Internet group sues Georgia to block law requiring sites to gather data on sellers (2024)

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has joined top political and cultural figures at Verona’s ancient Arena amphitheater for an open-air celebration o Italian lyric opera’s recognition by UNESCO as a global cultural treasure. Conductor Riccardo Muti presided over an orchestra of 170 musicians from Italy’s 14 opera houses, joined by over 314 choral singers and a cast of global star opera stars for Friday's event. They delivered a greatest hits of Italian opera from Verdi to Puccini, Donizetti to Bellini for an appreciative crowd.

The Atlantic Coast Conference has said its decision to file a lawsuit against Florida State was unanimous — among those who voted at a January meeting.

Canadian police have charged Austrian-Canadian auto parts billionaire Frank Stronach with sexual assault dating back to the 1980s. Peel Regional police say Stronach was arrested Friday and charged with five crimes including, rape, indecent assault on a female, sexual assault and forcible confinement. Police allege that the sexual assaults spanned from the 1980s to as recent as 2023. A lawyer for Stronach could not immediately be reached for comment.

LAS VEGAS — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will lay out the choices for Nevada this November at an outdoor rally Sunday in Las Vegas. Sweltering heat is forecast for the event.

DETROIT — Ethan Crumbley, the Oxford teen now serving a life sentence for fatally shooting four students at his high school in 2021, filed a motion Friday to withdraw his guilty plea and to correct what his attorneys called an invalid sentence, noting the judge did not properly ensure he und…

A New Jersey school district has hired an outside law firm to investigate how and why a Jewish student group was omitted from the high school yearbook. The situation came to light Tuesday after about 375 yearbooks were distributed at East Brunswick High School. The yearbook page was blank where the names of the members of the Jewish Student Union should have been, and their photo was replaced with a picture of Muslim students. East Brunswick Public Schools said Friday that the independent review will seek to determine who was responsible and whether it was malicious or a mistake.

MLB

Welcome back to fast and slick Sonoma Raceway, where the first repave in over two decades has created impressive speeds and concerns about the durability of the new asphalt. Ryan Blaney led Cup Series practice Friday with a lap that was 4.5 seconds faster than Denny Hamlin’s pole-winning run a year ago. But the repave hasn’t been perfect and patches of the track appeared to break apart during an April sports car test on the road course. The breakage required immediate repairs and plenty of patches that had NASCAR drivers concerned about the track surface ahead of the race Sunday.

PHILADELPHIA — The University of the Arts, an institution with roots dating back nearly 150 years, laid off 613 staff members Friday on its chaotic, final day of formal existence.

SUNRISE, Fla. — There it stood, shimmering in all its reflective silver. The Stanley Cup.

Oregon has expanded shellfish harvesting closures along the state's coastline to include razor clams and bay clams. The move comes after state officials closed the coast to mussel harvesting last week. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife says the closures are due to “historic high levels” of a marine biotoxin known as paralytic shellfish poisoning, or PSP. State health officials have asked people who have harvested or eaten Oregon shellfish since May 13 to fill out a survey. They say it's meant to help investigators identify the cause of the outbreak, which has sickened at least 31 people.

A fourth man has been arrested in the sports betting scandal that got Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter expelled from the NBA. Ammar Awawdeh turned himself in Friday following the arrests of three co-defendants earlier this week. A court complaint accuses him of pressing an NBA athlete to resolve gambling debts by claiming health problems and leaving games early. The tactic would guarantee a payout for anyone who bet on him to underperform. Awawdeh's lawyer declined to comment. Porter is not charged in the case or named in the complaint. But game dates and other details match up with an NBA investigation that led to his lifetime ban in April.

Denver human trafficker sentenced to historic 448 years in prison

PITTSBURGH — Moments after the NFL passed a new rule in March that will drastically change kickoffs, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed one of the league's best kickoff returners of all time.

Aprichaya Yubol followed a career-best finish on the LPGA Tour with a career-low 10-under 61 and took a two-shot lead over Jenny Shin after the first round of the ShopRite LPGA Classic. The 22-year-old Thai finished fifth in last week’s U.S. Women’s Open. Hannah Green is the only other player to shoot 61 this year, doing it at par-72 Seville in Gilbert, Arizona, in March. Yuka Saso followed up her second U.S. Women’s Open title with a 2-under 69 on Friday. Hinako Shibuno, who was runner-up last week to her Japanese countrywoman at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania, opened with a 66.

Formula 1 points leader Max Verstappen left the track early with his Red Bull machine smoking, while Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso had the fastest lap Friday in the second free practice at the Canadian Grand Prix. After Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was hit by heavy rain, lightning and hail before the first practice session, Verstappen returned to the garage four laps into the second session after a run on dry tires. Red Bull said the smoke was caused by a battery issue. Alonso had a fast lap of 1 minute, 15.810 seconds. Mercedes driver George Russell was second at 1:16.273. Earlier, McLaren’s Lando Norris had a lap at 1:24.435 after the downpour delayed the first practice.

OAKLAND, Calif. — In Kelsie Whitmore’s own words, Thursday was just another game. She became the first woman in Pioneer League history to start a game, but nothing changed regarding how she went about her work. Her preparation the same. Her routine was the same. Her pitch mix was the same.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., claims he’s qualified for the ballot in enough states win the presidency as an independent candidate, but there’s a major caveat. At least 10 of the 19 states where Kennedy says he's on the ballot have not yet certified his candidacy. Kennedy is racing to secure a place on the ballot in states with at least 270 electoral votes before a June 20 deadline to qualify for a CNN debate. Kennedy says he submitted more than 3,000 signatures in Minnesota on Friday.

