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San Francisco Giants host gay couples renewing vows with drag queen in virtue-signaling Pride Night ceremony

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 11:01:08 -0400

We're nearly at the halfway point of June, which means we're halfway through Pride month.

Yeah, it's Pride month. Haven't you heard?! It's only been all over Major League Baseball these past few weeks.

Some teams celebrated the month with a typical PR social media post. Others, like the Dodgers, celebrated it by wearing rainbow hats last weekend. Others, like the Texas Rangers, didn't acknowledge it at all and instead are having a "Faith and Family Night" next week.

And that brings us to the San Francisco Giants, which held their obligatory Pride Night on Friday by having 10 gay couples renew their vows in a pregame ceremony that included having a drag queen along the first base line.

RED SOX FANS TREATED TO DRAG SHOW AT FENWAY AS TEAM PROMOTES 'INCLUSIVITY' DURING PRIDE NIGHT EVENT

Naturally, the Giants then lost to the Cubs, 5-1, falling to 28-42 and a healthy 16 games out of first place in the NL West.

What a scene:

Goodness gracious. I don't even know where to begin. It's just stunning. What do you think Tony Vitello was thinking during that? Honestly.

You think that stuff went on before a big game in Knoxville? Come on. He must be so angry at himself for leaving Tennessee. Lord knows I would be.

Look, I'm pretty numb to all of it at this point. I've done this so many times before, it just bounces off me like rubber bullets. This ain't my first June. We do this every year.

But renewing wedding vows on the field before a baseball game is a new level of virtue-signaling that I didn't think existed. Shame on me. I should've known better. Never doubt the left! Never let your guard down with them.

NFL'S VIRTUE SIGNALING JUST HIT AN EMBARRASSING NEW LOW

You give 'em an inch, and they'll take a mile!

Par for the course, I reckon. Again, do whatever you want on your own time. It doesn't matter. But is it really necessary to have 10 gay couples renew their vows before first pitch, and then put them all on the outfield jumbotron for the big kiss?

Come on. Can't we just play baseball and be normal? We don't need to virtue-signal all the time. I promise. We don't. It's OK to take your foot off the gas every now and then. We won't tell anyone!

Oh well. Again, I'm numb to it. Usually I let these things slide.

This was a bit much.

Joan Collins shares her simple secrets to aging gracefully at 93

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 11:00:39 -0400

Joan Collins knows a thing or two about building a "Dynasty."

The legendary actress, who is keeping busy at age 93 and starring in a new movie titled "My Duchess," is offering crystal-clear advice on aging gracefully.

"I just love life," the "Dynasty" alum told The Independent at Variety's Women of Power event. "I wake up every morning and breathe the air, try to get a good night's sleep, drink lots of water and take care of myself."

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Even Collins needs a confidence boost now and then. The star has a glamorous cure: watching "old movies."

"If you’re very lucky, you might manage to find an old Bette Davis film once in a while," Collins told the outlet. "But I like the films of the ‘80s and ‘90s, the ones with [Jack] Nicholson and Sarah Jessica Parker."

The Emmy-nominee previously told The Telegraph that she still goes to the gym to both look and feel her best.

WATCH: DAME JOAN COLLINS PAYS TRIBUTE TO QUEEN ELIZABETH

"I work out with my trainer a couple of times a week," she explained. "Just basic Pilates-type exercises rather than using one of those [reformer] Pilates machines."

As for getting her steps in, Collins isn't exactly pounding the pavement.

"It bores me," she admitted to the outlet. "I'll walk around my apartment tweaking the flowers, but that's about it. That sounds ridiculous, and it will look ridiculous when you see it in print, but it's true."

Collins emphasized she’s lucky to have "very good genes."

"My father lived to be 87, and for somebody born in 1903, that’s pretty amazing," she said. "My mother took incredibly exceptional care of me and my sister. When we were growing up, she gave us all [kinds of] supplements when nobody was taking supplements."

WATCH: LARRY FLYNT WROTE JACKIE COLLINS THREATENING LETTER AFTER DISTRESSING NUDE PHOTO PROMPTED LEGAL BATTLE

Collins' secret to staying young at heart may also be closer to home: husband No. 5 Percy Gibson, who is 32 years her junior. Collins married the producer in 2002, and after kissing plenty of frogs, she believes she has finally found her prince.

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"First of all, we were great pals before we got married," the actress explained to Fox News Digital in 2023. "We worked together on a play. We enjoyed each other's company. We hung out together. We saw each other the following year. We wrote love letters. It was a gradual thing. And we realized that we were very much on the same wavelength."

"He is a really nice, kind, grounded person," she said. "Many of the people that I've been with — and I'm not going to specify which ones — have been either neurotic, slightly unbalanced or gotten into different things."

For Collins, their age gap is "just a number." She noted that it's "never too late" to find love at any stage of life.

"That’s how we both feel," she explained. "And we were friends first, above anything else."

She noted at the time that they shared the same drive, which she said has been part of the secret behind their lasting union.

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"I was born with a tremendous enthusiasm for life," she said. "My mother used to say that I never kept still when I was a child. I used to do five different things at once. I would be doing a crossword puzzle, making a doll's house, reading, painting and trying to become a detective — all at once!"

"Life is a gift," she said. "That's why they call it the present — it's a gift. And so many people waste it. It's so sad. It's a gift, and it does not last very long."

In her memoir "Behind the Shoulder Pads," Collins wrote that Gibson wasn't concerned about the age difference because "I have great vitality and enthusiasm for life and all it has to offer."

"Percy often admits that I can wear him out!" she wrote.

NASCAR legend Tony Stewart calls mourning fans 'a--holes' in tone-deaf rant about Kyle Busch

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 11:00:18 -0400

It's been nearly a month since Kyle Busch's tragic death shook the NASCAR world, and I thought we'd seen all the takes.

We've seen the tributes and the warnings. The flashbacks. The memories. We've heard all the Kyle Busch stories, seen all the highlights from all of his wins, and heard from wife, Samantha, and son, Brexton.

One month post-Rowdy, I thought we'd heard it all ...

Until now. Enter, Tony Stewart.

One of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all time, and Kyle's former Joe Gibbs teammate, has decided to pop in with his thoughts on the death of Kyle Busch, and they are ... puzzling.

Frankly, they're a little baffling.

I'm not sure why Tony Stewart is angry, or who, exactly, he's angry at, but he's "pissed off" at how we've handled Kyle's death, and he made sure to talk about it ahead of this weekend's NHRA race.

Strap in:

"I guess the biggest thing in this tragedy that’s happened that pisses me off the most is that now everybody wants to talk about how he was as a person," Stewart said. "Outside of that, all they wanted to do is judge what they saw on TV. It’s frustrating.

"That’s the way every one of us are judged by what they see on TV and then once you die, they want to talk about how good a person you were. That’s the part that pisses me off the most about it right now. Should’ve given him a chance to learn him as a person before they judged him in the first place.

UNEARTHED FAN VIDEO SHOWS WHO KYLE BUSCH REALLY WAS, NASCAR'S DARKEST HOUR & BUBBA WALLACE'S 'ROWDY' STORY

"So, right now, I don’t care about educating everybody about how Kyle Busch was. I know how Kyle Busch was. The fact that they all want to learn now, they’re the a--holes for not taking the time to learn him and accept him for who he was back then.

"You want to wait until a guy dies and then care about who he was as a person is the part that pisses me off about everybody."

Goodness gracious. I reckon I shouldn't be surprised given it's Tony Stewart, but still, this feels out of left field, even for him.

I agree with "Smoke" on a lot of things. I love Tony Stewart. I loved him when he raced, and I've really grown to love him in retirement because he's become even more of a loose cannon.

That being said, I disagree with just about everything Tony said here. It's among the more tone-deaf rants I've heard, and that's saying something.

Again, I'm not sure who he's referring to or who he's angry at, but I'm gonna go ahead and assume it's the fans and the ... media? He never really clarifies, but that's the vibe I get.

If so, I'm not sure what Tony wants us to do? Fans are fans. We only saw Kyle Busch on TV every Sunday for a few hours. We didn't ride in the hauler with him to the track, or hang out on pit-road with him, or go to dinner with the Busch family.

How else are we supposed to judge an athlete, besides ... what we see on TV? That's sort of part of the deal. It's literally the only way we can judge them, because we only see them on TV.

Fair or not, it's how this works. It's the only way this works.

"You want to wait until a guy dies and then care about who he was as a person is the part that pisses me off about everybody."

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Huh? What does that even mean, Tony? Again, I'm not sure why he's so angry, but something has triggered him. The comments just make no sense. None. Zero. Nada. I feel like I'm trying to solve the "Da Vinci Code" here.

Here's the part that I really don't understand, and I've written about this a few times since Busch's death on May 21.

Kyle Busch had become a fan favorite over the past few years, which is shocking to say given how hated he was during the early part of his career. And I mean HATED.

He infamously wrecked Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2008 at Richmond, had to basically be escorted out of the track by the Secret Service, and was universally despised for the next decade.

But something changed when he moved to Richard Childress Racing in 2023. Something clicked with NASCAR fans, and he was suddenly beloved. Trust me, I've covered four Daytona 500s since Kyle joined RCR, and the cheering was deafening during driver intros.

He started on the pole for what turned out to be his final Daytona 500 this past February, and fans were thrilled. I was there. I heard it.

Maybe it was because he stopped winning so much? Maybe it's because folks started to realize he was the last true "old-school" driver? Hell, maybe after becoming the winningest NASCAR driver ever, Kyle just earned everyone's respect?

Regardless, Kyle Busch was adored by fans these past four years. Adored.

So no, Tony, I don't believe he was unfairly judged while he was alive, whatever that means. I think he was judged pretty damn fairly, and I think fans knew — and loved — the person he was.

Spare us the lecture.

San Francisco Giants pitcher writes Bible verse on hat in defiance of Pride Night

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 10:31:28 -0400

As the old saying goes, courage is contagious. That is the exact term that should be used when a professional athlete defies the calls for complete and utter loyalty to the LGBTQ agenda during Pride Nights.

We’ve seen it from Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen this season, and from a small few around professional sports that have refused to wear rainbow Pride jerseys, hats and more. On Friday night in San Francisco, Giants pitcher Landen Roupp made a powerful statement of faith in God by his protest against his team celebrating Pride Night.

On a night when the San Francisco Giants invited same-sex couples to renew their marriage vows in the presence of a drag queen on the field, the national anthem was sung by an LGBTQ-affirming nondenominational church, and the team celebrated transgender people and other LGBTQ identities through their rainbow-colored hats, Roupp stood out by writing the Bible verses Genesis 9:12-16. These verses are the same ones legendary Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw wrote on his Pride hat last season during his team’s Pride Night.

The verses are about God’s covenant (promise), signified through a rainbow, that He would never destroy mankind through a flood like He did in the days of the prophet Noah.

"And God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.'" Genesis 9:12-16

DODGERS PITCHER CLAYTON KERSHAW DISPLAYS BIBLE PASSAGE ON HAT DURING PRIDE NIGHT

While unsurprisingly many Giants fans weren’t happy to see Roupp’s message on his hat, one saying, "Just let Landen Roupp go to another team, disrespecting SF Pride with his biblical reference. We don't want him on our team," there were many Christians on social media that showed support.

One supporter on X said, "WELL DONE, Roupp. We need more Christians with his courage."

When speaking to media postgame, Roupp said the message was meant to point people to "God's covenant and the promise that He makes to us."

Roupp went on to say, "It's something that I believe in, and I stand firm in that. Thankfully, we live in a country where we get to believe what we want."

