Mena Massoud
Playing the leading role in a major Hollywood blockbuster that earned a billion dollars is the dream of many in the entertainment world. To do so alongside one of the biggest movie stars of all time, Will Smith, was certainly a dream come true for Mena Massoud. I sat down with him to unpack a hidden secret to career success that is not often discussed: the art of defiant surrender.
For many who lead companies or compete at a high level, it can feel like every moment must be maximized and every outcome manipulated. The performance literature points us somewhere else, to a flow state in which the brain is not preoccupied with holding tightly to every future outcome.
It may seem counterintuitive, but this liberates the brain to be in a place to actually access its best abilities.
Mena Massoud

#MENA #brain

ATLANTA − Tennessee football fans traveled in force to cheer on the Vols in a Week 2 game against Georgia Tech on Sept. 12 at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Large sections of fans wearing orange were visible among the light gold and white shirts that Yellow Jackets fans were sporting. And the No. 18 Vols received a loud reception when they took the field for final warmups.
"We're only about three hours away from Knoxville. It seems like half of Neyland Stadium made the drive," ESPN play-by-play announcer Bob Wischusen said during the broadcast.
While the Georgia Tech band performed the national anthem, UT fans occupied most of the east side of the stadium. A large contingent of Vols vans were also in the second deck of the north endzone.
There were spots of orange and white spread in every section of Bobby Dodd Stadium save for the Georgia Tech student section.

#dodd

By Alexander Cornwell and Rami Amichay
TEL AVIV/PSAGOT, West Bank, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Israel has given Britain 30 days to close its East Jerusalem consulate in response to sanctions on goods from settlements, a measure Britain's leader said on Wednesday was needed to "stand against injustice" in the occupied West Bank.
In the West ‌Bank, where Israeli settlements have eaten into territory Palestinians seek for a state, settler business owners said the sanctions — announced on Tuesday by Britain, France and Canada — ‌would dent their revenues and at least one said they could force him to close his date farm.
The sanctions are among the strongest collective actions taken by Western countries that Israel once counted as close allies, highlighting its growing isolation over the war in Gaza and expansion of settlements in occupied territory.
ISRAEL SETS DEADLINE FOR BRITAIN TO CLOSE CONSULATE

#britain #sanctions #settlements

The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 U.S. Open women's semifinals
NEW YORK — Elena Rybakina will take over the No.1 ranking come Monday no matter how she performs at this U.S. Open.
But the 27-year-old who plays for Kazakhstan has been mighty clear for all 36-odd hours she's occupied tennis's top spot: the number next to her name is a nice achievement.
What she really cares about is collecting ******* les.
Rybakina will have a chance to win her second Grand Slam ******* le of the year and back up that ranking coup after coming back to beat Coco Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 Thursday in the U.S. Open semifinal.

#rybakina #Monday

BERLIN (AP) — The Swiss federal intelligence service on Thursday published a 200-page dossier on the notorious ******* war criminal Josef Mengele, the German doctor known as the "Angel of Death" for conducting horrific medical experiments on prisoners at Auschwitz.
During World War II, Mengele served at the Auschwitz extermination camp in ******* -occupied Poland, where about 1.1 million people were killed, approximately 1 million of them Jews. He became infamous for carrying out brutal medical experiments on inmates, including children, under the guise of scientific research.
After the war, Mengele obtained a Red Cross travel document under a false identity, allowing him to leave Europe. Like many former ******* officials, he spent years in hiding in Latin America while being pursued internationally for his crimes. He drowned in 1979 while swimming on the coast of Brazil.
The documents released by Swiss authorities include material provided to police suggesting that Mengele may have returned to Switzerland after initially fleeing Germany, or may have been planning to enter the country under a false name, according to the German news agency dpa.
Historians seeking to establish whether Mengele spent time in Switzerland while being pursued as a war criminal, without Swiss authorities catching him, had long sought access to the files.

