The basketball community lost an all-time legend on Sunday as Bill Russell died at age 88, his family announced on Twitter. Russell, who won a record 11 NBA titles with the Celtics, was a trailblazer as a black superstar in the 1950s and ’60s and became the first black head coach of any North American professional team when the Celtics hired him in 1966 as a player-coach.In a statement announcing his death,

According to Ukrainian authorities, a Ukrainian grain tycoon and his wife have been killed today in the ‘strongest’ Russian shelling of the southern city Mykolaiv.As Moscow continued to pummel the sprawling front line, the home of Oleksiy Vadatursky, 74, and his wife Raisa was reportedly struck by a missile overnight, killing them both.The leading Ukrainian agricultural magnate was ranked

The U.S. is considering sanctions that would target a United Arab Emirates-based businessman and a network of companies suspected of helping export Iran’s oil, part of a broader effort to escalate diplomatic pressure on Tehran as U.S. officials push to reach a deal on Iran’s nuclear program.The firms and individuals under scrutiny have been using ship-to-ship transfers of oil in waters between Iraq and Iran and then forging

According to newly-revealed audio, Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz told Roger Stone that ‘the boss’ Donald Trump would pardon him if the longtime GOP operative was convicted in his 2019 trial for obstructing a Congressional investigation. Stone was eventually found guilty and pardoned by the former president. But weeks before the trial, Gaetz told Stone backstage during an event at one of Trump’s golf courses that he

A deal between Senate Democrats has revived legislation to significantly expand government regulation of prescription-drug prices and limit the out-of-pocket costs of Medicare seniors who use expensive medicines. If the bill becomes law, Medicare would gain the authority to negotiate how much it pays for certain prescription drugs and force drugmakers to provide a rebate if they raise the prices of their medicines

According to sources and charging documents a man armed with a loaded AK-47 was arrested on Thursday outside the Brooklyn home of Iranian dissident journalist Masih Alinejad. According to a federal – complaint Khalid Mehdiyev 23 was found with the assault rifle a high capacity magazine, and more than $1,000 worth of cash when he was arrested after lurking for two days. The complaint makes no explicit

Officials in New York City declared a public health emergency due to the spread of the monkeypox virus Saturday, calling the city “the epicenter” of the outbreak. The announcement Saturday by Mayor Eric Adams and health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said as many as 150,000 city residents could be at risk of infection. The declaration will allow officials to issue emergency orders under the city health code and amend code

The U.S. military runs more than 3,000 slot machines on American military bases overseas even though the rate of problem gamblers in the military is thought to be around twice that of the rest of the general population, according to the National Council on Problem Gambling, an organization that advocates for services to assist people and families affected by problem gambling.The slot machines, operated by the U.S.

Banana Boat is recalling three batches of its “hair and scalp” sunscreen after tests found that the product contains trace amounts of cancer-causing chemical benzene, the manufacturer said in an announcement submitted to the Federal Drug Administration. Fox Business reported that exposure to benzene through skin contact, inhalation, and mouth had been linked to cancer such as leukemia.The Shelton,

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Saturday to evacuate eastern Donetsk province, the region that has seen the fiercest fighting as Russia seeks to control it fully. Hundreds of thousands of people, including children and the elderly, remain in combat zones of the larger Donbas region, which includes Donetsk and Luhansk. It is also the region where Ukrainian prisoners of war died in a missile attack earlier

Ex-President Donald Trump does not think exchanging the arms dealer labeled as the ‘Merchant of Death in exchange for WNBA star Brittney Griner is a ‘very good trade.’ During an appearance on Saturday on ‘The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show,’ Trump said of Griner: ‘She knew you don’t go in there loaded up with drugs, and she admitted it.’ He continued: ‘I assume she admitted it without too much force

Donald Trump has been accused of burying their first wife, Ivana, at his New Jersey golf club to exploit state tax exemptions on cemeteries. Dartmouth sociology professor Brooke Harrington, who brands herself a tax researcher, tweeted: ‘I was skeptical of rumors Trump buried his ex-wife in that sad little plot of dirt on his Bedminster, NJ golf course just for tax breaks.’She concluded: ‘So I checked the NJ tax code

A prominent Guatemalan newspaper editor who has overseen investigations into corruption has been arrested, prompting denunciations Saturday by politicians, anticorruption activists, and civic groups. Prosecution agents arrested José Ruben Zamora Marroquín at his home on Friday night, searching his home, seizing telephones, and accusing him of money laundering. Zamora Marroquín is a prize-winning journalist

The Cuban capital of Havana will begin electricity blackouts in August, has canceled carnival, and is taking other measures as the country’s energy crisis worsens, state media reported on Saturday. The capital, home to a fifth of the population of 11.2 million and the center of economic activity in Cuba, had been spared the daily power outages of four or more hours that the rest of the island has endured for months.

