC has not responded to requests for further information about any specific threats to Tabassum or anyone else in the USC community. USC has not yet responded to Vox’s request for comment. “If anti-Palestinian groups are threatening violence, then USC needs to say what they’ve threatened and why it is so dangerous that it has led to such a drastic action, instead of disingenuously claiming that it isn’t engaging in censorship,” said Radhika Sainath, an attorney at Palestine Legal, an organization that defends people who speak out in support of Palestine. “The fact that Palestinians and their allies are being punished and canceled in this way — while Israel is committing an ongoing genocide in Gaza — speaks to the McCarthyite moment we’re in.” USC’s decision raises questions about free speech on campus USC is a private school that makes First Amendment-like free speech promises, Alex Morey, an attorney at Foundation Individual Right and Expression, an organization that advocates for free speech, told Vox. The school is also required to provide students First Amendment rights in certain situations under California’s Leonard Law, a 1992 statute that extended free speech protections to students at private colleges and universities in the state. The school’s decision to cancel Tabassum's speech, Morey said, “does implicate campus expression in an important way.” “For those of us watching the campus speech space on the regular, canceling controversial speeches or events due to vague, unspecified ‘safety concerns’ is one of the oldest tricks in the book,” Morey said. “USC appears to have made a calculated move that this was the way to avoid the most criticism. Yanking the student’s valedictorian status or canceling the speech for viewpoint-based reasons, would have pleased the students’ critics but angered her supporters. By citing ‘safety’ however, USC’s doing their best to look like the good guy and suggest this isn’t about viewpoint at all.” Morey told Vox the school should have done everything in its power to ensure that the event would go on, and that if threats remained, it should have been transparent about what those threats are. If USC did in fact cancel the speech due to pressure from pro-Israel critics, now they know “that with the right amount of pressure, they can silence certain views at USC,” Morey said. The USC decision has also introduced bigger questions about whether students who have publicly expressed any views on Palestine or Israel will be passed over for honors in the future. These decisions might lead students to self-censor. “If USC will only honor students with certain views, are they really living up to their lofty free expression promises?” Morey said. Ironically, Morey pointed out, Tabassum minored in “resistance to genocide” and is effectively getting dinged for saying “precisely the kind of things you’d imagine one would hear in Resistance to Genocide 101 at a school like USC.”

It’s always tough fading Logan Webb, but the Diamondbacks shouldn’t be this big of an underdog.

"Their job is to protect our investments," said one man whose bank account was drained of $15,000. "Otherwise, what's the point of putting it with a bank?"

Anderson Cooper profiles Kevin Hart, the highest-grossing comedian today and a bankable movie star, who has added a new title to his resume – entertainment and business mogul. 60 Minutes, Sunday.

San Francisco's city attorney says changing the name of Oakland International Airport to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport would be trademark infringement.

Columbia University President Minouche Shafik called in the NYPD to clear out hundreds of protesters who had set up "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" on the South Lawn of Butler Library Wednesday morning.

X/ScreengrabThings got physical when a group of climate protesters clashed with other event-goers at a gala hosted by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) on Thursday. Several activists were pushed off stage and fell on top of one another while resisting attempts by the event attendees to remove them.Murkowski was giving a speech at the Bryce Harlow Foundation’s awards ceremony when she was suddenly interrupted by about 10-12 climate protesters, who rushed the stage and took over, according to a source who attended the event.Climate Defiance, the protest organizer, posted a video of the scuffle on social media.Read more at The Daily Beast.

Despite being the world’s wealthiest nation, the U.S. has communities that are still exposed to toxic tap water. Today, we hear how a city in New Mexico has struggled with high levels of arsenic in its water — and how its residents are fighting back.

Sydney Sweeney's rep called out Carol Baum for 'unjustly' disparaging a fellow female producer after Baum said that Sweeney's film 'Anyone But You' was 'unwatchable.'

NYPD detective-turned-private investigator Bo Dietl — who vowed not to curse after being fired for it by Mayor Eric Adams’ legal defense trust —  told The Post Thursday the controversy amounted to "political bullsh-t” before catching his own potty mouth.

Rep. Ilhan Omar's daughter says she was one of three students suspended from Barnard College following a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University on Thursday.

“Do you know how these contracts work?" senior adviser Tim Pearson allegedly asked of some of the employees in October 2022. "People are doing very well on these contracts. I have to get mine. Where are my crumbs?”

"I’m unproblematic. Mind my business. Never respond to the constant vitriol," the model, who dated the NFL star before Swift, tweeted Thursday.

Give your grad the best of the best for downtime enjoying music, listening to podcasts, or watching movies and TV.

