Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Chief football writerPublished5 May 20252474 CommentsTrent Alexander-Arnold's announcement that he is leaving Liverpool at the end of the season confirmed what had seemed an inevitability for months And even though his next destination was not mentioned in his emotional farewell video it is an open secret that he will join his friend and England colleague Jude Bellingham at Real Madrid Alexander-Arnold deserves credit for clarifying his future now He could have taken the easy way out and left Liverpool supporters hanging until after the Premier League title victory parade around the city on 26 May the 26-year-old has made his decision public with two home games left - the first against Arsenal and the second on the final day against Crystal Palace when Liverpool will lift the trophy to celebrate their 20th English league title It will leave him at the mercies of many Liverpool supporters who are baffled that the player they celebrate in song as "the Scouser in our team" has decided to leave his boyhood club on a free transfer Alexander-Arnold's celebration of his late winner at Leicester City in April when he ripped off his red shirt and hoisted it on a corner flag in front of Liverpool's supporters at the King Power Stadium prompted faint hope that he might find it impossible to leave the club he has called home for 20 years The truth hit home when he once more refused to discuss his future during the celebrations of that win He was leaving Liverpool and no amount of emotional pull on the heartstrings would change his mind Those emotions will be mixed in the stands and on the pitch when Alexander-Arnold plays his final game at Anfield on 25 May – but his leaving as a title winner might just ease the disappointment that many Liverpool followers will be feeling Liverpool's fans have also have also been questioning the timing of Alexander-Arnold's decision He leaves with Liverpool on a title high and well placed to challenge for the biggest domestic and European trophies for years to come while Real Madrid looked like a team in need of renewal when they were thrashed 5-1 by Arsenal over two legs in the Champions League quarter-final Alexander-Arnold enjoyed a dream return from injury netting the winner against Leicester in April It will also be a time of churn off the pitch at the Bernabeu with legendary coach Carlo Ancelotti expected to leave at the end of the season Why leave the stability and success of Liverpool for a time of transition at Real Madrid The lure of Real Madrid is almost always irresistible Bellingham was being courted by every major club in Europe before deciding on Real As he put it at the time: "When Real Madrid knock on the door The biggest indicator as to where Alexander-Arnold's future lay came when Real Madrid lodged a £20m bid in the January transfer window Those with long knowledge of Real's transfer strategy were assured they would not make such a move without being confident a free transfer would be completed in the summer not only wanting to keep Alexander-Arnold but also hoping to buy time for a change of heart he met head coach Arne Slot to inform him he would not be signing a new contract While there was always a quiet confidence behind the scenes at Anfield that Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk would sign new deals there was never the same sense of assurance about Alexander-Arnold a difficult season for Alexander-Arnold with injuries and the constant speculation - and latterly assumption - that he was on his way out It all seemed to come to head in the 2-2 draw against Manchester United at Anfield in January After Real Madrid's bid became public knowledge, Alexander-Arnold delivered a nightmare performance in what looked like a fog of confusion playing a poor pass that led to Lisandro Martinez's goal for United before getting caught out badly for Amad Diallo's late equaliser He was then given a yellow card and replaced by Conor Bradley with four minutes left having looked lost and distracted throughout while suddenly feeling the sound of Anfield's frustration aimed in his direction It is often whistling in the wind to ask fans who feel betrayed Alexander-Arnold has played a pivotal in the good times Liverpool's global fanbase have basked in first under Jurgen Klopp then in a remarkable first title-winning season under Slot He has made 352 appearances since making his debut in 2016 scoring 23 goals and claiming all of the game's major prizes Alexander-Arnold was integral when Liverpool won their first title in 30 years with Klopp at the helm in 2019-20 having won the Champions League the year before by beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the final in Madrid He now has two Premier League titles to his name as well as the Fifa Club World Cup and Uefa Super Cup For all the debate around Alexander-Arnold's defensive flaws these were outweighed by the creative brilliance and stunning range of passing that always gave Liverpool an extra dimension This is proved by his rate of providing 86 assists in his Anfield career Alexander-Arnold will be remembered as the local boy who became a modern Liverpool greats Now he must wait to see if this is fully acknowledged by the supporters who adored him as one of their own wearing the red shirt 'Exceptional' Bradley 'needs competition' Alexander-Arnold to leave Liverpool at end of season Alexander-Arnold to leave Liverpool & 'expected to join' Real Madrid - reaction and updates How could Liverpool replace Alexander-Arnold To load Comments you need to enable JavaScript in your browser View comments | 2474Top storiesHis stats are better but will Yamal build legacy to rival Messi 'Calamity keeper' or 'human wall' - which Donnarumma will Arsenal face Premier League reaction & Champions League race latest as Forest draw at Palace The final series of Man Like Mobeen has arrived John Simm stars in the provocative 90s drama Warm-hearted comedy with Ben Miller and Sally Phillips Follow two ambitious river restoration projects Who has made Troy's Premier League team of the week Trailblazer Zhao set to take snooker to 'another level' in China Alexander-Arnold leaves as modern Liverpool great - but fans will feel hurt Zhao beats Williams in historic final - highlights VideoZhao beats Williams in historic final - highlights 'Scheffler and DeChambeau wins further raise US PGA excitement levels' Match-fixing scandal to Crucible champion - fall and rise of Zhao 'We need to take a look at ourselves' - 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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. -- Jon Gruden is getting back into professional football The former NFL coach is joining the Nashville Kats of the Arena Football One League as a part-owner and in what the club called "consulting and advisory roles in all aspects of the team's football and business operations." The Super Bowl-winning coach later filed a lawsuit against the NFL claiming contract interference and conspiracy A three-justice panel of the Nevada Supreme Court sided 2-1 with the NFL last year ruling the league could force the civil case out of state court and into private arbitration that might be overseen by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the lawsuit will be reviewed by the full seven-person court The Gruden family has deep ties to the Arena Football League won four league titles as a player and two more as a coach in the 1990s and early 2000s before eventually moving on to a coaching career in the NFL The Nashville Kats, who announced Gruden's partnership Monday, have an ownership group that includes former Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher who also serves as the Kats' president and as the league commissioner "I have been a fan of indoor football for a long time and jumped at the opportunity to be involved with Jeff and the Nashville Kats as part of the ownership group," Gruden said "I have so much respect for what Jeff has done over his career and continues to do with the Nashville Kats and as commissioner of AF1 Marcel Ciolacu quits after coalition candidate fails to make it to run-off against nationalist George Simion Romania’s pro-EU prime minister, Marcel Ciolacu, has resigned after his ruling coalition’s candidate crashed out of a presidential election rerun decisively won by a far-right Trump admirer dramatically deepening the country’s political turmoil “Rather than let the future president replace me told reporters after a meeting at the headquarters of his Social Democratic party (PSD) Ciolacu said the PSD would withdraw from the pro-western coalition – effectively ending it – while cabinet ministers will stay on in an interim capacity until a new majority can be negotiated after the presidential run-off on 18 May Sunday’s first-round vote was convincingly won by ultranationalist George Simion, 38, who sports Maga caps, pushes a socially conservative agenda and has called for the “Melonisation” – referring to Italy’s far-right prime minister – of Europe Simion’s score of 40.96% was almost double that of the second-placed finisher The two will face each other in a runoff that raises the prospect of another disruptive nationalist joining the EU leaders’ club The coalition candidate, Crin Antonescu, finished third in a bitter blow to the government, formed after December elections by the leftist PSD, the centrist Liberals and ethnic Hungarian UDMR to keep the EU and Nato member on a pro-western track Simion’s Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) and two other sovereignist parties won more than a third of parliamentary seats and forming a new majority without the far-right bloc will be hard – even more so if Simion is elected president A Simion victory – and a likely change of government – could lead to Romania, which shares a border with Ukraine veering away from the mainstream and becoming another disruptive force within the EU alongside Hungary and Slovakia It would also be welcomed by conservative nationalists in Europe and beyond – including senior Trump administration figures such as the US vice-president JD Vance – who accused Bucharest of denying democracy after the original ballot was cancelled “The problem now isn’t that Romania is in a hard place should George Simion win,” said the political scientist Cristian Pîrvulescu “The anti-European group within the EU will become more substantial.” George Simion socially conservative agenda and has called for the ‘Melonisation’ of Europe Photograph: Action Press/Rex/ShutterstockThe French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said Romania’s voters had sent “a very nice boomerang” to the European Commission president echoing claims Brussels was behind the cancellation of the original vote last year Simion said after the result that his win was “not just an electoral victory It is the victory of those who have not lost hope The far-right candidate added: “I am here to serve Romanians He said he believed in an EU “that thrives as a nest for its diverse and sovereign nations – not as a rigid system enforcing one-size-fits-all policies” whose AUR has grown from an anti-vax movement into the country’s second-largest party finished first in 36 of 47 electoral districts and secured 61% of the large overseas vote a 55-year-old mathematician who founded the Save Romania Union party (USR) and campaigned as a pro-EU called the runoff a battle “to convince Romanians that Romania needs its pro-western direction” Free newsletterA digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day He said the two weeks leading up to the runoff would be “difficult against this isolationist candidate … It will not be a debate between individuals it will be a debate between a pro-western direction for Romania and an anti-western direction” Experts say Nicuşor Dan may struggle to beat George Simion in the run-off vote Photograph: Mihai Barbu/AFP/Getty ImagesExperts have said Dan may struggle to beat Simion in the runoff because of disagreements between the independent candidate and the mainstream PSD and Liberal parties that could easily deter their voters from switching allegiance Romania’s president has a semi-executive role with considerable powers over foreign policy defence spending and judicial appointments They also represent the country on the international stage and can veto important EU votes Simion promised on Sunday to make Georgescu prime minister early elections or forming a new government coalition Simion denies his policies are far-right but has described his party as “natural allies” of Trump and promised an alliance of EU countries “in the spirit of Maga” but consistently opposed military aid to Ukraine (AP) — Billionaire Warren Buffett will remain chairman of the board at Berkshire Hathaway when vice chairman Greg Abel takes over for Buffett as CEO at the start of 2026 The board of directors at the cash-rich conglomerate voted Sunday to keep the legendary 94-year-old investor as head of the board a decision likely to relieve investors worried about maintaining Berkshire’s remarkable winning streak as U.S and global economies are beset by tariff shocks financial turmoil and a growing risk of recession The board in the same meeting also approved Buffett’s chosen successor as CEO Buffett said he would step down from that top spot at the end of the year Berkshire Class B shares fell 4% Monday morning after hitting an all-time high Friday praised the company’s transparency after Buffett announced the succession and does not believe Buffett is going anywhere “I think it gives Warren a little more bandwidth instead of running this conglomerate,” Sykes said in an interview with The Associated Press “It gives Greg more transparency on the opps with also Warren still being his mentor as chairman,” Buffett turned a Massachusetts textile company into a sprawling but nimble conglomerate that owns everything from Daily Queen and See’s Candies to BNSF Railway and massive insurance companies Warren’s reputation grew with it as shares of Berkshire Hathaway climbed steadily exceeding major indexes by wide margins and returning an average 19.9% each year to investors versus 10.4% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 The decision to continue with the Oracle of Omaha as head of the board differs from the succession plans laid out in the event of Buffett’s death The billionaire has long said that Howard Buffett the second-born of the investor’s three children should become chairman when he is gone to protect Berkshire’s culture Abel will take over in a precarious time as the U.S launches trade wars against friend and foe alike But Abel has managed all of Berkshire’s non-insurance businesses since 2018 Then there is Berkshire’s $348 billion in cash Buffett says he doesn’t see many bargains to invest that money in now but he assured some of the estimated 40,000 attendees of the company’s annual meeting in Omaha over the weekend that one day the company would be “bombarded with opportunities.” asking managers tough questions and encouraging them to collaborate with other subsidiaries when it makes sense He will now take on oversight of the insurance businesses and responsibility for investing the company’s cash will stay on for now to help manage the insurance businesses that include Geico and massive reinsurers like General Re READ MORE: Some of Warren Buffett’s best and worst investments in his 60 years at Berkshire Hathaway Abel said Saturday that he wouldn’t change the Berkshire’s approach to investing Maintaining Berkshire’s fortress-like balance sheet will always be a priority Berkshire might have to consider paying a dividend which Buffett always resisted because he believed he could deliver better returns by reinvesting the cash Buffett and Abel want to keep building cash so they are prepared when opportunities arise Berkshire Vice Chairman Greg Abel speaks with shareholders during the Berkshire Hathaway Inc vowing to keep all of his shares that give him control of 30% of Berkshire Hathaway “It’s way better with Greg than with me because I didn’t want to work as hard as he works and I can get away with it because we’ve got a basically good business — a very good business,”” Buffett said He also said Abel brings new strengths to the company “The fact that you can do pretty well doesn’t mean you couldn’t do better and Greg can do better at many things,” he said The CEOs of Berkshire subsidiaries who report to Abel have praised his management style of personal accountability See’s Candy CEO Pat Egan worked with Abel at Berkshire’s utility unit for years before he took over six years ago and said Abel