Women’s-only federal prison in California dubbed ‘rape club’ to close

Sharon Stone, Liam Neeson and Stephen Fry condemn media attention on Kevin Spacey, who has been exiled from Hollywood since sexual assault allegations in 2017.

The Lakers made the most of the NBA scouting combine, fielding coaching candidate pitches, discussing trade options, evaluating Bronny James and more.

Michael Cohen took the stand for a third day on Thursday in the New York criminal trial of his ex-boss, former President Donald Trump. Cohen faced pointed questions from defense attorney Todd Blanche about his history of lying under oath. Robert Costa reports from Manhattan.

More than 60 people living in tents and other shelters in the Foggy Bottom area were forcibly evicted by the city and the National Park Service.

President Biden is set to deliver a commencement address at Morehouse College, and the historically Black college is preparing for possible disruptions as protests over Mr. Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas war have continued on college campuses throughout the U.S. Nikole Killion has more.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed that the "factors that caused inflation" were already in place when President Biden took office.

OpenAI will also become a Reddit advertising partner.

The House of Representatives voted to make the anti-Israel slogan "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" illegal at colleges.

Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark is adjusting well to the pressure of the WNBA. She maintained a positive mindset ahead of Thursday's home opener despite an underwhelming pro debut.

Lawmakers in Peru have begun another effort to remove President Dina Boluarte from office; she has already survived 4 attempts at cutting her term short.

South African prosecutors said that the country's former President Jacob Zuma will go on trial next April for alleged corruption, years after he was formally charged with taking bribes.

Florida authorities wrangled a 12-and-a-half long alligator that was seen lumbering down a path frequented by school children.

The Mets are expected to sign top Dominican SS Elian Pena for about $5 million.

Commuters on a Southern California freeway experienced an unexpected delay earlier this week when a bear wandered onto the road, bringing traffic to a halt.

The latest attempt to bring a single-payer healthcare system to California failed in the state Legislature on Thursday, undercut by its steep price tag as lawmakers struggle with a mounting budget shortfall.

Two days later, Rick Carlisle was still seething, furious with his team’s Game 5 performance. 

The truth is, there is only one team facing elimination Friday night and it’s not the Knicks.

The program would let the NYPD tap into store surveillance cameras in real-time, which officials say will help fight rising retail crime.

Oddsmakers don’t like the Knicks’ chances of finishing off the Pacers in six games. 

At MIT last week, another bullhorn-wielding protester led the crowd in exactly the same chant, then improvised a new ending: “Al-mawt la-sahyuniyah!”— “Death to Zionism!”

More U.S. cities are either growing faster, making gains instead of declines, or experienced less severe shrinking -- all signs of possible progress.

Amid a spike in violence on trains and buses, Mayor Karen Bass calls in more police patrols. The fatal stabbing of a 66-year-old subway rider put the transit agency on edge last month, as pressure grew to respond.

Remember when we were all told to “Mask up”? Well perhaps it’s time for us to change that rule. How about: “Mask off.”

Esto es lo que puedes esperar de ‘IF’, la nueva cinta familiar que combina acción real y dibujos animados

Walt Disney World Resort presenta "Disney Dreams That Soar presentado por AT&T", un espectáculo nocturno de drones que transformará el cielo de Disney Springs a partir del 24 de mayo y hasta el 2 de septiembre.

A looming deadline is already causing cuts in school budgets.

Ads from a D.C.-based group target former Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, who is considered a leading contender in the party’s June primary election.

As bird flu continues to spread among cattle in the U.S., the CDC and WebMD joined forces on Thursday to present a live-streamed briefing on the status of the outbreak.

Two foreign nationals from Jordan are now in federal immigration custody after being apprehended at a Marine base in Virginia and attempted to access the site.

In response to London's decision earlier this month to expel the Russian defense attaché over spying allegations, Russia has given Britain's defense attaché a week to leave the country.

If the Knicks snap a franchise streak that’s lasted 24 mostly ugly years on Friday night, they’ll do it by avenging their Mother’s Day horror while winning in a Pacers arena that’s been hellacious lately for the visitors.

A bear slowed traffic on a Southern California freeway before retreating back toward the nearby hills.

Habla español? Visit CNN en Español for all the latest news and updates in Spanish.

Feuer, who has not been charged with any crimes, maintained his innocence this week.

More than a year after pressuring North Dakota to stop helping Native American tribes collect child support payments, the IRS says it intends to let the state do so again.

Fifty years ago, Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in a historic "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match.

“It’s not about the awards. it’s about the idea of happy with you.”

