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  • Meet the man — once sued by the SEC — who won the crypto contest to have dinner with the president

    Meet the man — once sued by the SEC — who won the crypto contest to have dinner with the president



    We now know who won the contest to attend an intimate dinner with President Donald Trump by buying his cryptocurrency — and he’s a familiar face to Securities and Exchange Commission regulators and law enforcement officials.

    Justin Sun, a Chinese-born crypto entrepreneur, confirmed in an X post Tuesday he was behind the account, labeled “SUN,” that purchased the most $TRUMP meme coin to sit at the president’s table at a crypto-focused gala slated for Thursday.

    “Honored to support @POTUS and grateful for the invitation from @GetTrumpMemes to attend President Trump’s Gala Dinner as his TOP fan!” Sun wrote. “As the top holder of $TRUMP, I’m excited to connect with everyone, talk crypto, and discuss the future of our industry.”

    He capped the post with an American flag emoji.

    Critics have blasted the dinner contest as potentially unconstitutional and a blatant opportunity for corruption. Trump has not publicly commented on the accusations, and the The Office of Government Ethics has declined to comment. A White House official did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

    While Trump has not been as aggressive in directly promoting cryptocurrencies as some campaign backers in that industry had hoped, his administration has abandoned or paused many pending cases previously brought against crypto entrepreneurs and businesses.

    That includes Sun, who was charged in 2023 with market manipulation and offering unregistered securities. Regulators sought various injunctions against him that would have largely prevented him from participating in crypto in the U.S. The Verge, a tech industry website, had also reported Sun was the target of an FBI investigation.

    But in February, the SEC, now controlled by Trump appointees, agreed to a 60-day pause of the suit in order to seek a resolution.

    Two months earlier, Sun purchased $30 million in crypto tokens from World Liberty Financial (WLF), the crypto venture backed by Trump and his family, the website Popular Information reported.

    Eventually, Sun became the largest publicly known investor in World Liberty after he brought his funding total to $75 million.

    According to Bloomberg News, per the terms of World Liberty’s financial structure, 75% of the proceeds of token sales like Sun’s get sent to the Trump family as a fee — meaning they may have directly earned as much as $56 million.

    On January 22, Sun posted on X, “if I have made any money in cryptocurrency, all credit goes to President Trump.”

    Sun may now be a multibillionaire, with a net worth estimated at $8.5 billion according to Forbes. He reportedly was forced to spend $2 billion to shore up one of his crypto firms that was facing collapse in 2022.

    He did not immediately respond to a request for comment about what he hoped to get out of the dinner with the president.



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  • Some 4,500 migrants told to pay fines ranging up to $1.8 million

    Some 4,500 migrants told to pay fines ranging up to $1.8 million


    Wendy Ortiz was surprised to find out she was being fined by U.S. immigration authorities for being in the country illegally — but it was the amount that truly shocked her: $1.8 million.

    Ortiz, 32, who earns $13 an hour in her job at a meatpacking plant in Pennsylvania, has lived in the United States for a decade, after fleeing El Salvador to escape a violent ex-partner and gang threats, she said in an interview and in immigration paperwork. Her salary barely covers rent and expenses for her autistic 6-year-old U.S.-citizen son.

    “It’s not fair,” she said. “Where is someone going to find that much money?”

    In the last few weeks, U.S. President Donald Trump has started to operationalize a plan to fine migrants who fail to leave the U.S. after a final deportation order, issuing notices to 4,500 migrants with penalties totaling more than $500 million, a senior Trump official said, requesting anonymity to share internal figures.

    Reuters spoke with eight immigration lawyers around the country who said their clients had been fined from several thousand dollars to just over $1.8 million.

    The recipients of the notices were informed that they had 30 days to contest, in writing, under oath, and with evidence as to why the penalty should not be imposed.

    The steep fines are part of Trump’s aggressive push to get immigrants in the U.S. illegally to leave the country voluntarily, or “self deport.”

    The Trump administration plan, details of which were first reported by Reuters in April, include levying fines of $998 per day for migrants who failed to leave the U.S. after a deportation order.

    The administration planned to issue fines retroactively for up to five years, Reuters reported. Under that framework, the maximum would be $1.8 million. The government would then consider seizing the property of immigrants who could not pay.

