With Scotland's Carnoustie Golf Links playing host to the 147th Open Championship this month, Jordan Spieth looks to become the first American to win back-to-back British titles since 2005-06. The United States has produced three of the last five winners of a tournament that tends to reward a golfer's mental aptitude as well as his physical skills. U.S. golfers have usually fared well at the game's grandest tournament in the United Kingdom. Here's a look at how those American Open Championship winners rank through the years. 30. Todd Hamilton (2004) The then-rookie Hamilton won twice on the PGA Tour, both coming in 2004, with the biggest in surprise fashion at Royal Troon in a four-hole playoff over Ernie Els. Hamilton, who enjoyed tremendous success on the Japan Tour, shot three straight sub-70 rounds after opening with a 71. Since Hamilton never won again, he may be the least memorable American winner at the Open. 29. Ben Curtis (2003) Out of nowhere, Curtis became the first golfer since Tom Watson in 1975 to win his Open debut. Curtis wasn't even ranked among the world's top 300 golfers, but he hung around and took advantage of Thomas Bjorn's late collapse. The Ohio native shot a Sunday 69 thanks to a key 10-foot par putt on the 18th hole at Royal St George's. Curtis, who won three more times on the PGA Tour, missed the cut at the next three Opens before tying for eighth in 2007 and seventh the year after. 28. Justin Leonard (1997) Leonard's three-shot victory at Royal Troon highlighted a strong 1997 campaign for the Texan, who also won the Kemper Open, finished second at the PGA Championship and tied for seventh at the Masters. A final-round 65 allowed Leonard to erase a five-stroke deficit to extend the American Open winning streak at the time to three. 27. Denny Shute (1933) Shute won the first of his three major titles in 1933 on the Old Course at St. Andrews. He did so over fellow American Craig Wood in a 36-hole playoff after carding 73s in all four rounds. Shute's other two major victories came at the PGA Championship. 26. Mark Calcavecchia (1989) Greg Norman shot a Royal Troon record eight- under 64 on Sunday, but it was Calcavecchia who outlasted the Shark and Wayne Grady in a playoff. Calcavecchia won his only major championship via the first four-hole playoff format at the Open. After opening with a 71, Calcavecchia carded three straight rounds of 68. 25. Tom Lehman (1996) Lehman held a six-shot lead after three rounds and won by two to become the first American to win at Royal Lytham & St. Annes since Bobby Jones in 1926. This was the only major championship for Lehman, who also won the Tour Championship the same year. Further down the leaderboard, tied for 22nd place, was a 20-year-old by the name of the Tiger Woods   the only amateur to make the cut. 24. Bill Rogers (1981) Rogers might be a name that eludes golf fans today, but back in 1981 the Texan was among the best in the game. The PGA Player of the Year in '81, Rogers won four times that season, highlighted by his four-stroke Open victory over Bernhard Langer at Royal St. Georges. Rogers also finished in a tie for second at the U.S. Open and won the World Series of Golf in '81. However, he won just one PGA Tour event after that remarkable season. 23. Johnny Miller (1976) Before he became an overly opinionated television analyst, Miller was a two-time major champion. The last of his majors came in the 1976 Open at Royal Birkdale. Miller, who also won the 1973 U.S. Open, trailed Seve Ballesteros by two shots heading into the final round but fired a blistering 66, while the famed Spaniard faded. Miller won by six strokes. 22. Tony Lema (1964) Playing on the Old Course for the first time, Lema enjoyed a memorable debut in 1964. In his only major victory, "Champagne Tony" topped runner-up Jack Nicklaus by five strokes and celebrated with a glass of bubbly. Lema posted three more PGA Tour victories before he was killed, along with his wife, in 1966 when the plane he chartered for an exhibition event crashed on a golf course in the Chicago suburb of Lansing. 21. Tom Weiskopf (1973) With the tournament at Troon Golf Club, Weiskopf led the entire way en route to his only major title. Weiskopf's 12-under-par total of 276 equaled the Open record at the time held by Arnold Palmer, which he accomplished in 1962 on the same course. The victory was part of a three-year Open run for Weiskopf that featured three straight top-10 finishes. 20. Mark O'Meara (1998) O'Meara's stellar 1998 campaign got even better when he followed up his victory at Augusta by winning the Open at Royal Birkdale. While rain and wind dominated the tournament, O'Meara stood firm, as did Brian Watts. The pair went to a playoff, which O'Meara claimed for his final victory on the PGA Tour. 19. David Duval (2001) Following a host of near misses in majors, including two runner-ups at the Masters, Duval finally broke through to win his only major in 2001, at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. He carded weekend rounds of 65 and 67 to top Sweden's Niclas Fasth by three strokes. Duval won 13 times on the PGA Tour, but this was the last as injuries helped derail his career. 