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Before Prince Philip captured Queen Elizabeth II’s heart, another aristocratic suitor may have been in the running for the future monarch.According to royal historian Hugo Vickers, author of “Queen Elizabeth II: A Personal History,” his research revealed that Hugh, Earl of Euston — who later became the 11th Duke of Grafton — was considered a potential match for the young princess before she ultimately fell for the man who would become the love of her life.”The Queen Mother was very keen that [her daughter] should marry a Grenadier Guard,” Vickers told Fox News Digital.PRINCE PHILIP’S NOTORIOUS STRAIGHT TALK AND UNFILTERED OPINIONS WERE FEARED BY PALACE STAFF: ROYAL BUTLER”And the Grenadier Guards [are] the most prestigious of all the British regiments. If you’re a Grenadier Guard, you are the top.””Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, as young girls, were contained in Windsor Castle during the war,” Vickers shared. “There were quite a number of Grenadier Guards stationed. And Princess Margaret used to say that the whole of the castle was surrounded by barbed wire, which wouldn’t have kept the Germans out, but certainly kept [them] in.””With all of these Grenadier Guards around the place, the queen mother was very much hoping — she placed a number of Grenadier Guards, as it were, on Princess Elizabeth’s path. She would have loved her to marry Lord Euston. I think it was slightly in the cards at one point, and that could have happened.”WATCH: WHY QUEEN ELIZABETH REJECTED HER MOTHER’S PREFERRED MATCH: AUTHORAccording to the book, Sir Henry “Chips” Channon, a politician whose diaries chronicled what people in royal and high-society circles were saying at the time, believed that in 1943, Hugh was “reserved for a higher destiny — the very throne itself.””The Queen Mother may well have preferred an English aristocrat,” royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Fox News Digital.In the book, Lady Brigid Guinness told Channon that while Hugh was pursuing her, she believed he would wind up with the young Princess Elizabeth because “she likes him.”WATCH: QUEEN ELIZABETH WAS FURIOUS PRINCE PHILIP LEFT WITHOUT SAYING GOODBYE: AUTHORBut it was Lord Mountbatten, Philip’s uncle, who reportedly helped smooth the way for his nephew while other potential suitors, like Hugh, fell out of the picture.”My understanding is that Lord Mountbatten was instrumental in getting Earl Euston a fabulous job as ADC (Aide-de-Camp) to the Viceroy of India,” Vickers told Fox News Digital. “So Earl Euston went to India, which, of course, got him out of the way.”The book also suggests Hugh fell out of favor because the royal family came to see him as too passive. By October 1943, Channon was writing that the royal family had encouraged the Euston romance but dropped him as “too inert and énervé.” Billy Whitaker, a Grenadier Guard at Windsor, also told Channon that he thought Hugh hadn’t been seriously considered, whereas Philip was.”I think it was a much better choice that Queen Elizabeth married Prince Philip,” said Vickers. “Prince Philip was a breath of fresh air. He had a very good naval career during the war. He was bursting with ideas. They feared he would be a modernizer. They were absolutely right. I think the Duke of Grafton, a charming and cultured man, would not have been a modernizer or a vibrant influence on how to move the House of Windsor forward.”In 1946, Hugh married Ann Fortune Smith, a member of the Smith banking family. She went on to become Lady of the Bedchamber from 1953 to 1966 and then Mistress of the Robes to the queen from 1967 until she died in 2021 at age 101.British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard told Fox News Digital she believes Philip was destined to be with the late queen, who died in 2022 at age 96.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER”Thirteen-year-old Princess Elizabeth fell head over heels with 18-year-old Philip on that crucial fine weekend of July 1939,” she explained. “She was so amazed by the handsome, athletic Philip. A smitten Elizabeth kept a photograph of Philip in her bedroom.””Despite Princess Elizabeth’s heart set on Philip, her parents thought he was a brash, totally unsuitable match,” said Chard. “They discussed other potential suitors from high-society circles. One of these high-ranking British nobles was the Earl of Euston. But after his marriage to Fortune, she became a close friend and confidante to Elizabeth, serving the royal household for 69 years, even accompanying the queen on overseas tours.””Elizabeth steadfastly refused to look at anyone else. If anyone was a possible match, it was Lord Porchester, nicknamed “Porchie.” At least he had a passion for horse racing. However, their relationship was platonic.”The future queen and Philip would go on to develop a romantic relationship, though it was largely conducted through letters and occasional meetings. During World War II, Philip served in the Royal Navy, and the pair reportedly exchanged letters. By the mid-1940s, their relationship had become more serious.Philip would visit the royal family when he was on leave. The then-princess remained committed to him despite concerns within royal circles about his finances, foreign background and family connections.”Determined, Princess Elizabeth eventually convinced her father to allow her to marry Philip after a royal tour of South Africa,” said Chard. “King George VI realized that ‘distance made the heart grow fonder.’ Princess Elizabeth, now 21, didn’t forget about Philip. She missed him more.”LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS”The king was not enamored with Philip, who he saw as a rather brash young man,” royal broadcaster Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital. “But Elizabeth became infatuated with the dashing young blond. She kept a photograph of Philip, wearing a beard, in her boudoir without her parents’ permission. When it was obvious that Elizabeth was in love with Philip, the king took Elizabeth and her sister Margaret on a royal trip as a cooling-off period, to no avail. His daughter had made up her mind.””Princess Elizabeth’s parents eventually gave their full blessing,” said Chard. “Their engagement was officially announced in July 1947, and their relationship of choice, not arrangement, was a huge success. Let’s face it, Philip was the most handsome of them all!”Elizabeth and Philip married on Nov. 20, 1947. Then in 1952, the king died of cancer at age 56. Philip gave up his naval career before pledging to become the queen’s “liege man of life and limb, and of earthly worship,” The Associated Press reported.Philip spent more than seven decades supporting his wife. Before he died in 2021 at age 99, he fulfilled more than 20,000 royal engagements to boost British interests at home and abroad. He headed hundreds of charities, founded programs that helped British schoolchildren participate in outdoor adventures and played a prominent part in raising his four children.”What many now don’t know or realize is that Prince Philip initially wasn’t viewed as appropriate by many, particularly courtiers, who found him too foreign, too rough-edged, too ambitious and insufficiently English,” said British royals expert Hilary Fordwich.”It was a testament of the queen’s deep feelings for him that she wouldn’t be dissuaded from him despite considerable pressure from all sides. Their relationship was based on genuine love and mutual appreciation, rather unusual for royal marriages.”