    It remains unclear exactly how the Trump administration would collect the fines and seize property.

    Wendy Ortiz with her son, Axel, at their home in Lebanon, Pa., on May 17, 2025. 
    Wendy Ortiz with her son, Axel, at their home.Eduardo Munoz / Reuters

    Immigration lawyers baffled

    The fines reviewed by Reuters were issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but a separate agency — Customs and Border Protection — has been asked to process them and handle potential forfeitures, Reuters reported in April.

    CBP is still working out the complicated logistics to conduct seizures, a CBP official said, requesting anonymity.

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in April that immigrants in the U.S. illegally should “self deport and leave the country now.”

    The fines stem from a 1996 law that was enforced for the first time in 2018, during Trump’s first term in office, and target the roughly 1.4 million migrants who have been ordered deported by an immigration judge.

    The Trump administration withdrew fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars against nine migrants who sought sanctuary in churches in his first term after a legal challenge, but proceeded with smaller penalties. Joe Biden’s administration dropped the fines in 2021.

    Robert Scott, a New York City-based immigration lawyer, said he was baffled when one of his clients — a low-income Mexican woman who has lived in the U.S. for 25 years — also received a $1.8 million fine.

    “At first you look at something like this and think it’s fake,” he said. “I’ve never seen a client receive anything like this.”

    Scott said the woman received a final deportation order in 2013 but was not aware of it at the time. The woman filed a motion last year to reopen the removal order, which is still pending, Scott said.

    “She hasn’t been hiding,” he said. “I find it curious that they would pick on someone like that. I don’t know if it’s random, I don’t know if she’s low-hanging fruit. I don’t know.”

    Seeking relief, the targeted

    After crossing the border in 2015, Ortiz was released to pursue her asylum claim when an officer found she had a credible fear of persecution, documents show. But she said she never received an immigration court hearing notice and was ordered deported after failing to show up to court in 2018.

    Ortiz’s immigration lawyer requested humanitarian relief from the U.S. government on Jan. 8, saying she faced danger in El Salvador and that her son would not have access to services for autistic children. The petition asked for “prosecutorial discretion” and for the government to reopen and dismiss her case.

    Twelve days later, Trump took office and launched his wide-ranging immigration crackdown.

    Rosina Stambaugh, Ortiz’s attorney, said she had requested a 30-day extension and was considering ways to fight the fine in court.

    “She is a mother of an autistic child, she has no criminal history, and they have all of her background information,” Stambaugh said. “I just think it’s absolutely insane.”

    Lawyers said clients who received the notices also included spouses of U.S. citizens, who were actively trying to legalize their immigration status.

    Rosa, a U.S. citizen in New York, said her Honduran husband was fined $5,000. She said her husband wasn’t able to leave the country after being granted voluntary departure in 2018 because she was diagnosed with uterine cancer. She hopes once she explains the situation, that the fine may be waived. If not, she said, he will have to work many extra hours to pay it.

    “It’s one thing after the other,” she said. “This whole process has cost us so much money.”



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  • Trump on discussion with House Republicans over budget bill: ‘A meeting of love’

    Trump on discussion with House Republicans over budget bill: ‘A meeting of love’


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    President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson spoke to reporters following a closed-door meeting with House Republicans over the reconciliation bill. NBC News’ Sam Brock reports on Trump’s focus on lowering drug costs and addressing concerns over Medicaid cuts.May 20, 2025

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  • Four-legged investigators sniff out spotted lanternfly eggs

    Four-legged investigators sniff out spotted lanternfly eggs


    The spotted lanternfly, a leaf-hopping invasive pest first detected in the U.S. a decade ago, has steadily spread across the East Coast and into the Midwest with little getting in its way.

    But now researchers are deploying a new weapon to slow it’s advance — specially trained dogs with the ability to sniff out the winged insect’s eggs before they hatch.

    Since late last year, four of the dogs have been scouring parks in the Cleveland area in search of egg masses hidden around trees, shrubs, park benches, landscape rocks and bridge pillars. Each egg mass can produce 30 to 50 spotted lanternflies.