Harrison Butker of the Kansas City Chiefs arrives before Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. | Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images Butker’s address was a textbook case of conservative sexism and homophobia. NFL kicker Harrison Butker is facing widespread backlash after giving a college commencement speech that casually dabbled in misogyny and homophobia. Butker, who has won three Super Bowls with the Kansas City Chiefs in recent years, delivered the address at Benedictine College, a private Catholic institution in Kansas, on May 11. In it, he criticizes everything from women prioritizing professional careers to Pride Month to abortion access. An outspoken conservative who is close with leading right-wing figures including Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Butker’s speech closely echoed Republican rhetoric and fixated on issues that have been popular fodder for conservatives as they try to mobilize their voters ahead of the 2024 election. “I think it is you, the women who have had the most diabolical lies told to you,” Butker said in his speech. “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.” The Chiefs have not commented on Butker’s remarks and the NFL league office distanced itself from them. “His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger,” Jonathan Beane, the NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, told People. Butker’s speech advances the same agenda that the GOP has been pushing not only in its rhetoric but through policy. At least 21 Republican-led state legislatures have approved laws that ban or restrict abortion access and at least 20 have approved bills that curb access to gender-affirming care for minors. Butker’s remarks — which emphasized people “staying in [their] lane” — are the latest attempt to weaponize religion to achieve the same goals. The backlash to Butker’s speech, explained Butker joined the NFL in 2017, and is considered by some analysts to be one of the best kickers in the league. In recent years, he’s also been vocal about his support for conservative causes. On his Instagram page, Butker is pictured alongside Sen. Hawley, a darling of the religious right. He was previously photographed with Mark and Patricia McCloskey, a white couple that pointed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020. And during the Chiefs’ visit to the White House in 2023, he wore a tie expressing his opposition to abortion rights. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Harrison Butker (@buttkicker7) The Chiefs have been in the cultural spotlight not only for their on-field success but also thanks to tight end Travis Kelce’s relationship with pop star Taylor Swift. Butker referenced a Swift song lyric in his 20-minute speech and described Swift, a music mogul who is one of the most famous people on the planet as “my teammate’s girlfriend.” (For the curious, Butker cited the Swift lyric, “familiarity breeds contempt” in order to criticize priests who rely too much on parishioners for adulation and support.) In the rest of his remarks, Butker covered many of conservatives’ favorite culture war issues: from the idea that people get “silenced” for expressing unpopular opinions to the belief that diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are oppressive. Below are some of the lowlights: On women’s careers: One of the sections getting the most attention is Butker’s comments about the importance of women’s roles in the home. Singling out the women in the audience, he argued that they’re likely more eager to become wives and mothers than to have successful careers. “I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,” he said. In addition to speaking on women’s behalf, Butker also reduced the primary goal of their lives to one biological function. Being a homemaker is an important role that should be celebrated, but it’s far from the only one a woman can choose — a key reason his remarks spurred such backlash. Butker also described women’s roles very differently than he described men’s: While he touted the virtues of being a present father, he did not say that being a dad was likely the primary goal of a man’s life. On LGBTQ rights: Butker also criticized “dangerous gender ideologies” that politicians are pushing onto the “youth of America,” an oblique critique of trans rights. He lambasted LGBTQ rights more broadly, too, describing them as “the deadly sin sort of pride that has an entire month dedicated to it.” Such comments are dangerous at a time when LGBTQ people are more likely to be victims of violence, which some experts attribute to the right’s dehumanizing rhetoric. On abortion rights: Butker also decried abortion access, birth control, and IVF as violations of Catholic teachings and practices that members of the Church should abstain from. “Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for the degenerate cultural values and media all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder,” he said. He criticized President Biden directly for claiming to be both a Catholic and a supporter of abortion rights. “Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally,” Butker said. “He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I’m sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice.” Butker’s statement explicitly argues that there’s a correct way to be Catholic, even though in reality, most Catholics are supportive of abortion and LGBTQ rights. “Harrison Butker got a lot wrong in his commencement speech, but one thing he did get right is that Joe Biden and pro-choice Catholics are not alone — 63% of Catholics support legal abortion,” Catholics for Choice, a Catholic group that backs abortion rights, said in a statement on X. Fifty-seven percent of Catholics in the US also favor same-sex marriage, according to a Pew poll. Since the speech, more than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling on the Chiefs to release Butker. “These dehumanizing remarks against LGBTQ+ individuals, attacks on abortion rights and racial discrimination perpetuate division and undermine human rights,” the petition reads. Taylor Swift fans dubbed him “the smallest man who ever lived,” and a recent video by the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers featured a Sims avatar of Butker working in the kitchen. Although a video of the speech at Benedictine College showed many audience members giving Butker a standing ovation, an AP report found that reviews among students were mixed. “To point this out specifically that that’s what we’re looking forward to in life seems like our four years of hard work wasn’t really important,” student Kassidy Neuner said regarding Butker’s statements about women anticipating being a wife and a mother. Butker’s speech is part of broader conservative pushback to LGBTQ and women’s rights Butker’s remarks drew from the playbook used by the religious right to rail against recent advances in LGBTQ rights while promoting traditional roles for men and women. Conservative US Evangelicals and Catholics have been at the center of global efforts to spread anti-LGBTQ ideas, the Guardian reported. In some of its most extreme forms, white supremacists and Christian nationalists like Nick Fuentes have even argued against women’s ability to work and vote. Such statements are driven by concerns about the growing political power of these groups, a worry that also previously fueled bizarre GOP conspiracy theories about Swift and her presence at Chiefs’ football games earlier this year. Butker’s speech and forceful embrace of these ideas have also underscored which professional football players are allowed to be political without repercussions and which are not. Colin Kaepernick, for example, settled with the NFL in 2019, after accusing teams of blackballing him for kneeling during the National Anthem to protest police violence against Black Americans. The Chiefs kicker’s outspoken conservative views, meanwhile, have drawn public criticism — but no consequences from his employers.

"Good Morning America" had a segment in which ABC correspondent Stephanie Ramos reported on Harrison Butker's faith-based speech, and Robin Roberts' interjection made things awkward.

The Dominican Republic to hold elections defined by calls for more crackdowns on Haitian migrants and finishing a border wall dividing the countries.

State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, who oversees the fund, is arguing that Boeing execs shouldn’t get a raise as a result of its handling of the safety issues on its 737 Max 9 aircraft

Francis Ford Coppola's self-financed movie 'Megalopolis' has premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, unveiling a passion project Coppola has been pondering for years.

Tony McFarr, who was the stunt double for Chris Pratt in the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' films, was found dead Monday, The Times confirmed. He was 47.

Seattle-based company Lindal Cedar Homes is now selling house kits inspired by the respected American architect.

The latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content

Former President Donald Trump warned that as he sits in Manhattan court, Russia and China are strengthening their relationship to likely carry out "damage" to the world.

A past commencement speech given by Harrison Butker is being re-examined in the wake of his controversial address at Benedictine College last weekend.