LAS VEGAS — A former federal prosecutor who wrote a book on no-body murder cases told Fox News Digital that a “key question” in the search for a missing American woman is why her husband’s sailboat stopped transmitting location data on the night she disappeared.Brian Hooker and Lynette Hooker left shore at Hope Town in the Bahamas at around 7:30 p.m. on April 4, Brian Hooker told authorities that rough waters caused his wife to fall off their dinghy. Brian Hooker paddled to shore and arrived at Marsh Harbour around 4 a.m. on April 5, according to authorities.The couple was headed back to their sailboat Soulmate, their full-time home in retirement, when Lynette fell overboard, Brian claims. The couple frequently sail around the U.S. and Caribbean, according to their social media pages.Data obtained by Fox News Digital through marine tracking company VesselFinder shows the Soulmate’s Automatic Identification System (AIS), which broadcasts a vessel’s identity, speed and position, went dark at 9:29 p.m. on April 4 and did not resume until 8:40 a.m. the following morning, a blackout of more than 11 hours.SIGN UP TO GET TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTERBlaine Stevenson, a friend of Brian Hooker’s, previously told Fox News Digital that Brian returned to his sailboat with search and rescue officials on the morning of April 5. The Coast Guard Investigative Service is conducting a criminal investigation into Lynette Hooker’s disappearance.Tad DiBiase, a former federal prosecutor and author of the book “No-Body Homicide Cases: A Practical Guide to Investigating, Prosecuting and Winning Cases When the Victim is Missing,” told Fox News Digital that finding out how the tracking data went dark will be a key question for investigators.SEND US A TIP HERE”I believe there’s evidence that the tracking of the boat was turned off at a time that closely parallels around the time that she went missing. All of those things are highly suspicious,” DiBiase said.FRIEND OF BRIAN HOOKER SPEAKS OUT, QUESTIONS DISAPPEARANCE OF WOMAN IN BAHAMAS MYSTERYDiBiase said if he were a prosecutor being consulted on this case, he’d want to see a few questions answered.LISTEN TO THE NEW ‘CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO’ PODCAST”I’d wanna know a lot more about their relationship and then I would want to be very certain that the tracking system was turned off, what time it was turned off, all of that kind of forensic evidence,” he said. “I’d want to make sure that it was very solid and very clear what happened and what the position of the boat was, as opposed to where he said the boat was.”U.S. authorities recently asked the Bahamian government for clearance to search a new area in the Sea of Abaco for Lynette Hooker’s remains after investigators found GPS data that allegedly contradicted what her husband told investigators on the night she disappeared, CBS News first reported and sources confirmed to Fox News Digital.LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? FIND MORE ON THE TRUE CRIME HUBA source in the Bahamas told Fox News Digital that the new search, if approved by Bahamian authorities, will focus on an area of the Sea of Abaco with waters reaching 25-foot depths. The renewed efforts are based on GPS data from Brian Hooker’s phone, in which he was using a marine navigation app. The Hookers’ dinghy allegedly visited the same area, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News Digital.The Coast Guard seized the couple’s sailboat, Soulmate, in early May and took it to Fort Pierce, Florida, but it was recently moved to Fort Lauderdale, as authorities couldn’t pull it from the water.Brian Hooker’s Michigan-based attorney previously asked Americans during an interview with ABC News to give him the benefit of the doubt.”I would ask those watching to treat him the way you would want to be treated, to give him the benefit of the doubt, and to consider that not all of us, nor you, considering your own relationships, the way you speak to one another, we all handle things in different ways,” Crystal Marie Hauser said.Fox News Digital reached out to Brian Hooker’s lawyer for comment.