He emphasized that the rainbow is a Christian symbol and as for the backlash to his anti-Pride messaging, he said, "There's no hate at all. It’s just what I stand for, and what I stand in. I believe in God." He also said he would "push them (LGBTQ-identifying individuals) to read the Bible."

The important point is that disagreement with a specific lifestyle does not equal hate. Many years ago we could agree to disagree, but with the infusion of the LGBTQ in corporate America and sports, athletes are expected to affirm, accept and ally with this movement. That's not freedom, that's coercion.

In my opinion, this takes a lot of guts and should not only be admired, but celebrated. No Christian athlete should be forced to endorse and accept something that goes against their religion.

As for Roupp’s performance, his outing wasn’t what he and his team hoped for. He went 4.2 innings, giving up 4 earned runs on 4 hits in a decisive 5-1 victory for the Chicago Cubs.

Bill Maher urges Maine voters to elect Graham Platner, despite the candidate’s ‘scary’ issues

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 10:17:10 -0400

Bill Maher, host of HBO's "Real Time," endorsed Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner on Friday, saying he supported the Democrat's run despite some of Platner's "scary" positions and actions.

"I would still urge the folks in Maine to vote for him, for two reasons," Maher said after listing off numerous controversies. "One, we need to restore balance in our government, and a Democratic Senate would help a lot with that."

He then added, "And two, get used to it. America is a country filled with a lot of broken, horribly educated, phone-addicted, sort of nutty people. And as long as we live in a representative democracy, we are always electing our reflection in the mirror. I wish the tattoo was the scariest thing about Platner. It's not. That would be his solution to a home invasion, which is to rape the home invader."

According to a woman who previously dated Platner and now has raised concerns about alleged disturbing behavior, he previously told her: "He said this a lot: If anybody ever broke in here, I would rape them," but not in a sexual or "gay" way, Lyndsey Fifield said, adding that Platner stated he would want to instead impose dominance over them through penetration and that he believed rape was about power.

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"Let's get real about Graham Platner," Maher said. "The big story is the Democrats can likely take back the Senate in November if they win Maine. But their local candidate… is after the primary this week, let's just say, a guy who has a backstory that screams, ‘don't ask,’" Maher said.

"Now, I don't judge Graham Platner because I'm just learning who he is," Maher continued. "Problem is, so is he. What I do know is he served his country in the Marines in war, and you can never discount how big that is. But then there's the sexting while married, uh, scary behavior. So, say some of his exes, old posts about how he's a communist and all cops are bastards and black people don't tip."

Platner, who formally became the Democratic nominee to challenge incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, earlier this week, has grappled with his resurfaced past — receiving criticism for making off-color remarks on sexual abuse, race and terror and allegedly threatening behavior toward women.

He also has received criticism for a tattoo on his chest, which resembled the Nazi "Totenkopf" or Death's Head, a symbol that was used by concentration camp guards.

"And then of course there's the Nazi tattoo on his chest," Maher said. "I mean, seriously, this guy's whole life is the movie ‘The Hangover.’ He doesn't need a term in the Senate. He needs a gap year in Costa Rica."

Fox News Digital reached out to Platner for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Maher went on to say Mainers should vote for Platner.

'THE VIEW' ERUPTS AFTER HOSTIN DECLARES 'I WOULD HOLD MY NOSE' AND VOTE FOR SCANDAL-PLAGUED GRAHAM PLATNER

Later in the segment, Maher also took a jab at President Donald Trump’s communication style, connecting him to a new wave of politicians where bizarre behavior or comments don't matter.

NYT PANEL DEBATES WHETHER GRAHAM PLATNER IS A ‘DIRTBAG’ OR DEMOCRATS’ ANSWER TO TRUMP-ERA POLITICS

"Our current president just speaks out loud his internal monologue," Maher said.

"You know what the internal monologue is, right," he asked. "It's just that stream of thoughts that we all have pouring through our heads all the time and that we all edit. We edit our thoughts. We don't just fling all of our feces. We have a Strait of Hormuz between our brain and our mouth where we don't let everything through. But not the president of the United States."

Fox News' Charles Creitz , Leo Briceno , Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Taylor Swift’s controversial wedding rule has fans debating who should make plus-one list

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 10:00:38 -0400

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have so far been keeping their wedding plans very locked down even as rumors swirl — but there's already a controversy brewing.

The famous couple, engaged since August 2025, have not yet confirmed where or when they will tie the knot. Yet according to reports, the couple is reigniting a long-standing debate about plus-ones at weddings.

Swift and Kelce are apparently enforcing a no ring, no bring policy — so if a guest is not married or engaged, he or she cannot bring a date to the wedding.

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Given the couple's close celebrity friendships, the rule could potentially create matrimonial mayhem, at least as some people see it.

Swift's longtime friend Selena Gomez recently married Benny Blanco — and Kelce's teammate and friend Patrick Mahomes has been married to his wife, Brittany, just over four years. They're all likely to be on the list.

But there are other potential problems. One of Swift's best friends, Gigi Hadid, is in a serious relationship with Bradley Cooper, based on multiple recent reports — but they're not married.

Swift's friend Gracie Abrams, who may be invited, is in a serious relationship with actor Paul Mescal, as a June Vogue piece and other accounts have made clear. They also are not married.

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Kate Middleton's sister Pippa Middleton reportedly implemented the no ring, no bring policy at her 2017 wedding to James Matthews.

At the time, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were not married. Markle skipped the wedding ceremony but attended the reception, according to Vanity Fair.

The no ring, no bring policy has generated strong reactions online.

One anonymously sourced comment helped fuel the frenzy: A single woman reportedly said she was considering skipping the wedding because she wouldn't know many people there.

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"No one's entitled to a plus-one simply because you were invited," professional development expert Jan Goss, based in Texas, told Fox News Digital.

"A wedding invitation [is] a gift of inclusion. … It's not some contract guaranteeing your specific accommodations."

In a Reddit discussion, commenters noted that a couple who have been together for 10 years might not even receive a joint invitation — while a couple engaged after just six months could.

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One poster on the wedding site The Knot advised inviting someone along with a significant other together on one invitation.

If the guest is single, the invitation can say "and guest."

"You do not need to allow random dates," wrote one person.

Goss said the controversy surrounding Swift's potential guest list reflects a larger cultural shift.

"People increasingly view invitations through a lens of personal entitlement, rather than gratitude," she said.

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But other Reddit users agreed with Swift and Kelce.

"Seems sensible," commented one user about the no ring, no bring idea. "She wants a wedding with people she actually knows, not people there to bring along friends as a 'favor' to ogle her like a rare animal."

"I didn't want random people I didn't know at my wedding either," another wrote, "and I'm not a famous person trying to enjoy my day without being papped."

Ultimately, "the bride and groom get to decide what their day looks like," Goss said.

"I would remind people that weddings are actually one of the easiest social events. … Think of it as an opportunity to meet new people."

Goss said it's fine to just go up and ask others, "How are you connected to the bride and groom?"

"Make the focus on celebrating the couple rather than your own discomfort," Goss said.

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"Put your phone away and engage with humans," she also said. "You're there to lift up the bride and the groom."

But attending is, of course, not obligatory, she said.

Too uncomfortable going solo?

"Just decline graciously," said Goss.

Meanwhile, some reports claim Swift and Kelce may be getting married in New York's Madison Square Garden the first weekend of July.

Jessica Mekles of Fox News Digital contributed reporting.

Grammy-nominated singer Anne Wilson says speaking about Jesus cost her opportunities, but she won't back down

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 10:00:20 -0400

Anne Wilson believes following Jesus can come with a cost — and she's willing to pay it.

The Grammy-nominated Christian-country singer opens up in her new book, "Rebel: Following Jesus When the World Walks the Other Way," about navigating criticism, industry pressure and fears of rejection while refusing to soften her message about faith.

The Kentucky native told Fox News Digital that she believes being outspoken about Christianity has cost her professional opportunities along the way despite her successful rise in Nashville.

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"I've missed a lot of opportunities for speaking about my faith," said the singer/songwriter. "I think it's definitely come at a cost, but I'm the kind of person that I'm very bold in the things I believe in. When I stand for something, I'm going to stand for it knowing the cost."

"There were moments early on when even my manager and team would be like, 'Anne, do you know what you're doing by saying this?' Or, 'Do you know what could happen if you speak about this?'" the 24-year-old recalled. "And I would always say, 'Yeah, I do, but I want to do it anyway.'"

That conviction appears throughout the book. Wilson writes that when she began discussions with a major country label, she made her position clear from the start.

WATCH: ANNE WILSON SAYS CHRISTIANS MUST BE BOLD ABOUT THEIR FAITH

"If they tried to change me or my message about Jesus, there was no deal," she wrote.

"There's definitely been moments when I'm looked at a certain way, shows I'm playing at a country festival where I'm literally preaching Jesus and the gospel, and people look at me like I'm crazy. ... But I know my calling, and it's to take Jesus to the world. I believe it with every fiber of my being that that's what I'm supposed to do."

Wilson told Fox News Digital that sharing the gospel has always been her purpose in pursuing a music career.

"[I remember] the head of the label told me, 'I want you to bring God back to country music,'" she said. "I remember hearing those words, and I was just so inspired. I was going to be authentically myself coming into the country music industry."

"I remember feeling, 'Are people going to accept this? Am I going to be authentically myself?' And honestly, the response [has been] really special. I feel like both sides of Christian music and country music have accepted me for who I am."

That acceptance became one of the surprises Wilson recounts throughout the book, which often contrasts her fears of rejection with moments of encouragement from within the country music industry.

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In the book, Wilson described performing at Florida's Tortuga Music Festival in 2024. She felt "overwhelmed by a sense of discouragement" whenever she peeked out from backstage.

"The tent was nearly empty, and my start time was drawing too close for comfort," she wrote.

"Best known in the Christian music world, I was not yet well known as a country artist. Now no one was showing up to hear me sing at this country venue. ... The empty tent didn't lie. I sold out my tours in the Christian world — but now I couldn't fill a small tent. What if I had made a mistake by focusing on developing as a country artist?"

"... I did not fit in there, and evidently, everybody knew it," she continued. "Most of the fans at this festival were barely clothed and deep into partying by this point. How could I relate to them or even get my message across? What in the world was I doing here?"

The songstress turned to Lainey Wilson, who encouraged her to "be my authentic self, which would always be more than enough." Minutes before walking onstage, Wilson heard the growing buzz of voices. People were coming to see her.

"Then I walked out, stood on that stage, and shared Jesus with every person who showed up," she wrote.

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There were even moments when Wilson was tempted to make her message "easier to digest and a little more politically correct" so more people would accept her.

"I have been tempted to change a set list so that my songs aren't so 'in your face' about Jesus," she wrote. "I know that if I made just one inappropriate video, I would gain thousands of 'followers' on social media. But would it be worth it? Is that what Jesus would do? Not on your life."

In another passage from "Rebel," Wilson recalled performing at the 2022 Rock the South festival, where 50,000 people "were there to party, and I was there to preach."

"What was I doing, standing there in my cute — but modest — outfit, with my message of Jesus' salvation?" she wrote. "All the other women were scantily clad in outfits that flaunted their feminine attributes. The other acts were amazingly talented, but they weren't carrying the same message I was or living the same lifestyle. The whole atmosphere was one of party and reckless abandon."

"... I knew that when I walked out on that stage, I'd face confusion from the crowd, if not mockery," Wilson wrote. "Perhaps even some hatred. I was just a 20-year-old girl from the Bluegrass who loved to sing about Jesus."

Wilson said those moments reinforced the reality that speaking openly about her faith could sometimes come with professional consequences.