#swiss #german #million

Trinity Rodman did not need Ben Shelton to make a grand romantic gesture to leave a lasting impression on her.
Instead, it was something much more ordinary that convinced the US soccer star he could be a keeper.
When Shelton first visited Rodman, the pair had not met face-to-face before. Rodman had invited him to stay at her house for the weekend, but she admitted that waiting for him to arrive was an awkward experience. She decided to keep herself occupied before Shelton walked through the door.
Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images
Rodman revealed that she pretended to be busy breaking down boxes around her home while waiting for Shelton to arrive.

#rodman #trinity #bartke

Pop star Pink is under fire online for resharing an anti-Israel message and then following it up with a series of Instagram posts directed at her detractors.
Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, supported British musician Ed Sheeran on stage at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey in a show called Loop Tour on September 4 and 5. Donning a keffiyeh in front of an 80,000-strong audience, the rapper shouted "Free Palestine" and addressed Gaza and the occupied West Bank, saying that they are not being forgotten.
"Every human being walking on this earth deserves exactly the same freedom," he added, as reported by Variety.
The rapper then performed his protest song "Hind's Hall," which featured flashes of Gaza on the stadium screens. Macklemore referenced Hind Rajab, a young Palestinian girl killed in Gaza, named after student demonstrators at Columbia University who renamed a campus building in her honor. The rapper then addressed Jewish concertgoers, saying that criticizing Israel and condemning their actions as genocide is not a condemnation of Jewish people and that his message is a message of peace and dignity for everyone.
American pop diva, whose legal name is Alecia Beth Moore Hart, posted a video with the message "Awful" to her Instagram Story, claiming that Jewish fans who came to see Sheeran's performance are exposed to propaganda against Israel. According to Pink, Macklemore's speech and video presentation amount to a false accusation of genocide, and people who came to the concert are entitled to "apologies and refunds."

#Instagram #macklemore

Vincent Kompany and Bayern Munich have received a major injury boost ahead of their opening UEFA Champions League game against Bodø/Glimt on Thursday. Serge Gnabry, who hasn't played since last season's Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid in April, returned to full team training on Monday, according to Bild.
Eager to make up for lost time following his adductor tear, it's quite possible that Gnabry could return to the squad as early as Thursday, which could have consequences for summer signing Ismael Saibari. The duo will compete for the No.10 spot behind Harry Kane, a position that has also been occupied by fellow summer arrival Nathaniel Brown, in the absence of Jamal Musiala.
Kompany, therefore, has plenty of options to keep things interesting. Notably, following Bayern's 0-0 draw against Bundesliga returnees Schalke 04, Didi Hamann criticised Saibari's performance. "Saibari is a wonderful footballer," he told Sky90. "But he's too slow. He's not fast at all, he's like a poor Kane.
"They say Saibari can play four positions. I think the only position Saibari can play is behind Kane, because he's too slow on the wing. Gnabry is a class above him there."
GGFN | Daniel Pinder

#kompany #league #following

CHENNAI: Ishan Kishan has developed a habit of saving his best for the big occasion. Last year, he led Jharkhand to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy ***** le and produced a match-winning century in the final, a performance that helped him earn his way back into India's T20I setup. After playing a matchwinning hand against Pakistan in Colombo in the T20 World Cup earlier in the year, Kishan delivered again in the Duleep final on Monday, leading East Zone against South at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Kishan smashed 270 off 334 ***** (30x4, 7x6), taking East to a mammoth 708 all out, ***** ar Kushagra chipping in with 101 as well. The double century, his second in first-class cricket, came after a gap of 10 years and has further strengthened his case for a return to India's red-ball setup.

A triple century seemed on the cards after he crossed 250, but Kishan said that personal landmarks never occupied his mind. Interestingly, he himself was unaware that it had been 10 years since he scored a first-class double century. "Honestly, I wasn't even thinking about 50, forget 300. I was only thinking about 50-run partnerships," Kishan said.

The double century came off 273 ***** . He then accelerated dramatically, reaching 250 in only 27 more ***** . But the intent, he said, was never to chase numbers. "I didn't change anything in my game plan. I was just batting normally. Once I got set, my thought was not to throw my wicket away. I have enough confidence in my shots to know that if I play well, I will either clear the field or find the gap," he said.