EXCLUSIVE: NEW YORK CITY — A Brooklyn landlord says he has been trapped in a nearly decade-long legal nightmare that has cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid rent and legal fees, while New York courts repeatedly delay resolution as his tenant continues living in the apartment without making direct rent payments to the landlord.Thomas Diana, who owns a small eight-unit building in Park Slope, told Fox News Digital he has spent the last nine years trying to remove a woman who originally moved into one of his apartments as a live-in companion for an elderly, disabled tenant.Court records show the woman moved into the apartment in 2014 after responding to a Craigslist advertisement seeking a live-in companion for the tenant, who later died in 2016.What followed was nearly a decade of litigation spanning multiple courts and proceedings. After the elderly tenant’s death, disputes arose over the woman’s tenancy status, rent obligations and whether the apartment remained subject to New York rent-stabilization laws as Diana sought unpaid rent and possession of the apartment.SQUATTER TURNS COUPLE’S DREAM HOME PURCHASE INTO NIGHTMARE”This has gone on for nine years. Nothing about this is justice,” Diana told Fox News Digital. “Every time the case gets close to resolution, there’s another delay, another lawyer change, another new story.”Diana says the tenant has changed lawyers at least eight times in the ongoing legal saga, which Diana refers to as a “9-year squatter situation,” although the case technically centers around a dispute over rent stabilization laws with the two sides disputing nearly every aspect of the case.”It drained my daughter’s college fund,” Diana told Fox News Digital inside his home while wearing a now-outdated T-shirt that says, “Stuck with 8-year-squatter.””Now we’re borrowing money to pay for college while this just keeps dragging on. It gets pretty stressful. People think eviction cases are like TV where it takes two weeks. In New York it can take years, and this one has turned into almost a decade.”IS MAMDANI’S SOCIALIST PUSH FOR RENT CONTROLS ABOUT TO WRECK THE NEW YORK CITY HOUSING MARKET?Attorneys for the tenant strongly dispute Diana’s characterization of the case, and the tenant at one point sued Diana, claiming the apartment had been improperly removed from rent stabilization protections.”Mr. Diana’s distortion of the facts in this case is a sad attempt to harass our client out of her rent-stabilized apartment, and he will not be successful,” Casey Gilfoil, an attorney with Brooklyn Legal Services, told Fox News Digital.Gilfoil said a judge has already ruled Diana improperly removed the apartment from rent stabilization and said the remaining issue before the court is determining the legal rent and any potential damages.Brooklyn Legal Services also says the tenant has money set aside in escrow pending the court’s final ruling.Diana pushed back, saying the court did not find that he committed fraud and that he followed the guidance he says he received from New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal when the apartment was deregulated years before the tenant sued. “The judge ruled there was no fraud,” Diana told Fox News Digital. “She said I incorrectly destabilized the apartment. I did it as they told me to.”Diana also disputed Brooklyn Legal Services’ claim that the tenant has years of rent saved in escrow, saying the numbers do not add up and that, based on court communications regarding her employment history, it is unlikely she has accumulated “anywhere near” $300,000.Diana says the occupant’s lawsuit relied on what he describes as a series of shifting and contradictory claims, including allegations that the original elderly tenant was not disabled, that the occupant had been on the lease and that the apartment was illegally deregulated.During depositions, Diana said his attorney challenged those claims with emails, photographs, rent records and testimony. He contends the allegations did not withstand scrutiny during questioning.”She got destroyed on all 18 claims,” Diana said. “And once those fell apart, they just made up new ones.”WASHINGTON POST BLASTS RENT CONTROL AS ‘FAILED POLICY’ THAT LEAVES RENTERS ‘WORSE OFF’ THAN BEFORECourt stipulations required the occupant to make monthly use-and-occupancy payments, similar to interim rent payments, of roughly $835 per month at one point, but Diana says those payments stopped years ago. He estimates total unpaid rent now ranges between $275,000 and $325,000.In her deposition, the occupant testified she has not worked full time in years and has limited income, a factor Diana says the courts have effectively allowed to justify continued nonpayment.Diana, who started a GoFundMe page to help with his financial struggles, says the prolonged case has left him struggling to maintain his building and cover basic expenses, including tuition for his children.”One apartment out of eight not paying rent wipes out any profit,” Diana said. “Judges talk in terms of months. They don’t talk about what $300,000 actually does to a family.”He also pointed to an overall problem with the system and described repeated housing court inspections that he says resulted in excessive and duplicative violations, which further delayed proceedings and increased costs.”They’ll cite you for a paint drip from 20 years ago and call you a slumlord,” Diana said. “Meanwhile, the tenant hasn’t paid rent in nearly a decade.”Diana says his case highlights what he views as a systemic imbalance in New York’s housing courts that allows bad-faith actors to exploit tenant protections indefinitely.”They tell you to sell your building. They tell you to accept a buyout, to pay the person who owes you hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said. “That’s not justice. That’s legalized theft.”In April, the case was adjourned again until this summer, essentially guaranteeing that the saga will extend into its 10th year.”This court case has become a Twilight Zone Marathon,” Diana said.