"... It wasn't hurtful as much as [I] was just a little bummed out that I missed out on something because of the things I believe in and speak about," Wilson admitted to Fox News Digital. "But then I also think it was a reminder of just the world we're living in and the state of the world, how dark it is, and that when we speak up about our faith, we are judged, and we lose out on opportunities. ... I need to continue to be the light in any way I can."

Wilson said that these days, it isn't always easy for Christian artists to speak openly about their faith without fear of alienating fans or facing backlash.

"... If we speak about the things that we believe in, whatever they are, there's always going to be pushback from other people," she said. "But there's something harder about speaking up about your faith. I think for my generation, there's this fear that they don't feel like they can speak about their faith. They don't want to get judged or criticized for doing so."

Wilson also wrote that she felt pressure at times to dress more provocatively but chose not to.

"I want to be respected for the message I share, not for how my body looks," Wilson wrote. "Revealing outfits and inappropriate lyrics tend to draw likes and follows, but I'm not looking for that kind of attention. The only reason I am walking this path is to share about my Jesus and bring Him glory."

Wilson told Fox News Digital she has zero plans to change her image or message as she continues to navigate the music industry, on her terms.

"I have never let anyone sway me," she said. "I'm going to stay true to myself."

83-year-old woman sues Honolulu after website error turned into $590K nightmare

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 10:00:14 -0400

An 83-year-old woman is suing the city of Honolulu after she was fined nearly $600,000 over an online rental listing error.

Sandra May has lived in her Honolulu home for 56 years, raising her son there and relying on rental income from an attached apartment to supplement her fixed income.

According to a newly filed federal lawsuit, the City and County of Honolulu fined May $10,000 a day for nearly two months over a glitch on the rental website. May’s attorney said the hosting platform's system accidentally permitted users to view short-term availability, even though users could not actually book a short-term stay during this period.

Under Honolulu ordinances, residential properties outside designated resort zones cannot be rented or advertised for periods of less than 30 days.

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According to the complaint, the city issued a notice of violation, but May did not immediately see the mail because she had been hospitalized following a serious car crash. By the time she returned home and was able to address the matter, the fines had ballooned to $590,000.

When May contacted city officials to explain the medical emergency and rectify the listing, she said their only response was to tell her to hire a lawyer.

"It feels to me like they're just trying to take my house, put me on the street with the rest of the homeless people," May told Fox News Digital. "It's very depressing, very upsetting."

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The city has placed a lien on her house and has blocked her from accessing basic government services, such as renewing her driver's license or car registration, forcing her to find other methods of transportation.

May told Fox News Digital she cannot afford to pay such a heavy fine and that the thought of losing her treasured home of over 50 years is devastating.

"All the stress, the stomach problems, every day wondering if I'm gonna have a house... I was gonna live here for the rest of the days I have," May said. "This is actually — I call this my little piece of paradise on earth. ... The thought of losing it is — I can't imagine."

DISABLED VETERAN FIGHTS HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION LAWSUIT OVER FLAGPOLE IN FLORIDA YARD

"It's really frightening. I don't want to be a burden on my son," she added.

May's legal team argues the massive penalty violates the Eighth Amendment, which shields against government fines that far outweigh the underlying offense.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE

"The Constitution prohibits excessive fines," Loren Seehase, an attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation, told Fox News Digital. "Governments cannot simply impose fines that are so ruinous that they would financially devastate someone over a simple error. And that's what we're fighting for."

Seehase noted that the case is part of a broader issue in Honolulu, where she said the city has issued more than $90 million in fines for similar advertising violations.

"In Sandra's case, she was in and out of the hospital, couldn't get her mail, didn't know about the violation, and it took her 59 days to correct it," she continued. "And rather than having some sympathy and understanding that she was out of and in the hospital. They said, Well, we're going to still fine her $590,000."

The city of Honolulu said they could not comment on pending litigation.

EXCLUSIVE: Collins pits record built in Maine potato fields against Platner's 'angry rhetoric'

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 10:00:02 -0400

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, learned hard work in the dirt.

When she was 10 years old, like several other children in Caribou, Maine, she left school to pick potato fields to aid farmers with the harvest deep in potato country in Aroostook County, dubbed "The County" by locals.

"I remember my mother saying to me when I was going to pick for the first time at age 10, saying, ‘Now, Susan, this is really hard, back-breaking work, but you cannot quit. The farmers are depending on you, and you can't let them down,’" Collins told Fox News Digital. "And those words have always stayed with me."

SCHUMER’S ‘NUMBER ONE TARGET’ SAYS VOTERS WILL SEE HER DEMOCRAT SENATE CHALLENGER AS TOO EXTREME

It’s that work ethic born in her hometown of Caribou, molded by her parents' separate stints as mayor of the small town in the county that helped shape her into the political titan she is today, propelling her to a record 10,000th straight vote in the Senate and a gavel atop the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee.

It’s also caused her to have the biggest target on her back in a highly contentious election cycle where Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is once again trying to flip her seat.

Collins’ race has also become the most-watched and controversial of the cycle because of her unlikely opponent, Democratic nominee Graham Platner, who over the last several months has been rocked by scandal after scandal.

Speaking to Fox News Digital on the drive between Bangor, Maine and Portland, one she's made several times since joining the Senate in 1997, Collins acknowledged Platner's rocky past and present but that she still was taking him seriously as an opponent.

MAINE DEMOCRATS DECIDE FATE OF SENATE CANDIDATE DOGGED BY EXPLOSIVE ALLEGATIONS

"I am surprised that [Gov. Janet Mills] is not my opponent," Collins said. "That's what I would have predicted, particularly given the very serious allegations against Graham Platner. Plus, his own words over many years, including recently. So, I think that he has a lot of questions to answer, but I do take him very seriously as a candidate."

Platner has been no stranger when it comes to attacking Collins in his insurgent campaign, skewering her for her vote to authorize the Iraq War two decades ago or her backing of parts of President Donald Trump's agenda.

During his acceptance speech earlier this week, he accused her of being "just as spineless and corrupt as the establishment she now serves."

Collins, who is no stranger to heated campaigns, argued that her ability to produce results was a better metric for Mainers.

"I think when people look at the accomplishments and results that I've delivered for the people of Maine, that the contrast is enormous," Collins said. "And angry rhetoric does not produce results."

She knows how to bring the bacon home to Maine. In her climb to the top of the Senate Appropriations Committee, she’s sent back $1.5 billion over five years, dozens of new or renovated fire stations, billions in rural healthcare funding and a fire boat that saved key businesses along Portland’s waterfront when a blaze broke out.

Still, she’s in a tight race with Platner, despite the scandals and baggage.

And Schumer, who has spent years trying to beat her, hopes to seize the opportunity in this cycle, even with a candidate who was not his first choice.

WATCH: CHUCK SCHUMER SIDESTEPS PLATNER SCANDALS, CONFIRMS SUPPORT FOR CONTROVERSIAL DEM

Schumer told Semafor that Collins is "weaker than in 2020," when they last squared off, arguing that her defense of Trump, her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the role that vote played in overturning Roe v. Wade have weighed her down.

"To me, this is déjà vu all over again," Collins said, noting that six years ago, Schumer and Democrats spent over $160 million to defeat her.

Collins contended, "Democratic leaders always distort my record," and added that when she voted to advance Trump’s "big, beautiful bill" last year, it was so she and others could modify the bill. She ultimately voted against the final product but scored a $50 billion rural hospital fund nonetheless.

"If we can't get on the bill, I can't help fix that," Collins said.

And on Kavanaugh, Collins noted that she disagreed with how he voted on Roe v. Wade, but that she also voted "for people who voted on the other side of that decision."  

"I voted for Sonia Sotomayor. I voted for Elena Kagan. I voted for Justice Jackson," Collins said. "And that always seems to get left out."

She doesn’t vote in lockstep with Trump, either, who recently said that Collins was "not my best friend at all," but was a "sane woman." That prompted a laugh from the longtime lawmaker, who noted, "I've worked with five different presidents, and I have never agreed with a single one of them on every issue."

"I know that there's some people who want me to oppose President Trump, just because he's President Trump, and that's not how I operate," Collins said. "I look at each individual issue and then make my decision. And based on whether it's helpful to the state of Maine, and improves the lives of families in the state of Maine."

Chiefs heiress Hunt sisters inspire Team USA to incredible win over Paraguay, buy Bulls banner & brisket

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 09:43:01 -0400

Let's get this Saturday rolling with an edition of Screencaps where we address an inspired Team USA performance last night against Paraguay and why that single performance should inspire you to watch this team even if you hate soccer.

Look, I get it, you hate the sport, you think guys just flop around on the field like LeBron James after someone breathes on his arm. Last night was just different from when I've watched Team USA in the past. I'm not even some soccer nerd, but there I was glued to the TV as the offense mounted attack after attack. Guys chased down Paraguay. They battled. They weren't the soft team for once.

Team USA is typically the soft team. I seem to remember the squad being filled with guys wearing those rubber bands around their head and always worried about their soccer hair. It was embarrassing. Not this team. The offense has dudes who are physical freaks who can launch constant attacks. Pundits have been wondering where the physical freaks have been for U.S. soccer. Last night, that was answered. This team is just different.

I watched most of the second half and I didn't see one guy running his hand through his hair all worried about his street cred with the Euros. That's also a great sign.

USMNT CAPTAIN TYLER ADAMS READY TO BE IN 'PATRIOTIC MOOD' PLAYING ON HOME SOIL FOR 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP

And then there's the Gio Reyna goal. I played enough soccer in my life to know that this goal will inspire hundreds of thousands of soccer kids across this country who will attempt this kick with the outside of their right foot. The U.S. has itself a viral soccer moment that came in a victory. This is huge.

I don't know who this coach is. I don't know what he told that squad. I don't know anything about the guy, but whatever he did to challenge the manhood of his players should be studied, turned into a movie, whatever, because it was all gas, no brake out of Team USA.

Next up: Australia, next Friday at 3 p.m. ET in Seattle.

CHIEFS HEIRESS GRACIE HUNT & HER FIANCÉ ENGAGE IN RATHER INTERESTING MAHA WORKOUT, AAU PRICE REACTIONS & MEAT

You're damn right the Chiefs heiress Hunt sisters were in L.A. last night for the big game. By now, you should know that Gracie Hunt and her sister, Ava, who attends SMU, are legit soccer fans. That's not fake like the majority of the Hollywood elite who were featured in the stands.

Their grandfather, Lamar, not only founded the Kansas City Chiefs, but he also founded/created MLS. "FÚTBOL IS LIFEEEEE," Gracie wrote last night on Instagram. She's not lying.

This family is not only getting rich off the Chiefs, but also the rise of soccer in the U.S. Between Gracie and Ava, you're looking at heiresses who not only will have Chiefs money to blow on trips around the world, but the MLS money won't be bad down the road. Put it this way, these two have generational wealth.

THURSDAY NIGHT MOWING LEAGUE WANTS 40 MILLION AMERICANS TO STOP WASTING WEEKENDS ON THEIR LAWNS

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– Paul B. in Florida says: I love watching Europeans explore America on YouTube. Seeing their reactions and how much they love things here. Seeing how things we take for granted everyday, such as the size of the roads, the size of the stores and how much we have access to in these stores, are totally different from what they have in say England for example.

How they like trying things like southern cooking, or PB&J sandwiches, or even cooking a pot roast. Now with the article about how soccer fans are falling in love with rural America maybe the tide is starting to change. Maybe the lies from the media, the big liberal thinking cities, maybe that veil is being removed. I'm hoping so because the real America is fantastic and people are starting to realize that now and I hope these things go viral. The Trump administration should be publicizing this stuff and going overboard with it.