For Kishan, the most satisfying aspect of the innings was the temperament he showed. With East having won the toss and opted to bat, the priority was to build a total that would put South under pressure. "I would rate this innings very highly because I kept the team's goal ahead of my own runs. There were moments when I could have played more attacking shots, but the priority was to spend time in the middle, make good decisions and build a big total," he said.

That approach was shaped by a mindset Kishan believes has changed considerably during his time away from the Indian team. Having spent to two years grinding it out in domestic cricket, he said the experience taught him to simplify his game. "When you're playing for India regularly, sometimes you get into a flow and your growth can stagnate. Going back to domestic cricket makes you start from zero. You realise there are so many players scoring runs and that you have to perform better to get back," he said.

#year

Pink faced backlash after reposting a statement from an advocacy group calling for an apology from Macklemore for advocating for Palestinians during his opening act for Ed Sheeran in New Jersey.
Pink reposted the message from the group StopAntisemitism on her Instagram stories. The message started with the word "Awful," suggesting that Jewish fans had purchased their tickets to see Sheeran but instead experienced what it referred to as anti-Israel propaganda. According to the group, the Seattle rapper had accused Israel of falsely committing a genocide, and concertgoers were owed an apology and a refund. Pink did not comment and has not yet given a reason for posting the message.
Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, performed for Ed Sheeran in MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sept. 4 and Sept. 5 as part of his Loop Tour. Dressed in a keffiyeh, the rapper told the crowd of more than 80,000 people that he wanted to stand in the stadium and say, "Free Palestine." He mentioned that he hoped people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank knew they had not been forgotten and that every human being deserved freedom.
Macklemore then sang "Hind's Hall," a protest song he released in 2024, as images of Gaza played on the stadium screens. Moreover, the rapper spoke directly to the Jewish audience, saying that criticizing Israel was not criticizing them.
His performance led the Israeli American Council to file a petition asking Sheeran and his management to remove the rapper from other tour dates. The petition referred to his show as a concert and not a rally for activists and politics. It also claimed that Macklemore used his global platform to promote a one-sided political agenda. The petition asked whether the speech and visuals were approved before the event.

#macklemore #sheeran #petition

TURMUS AYYA, West Bank, Sept 4 (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Saturday ‌said there was no plan to force ‌Palestinians to leave Gaza after two Israeli ministers this week floated proposals for the mass removal of Palestinians from the coastal territory.
• "I can tell you categorically there is no plan of the Israelis to displace people ‌out of Gaza against ⁠their will," Huckabee told reporters in Turmus Ayya, a Palestinian town in the ⁠Israeli-occupied West Bank.
• "There is an open-mindedness (that) if people wish to leave that they should have the right to leave. To incarcerate them in a place they don't ‌want to be should be an absolute, I think, just disgrace," Huckabee said.
• "Nobody is suggesting that there will be forced displacement. The Israelis are not. The Americans are certainly not. I know of ‌no one who supports that."
• Defence Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday said there was "no real solution for Gaza in the ‌end without this migration."

#Israel

By Alexander Cornwell
TEL AVIV, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered unauthorized settler outposts in the West Bank to be dismantled, two people familiar with the matter said on Sunday, amid ‌pressure from the U.S. to crack down on settler attacks on Palestinians.
The order applies to outposts established by ‌settlers without official authorisation from the Israeli state, the sources said. Outposts typically consist of prefabricated caravans and house a small number of settlers. The state has from time to time demolished such structures and also formally recognized others, allowing them to access government funding.
It was not immediately clear when the operation would begin.
U.N. bodies and most governments deem all Israeli settlements illegal under international law and consider the West Bank to be occupied territory under military control. Israel argues the territory is disputed, not occupied.