New players can use Caesars Sportsbook promo code NEWSWK1000 to unlock a $1,000 first for the MLB or NBA this weekend.

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A judge rejected Trump's request to pause a handful of lawsuits against him over his actions related to the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The Daily Beast/Kelly McKee Zajfen/InstagramOne good turn on Instagram deserves another.After Meghan Markle’s friend Kelly McKee Zajfen posted a glowing review of her pal’s new American Riviera Orchard strawberry jam earlier this week, Meghan on Thursday posed with McKee Zafjen, the pair sporting branded T-shirts supporting her charity, Alliance of Moms. Meghan, 42, was photographed wearing the shirt bearing the slogan, “Love like a mother.”Read more at The Daily Beast.

Former President Trump declared it is President Joe Biden who “should be in jail" and “be on trial," while blasting the case against him and saying “the whole world is watching this New York scandal," as he left court after the third day of his historic and unprecedented criminal trial.

Isra Hirsi is in the custody of the New York Police Department, sources said.

State and federal government policies that favor farms have done far more damage to the salmon fishery than drought, another sign that California's water rights need rethinking.

Online furniture and home furnishings seller says it is opening a brick-and-mortar location in May.

The full jury and one alternate have been selected for former President Donald Trump's "hush money" trial. CBS News chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa reports.

National Public Radio CEO Katherine Maher is a donor to Stacey Abrams’ election-denying political action committee, Fair Fight.

The Arizona Coyotes gave fans a night to remember Wednesday with a win over the Edmonton Oilers. The franchise was sold this week to Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith.

Kyle Potter, who serves as executive editor of Thrifty Traveler, spilled his hot secret.

The Senate cleared one of several procedural hurdles necessary to pass FISA renewal before the Friday deadline.

Elisha "Lishi" Baker, 21, was nearly burned Monday while attending a pro-Palestine rally after a protester lit the American flag he was carrying on fire in NYC.

The actress continued her tennis-themed press tour de force, sporting a re-creation of the sisters' Carolina Herrera gowns.

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Trump's legal team will have employment details about prospective jurors, but that information will be redacted from the record.

Iran's aerial assault on Israel involved some 320 attack drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. It was the act of a regime fully committed to annihilating the Jewish State.

This weather-resistant patio chair has the look of CB2's sunset lounge chair at less than half the price.

Florida schools can allow volunteer chaplains to counsel students under new law — with no requirements for training.

Bronx and Westchester Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman accused Columbia University Thursday of carrying out “political reprisals” after the daughter of fellow “Squad” Rep. Ilhan Omar was suspended for her involvement in anti-Israel protests on the Morningside Heights campus. Bowman, 48, said Omar (D-Minn.) had “questioned Columbia leadership’s commitment to free academic expression” during a heated...

For the first time, the Mets will see the pitcher who turned down their $325 million this offseason when a series with the Dodgers opens Friday.

House Rules allow a single member to force a vote on ousting the speaker. Conservatives want to keep it that way.

YouTube/screengrabHot on the heels of his latest “Let’s Make a Poop” game show special featuring Rob Schneider, “Weird” Al Yankovic, and more, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog was spotted engaging with the MAGA faithful outside of Donald Trump’s criminal trial in Downtown Manhattan this week. Now, the fruits of his comedic labors have arrived on YouTube for us all to enjoy.“Triumph doesn’t have a formal gig right now, but I’ve been wanting to cover the election,” Robert Smigel, the former Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Conan O’Brien writer who created the iconic puppet, wrote in a message to The Daily Beast on Thursday. “Since this trial was right here in New York some writers and I just went for it, shooting with iPhones. We were low on cigars, but hopefully people support Triumph’s special and YouTube channel and he’ll buy some new ones.”Read more at The Daily Beast.

Matt Winkelmeyer / GettyTaylor Swift’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, isn’t set to officially drop until tomorrow night, but whoever posted a Google Drive leak of audio files bearing the 16 track names from the main album; plus one of the bonus tracks and and screenshots of alleged lyrics, clearly didn’t care too much about official business. The seemingly authentic leaked tracks dropped Wednesday evening and have officially disseminated into all corners of the internet, defying copyright removals on X and on other platforms. As such, Swifties have spent all day combing through the illicit offerings rather than doing anything else productive. And opinions amongst the community of passionate fans who track the pop star’s every utterance are thoroughly divided. Read more at The Daily Beast.

The National Hockey League has officially relocated the Arizona Coyotes to Salt Lake City, Utah, for the 2024-25 season.

Fairfax County police charged Huy Tien Nguyen in the fatal shooting of Alison “Kate” LaPorta