Should be all over Clay's show and Fox News. We went from 911 being a travesty to sympathizing with terrorists. Time to kick out the vocal minority and the silent majority needs to come on out. I'll start it. LFG real America!

INTERNET FALLS IN LOVE WITH GERMAN SOCCER FAN DISCOVERING AMERICAN SOUTH AHEAD OF 2026 WORLD CUP

– Duke in North Carolina checks in on this topic: I am seeing an absolute explosion in my socials of Europeans coming in for the world cup and getting a taste of the good ol 'US of A. Everything from Waffle House, Buc EE's, gas station chicken in the south, to how warm, open, and friendly Americans are. They are absolutely blown away at their welcome and how life is here. Honestly it comes as no surprise as our family has hosted various exchange students over the years and each has marveled at the exact same types of experiences and interactions. I will never forget having two French and two Chinese highschoolers along with my daughter out for a mall day and lunch at Waffle House. It was literally the same level of giddiness as when we took our daughters to Disney.

It will be interesting to see how different media platforms handle this. Do they focus on these experiences? Or do they focus on the inevitable bad experiences that will unfortunately happen to some of the visitors? I guess like everything, it will depend upon their narrative. As an astute a watcher of social media trends as you are I am sure you're seeing the same.

Keep up the great work and thank you for uniting so many of us in the ordinary and awesome things that make living in the US such an honor!

SHAKIRA BODY DOUBLE CONSPIRACY GOES VIRAL AFTER WORLD CUP PERFORMANCE, JOBA IS BACK & WORLD'S BIGGEST PIZZA

Kinsey: I hear you guys loud and clear. I just hope this wasn't some sort of coordinated attack of content sponsored by some brand like Visa. I just hope these soccer fans aren't about to end up on a commercial during the World Cup where they break the news to us that some credit card company has been sponsoring the whole thing.

I'm begging these Euros to be wholesome and not bought and paid for by brands that see this as an earned media play. Definition: "Earned media is any organic publicity or brand exposure gained through unpaid means, such as social media mentions."

Fingers crossed.

Don't get defensive. Be honest, have you ever planned a trip to feel like you need to keep up with the Joneses? Men, unless they're just morons, tend not to be the ones who need to brag about their vacations. It's the Stanley-succin' suburban moms out there who I'm looking at.

Do you feel like your ex-wife blew through all of your money planning vacations because it would look good on social media? I want to hear from you. Of course I'll keep you anonymous, if needed.

Let this stat sink in today. Let it inspire you. Then I challenge each and every one of you to go have a great day. I have to get to the baseball park to see if our team can get its first win since April. No matter what, I plan on having an incredible day one way or another.

Take care.

Robot soccer player dents wall with terrifying kicks

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 09:37:48 -0400

A robot soccer player just gave goalkeepers another reason to feel nervous. Booster Robotics titled its YouTube video "Try Stopping This Robot," and after watching its T1 humanoid hammer soccer balls toward a goal, you can see why.

Most of the kicks hit the curtain behind the net. But several shots appear to hit with enough force to leave visible impact marks and dents in the wall. That part is what everyone is talking about.

At first, it just looks like a viral robot soccer video. Then the wall damage makes the whole thing feel a lot more serious. This video also raises an important question: What happens if someone were to end up in the path of a soccer ball kicked by one of these robots?

AUTONOMOUS HUMANOID ROBOT SOCCER DEBUTS IN CHINA

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The Booster T1 is a humanoid robot from Beijing-based Booster Robotics. According to Booster, the T1 stands about 3 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs about 66 pounds. Booster says the T1 has 23 to 41 degrees of freedom, depending on the configuration. In everyday terms, that means it has enough moving joints to walk, turn, balance and perform athletic movements.

The company also says the T1 can walk for about two hours and stand for about four hours on a charge. It supports open-source tools, software frameworks and API interfaces. That makes it easier for teams to train the robot for new tasks. The company also says more than 50 robotics teams and research institutes already use the platform.

There is also a serious reason companies test robots this way. Soccer forces a humanoid robot to deal with movement, balance and split-second changes. The ball does not stay still. The robot has to adjust its body, shift its weight and decide what to do next. That makes soccer a useful test for machines that may one day work around people.

Those lessons can carry beyond the soccer field. A robot that learns how to recover from a fall or adjust to a moving object could be more useful in a warehouse, lab or disaster zone. That is why robot soccer has become a way for engineers to test how these machines handle pressure when the action does not go perfectly.

ROBOT PLAYS TENNIS WITH HUMANS IN REAL TIME

The T1 is meant for research and development. Booster positions the robot as a platform for schools, labs and robotics teams. Developers can use it to test software, train motion models and build new robot behaviors.

The company also offers RoboCup-related tools, including an open-source reinforcement learning framework and a demo system. That demo system covers perception, localization and decision-making for robot matches.

In other words, the T1 works like a serious robot body that developers can teach. That also explains why the wall-denting video is such a strong showcase. It shows the power, balance and control of these robots.

NEW CHINESE HUMANOID ROBOT SHOWS OFF ITS STRENGTH BY LIFTING 35 POUNDS PER HAND

A robot strong enough to dent a wall can damage more than drywall. If a system fails, a powerful leg or arm could hurt someone nearby. That does not mean every humanoid robot poses a danger. It means companies need strong guardrails before these machines move into homes, hospitals, stores or public spaces.

Force limits matter. Emergency stops matter. Testing environments matter. Clear rules about where robots can operate matter. A robot in a lab can be impressive. A robot near the public needs a much higher safety bar.

Booster's T1 is also part of the RoboCup world, which is basically an international robot soccer competition. But RoboCup isn’t only about robots kicking a ball around a field. The long-term goal is much bigger. RoboCup wants fully autonomous humanoid robots to eventually beat the human World Cup champions under official soccer rules.

That may sound like a wild idea. However, there is serious research behind it. Robot soccer forces teams to improve how these machines balance, see the field, react to movement and make decisions on their own. Booster says the T1 was built around robot soccer and RoboCup standards. The company also offers tools that help teams create robot soccer demos more quickly.

So while robot soccer may look like a game, it is also helping engineers figure out how humanoid robots could become more capable in places far beyond the soccer field.

You may not care about robot soccer. Still, this kind of demo says a lot about the future of everyday robotics. Humanoid robots are learning to move with more confidence. They can balance better, recover faster and use their bodies with more force. That progress could eventually help with useful jobs, including warehouse work, elder care support or disaster response.

At the same time, stronger robots create new questions. Who checks their safety? Who sets the rules? Who is responsible when a robot breaks something or injures someone? The T1 video shows why the next phase of robotics really needs testing, transparency and accountability.

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This robot soccer video makes you stop and think. Booster Robotics' T1 can kick a soccer ball with enough force to leave visible dents and impact marks in a wall. That to me is scary. It also raises a real safety question. As humanoid robots get stronger, companies will need to prove they can control that power around people. A robot kicking soccer balls in a lab is one thing. A robot near players, workers or bystanders is a very different story. Robot soccer may look like a game today. But it may also be showing us what tomorrow's machines will be able to do. That is why it is important to keep an eye on this technology as it develops.

When you see a robot kick with this much force, does it make you excited about what is coming next, or worried about how safe these machines will be around people? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.

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Phil Mickelson obtains defamation counsel to absolve 'false rumors' that got him booted from golf club

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 09:33:14 -0400

Phil Mickelson is ready to fight the latest accusations made against him that got him booted from his own golf club.

The six-time major champion was accused of making inappropriate contact with a female employee before a round of golf this spring at The Farms Golf Club in the San Diego area.

Mickelson allegedly approached the female employee at the clubhouse and made nonconsensual and inappropriate physical contact with her. The employee reported the incident to the club's supervisors after rejecting the alleged advances after Mickelson returned to the golf course.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

However, Mickelson's attorney said video evidence will absolve Mickelson of any wrongdoing.

"There is a great deal of misinformation circulating and, while Phil’s full attention is devoted to a private family health matter, he has retained defamation counsel and is determined to hold accountable any publication or individual trafficking in speculation or false rumors," Mickelson's attorney, Tom Clare, said to Golf Digest.

Club officials moved quickly and actually located Mickelson in the middle of his round, confronted him with the accusation on the golf course and told him to leave the premises. Mickelson reportedly left the facility before completing his round.

LIV GOLF STILL WAITING ON $400M IN FUNDING, MAY BE FORCED TO CANCEL FINAL TWO EVENTS OF THE SEASON

"Following a staff member report of member misconduct, the Club provided immediate and ongoing support to the staff member, conducted a thorough independent investigation of the incident and took decisive action. This individual is no longer a member of The Farms Golf Club," a statement from the club shared to Golf Digest explained in part.

"The Farms conducts thorough reviews of all reported matters according to California Law and takes appropriate action when warranted, consistent with our commitment to integrity, excellence and accountability. To protect the safety and privacy of our staff and members, we are unable to speak further on this matter. We appreciate your understanding."

Mickelson, a member of LIV Golf, has played in just one of the circuit's nine completed events this season due to an undisclosed "personal health matter" within his family. That lone appearance on LIV came in late March in South Africa, where he finished T-48.

The 55-year-old released a statement on April 2, a week ahead of the Masters, explaining that he would not be teeing it up at Augusta National and would be out for "an extended period of time as my family continues to navigate a personal health matter." He is not entered in next week's U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.

OutKick's Mark Harris contributed to this report.

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California guaranteed income advocacy group recommends permanent policy funded by 'dedicated local taxes'

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 09:07:40 -0400

A group dedicated to instituting guaranteed income programs across the country and aiming for a permanent policy in California wants to fund it with taxpayer dollars.

Founded in 2016, the Economic Security Project (ESP) consisted of "100 entrepreneurs, activists, researchers, and philanthropists" that signed on to promote direct cash payments, their website states.

The organization helped create over 100 guaranteed income pilots across the U.S.

MICHIGAN LAWMAKER MOVES TO SHUT DOWN 'GUARDRAIL-FREE' CASH HANDOUT PROGRAM FOR NEW MOTHERS

A state affiliate of ESP, Economic Security California, plans to establish a permanent guaranteed income program.

"We lead the transition from cash pilot initiatives to influential policies, focusing on expanding, modernizing, and scaling programs for direct cash," the group stated.

"We actively shape state policies by drawing insights from California guaranteed income pilots, backing our case with compelling research and the stories of real Californians. We champion simple and automatic tax filing, ensuring individuals receive the credits they deserve, and building a fair and equitable tax system for all."

The Golden State leads the nation in having the most guaranteed income programs, presiding over 60 pilot launches.

"As California builds towards permanent GI infrastructure, future research and policy solutions should examine how GI can continue to be a complementary support to the existing public benefit system," the ESP noted on its website in a section titled "A Permanent Pathway for Guaranteed Income in California."

TRUMP ADMIN YANKS FUNDING FROM LA HOMELESS AGENCY AMID EXPLOSIVE FRAUD PROBE: 'NECESSARY STEP'

ESP recommended that government agencies consider taxpayer-funded policy options to sustain guaranteed income programs.

"Government agencies should also explore public funding mechanisms beyond philanthropy; options can range from dedicated local taxes to shifting affordability-focused investments into direct cash supports," the organization said.

"For example, Breathe: LA County’s Guaranteed Income program is entirely publicly funded through the county’s Poverty Alleviation Initiative, and other cities have used American Rescue Plan Act funds to support pilots."

Fox News Digital reached out to the Economic Security Project for comment but did not immediately hear back.

However, as American Rescue Plan Act funds run out, some mayors are trying to find other sources of revenue for their guaranteed income programs. Under federal law, these pandemic recovery funds had to be legally obligated by the end of 2024 and must be fully spent by December this year.