The driver who caused a fiery crash that killed four fellow Maine Maritime Academy students has been ordered to serve three years in prison. Joshua Goncalves-Radding, of North Babylon, New York, pleaded guilty Friday to charges including manslaughter, aggravated DUI, and criminal speed. Law enforcement officials say he was traveling at between 106 mph and 111 mph (170 kph and 179 kph) before the SUV struck a tree and caught fire in December 2022. The crash happened after the students had gone out after the last day of classes for the semester.

Yes, you can bring your green Philadelphia Eagles jersey to São Paulo, Brazil, and, yes, you can even wear your green Eagles jersey inside Corinthians Arena.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The chairwoman of the Republican Party of Virginia Beach was indicted this week on a felony charge of intercepting wire communications.

WASHINGTON — Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese’s leadup to her homecoming game against the Washington Mystics on Thursday night encompassed everything that has turned her into the polarizing star she is.

Authorities say seven people have been arrested after smuggling 26 migrants near San Antonio, Texas, in a secret compartment of a trailer with little water and in sweltering heat. The suspects were charged with human smuggling, engaging in organized criminal activity, operating a stash house and evading arrest. One person remained hospitalized due to dehydration, but the others were released after experiencing only minor and heat-related injuries. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar says the migrants were found at a house in a rural area of the county on Thursday. The sheriff says they were packed into a false compartment under the trailer for three hours without water when temperatures were in the high 90s Thursday afternoon.

A federal judge in New York has given the go-ahead to a New York woman’s class action lawsuit which claims consumers are being duped by Cold Stone Creamery when they purchase certain flavors that “do not contain their represented ingredients.” Lead plaintiff Jenna Marie Duncan, who purchased a serving of pistachio ice cream from a Cold Stone Creamery store in Levittown, New York, in or around July 2022, says she reasonably believed there would have been nuts in the frozen desert. But when she looked up the ingredients online afterward, only pistachio flavor was listed.

The owner of two Boston pizza shops was convicted Friday of forced labor charges following a nine-day trial. The jury found that Stavros Papantoniadis, of Westwood, Mass. forced or attempted to force six victims to work for him and comply with excessive workplace demands through violent physical abuse, threats of violence, and repeated threats to report them to immigration authorities. Papantoniadis was convicted of three counts of forced labor and three counts of attempted forced labor. He is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 12. A lawyer representing Papantoniadis said he was disappointed the jury overlooked the motives of the victims to obtain legal immigration status.

Barry Mortimer often tells his wife that he’ll stay up for just a few innings of the Phillies game after he tunes in from his home in England.

Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento District Attorney Thien Ho has filed a new amended complaint against the city of Sacramento — a second attempt to convince a judge to allow his lawsuit to move forward in its entirety.

BASEBALL

Beaches in Florida's Walton County have been temporarily closed to swimmers after two reported shark attacks. The Walton County Sheriff’s Office says a woman was injured by a shark near Watersound on Friday afternoon. She was taken to a medical facility for treatment. A second incident later in the day involved a teen who was attacked near Inlet Beach. The condition of the two people and the extent of their injuries were not immediately available. Experts say shark attacks are rare. According to the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File, there were 69 unprovoked bites last year worldwide.

Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, was struck by an unidentified attacker in Copenhagen.

Friday

Friday

Stuart Skinner is the biggest question going into the Stanley Cup Final. The play of the Edmonton Oilers goaltender will be a determining factor in the series against the Florida Panthers. Skinner just this postseason has been at times unplayable to the point of being pulled and at others nearly unbeatable. Oilers management and coaching have now firmly put the team's championship hopes on Skinner's shoulders. The 25-year-old hometown product now has the chance to bring the Cup back to Canada for the first time since 1993.

All Times EDT

United States forward Josh Sargent could miss Saturday’s friendly against Colombia and could be dropped from the Copa America roster. A 24-year-old from O’Fallon, Missouri, Sargent scored 16 goals in 26 league games with Norwich in England’s second-tier League Championship but finished the season while playing with foot swelling. After the U.S. plays Colombia at Landover, Maryland, it meets Brazil on Wednesday at Orlando, Florida. At the Copa America, the U.S. has first-round matches against Bolivia, Panama and Uruguay. Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi and Haji Wright are the other forwards on the U.S. roster.

Nick Cannon, television host and polarizing procreator, has secured a $10 million insurance policy for his testicl*s.

Hunter Ensley went 3 for 4, including a three-run homer with two outs in the seventh inning, and No. 1 national seed Tennessee beat Evansville 11-6 on Friday to begin the Knoxville Super Regional. Tennessee (54-11), playing in its fourth consecutive super regional, can advance to the College World Series with a victory over Evansville (38-25) on Saturday. Christian Moore became the first Tennessee player ever to hit 30 home runs in a season when he blasted a shot in the third for a 3-2 lead. His error on a routine play at second hurt the Vols in the fifth as Evansville had a two-run double off the wall and an RBI single to center to tie it at 5-all. Ensley hit his 10th home run of the season.

SAN FRANCISCO — Twenty years after he issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples in defiance of federal law as mayor of San Francisco, Gov. Gavin Newsom returned to the city Friday to try to convince voters that the fight for LGBTQ+ rights isn't over.

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