President Biden tested positive for Covid-19 again on Saturday morning in what his physician called a rebound case. Dr. Kevin O’Connor said in a letter made public by the White House that Mr. Biden isn’t experiencing any symptoms and is feeling well.Dr. O’Connor noted a small number of people who take the antiviral medication Paxlovid to treat Covid-19 sometimes test positive again for the virus

At least 25 people have died in the devastating Kentucky floods unleashed by torrential rainfall that swept through homes, washed out roads, and pushed rivers over their banks, state authorities said, warning more fatalities are expected.According to officials, the death toll rose throughout Friday, and dozens of people are still unaccounted for.Knott County Coroner Corey Watson confirmed on Friday

A single winner who purchased their ticket in Illinois has won a jaw-dropping $1.28 billion Mega Millions jackpot prize — the third largest in U.S. history. The lottery winners were announced Saturday morning and included a second place ticket purchased at New Way Deli & Lottery Corp. on East Kingsbridge Road in the Bronx worth a whopping $1,000,002.Friday’s winning numbers were 67, 45, 57, 36, mega millions ball was

Pope Francis acknowledged Saturday that he could no longer travel like he used to because of his strained knee ligaments, saying his weeklong Canadian pilgrimage was “a bit of a test” that showed he needs to slow down and one day possibly retire. Speaking to reporters while traveling home from northern Nunavut, the 85-year-old Francis stressed that he hadn’t thought about resigning but said “the door is open”

Veterans and their loved ones gathered in Washington, D.C., on Thursday for what was supposed to be a long-awaited celebration.The Senate finally was poised to pass a bill that would provide health care and benefits for millions of veterans injured by exposure to toxins, from Agent Orange in Vietnam to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead, in a surprise move, 25 Republican senators

A jury in Texas found Charter Communications liable for $7 billion in punitive damages this week as the result of a lawsuit from the family of Betty Jo McClain Thomas, an 83-year-old woman who was stabbed to death by one of its employees in December 2019. The $7 billion is in addition to $375 million in compensatory damages the jury assigned in June.The explanation behind the staggering figure of the verdict

The House passed a bill to ban the sale of assault-style weapons largely on party lines, showing how Democrats have coalesced around wanting to ban such weapons in response to mass shootings. The bill passed with a vote of 217-213, with 215 Democrats and two Republicans voting for the legislation and 208 Republicans and five Democrats voting against it. The bill isn’t likely to move forward in the 50-50 Senate

Spain has reported what is considered Europe’s first monkeypox-related death in the current disease outbreak. Brazil reported the first monkeypox-related death outside Africa on Friday in the current wave. According to a World Health Organization report from 22 July, only five deaths had been reported worldwide, all in Africa. Last Saturday, the WHO declared the rapidly spreading outbreak a global health

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ media company Free Speech Systems, filed for bankruptcy on Friday — but his attorney said it should not disrupt the defamation damages trial underway in Texas that seeks to force Jones to pay $150 million or more to the family of one of the children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School attack. The trial in Austin, where Jones lives and Free Speech Systems is based,

The numbers have been drawn in the Mega Millions jaw-dropping $1.28 billion jackpot prize — the third largest in U.S. history. Friday’s winning numbers were 67, 45, 57, 36, and 13. The mega millions ball was 14. It’s unclear whether any lucky winners defied the 1 in 303 million odds to claim the life-changing prize. Winners can receive $1.28 billion over 29 years, or a lump sum of $747.2 million cash prize, which ends up

The Biden administration is working on a new identification card to be issued to immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border to allow U.S. immigration officials and migrants to access their files more quickly. The card would someday be accepted by the Transportation Security Administration for travel inside the United States.An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson told VOA the card, called a Secure Docket Card,

Prosecutors in Spain said Friday they would ask a court to sentence Colombian pop star Shakira to eight years and two months in prison if she is convicted in her expected trial for alleged tax fraud. Shakira, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, is charged with failing to pay the Spanish government 14.5 million euros ($15 million) in taxes between 2012 and 2014. The prosecutors said they would also seek