#israeli #occupied

Ethan Pecko entered his fifth inning Saturday unscored upon but with a reliever warming behind him in the Houston Astros' bullpen. Three batters later, his outing ended. Tim Tawa cued an infield hit into an open right side. Pecko pounced on a Ryan Waldschmidt tapper before Lars Nootbaar lined a clean single.
Nootbaar occupied the leadoff spot in the Diamondbacks' lineup and was facing Pecko for a third time in the game. His single put the potential tying run on base, brought manager Joe Espada out to remove his starter and reinforced an issue within Houston's rotation with 19 games left in a postseason race.
Two of five starters the Astros are deploying - Cristian Javier and Pecko, the right-handed prospect - are under tighter reins, with Houston hesitant to have them face opposing lineups a third time. Javier hasn't faced more than 19 batters in any of his past four outings, one of which he pitched in bulk relief.
Having three starters who will work deeper - Hunter Brown, Peter Lambert and Hayden Wesneski - can mitigate that usage somewhat. But it puts added pressure on those starters to cover innings and protect the bullpen, and on the bullpen to shoulder a significant workload at least two out of five (or six) days.
How sustainable that is down the stretch, for a club with a three-game division lead and 19 games left in the regular season, is a question. The bullpen has been arguably the Astros' biggest strength, yet it's also at less than full capacity, even with expanded rosters offering an extra spot on the pitching staff.

#starters #javier #right

Lane Kiffin had little reason to be upset at halftime of his first game as LSU's football coach, with the Tigers beating Clemson by 28, but before he went back to the locker room, he had one more thing he wanted to say to the millions of fans tuning in.
At the end of his halftime interview with ESPN's Holly Rowe, and as he was walking away from the camera, Kiffin turned around to deliver a final message.
"It took everything not to say 'Imagine if we had pro players,'" Kiffin said before running off to the tunnel at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
REQUIRED READING: Lane Kiffin says 'uncertainties' led him to leave ex-NFL players off LSU roster
For the past several weeks, Kiffin has occupied a familiar role as one of college football's villains, as two of his former players at Mississippi — tight end Dae'Quan Wright and defensive lineman Zxavian Harris — have fought to become eligible to play for LSU this season after signing NFL contracts earlier this year.

#lane #halftime #clemson #imagine

The University of Washington has paid a professor $600,000 after punishing him for parodying a land acknowledgment in his syllabus.
Stuart Reges, a non-tenured computer science and engineering teaching professor at the university, said in his complaint that in September 2020, university officials encouraged professors (but did not require) to include the university's land acknowledgment statement in their class syllabus. Land acknowledgments are statements commonly used by universities and public institutions to recognize Native American tribes as the original inhabitants of the land on which campuses now sit.
Reges parodied the university's land acknowledgment in his Computer Programming II class syllabus in January 2022. Instead of using the university's land acknowledgment, he wrote, "I acknowledge that by the labor theory of property the Coast Salish people can claim historical ownership of almost none of the land currently occupied by the University of Washington."
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) said that Reges was punished for his actions.
"UW was not amused. University officials censored Reges' parody statement from his syllabus and created a competing class, so students could choose not to take a computer science class from Reges. The university also initiated a nearly year-long investigation of Reges under an 'antiharassment policy,'" the organization said.

#class #washington

Barcelona came closer to exploring an Aymeric Laporte transfer this summer than previously understood, with The Athletic revealing that the Spain international was interested in joining the Catalan club.
Laporte emerged as a potential solution to one of Barcelona's clearest recruitment priorities: finding a left-footed centre-back capable of filling the role previously occupied by Inigo Martinez.
As per the outlet, the club initially believed a deal could be possible for around €15 million.
However, that expectation changed once Athletic Club made their financial demands clear, which were considerably higher.
Barcelona considered the asking price too high and withdrew before the idea developed into formal negotiations, meaning Laporte never came particularly close to becoming a Barça player.

