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NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s attorneys have asked the judge who presided over his criminal hush money case to dismiss the indictment and vacate the jury’s guilty verdicts — arguing their client is a victim of the same “raw politics” President Joe Biden cited in pardoning his son, Hunter, according to filings made public Tuesday. “President Biden argued that ‘raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice,'” Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in the lengthy and politically charged filing, referring to Biden’s weekend statement announcing a 10-year pardon for his son. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.Mount Sinai Hospital to Host Sixth International Prostate Cancer Symposium and World Congress of Urologic OncologyINOLA — Samantha Mathews was in the right place at the right time, and from that August moment in a Claremore T-Mobile store there was the development of a grassroots movement of school spirit and community unity. The result: a joyous pep rally on Tuesday and the celebration of a desperately needed, $2.2 million prize for the Inola Longhorns’ athletic department. A T-Mobile Friday Night Lights national social-media promotion had centered on prep football. Schools could enter the contest by producing a video that would be posted on Instagram. The school that generated the greatest number of video likes would be declared the winner. During the Tuesday event, T-Mobile officials announced that from a field of more than 1,700 entries — and with a current total of 1.1 million video likes — Inola High School was the contest winner and the recipient of $2.2 million to be used for a strength-and-conditioning facility. People are also reading... Where to eat on Thanksgiving Day Former senior administrator at Tulsa Public Schools sentenced to prison In a flash, OU loses a receiver to the portal and another from its 2025 recruiting class Pagan prayer before Tulsa City Council meeting riles up Gov. Stitt, Ryan Walters Berry Tramel: Extreme makeover needed for OSU football after thrashing by Colorado Ben Arbuckle is the new OU offensive coordinator. Have Sooners found the next Lincoln Riley? New abandoned shopping cart retrieval program draws criticism from outgoing city councilor OU football bowl projections: After beating Alabama, where might Sooners land in postseason? Cowgirls head coach Jacie Hoyt unable to fly, who will lead OSU in her absence? Why was Mike Gundy critical of OC Kasey Dunn after loss? 'We didn't give ourselves a chance.' Former Southern Hills general manager submits bid to manage Tulsa's municipal golf courses What is OU looking for in offensive coordinator? Shared values but 'not looking for a choir boy' Machete-wielding man killed by Broken Arrow police Bill Haisten: Cooper Parker and the Bixby Spartans are at home in a new, $12M facility Mike Gundy defends Bryan Nardo following loss, offseason evaluation looming Also, at Longhorn Stadium, Inola gets a fresh turf that replaces a badly worn, 10-year-old playing surface, along with a video board that replaces a dilapidated scoreboard. “I’m a religious guy, and I believe in God’s timing,” said Jeff Unrau, superintendent of Inola Public Schools and a 1994 graduate of Inola High School. “This was divine intervention. Literally on the day I found out (that Inola had won), we got a quote from a company to come in and repair our turf. We were going to spend tens of thousands of dollars to repair it, just to be able to play next year. “Money is tight. Budgets are tight. I didn’t know how we were going to do it, outside of passing a bond, and, again, divine intervention comes in. To be the only school in the nation that has this is remarkable.” Unrau and a handful of school officials knew for two weeks that Inola was the winner, but there was great pressure to keep it a secret. “People like to talk,” Unrau said. “I hated to keep people out of the loop — (people) who deserve to know — but I couldn’t jeopardize it. It was very, very difficult.” By 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, the Inola gym was filled with energized students and community residents. They knew the winner would be announced, but the great majority did not already know the outcome. In a prerecorded video, there was a message from retired New England Patriots star Rob Gronkowski: “Guess what! You did it! Inola High School — You are the grand-prize winner of T-Mobile’s first ever Friday Night 5G Lights! Inola, you made history.” This weekend, 20 Inola students and school representatives are being flown to the SEC Championship football game in Atlanta. At some point during the Georgia-Texas game, the Inola group gets field-level recognition as the T-Mobile contest winner. Each Inola person gets a luxury hotel room and a $300 Visa card. The Longhorn marching band performed. Magenta is the official T-Mobile color, and scores of students were clad in magenta clothing. There were magenta balloons and confetti. The donuts that were served — they had magenta icing. Samantha Mathews is a 2005 Inola High School graduate who now is a hairstylist. Her daughter Layla Deboer is an Inola cheerleader. While in a Claremore T-Mobile store during the summer, Mathews was told about the T-Mobile Friday Night Lights contest. Mathews delivered a Friday Night Lights flier to an Inola school official. “Everyone at the school just ran with it,” she said, referring to the administration’s coordination of the campaign