Cook County in Illinois, the second-largest county in the U.S., established a subsequent phase of its guaranteed basic income program after the conclusion of its initial 2022 pilot. To sustain the initiative without federal aid, the Cook County Board of Commissioners approved $7.5 million for guaranteed income within its local county budget, signaling a shift toward long-term local funding.

DIRECTOR OF 'CASH GIVEAWAY' PROGRAM TAILORED TO NEW MOTHERS GRILLED ON HOW TAXPAYER FUNDING IS USED IN DEBATE

ESP regards guaranteed income as a "power response" to solving affordability issues in the U.S.

"A large and growing body of evidence demonstrates convincing impacts on economic insecurity, income, assets, physical and mental health, food insecurity, poverty, economic and gender inequalities, housing mobility, crime, early child development, and children’s school achievement, employment, and earnings in adulthood," the organization stated.

ESP's statements mirror the same argument made by Mayors for Guaranteed Income president Michael D. Tubbs in an interview with Fox News Digital in March.

Tubbs, the former mayor of Stockton, California, popularized the municipal cash-handout trend after starting a pilot program in his own city. Tubbs argues that regular cash infusions are necessary to help low-income Americans stay afloat amid high costs for basic expenses like rent, groceries, and gasoline.

Divorcees and widows share concerning mental health trait, researchers find

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 09:00:56 -0400

Divorcees and widows may face a higher risk of death than those who are still coupled up, a new study reveals.

Researchers in Norway analyzed long-term national health data to weigh mortality risk among those who were divorced, ended situations where they lived with a partner, or became widowed.

The study, published in the journal BMJ Public Health, looked at three groups of about 20,000 people each, from 1984 to 2019, who were married or living with a partner at the time.

ONE TOXIC BEHAVIOR KILLS RELATIONSHIPS, LEADING HAPPINESS EXPERT WARNS

During the next wave of the study, these individuals were categorized into three groups: still married or cohabiting, divorced or moved out, and widowed. Death records were then checked through January 2020, according to a press release.

The researchers used statistical models to gauge whether this relationship loss was associated with death later.

Divorces or breakups were consistently linked with higher mortality across all groups compared to couples who stayed together. This was the case even after accounting for factors such as age, gender, health habits, self-rated health and loneliness.

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Being widowed was also linked to about a 14% higher mortality risk, though the association was strongest in the earliest period studied.

During the second study period, the link between breakup and mortality was stronger, with a statistically significant association observed only among women.

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Although this research displays an association between living alone and mortality risk, it does not define a direct cause, the team acknowledged.

The authors commented that these findings "highlight the importance of addressing social disconnection in public health and in clinical practice to reduce preventable mortality."

M. David Rudd, PhD, University of Memphis professor of psychology and director of the Rudd Institute for Veteran & Military Suicide Prevention, reflected that these findings underscore what has been known for decades.

"Loneliness has significant and severe consequences for individual physical health and emotional well-being," said Rudd, who was not involved in the study. "We're social beings, and relationships are essential to health, happiness and survival."

"These findings are particularly salient during this period of exponentially increasing isolation, secondary to the influential role of digital technologies."

While limitations always exist in studies of this kind, Rudd pointed out that this longitudinal research, spanning almost four decades, offers "remarkably important contributions to understanding human behavior."

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Divorcees and widows should understand that relationships and social engagement are "critical," Rudd said. While these relationships don’t necessarily have to be romantic, human connection is important.

"It's really simple," he added. "Developing, nurturing and maintaining relationships is critical to health, well-being and happiness."

JONATHAN TURLEY: When journalists whine about #MeToo, they don’t mean Platner, too

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 09:00:23 -0400

Some people just like classic Coke. Others insist on the original Reese’s recipe. New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor went on CNN to explain why Democrats can vote for Maine senatorial candidate Graham Platner despite multiple women coming forward to denounce him: this is really not the classic Me Too allegations that Kantor and others seem to prefer for outrage.

Kantor won a Pulitzer Prize for her reporting on Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein’s sexual abuse and was called forth by CNN to explain why it is OK for liberals to support an alleged abuser of women. A prior girlfriend has accused Platner of physically abusing her and even locking her into a room overnight. He is also accused of sexting women and dismissing rape victims.

None of that, however, necessarily presents a barrier for those who want to retake power by any means necessary.

Kantor clinically explained that these "are not classic MeToo accusations." Specifically, "they’re not about a boss and a young female employee being subjected to sexual advances. They were mostly made in the context of consensual relationships. … There are these, like, very sensational texts about sex. There are allegations from former girlfriends that are not — the way my colleagues reported them were not like classic abuse allegations," she stressed.

NEW YORK TIMES REPORTER UNDER SCRUTINY AS BIDEN ACCUSER SAYS SHE HAD SIMILAR EXPERIENCE AS GRAHAM PLATNER'S EX

In a statement that would have produced a torrent of condemnations if used during the Brett Kavanaugh controversy, Kantor insisted that "they were mostly like being his boyfriend gave me a view into him and I did not like what I saw. His character was scary. He had this Nazi tattoo. Etcetera."

In fairness to Kantor, she was attempting no small feat: to allow liberals to continue to claim Me Too outrage while grabbing Maine.

Of course, Kantor quickly brushes over the other controversies beyond the abuse allegations as simply a Nazi tattoo. She omits his mocking of a wounded veteran, rural people and rape victims while praising Hamas and embracing communism.

‘HE HATED WOMEN’: EXPLOSIVE ABUSE, NEW NAZI TATTOO ALLEGATIONS FROM EXES ROCK PLATNER'S CAMPAIGN

However, her diminishing of the account of women like Lyndsey Fifield as "they were mostly like being his boyfriend gave me a view into him and I did not like what I saw."

What Fifield alleges that she "saw" were marks left on her body after being yanked and grabbed by Platner. In one case, she claimed "he twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed from the other side so she couldn’t get out, telling her to remain there until she was ‘calm.’"

Kantor seems to begrudgingly acknowledge that "there was one allegation of crossing a line physically, but I think that means that these are pretty different accusations than, say, the one that — the ones that President Trump faced."

NYT PANEL DEBATES WHETHER GRAHAM PLATNER IS A ‘DIRTBAG’ OR DEMOCRATS’ ANSWER TO TRUMP-ERA POLITICS

Previously, Kantor did not draw this distinction between classic MeToo and new knockoffs involving non-employment situations. She once grouped a wide variety of controversies from former Democrat Sen. Al Franken to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to Jeffrey Epstein under the banner:

"[I]t felt like there was this period where discussion of #MeToo was actually pretty bipartisan. Democrats like [Sen.] Al Franken were accused, but so were Republicans, like [Alabama Judge] Roy Moore. And also, a lot of these stories played out in the corporate arena, which is not particularly political. But the Kavanaugh hearings almost felt in a way like a return to an older pattern, like a return to a pattern that we saw with the allegations against Bill Clinton, Clarence Thomas, and Donald Trump. Those are scenarios in which the allegations take on all of the heat and the poison of American political life. And in those stories, it turns into a holy war very, very quickly and can almost feel like it’s not even about the women anymore.

…The #MeToo movement has proven so durable and so self-correcting. I think there was a moment after the Kavanaugh hearings where it all just felt like it had become impossibly politicized, to the point where it was almost preventing constructive conversation."

'THE VIEW' ERUPTS AFTER HOSTIN DECLARES 'I WOULD HOLD MY NOSE' AND VOTE FOR SCANDAL-PLAGUED GRAHAM PLATNER

Ironically, Kantor’s rationalization returns to the very partisan "older pattern" that she once denounced in how allegations from women are treated in the media.

In rationalizing the Platner support, Kantor was obviously singing to the choir on CNN. Democratic figures like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democrat Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren celebrated his securing the nomination.

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Yes, he may be a rape-mocking, sex-texting, Hamas-praising, Nazi-tattooed, veteran-abusing, self-proclaimed communist. However, he will return them to power.

Other media figures, like "The View" co-host Sunny Hostin, have added their own rationalization for choosing power over principle. She has declared that he is "a liar, a racist, an antisemite, and a homophobe." However, he is still better than voting for a moderate Republican woman. This week, Hostin explained:

"let’s be strategic, let’s get some power, let’s take over the Senate, let’s take over the House and let’s right the ship. Let’s get our country back…I am sorry, I am someone that believes in character, I am someone that believes that morals matter," she concluded. "But because of the state of this country, I would — if I lived in Maine I would hold my nose and I would vote for Platner. I would."

And so, MeToo becomes Meh when Maine is at stake.

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TANVI RATNA: How Trump's multi-front pressure is shrinking Putin's operating space

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 08:19:47 -0400

A sanctioned Russian LNG tanker from the Portovaya project idled near Singapore in May 2026 with no buyer. At the same time, Ukrainian drones had already knocked roughly 700,000 barrels per day of Russian refining capacity offline across 16 major facilities. Europe had locked in a binding legal phase-out of Russian gas. And just four months earlier, U.S. forces had captured Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.

These are not isolated events, but connected parts of a strategic vise squeezing Russian power.

For more than a decade, Russia converted energy into leverage through access. Pipelines and long-term contracts gave Moscow influence inside European utilities and governments. Discounted crude layered on top of defense ties gave it relevance in India. Fuel networks helped keep clients like Venezuela and Cuba in the anti-Western column. The physical molecule mattered less than the political dependence it created. That conversion system is now being attacked on multiple fronts at once.

Trump moved early on buyers. In August 2025 he signed an executive order imposing additional 25% tariffs on India over its Russian oil purchases, pushing combined rates as high as 50% in some categories. He later stated publicly that Indian Prime Minister Modi had assured him India would stop buying Russian oil and that China would be next.

TANVI RATNA: HOW THE WAR IN IRAN REALIGNED EUROPE'S ENERGY FUTURE AROUND AMERICA

The signal was clear: Continued large-scale purchases carried direct economic costs. India has not abandoned Russian crude entirely, but it has become selective. The May 2026 rejection of the Portovaya LNG cargo showed the limit. Even with energy markets tight from the Iran war, Indian firms treated certain sanctioned Russian cargoes as carrying unacceptable compliance risk.

Europe has moved from crisis reduction to permanent legal exit. The December 2025 political agreement and the subsequent Regulation (EU) 2026/261 turned the break with Russian gas into binding law. Short-term Russian LNG imports face a ban from late April 2026. Short-term pipeline contracts end in mid-June 2026. The full phase-out of Russian gas is scheduled for September 2027. Russia’s share of EU gas imports had already collapsed from 45% before the full-scale Ukraine invasion to 12% by October 2025.

Specific infrastructure changes made the shift concrete. When Ukraine’s transit agreement expired on January 1, 2025, the old gas-electricity circuit into Moldova through Transnistria broke. Bulgaria had already taken control of the Rosenets terminal and ended Russian crude deliveries to its refinery. These are not reversible political decisions. They redesign the physical and legal map.

‘ONLY TRUMP CAN STOP RUSSIA’: MILLIONS FACE FREEZING WINTER, UKRAINE ENERGY EXECUTIVE WARNS

Inside Russia, production and processing capacity took direct hits. Ukrainian long-range drone strikes between January and May 2026 disabled around 700,000 barrels per day of refining across 16 facilities. Major sites including Tuapse, Syzran, Primorsk, Ust-Luga, Kirishi and Ryazan suffered fires, equipment damage and operational halts. Russian seaborne oil product exports fell sharply. Baltic port loadings dropped more than 30 percent in some periods as trade rerouted at higher cost and risk. Buyers now assess Russian supply not only for sanctions exposure but for physical reliability. The internal machine that turns crude into exportable products and domestic fuel has become less dependable.