#Athletic

The Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers will meet at the famed Melbourne Cricket Ground next week in what the NFL intends to be the first of many regular-season games in front of its growing Australian fan base.
The league also is determined to play those games at Australia's biggest stadium during the first week of the NFL's regular season — even with a major scheduling problem obstructing that goal in 2027.
The 100,000-seat MCG could be unavailable to the NFL at this time next year because it will be occupied by the Australian Football League postseason, which begins in early September. The AFL accommodated the NFL this year, but doesn't intend to do the same in 2027, according to Australian media reports.
Without going into details, NFL executive vice president Peter O'Reilly downplayed the potential for disruption caused by this scheduling conflict during a conference call Wednesday to highlight the league's upcoming Australian debut.
"We have great partners in the MCG and the AFL, and I know we'll work to a good solution there that allows the NFL to continue to play in Australia on an ongoing basis," O'Reilly said.

#week #first #regular #play

LONDON, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Britain will set out a "comprehensive" package of ‌measures on Israeli settlements in ‌the occupied West Bank in the coming weeks, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said on Tuesday.
Miliband told lawmakers that Israel's E1 settlement project would cut across land ‌which the ⁠Palestinians seek for a state and "risks making a Palestinian state ⁠unviable".
"This government will not acquiesce in the destruction of the two-state solution," he said. "We will act and I will ‌set out a comprehensive set of measures in the coming weeks."
Britain and other European nations have criticised Israel's plans, while Prime Minister Andy Burnham ‌said before taking office that he was "looking at measures to ban trade in ‌goods with illegal settlements".
The Times reported on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is "closely" tracking any plans to ‌introduce a trade ban.

#measures #settlements #weeks #trade

NBC's Matt Bradley joins Sunday TODAY's Willie Geist to share an update after he, along with members of our news crew and a Palestinian woman, were attacked by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the settlers of breaking the law and damaging Israel's standing the world. Warning: The incident was disturbing.

#israeli #willie #palestinian #bank

HANOI, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Vietnam said on Friday it strongly opposed all foreign activities in the Paracels archipelago in ‌the disputed South China Sea, following a report earlier this ‌week of new Chinese construction on an islet there.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that new installations had been sighted on Yagong Island, called Ba Ba Island by Vietnam, citing satellite imagery, with security **** ysts saying it could be the start of an early-warning radar facility.
"Vietnam resolutely opposes this, ‌has made serious representations ⁠and affirmed its position on the matter, and demands an immediate end to such activities and that ⁠they not be repeated," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang told Reuters in an emailed statement.
China has occupied the Paracel Islands since 1974, when it seized them from the navy of the former South ‌Vietnam. Vietnam, which claims the entire grouping as its own, has moved in recent years to expand its own network of bases in the Spratlys, which lie further south.
The Spratlys and nearby waters are also claimed, fully or in part, by Vietnam, the Philippines, ‌Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.

#activities

An Israeli court has acquitted a Jewish man who attacked a nun in Jerusalem, in an incident caught on CCTV which drew widespread condemnation.
Jerusalem Magistrates Court said Yona Schreiber was experiencing a psychotic episode when he pushed over and kicked the French nun in the Old City in occupied East Jerusalem in April. It ruled that he was not criminally responsible for his actions and ordered him to be sent to a psychiatric hospital for up to six years.
Video of the attack caused outrage, and deepened concerns after a rise in harassment of Christian clergy and pilgrims by Jewish extremists in the Old City.
The victim, who hit her head on a stone block, suffered a bruised face and leg.
Schreiber, 36, had been charged with **** ault motivated by hostility towards a religious group.

#magistrates #yona

Two beloved entertainment icons, born just three months apart in 1946, died at the same age on the same day.Country music legend Dolly Parton and British actor Tim Curry both died at age 80 on Aug. 25, prompting an outpouring of grief and disbelief over the coincidence from fans online.Parton, born Jan. 19, 1946, died in Nashville after a brief battle with cancer. Curry, born April 19, 1946, died at his Los Angeles home. News of Curry's death broke the following day.The pair occupied vastly different corners of pop culture, but each amassed devoted, multigenerational fan bases over careers spanning decades: Parton through her music, acting, philanthropy and unmistakable persona, and Curry through scene-stealing performances in cult classics including "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and "Clue."
Parton's death was announced Aug. 25 by her nephew Bryan Seaver in a video shared to the country star's social media accounts.
Representatives for Parton later confirmed that the "Jolene" singer died at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville after a brief battle with cancer, surrounded by loved ones.