Will Smith is apologizing for his “unacceptable” assault on Chris Rock. In the months since handing down, the slap heard ‘round the world on Rock, 57, after the comedian made an off-color joke during the 2022 Academy Awards, Smith, 53, has finally issued a mea culpa via his YouTube channel Friday. “I’ve reached out to Chris, and the message that came back is that he is not ready to talk,” admitted the “King Richard”

According to a new report, the Air Force has grounded its entire fleet of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters due to a faulty component that could prevent pilots from safely ejecting. A spokesperson for Air Combat Command confirmed Friday’s temporary stand-down order in a statement to Breaking Defense, saying the measure was taken ‘out of an abundance of caution.’At issue are the explosive cartridges used inside ejection seats that

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday that he’s open to a call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss a possible prisoner swap involving American basketball star Brittney Griner. Blinken said Wednesday that Washington had offered Russia a deal that would bring home Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan. A person familiar with the matter said the U.S. government proposed trading

Apple narrowly outperformed Wall Street expectations with its Q3 earnings on Thursday afternoon, reporting a slight year-over-year increase in iPhone revenue and a 12 percent jump for its services division. But elsewhere, the company’s numbers sagged: Mac revenues were down by 10 percent — a drop that CEO Tim Cook attributed to supply chain constraints and unfavorable foreign exchange rates. But it also

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has told George Washington University that he won’t be returning to teach at its law school this fall. The decision followed student protests over the Supreme Court’s vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. Thomas told the school he would not be available to give a constitutional law seminar which he was expected to co-teach. He had been teaching the course at the Washington, D.C.,

Where most people saw chaos, Viktor Bout saw an opportunity. Bout, a 55-year-old Russian, was the world’s most notorious arms dealer before a U.S. court convicted him in 2011 and sent him to a prison in Illinois. He’s now the focus of a potential prisoner swap between the U.S. and Russia, which holds two Americans the Biden administration hopes to free. Bout was in his mid-20s when the Soviet Union

On Thursday, employees at a Trader Joe’s supermarket in Massachusetts became the latest workers at a large company to approve a labor union. The store in Hadley, about 80miles west of Boston, is the first Trader Joe’s with an employees union, although workers at two other company locations have initiated unionization efforts. The union vote passed 45-31. Trader Joe’s workers are part of a nationwide

Daniel Castano was hit on the forehead by a 104 mph line drive off the bat of Donovan Solano in the first inning of the Miami Marlin’s 7-6 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday. The ball hit the bill of his cap and ricocheted off the crown, manager Don Mattingly said. The team said Castano showed mild concussion symptoms and was bruised, and a CT scan was normal.“I’m not sure what happened,”

The Miami-Dade County School Board on Thursday accepted two health and sexual education books for use in local schools, reversing a decision from just last week to reject the curriculum over fears it could violate the state’s “Parental Rights in Education” bill, known by opponents as “Don’t Say, Gay.”The about-face was led by the chair, Perla Tabares Hantman, whose flipped vote made the difference in the books passing by

Florida education officials on Thursday urged schools across the state to disregard recent guidance from the Biden administration aiming to strengthen protections for transgender students under federal Title IX gender equity law.In a widely distributed memo, Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. told school leaders that the federal policies are “not-binding” in Florida and “should not be treated as governing law.”

Rescue workers plucked people off rooftops amid fast-rising water Thursday in central Appalachia, where torrential rains unleashed some of the worst floodings in the state’s history, claiming at least eight lives in its wake and leaving multiple people missing, according to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. “Tonight, we need your continued prayers for the people of Eastern Kentucky,” Beshear said in an update

The principal of the Texas school where the nation’s deadliest classroom shooting in a decade happened was reinstated Thursday, three days after she was suspended with pay in the wake of security criticisms leveled by a legislative committee. Mandy Gutierrez, who Uvalde school district officials suspended with pay Monday as Robb Elementary School principal, was reinstated Thursday in a brief letter from Superintendent

Secret Service Director James Murray is delaying a planned retirement and extending his tenure as the agency deals with continuing controversies related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Mr. Murray informed agency employees Thursday about his decision to postpone his retirement, which had previously been announced effective July 30, according to an internal message from Mr. Murray to Secret Service employees and

President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke Thursday amid growing tensions between the two countries around Taiwan, the economy, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.The call, Biden’s fifth with Xi, lasted over two hours, though past calls have lasted around as long because the conversations need to be translated. The two leaders discussed a number of issues hanging over both Biden and Xi at home

The House passed a $280 billion bill aimed at making the U.S. more competitive in the semiconductor industry, despite a late push by Republican leaders to block the legislation over a separate Democratic spending proposal. President Biden is expected to sign the legislation passed in a 243-187 vote. Twenty-four Republicans joined with Democrats to vote for the bill. One Democrat, Rep. Sara Jacobs (D., Calif.), voted present.