18. Jim Barnes (1925) Walter Hagen and Bobby Jones might have ruled the Open in the 1920s, but the British-born Barnes, who became a naturalized American, had his moment in 1925 at Prestwick. Known as "Big Jim" because of his 6-foot-4 frame and hitting distance, Barnes won by a stroke for his fourth and final major title. 17. Zach Johnson (2015) With the attention focused on defending champion Rory McIlroy's withdrawal due to injury and Jordan Spieth's pursuit of a third straight major title, the Iowa-born Johnson was flying well below the radar at the Old Course. Poor weather plagued the event with the final round and ensuing playoff concluding on Monday. When things settled down, Johnson's final-round 66 got him into a playoff, which he won over Marc Leishman and Louis Oosthuizen for his second major championship. 16. Gene Sarazen (1932) Sarazen led wire to wire to win his only Open title at Prince's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Going 70-69-70 in the first three rounds, Sarazen ended up winning by five strokes for his fifth major championship. From 1928-36, Sarazen recorded six top-10 finishes at the Open Championship. 15. Tommy Armour (1931) Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Armour moved to the U.S. in the 1920s and became an American citizen. With Carnoustie playing host for the first time, Armour edged Argentinian Jose Jurado by a stroke to win his only Open title. His final-round 71 matched the course record at the time to overcome a five-stroke deficit. 14. Jock Hutchison (1921) This probably is not the name that comes to mind when asked who was the first American to win the U.K.'s most prestigious golf event. Hutchison was actually born in Scotland but moved to the U.S. and became a naturalized American a year before he won the Open at his former stomping grounds of St. Andrews. Hutchison recorded a hole-in-one in the first round but needed to beat Roger Wethered in a playoff for the victory. 13. Stewart Cink (2009) Cink's only major title was even sweeter, considering he beat 59-year-old Tom Watson to accomplish the feat. The Alabama native trailed Watson by three strokes after three rounds but carded a 69 on Sunday to force a playoff, which he ultimately won for his last victory of any kind. 12. John Daly (1995) Four years after the burly Daly stunned the golf world by winning the PGA Championship, the good 'ol boy did it again by outlasting Costantino Rocca at the Old Course. A Saturday 73 dropped Daly four shots off the pace heading into the final round, but a 71 made him the clubhouse leader until Rocca holed an amazing 65-foot, uphill, breaking putt on the 18th to force a playoff. In the end Daly prevailed, but his next and last PGA Tour win did not come for another nine years. 11. Phil Mickelson (2013) In his 20th attempt, Lefty finally left as Open champion in 2013. Taming the famed Muirfield track, Mickelson came from five strokes back after three rounds to shoot 66 and beat Henrik Stenson by three shots. Mickelson called his stellar Sunday performance "probably the best round of my life." Three years later at Royal Troon, Stenson returned the favor by beating Mickelson by three shots. 10. Jordan Spieth (2017) Last year Spieth tried to become the first golfer since Padraig Harrington in 2007-08 to win consecutive Opens and the first American to do so since Tiger Woods (2005-06). In control for almost the entire 2017 tournament, Spieth recorded four straight rounds below 70 to hoist the Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale. At the 2018 event at Carnoustie, Spieth finished tied for ninth, four strokes behind the winner, Francesco Molinari of Italy. 9. Sam Snead (1946) In the first Open Championship held after World War II, Snead won by four shots at St. Andrews for his only title in the history of the event. He was the first American to win the Open since Denny Shute in 1933, but Snead took flack for saying the Old Course looked like an "old abandoned kinda place" on first sight. 8. Lee Trevino (1971, '72) With his two titles in the early 1970s, Trevino became the first back-to-back Open champion since Arnold Palmer 10 years earlier. In 1971, less than a month after winning the U.S. Open, Trevino won his first Open title by a stroke at Royal Birkdale. A year later Trevino posted another one-stroke victory, this time edging buddy Jack Nicklaus at Muirfield. 7. Arnold Palmer (1961, '62) Palmer's back-to-back titles in 1961-62 began a sort of resurgence for American golfers at the Open Championship. Prior to those two wins by Palmer, U.S. golfers won the event just twice (Sam Snead and Ben Hogan) since 1934. Since '61, Americans have won 31 times at the Open. Palmer won his '62 title at Troon by six strokes. 6. Bobby Jones (1926, '27, '30) The 1920s and early '30s of Open golf belonged to the Americans, who won 12 of 13 events. The last amateur to win the tournament, Jones was a big reason for that, posting back-to-back victories in 1926 (Royal Lytham & St. Annes) and '27 (St. Andrews). Jones' 1930 victory at Royal Liverpool was part of his Grand Slam that year. He retired after the '30 season and never played the Open again. 