More than a year after 17-year-old Austin Metcalf was fatally stabbed during a confrontation at a Frisco high school track meet, the Texas suspect accused of killing him is expected back in court as jury selection begins for his murder trial on Monday.Karmelo Anthony, 18, faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with Metcalf’s death. The start of jury selection is expected to provide the latest indication of how prosecutors and defense attorneys plan to navigate a case that has drawn widespread attention and competing claims about whether Anthony acted in self-defense.As Anthony prepares for his trial, Texas defense attorney and legal analyst Jeremy Rosenthal told Fox News Digital that one of the biggest hurdles facing both sides may be finding jurors who have not already formed opinions about the case.”This case in particular has a lot of disturbing history when it comes to misinformation online, rumors, doxing, things like that,” Rosenthal said.TEXAS PRESS CONFERENCE IN AUSTIN METCALF KILLING DEVOLVES INTO CHAOS OVER TRACK MEET STABBINGRosenthal noted that publicity surrounding the case became so intense that one of the judges previously involved in the proceedings required FBI involvement after receiving threats.”There’s particular concern about have people already heard of this case, have they already formed opinions,” he said.While Rosenthal believes a jury can ultimately be seated in Collin County, he said the process may take time.TRIAL DATE SET FOR AUSTIN METCALF’S SUSPECTED KILLER IN TRACK MEET STABBING”Collin County is a bigger place. I think we have close to a million residents, so I do think we’ll be able to seat a jury, but it is going to take a little bit of work,” he said.Rosenthal said the defense’s anticipated self-defense argument could ultimately become the defining issue of the case.”Self-defense is a really intricate defense that you have to sort of set up,” Rosenthal said.Under Texas law, self-defense is what attorneys call a “confession and avoidance” defense, meaning a defendant admits to the conduct but argues it was legally justified under the circumstances.SURVEILLANCE VIDEO SHOWS FATAL STABBING OF AUSTIN METCALF AT TEXAS TRACK MEET, OFFICIALS SAY”The crux of the issue is that you cannot provoke the harm and then retreat behind self-defense,” Rosenthal said.According to Rosenthal, one of the key legal questions could be whether evidence shows Anthony provoked or escalated the confrontation before the fatal encounter, a factor that could significantly affect how a self-defense claim is evaluated by the court and jury.WATCH: The killing of Austin Metcalf has devastated our entire community, says Greg Willis”Did Karmelo Anthony initially provoke the harm? Did he initially elevate the tenseness or the threat in the situation?” Rosenthal said. “Or did the victim provoke it?”Rosenthal said jurors are likely to hear competing accounts about who said what, where individuals were standing and whether anyone escalated the confrontation before the stabbing occurred.He added that the jury could ultimately be asked to consider not only murder, but potentially a lesser offense such as manslaughter depending on how the evidence develops and what instructions are given by the court.AUSTIN METCALF’S ACCUSED KILLER NEEDS SUPPORT FIGHTING ‘WHITE SUPREMACY’ AFTER MURDER INDICTMENT: SPOXAnthony was indicted by a Collin County grand jury after prosecutors presented evidence related to the fatal confrontation that unfolded during a track meet in Frisco on April 2, 2025.”For weeks, my team has been presenting evidence to the grand jury,” Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis said after the indictment. “Today, I summarized that evidence, and I asked the Grand Jury to return a first-degree murder indictment against Karmelo