makes sure he’s considered every contingency “He’s allowed me to make a lot of decisions that he may or may not have agreed with but he’ll support us at the end of the day no matter what as long as we’re operating with integrity and principles and the long game,” Egan said But Morningstar analyst Greggory Warren wrote that Buffett’s succession announcement left him with plenty of questions and Abel will have to prove himself will be held to a different standard than Buffett with a greater focus on how well Berkshire is performing—especially with it being likely that there will be some churn in the company’s shareholders as we move past the end of an era for the firm,” Warren said Buffett has always delegated the decisions about how to distribute his fortune to others through annual share donations to the Gates Foundation and four family foundations run by his children The Gates Foundation has received the biggest donations worth more than $40 billion since he started giving away his fortune in 2006 He said last summer that his three children will decide how to distribute his remaining fortune after his death but donations to the Gates Foundation will end Buffett has said he expects it to take a decade to give away all his shares after his death ensuring extended support for Abel from the family AP Business writer Bernard Condon is in New York City AP Business Writer Michelle Chapman contributed to this report from New York City © 1996 - 2025 NewsHour Productions LLC PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization Subscribe to Here's the Deal with Lisa Desjardins -- The Los Angeles Kings and vice president/general manager Rob Blake mutually agreed to part ways team president Luc Robitaille announced Monday The search for a replacement will begin immediately I would like to thank Rob for his dedication to the L.A Kings and the passion he brought to his role," Robitaille said and I appreciate Rob's partnership in always working toward what is best for the Kings "Rob deserves a great deal of credit and respect for elevating us to where we are today He has been an important part of the Kings and will always be appreciated for what he has meant to this franchise." Blake guided the Kings to a 309-238-71 regular-season record and clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs five times Los Angeles (48-25-9) finished second in the Pacific Division this season before losing to the Edmonton Oilers in six games in the Western Conference First Round It was the fourth straight year the Kings lost to the Oilers in the first round "It's a hard day," Kings captain Anze Kopitar said Monday and more importantly I think he's my friend I think he did a good job of building this team And it sucks to see that we didn't deliver he's done a lot for me as a player as a GM it's going to be weird not having him around." coach Jim Hiller admitted he is uncertain about his future in Los Angeles but currently is operating under the "status quo" until he hears otherwise "I haven't had any of those conversations yet," Hiller said But I do understand whenever there's change like that Hiller is 69-37-10 two seasons since replacing Todd McLellan on Feb who played 14 of his 20 NHL seasons as a defenseman for the Kings joined the front office in 2013 as assistant GM Initially tasked with trying to get another sustained playoff run out of the core group that won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014 Blake instead pivoted into a rebuild during the 2018-19 season That was the first of three straight seasons where the Kings missed the postseason, but Los Angeles selected center Quinton Byfield with the No. 2 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft and defenseman Brandt Clarke with the No Byfield was fourth on the Kings in goals (23) assists (31) and points (54) in 81 games this season one assist) in six games against the Oilers during the playoffs Clarke led Kings defensemen in assists (28) and points (33) in 78 games this season He had two goals in six games in his postseason debut However, even with success through the draft and in team building, Blake never could find the right mix to get the Kings past the Oilers and their star centers, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl The Kings traded for center Pierre-Luc Dubois on June 27, 2023, acquiring him in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets for forwards Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari and a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft $68 million contract ($8.5 million average annual value) Blake hoped Dubois would give the Kings three centers capable of matching up against McDavid and Draisaitl while eventually becoming the successor to Kopitar as the Kings' first-line center But Dubois never meshed with McLellan or Hiller 24 assists) in 82 games in his lone season in Los Angeles Dubois was traded to the Washington Capitals for goaltender Darcy Kuemper on June 19 with the admission of failure increasing the pressure on Blake entering this season Blake pivoted in an attempt to build a team that could beat the Oilers with depth and physicality, signing forward Warren Foegele and defenseman Joel Edmundson during free agency and acquiring forward Tanner Jeannot in a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning on June 29. Those additions helped the Kings tie franchise records for points (105) and wins (48) in a season. Los Angeles had the best home record in the NHL at 31-6-4 and set a Kings record for home victories in a season. But it still wasn't enough to help the Kings win a playoff series for the first time since the 2014 Stanley Cup Final against the New York Rangers. "I think we definitely made progress," Kopitar said. "I guess the record itself showed itself, regular season. But in the end of the day, that's not what you’re playing for. You're playing, obviously, to win a championship, and we failed to do so. So it's disappointing. We felt like this year would be different, and got off to a good start, but we couldn't close. And that's on us to figure out how to do it." Oregon lawmakers have increasingly relied on a tool that risks cutting out public participation in lawmaking.With use of so-called "placeholder" bills booming in the Oregon Capitol lawmakers are pulling some surprising policies out of seemingly mundane proposals Illustration by Colleen Coover / Special to OPB Oregon lawmakers met April 1 to consider a phantom The bill on tap for the Senate Judiciary Committee that Tuesday could hardly have been more simple. In a scant eight lines Senate Bill 469 ordered the state’s parole board to “study parole law in the state” and report back in 2026 But the committee wasn’t meeting to consider that version of SB 469 As testimony from a small group of interested parties began it became clear that a far more consequential policy was being proposed — one that would overhaul the state’s process for paroling convicted murderers Anyone looking for that version of the bill would have been out of luck It was still being written by legislative attorneys and wouldn’t emerge until a day after SB 469’s only public hearing opponents of the idea scrambled to mount an opposition It’s not a unique occurrence in Salem this year a House committee took up what appeared to be another benign “study” bill only to reveal that they were actually considering changes to how state liquor stores are regulated the public was offered no notice of this switcheroo and granted no glimpse of the actual bill until after the hearing — their sole chance to testify in person — was over No one in the Capitol believes this is how things should work But they’ve become increasingly likely in recent years as Oregon lawmakers have relied more on so-called “placeholder” bills to move their ideas A recent analysis by legislative lawyers estimated fewer than 40 were introduced in 2015 lawmakers sent more than 615 into the legislative ether With that deluge comes questions about transparency in a statehouse that is supposed to prioritize public involvement everyday Oregonians have been all but cut out as lawmakers hurriedly swap out bills’ contents — what’s known in Capitol parlance as a “gut and stuff.” lawmakers do offer at least some notice that a bill will be changed to keep us in the dark,” said Derek LeBlanc a Eugene firearms instructor who’s advocated on gun issues in Salem for years and has grown disenchanted with much of what he sees “That’s where it’s affecting our Oregon politics.” Critics say the practice lends itself to sloppy lawmaking where late amendments aren’t given enough consideration before they must be hustled along to meet legislative deadlines The question is whether lawmakers — never a fan of curtailing their own power — can find the will to rein themselves in “Legislators shouldn’t be allowed to quietly ‘gut and stuff’ bills evading full public scrutiny,” said Kate Titus executive director of the good government group Common Cause Oregon “The onus is on the Legislature to be fully transparent.” Placeholder bills exist for the sole purpose of being transformed They are trump cards held in reserve for the period when lawmakers can no longer ask legislative lawyers to draft an unlimited number of bills Maybe a valued constituent has a late-breaking idea for a bill they must get heard this year Maybe some long-planned bit of lawmaking took longer than expected to come together dull boilerplate language can become just about any idea a lawmaker can think up that’s really what it is,” said former state Sen a Portland Democrat who spent more than 15 years in the Legislature before retiring in January But not just any bill will do in any situation Oregon’s Constitution dictates that every bill can only “embrace but one subject.” That means placeholders are only as valuable as the “relating-to” clause — the brief string of words that dictates what area of law a bill might influence — that comes attached to them A basic rule of relating-to clauses: Broader is better. A bill ordering the Oregon Health Authority to study health care comes with a clause vague enough to drive a legislative truck through: “relating to health care.” “Good committee chairs always have a handful [of placeholder bills] ready with broad relating-to clauses,” said Tom Holt a lobbyist who has worked in Salem for nearly three decades and sees a role for the bills But Holt conceded that placeholders also make lobbyists paranoid particularly when it’s not clear what a lawmaker has in mind “And for an ordinary person trying to follow the process,” Holt said The Eugene Democrat chairs a powerful committee and has used placeholder bills extensively may use placeholder bills more than any other Oregon lawmaker The longtime chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee Prozanski has made a habit of ordering a wide range of bills with broad and varied relating-to clauses months before a legislative session begins “There are things that come up that we need to address,” he told OPB of this practice before acknowledging that placeholders might have gotten out of hand this year “This time was much more than I anticipated.” Prozanski’s committee requested more than 70 placeholders ahead of the session a number that surprised lawmakers in both parties who were interviewed for this story The bills came with relating-to clauses from “attorneys” to “youth,” and dozens of subjects in between the bare-bones parole study bill that morphed without notice into a proposal streamlining parole policies advocates at the Oregon Justice Resource Center a nonprofit focused on criminal justice issues have argued the process for paroling convicted murderers is too onerous Prosecutors and victims rights groups disagree a renewed push for the OJRC’s idea seemed to come out of nowhere The group and its allies knew an amendment was being crafted “You are the only one that caught this!” Amanda Dalton a lobbyist for the Oregon District Attorneys Association wrote after OPB inquired about the lack of transparency around the bill “There has been no stakeholder conversation on this bill in the 2025 Session,” she wrote to Sen the vice chair of the committee where the bill sat She added in bold: “This also means no meaningful input or testimony from victims groups were taken.” The Oregon Crime Victims Law Center wrote to Prozanski on April 8 saying its members opposed the bill “in both content and process.” “I do not believe there was enough testimony allowed on this bill and the parties need to have a more thorough discussion,” he said in a hearing Prozanski told OPB afterward that this was always his plan He said he’d taken up the idea to “send a message” to the state parole board that he’s serious about making changes down the road “It’s not my intent to bring something that has not had a public process,” he said that is something that is important to me.” says he learned about the practice not long after being sworn in “I usually drop 15 to 20 of those bills every session knowing that I may never use them,” said Smith a Heppner Republican who joined the Legislature in 2001 I will have colleagues who have not been in the process as long as I have who will come to me and ask me if they can use one of my bills.” Smith’s legislative quiver this year includes placeholders on water But not everyone in his party is sold on them Bonham decries the practice of introducing placeholder bills I hate ‘em,” said Senate Minority Leader Daniel Bonham who has directed his staffers to monitor Democrats’ placeholder bills “It’s like I have to watch this Senate bill forever because the relating-to clause is something that could destroy our economy Bonham’s counterpart in the House feels the same calls placeholder bills “the ultimate exercise of absolute power” by Democrats “You see these huge omnibus bills at the last minute Others view placeholder bills as a necessity “They’re supposed to just be there as an outlet in case we didn’t think of this thing or this really bad thing happened,’” said state Rep says introducing anodyne study bills is often a better option than dropping a half–baked idea “People will request a bill that’s a potential solution to a problem but they haven’t really thought it through,” he said “Then it comes out and people freak out.” a Democrat who made regular use of placeholder bills during her time as Oregon’s longest-tenured House speaker What no one seems able to explain is the boom in placeholder bills that emerged in the last decade According to the Office of Legislative Counsel placeholder bills accounted for a little more than 1% of all bills introduced in 2015 That proportion has increased in every long session since nearly one in five bills was a placeholder “It’s really been ramping up,” said Dexter Johnson Johnson’s office has been swamped this year as lawmakers direct it to draft more bills than ever Compared to legislation with actual substance But Johnson says that often means pushing off the actual legislative work until lawmakers are sweating under tight deadlines — when there’s not much time to consider an idea who probably overuse them in the sense of just really keeping their cards close to the vest,” Dembrow said “And so you don’t really know what’s in there until the very last minute.” so do instances that torpedo public process or sow distrust took up a placeholder bill requiring the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission to study liquor laws Nguyen had kept the bill in reserve to push through a change requested by liquor stores earlier in the year — one that would ensure they are inspected more often but would face lower potential consequences if they are caught selling to minors That version of the bill was nowhere to be found when Nguyen’s committee held its only public hearing on House Bill 2282 an OLCC representative offered a vague description of what a forthcoming amendment would say FILE- Oregon state Representative Daniel Nguyen 2024 during the opening of the legislative short session at the Oregon state Capitol in Salem Nguyen did not grant an interview on the matter but said on the House floor that using the placeholder was necessary to advance the idea this year we would have needed to find a member willing to spare one of their limited priority bills or wait until the next long session,” he said Other lawmakers and lobbyists asked about this and similar instances voiced uniform opposition we should create a House rule to prohibit that type of activity.” At least one member of the public wasn’t impressed the sponsor should have been open and transparent and actually submitted the real bill,” Michael Brainard “I