    Dog hunts for spotted lanternfly eggs.
    Gail Samko’s Australian Shepard-cattle dog mix, Rio, spots a spotted lanternfly egg sac mass on a tree on May 5 in Garfield Heights, Ohio.Sue Ogrocki / AP file

    So far, the dogs have uncovered more than 4,000 of the masses, meaning they’ve helped eradicate as many as 200,000 of the sap-sucking bugs that damage grapes, fruit trees, hops and hardwoods, said Connie Hausman, senior conservation science manager at Cleveland Metroparks.

    In just a few hours in April, the dogs found about 1,100 egg masses at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Hausman said.

    Not just any dog can go out searching, she said.

    “They all have wonderful noses, but they’re not all eligible,” she said. “They had to pass tests to prove their service.”

    Dog hunts for spotted lanternfly eggs.
    Paige Malone gives her Cardigan Welsh Corgi, Bronco, a water break during their hunt for spotted lanternfly egg masses on May 5 in Garfield Heights, Ohio.Sue Ogrocki / AP file

    The dogs were trained through a research project led by a group at Virginia Tech University, which is setting out to slow the spread of the insects that are native to eastern Asia and recognizable for their distinctive black spots and bright red wing markings.

    The four working in Cleveland owned by local residents already had scent training before they worked with Virginia Tech to hone their noses to detect the spotted lanternflies.

    Once they spot a new mass of eggs, the dogs get a treat from their handlers who scrape away the mud-like masses.



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  • ‘Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ author Taylor Jenkins Reid comes out as bisexual

    ‘Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ author Taylor Jenkins Reid comes out as bisexual



    Taylor Jenkins Reid, the author of several bestselling novels including “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,” “Daisy Jones & The Six” and “Malibu Rising,” came out as bisexual in an interview with Time magazine.

    “It has been hard at times to see people dismiss me as a straight woman, but I also didn’t tell them the whole story,” the author told the outlet in an interview published May 15.

    Reid, whose new novel, “Atmosphere,” comes out June 3, said assumptions about her sexuality are nothing new for her. In fact, she said, they began when she was a teenager and dressed differently than the social norm.

    “I got hit pretty quickly with, ‘Why can’t you dress more like a girl? Why don’t you do your nails? Why do you talk that way? Can’t you be a little bit quieter?’” she told Time. “I started to get people who would say, ‘Oh, I get why you dress like a boy—you’re gay.’”

    But, Reid said, she didn’t feel like she identified with being labeled as gay, as she was attracted to both sexes — her first love was a man and then, in her early 20s, she fell in love with a woman. With both loves, however, people doubted if it was the right course for her.

    “This was the late ‘90s, so nobody was talking about bisexuality. And if they were, it was to make fun of people,” she said. “The messages about bisexuality were you just want attention, or it was a stop on the way to gayville.”

    In her writing, Reid hasn’t been shy when it comes to depicting characters who fall along different points of the sexuality spectrum.

    In “Daisy Jones & The Six,” the main romance centers around a heterosexual love triangle, while “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” details a love story between two women. Meanwhile, “Malibu Rising” showcases mainly heterosexual relationships, but one character experiences a queer awakening.

    Her new book, “Atmosphere,” allowed Reid to explore more of her attraction to women. The novel features a love story between one woman in outer space and one on earth.

    “It just felt like time for me to write a very high-stakes, dramatic love story,” she told Time.

    While she may not have always been open with the public about the specifics of her sexuality, she told Time that she was always honest with those closest to her. Her husband, screenwriter Alex Jenkins Reid, even introduced her to an idea that describes someone’s sexuality as a house with many rooms.

    “My attraction to women is a room in the house that is my identity — Alex understood [“Atmosphere”] was about me spending time in that room,” Reid said. “He was so excited for me, like, ‘What a great way for you to express this side of you.’ And he helped me get the book to be as romantic and beautiful as it could be.”

    Reid also said she understands being married to a man gives her “straight-passing” privileges that other queer women don’t receive.

    “How do I talk about who I really am with full deference to the life experiences of other people?” she told Time. “Basically, where I came down is I can talk about who I am, and then people can think about that whatever they want.”

    This story first appeared on TODAY.com



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  • Tariffs or not, a Chinese baby products company is ramping up its U.S. expansion

    Tariffs or not, a Chinese baby products company is ramping up its U.S. expansion



    BEIJING — One Chinese baby products company announced Tuesday it is officially entering the United States, the world’s largest consumer market — regardless of the trade war.