and the students’ social-media and boots-on-the-ground efforts to solicit Instagram likes for the Inola video. Students and Inola residents visited Walmart parking lots, various Tulsa locations, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Paycom Center and Oklahoma State University’s Boone Pickens Stadium, sharing their requests for likes and support. “I took my kids to an Oklahoma State football game, and we made posters: ‘Help Our School Win $2 Million.’” Mathews explained. “(Inola students) made calls to every (Oklahoma) school district, asking them to ask their students to vote. Everybody just really rallied together.” Among celebrities who posted the Inola video to their big-audience social-media accounts were actress Jennifer Garner, OU football legend Brian Bosworth and the Turnpike Troubadours — a Tahlequah-based country band. Connor Pratt, a high school senior and a two-sport athlete, was among the Inola heroes. In addition to being a shortstop for the Longhorns baseball team and a wide receiver-defensive back for the football team, he had a starring role in the video that was submitted to T-Mobile. “In Inola,” Pratt stated in the video, “we don’t just play football. We live it.” “One thing I really like about Inola is that it gets people involved,” Pratt said Tuesday. “We’re such a small town.” Located 29 miles east of downtown Tulsa, Inola is a Wagoner County community with a population of 1,900. Pratt has signed to play baseball at Carl Albert State College in Poteau. Asked what he would like to be doing in 20 years, he replied, “I’m hoping to be back here, to be honest. I want to coach and teach. I love this place.” When T-Mobile designated Inola as a semifinalist, Inola Public Schools received $5,000. When Inola was named a finalist, there was an additional check for $25,000. “It took on a life of its own,” Unrau said. “The kids were unbelievable. The T-Mobile people were phenomenal from the beginning. We totally felt their support and genuine interest in Inola.” Unrau was jolted when he saw evidence of international support. “I had a person text me a picture from Denmark,” Unrau said. “They were sitting in a meeting in Denmark — a room full of people — and they were all voting for us in Denmark.” Mathews was asked whether she was shocked that her August phone-store visit led ultimately to a $2.2 million surprise for her alma mater — and to an SEC Championship trip for her daughter, and also for Pratt and Unrau. “I’m always a dreamer, and I’m a believer,” Mathews said, “and I hope I instill that in my kids — that if you believe you can do something, even if it seems impossible, you absolutely can.” The Tulsa World is where your story lives
NoneFor the first time since the Big Ben era, the Pittsburgh Steelers have an offense that is capable of striking fear into their opponents. We saw this offense hit its stride last week, racking up 520 yards of offense and putting 44 points on the board against the Bengals . The connection between Russell Wilson and George Pickens has played a large role in Pittsburgh's offensive success. Wilson's ability to deliver perfectly placed deep balls and Pickens' talent in contested catch situations is a perfect match, and they have produced some spectacular plays in recent weeks. Fans may be without this duo on Sunday afternoon. Pickens is dealing with a hamstring injury that may prevent him from taking the field against the Browns . Let's check in on the latest updates surrounding his hamstring. WEEK 14 FANTASY FOOTBALL RANKINGS QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/ST | Kickers Will George Pickens play this week? Injury update on Steelers' WR Heading into the week, Pickens was perfectly healthy, and the assumption was that he'd be able to play without issue. However, he tweaked his hamstring during Friday's practice, which led to him drawing a questionable tag for Sunday's game. This hamstring issue has lingered into the weekend, and Pickens is officially inactive. #Steelers WR George Pickens is officially inactive. Mike Tomlin had expressed optimism that he would go to @tracywolfson . But now, officially out with a hamstring. Pickens will look to take the field in Week 15 as the Steelers continue on their quest to become AFC North champions. For the time being, Pittsburgh will have to win without their WR1. Steelers' WR Depth Chart: Who is George Pickens' Backup? With Pickens ruled out, the Steelers have a handful of players they can turn to in his absence. Calvin Austin and Van Jefferson have each made big plays over the last few weeks, and both will assume larger roles with Pickens sidelined. The Steelers also acquired veteran Mike Williams ahead of the trade deadline in October. He hasn't taken on a prominent role in the offense just yet, but his vertical skillset will allow him to fill Pickens' shoes to some degree. WEEK 14 FANTASY FOOTBALL ROSTER MANAGEMENT Lessons Learned | Stock Watch | Sleepers | Busts | Start 'Em, Sit 'Em | Usage Report | Weather George Pickens fantasy outlook Week 14 The emergence of Russell Wilson has lifted the Pittsburgh offense overall, as well as Pickens' fantasy value. He is the per-game WR14 since Wilson took over and has four finishes as a WR2 or better in six games. Unfortunately, fantasy managers will be without him this week. If you're looking for a replacement for Pickens, be sure to consult the Sporting News' WR rankings and sleepers . With these two resources, fantasy managers should be able to patch the hole in their lineup left by Pickens.