oppose this bill and subsequent tomfoolery.” the public does get a glimpse at how a placeholder bill might morph prior to a public hearing Gun rights advocates were incensed in March when House Democrats waited until less than 24 hours before a hearing to unveil a 22-page proposal requiring gun dealers to obtain a new state license “I kind of take offense to the way everything happened,” LeBlanc “We got the verbiage of the actual amendment last night at about 5 p.m. and so it didn’t give us a lot of time to prepare.” is currently before the legislative budget-writing committee unveiled a hefty amendment less than two hours before a hearing on Senate Bill 28 — a bill that would order up a simple study on health care and Janeen Sollman review paperwork during a special session at the Oregon state Capitol in Salem Reynolds’ last-minute proposal would force private insurance companies to pay doctors the same rate for services regardless of whether they are part of a hospital system or an independent practice Reynolds says the bill is aimed at saving independent primary care clinics which often are paid less than the rates hospitals get for the same care It’s also an idea that the senator makes clear would benefit her personally: she’s a pediatrician who has worked in independent practice for three decades “We do so many bills that I feel are on the margins,” she said in an interview goes a little bit to the heart of the matter.” But the bill’s sudden emergence — less than a week before lawmakers were forced to pass bills out of committee — caught some off guard. A coalition of insurers wrote in testimony that the bill “takes on too much at this juncture in the legislative session” and would hike premiums for their members “I still think it’s really important to try to pass it this session.” There appears to be a growing sense that something is wrong with business as usual in the Capitol lawmakers have talked about limiting how many bills they can file in odd-year “long” legislative sessions That idea has often been dismissed as impractical in a body that doesn’t like to give up its own influence A crush of more than 3,300 bills — padded by more than 600 placeholders — choked committees in the early part of the session that meant marathon hearings aimed at considering as many proposals as possible it meant ratcheting down the public’s ability to testify as committee chairs jammed bills into one-and-a-half-hour meetings “What we don’t appreciate is people coming from our districts that just traveled three six hours in some cases to get here to testify and being told whose GOP colleagues often represent areas far from Salem and the only thing I can do is go find people after the committee and invite them up to my office.” A bill introduced by House Speaker Julie Fahey would limit the state’s 90 lawmakers to filing 25 bills apiece during the six-month odd-year sessions State agencies and executive branch officials could submit additional bills “The current pace and volume of legislation is not sustainable,” Sen We need to be more deliberate about what comes to the table.” told OPB she is wary of any bill limit proposal because it may give Democrats an additional edge It’s unclear whether the proposal has legs and it has yet to be scheduled for a hearing top Democrats are now acknowledging that placeholders have become part of the problem Asked by OPB at the outset of the session about the many placeholder bills that had been filed “Every bill has notice requirements before public hearings and before work sessions,” she said “And we accept testimony after the hearings are closed.” “Many of the thousands of bills that get introduced are ‘placeholders’ for potential legislation that may never come,” her office wrote in a release last month “making it difficult for the public to know which bills are likely to be considered by lawmakers.” Tags: Politics Stand with OPB and protect independent journalism for everyone Listen to the OPB News live stream (opens new window)Streaming Now ","type":"text"},{"_id":"NAUVZRPGWBDVVF5I6Y4XZMG7LE","additional_properties":{},"content":"“That was a real mistake on my part “I still think it’s really important to try to pass it this session.” ","type":"text"},{"_id":"TMD76RYGHVHIFCOHL6JUFFQIAE","additional_properties":{},"content":"Change in the air?","level":2,"type":"header"},{"_id":"HHC6C4SYSVGUBLA2HCL4RRS3FA","additional_properties":{},"content":"There appears to be a growing sense that something is wrong with business as usual in the Capitol ","type":"text"},{"_id":"VFUYSBI6AVG5HOWYOGT7452X7Y","additional_properties":{},"content":"For years ","type":"text"},{"_id":"FK7W7KFKRJAYNGJKBBZEG3GM6I","additional_properties":{},"content":"This year ","type":"text"},{"_id":"6TSWD2CBENEU3J4D736N6J3GRA","additional_properties":{},"content":"A crush of more than 3,300 bills — padded by more than 600 placeholders — choked committees in the early part of the session it meant ratcheting down the public’s ability to testify as committee chairs jammed bills into one-and-a-half-hour meetings.","type":"text"},{"_id":"RGQWYOLJCBAE3LOJSDF52HKER4","additional_properties":{},"content":"“What we don’t appreciate is people coming from our districts that just traveled three and the only thing I can do is go find people after the committee and invite them up to my office.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"CGQFBOR4FVBB3CNXBS7TFL5LCA","additional_properties":{},"content":"A bill introduced by House Speaker Julie Fahey ","type":"text"},{"_id":"PH4NJYSZPNDG7C6TZN4ODSNWOA","additional_properties":{},"content":"“The current pace and volume of legislation is not sustainable,” Sen We need to be more deliberate about what comes to the table.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"4XK7S2FGW5EJNK2BI2CX4A3GDI","additional_properties":{},"content":"The bill has sponsors in both parties could authorize additional bills.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NQAQIICAQ5D6NDDBJPHMI2KI5A","additional_properties":{},"content":"It’s unclear whether the proposal has legs ","type":"text"},{"_id":"PJZ2ZAKTLRDKTHH5WH6E7OET2U","additional_properties":{},"content":"Asked by OPB at the outset of the session about the many placeholder bills that had been filed ","type":"text"},{"_id":"KFDVA6Q64ZFXHDKQMV26GEE33U","additional_properties":{},"content":"“Every bill has notice requirements before public hearings and before work sessions,” she said “And we accept testimony after the hearings are closed.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"VHMDSXX2NBFOFEKUWBO7BZUGII","additional_properties":{},"content":"In announcing proposed bill limits ","type":"text"},{"_id":"45VSSFAKQVFCJH5WDOGWWNILJ4","additional_properties":{},"content":"“Many of the thousands of bills that get introduced are ‘placeholders’ for potential legislation that may never come,” her office wrote in a release last month he spent more than a decade as a newspaper reporter—much of that time reporting on city government for the Portland Mercury He’s also had stints covering chicanery in Southwest Missouri Dirk’s byline has appeared in USA Today He’s got a journalism degree from Michigan State University NEW YORK – It seemed appropriate that Gerrit Cole was on hand to observe Sunday’s action from the dugout at Yankee Stadium marking one of the ace’s first in-uniform appearances since Opening Day the ripple effect of the Yankees’ pitching losses are noticeable at the back of the rotation was knocked for five runs (three earned) in 4 2/3 innings as the Yankees fell to the Rays, 7-5 dropping their second consecutive series – both to American League East rivals following a pair of losses in Baltimore earlier this week The Yankees are a perfect 7-0 in Fried’s outings Cody Bellinger connected for his 200th career homer while Jorbit Vivas collected his first Major League hit -- a two-run single -- in a three-run eighth we battle with the best of them,” Aaron Judge said we’ve got faith in everybody in this lineup We were able to rally there the last couple of innings The hole was ultimately too much to dig out from The 25-year-old Warren showed off his swing-and-miss arsenal by striking out a career-high eight accompanied by the uneven results that have produced a 5.65 ERA through seven starts Jonathan Aranda hit a third-inning homer as part of a three-RBI performance and Brandon Lowe stroked a two-run single to highlight the attack against Warren who scattered seven hits and walked three in a 102-pitch effort (62 strikes) Manager Aaron Boone said Warren was “singled to death,” and he wasn’t alone -- in all “I feel like the whole day was a little up and down,” Warren said They were taking advantage of every little thing we gave them.” The Yanks’ pitching depth has been impacted not only by Cole’s season-ending injury but subsequent losses of Luis Gil and Marcus Stroman the Bombers unexpectedly opened the season with both Warren and Carlos Carrasco in the rotation The 38-year-old Carrasco tossed three innings in relief Sunday, displaced from the rotation when Clarke Schmidt was shifted to pitch Tuesday against the Padres Milestone momentsBellinger’s blast off Taj Bradley made him the 30th player to collect his 200th home run as a Yankee, and the first since Juan Soto last Sept. 17 at Seattle “I think that is definitely pretty cool,” said Bellinger Bellinger said he swapped a selection of autographed items for the baseball which he plans to add to his personal collection and hopefully keep hitting some more,” Bellinger said Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball Meanwhile, Vivas notched his first hit in his fifth Major League at-bat, a clean knock to center field off Edwin Uceta. Vivas is expected to receive significant playing time at second base with Jazz Chisholm Jr. (right oblique) on the injured list Judge said Vivas has shown “electric at-bats” thus far I feel like he’s trying to take it out to the bleachers,” Judge said He can hit it to the opposite field with the best of them decisionsThe Yankees closed the deficit in the eighth Judge ripped a leadoff double off Mason Englert extending his hitting streak to 14 games and his on-base streak to 30 games and Bellinger walked ahead of Paul Goldschmidt’s run-scoring single Jasson Domínguez greeted Edwin Uceta with a single off the right-field wall Boone explained that he was deciding between using Ben Rice to pinch-hit for Escarra or Vivas deciding to allow Escarra to hit because: “I’m just going to take the guy that’s been here and [is] more experienced.” Escarra’s double play dropped the Yanks’ win expectancy from 24.3 percent to 5.7 percent Boone said Vivas batted because he no longer represented the tying run Vivas’ two-run single changed the equation and Rice then worked a walk in place of Oswaldo Cabrera before Oswald Peraza hit into an inning-ending fielder’s choice With shortstop Anthony Volpe (left shoulder) unavailable Boone said he did not want to use both Rice and Austin Wells as pinch-hitters Wells entered to catch the ninth inning anyway with Escarra making his first Major League appearance at third base “They held us down pretty well this series,” Boone said “I liked the way we battled today to work our way back in a tough series where they were able to hold us down enough.” As the world mourns the passing of Pope Francis leaders from across the Christian spectrum are remembering him not only as the Bishop of Rome but as a tireless advocate for unity General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the first woman to hold that office “I always experienced him as very accessible also in regard to the way he empowered women and how he really included them in decision-making processes,” she said not only for Roman Catholics but also for many other Christians.” Dr Burghardt also pointed to his commitment during the Synod on Synodality: “It was very inspirational for many to see how the Synod was conducted and how women were given not only voice but also vote.” Highlighting the late Pope’s ecumenical outreach particularly his emphasis on “walking together” as a foundation for Christian unity Dr Burkhardt referred to the ongoing Catholic-Lutheran theological discussions and said “I am very glad that we are now able to start the sixth phase of our dialogue early next year.”  “My hope is that we can continue precisely with this ‘walking together’ as Pope Francis has so often described it.” She cited the Pope’s words during the Jubilee Year when he reminded Christians of their shared Baptism and called all to be “pilgrims of hope.” That message remains central to the LWF’s mission and to the upcoming commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession in 2030 Asked about Pope Francis’ legacy in promoting unity Dr Burgkhardt was unequivocal: “Definitely one of his strongest legacies is his call for unity - not only Christian unity but for recognising a sibling in every human being whom we meet.” “I do think that his will to bring people from different walks of life together in times where polarisation seems to be taking over in almost all societies is an extremely strong legacy and I do hope that we can continue to walk in this spirit in a time when polarization is taking over in almost all societies that is an extremely strong legacy,” she said Highlighting the crucial relevance of ecumenism in an increasingly fractured world “It is almost more important than ever,” she added the late Pope’s recurring choice to refer to himself as “Bishop of Rome” made it easier for other Christians to also “come together around his role.” The LWF General Secretary expressed her hope that this aspect will continue to be emphasised “because Pope Francis with his legacy of drawing attention to those who were oppressed drawing attention to those who were marginalised and set aside: this is the voice of the Gospel that we need to continue to follow.” Burkhardt Burghardt then recalled the historic visit of Pope Francis to LundMalmö in 2016 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation - an unprecedented choice for a pope “The ability to come together and to jointly tell a story that had so often been told with contradicting narratives was a powerful sign of reconciliation.” she expressed her hope that Catholics and Lutherans would continue their journey toward greater understanding and communion “My hope would beis that we continue to walk on the way of getting closer together in recognising the same Holy Spirit that has been bestowed upon the church and my hope is that we continue to come together” and “to discuss difficult issues if needed and to create spaces where different opinions can meet - always taking unity as the point of departure Burgkhardt offered a message of condolence: “I would like to express my heartfelt condolences to our Catholic brethren and to all Christians and people of faith who found in Pope Francis a source of inspiration,” she said “May his legacy continue in the Catholic Church and may we walk humbly on the earth in his spirit.” Thank you for reading our article. You can keep up-to-date by subscribing to our daily newsletter. Just click here by Solcyré BurgaReporter The court moved through tens of potential jurors on Monday for the sex trafficking case against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs the musician facing charges related to his alleged “freak offs.” Combs told the court he was “a little nervous today” as he took several bathroom breaks putting the process on pause as his attorneys moved to question those on the stand.   The federal investigation into Combs was spurred in part by a 2023 civil lawsuit filed by Combs’ ex-partner Cassie in which she alleged he had engaged in physical abuse and rape While the case was settled shortly thereafter numerous victims also filed lawsuits against the 55-year-old for similar sexual assault allegations in the following months.  Several potential jurors admitted that they read news about the case prior to arriving to the court and had seen the surveillance video of Combs shoving and kicking Ventura Combs was arrested last September over accusations of racketeering and drugging and coercing women into sexual relations with him and others the music mogul could face life in prison.  Combs’ attorneys asked for the trial to be delayed by two months in order to prepare for the court proceedings District Court Judge Arun Subramanian rejected the request.  Tens of people have accused Combs of sexually abusing them Some of the victims who have filed civil lawsuits against the rapper say they were as young as 10 when the assault happened Combs was arrested under allegations that he “abused and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires and conceal his conduct,” according to the indictment.  