    Shanghai-based Bc Babycare expects its supply chain diversification and the U.S. market potential to more than offset the impact of ongoing U.S.-China trade tensions, according to Chi Yang, the company’s vice president of Europe and the Americas.

    “Even [if] the political things are not steady … I’m very confident about our product for the moment,” he told CNBC, adding he anticipates “very fast” growth in the U.S. in coming years. That includes his bold predictions that Bc Babycare’s flagship baby carrier can become the best-seller on Amazon.com in half a year, and that U.S. sales can grow by 10-fold in a year.

    The $159.99 carrier, eligible for a $40 discount, already has 4.7 stars on Amazon.com across more than 30 reviews. The device claims to reduce pressure on the parent’s body by up to 33%. A far cheaper version of the baby carrier is a top seller among travel products for pregnancy and childbirth on JD.com in China.

    Bc Babycare already has the carrier stocked in its U.S. warehouses, and has a network of factories and raw materials suppliers in the Americas, Europe and Asia, Yang said. “The global supply chain is one of the things we keep on building in the past couple years.”

    The Trump administration has sought to reduce U.S. reliance on China-made goods and to encourage the return of manufacturing jobs to the U.S. In a rapid escalation of tensions last month, the U.S. and China had added tariffs of more than 100% on each other’s goods. Last week, the two sides agreed to a 90-day pause for most of the new duties in order to discuss a trade deal.

    Baby gear is particularly sensitive to tariffs since the majority of those sold in the U.S. are made in China, said U.S.-based Newell Brands, which owns stroller company Graco, on an April 30 earnings call. That’s according to a FactSet transcript.

    The company said it raised baby gear prices by about 20% in the last few weeks, but had not incorporated the additional 125% tariffs announced in mid-April. Newell said on the call it had about three to four months of inventory in the U.S., and had paused additional orders from China.

    The company did not respond to a request for comment about whether it had resumed orders from China and whether it planned more price increases.

    Bc Babycare declined to share how much it planned to invest in the U.S. But Yang said the company plans to open an office in the country and hire about five to 10 locals.

    The company initially plans to sell online, spend on marketing and eventually work with major retailers for offline store sales. Its partners for raw materials and research include three U.S. companies: Lyra, Dow and Eastman.

    The Chinese company, which entered the baby products segment in 2014, in 2021 claimed a 700 million yuan ($97.09 million) funding round from investors including Sequoia Capital China.

    Yang said the company scrutinizes the comments section on Chinese and U.S. e-commerce websites to improve its products. As a result, the U.S. version of the baby carrier is softer and larger than the Chinese version, he said.

    Bc Babycare’s U.S. market ambitions reflect how large U.S. and European multinationals not only face growing competition in China, but also in their home markets.

    “After experiencing substantial growth due to the premiumization of consumption in the Chinese market, multinational brands are now entering a challenging second phase where they compete fiercely for market share,” Dave Xie, retail and consumer goods partner in Shanghai at consultancy Oliver Wyman, said in a statement last week.

    Oliver Wyman said in a report last month that the Chinese market has become the incubator for premium product innovations that are being exported. The authors noted, for example, that Tineco floor scrubbers have become Amazon best-sellers.



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  • Man executed for the 2000 killing of a police officer in Indiana’s second execution in 15 years

    Man executed for the 2000 killing of a police officer in Indiana’s second execution in 15 years


    MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. — An Indiana man convicted in the fatal shooting of a police officer in 2000 was executed Tuesday by lethal injection in the state’s second execution in 15 years.

    Benjamin Ritchie, 45, had been on Indiana’s death row since 2002, when he was convicted of killing Beech Grove Police Officer Bill Toney during a chase on foot.

    Ritchie was executed at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, according to Indiana Department of Corrections officials. IDOC said in a statement that the process started shortly after midnight and Ritchie was pronounced dead at 12:46 a.m.

    Ritchie’s last meal was from the Olive Garden and he expressed love, support and peace for his friends and family, according to the statement.

    Benjamin Ritchie, who was convicted in the 2000 killing of Beech Grove Police Officer Bill Toney
    Benjamin Ritchie.Indiana Department of Correction via AP

    Under state law, he was allowed five witnesses at his execution, which included his attorney Steve Schutte, who told reporters he had a limited view of the process.