Anthony — which they did.””With that indictment, the case now moves formally into the court system,” Willis added.SUSPECTED TEXAS TRACK MEET KILLER EXPECTED TO WALK FREE AFTER BOND SLASHEDAccording to the arrest report, the confrontation occurred inside a Memorial High School team tent during the track meet.GRIEVING TEXAS FATHER SPEAKS OUT AFTER SON WAS STABBED TO DEATH AT HIGH SCHOOL TRACK MEETInvestigators allege Anthony warned Metcalf, “Touch me and see what happens,” before reaching into a bag and pulling out a knife.A witness told police Anthony stabbed Metcalf during the encounter. Metcalf later died from his injuries.WATCH: Father speaks out after son was stabbed to death at track meetAccording to police records, Anthony told responding officers he acted in self-defense. Investigators also reported that Anthony made a spontaneous statement after being detained, telling officers, “I’m not alleged, I did it.”Anthony’s attorney, Mike Howard, has maintained that the full circumstances surrounding the confrontation have yet to be heard in court.”We expect that when the full story is heard, the prosecution will not be able to rule out the reasonable doubt that Karmelo Anthony may have acted in self-defense,” Howard said following the indictment.MOURNING MOTHER, TWIN BROTHER OF SLAIN TEXAS TEEN SPEAK OUT: ‘LOST MY BEST FRIEND IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE’Austin’s father, Jeff Metcalf, has remained outspoken throughout the case and previously welcomed news of the indictment.”I am pleased that we are moving forward,” Metcalf told Fox News Digital after the indictment. “With the first-degree murder indictment, it now goes into the court system. I fully believe that justice will be served for Austin Metcalf. I look forward to the forthcoming trial. But it will never bring my son back.”The case has generated significant public attention since the stabbing, with supporters of both families weighing in online and advocacy groups becoming involved.GOT A TIP?Dominique Alexander, founder of the Next Generation Action Network and a spokesman for Anthony’s family, has repeatedly argued that the case should not be tried in the court of public opinion.”This case involves multiple minors and sensitive details that I cannot and will not speak about publicly,” Alexander said after the indictment. “That is why, from the beginning, I have refused to let this be tried in the court of public opinion.”FOLLOW US ON XAnthony’s legal team has similarly rejected efforts to frame the case through a racial lens.AMERICA STILL CAN’T PUT DOWN THE RACE CARD. AND IT’S THE SHAME OF OUR NATION”The factual and legal issues involved in this case are not about race,” Howard previously told Fox News Digital. “The law applies to every person, regardless of their race, equally. We have faith in the people of Collin County to apply the law blindly.”GET BREAKING NEWS BY EMAILLooking ahead, Rosenthal said some of the most consequential moments in the case may come once jurors are finally seated.He noted that jury selection could take several days and that opening statements are often among the most important moments of any criminal trial because they provide jurors with their first opportunity to hear each side’s theory of the case.CLICK HERE FOR MORE US NEWSUnlike some high-profile murder prosecutions that center on allegations of long-term planning or premeditation, Rosenthal said this case is expected to focus heavily on the events immediately surrounding the fatal confrontation.”I think you’re going to see a lot of localized focus on the people who were there and on the hours that really surrounded that one incident,” Rosenthal said.”Everything really in the immediacy of those few hours is going to be crucial.”Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report.