Prosecutors say that Combs engaged in kidnapping and sex trafficking—using his status as a celebrity to lure women to his side before forcing them to engage in nonconsensual activities Some of the victims were allegedly drugged with ketamine or other drugs in order to engage in such activities with Combs.  Federal agents seized illegal drugs and firearms when they raided his Beverly Hills mansion in March 2024 They also found more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant along with other materials allegedly used for the “freak offs.” While many of those accusing Combs of such crimes have remained anonymous others have publicly come forward with their stories The victims include: former adult film star Adria English and music producer Rodney ‘Lil Rod’ Jones Jr Jones accused Combs of attempting to “groom” him into having sex with another man and forcing him to hire sex workers and engage in sexual activities with them.  Combs has been at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since his arrest on Sept a charge of forced labor was added to the case against Combs prosecutors also added two new sex trafficking charges as well as an additional charge for transportation to engage in prostitution.  Combs settled the civil lawsuit filed by Ventura just one day after she filed the case. While Combs denied the allegations, in May 2024, CNN released CCTV footage from a Los Angeles hotel hallway where Combs was seen punching and kicking Ventura in 2016. Combs then released a video statement on Instagram admitting that he was abusive. No. Because Combs faces federal criminal charges, the use of electronic media is prohibited.  The statute, dating back to 1946, bans both photography and broadcasting in federal criminal courtrooms to protect the defendant’s right to a fair trial. R. Kelly’s federal trial on similar charges was also not televised. TIME may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website Offers may be subject to change without notice NFL Network's Cynthia Frelund explains why she believes the Dallas Cowboys won Round 5 of the 2025 NFL Draft by virtue of their selections of Texas running back Jaydon Blue and Florida linebacker Shemar James Most players selected on the third day of the NFL draft (when Rounds 4 through 7 are held) are typically expected to contribute as reserves and/or special teamers in Year 1 Panthers) were other players I included in this article last year who contributed significantly during their first year A rookie's talent is certainly a factor in how often he sees the field at the next level but injuries to veterans and positional-group depth often determine draftees' playing time Here are 16 Day 3 picks from the 2025 NFL Draft who could get regular starts during their first season ranked in order of the likelihood they will get the opportunity: The Cowboys might begin the year with starting reps going to veteran backs Javonte Williams" data-link="/players/javonte-williams/" data-slug="javonte-williams">Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders" data-link="/players/miles-sanders/" data-slug="miles-sanders">Miles Sanders but Blue should have a chance to be the guy for the Blue-and-Silver by midseason The Texas product's home run-hitting ability as a runner and receiver makes it imperative that he's on the field If Miami successfully moves seven-time Pro Bowler Jalen Ramsey" data-link="/players/jalen-ramsey/" data-slug="jalen-ramsey">Jalen Ramsey who ended up being available in Round 5 after missing time with a shoulder injury and showing average long speed I expect him to play well as a rookie thanks to his aggression and ability to find the ball in coverage Kyzir White" data-link="/players/kyzir-white/" data-slug="kyzir-white">Kyzir White's contract ran out and he remains unsigned creating an opening in the Cardinals' linebacker corps Simon can drop into coverage effectively and looks like he's shot out of a cannon when blitzing in the A-gap or coming off the edge I suspect he'll be a factor on special teams and should be lining up with the 1s at some point in the season NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah believes the best rookie-vs.-rookie matchup on the 2025 NFL schedule will occur when Cam Skattebo's New York Giants face off against Jihaad Campbell's Philadelphia Eagles I think Mbow will compete for the starting right guard position in training camp; he played there in 2022 before shifting outside because of Purdue's line needs. I could see him also getting some reps at center this summer, adding more depth and flexibility behind third-year starter John Michael Schmitz" data-link="/players/john-michael-schmitz/" data-slug="john-michael-schmitz">John Michael Schmitz If the Raiders give Thornton a chance on the outside, he very well could join second-round pick Jack Bech in the starting lineup after the first month of the season He'll need to show he can execute more than just a 9 route to be a starter The 49ers spent two picks in the first two rounds (Mykel Williams in the first and Alfred Collins the second) to bolster their thin D-line and they continued the trend with West in Round 4 low center-of-gravity nose tackle with quick enough feet and hands to defeat blocks making him a top-notch run defender.  Dee Alford could lock down the Falcons' nickel spot but don't count Bowman out in that competition His quickness and physicality in the slot will make him effective in coverage and he's not afraid to get after ball-carriers in the run game Bowman didn't make a ton of plays in the backfield in college but I suspect you'll see him attacking the line more often in the NFL Left tackle Bernhard Raimann and right tackle Braden Smith missed time due to injuries last year is an intelligent player (played at Princeton before transferring to Iowa State) and very strong His 35-inch arms make it tough for opponents to disengage once he's locked on.  Eighth-year left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. missed the first regular-season games of his career in 2024 (broken leg). There's not much depth behind Brown and 2024 first-round pick Amarius Mims who has had injury issues in college and as a rookie so Rivers' four years of starting experience at Miami could be put to use in his rookie season NFL Network's Rhett Lewis dives into why the Carolina Panthers were his winner from Round 4 of the 2025 NFL Draft Harris didn’t back down from the challenge of moving from the FCS (Idaho) to the FBS (California) immediately making the starting lineup for the Golden Bears Any injuries or inconsistent play from Tennessee's starting cornerbacks could force coaches to put Harris' instincts Sawyer was excellent value in the fourth round, despite not being the twitchiest edge rusher in the draft. He may have been seen as a long-term acquisition with All-Pro T.J. Watt entering a contract year, but there's always a chance he sees more snaps than expected with Watt playing through injuries at times and Alex Highsmith missing six games in 2024 with a sprained ankle Williams' inconsistency at tackle cost him draft position, but his power, size and length makes him a prime candidate to move inside like veteran tackle-turned-guard Mekhi Becton did last season for the Eagles. Tyler Steen may be ready to be the team's starting right guard and the newly acquired Kenyon Green also joins the group I'll take a flyer on Williams getting a look if the rookie shows promise in camp and/or injuries surface Did the Raiders knock the 2025 NFL Draft out of the park with a class led by Ashton Jeanty How good can Colston Loveland be in Ben Johnson's offense in Chicago Bucky Brooks identifies 10 perfect player-team fits coming out of the 2025 NFL Draft Which teams are in position to receive extra draft capital next year Lance Zierlein provides his 2026 NFL Draft compensatory pick projections for every squad The 2025 NFL Draft came and went without the Miami Dolphins trading Jalen Ramsey but that doesn't mean a deal won't happen in the future NFL.com's Nick Shook examines potential landing spots for the seven-time Pro Bowl CB The highest remaining player on Gregg Rosenthal's Top 101 free agents list is veteran wideout Amari Cooper NFL.com senior news writer Kevin Patra offers up seven potential landing spots With the 2025 NFL Draft in the rearview mirror WRs and TEs to present his top 150 flex options for the upcoming fantasy football season Where do Ashton Jeanty and Travis Hunter land Will Josh Allen's Bills once again get the best Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs in the regular season Can Sam Darnold lead the Seahawks over his former team Kevin Patra ranks his top 10 matchups of the 2025 NFL season While we wait for the 2025 NFL schedule to be unveiled later this month NFL.com analysts debate which team they'd want to see face the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles in the NFL Kickoff Game Will fifth-rounder Jaydon Blue prove the Cowboys were smart to wait on an RB Can seventh-rounder Quinn Ewers help Miami -- on the field or as a potential trade asset Chad Reuter lists his favorite picks from each round of the 2025 NFL Draft Eric Edholm runs through the entire league in a fresh batch of Power Rankings Chad Reuter reveals his final snap grades for all 32 teams based on their decisions from each day of the 2025 NFL Draft playOgden questions if leaving Liverpool is a good move for Alexander-Arnold (1:38)Mark Ogden wonders if Trent Alexander-Arnold's best chance of success on the pitch is at Liverpool rather than a likely switch to Real Madrid a jubilant Kop crowed: "He's Alexander-Arnold It has been a familiar refrain on Merseyside since the 26-year-old right back made his first-team debut in 2016 underscoring his rise from academy graduate to Premier League star But now that Alexander-Arnold has announced he will leave Liverpool when his contract expires at the end of the season the song may well have had its final airing at Anfield I've got to a point now where I feel like I need a new change a new challenge for me as a player and as a person," Alexander-Arnold revealed in a social media post on Monday "And I think now is the right time for me to do that." The timing of those reports from the Spanish capital aligned with a breakdown in contract talks at Anfield, with sources telling ESPN that -- after months of negotiations with sporting director Richard Hughes -- Alexander-Arnold rejected new terms that would have made him one of the best-paid fullbacks in the world Alexander-Arnold's decision to leave was not fueled by financial incentives, but by a desire to try something new. Considering the defender joined Liverpool's academy at the age of 6 and has won everything there is to win at Anfield -- two Premier League titles (2020 and 2025), a single FA Cup, EFL Cup and Community Shield (all 2022), and one UEFA Champions League FIFA Club World Cup (all 2019) -- there is logic behind his longing for a change of scenery Arne Slot will have to find a way to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold's impact at both ends of the pitch. Liverpool FC via Getty ImagesHowever football is a game of emotions and in some quarters of the Reds' fan base that logic will never tally with the image Alexander-Arnold has cultivated for himself as a homegrown hero his decision to depart will sully a legacy that had looked set to match or even eclipse that of fellow academy graduate Steven Gerrard it is more likely comparisons will be drawn to Michael Owen and Steve McManaman -- both of whom garnered criticism from Liverpool supporters for swapping Merseyside for Madrid during their playing careers After the Reds went on to lift the trophy that same year Alexander-Arnold was afforded with a mural on Sybil Street The elaborate artwork depicts the defender alongside the words: "I'm just a normal lad from Liverpool whose dream has just come true." The club's hierarchy havs known for several weeks -- and likely suspected for even longer -- that it must plan for a future without its star right back replacing a player of Alexander-Arnold's pedigree is an ominous challenge He has provided 64 Premier League assists during his time at Liverpool -- more than any defender in the competition's history -- and was often the team's creative fulcrum under previous boss Jurgen Klopp who often moved him up into central midfield Now it might be that new head coach Arne Slot chooses to replace that ingenuity by adding to his midfield ranks rather than seeking a like-for-like replacement at right back play1:59How would Trent fit in at Real Madrid with Alonso in charge?Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens discuss how Trent Alexander-Arnold might fit in at Real Madrid if Xabi Alonso is named as Carlo Ancelotti's replacement quiet in a 2-0 win over Real Madrid in November with Bradley having made only 27 top-flight appearances so far it would be wise for Liverpool to dip into the market for a player who could both compete with and complement the youngster While the transfer rumor mill will no doubt go into overdrive in the coming weeks and months Liverpool's focus now will be on ending what has been a triumphant first season under Slot on a high The images of Alexander-Arnold basking in the euphoria of his team's latest title win last weekend prompted Sky Sports commentator Peter Drury to ask the question that many Liverpool supporters have been pondering for some time: "How could Trent consider walking away from this?" Although Alexander-Arnold's announcement may not have provided a definitive answer over why he chose to do so it has at least brought all parties some clarity It is not the fairy-tale ending that many fans will have hoped for but it could be the start of an exciting new chapter Fenerbahce coach José Mourinho has refused to confirm whether he will remain next season after Sunday's 1-0 loss at home to Besiktas left Fener second in the standings and eight points adrift of Super Lig leaders Galatasaray with four games remaining Mourinho joined Fenerbahce on a two-year contract last summer with the aim of leading the club to a first league title in a decade "I'm not speaking about next season," Mourinho said postmatch "These are things to speak internally and not with the media If there is something where I've been absolutely perfect is on my respect towards my [club] president not to bring to the public domain internal things." Mourinho also refused to comment on Galatasaray who are on course to win their third straight league title The former Chelsea manager has spoken throughout the season about the "toxic" environment in the Super Lig claiming that Fenerbahce's top rivals receive special treatment from referees Jose Mourinho looks to have missed the chance to end Fenerbahce's wait for the league title. Oguz Yeter /Anadolu via Getty Images"I don't speak about them," he said when asked about Galatasaray on Sunday "I speak about the championship and I've done it during the season." Mourinho had said in the past he was alarmed by what he called "a system" in the domestic league that is deeply ingrained "I don't change one single word about what I've said during the season," he added on Sunday "One of the problems that Fenerbahce has is exactly the difficulty to cope mentally with the power of the system It is something that is stronger than the quality...it is something really powerful Players do feel it and they know it's completely impossible to reach what they want to reach." Mourinho, meanwhile, was asked what advice he would give to former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær "Ole has already been here for a few months," he said "He is experienced enough and intelligent enough to learn what he has to learn We are experienced enough for him not to be on the moon because he won a derby and for me not to be in hell because I've lost a derby accepted criticism from Fenerbahce fans after yet another derby defeat in the domestic league Fenerbahce have failed to beat their two big city rivals "It's normal in this culture when results are not the results that people expect for there to be reactions," Mourinho said OPEC. “Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman reaffirm commitment to market stability on current healthy oil market fundamentals and adjust production upward.” “Her perspective is the consumer’s—from advertising to commerce to platforms—which makes her invaluable to our creative community Her meticulous attention to understanding all formats and impeccable design aesthetic define modern creativity.” ","type":"text"},{"_id":"2CS6QIAB2VGUJNBVJKSHWVMGI4","additional_properties":{},"content":"“I’m so looking forward to working with the incredible talent at Leo,” said Cristina “Leo represents a bold vision for what a modern creative agency should be—one that seeks to disrupt norms by leaning into our humanity.” ","type":"text"},{"_id":"GNBUYMGZAVFB3F34ESTE3DAJEQ","additional_properties":{},"content":"Leo U.S with Dean Paradise and Adriano Matos joining as ECDs at Leo Chicago while Matos returns to Leo after serving as global ECD at Ogilvy He was previously editor in chief of the Clio Awards and Muse by Clio and has also served as creative editor at Adweek.","slug":"/author/tim-nudd","native_app_rendering":false,"fuzzy_match":false,"contributor":false,"status":true,"last_updated_date":"2025-03-31T20:40:15.144Z","role":"Creativity Editor"}}}]},"description":{"basic":"Reina was most recently partner and chief creative officer at Quality Experience which has since closed."