#parton #curry #cancer #nashville

This story was originally published on CRE Daily. Join 70,000+ commercial real estate professionals getting daily news, market insights, and industry ***** ysis delivered straight to their inbox with the free CRE Daily newsletter.
Trepp counted $12.1B of performing securitized office loans with cash flow below debt service, out of $97.2B reviewed.
Free rent explains $1.46B of the well occupied balance, with 280 Park Avenue accounting for $1.075B.
Floating rate debt and elevated operating expenses sit behind most of the rest.
Trepp reviewed $97.2B of performing securitized office loans and found $12.1B that cannot cover their own debt payments. None of those loans are delinquent. The unexpected part is where that balance sits. More than two-fifths rests on buildings that are at least 80% occupied.

#trepp #reviewed

The NFL is reviewing Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman under its Personal Conduct Policy after Georgia court records revealed that he was arrested in June on family violence and property-damage charges.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, police accused Bateman of damaging a Mercedes-Benz occupied by the mother of his child and their 3-month-old daughter during a June 3 incident in Monroe, Georgia. An arrest warrant alleged that shattered glass caused small cuts to the woman's face.
Bateman, 26, faces misdemeanor charges of family violence battery and reckless conduct, along with a felony count of first-degree criminal damage to property. His attorney, Jordan Siev, said the family situation had been "taken completely out of context for sensational reasons" and urged the public to allow the court process to play out.
The Ravens said they had been communicating directly with Bateman, notified the league and were cooperating with its review. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy subsequently told ESPN that the matter is "under review of the personal conduct policy."
Police were called at about 6 a.m. on June 3 after an earlier dispute between Bateman and the mother of his child at a shared residence in Monroe, according to court records cited by ESPN. Officers said the woman had multiple facial contusions that she attributed to that earlier confrontation.

#bateman #family #georgia #monroe

By Alexander Cornwell
JERUSALEM, Aug 20 (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has warned militant Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank not to steal property owned by Palestinian Americans, describing such behavior as "a violation of God's law".
Huckabee, a Baptist minister and longtime supporter of ‌Israel's settlements, told Reuters in an interview that settlers found to have taken part in a siege of homes in the West Bank village ‌of Qusra, including one belonging to Palestinian American Loui Ridi, could be punished with U.S. sanctions.
Israeli settlers began encircling homes in Qusra on August 9, in what rights groups said was an attempt to seize privately owned Palestinian land. The case has drawn international condemnation.
Israel's military has deployed dozens of troops to the area and has since pushed the settlers back from the homes. But they remain nearby and residents including Ridi say they fear the settlers will encroach on their properties again once those troops pull back.

#homes

After a summer of on-and-off interest, Jhon Lucumi turned down more lucrative offers and got the move he reportedly wanted all along, joining Juventus after four seasons at Bologna. It's the kind of signing that typically doesn't generate much noise on its own: a 28-year-old defender with no Champions League pedigree to speak of, arriving for a fee that won't make any end of summer record boards.
But I think there's more than meets the eye with this transfer.
Lucumí often gets categorized as a classic ball-playing center back — calm in possession, accurate in distribution, and composed under pressure. While true, that label undersells his real profile. He's a defender defined less by highlight-reel flash and more by relentless consistency — a high-floor player whose value lies in making the complex look routine. He executes the required tackles, holds his **** e, and makes the simple, smart pass time after time.
With Lucumí, there are no surprises — just dependable, high-level quality.
Bologna rarely used Lucumí like a traditional, static center back. Across matches against Juventus and Napoli, he occupied virtually every defensive role across the backline — anchoring as the deepest defender, stepping into central midfield, or sliding out to cover the box. In one stretch against Napoli, he seamlessly shifted between left back, left center back, and right center back as phases of play demanded. Far from looking improvised, these rotations were clearly by design; Bologna's structure fluidly reorganized around his movements.