The Tour de France Femmes was disturbed by a huge crash which left a big group of riders in the peloton on the ground. The incident happened midway through the race as the women piled on top of each other in what was a domino effect. Movistar rider Emma Norsgaard was wounded and left the race in an ambulance due to serious discomfort, though she was able to stand. SD Worx duo Lotte Kopecky and Chantal

Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser is asking the National Guard to mobilize to deal with the migrants being bused to the city from southern states. The mayor, who has championed accepting migrants entering the country illegally as a human rights issue, requested the DC National Guard be activated indefinitely to assist with what she called a “humanitarian crisis.” Bowser is asking that the DC Armory be used as a processing center

Sportscaster Bob Costas ripped former President Donald Trump on Thursday over his decision to participate in an event for the Saudi-backed LIV golf tour despite sharp opposition from the families of 9/11 victims. Trump has faced widespread criticism over his decision to host the controversial Saudi circuit’s LIV Golf Invitational at Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster, New Jersey. The former president also

Donald Trump defended hosting the Saudi-backed LIV golf tournament at his Bedminster club on Thursday amid a backdrop of fury from 9/11 families, telling reporters no one has got to the bottom of who is to blame for the attacks despite CIA intelligence that suggests Saudi Arabian involvement. Trump, battling the mid-morning heat in his signature MAGA hat and white polo shirt, teed off at the pro-amateur event

The U.S. economy contracted for the second straight quarter from April to June, hitting a widely accepted rule of thumb for a recession, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday. Pressured by surging inflation, rising interest rates, and intensifying supply chain pressures, the gross domestic product fell 0.9% for the period, following a 1.6% decline in the first quarter. The Dow Jones estimate was for a gain of 0.3%.

JetBlue Airways agreed to buy Spirit Airlines for $3.8 billion, a combination that would create the fifth-largest U.S. carrier.The deal announced Thursday comes after The Wall Street Journal reported that the two sides were close to sealing an agreement after a monthslong bidding war between JetBlue and Frontier Group Holdings Inc. JetBlue will pay $33.50 in cash for each share of Spirit, including a prepayment of $2.50

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenska have raised eyebrows after appearing in a glossy photoshoot for US Vogue. The pair were pictured together for the piece by renowned photographer Annie Leibowitz – although the article primarily focused on Zelenska, 44. It’s titled: ‘Portrait of Bravery: Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska.’Following the publication of the piece, conservative pundits

According to a person familiar with the probe, Donald Trump is among the prominent Republicans whom Justice Department investigators are asking about as they look into whether crimes were committed to interfere with the electoral vote count on Jan. 6, 2021.While at least two former top White House officials have recently appeared before a grand jury, it’s not yet clear whether Trump is, or will become,

The Biden administration has new plans to get lower-income households hooked up to solar energy. The White House announced two new programs today aimed at expanding access to “community solar”projects among subsidized housing residents and households that receive federal assistance to pay their utility bills. It also launched a new rewards program for existing community solar projects.“Community solar”

Spirit and Frontier Airlines have tossed out their proposed merger agreement, leaving room for Spirit’s other suitor, JetBlue, to swoop in and score a deal, as first reported by CNBC. According to The Washington Post, shareholders were expected to reject the deal during a vote today, possibly because of JetBlue’s higher offer. Frontier and Spirit first announced the proposed merger in February, a move that would’ve combined

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration has ordered an investigation of a Miami restaurant that hosts drag brunches after a viral video showed a nude dancer flaunting around a little girl. The short video taken around July 3 shows a girl – who appears to be aged between two and four – wearing a tiara as a drag queen exposing her bare breast with pasties and a thong filled with money walks her around the R

According to a report, Miami officials may relocate some of the city’s homeless population to an encampment on a nearby barrier island that houses a wastewater treatment plant. The city government is considering the proposal that would send homeless people living on the street in densely populated areas, including the downtown area, Overtown and Little Havana, to the encampment on Virginia Key — one of five

Jeff Bezos is giving back to the people who raised him — in a big way. The Amazon titan recently helped his parents buy two homes next to each other in South Florida for a combined $74 million; a source told The Post. For the first home, a company tied to the Bezos Family Foundation purchased a six-bedroom, seven-bathroom waterfront estate on July 22 for $34 million, The Real Deal first reported. Located in Coral Gables,