},"display_date":"2025-05-05T13:23:43.798Z","distributor":{"category":"other","mode":"custom","name":"crain"},"editor_note":"1 Disregard subheadline field in article template.\n2 Every slug must start with aa- and-words-must-all-be-lowercase.\n3 SEO headline goes in Meta title field—60 characters max.","first_publish_date":"2025-05-05T13:23:43.798Z","geo":{},"headlines":{"basic":"Leo U.S hires Cristina Reina as chief experience officer","meta_title":"Leo U.S posed against a muted green-gray background.","auth":{"1":"56e7eff6ae38193d788b031204725d14f1a07e7e0207201bb379190baca1d9cc"},"caption":"Reina was most recently partner and chief creative officer at Quality Experience He previously covered the private equity industry as a reporter for PEI Media Lindsay Rittenhouse is a senior reporter for Ad Age covering broad advertising industry trends He was previously a freelance journalist and podcaster covering pop culture and entertainment as well as a Pilates instructor and a professional dancer the “Scream” franchise and Halloween costumes covers household and personal-care marketers He's based near Cincinnati and has previously written for the Atlanta Journal Constitution woodworking and graphic design industries and worked in corporate communications for the E.W Gillian Follett is a general assignment reporter for Ad Age. She writes about a variety of topics including social media influencer marketing and the creator economy Gillian graduated from Syracuse University’s S.I He previously covered corporate communications and public relations agencies as a reporter at PRWeek Jon Springer covers sports marketing and beverage marketing He formerly covered the food retail industry for Winsight and Supermarket News and is a former sports and features writer for The Cecil Whig He has worked in newspapers from Albany to New York City He has also worked at every advertising industry trade publication that matters and he once visited Guatemala and once rode the Budapest Metro Adrianne Pasquarelli is a senior reporter at Ad Age She is also a host of the Marketer’s Brief podcast and spearheads special reports including 40 Under 40 and Hottest Brands Pasquarelli joined Ad Age in 2015 after writing for Crain's New York Business where she also focused on the retail industry.  Bradley Johnson is Ad Age's director of data analytics Johnson focuses on data and financial topics related to marketing Los Angeles and New York including editor at large overseeing breaking news and daily coverage He also contributes reporting on the beverage automotive and sports marketing industries He is a former reporter for McClatchy newspapers where he covered business and state government and politics Jones Krahl is U.S. head of creative and creative fellow at Deloitte Digital told reporters on Monday that the 179 Cardinals participated in the tenth General Congregation He noted that all 133 Cardinal electors are present in Rome ahead of the conclave that starts on May 7 told the Congregation that Cardinal Camerlengo Kevin Farrell drew lots on Saturday afternoon for the room assignments of the Cardinals All will be accommodated at the Casa Santa Marta and the old Santa Marta will be able to travel from the Casa Santa Marta to the Sistine Chapel as they wish There were 26 interventions at the Congregation on Monday morning that touched on the following topics: - Canon law and the role of the Vatican City State; - The missionary nature of the Church; - The role of Caritas in defending the poor; - The presence of so many journalists was highlighted seen as a sign that the Gospel has meaning for the world today—as a call to responsibility; - The prayer during the COVID pandemic was recalled as an open door of hope in a time of fear; - Regarding the new Pope: many hope for a shepherd close to the people in a world where the global order is in crisis; - The challenges of transmitting the faith and a fragmented world were discussed; - Concern was expressed over divisions within the Church; - The role of women in the Church and the education of children were addressed; - Reference was made to the documents of the Second Vatican Council on how the Word of God is nourishment for the people of God Bruni said all efforts are being made during the General Congregations to ensure that all Cardinals who wish to speak have the opportunity to do so Work has been mostly completed on the Sistine Chapel as well as on accommodations at the two Casa Santa Martas and Cardinals may check in as of Tuesday morning will not be able to visit the Sistine Chapel since the Vatican Gendarmerie have already secured it images will be released showing the prepared interior Before Jennifer Cobb became an electrician she worked as a receptionist in a doctor’s office in the Austin area She was making about $16 an hour and raising two boys She had to rely on government assistance to help make ends meet “Sometimes I didn't know how my kids were going to eat," Cobb said "I was having eviction notices put on my door My car almost got repoed a couple of times talking up the increase in pay and the opportunities to grow which offers free construction and infrastructure training including a program to become an electrician in just a few weeks she is still a journeyman electrician with Facility Solutions Group I put on my tools and get up there and do the work just as my apprentices do.”  Skillpoint Alliance is one of the many partners the city is working with through the new Austin Infrastructure Academy The city set aside $5 million this budget year for the program a hub where Austinites can be connected to training for jobs in skilled trades like electrician The program also helps people find jobs in these fields Upcoming projects are expected to create 10,000 new jobs annually A study from local consulting firm CivicSol found that Austin would be short around 4,000 workers a year as these projects progress said the data helped the city realize something needed to change to help fill those jobs “If we were not thinking about how we were going to recruit and train and connect workers to employers differently said that meant removing barriers that prevent people from working — things like a lack of transportation and the money and time it takes to get trained “So if a young person comes in and the first problem they’ve got to attack is child care," she said "then the first thing we need to do is connect them to the resources that are available to provide child care support.” Another piece of the puzzle is connecting people with jobs once they finish the training and get certified the city launched the academy with a career fair at Workforce Solutions Capital Area in North Austin Dozens of employers were on site to help people learn about job opportunities Dylan Russell was recruiting workers for Cleared Direct the company that manages the south terminal of the airport He spoke with people about the different jobs it offers from safety and security to building maintenance they don’t require a whole lot of experience," Russell said "We have a very comprehensive training program So what we are looking for is someone who is reliable and consistent.” Stacy Morgan Torres attended the job fair with high hopes he had been working behind the bar at Rodeo Austin He turned to Workforce Solutions Capital Area and the Austin Infrastructure Academy for help “Now I have a career advisor who is going to be helping me," Torres said and it's something new that I would like to start doing.” There were lots of opportunities for people to consider including options for people who want to learn and work at the same time Austin Community College will play a huge role in offering those earn-to-learn opportunities Chancellor Russell Lowery-Hart said the college already offers programs that lead to degrees in skilled trades But now those programs will be integrated with the Austin Infrastructure Academy The academy will even have its own dedicated space at ACC's Southeast Travis County campus "It will be a state-of-art $200-$250 million campus that will house all of these infrastructure programs," Lowery-Hart said the campus will make space for union and employer partners to connect students with jobs and other resources like child care Austin Mayor Kirk Watson promised to address issues around affordability But he says the city can’t do that if people don't have the opportunities to make a living and thrive That’s where the Austin Infrastructure Academy comes in “We badly want to make Austin affordable for everyone," Watson said "So that we can be a complete city and let people be able to afford to live here to stay here and raise their families here.” Cobb said her decision to switch careers has been life changing for her and her two sons – and that's exactly what Watson hopes to replicate and she is on her way to becoming a master electrician she’s working as an electrician instructor I don’t wonder where my kids’ meals are coming from," she said I don't have to depend on the state anymore I don't have to depend on anyone and my children know that they can count on their mom.” Watson said the goal is to do more outreach so more people are aware of programs at the academy. As the city faces an estimated $33 million budget shortfall next fiscal year future funding for the academy is uncertain Watson says the city is working with community partners to find ways to keep it going “It’s a very low expectation tournament in general,” said Sinner during his pre-event press ­conference. “Results-wise, I don’t know. For me, what’s missing is the complete feedback of where my level is. That’s going to come slowly with time playing. After the first-round match I’m going to have a good ­picture of myself, where I am at. “Talking about the other stuff, with players, I just arrived 45 ­minutes ago. I haven’t seen so many. I was down talking with some players. It’s all fine at the moment [but] I haven’t seen most of them. So it’s a very strange feeling again, to be around with so many people and attention. But it’s nice to be back. Me and my team are very happy.” ­holding everything [in] and couldn’t talk with many people about what happened and in the beginning of the ­Australian Open but I could feel that I’m not playing for quite a long time Jannik Sinner’s three-month ban was negotiated through a case resolution agreement with Wada Photograph: Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images“The body still has to adjust at times they come again because you know you’re not used to it any more I’m just very happy and very curious to see where I am at In addition to being banned from his own sport the anti-doping rules also bar suspended athletes from entering sanctioned sporting ­arenas who is an ambassador for Formula One and an avid sports fan the hardest aspect of the ban was ­actually not being able to attend any other ­professional sporting events watching a simple football match in a stadium I wanted to support my friends in cycling or motor sport being ready mentally from the point when I started again to play ­tennis and that’s it And I was very glad to also spend some time with my family.” Sinner has become one of the most prominent and successful Italian ­athletes of his era meaning his return to competition in his home country has naturally generated significant news and attention His press ­conference was completely filled with journalists and a number of attendees applauded when the tennis player entered the room Sinner’s romantic relationships have also been the subject of discussion in recent weeks which prompted him to humorously address those rumours in his opening statement And I was also very surprised to see some pictures Sinner entered Campo Centrale to thunderous applause for his first practice session at an official tournament in three months was soundtracked by a constant stream of cheers from his home crowd Sinner remains the ATP No 1 and as with all seeded players at the Italian Open He will mark his return to professional tennis in round two against either Mariano Navone or Federico Cina for the best life sciences journalism in the industry By Andrew Joseph Andrew Joseph You can reach Andrew on Signal at drewqjoseph.45 a charity here has funded research aimed at developing medicines for genetic diseases it added an unusual new role — as a gene therapy company of sorts took ownership from a small biotech of a drug that has been approved in Europe to treat an ultra-rare immune disorder called ADA-SCID In taking such a step — something no nonprofit had done anywhere — it hoped to both rescue the gene therapy from disuse and to come up with a new model for delivering these one-time cutting-edge medicines in a financially sustainable way The fact that a charity — and not a biopharma company — now has the rights to the medicine is a reflection of the bleak situation the gene therapy field has found itself in, and how other groups, from nonprofits to academic researchers are trying to mend the failures of the drug development system Already have an account? 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Log in By Megan Molteni By Mario Aguilar By Daniel Payne By Helen Branswell Reporting from the frontiers of health and medicine With Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Washington President Donald Trump announced Monday that the nation’s capital will host the 2027 NFL Draft Trump said the draft will happen on the National Mall it’s going to be something that nobody else will ever be able to duplicate,” Trump said in a news conference in the Oval Office The NFL Draft is coming to the nation's capital See you in 2027! pic.twitter.com/C9A17b9OOd — Washington Commanders (@Commanders) May 5, 2025 The draft news comes a week after Bowser announced the Commanders’ plan to build a new stadium in the city at the site of the former RFK Stadium That deal still needs approval from the D.C The 65,000-seat facility is expected to cost $260 million Goodell said having Trump announce the draft location was a “special treat.” “We believe we will have well over a million (attendees) when we come to D.C.,” Goodell said The NFL Draft has become big business for host cities. An estimated 600,000 fans attended this year’s three-day event in Green Bay for the second-highest turnout since the draft began rotating locations in 2015 had expected about 250,000 people to attend “We believe in investing in sports because they have helped us transform neighborhoods and the NFL bringing this event to the nation’s capital will help us fill hotel rooms (and) our restaurants,” Bowser said The announcement Monday was the latest sign that Trump’s relationship with the NFL has evolved Harris presented Trump with a football and a Commanders jersey with the number 47 Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to attend the Super Bowl in February, and last week, he hosted the Philadelphia Eagles at the White House to celebrate their win in that game played golf with Trump in late April at the president’s Bedminster It was a sharp contrast with eight years ago when Trump canceled the traditional White House trip after the Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2017 Many Philadelphia players had said before the cancellation that they would not attend the White House gathering regardless of whether it happened Trump drew divided responses from figures across pro football and other sports earlier that year when he denounced athletes for kneeling during the national anthem as a civil rights protest “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a b— off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’” Trump said during a 2017 rally in