Conference commissioners lauded a judge’s approval of a $2.8 billion antitrust lawsuit settlement as a means for bringing stability and fairness to an out-of-control college athletics industry. They also acknowledged there would be growing pains. Commissioners of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC renewed their call for congressional action to codify the settlement and emphasized that cooperation at every level of college sports would be necessary to make it work.… Continue Reading
CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — After stumbling out of the starting gate in Big Tech’s pivotal race to capitalize on artificial intelligence, Apple tried to regain its footing Monday during a developers conference that focused mostly on incremental advances and cosmetic changes in its technology. The presummer rite was more subdued than the feverish anticipation that surrounded the event in 2023 when Apple unveiled a mixed-reality headset and last year when the company hyped AI features that didn’t pan out as envisioned. Although Apple announced helpful AI tools and a redesign of its iPhone software in a decade, the company is still facing about its ability to innovate and ability to navigate a gauntlet of other challenges.… Continue Reading
NEW YORK (AP) — Warner Bros. Discovery will calve off cable operations from its streaming service, creating two independent companies as the number of people “cutting the cord” brings with it a sustained upheaval in the entertainment industry. HBO, and HBO Max, as well as Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, will become part of the streaming and studios company. The cable company will include CNN, TNT Sports in the U.S., and Discovery, top free-to-air channels across Europe, and digital products such as the Discovery+ streaming service and Bleacher Report. Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, based in New York City, jumped 11% at the opening bell.… Continue Reading
LOS ANGELES (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he planned to file a lawsuit against President Donald Trump in response to the administration’s extraordinary deployment of the National Guard to confront immigration protesters who took to the streets in Los Angeles. Newsom, a Democrat, said that commandeering a state’s National Guard without consulting the governor of that state is “illegal and immoral.” The streets of the sprawling city of 4 million people were mostly quiet Monday morning, the day after crowds blocked off a major freeway and set self-driving cars on fire. Law enforcement responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades. Sunday’s protests were centered in several blocks of downtown and a handful of other places.… Continue Reading
PARAMOUNT, Calif. (AP) — President Donald Trump is deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops despite the governor’s objections to Los Angeles over where protests Saturday led to clashes between immigration authorities and demonstrators. The White House said in a statement Saturday that he was deploying the Guardsmen to “address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester” in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, objected to the move and said in a post on X that the move from the Republican president was “purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.”… Continue Reading
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Dozens of dogs found living in packed, filthy conditions have been removed from a North Carolina home. Animal control officers responding to a complaint in Raleigh discovered 101 dogs crammed in stacked cages or roaming in confined quarters on Wednesday. News outlets report the homeowner agreed to relinquish the dogs, along with 21 chickens. The dogs were taken in by eight different shelters and were undergoing medical assessments. The Wake County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says many of the dogs it took in had matted fur as well as skin and dental issues.… Continue Reading
CHICAGO (AP) — A bottlenose dolphin at the Brookfield Zoo Chicago gave birth to a calf early Saturday morning with the help of a fellow mom. Video of the birth inside the Illinois aquarium shows the 35-pound calf ejected into the water and sprint to the surface for its first breath, under the watchful eye of the other, older female bottlenose dolphin. A staff veterinarian says that kind of help during a birth reflects dolphin practice in the wild. Brookfield Zoo Chicago is celebrating the first birth from its dolphin group in over a decade. It will close part of the aquatic area while the new calf bonds with its mom and the group. The calf will be named this summer.… Continue Reading
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) — Sovereignty bested Journalism in a Kentucky Derby rematch to win the 157th Belmont Stakes, the second hosted at Saratoga. Sovereignty and jockey Junior Alvarado traversed the field of eight on a fast Saratoga track after downpours throughout the morning and early afternoon dried up before post time. Journalism was second and Baeza was third — the same 1-2-3 as the Kentucky Derby. Sovereignty led off the first leg of the Triple Crown by winning the Derby in early May. The Bill Mott-trained colt also edged Journalism in that race.… Continue Reading
NEW YORK (AP) — The school graduation season is the busiest time of year for the Walmart workers who hand-decorate cakes per customers’ orders. The cakes and optional fillings come pre-baked and frozen from suppliers, but the nation’s largest retailer holds a big slice of the American custom cake market. The company says one out of four cakes sold in the U.S. comes from Walmart, and that its workers will collectively decorate more than 1 million cakes during May and June. The discount retail chain’s 6,200-strong army of icing artisans are Walmart’s highest paid hourly workers, excluding store managers. Detractors on social media have accused the decorators of stealing ideas and undercutting professional cake artists with inexpensive products.… Continue Reading
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs’ recent ex-girlfriend is back on the witness stand after testifying about how she endured drug-fueled sex marathons right up until the hip-hop titan’s arrest in September. The woman is using the pseudonym “Jane” at Combs’ sex trafficking trial in New York as she testifies for a second day Friday. Combs has pleaded not guilty to running his business empire as a racketeering enterprise that enabled the abuse of women. Jane testified that Combs had control over her life including paying her rent and pressured her into sexual encounters with other men, despite her telling him she didn’t want to.… Continue Reading