#back #napoli

(Corrects paragraph 4 to show the Israeli settler appeared to be holding a code book of Jewish law, not a Torah)
By Pesha Magid, Ammar Awad and Sinan Abu Mayzer
QUSRA, West Bank, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Palestinian American Loui Ridi raised a giant American flag over his West Bank home, hoping it might deter militant settlers besieging ‌the property. But it wasn't enough to stop one of them from walking onto Ridi's land on Tuesday, during a tense face-off.
Ridi arrived in Qusra late on Monday after traveling from ‌the U.S., fearing he could lose the property to Jewish settlers who have encircled three Palestinian homes in the village for more than a week, prompting U.S. condemnation.
Ridi, who grew up in the village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was taking a morning walk among his cherry and fig trees on Tuesday when a settler approached from the hill above, in an encounter filmed by Reuters, the only media outlet present.

#jewish #american

Two years ago, Bill Belichick was the hottest commodity in NFL media circles, lining up a series of gigs in the short period between coaching stints. One of them was The Breakdown, an ESPN film-room series where he and Peyton Manning broke down the X's and O's of upcoming Monday Night Football games.
This year, it appears that Luke Kuechly is the hottest name in NFL broadcasting, and he's moving into the seat previously occupied by Belichick.
According to The Athletic's Andrew Marchand, the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee will join Manning on The Breakdown on the ESPN app, with an expected start time in October, leading into ESPN's Super Bowl broadcast.
ESPN declined comment.
A radio ****** yst for the Carolina Panthers, Kuechly's stock skyrocketed in recent weeks as Netflix named him its top NFL game ****** yst. Per Marchand, who also broke the Netflix news, Kuechly auditioned earlier in July with NBC's Noah Eagle, who is expected to be the top NFL play-by-play voice for Netflix, and the duo "showed immediate chemistry."

#espn #series

The NFL insider musical chairs continues, as James Palmer is headed to Amazon Prime Video.
According to The Athletic's Andrew Marchand, Palmer will replace Ian Rapoport as the NFL insider for Thursday Night Football, providing reporting for the pregame and postgame shows. It is the latest domino to fall following the merger of ESPN and NFL Network and the resignation of Dianna Russini from The Athletic.
A longtime NFL media veteran, Palmer has bounced around to several unique opportunities in recent years. Palmer now co-hosts a podcast with former NFL Network colleague Steve Smith Jr. and is Bleacher Report's NFL insider. Recently, Palmer also co-hosted Scoop City with Russini and served as the lead NFL reporter for Underdog before its pivot to prediction markets.
Also per Marchand, Prime Video pursued Tom Pelissero before hiring Palmer. On Monday, Netflix announced Pelissero would be the insider for its NFL slate this season while also podcasting at The Ringer, whose shows are licensed by the streamer.
Rapoport contributed to TNF last season, but his exclusive contract with ESPN and NFL Network forced the move. Previously, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated occupied the role in 2024, and a former ESPNer did so in 2022 and 2023.

#palmer

Wearing No. 3 for most of his basketball career, Dailyn Swain will have a different look next season when he takes the court for his rookie campaign with the Chicago Bulls.
Swain wore No. 3 in high school at Columbus Africentric Early College in Ohio. He had it for his first two years in college at Xavier and again last season at Texas, helping the Longhorns to the Sweet 16 for the 12th time in program history.
The 15th overall pick was forced to change his number, with No. 3 currently occupied by Josh Giddey. He said on draft night that he may try to bargain with him for it, but it appears those efforts came up short after ultimately choosing No. 5 with the Bulls.
"I don't think I'll be able to afford a No. 3 from a guy like him," Swain said on June 23. "He definitely deserves it, you know what I mean? He is on his way up in the league, and he has been killing it. I just have to rock a new number. I'm not sure what is available. My guy Rob (Dillingham) is out there. He got 7. I really like 7. I'm going to have to see what is available."
Swain was the SEC Newcomer of the Year, averaging 17.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.6 **** ists and 1.6 steals while shooting 34.4% from 3-point range. He was the only Power 5 basketball player to lead his team in five different categories (scoring, rebounding, **** ists, steals, minutes).

#swain #Basketball