CELINA, Texas — A few years ago, the city of Celina was a quiet ranching town surrounded by open fields an hour north of Dallas. Now, it’s the fastest-growing city in America, where bulldozers outnumber cattle and sprawling new neighborhoods are rising almost overnight.The boom transforming this once-rural community reflects the explosive growth reshaping North Texas, as families and businesses push beyond city hubs in search of more affordable housing, better schools and more space. But the rapid expansion is also testing Celina’s infrastructure, water supply and ability to preserve the small-town identity that drew many residents there in the first place.”If you drive around Celina, you can definitely tell that we’re the fastest growing city,” Mayor Ryan Tubbs told Fox News Digital. “We have a lot of road construction going on, a lot of new sewer and water lines, just all different infrastructure projects getting ready to service our residents of the future.”THE RED STATES RACING AHEAD IN AMERICA’S POWERFUL WEALTH BOOM — AND THE STATES FALLING BEHINDAccording to new U.S. Census Bureau estimates, Celina grew by 24.6% between 2024 and 2025 — meaning roughly one in four people in the city today did not live there a year prior.Despite this, residents say Celina has managed to hold onto the close-knit community feel that prompted many families to put down roots there.”Yes, we can see and feel the growth, but we haven’t lost our sense of community here in Celina,” resident Carolyn Harvey told Fox News Digital.The city’s rapid expansion mirrors the broader population boom unfolding across North Texas, where communities on the outer edges of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex are growing at some of the fastest rates compared to other cities in the country.THE RED-STATE WINNERS IN THE CLIMB TO BECOME AMERICA’S NEXT ECONOMIC POWERHOUSEThe growth is reshaping not only the region’s economy, but also the political and cultural landscape of suburban Texas. These once-small, now-booming communities are gaining greater influence over schools, infrastructure and statewide priorities the more people relocate there.But the surge has also brought mounting pressure on roads, utilities and public services as cities like Celina race to keep up with demand. Tubbs said local leaders are trying to balance that growth by expanding infrastructure while continuing to attract more businesses and employers.”It definitely brings jobs, but it also brings a lot of challenges from an infrastructure standpoint, from water resources [and] road resources,” Tubbs said. “But it brings a lot of opportunities.”Much of the city’s workforce still commutes to nearby economic hubs like Frisco and McKinney, though officials hope new development will eventually allow more residents to work closer to home. Tubbs says that roughly 30% of residents work remotely, while the others commute to other North Texas cities.He also noted that the top employer in Celina is the school district with nearly 1,000 employees.Tubbs said the city hopes to preserve the sense of community that has long defined Celina, even as new residents continue pouring in.”If I was giving a recommendation for anybody else that’s moving to Texas, it’s just get involved,” Tubbs said. “Give back and see how much you get back from the community.”