    “I couldn’t see his face. He was lying flat by that time,” Schutte said. “He sat up, twitched, laid back down.”

    The process was carried out hours after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take the case, exhausting all of Ritchie’s legal options to fight the death sentence.

    Dozens of people, both anti-death penalty advocates and supporters of Toney, stood outside the prison until early Tuesday.

    Indiana resumed executions in December after a yearslong hiatus due to a scarcity of lethal injection drugs nationwide. Prison officials provided photos of the execution chamber before Joseph Corcoran’s execution, showing a space that looks like an operating room with a gurney, fluorescent lighting and an adjacent viewing room. They’ve since offered few other details.

    Among 27 states with death penalty laws, Indiana is one of two that bars media witnesses. The other, Wyoming, has conducted one execution in the last half-century.

    The Associated Press and other media organizations filed a federal lawsuit in Indiana seeking media access, but a federal judge denied a preliminary injunction last week that would have allowed journalists to witness Ritchie’s execution and future ones. The judge found that barring the news media doesn’t violate the First Amendment nor does it single out the news media for unequal treatment.

    The execution in Indiana is among 12 scheduled in eight states this year. Ritchie’s execution and two others in Texas and Tennessee will be carried out this week.

    The 2000 fatal shooting of a police officer

    Ritchie was 20 when he and others stole a van in Beech Grove, near Indianapolis. He then fired at Toney during a foot chase, killing him.

    At the time Ritchie was on probation from a 1998 burglary conviction.

    Toney, 31, had worked at the Beech Grove Police Department for two years. The married father of two was the first officer of the small department to be killed by gunfire in the line of duty.

    Relatives spoke at a clemency hearing last week in support of the execution.

    “It’s time. We’re all tired,” said Dee Dee Horen, who was Toney’s wife. “It is time for this chapter of my story, our story, to be closed. It’s time for us to remember Bill, to remember Bill’s life, and not his death.”

    Appealing a death sentence

    Ritchie’s attorneys have fought the death sentence, arguing his legal counsel at trial was ineffective because his lawyers failed to fully investigate and present evidence on his fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and childhood lead exposure.

    Current defense attorneys say Ritchie suffered “severe brain damage” because his mother abused alcohol and drugs during pregnancy and he’s struggled with decision-making. He was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2005.

    Disability rights advocates argued that Ritchie’s brain damage should have excluded him from the death penalty.

    “This is a foolish, senseless, agonizing waste of time and money,” said Schutte, who added that Ritchie was no longer “the same person who committed that crime.”

    Attorney General Todd Rokita said the execution honored Toney’s “sacrifice to the community.”

    Republican Gov. Mike Braun rejected Ritchie’s clemency bid last week without explanation.

    The Indiana Supreme Court denied a request to stop the execution. Ritchie’s attorneys challenged that decision in federal court, which a judge rejected. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the lower court on Sunday.

    As the sun set Monday, the Rev. Richard Holy, a Catholic priest, recited the rosary with about 20 people in the prison parking lot.

    “We don’t have to keep taking one life to exact justice for taking another,” he said.

    Dozens also showed up to honor Toney’s memory.

    “I support the death penalty in certain cases and this is one of them,” said Mark Hamner, an Indianapolis-area officer.

    Expressing regret and awaiting execution

    Attorneys said Ritchie changed during his more than two decades behind bars and had shown remorse.

    In court as a young man, Ritchie smiled at Horen and laughed as the verdict was read.

    He told a parole board he deeply regretted his actions, especially how he acted with Toney’s widow.

    “I wish I could go back to the day in court, because that man’s wife deserved to say everything she needed to say to me, and that punk kid should have just kept his mouth shut and let her say whatever she needed to say,” Ritchie said.

    Ritchie, who was also a father, spent his last days getting visits from friends and family.

    “I’ve ruined my life and other people’s lives, and I’m so sorry for that night,” he told the parole board earlier this month. “You can’t take back what you did.”



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  • How two of England’s worst teams made it to a European soccer final

    How two of England’s worst teams made it to a European soccer final



    Two of England’s worst-performing soccer teams have somehow found themselves in a high-stakes European tournament final. 

    Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, who’ve served up shambolic displays in the English Premier League all year, will square off in the Europa League final Wednesday in Bilbao, Spain. The winner clinches automatic qualification for the prestigious European Champions League and the multimillion-dollar payout that comes with it. 

    It’s difficult to overstate how abysmal these iconic soccer teams have been in the English Premier League this season. 

    Manchester United is 16th in the table, barely above the relegation zone. Its much-maligned Cameroonian goalkeeper, Andre Onana, has been prone to calamitous mistakes. And its forward line, spearheaded by Danish striker Rasmus Højlund, has been largely impotent. The entire team has scored only 42 goals in 37 league games throughout the entire season. 

    “I always had this feeling of frustration for the season,” Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim said Friday after his team’s 18th defeat of the Premier League season. The young Portuguese coach acknowledged that winning the Europa League on Wednesday wouldn’t compensate for the shocking performances fans have been subjected to all year. “Europa League is not enough,” he said bluntly. 

    One of the few teams actually below Manchester United in the league table? Tottenham Hotspur, colloquially known as “Spurs.” The London team sits 17th, one position away from relegation to a lower league.

    Spurs’ malfunctioning midfield and a slew of injuries haven’t helped their dismal league position. Their captain, Heung-min Son, has underwhelmed. The South Korean star has failed to fill the goal vacuum left by England captain Harry Kane, who departed for German giant Bayern Munich two seasons ago. And Spurs have lost more than half of their games this season. 

    In contrast to Amorim, who has conceded his coaching hasn’t been up to snuff, Tottenham’s Australian manager, Ange Postecoglou, has talked more glowingly about his performance despite leading Tottenham to its worst Premier League finish in history. 

    “I don’t think there’d be another manager who gets to a European final that’s had their ability to manage questioned as much as I have,” he said defensively in an interview with TNT Sports last week. 

    Postecoglou said he and Amorim are experiencing similar judgments ahead of the final. 

    “For both of us, this is a significant game, because it can really salvage what many will look at as either a disastrous year or, I think, in our perspective, certainly a historic year,” he said. 

    Despite their poor play in the Premier League, both squads have risen to the occasion in the Europa League. Manchester United hasn’t lost a match on its way to the final, brushing past Spanish club Athletic Bilbao and French club Lyon en route. Tottenham has also been impressive, defeating German outfit Eintracht Frankfurt, Dutch side AZ Alkmaar and the breakout team of the tournament, Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt. 

    European soccer elitists turn up their noses at the Europa League because of its second-rate status. The Europa League is considered junior varsity compared with the Champions League. The latter features soccer royalty like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. The Europa League tournament’s appeal lies in the fact that the winner automatically qualifies into the Champions League, club soccer’s most prestigious tournament with the highest caliber of play. 

    Playing in the Champions League also means revenue generated by television rights, sponsorships and ticket sales. 

    Every team in the Champions League gets about $20.8 million from the governing body, UEFA. Plus, there’s prize money, with each win in the tournament garnering an additional $2.3 million and even bigger paydays for making it to the latter stages. 

    Both Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur could use that injection of cash to buy new players and overhaul their squads over the summer. Without it, they could be left languishing in the league table yet again next season. 

    “How much money you make is not why you get into the Champions League; it is what you do with that money,” Postecoglou said at a news conference in April. “I’ve always said it’s not just about having money; it’s how you spend it.”

    Meanwhile, Amorim is hoping more cash can fund a cultural reset among the Manchester United squad and return the team to a winning mentality. 

    “The culture in the team … we need to change that. We need to be really strong in the summer and to be brave,” he said at a news conference this month when he was asked about new players coming in. 

    How Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur found themselves in this final despite dreadful performances this season is a mystery to many. Some argue it’s the financial might of the Premier League that allows even its worst teams to go far in European competition. Others say it’s a freakish anomaly. What can’t be squabbled over is how important a win Wednesday would be for both fan bases. 

    Fans of Manchester United, one of the most widely supported teams on the globe, are the butt of world soccer’s joke. The club’s gradual demise after the retirement of their legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013 has led to snickering from fans and jeering by rivals. A trophy at the end of the season should quiet the haters, at least for the summer. 

    For Tottenham Hotspur, a victory would bring a welcome trophy for its dusty silverware cabinet. The club hasn’t won a major competition since 2008, losing in four different finals. Postecoglou, a journeyman manager who has been successful in previous stints in Australia, Japan and Scotland, confidently declared that “I always win things in my second year” in a postmatch interview in September. A win Wednesday would prove him right.