The Iran war brought to light the fragility of reprieve that Russia has. Hormuz disruptions and related tensions drove oil and gas prices higher at points, giving Moscow revenue support on the volumes it could still sell. Washington, however, responded with conditional permission rather than open access. OFAC’s General License 134, issued in March 2026 and extended afterward, authorized delivery and sale only for Russian cargoes already loaded by specific cutoff dates. New production remained fully sanctioned. The tool allowed some flows when global markets needed supply, but the decision on which cargoes, which buyers and which dates rested with the United States. Energy scarcity became something Washington could manage through licenses rather than something Russia could exploit through volume.

The strategic depth and ability for Russia to project power on the outer edges also weakened. The January capture of Maduro removed a key partner and demonstrated Russia’s limited capacity or willingness to protect allies when its resources are committed elsewhere. Cuba’s fuel supplies came under visible strain, with only one Russian tanker permitted since December 2025 for humanitarian reasons amid widespread blackouts. The gray logistics networks Russia relied on after 2022 now face greater maritime enforcement and tariff pressure.

TANVI RATNA: EUROPE SAYS TRUMP MADE AMERICA UNRELIABLE. THE TRUTH IS TOUGHER

Alliance posture changes closed another lane. The 2026 U.S. National Defense Strategy shifted priorities toward homeland defense and China deterrence while stating that European allies should take primary responsibility for conventional defense on the continent and for supporting Ukraine. NATO has moved simultaneously to strengthen eastern flank planning and pre-position forces for the Baltics and neighbors. Putin faces a more capable deterrent on his western flank and less opportunity to exploit old divisions over American commitment.

Russia retains major buyers in China and continues selective sales to India. Some adaptations through alternative routes and shadow logistics persist. Higher energy prices tied to the Iran conflict provided genuine budgetary relief on sellable barrels. None of this restores the previous level of strategic freedom.

The old Russian position rested on the ability to convert hard assets into influence over governments that did not need to like Moscow in order to be constrained by its supply. That position is being compressed. Routes that once delivered access are becoming permissioned crossings. Internal capacity has been degraded. Key clients have been exposed. Buyers have grown more cautious. And the broader alliance map has hardened on the eastern flank while the United States reallocates its primary attention elsewhere.

Trump’s approach has not eliminated Russian energy from global markets. It has made turning that energy into dependable geopolitical leverage significantly more difficult across energy, finance, clients and alliances at the same time. Production continues. Easy strategic options do not.

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UNRWA fires 70 Gaza staffers amid allegations of Hamas ties, says terminations not admission of guilt

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 08:18:42 -0400

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) fired 70 staff members working in Gaza after long-standing claims from Israeli authorities that the agency is a collaborator with the Hamas terrorist group.

"Today, the Commissioner-General ad interim of UNRWA, Christian Saunders, took the decision to terminate the employment of 70 UNRWA staff members in Gaza with immediate effect," UNRWA wrote in a Friday statement.

UNRWA insisted its decision was not an admission of guilt, but one taken "to mitigate safety and security risks for the refugees the Agency serves under its mandate and for UNRWA personnel and premises."

The agency claims it has "repeatedly asked the Israeli authorities to provide information and evidence to substantiate allegations against individual UNRWA staff members in Gaza but has received no response to date."

ISRAEL SAYS UN MISLEADS WORLD AS GAZA AID STOLEN AND DIVERTED FROM CIVILIANS

"The dismissal of the staff is not part of a disciplinary process and does not constitute in any way a validation of the claims made against them," the UNRWA statement read.

The firings follow a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) investigation that referred more than 100 UNRWA staff members for suspension or dismissal.

USAID's investigation, the results of which the agency published June 5, assessed that a number of UNRWA's employees were deeply enmeshed in Hamas' civil society and military operations.

The investigation results included mention of "a deputy school principal serving as an al-Qassam deputy company commander in the Ain Gallout/5th infantry battalion, a deputy school principal serving as squad leader for the Khan Younis Brigade/2nd infantry battalion" and "a teacher with expertise as a sniper for Hamas."

The investigation also found numerous school teachers and principals it claimed to have participated directly in Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.

Israeli authorities have long charged UNRWA with being directly tied to Hamas.

"Since October 7, evidence of numerous incidents of Hamas exploiting UNRWA infrastructure and UNRWA employees being involved in terrorist activity has been exposed. Civilians in Gaza have even stated that UNRWA is Hamas," the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) wrote in a January web post.

Additionally, the IDF claimed, citing intelligence findings, that "among the 12,521 UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip, at least 1,462 (12%) are members of Hamas or other designated terrorist organizations."

UNRWA SCHOOLS ‘HIJACKED BY HAMAS,’ WATCHDOG REPORT WARNS

Israel's Foreign Ministry pushed back on UNRWA's defense framing and claims that Israel had not supplied evidence of employee-Hamas collaboration.

"UNRWA's statement on the termination of 70 employees, while blaming the victim, Israel, and without even mentioning the word 'Hamas,' is a cynical cover-up," the ministry wrote in a statement shared on X.

"The responsibility to purge terrorism lies solely with the UN, yet Hamas membership remains simply acceptable within UNRWA's ranks. By harboring terrorists and letting its facilities serve as Hamas headquarters, UNRWA has become an arm of Hamas," the statement concluded.

UNRWA, for its part, denies being an active collaborator with Hamas, but insists working with the group is an operational necessity for distributing aid in Gaza.

"UNRWA, similar to other United Nations entities, does not have police or intelligence capacities and must rely on the cooperation and assistance of Member States, including the State of Israel as the Occupying Power, to protect its operations and neutrality amid high risks in the Occupied Palestinian Territory," the agency wrote in its Friday statement.

In April, UNRWA's Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) announced the results of an investigation into 19 employees accused of participating in Oct. 7. UNRWA terminated 12 of the employees in January. Of the remaining seven cases, UNRWA had dismissed one, citing a lack of evidence. The remaining six cases were still under investigation as of April, according to the agency.

President Donald Trump's administration weighed levying terrorism-related sanctions against UNRWA in December.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also referred to UNRWA as "a subsidiary of Hamas."

Fox News Digital contacted UNRWA and a spokesperson for the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations but did not immediately receive a response.

Talarico touts Texas roots as out-of-state cash powers Senate campaign

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 08:00:56 -0400

Donors from outside of Texas accounted for roughly 50% of the funds Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico received during the final stretch of the first quarter of 2026, compared to his Republican opponent, who received just about 25% of his cash from out of state.

Of the $8.5 million Talarico raised between February 12 and March 31, a period where he saw a significant uptick in donations owing to his growing national profile, approximately $4 million came from states other than Texas, according to campaign finance records reviewed by Fox News Digital. The Republican nominee, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, meanwhile, raised $640,000 out of the roughly $850,000 he brought in during that period from within Texas.

The fundraising disparity underscores the nationalization of Texas’ Senate race, with Talarico drawing major financial support from Democratic donors and executives far beyond the state he seeks to represent, even as he campaigns on Texas roots and opposition to outside special interests. The haul gives Democrats a cash advantage in what is shaping up to be one of the most competitive Senate races this cycle, while giving Republicans an opening to cast Talarico’s campaign as powered by coastal liberal donors rather than Texas voters.

Donors from New York and California, for instance, showered Talarico with more than $1.3 million in the final six weeks of quarter one, according to Federal Election Commission records.

VULNERABLE DEM SENATOR’S ‘GRASSROOTS’ CAMPAIGN POWERED BY OUT-OF-STATE CASH, MOSTLY BY COASTAL ELITES

Talarico has made an effort to highlight his ties to Texas during his Senate campaign, touting the fact that his family has lived in the state for eight generations and criticizing the influence of out-of-state interests on Texans.

"I’ve led the fight against the billionaire mega-donors that have rigged the system against working Texas families," Talarico’s campaign website reads. "Now, as those same billionaire mega-donors take over the federal government, we need more fighters in Washington who will take power back for working people."

ACTBLUE SUES TEXAS AG KEN PAXTON, ALLEGING POLITICAL RETALIATION OVER DEMOCRATS' FUNDRAISING

"James is proud to be the only candidate in this race not taking a dime of corporate PAC money, shattering grassroots fundraising records with donations from 246 Texas counties and the help of over 540,000 small dollar contributors — unlike John Cornyn and Ken Paxton, who have raked in millions of dollars from special interests and enriched their billionaire donors while working Texans struggle," campaign spokesman JT Ennis told Fox News Digital when asked about out-of-state donations.

"Our campaign is bringing Democrats, Republicans and Independents together to fix this broken, corrupt political system and bring down costs for families across our state."

Talarico accepted donations from out-of-state executives at Google, Warner Brothers, Apple, Meta, Victoria’s Secret, and other major companies between February 12 and March 31, per FEC records. The Democratic Senate hopeful has also accepted donations from lobbyists representing major corporations such as Google, AirBnB, Boeing, Novo Nordisk, Comcast, CVS and JP Morgan.

While Talarico has attracted considerable support from outside of Texas, his fundraising operation within the state has also eclipsed that of Paxton, who raised less than one-fifth as much from Texans as his Democratic opponent. Paxton, however, fought a brutal primary against Sen. John Cornyn, splitting the GOP donor base.

JAMES TALARICO ADMITS PAST COMMENTS 'MISSED THE MARK' WHEN CONFRONTED ON CLAIMS LIKE GOD IS 'NON-BINARY'

Beyond his campaign committee, Talarico has also benefited from Lone Star Rising PAC, a super PAC spending millions to help him win. In contrast to his campaign rhetoric, much of the cash behind the super PAC boosting Talarico’s campaign came from wealthy out-of-state donors.

Just 12% of the millions of dollars in donations collected by Lone Star Rising PAC, which the Washington Free Beacon reports is run by Talarico’s longtime friend, came from entities within Texas, according to campaign finance records.

Customers hit with automatic 20% gratuities as restaurants combat tipping confusion

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 08:00:49 -0400

As restaurants in several FIFA World Cup host cities welcome an influx of international visitors this weekend, some operators are adding automatic gratuities to customers' checks — citing concerns that guests from countries without a strong tipping culture may unknowingly undercompensate workers.

Fox News Digital reported last month that the Missouri Restaurant Association advised Kansas City establishments to temporarily implement automatic gratuities of 20% during the soccer tournament.

Now, some restaurants in other World Cup cities like Atlanta and Philadelphia are among those doing the same, according to Food & Wine.

AUTOMATIC TIPPING PUSH BRINGS CONCERNS TO MAJOR US CITY AS RESTAURANTS BRACE FOR SURGE OF FOREIGN VISITORS

Supporters say the move is intended to protect workers who rely heavily on gratuities and avoid confusion for visitors unfamiliar with American tipping norms.

Some restaurant operators told TheTravel that they'll display notices informing customers of the surcharge.

"We'll have that posted on the menus themselves. We'll have it posted in the restaurant," Bob Riekhof, general manager of La Bodega in Kansas City, said in a statement.

"Probably the biggest part is just making sure our servers are communicating to the guests that the gratuity has been included on the check."

Ben Fileccia, senior vice president of operations and public affairs for the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association, told the publication that business owners "don't want the servers or bartenders or the tipped employees to have to explain what the tipping custom is."

AMERICANS ARE FED UP WITH TIPPING CULTURE, YET MANY STILL SHELL OUT 20% AT RESTAURANTS

He said the notices will make "for a much smoother transaction and no awkward conversations."

Others, however, worry that mandatory gratuities could add to growing consumer frustration over fees and surcharges.

"Restaurant traffic has been declining, and anything that is perceived to increase the cost does risk some consumer backlash, particularly if it's not well-publicized or if consumers feel there's an expectation to tip on top of the automatic tip," David Henkes, senior principal at Technomic, a food industry research firm in Chicago, told Fox News Digital.