Alabama he made several attempts to buy his way into the NFL He looked into purchasing teams such as the Baltimore Colts the New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills Trump eventually joined the upstart United States Football League by purchasing the New Jersey Generals in 1984 the USFL initially avoided a head-on conflict with the NFL by playing during its offseason But the USFL moved its 1986 schedule into the fall after its first two seasons soon launched an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL arguing it was trying to block competition The USFL received a $3.76 settlement and shut down before the 1986 season Trump has regularly used sports to raise his public profile His casinos hosted numerous boxing and professional wrestling events throughout the 1980s and 90s Trump promoted a UFC fight when the company was struggling to find large venues Trump has made multiple appearances at UFC events developing a public friendship with CEO Dana White who campaigned for him during both of his presidential runs UFC commentator Joe Rogan interviewed Trump on his podcast ahead of the 2024 election a move analysts said may have bolstered his support among young men Trump also made multiple appearances at collegiate sporting events before and after the 2024 election including a Georgia-Alabama football game in September and the NCAA wrestling championships in March On Monday, he also said he worked “very hard” to bring the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics to the U.S During Monday’s news conference, Goodell thanked Trump for his efforts during his first term to allow Canada to air Canadian ads during Super Bowl broadcasts Super Bowl broadcasts in that country had to include the same ads that ran in the U.S That policy prevented the sale of additional The NFL contended the rule made its programming seem less lucrative for Canadian broadcasters Canada’s Supreme Court approved the change in 2019 “Canada does not like me too much,” Trump said with a chuckle “They gave a great American company a lot of money that you deserved The president also complimented early renderings of the Commanders’ proposed stadium and they only know top of the line,” Trump said “I would say more will be put into this stadium than would be put into an identical stadium of a similar size … because of the importance of the location I have no doubt they will do a special job.” — The Athletic’s David Aldridge contributed to this report 8 teams remain in the hunt for the NBA title as the conference semifinals tip off Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers have jumped out to an 1-0 lead over the No Entering the first round of the playoffs Cleveland Cavaliers or Oklahoma City Thunder lost their series suffering just one first-round loss between them while registering a cumulative point differential of 20.3 points per game The other five series were seemingly up for grabs while five of the six games between the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons were within five points in the last five minutes But the Indiana Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves advanced with relative ease using balanced attacks against superstar opponents So, despite Cleveland’s loss in Game 1 vs Celtics and Cavs at the top of the power rankings as we begin the conference semifinals It would again be a pretty big upset if any of the three don’t advance to the final four The 16 teams have averaged 112.7 points scored per 100 possessions and 94.7 possessions (per team) per 48 minutes in the playoffs down from 113.7 and 99.6 (for all 30 teams) in the regular season NBA.com’s Power Rankings, released every Monday during the season, are just one man’s opinion. If you have an issue with the rankings, or have a question or comment for John Schuhmann, send him an e-mail or contact him via threads OffRtg: 117.4 (4) DefRtg: 97.6 (1) NetRtg: +19.8 (2) Pace: 102.6 (1) The Thunder had the best regular-season point differential in NBA history, and won Game 1 by 51 They had the best record (18-10) after trailing by double-digits for any team in the 29 seasons for which we have play-by-play data and they came back from 29 down to win Game 3 They’ve been both dominant and resilient OffRtg: 117.4 (3) DefRtg: 103.8 (2) NetRtg: +13.7 (3) Pace: 90.4 (15) The Celtics had a brief stumble in the first round, losing an ugly Game 3 in Orlando But they’re in the conference semifinals for the seventh time in the last eight postseasons and they’re facing a team they’ve dominated over the last two so we can expect Holiday to make his return and spend some time defending both of the Knicks’ stars OffRtg: 131.1 (1) DefRtg: 106.8 (3) NetRtg: +24.3 (1) Pace: 94.1 (7) the Cavs fell into an early hole against the Pacers and couldn’t complete a comeback from a double-digit deficit in Game 1 of the conference semifinals It was noted in this space two weeks ago that the common theme from when they’ve lost is hot 3-point shooting from their opponents and Indiana was 19-for-36 (53%) from beyond the arc on Sunday The Cavs set 16 ball-screens with the guy that Tyrese Haliburton was guarding in Game 1 but didn’t score very efficiently (0.79 points per chance) with that action but Mitchell might be more aggressive in attacking his counterpart instead of pulling up from deep OffRtg: 116.7 (5) DefRtg: 109.1 (4) NetRtg: +7.6 (4) Pace: 92.0 (13) For the first time in franchise history, the Wolves have won a playoff series in consecutive postseasons. Few people picked them to beat the Lakers but it wasn’t much of an upset given that the Wolves were the much better team in the regular season OffRtg: 118.7 (2) DefRtg: 111.2 (7) NetRtg: +7.5 (5) Pace: 97.8 (5) The Pacers handled their business against the Bucks with an efficient and balanced offense in the first round, and then surprised the Cavs in Game 1 on Sunday They lost Game 1 in all three of their 2024 playoff series The Pacers can’t expect to shoot 53% from 3-point range again in Game 2 on Tuesday They’ll also need to be better on the glass going forward OffRtg: 111.7 (8) DefRtg: 111.5 (8) NetRtg: +0.2 (8) Pace: 93.2 (8) The Warriors missed an opportunity to close out the Rockets in Game 6 at home but survived Game 7 in Houston thanks to a huge performance (33 points on 12-for-15 shooting) from Buddy Hield They’ve now reached the conference semifinals in eight of their 11 seasons under coach Steve Kerr The Warriors were the worst rebounding team in the first round, and their next opponent (Minnesota) led the first round in offensive rebounding percentage 1 concern when the conference semifinals begin on Tuesday OffRtg: 115.3 (7) DefRtg: 115.9 (11) NetRtg: -0.6 (11) Pace: 92.1 (11) Instead of blowing a 20-point lead in Game 7 at home (like they did in the 2024 West semis) blowing the Clippers out to reach the conference semifinals for the sixth time in the last seven postseasons David Adelman is now the only coach in NBA history with more playoff wins (four) than regular-season wins (three) The Nuggets were one of only five teams with a regular-season win in Oklahoma City, where they’ll begin the conference semis on Monday night. Jamal Murray scored 34 points in that March 10 victory with 31 of those 34 points coming against Thunder players other than Lu Dort 1 priority for the Denver offense in the next two weeks OffRtg: 109.8 (11) DefRtg: 109.4 (5) NetRtg: +0.4 (7) Pace: 97.9 (3) Brunson and Towns will need to be lights out on offense Perhaps that means putting Towns in the post against smaller defenders on Monday The first round is finished and these 10 things stand out most from the teams Kenny & others reveal their picks for the conference semifinals of the 2025 NBA Playoffs The 2025 SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament took place April 15-18 The NBA Playoffs continue with the Conference Semifinals starting on May 4 Take a look at every Gone Fishin’ segment on Inside the NBA from the 2025 NBA playoffs Aaron Gordon comes up clutch again for the Nuggets while the Thunder face the 1st big test of their 2025 playoff run Boston's reliance on the 3-ball backfires while New York's defenders come through in the clutch to pull off massive comeback for series-opening win Celtics announce Porzingis was questionable to return with an illness that they specified was non-Covid Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones glamour up alongside Angel Reese for the annual fashion event Kenny Atkinson experienced a setback on his coaching journey it fueled the 2024-25 NBA Coach of the Year Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said Monday he would resign throwing the country into further turmoil after a hard-right candidate easily won the first round of the country’s presidential election An interim prime minister will be appointed Tuesday morning, local media reported citing Romania’s presidential administration Ciolacu has been prime minister since 2023 leading the ruling center-left Social Democratic Party (PSD) came third in Sunday’s closely watched election The second round on May 18 will pit hard-right leader George Simion against independent Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan sidelining Romania’s establishment parties entirely In an interview with POLITICO before the election, Simion predicted that the prime minister would have to go if the establishment parties flopped again — and he has touted Călin Georgescu the disqualified winner of last November’s cancelled election TikTok and ultranationalism propels hard-right chief to cult status among Romania’s diaspora The nationalist chief vociferously supports Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni — and he leads the presidential race ahead of May 18’s critical second round “I urge both sides to show restraint,” the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says after discussions with senior New Delhi and Islamabad officials Northern and Western Europe are the best places in the world to be a journalist Metrics details NMR spectroscopy of biomolecules provides atomic level information into their structure dynamics and interactions with their binding partners signal attenuation from line broadening caused by fast relaxation and signal overlap often limits the application of NMR to large macromolecular systems Here we leverage the slow relaxation properties of 13C nuclei attached to 19F in aromatic 19F–13C spin pairs as well as the spin–spin coupling between the fluorinated 13C nucleus and the hydrogen atom at the meta-position to record two-dimensional 1H–13CF correlation spectra with transverse relaxation-optimized spectroscopy selection on 13CF engineered for optimal relaxation properties and adapted a residue-specific route to incorporate this residue globally into proteins and a site-specific 4-19F Phe encoding strategy This approach resulted in narrow linewidths for proteins ranging from 30 kDa to 180 kDa enabling interaction studies with small-molecule ligands without requiring specialized 19F-compatible probes Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout Kim, T. H. et al. The role of dimer asymmetry and protomer dynamics in enzyme catalysis. Science https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aag2355 (2017) 19F dynamic nuclear polarization at fast magic angle spinning for NMR of HIV-1 capsid protein assemblies Structural insights into the dynamic process of β2-adrenergic receptor signaling Fast magic-angle spinning 19F NMR spectroscopy of HIV-1 capsid protein assemblies 19F NMR viewed through two different lenses: ligand-observed and protein-observed 19F NMR applications for fragment-based drug discovery Norton, R. S., Leung, E. W., Chandrashekaran, I. R. & MacRaild, C. A. Applications of 19F-NMR in fragment-based drug discovery. Molecules https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules21070860 (2016) Aromatic 19F-13C TROSY: a background-free approach to probe biomolecular structure Dual labeling of the CBP/p300 KIX domain for 19F NMR leads to identification of a new small-molecule binding site Environmentally ultrasensitive fluorine probe to resolve protein conformational ensembles by 19F NMR and cryo-EM The precious fluorine on the ring: fluorine NMR for biological systems Attenuated T2 relaxation by mutual cancellation of dipole–dipole coupling and chemical shift anisotropy indicates an avenue to NMR structures of very large biological macromolecules in solution Optimization of three-dimensional TROSY-type HCCH NMR correlation of aromatic 1H–13C groups in proteins Increased resolution of aromatic cross peaks using alternate C-13 labeling and TROSY Transverse relaxation-optimized spectroscopy (TROSY) for NMR studies of aromatic spin systems in 13C-labeled proteins Methyl TROSY spectroscopy: a versatile NMR approach to study challenging biological systems Cross-correlated relaxation enhanced 1H–13C NMR spectroscopy of methyl groups in very high molecular weight proteins and protein complexes Protein-observed fluorine NMR: a bioorthogonal approach for small molecule discovery Use of amino acid composition to predict ligand-binding sites Resolution enhancement and spectral editing of uniformly 13C-enriched proteins by homonuclear broadband 13C decoupling coli thioredoxin via 13C NMR relaxation analysis Biosynthetic 13C labeling of aromatic side chains in proteins for NMR relaxation measurements PI by NMR: probing CH-π interactions in protein-ligand complexes by NMR spectroscopy the new player in the ensemble of aromatic residue labeling precursor compounds Late metabolic precursors for selective aromatic residue labeling Maleckis, A., Herath, I. D. & Otting, G. Synthesis of 13C/19F/2H labeled indoles for use as tryptophan precursors for protein NMR spectroscopy. Org. Biomol. Chem. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1ob00611h (2021) Becette, O. B. et al. Solution NMR readily reveals distinct structural folds and interactions in doubly 13C- and 19F-labeled RNAs. Sci. Adv. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abc6572 (2020) 13C]-pyrimidine labeling for NMR spectroscopy of RNA 2-13C] adenosine and ATP analogs facilitates NMR spectroscopy of very large biological RNAs in solution Two-field transverse relaxation-optimized spectroscopy for the study of large biomolecules—an in silico investigation Perspective: next generation isotope-aided methods for protein NMR spectroscopy Cost-effective selective deuteration of aromatic amino acid residues produces long-lived solution 1H NMR magnetization in proteins The specific incorporation of labelled aromatic amino acids into proteins through growth of bacteria in the presence of glyphosate Application to fluorotryptophan labelling to the H(+)-ATPase of Escherichia coli and NMR studies Amino acid substrate specificity of Escherichia coli phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase altered by distinct mutations Synthesis of aromatic 13C/2H-alpha-ketoacid precursors to be used in selective phenylalanine and tyrosine protein labelling NMR assignment methods for the aromatic ring resonances of phenylalanine and tyrosine residues in proteins Synthesis of [3′,5′-13C2]tyrosine and its use in the synthesis of specifically labeled tyrosine analogs of oxytocin and arginine vasopressin and their 2-D-tyrosine diastereoisomers A mutagenesis-free approach to assignment of 19F NMR resonances in biosynthetically labeled proteins Silver-mediated fluorination of functionalized aryl stannanes Palladium-catalyzed triethylammonium formate reduction of aryl triflates A selective method for the deoxygenation of phenols Measurement of J and dipolar couplings from simplified two-dimensional NMR spectra Thermodynamic analysis of the folding of the streptococcal protein G IgG-binding domains B1 and B2: why small proteins tend to have high denaturation temperatures highly stable fold of the immunoglobulin binding domain of streptococcal protein G Placement of 19F into the center of GB1: effects on structure and stability Making proteins with unnatural amino acids: the first engineered aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase revisited Tuning phenylalanine fluorination to assess aromatic contributions to protein function and stability in cells Substrate specificity is determined by amino acid binding pocket size in Escherichia coli phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase The multifaceted roles of PARP1 in DNA repair and chromatin remodelling Less is more: a simple methyl-TROSY based pulse scheme offers improved sensitivity in applications to high molecular weight complexes Inhibition of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in