Redmi Note 14 series, iQOO 13 among smartphones launching in India soon | Tech NewsChance of direct attack by Russia ‘remote’, says UK armed forces chiefIn one of the seven intriguing games on the NBA schedule on Saturday, the Memphis Grizzlies and Boston Celtics will meet at TD Garden. Info on how to watch Saturday’s NBA action is available for you. Sign up for NBA League Pass to get access to games, live and on-demand, and more for the entire season and offseason. Watch ESPN originals, The Last Dance and more NBA content on ESPN+. Use our link to sign up for ESPN+ or the Disney bundle. Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER .Reports: Saints concerned over QB Derek Carr's hand injury
Chance of direct attack by Russia ‘remote’, says UK armed forces chiefThat’s the question my collaborators and I asked over 1,000 people on social media as part of a broader research project on Twitter migration. Responses ranged from the profane to the poetic, but one common theme was that despite its significant flaws, Twitter at its best was truly great ... until it wasn’t. “The world is a better place for it having existed, and a better place now that it’s gone.” “It takes so little to destroy so much.” “I will miss it for what it could be in its best moments, but I will be happy that we can finally move on to healthier spaces.” For many, it was time to leave in the hopes of finding greener pastures. Since Elon Musk purchased Twitter, now branded as X, in October 2022, there have been reports of mass migration from the platform, and much ink was spilled – including some by me, a researcher who studies online communities – speculating where those users might land. The decentralized social network Mastodon attracted a lot of early attention, gaining a significant influx of users in the months following Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. In July 2023, Meta’s microblogging platform Threads gained 30 million users in its first day. Other Twitter alternatives appeared in 2023, some of which have chugged along with relatively small user bases, while others have already shut down. But these days, all the buzz seems to be about Bluesky. Looking for the familiar Bluesky was created in 2019 as a research project within Twitter led by then-CEO Jack Dorsey. It eventually severed ties with Twitter and became an independent company following Musk’s acquisition. The goal with Bluesky was to build a decentralized standard for social media that Twitter could eventually adopt. In that way, Bluesky is comparable to Mastodon in that they both allow for the creation of different servers that interact, and users can move their data and network between servers. But what does all this mean for your experience on Bluesky? If you are confused by – or just don’t care about – centralized versus decentralized social media, Bluesky won’t seem very different. It looks and feels a lot like Twitter. Nearly all of Bluesky currently operates from a single server, bsky.social, which means that you don’t have to choose a server when you sign up and your experience is contained there. Though Bluesky provides the option for users to host their own server and therefore store and control their own data, most users will experience what they’re accustomed to on traditional, centralized social media. My previous research on platform migration revealed how leaving a platform requires both a compelling reason and an immediate viable alternative. Musk’s acquisition of Twitter was a compelling reason for many users, and there have been a number of policy, design and cultural changes since that have compelled even more users to jump ship. As for an immediate alternative in November 2022, Mastodon had a significant head start because Bluesky hadn’t launched, and when it did in February 2023 it remained invitation-only for about a year. Threads didn’t launch until July 2023. Though Mastodon has a very dedicated user base, particularly among people who share a commitment to decentralization and user autonomy, there are a number of factors that have limited widespread adoption. My colleagues and I found that even among those on Mastodon, knowing how to find and join a specific server was the biggest challenge, and this has been enough of a barrier to keep many people off the social network entirely. Research on the migration of “Academic Twitter,” a broad community of academics connected on Twitter, also revealed that the decentralized structure of Mastodon created challenges for community building and sustained user engagement. Bluesky’s moment Meanwhile, the U.S. election in November seems to have been the tipping point as a compelling reason to leave for many X users, along with terms of service changes regarding AI training. And it seems that at this moment there are other different “immediate viable alternatives.” Bluesky in particular saw huge growth in November, topping 20 million users, and at the time of this writing is still gaining several users per second. Though media and popular attention has been focused on Bluesky, Threads, which has nearly 300 million users, saw even more