Michele Bermuvez, co-owner of Atlanta's Brewhouse Café, told Food & Wine that it's "really important for us to take care of our staff."

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Said Bermuvez, "I definitely think there'll be some pushback, but, you know, it'll really streamline things for us."

Not every restaurant operator believes automatic gratuities are necessary.

"At Mahon Hospitality, we will not be changing our gratuity policies during the World Cup," Robert Mahon told Fox News Digital.

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"We believe guests should tip based on the service they receive, not because of a major event."

Mahon said his company is also taking a different approach to pricing as many businesses prepare for increased demand. At London & Martin Co., the hospitality group's English pub in New York City, customers will be able to purchase $6 pints of Guinness throughout the World Cup.

"Our goal is simple: Create a great atmosphere, offer fair value and give fans a reason to come back throughout the tournament," he said.

The debate highlights a broader question facing restaurants: whether protecting workers from cultural differences in tipping expectations requires automatic charges, or whether strong service and transparent pricing are enough to encourage customers to tip voluntarily.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the National Restaurant Association for comment.

Fox News Digital's Andrea Margolis contributed reporting.

‘Hell on wheels’ killer Mackenzie Shirilla lands prison job while serving life sentence for fatal 2022 crash

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 08:00:38 -0400

Convicted killer Mackenzie Shirilla has landed a prison job as she serves a life sentence for the 2022 crash that killed her boyfriend and their friend, Ohio prison officials confirmed to Fox News Digital.

Shirilla’s institutional work assignment at the Ohio Reformatory for Women is food service worker, according to Tara Nickle, a correction warden assistant and public information officer for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

But officials declined to provide more detail about the assignment, citing Ohio public-records exemptions.

The small glimpse into Shirilla’s daily prison life comes amid renewed attention on the case after Netflix’s "The Crash" revisited the fatal wreck, which prosecutors said was no accident for the driver dubbed "hell on wheels."

FATHER-TO-BE WAKES FROM COMA, TELLS POLICE GIRLFRIEND CRASHED CAR ON PURPOSE BEFORE HE DIES

Shirilla, now 21, is serving two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life in prison for killing her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20, and their friend, Davion Flanagan, 19, after prosecutors said she deliberately slammed her Toyota Camry into a brick building in Strongsville, Ohio, on July 31, 2022.

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Police records reviewed by Fox News Digital show Strongsville officers responded around 6:15 a.m. on July 31, 2022, after the Camry struck the PLIDCO building at 11792 Alameda Drive in Strongsville.

Shirilla, then 17, was removed from the driver’s seat and flown to MetroHealth Medical Center. Russo and Flanagan were pronounced dead after being mechanically extricated from the wreckage, records show.

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A grand jury presentation reviewed by Fox News Digital said Life360 data showed the vehicle traveling 90 mph in a 35 mph zone, while Event Data Recorder information showed the accelerator fully engaged and no service brake applied in the seconds before the devastating crash.

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A later police request to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office said the deaths were initially classified as accidental, but investigators believed the evidence showed the crash was "not an accident, but an intentional act."

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Police asked the medical examiner to conduct a secondary review and change the manner of death to homicide.

WHO IS MELANIE MCGUIRE? WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE ‘SUITCASE KILLER’ CONVICTED OF KILLING HER HUSBAND

Prosecutors argued at trial that Shirilla drove into the building to end her toxic relationship with Russo, and that Flanagan was an unintended victim who happened to be in the car. Shirilla's case is back in the limelight after Netflix's new series, "The Crash."

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Since the docuseries, Shirilla’s lawyers have asked the Ohio Supreme Court for an appeal.

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In a filing with the Ohio Supreme Court reviewed by Fox News Digital, Shirilla’s attorneys argue her trial lawyers failed to adequately investigate evidence that she suffered from Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS. The syndrome, they say, could have caused her to lose consciousness before the crash.

The defense says the condition was only "cursorily referenced" at trial, despite Shirilla and her family allegedly putting her attorneys on notice about it. Her lawyers now argue trial counsel should have dug deeper and sought expert testimony to explain whether POTS could account for Shirilla’s failure to brake before impact.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley "believes without question that Mackenzie Shirilla is guilty of murder," his office said in a May 27 statement.

Hasan Piker celebrates America being 'closer than ever' to socialism as he backs NYC candidates

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 08:00:36 -0400

Controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker threw his support behind two far-left candidates running for Congress in New York City, arguing their victories would help push the country closer to socialism.

"For the longest time, I thought we were so far away from socialism, and we might still be far away from socialism, but we do have an opportunity right here right now, more than ever before," Piker said Thursday at a Brooklyn rally for candidates endorsed by the New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America ahead of the state’s June 23 primary.

Leading the DSA-backed slate are State Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, D-N.Y., and activist Darializa Avila Chevalier, whom Piker praised as "giants" of the socialist movement.

"We must seize that opportunity, and you all must continue your own disciplined organizing for that to happen," Piker told the crowd. "That is the challenge."

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST MAMDANI ALLY MOUNTS BID FOR US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Both candidates are socialists who want to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), raise taxes on the wealthy and advance the Palestinian cause in Congress. If they win their contested primaries for deep-blue districts, they would almost certainly pad the ranks of the Democratic caucus’ far-left flank.

"I've rarely ever seen such tremendous ideological representation at such an important level," Piker said, referring to Valdez and Avila Chevalier. "I mean, a congressional seat is a tremendous amount of power."

"What an honor it is to be joined by Darializa on stage," Valdez jokingly said, referring to a cardboard cutout of Avila Chevalier. "[It’s the] honor of my life to be on a slate with her, with so many of my other socialist comrades."

Valdez is running for a seat vacated by retiring Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., that spans progressive bastions in Queens and Brooklyn.

Meanwhile, Avila Chevalier is running as a formidable leftist challenger to Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., the chairman of the influential Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in a district covering Upper Manhattan and the West Bronx.

The leftist duo is backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Justice Democrats, the progressive group that helped launch New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's insurgent House campaign in 2018.

MAMDANI STANDS BY FELLOW SOCIALIST CANDIDATE DESPITE RESURFACED FAR-LEFT, ANTI-AMERICAN POSTS

Avila Chevalier has sparked controversy over since-deleted social media posts in which she asserted "Israel doesn’t exist," voiced literal support for open borders and claimed "all deportation is wrong," CNN first reported.

The Mamdani ally has also faced scrutiny over calling former President Joe Biden "a rapist" and writing "F--- Kamala Harris" in 2021 after the former vice president told Guatemalan nationals not to illegally cross the border.

Piker predicted a wave of socialist victories in New York City would soon eclipse the significance of Mamdani's mayoral win last year.

"By the end of these midterms, Zohran will seem unremarkable. Because by then, we will have elected so many brilliant fighters into legislative offices throughout New York City and the state," Piker said, referring to the slate of socialist candidates.

"These are your comrades, these are your fighters," he continued.

Thursday’s rally comes as Piker, who has sparked widespread backlash over comments saying, "America deserved 9/11," and Hamas is "a thousand times better" than Israel, has interviewed and campaigned with proudly socialist candidates across the country.

Several Piker allies have lost their primaries, including former Ocasio-Cortez chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti, who launched a failed bid to succeed former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. However, the socialist streamer did score one notable victory with progressive surgeon Adam Hamawy's primary victory for a Democratic-heavy New Jersey House seat.

Fox News Digital reached out to spokespersons for Valdez and Avila Chevalier for comment.

Fox News' Matthew Donnell contributed to this report.

Sammy 'The Bull' reveals why his love for John Gotti turned into prison hate

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 08:00:35 -0400

Sammy "The Bull" Gravano is known as the Mafia power who betrayed his own boss, John Gotti, and sent him away to prison for life. But he is revealing a surprising sense of personal affection that he had for the Mob Godfather.

"I loved him," he said.

"I got to like the guy. We fought a war. It was us against the world," he told Fox Nation. "I loved him until we got pinched, and he came up with the idea of his talking on the wiretap tapes and using those behind my back."

Gravano is speaking out as Fox Nation debuts the new documentary about the days that Gotti ruled the American Mafia, "Gotti's Guy."

Gravano sent an earthquake through organized crime when he flipped and cooperated with the federal government in the trial that convicted the legendary Mob boss in 1992. He heard the audiotapes that the FBI secretly recorded of Gotti disparaging him, and thought he was being set up to take the fall.

As part of his cooperation deal, he pleaded guilty to racketeering and admitted to 19 murders.

"I told him, John, is that what you want to do? The boss wants to go free, so you want me to go to prison for the rest of my life? I was in prison for 11 months before I flipped. I had no intention of flipping, but when he made up all of this crap, my relationship went from love to hate in prison."

One former Gotti associate who still expresses his devotion to the Mob boss is Lewis Kasman, the subject of "Gotti's Guy." Kasman, who the media long dubbed Gotti's "adopted son," was a voracious defender and companion of the Mob boss, whom he called..."Grandpa."

"I'd say what's up Grandpa? Good morning. Back then we only had beepers, so I would call "Fat Bob" and make sure he was ready. Jackie would have the car, Jojo would be ready. So that's how we would start our routine," Kasman said.

Gravano said Gotti "used" Kasman for a lot of money, and it seems the amounts were indeed overflowing. Kasman said he hid millions of dollars in his house's attic, part of the Gambino haul that was estimated to earn the crime family from $100 to $500 million a year in the late ‘80s and early ’90s.

"We'd pick up, let’s say $250,000. Then Joe Butch would bring, let's say $100,000, Jimmy Brown from the garbage would bring in X amount of dollars, and each captain, depending on what industry they were extorting or what industry they were responsible for, and the unions, the various construction unions, the various labor unions, controlled by the Gambino family. And that's how the money would roll in," said Kasman.

Authorities said Joe "Butch" Corrao was a Capo based in Manhattan's Little Italy and Jimmy "Brown" Faila was also a Capo who served as head of the Trade Waste Association of Greater New York, an association of waste management garbage truck companies that prosecutors said filled the Gambino coffers with payoffs and kickbacks at the time.

Kasman said Gotti was confident in his role, what he stood for and that he made no apologies for it.

"You knew where John Gotti was, seven days a week. He wasn't hiding from anybody, he wasn't walking around in a bathrobe and a walker," referring to the Genovese crime family boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, who famously feigned a crazy act to try and fool the FBI. Nicknamed "The Oddfella," Gigante would wander around his Greenwich Village neighborhood in a bathrobe. In 2003, while serving time in prison, Gigante finally admitted that he had been faking being insane the whole time.

Kasman said one of his duties was also to serve as the Gambino de facto travel agent.

"We'd go on vacation. He didn't have credit cards, so we'd check into whatever hotel we were checking in, and you couldn't go and say 'here's $50,000' to the front desk clerk. So, I used to put up my credit cards, and I got a lot of points. And we'd get a big bill, $60,000, $50,000, whatever it was."

He said when they all came back home, Gotti would call him up and pay him immediately.

"He says, 'here’s the money I owe you.' Take his money. I didn't have to wait 20 hours if he owed me money. That's the kind of man he was. And he could have said to me, 'I'm not paying you.' What was I gonna do? Put him in for collection? Call my lawyer? Who was I going to call?"

Kasman said he had no qualms at the time about dealing with Gotti or the many organized crime figures around him, and harbored no illusions about how murderous and treacherous the underworld can be.

But he said his long association with organized crime eventually took a personal toll.

"I enjoyed it, and it was very good for business. But it did a lot of damage to my family, now 25 years later, to my wife and my three children and myself. I have PTSD, I still suffer. I have nightmares."