tumors from BRCA mutation carriers Application of iterative soft thresholding for fast reconstruction of NMR data non-uniformly sampled with multidimensional Poisson Gap scheduling Expanding and reprogramming the genetic code Genetically encoded fluorophenylalanines enable insights into the recognition of lysine trimethylation by an epigenetic reader Generating efficient Methanomethylophilus alvus pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetases for structurally diverse non-canonical amino acids An evolved Methanomethylophilus alvus pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pair is highly active and orthogonal in mammalian cells Solution NMR of proteins within polyacrylamide gels: diffusional properties and residual alignment by mechanical stress or embedding of oriented purple membranes Paramagnetic constraints: an aid for quick solution structure determination of paramagnetic metalloproteins Direct expression of fluorinated proteins in human cells for 19F in-cell NMR spectroscopy Optimal control theory enables homonuclear decoupling without Bloch–Siegert shifts in NMR spectroscopy A simple asymmetric synthesis of 4-arylphenylalanines via palladium-catalyzed cross coupling reaction of arylboronic acids with tyrosine triflate Théorie quantique des courants interatomiques dans les combinaisons aromatiques Spinach—a software library for simulation of spin dynamics in large spin systems A standard format and a graphical user interface for spin system specification Diagonalization-free implementation of spin relaxation theory for large spin systems A novel cloning vector for the direct selection of recombinant DNA in E Ficarro, S. B., Alexander, W. M. & Marto, J. A. mzStudio: a dynamic digital canvas for user-driven interrogation of mass spectrometry data. Proteomes https://doi.org/10.3390/proteomes5030020 (2017) Preparation of site-specifically labeled fluorinated proteins for 19F-NMR structural characterization Selection and validation of orthogonal tRNA/synthetase pairs for the encoding of unnatural amino acids across kingdoms space-group assignment and post-refinement PHENIX: a comprehensive Python-based system for macromolecular structure solution Coot: model-building tools for molecular graphics Download references Mathieu (Bruker) for help with NMR experiments Whitesides (Harvard University) for kindly providing us the human carbonic anhydrase II plasmid Kay (University of Toronto) for the plasmid of the α7 single ring of the proteasome Silva (Weizmann Institute) for the DNAJB1 plasmid and helpful discussions This work was based on research conducted at the Northeastern Collaborative Access Team beamlines which were funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences from the National Institutes of Health (P30 GM124165) The Eiger 16M detector on the 24-ID-C beamline was funded by an NIH-ORIP HEI grant (S10OD021527) This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source a US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under contract number DE-AC02-06CH11357 acknowledges funding from the Linde Family Foundation acknowledges funding from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development CNPq grant 200611/2022-4 We acknowledge the generous support of the Austrian Science Fund (Erwin Schrödinger Fellowship FWF3872 awarded to A.B.) grants GM136859 and AI143565 awarded to H.A and grants from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI grant number JP22K18374 (to K.T.) the Naito Foundation (to K.T.) and the Takeda Science Foundation (to K.T.) This work was supported in part by a gift from J This work was also supported in part by the GCE4All Biomedical Technology Optimization and Dissemination Center supported by the National Institute of General Medical Science grant RM1-GM144227 decision to publish or preparation of the paper These authors contributed equally: Denitsa L Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Department of Chemical and Biological Physics Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences wrote the paper with contributions from all other co-authors a company that provides isotopically enriched NMR reagents which is a manufacturer of equipment used in this work were employees at Bruker BioSpin Corporation when this work was conducted and have since retired is a co-founder of Quantum Therapeutics Inc. a company that employs computational methods for drug development although the work presented here does not overlap with that of the company The other authors declare no competing interests reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations 90° pulses are denoted by narrow black rectangles and 180° pulses are denoted by wide black rectangles Phase cycling and delay times are indicated The CH coupling was set to 20 Hz to maximize magnetization transfer (a–c) T2-modulated 1H-13C HSQC spectra of hCAII (29 kDa) at 25°C The relaxation delays during 13C evolution were set to (a) 0 ms Dashed red lines connect TROSY and anti-TROSY components along the 13C dimension A few example peak-pairs were chosen for illustration (d) Overlay of two HCF-TROSY spectra of hCAII (29 kDa) at 25 °C are shown One spectrum was recorded with 19F-13C TROSY selection at 600 MHz (blue) The second spectrum was recorded without fluorine selection on a spectrometer not equipped with a fluorine NMR capable probe at 800 MHz (green) The empty space to the left of the spectrum is the space where one would expect anti-TROSY peaks if they were present in the spectrum IPAP1 (a) and IPAP2 (b) spectra recorded with 90-degree phase offset on 13C (c) Addition of the two spectra removes the broadened anti-TROSY signals (d) 2D HETCOR pulse sequence with a 180-degree 19F pulse and IPAP phase cycle (a) Overlay of four out-and-stay 1H-13C correlation spectra recorded on hCAII at 25°C and 800 MHz where TROSY and anti-TROSY components of a coupled 1H-13C spin system were recorded with spin-state selection TROSY components with respect to 13C are to the left (blue and green peaks) and anti-TROSY components are to the right (pink and brown peaks) (b) Out-and-stay 1H-13C correlation spectra that select for the top left (TROSY) component at 25 °C (blue) and 5 °C (purple) (a) 19F-NMR spectra of 900 μM GB1 samples at 25 °C produced with varying concentrations of 4-19F Phe in the growth medium as a function of 4-19F Phe concentration with and without the co-transformed plasmids pHE3-M4G or pHE3-W (c) MS-derived labelling efficiencies for DNAJB1 (DNAJ) the proteasome α7 single-ring (proteasome) and Keap1 ΔN-term (a) Structure of hCAII with 4-19F Phe residues highlighted The Zn(II) ion close to the active center is shown in pink (b) Theoretical calculation of the relaxation rates of the 4-19F Phe 1Hδ protons in hCAII In the first scenario all nearby hydrogen atoms are assumed to be protons (blue) and in the second scenario all nearby hydrogen atoms are assumed to be deuterons (green) (c) Theoretical calculations simulating the effect of deuteration on 1Hδ transverse relaxation in hCAII at 800 MHz and with 30 ns correlation time plotted for individual 1Hδ resonances (blue) All surrounding hydrogen atoms are treated as protons (Red) All surrounding hydrogen atoms are treated as deuterons (Orange) All hydrogen atoms are treated as deuterons (d) Theoretical calculations simulating a correlation time of 85 ns for hCAII to mimic the estimated correlation time of the 180-kDa α7 single-ring of the 20S proteasome CP at 35 °C All other parameters are as described in (c) (a) Reference experiment and (b) delayed decoupling HCF-TROSY (c) Relative peak intensities measured in the delayed decoupling HCF-TROSY (PARP1deut DD and the corresponding reference experiment (PARP1deut noDD Source data (a) 19F-13C TROSYs of 400 μM protonated [4-19F13Cζ; 3,5-2H2ε] Phe-labelled PARP1 in presence (navy) and absence (pink) of 400 μM Olaparib (b) HCF-TROSYs of the samples shown in (a) following the same colour code One small negative peak (noise) is shown in grey (a) 19F-13C TROSY and (b) HCF-TROSY of site-specifically labelled [4-19F13Cζ; 3,5-2H2ε] Phe in GFP recorded at 25 °C 19F-substituted aromatic amino acids with three-bond coupling between 19F-13C and 1H a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-025-01818-8 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily. Reporting by Laila Kearney in New York and Robert Harvey in London Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by David Gregorio and Marguerita Choy Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved The most valuable soccer teams on the planet have been calculated by CNBC and the Premier League has dominated the top 25 11 Premier League clubs are ranked in the top 25 most valuable on the planet in 2025 plus three MLS teams from the USA are also included The usual suspects in world soccer are all there with three of the top five featuring Premier League heavyweights and the Premier League’s ‘big six’ are all among the top 10 most valuable clubs on the planet CNBC Sport’s official valuations are listed below EBITDA and the debt each club is currently carrying The full list is intriguing viewing and shows that some of the big clubs in Spain and Italy are carrying some considerable debt while the EBITDA is lower for some of the more ambitious upstart clubs who are starting to make waves A Division of NBCUniversal DISCLAIMER: This site and the products offered are for entertainment purposes only and there is no gambling offered on this site This service is intended for adult audiences No guarantees are made for any specific outcome If you or someone you know has a gambling problem The declining power of the Murdoch press is part of the wider story of the waning influence of mainstream media It’s old news but people are only just beginning to believe it Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has been impotent when it comes to affecting the outcomes of elections Once, it was widely accepted – though possibly never entirely true – that if a political leader did not have the blessing of Rupert Murdoch then they could not win power That hasn’t been the case for at least 15 years and yet we have not broken free from the fear caution and intellectual paralysis that results from the belief At every state and federal election in Australia since 2010, the Murdoch press has supported the Coalition and usually campaigned vigorously against Labor and other opponents I have always moderated observations like these by saying that sheer vote-pulling power is not the only kind of media influence and that the Murdoch organisation remained important because its outlets articulate amplify and spur the thinking of the right they help set the parameters of the public debate But I’m not sure even that is true any more Or it has become a negative force for conservatives – a distorting mirror News Corporation is now damaging those who fly too close to its flame Commentators on all sides of politics are suggesting, in the wake of the election rout, that too much listening to and engagement with Sky News after dark, and the Sharri Marksons and Peta Credlins of the world, is a reason why the Liberal party is so manifestly out of touch with middle Australia There are lots of reasons for News Corporation’s declining power it is a part of the wider story of waning influence for mainstream media There is no longer any single media outlet that reaches deep into all the demographics political parties need to win power But now there is no such thing as a mediatised national conversation To influence the population at large you need to access them all But the decline of News Corporation’s influence has some particular characteristics within this larger story as the media went through agonies of declining profitability and audience it was suggested that the way forward was to become increasingly opinionated But what people will pay for is reporting they trust and analysis written with integrity The Digital News Report from the University of Canberra is one of the most reliable barometers of media trends. It shows that more than half of Australians access news more than once a day – reflecting quite high levels of interest in current affairs, including among young people. Increasing numbers get their news from social media. Distrust in the news is rising but, in an important lesson for media companies trying to stay afloat, those who trust news are more likely to pay for it, and they also pay a higher price. Free daily newsletterOur Australian afternoon update breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters Read moreEighty-one per cent of news consumers say high journalistic standards are important to their decision to trust the news So what media outlets do Australians trust ABC and SBS come first – with SBS ahead of the ABC for the first time in the latest survey journalists at the public broadcasters are constrained by strict expectations of objectivity Next in the trust ratings come the commercial television outlets and their online offerings and other newspaper outlets And right down the bottom the News Corporation outlets News.com.au Why would any political leader lavish attention there, yet alone describe the more trusted outlets as “hate media” Objectivity is not a mere professional fetish It matters because it is essential to public trust By all means media outlets can choose their topics But if the audience doesn’t trust them to reflect the world as it is then journalism becomes little more than a vanity project which are being widely acknowledged in election result commentary Belief in the power of the Murdoch press has been a bit of an excuse for progressives who have spent far too much time railing against its excesses The problem with always reacting to a perceived powerful foe is that you unwittingly become its shadow or its reverse image – thus being moulded by it even in the act of opposing it The media empires are dwindling and lazy thinking simply won’t do any more Many of Trump’s supporters like him precisely because people on the left – the dreaded “elites” – don’t like him And getting at the left has become an end in itself – a culture war fought with the bitterness and passion of the disfranchised a failure in the powers of persuasion is not an accusation that can be credibly levelled against the Labor party But I think it is true of the broader left movement – those who so often profess to be disappointed by Labor has obscured too much of the politics of class including economic and educational inequality let’s accept that News Corporation will do what it does Sharri Markson backs Dutton? Andrew Bolt reckons the voters got it wrong? Peta Credlin thinks there should be more, not less, culture war? These are non-stories. The effusions of vanity projects. Let’s not mention them again. Instead there is harder work to be done – to write our own agenda, to engage with the world as it is – not with Murdoch’s shadow. Margaret Simons is an award-winning freelance journalist and author. She is an honorary principal fellow of the Centre for Advancing Journalism and a member of the board of the Scott Trust, which owns Guardian Media Group indispensable guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington follow the latest on tariffs and executive orders Stay on top of the latest events in US politics with the FT’s trusted and impartial coverage Insight and analysis on US politics from commentators such as Ed Luce and James Politi This subscription does not include access to ft.com or the FT App Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country Digital access for organisations. Includes exclusive features and content. See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times. Chibuike reports on Breaking News, with a focus on finance and markets. He previously covered U.S. private equity firms, and holds master's degrees in journalism from New York University and Edinburgh Napier University. Expect to see long lines at North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) locations this week as the REAL ID deadline quickly approaches a REAL ID will be required to fly domestically in the United States The DMV has tried to cut down wait times in recent weeks and those could only get worse with just two days left until the deadline WRAL 5 On Your Side has tracked complaints against the DMV for years but viewer complaints about DMV delays are at an all-time high there are three factors contributing to backlogs -- in-person license renewals staffing shortages and the deadline to get a REAL ID Last month, the DMV expanded hours at 42 locations to 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The change