    Tottenham has beaten Manchester United all three times they have played each other this season. But Manchester United’s players have found it within them to roll back the years in cup finals, shocking the world by defeating Manchester City in the FA Cup final last season and picking up the English League Cup trophy the year before. 

    Who caps a season filled with despair and dread with delight is anyone’s guess. Both fan bases will be hoping for a reprieve from the ridicule.



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  • ‘My 600-Lb. Life Star’ Latonya Pottain dies at 40

    ‘My 600-Lb. Life Star’ Latonya Pottain dies at 40



    Latonya Pottain, a former star of “My 600-Lb. Life,” has died.

    Pottain passed away May 17 at Christus Highland Medical Center at age 40 in Shreveport, Louisiana, according to a Natchitoches Parish Coroner’s Office report.

    Pottain’s preliminary cause of death was listed as acute on chronic congestive heart failure and her manner of her death was listed as natural. A final autopsy is pending.

    Pottain appeared on Season 11 of the TLC reality series after she had struggled to lose weight for five years. During her time on the show, she opened up about how she had turned to food for comfort after losing her mother at a young age and after her father left the family.

    Pottain’s death comes just two months after a GoFundMe was created in February to help her seek medical treatment during “the most challenging time” in her life.

    “I’m currently getting close to my highest weight of 740 pounds and I worked extremely hard to get it down. Now I currently weigh about 705 pounds and have been bedridden since June 2024 due to severe health issues,” Pottain wrote in the fundraiser’s text.

    Pottain said she weighed 531 pounds at the beginning of her season of “My 600-Lb. Life” and “worked hard to get down to 505 pounds.”

    “However, after the show aired, I experienced overwhelming backlash, which sent me into a deep depression,” she wrote. “My mental health suffered, and I became fearful of undergoing weight loss surgery.”

    Pottain added that in 2023 she moved to Houston for a fresh start, but ended up in an “abusive relationship” at the same time that her father was diagnosed with cancer.

    “Unable to take the emotional and physical toll, I returned home to Louisiana,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, my health continued to decline, and I developed severe sciatica nerve pain, which caused extreme stomach cramps.”

    Pottain said she began therapy after her body “rejected” the prescription pain medicine fentanyl.

    “Now, I am completely bedridden and unable to get to the hospital because EMTs say transporting me would be a fire hazard due to my weight,” she wrote. “Without the ability to work, I have no income to purchase a car or arrange for special medical transportation.”

    Pottain said she hoped to be able to raise enough funds to support herself and also to afford medical transportation to receive the medical care she required.

    “This has been an incredibly difficult journey,” she wrote, “and I truly want to fight for my health and my life.”



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  • Police identify victim and gunman in Las Vegas gym shooting

    Police identify victim and gunman in Las Vegas gym shooting



    LAS VEGAS — The person killed in a shooting at a Las Vegas fitness center last week was a longtime employee who had no known connection to the shooter, police said Monday.

    Edgar Quinonez, 31, of Las Vegas, was shot and killed Friday at the Las Vegas Athletic Club, police said.

    Arriving officers fired at the suspected shooter, 34-year-old Daniel Ortega, as he exited the gym after firing 24 rounds, police said. Ortega, a gym member, died of gunshot wounds, according to police.

    Three other people were injured at the gym on the city’s west side as gunfire erupted. They were transported to local hospitals, with one in critical condition. Their conditions weren’t released on Monday.

    Officials are still investigating a motive, saying they have found no connection between the two men.

    Jamie Prosser, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department assistant sheriff, said at a media briefing on Monday that Ortega entered the gym with a rifle on Friday afternoon.

    She said he approached an employee at the front desk and paced around before briefly exchanging words with another employee. Then he lifted the rifle and shot the employee as he fled into the gym, she said.

    Ortega followed and continued firing, Prosser said, and at some point Ortega returned to the lobby and fired until the weapon malfunctioned. An arriving officer fired at Ortega when he opened the entrance door and he was shot by officers as he left the building with the rifle. He died at a nearby hospital, police said.

    She said Ortega worked out at the gym but at this time there was no known connection to the victim.



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