Kasman got divorced and ran into various legal problems of his own, serving time in jail and facing charges from perjury to obstruction of justice and money laundering.

The Gotti family has called Kasman a habitual liar who cannot be trusted, who rode on the coattails of the family patriarch. Gotti died of neck and throat cancer behind bars in 2002 at the age of 61.

But despite the adversities and criticism, Kasman said John Gotti continues to loom largely in his life.

"I still think about him every day. I mourn him every day."

As for Gravano, he went from helping run the Gambino crime family to running his own media company today. He said his podcasts and social media appearances have had more than 160 million views, and that the interest in organized crime shows no signs of slowing down. He hosts live broadcasts on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok on Mondays and Thursdays at 3 p.m. Eastern time, runs the podcast "Our Thing with Sammy The Bull" and has a website, Sammythebull.com.

He previously appeared on the debut of Fox Nation's "Mob Mentality" series, that also featured former Genovese crime family member Anthony Arillotta and Gambino truck hijacker Louis Ferrante, who is now a best-selling author.

Watch "Gotti's Guy," now streaming on Fox Nation and available on Fox One.

Steven McBee Jr. says dad's prison sentence will be 'the best moment of our entire lives'

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 08:00:22 -0400

Steven McBee Jr. revealed to Fox News Digital that his father’s prison sentence for fraud was a surprising blessing because it allowed their family to reprioritize what’s important.

"The silver lining in this, as difficult as this has been for us as a family, I also think five years, 10 years, 15 years from now, we're gonna look back and say, ‘This was the best moment of our entire lives because it allowed us to reprioritize and refocus on what's actually important to who we are as people,’" McBee Jr. said.

He said his dad would say the same thing.

"Every conversation I've had with him since he's been up there, it hasn't been about ‘How are the businesses doing?’ It hasn't been about ‘What's going on with the TV show’ or ‘What about social media?’ It's been, ‘How's the family? How's the babies?’ The important things in life."

REALITY TV STAR STEVE MCBEE SR. HOPES FOR TRUMP PARDON WITH HELP FROM RECENTLY FREED CHRISLEYS

"The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys," a reality show about their family’s farming empire in Missouri, returns for its third season to Bravo and next day on Peacock on June 15.

McBee Jr.'s father was sentenced to two years in federal prison in 2025 for his involvement in a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme involving crop insurance. He is serving time at the Federal Prison Camp in Yankton, South Dakota.

WATCH: Steven McBee Jr. says his father’s prison sentence will end up as the ‘best moment’ for their family

In addition to prison time, he was ordered to two years of supervised release and must pay $4,022,124 in restitution to the USDA Risk Management Agency.

‘REMINDERS OF HIM’ DIRECTOR SAYS PRISON DOESN’T DEFINE A PERSON’S WORTH

"He had an awakening leading up to the sentencing, leading up to going to prison, as far as ‘prioritize the right things in life,’" McBee Jr. said. "And I think that not only he would sit here and say the same thing, but myself and my younger brothers could say, ‘Hey, the last few years, we got so busy. It's almost like we lost track of what's really important in life, the family dinners, the evenings driving around the farm watching the sunset. We got so caught up in the work that we lost ourselves in the work.’ And I think that was his biggest message was get back to what's important to who you are."

Still, he said his father being sent to prison was "heartbreaking" for their family because he’s such a big part of their lives.

"I mean, we're over there for dinner at his house quite literally three to four nights out of the week," McBee Jr. said. "And so to know that he was going to be away for a while, that we were gonna have to step up and be the decision makers across the businesses" without their father to rely on "was a mix of being heartbroken and also saying, ‘Hey now's the time for us to step up.'"

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McBee Jr. said the last thing his father told them before he reported to prison was "‘Not only are you guys going to be just fine, you're going to be better off without me here. I've taught you everything I know, and you can learn from the mistakes I've made. You guys are better men than me. Like, go on and take on the world. You guys got this.’"

He said that his family is able to see their dad about once every two weeks, and he was even allowed to come home on furlough for two days once.

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Regarding possible misconceptions that viewers of the show might have about his family, McBee stressed that there is a "larger emphasis, whenever you're on reality TV, there's a larger emphasis put on the flaws or the drama than what's actually present in real life."

WATCH: Steven McBee Jr. stresses that reality TV zeroes in on the drama and the flaws

For every 100 hours of footage the crew shoots, he said, it boils down to an hour of "all the drama and the flaws of your character. So it's not that we've been judged incorrectly. People have the right to their own opinion, and candidly, we are not perfect people, and I'm the first one to sit up here and say, ‘I've got some things I've gotta work on myself.’ But as far as like the totality of us as human beings, it's like everyone else."

He added, "There are very, very good things about us and then there are some flaws about us. Unfortunately, with reality TV, it's pretty much just the flaws that get shown."

"We are human beings," McBee Jr. continued of what he hopes fans take from the show. "It's reality TV. So there's a lot of drama. You get to see all of our flaws out there. But I'd rather be an imperfect person living authentically and showing you who we really are than curating an image or crafting an image that's this perfect persona on TV."

Fox News' Stephanie Giang-Paunon contributed to this report.

America 250 demands a return to the founders’ dream for higher education

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 08:00:06 -0400

Leading a major public university teaches you something the administrative class never quite grasps: Institutions are living things. Further, the people tasked with guiding them are obligated to pivot and adapt in order to remain faithful to our country’s first principles. I led the University of Alabama from 2015 to 2025. I too watched the DEI movement on the national stage begin as a professed commitment to "opportunity," but evolve into something else entirely — an ideological enforcement regime hostile to merit, to free inquiry, and to the noble aspirations that forged the American university.

When the Alabama Legislature passed SB 129 in 2024, prohibiting taxpayer-funded DEI offices, I worked hand in hand with the state to ensure compliance. In fact, we were commended by the sponsors of the legislation for our complete and swift action. Outreach to gifted students from rural and underserved communities — work that had absolutely nothing to do with ideology and everything to do with talent — continued. That is because identifying and recruiting those who are smart and burning to work hard is one of the longest-standing charges of the American public university.

That clarity of mission is why this moment matters. As America quickly approaches its 250th birthday, the nation needs university presidents who have confronted and triumphed over ideological capture and come out the other side with an even more robust view of the purpose of public higher education.

DEI OFFICE CLOSURES AT UNIVERSITIES PILE UP AFTER ANOTHER STATE ORDERS END TO ‘WOKE VIRUS’

The statesmen who built our constitutional order believed a particular kind of education was necessary to form citizens capable of self-government. Benjamin Franklin, the driving force behind the University of Pennsylvania, believed that only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia because he understood liberty could last only among a populace proficient in a range of disciplines, from history to theology to rhetoric to reason. George Washington asserted in his farewell address that virtue and morality were the necessary spring of popular government. John Adams declared that the Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.

These individuals regarded education, properly understood, as the most potent engine for national greatness. Their conviction transformed a group of vulnerable coastal colonies into the most powerful nation in human history.

Then much of higher education lost confidence in the very civilization that had produced unprecedented wealth, freedom, and prosperity. Many universities drifted from the righteous pursuit of truth and toward partisan activism dressed up as scholarship. Slowly at first. Then quickly and often angrily. The progressive notion of diversity, which treats identity as paramount, became the organizing principle of the campus experience. That perverse form of diversity it is inimical to truth itself. Truth is objective. There are indeed immutable boundaries. And once an institution abandons that foundational premise, even slightly, it begins to falter, and it will eventually fail.

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The consequences, having played out on campuses across the country, are impossible to ignore. Western civilization is not treated as one of humanity’s pinnacle achievements worthy of rigorous study, but as something fundamentally illegitimate. Merit became the adversary. Excellence the enemy. Patriotism the villain. Public trust in higher education collapsed for good reason. Institutions were duplicitous. They preached tolerance while being censorious. They insisted on fairness while being dogmatic. Too many universities stopped teaching students how to think and started training them in which conclusions to reach.

CAMPUS GRADUATION CHAOS SHOWS HIGHER EDUCATION NEEDS A SERIOUS MORAL RESET

Florida chose a different path. Under Ron DeSantis, the Free State of Florida became the national standard-bearer for the renaissance of public higher education. The creation of the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida in 2022 reflects a renewed civilizational confidence — a willingness to let students wrestle seriously with the enduring questions that mark free and flourishing societies.

This matters far beyond one state. Our world is geopolitically precarious and intensely competitive. The United States cannot afford institutions that manufacture fragility, cynicism, and nihilism. Boldness, resilience, distinction, and creativity are the rare earths of leadership, and great universities must be where they are mined.

I had the privilege of leading one of Alabama’s great universities, working tirelessly alongside dedicated colleagues in service to our students, our citizens, and our shared mission. I now have an even sharper view, tested by a decade of running an institution through one of the most turbulent periods for higher education in American history. The takeaway is one that the Founders understood from the start. The university exists to form citizens capable of nurturing our delicate experiment in self-government. Everything else is downstream of that.

Restoring the Founders’ vision — without qualification and without apology — is a national imperative.

Power ranking the most patriotic fans at the USMNT's World Cup opener against Paraguay

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 07:26:00 -0400

The U.S. Men's National Team's 2026 World Cup run is underway, and boy, does it already feel like the entire nation has caught a case of World Cup fever.

Trust the science.

That's the beauty of international sports, though. Any other time, we're all divided and cheering for our respective pro or collegiate teams, but now?

We're all in on Team USA, baby.

WATCH THE WORLD CUP FINAL ON FOX ONE

And there was some serious patriotism at the U.S.'s first game of the tournament against Paraguay, and here is the definitive power ranking of the top 5 patriotic fans spotted in and around Los Angeles Stadium (or as it's known during non-World Cup times, SoFi Stadium).

There are no rules with patriotism — other than, well, be patriotic — but I love seeing some creativity infused with it.

I feel like we got that from these fellas who went all out with Uncle Sam hats, Apollo Creed "Rocky IV" robes, boxing gloves and all kinds of USMNT paraphernalia.

This is what I call "patriotic maximalism," and I'm all about it.

Just drench everything in red, white, and blue and stars and stripes.

That's what this is all about.

No notes. Well done, fellas.

FOX ONE’S NEW WORLD CUP VIEWING EXPERIENCE

I know I said we were going to look at fans in and around LA, but I had to throw a bone to these folks in Minnesota, because they are hardcore.

There were many of them outside.

TRACKING AMERICA'S WORLD CUP JOURNEY: HOW AND WHEN TO WATCH THE US MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM

Anyone can watch soccer in perfect conditions, but it takes a special kind of fan to stand there in the miserable rain to cheer on the Stars and Stripes.

A lesser fan would've said, "I'm gonna go find a Chili's and post up there," the second their socks could get a tad soggy, but not these folks. They were gutting it out in a veritable monsoon.

I love the commitment, and that's why they're on this list.

Hey, he's United States Navy (USN) Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell.

He's making the list.

Thank you for your service to U.S. soccer fandom, Mav.

Can't wait for "Top Gun 3."

You may be catching on to the fact that I put a lot of value in how much you inconvenience yourself to cheer on a team. I'm all about sticking it out through bad weather and uncomfortable costumes, and the Founding Fathers fit the bill.

Sure, the match is at a stadium with a roof on it, but it's still Los Angeles in June.

That's usually shorts-and-T-shirt weather, but these literal patriots said, "No, give us the wool getups and powdered wigs for the boys.

You love to see it.

Was there any other option?

The OGs of the OGs, the biggest ride-or-die US soccer fans, were out in full force.

While most of the country checks out the USMNT every four years, these are the men and women who have helped grow the sport of soccer among fans here in the States.

The World Cup is off to a hot start, and I get the sense it's only going to heat up as the group stage progresses.