means 80% of the state's 115 DMV driver license offices are now open 10 hours per day. The agency is looking into new technology and also named a new DMV commissioner who has said he will work to address wait times staffing challenges and customer satisfaction Only about 52% of North Carolinians have their REAL ID The DMV says there is no rush to get a REAL ID unless you have upcoming air travel The DMV will continue to issue REAL IDs after May 7 but a passport can be used for air travel in place of a REAL ID Veterans also have another option -- they can use their Veteran Health Identification Card Children under 18 don’t need an ID for domestic travel Everything to know about getting a REAL ID The REAL ID looks similar to a traditional drivers license but has a star in the top right corner and the process to get one is similar to obtaining a regular drivers license If a person has had their name legally changed -- such as taking a married name -- additional documents may be needed to verify that name change Additional documents may also be needed for people who are not U.S The state Department of Transportation (DOT) does note that the REAL ID is optional Anyone under 18 is also not required to have a REAL ID to travel on airplanes. A full list of documents required to obtain a REAL ID is available on the DMV website Scammers know the REAL ID deadline is here and are looking to take advantage of people who still need to get one by promising to expedite the process Experts warn is no third-party organization or fast track that can accelerate the process to get your REAL ID 'How do I get my REAL ID sooner?,' then there will be websites that will promise for a fee that they can get you your real ID faster," explained Ian Bednowitz but then you give them your personal information." Audi announce organisational restructure ahead of F1 arrival in 2026 5 Winners and 5 Losers from Miami – Who excelled in the Sunshine State Tsunoda concedes he ‘made life much more difficult’ with five-second penalty in Miami after battling for final point Antonelli taking plenty of positives from Miami weekend despite struggles on way to P6 in the Grand Prix ‘We took the tough decision’ – Vasseur defends Ferrari team orders situation in Miami as he acknowledges Hamilton’s frustration McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella was left smiling at the end of a dominant performance by his team with Oscar Piastri winning the Miami Grand Prix from Lando Norris With the team having already bagged a 1-2 in Saturday's Sprint the pace the papaya squad displayed in the Grand Prix itself had the paddock talking READ MORE: Norris concedes he 'paid the price' as he reflects on Lap 1 battle with Verstappen in Miami Piastri and Norris finished relatively close together with 4.6 seconds between the two team mates but third-placed George Russell was over 33 seconds behind Norris while Max Verstappen’s Red Bull – that had started on pole – was nearly 40 seconds adrift at the flag That gap was by far the most dominant performance of the season from any team and was gained after both Piastri and Norris had to climb back through the field in the early stages 2025 Miami Grand Prix: Piastri powers past Verstappen to take the lead “I'm a little surprised that the gap we had today is as big as we saw,” Stella said after Sunday's Grand Prix “I thought that we could have had an advantage from a tyre management point of view but I didn't think that the tyre management would lead to this level of gap throughout the race “One of the matters that still in Formula 1 looks like it's a little bit of a black art I would say especially when it's hot there's another characteristic which I think works very well with our car you can see that is relatively closed from a bodywork point of view because there's been also great engineering going into the cooling system I think in these conditions we see the excellence of the engineering at McLaren has reached a point where it can make a difference to this kind of extent.” READ MORE: Piastri full of praise for McLaren after ‘unbelievable’ and ‘impressive’ victory in Miami During the early stages of the Miami Grand Prix eventual winner Piastri had to overtake Kimi Antonelli – which he did with relative ease – and Max Verstappen to climb into the lead Norris had to pass even more cars to get to second after dropping to sixth on the opening lap with the Briton's bold attempt to get past polesitter Verstappen at the start failing to give him the reward he was after The 25-year-old conceded post race that he "paid the price" for the move and McLaren's electric pace could have allowed him to lift at that moment and fight back later from a higher position McLaren recorded a 1-2 in both the Sprint and the Grand Prix Stella explained: “Let's say that considering the situation [on Lap 1] it could have been better for Lando to just lift and make sure that he could keep the second position because the car we see was very fast and he would certainly have passed Max like Oscar and you have to approach with the mindset of reviewing where the opportunities lie and I think in this case Lando could have been a little bit more patient HIGHLIGHTS: Piastri leads McLaren 1-2 after thrilling race in Miami "But I quite like to see Lando aggressive going for overtaking the lead of the race and sometimes it's just the matter of a fraction of a second In this situation the stewards elected that there was no need to intervene but definitely the manoeuvre was quite at the limit.” with Verstappen forcing both Piastri and then Norris to try and go around his outside into Turn 1 Stella did admit that Norris lost time in his fight – while Piastri made it past the Dutchman cleanly Norris needed several goes and even had to give the place back at one point after overtaking off the track 2025 Miami Grand Prix: Norris comes out on top after epic battle with Verstappen for P2 This was the crucial period of the race where Piastri in free air was able to disappear up the road – leaving Norris too much to do once he did get into second place the lap time or race time was lost because he needed to give back the position,” elaborated Stella "It was fair to give back the position because when overtaking we exceeded the track limits so there's a few things that we need to improve “Certainly there are things to improve even from Oscar's side like if you look back at qualifying I think Oscar lost a little bit of rhythm from Q2 to Q3 so even in that case we have some opportunities I think both drivers are very open to this kind of review FACTS AND STATS: Piastri secures McLaren’s first victory hat trick in over 25 years Don't miss your chance to experience the picturesque Imola circuit.. MIAMI LOWDOWN: All the key moments as McLaren and Antonelli shine, Ferrari face tensions and LEGO takes over MONDAY MORNING DEBRIEF: How Leclerc and Hamilton’s opposing Miami strategies culminated in fractious Ferrari radio exchanges Driveable LEGO big builds welcomed to Miami drivers’ parade Cadillac unveil their team logo and brand during dazzling Miami launch event ahead of 2026 entry Norris concedes he 'paid the price' as he reflects on Lap 1 battle with Verstappen in Miami VideoHIGHLIGHTS: Piastri leads McLaren 1-2 after thrilling race in Miami OFFICIAL GRID: Wet Miami race in prospect as Gasly starts from pit lane Driveable LEGO big builds welcomed to Miami drivers’ parade © 2003-2025 Formula One World Championship Limited Warning: This essay contains spoilers for the film Sinners and then again by Mark Murphy for 1963's That's How I Love the Blues! its lyrics seem to lean into anti-secular reprimand: "You were born in a dive / And weaned on misery / Then you put down some jive / And crashed society," the performer exclaims the godless music of boozing and fornication and infidelity It has made people grieve since Adam and Eve the voice betrays the lyrics: The performances are always a bit cheeky It's the way they tug on the words pleasure and pain in its paternalistic relationship with sin may by extension be something the culture can't live without Writer and director Ryan Coogler's new period drama Sinners is a blues movie that understands this inherently While operating on many levels — as a reimagining of the Southern Gothic vampire story à la Anne Rice's novel Interview with the Vampire or the HBO series True Blood and as a send-up of the horror genre that conceptualizes the terrors of the Jim Crow South's social construction as a figurative sundown town — the film revolves primarily around ideas of Black spirituality and the music's place in the Mississippi Delta community's evaluations of righteousness and iniquity There are references to Black Christianity and Hoodoo and music functions as a turn toward both salvation and damnation The agnostic but faith-appreciating narrative plays into this duality from its opening seconds: "There are legends of people born with the gift of making music so true it can pierce the veil between life and death conjuring spirits from the past and the future," a voice-over explains "This gift can bring healing to their communities Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan as the twins Smoke and Stack intent on opening a juke joint after working for (and ripping off) Al Capone's Chicago Outfit a pastor's son known as Preacher Boy (played by newcomer Miles Caton) is an aspiring musician; his father warns that the blues is supernatural but the boy is set on leaving town and pursuing a career as a singer and guitarist The would-be bluesman tags along as the twins split up and ride around Clarksdale a hometown from which they are notably estranged setting up for the juke in a sawmill purchased from a member of the Ku Klux Klan Their stable of hired hands and patrons includes Smoke's wife Annie (Wunmi Mosaku); Stack's white-passing ex-lover Mary (Hailee Steinfeld); Pearline (Jayme Lawson) a married singer whom Sammie pines after; the busker Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo); the field hand turned bouncer Cornbread (Omar Miller); and the married shopkeepers Grace and Bo Chow (Li Jun Li and Yao) As Clarksdale's Black community gathers to drink and dance away their troubles the historical fiction whiplashes into paranormal horror nearby we are introduced to a daylight-seared creature of the night the Irish vampire Remmick (Jack O'Connell) Remmick finds sanctuary with a Klan-aligned married couple and rewards their hospitality with a gory home invasion that makes them blood of his blood When the music of the juke draws Remmick's attention he sets upon the party with his newly made progeny in pursuit of Sammie whose singing and playing possess a mystic gift Remmick's interest in Sammie flows directly from the power of his music: The vampire is called to it as a preternatural force that allows him to see across the threshold to commune with the souls of his lost friends Those he turns are part of a hive mind he controls and he plans to remake Sammie in his image "The blues are the roots of all American music," Willie Dixon, who knew a thing or two about trading in Mississippi gospel for Chicago blues so will the blues." You can read the throughline of Sinners — in which Sammie the lone human survivor of Remmick's vampire horde abandons his father's church to play blues in Chicago despite the horrors it brings to the juke — as not just a rejection of religiosity but an embrace of the blues' sorcery and its continuance as a sort of cultural necessity honoring the sacrifices that sustain the music writing as Leroi Jones in the book Black Music "To go back in any historical (or emotional) line of ascent in Black music leads us inevitably to religion The phenomenon is always at the root in Black art the worship of spirit — or at least the summoning of or by such a force." Sammie's embrace of blues isn't an either/or proposition; his blues is bonded to his Preacher Boy essence Baraka noted that the "song quality" of blues was the deepest memory one pulling from a particularly racial reinterpretation of history and religious zeal carried throughout generations "The God spoken about in the Black songs is not the same as in the white Though the words may look the same … it is a different quality of energy they summon," he wrote and the way it unfolds in the film through magical realism feels like corroboration of that blurred memory which spirals through time in the viewer's perspective "I'm full of blues," he sings in "I Lied to You." "Holy water too." The juke is depicted as lively and liberatory Though all the problems still follow them in there is solace to be found at the barrelhouse as the boy finds blues and its culture of sin as a kind of momentary emancipation from Jim Crow's pervasive restrictions while the pastor sees them as merely another threat to community building The music does attract undead demons that wreak havoc on their little hamlet Both are portrayed merely as means to navigate Black struggle That Remmick recognizes the value in the blues doesn't make it unholy the vampire seems to represent the parasitism that is appropriation vampires are the ultimate culture vultures with the "soul" in soul music stemming from both an urgency to Black American life — its tribulations and sequestered community — and its inherent spirituality Remmick longs to tap into those energy sources and it's his desire to simply steal it that makes him a villain You can find a clear overlap between blues and the hip-hop evoked by "I Lied to You": Like its ancestor rap transmuted the ugliness of Black struggle into cool and were rejected as wicked for embracing frankness to the point of being profane so true it can seem like they pierce the veil and are constantly under threat from interlopers trying to siphon off that cool without tapping into the racial memory "All my albums are about trying to find that fun and meaning — recycling our trash and debris It undermines the actual ending some — one where Smoke fatally wounded in an early-morning ambush by the same Klansman who signed over the mill reconnecting with the spirits of Annie and their child in the daylight Together they lead to clashing interpretations of the legacy of that night the value of life and death and the preservation of soul the flash-forward feels crucial to Sammie's story you can read the music as an urtext for Black American memoir one that must carry on come hell or high water Inscribed in its everlasting songs are not just a historic memory maintained across time An earlier version of this story misstated the name of Anne Rice’s novel Become an NPR sponsor Palantir Slides Despite Surging Revenue, Rosy Outlook Ford Suspends Its Outlook Amid Tariff Worries Trading Platform eToro Sets Sights on $4B IPO Valuation Onsemi Leads Nasdaq Decliners After Earnings Tesla Stock Slides as Post-Earnings Rally Loses Steam Earnings Are Pretty Strong. Why Are Investors Antsy? Traders Pricing in Big Palantir Move After Earnings  Jemal Countess / Getty Images / Jacob Helberg Tyson Sinks as Sales Miss Estimates, Outlook Disappoints Skechers Soars on $9.4B Deal to Go Private Oil Prices Tumble as OPEC+ Agrees to Boost Output Media Stocks Drop on News of Tariffs on Foreign-Made Films Berkshire Hathaway Levels to Watch as Buffett to Step Down Reporting by Anna Ringstrom and Louise Rasmussen WASHINGTON − Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., faced another hostile crowd at a town hall as attendees broke out into boos and jeers and a constituent was forcibly removed by police More: Woman dragged out of Idaho town hall asks for $5 million in damages, 6 men charged At one point during the town hall, police surrounded a woman in the crowd and she told them, “I’m not leaving,” according to footage from ABC News “Let her stay!” and she was eventually carried out of the event by police claiming that he’s willing to work across the aisle to get bills passed “Bipartisan sounds nice, but meaningful bipartisanship is in votes taken, not in the fig-leaf of co-sponsored bills,” one attendee told Lawler “Now is your time to stand up to the authoritarian Trump regime.” The Associated Press reported that the crowd walked out of the town hall when the final question was asked on protests against Israel More: Anger erupts at Republican lawmakers' town halls amid tariff and DOGE drama “I appreciate everybody coming out tonight and taking the time to ask your questions and hear my answers or whether you really actually wanted to listen to them or not but I very much appreciate you participating,” Lawler said More: New York Republican Mike Lawler faces jeers and boos at town hall Contributing: David McKay Wilson