We have officially crossed the Rubicon of political psychosis.With the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks squaring off, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott went completely rogue and dropped a digital war crime on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s timeline.The man posted a fully commissioned, AI-generated fever dream of himself catching Vince Carter air in a Spurs uniform just to put Hochul in a body bag at the rim.ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!It’s deranged, aggressively disrespectful, and pure car-wreck appeal.You physically cannot look away.Abbott paired the high-flying graphic with a caption that read, “Spurs about to dunk on Knicks like Texas has been dunking on New York. Go Spurs Go.”GOV. KATHY HOCHUL’S ATTEMPT AT DUNKING ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S NEW YORK KNICKS FANDOM BACKFIRESWhile the alien emoji was a nod to Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama, the post itself was a direct response to Hochul committing one of the most heinous sports blunders in recent memory.In an attempt to take a swipe at President Donald Trump’s New York sports credentials ahead of the Finals action between the Spurs and Knicks, Hochul tried to challenge Trump’s hoops knowledge during a news conference.KNICKS FANS SEND NYC INTO CHAOS AFTER FRANCHISE REACHES FIRST NBA FINALS SINCE 1999: ‘”I’d ask him to name the starting lineup of the 1993 championship team and see how he does,” Hochul told reporters with total confidence.There was just one massive problem with the Democratic governor’s routine.The 1993 Knicks did not win a championship.TRUMP SAYS HE THINKS HE’LL ATTEND NBA FINALS GAME AS KNICKS CLOSE IN ON LONG-AWAITED CHAMPIONSHIPPatrick Ewing and company were famously eliminated by Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals.The Knicks haven’t actually hoisted a trophy since 1973, a painful reality that virtually any New York sports fan could tell you.Critics pointed out that Hochul invented a fictional championship ring just to score a cheap political point against Trump.Naturally, Abbott saw the massive basketball brick from his New York counterpart and decided to run the fast break.Hochul practically served the chance for a poster moment on a silver platter.Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela 