new sign-ups in November than Bluesky’s entire user base. Nevertheless, even Meta seems to be focused on Bluesky’s surge. It has scrambled to incorporate features into Threads that are selling points of Bluesky, such as customizable feeds. Perhaps Bluesky’s growth is particularly impressive – and therefore threatening to Meta – because it occurred essentially by word of mouth. In contrast, Threads has an absolutely enormous advertising platform: Instagram. Not only can Threads users simply use their existing Instagram accounts, but Meta has also started pushing Threads posts to Instagram. So when considering these three major Twitter alternatives – Mastodon, Bluesky and Threads – Bluesky’s moment actually makes a lot of sense to me. It feels less corporate than Meta’s Threads, and so it represents an alternative to Big Tech platforms controlled by billionaires. It also appeals to people who believe in the vision of decentralized social media or who want the option to control their data. But at the same time, the user experience is nearly identical to familiar, traditional social media, and it addresses some of the challenges identified with Mastodon, such as the learning curve for choosing a server. A surge in creation and use of starter packs on Bluesky – curated lists of people to follow – have also accelerated the creation of community and social networks. And the sudden buzz around the platform all at once has created momentum for entire former Twitter communities, such as Academic Twitter, to partially reconstitute themselves. No one site to rule them all Despite my optimism for the continued growth of Bluesky, I don’t think there will ever be a “new Twitter.” Social media fragmentation is here to stay, and many people are very happy on Threads or Mastodon or even smaller alternatives capitalizing on the latest X exodus. And X itself has over 600 million active monthly users. These platforms all provide something different, with different communities and priorities, and none will be the best option for everyone. Moreover, as Bluesky continues to grow, it will inevitably face many of the same problems that Twitter did even when the platform was perceived as being at its greatest. But for those who were hoping to “move on to healthier spaces” after attending Twitter’s funeral, there are multiple doors open for them. Casey Fiesler is Associate Professor of Information Science, University of Colorado Boulder. The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.
Paulo Fonseca vented his frustration entirely on the referee after Milan’s 2-1 defeat to Atalanta, insisting there is ‘a lack of respect’ towards his club. ‘I am revolted by this situation.’ The coach was fuming on the touchline and also received a yellow card for dissent after the opening goal, as he felt Charles De Ketelaere had pushed Theo Hernandez when nodding in the Marten de Roon free kick. Alvaro Morata managed to equalise , but Ademola Lookman was left totally unmarked for a free header at the back post on a corner to “In the second half, we didn’t get the ball to the forwards enough, leaving Rafa and Morata isolated,” “At the end of the day, we lost the game on two set plays. The first half was very good, but in the second we didn’t have that link with the strikers. I think we deserved more tonight, it was tough to accept conceding two goals from dead ball situations.” The Rossoneri have solidified their defence when it comes to counter-attacks, even though Mike Maignan made a big save to deny Mateo Retegui in stoppages, but continue to leak goals from dead ball situations. When it came to the De Ketelaere goal, Fonseca insisted his anger with the referee went far beyond that one incident. “I have always been quiet about the referee, but others talk. Today I am the one who am tired of staying quiet and watching what happens. The first goal was a clear foul, there are absolutely no doubts. The way the referee officiated throughout was against Milan, there are no doubts,” said the coach. “It’s not even just today. I recognise that refereeing is a tough job, but I am tired of watching the same decisions go the same way against certain clubs. With other clubs, they have no doubts, but with Milan they always do this. There is no respect towards Milan. “I am not afraid to speak the truth. I always respected the work of the referees, I realise they have a difficult job, but every week it is always the same. They lack respect for Milan. The way the referee officiated throughout this evening was a lack of respect for Milan,” continued a furious Fonseca. “That foul changed the game, we were in a losing situation to a goal that should’ve been disallowed. It upsets me that I am forced to talk about the referees, but I am revolted by this situation. It happens every week.” Did Fonseca feel that the referee favoured Atalanta? “This referee was also the VAR when we were against Udinese and you should go back and see what happened there with the red card. I am not asleep, I was afraid of this referee coming here with us and I was not wrong.”
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