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it carried out “self-defense strikes” against Iran over the weekend.”U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) conducted self-defense strikes on Iranian radar and command and control sites for drones in Goruk, Iran and Qeshm Island this weekend,” a press release noted.The measured and deliberate strikes occurred on Saturday and Sunday in response to aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a U.S. MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters. U.S. fighter aircraft swiftly responded by eliminating Iranian air defenses, a ground control station, and two one-way attack drones that posed clear threats to ships transiting regional waters,” CENTCOM continued.”No American service members were harmed. CENTCOM will continue to protect U.S. assets and interests in response to unwarranted Iranian aggression during the ongoing ceasefire,” CENTCOM’s release added.

Christian Pulisic is considered to be one of the best American-born soccer players in the world and is expected to be a major part of the U.S. national team’s run in the upcoming World Cup.It’s why the goal drought going into a friendly against Senegal was absolutely bizarre. Pulisic hadn’t put one into the back of the net since Dec. 28 when AC Milan defeated Hellas Verona in a Serie A match.ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!He got the weight off his back on Sunday when he scored in the 19th minute of the U.S. match against Senegal.”Now maybe we can stop talking about it,” he said after the match.The Americans won, 3-2, despite Sadio Mané tying the match early in the second half. Folarin Balogun put the U.S. ahead in the 62nd minute.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMPulisic was scoreless in his final 19 matches for AC Milan. The score also ended an eight-match scoreless streak while playing for the U.S. national team.”I felt this confidence, like I have played really well in recent months, but all everyone seems to want to worry about is goals. So, hopefully, we can stop talking about it,” Pulisic said. “We have games ahead and I have to be ready.”US SOCCER LEGEND CLINT DEMPSEY PREVIEWS TEAM’S WORLD CUP CHANCES, DISCUSSES ‘RESPONSIBILITY’ TO GROW THE GAMEPulisic added that it was a relief to finally get the goal.”The performance of Christian, for 45 minutes, was really, really good,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said. “He still has the potential to improve. But I think it is the way that he is training from day one. (The) way he played for 45 minutes was the habits that he created last week. Every day training with this attitude, with this commitment, with this energy. I think now we need to try to extend (it) until 90 minutes.”I am happy for him also because after a long time, a few months, he scored again. Obviously, that is important for our players in the preparation to the World Cup.”The U.S. will play Germany in its next friendly on Saturday. Then, it’s off to its first World Cup Group D match against Paraguay.Watch 3 Days of the FIFA World Cup for Free after 5/18 or before. Start your free trial or try it free.The Associated Press contributed to this report.

US Adult Cigarette Smoking Rate Hits Another All-Time Low

Via Headline USA,

The cigarette smoking rate among U.S. adults dropped to another all-time low last year, with 1 in 11 adults saying they were current smokers, according to government survey data released this week.

Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer, heart disease and stroke, and it’s long been considered the leading cause of preventable death.

The preliminary findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were based on survey responses from more than 24,200 adults. In the survey, CDC officials defined current cigarette smoking as smoking at least 100 cigarettes in a lifetime and now smoking every day or some days.

In the mid-1960s, 42% of U.S. adults were smokers. The rate has been gradually dropping for decades, due to cigarette taxes, tobacco product price hikes, smoking bans, public education campaigns and changes in the social acceptability of lighting up in public.

In 2024, the percentage of current adult smokers fell below 10% for the first time. Last year, it was 9%, according to the new survey.

The use of electronic cigarettes has been inching up among adults, but has held about steady in 2025, at about 7%.

“The continued decline in smoking is a monumental public health achievement that has saved millions of lives and billions in healthcare costs,” said Yolonda Richardson, president and chief executive of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy and research organization.

Richardson said current smoking-prevention efforts have been set back by cuts President Donald Trump’s administration made that eliminated the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health and its “Tips from Former Smokers” advertising campaign.

She cited estimates that the “Tips” campaign alone helped more than 1 million Americans quit smoking and saved over $7.3 billion in healthcare costs.

“This critical work must be restored and sustained to continue reducing smoking-related disease, death and healthcare costs nationwide,” Richardson said.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 06/01/2026 – 05:45

A special counsel team has determined former President Yoon Suk Yeol had prepared to declare martial law since late 2023, about a year before his failed bid in December 2024, officials said Monday.