5. Jack Nicklaus (1966, '70, '78) Nicklaus' first Open win in 1966 at Muirfield meant so much to the Golden Bear that he named his signature course in Ohio after the Scottish track. He won four years later in a playoff at the Old Course, where he again lifted the Claret Jug in '78 for the 15th of his 18 major championships. He also tied for or finished second outright seven times at the Open. 4. Tiger Woods (2000, '05, '06) A three-time Open champion, Woods enjoyed his most dominant performance en route to that first title on the Old Course in 2000. His 19-under-par finish was a record at the time in relation to par. In a return to St. Andrews in 2005, Woods led wire to wire and defended his title by shooting 18-under at Royal Liverpool the next year. 3. Walter Hagen (1922, '24, '28, '29) No golfer in the 1920s dominated the Open Championship more than Hagan, a four-time champion. He won his first three titles by a combined four strokes before posting a six-shot victory in 1929 at Muirfield for his 11th and final major championship. 2. Ben Hogan (1953) Hogan made his only Open Championship appearance count, winning by four strokes at Carnoustie. Reportedly dealing with the flu, Hogan posted a final-round 68 that was a course record at the time, but his lone Open appearance was memorable for more than the finish. The par-5 sixth hole has come to be known as "Hogan's Alley" for the way he brilliantly played the split fairway during the tournament. 1. Tom Watson (1975, '77, '80, '82, '83) No American has won the Open Championship more than Watson. He claimed his first title over Jack Newton in a playoff in 1975 and topped buddy Jack Nicklaus two years later at Turnberry in what was known as the "Duel in the Sun." Following his three Open wins in the 1980s, Watson almost pulled out another at age 59 in the playoff with Stewart Cink in 2009.


WASHINGTON   The animated video begins with a photo of the black flags of jihad. Seconds later, it flashes highlights of a year of social media posts: plaques of anti-Semitic verses, talk of retribution and a photo of two men carrying more jihadi flags while they burn the stars and stripes. It wasn't produced by extremists; it was created by Facebook. In a clever bit of self-promotion, the social media giant takes a year of a user's content and auto-generates a celebratory video. In this case, the user called himself "Abdel-Rahim Moussa, the Caliphate." "Thanks for being here, from Facebook," the video concludes in a cartoon bubble before flashing the company's famous "thumbs up." Facebook likes to give the impression that it's staying ahead of extremists by taking down their posts, often before users even see them. But a confidential whistleblower's complaint to the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained by The Associated Press alleges the social media company has exaggerated its success. Even worse, it shows that the company is inadvertently making use of propaganda by militant groups to auto-generate videos and pages that could be used for networking by extremists. According to the complaint, over a five-month period last year, researchers monitored pages by users who affiliated themselves with groups the U.S. State Department has designated as terrorist organizations. In that period, 38% of the posts with prominent symbols of extremist groups were removed. In its own review, the AP found that as of this month, much of the banned content cited in the study   an execution video, images of severed heads, propaganda honoring martyred militants   slipped through the algorithmic web and remained easy to find on Facebook. The complaint is landing as Facebook tries to stay ahead of a growing array of criticism over its privacy practices and its ability to keep hate speech, live-streamed murders and suicides off its service. In the face of criticism, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has spoken of his pride in the company's ability to weed out violent posts automatically through artificial intelligence. During an earnings call last month, for instance, he repeated a carefully worded formulation that Facebook has been employing. "In areas like terrorism, for al-Qaida and ISIS-related content, now 99 percent of the content that we take down in the category our systems flag proactively before anyone sees it," he said. Then he added: "That's what really good looks like." Zuckerberg did not offer an estimate of how much of total prohibited material is being removed. The research behind the SEC complaint is aimed at spotlighting glaring flaws in the company's approach. Last year, researchers began monitoring users who explicitly identified themselves as members of extremist groups. It wasn't hard to document. Some of these people even list the extremist groups as their employers. One profile heralded by the black flag of an al-Qaida affiliated group listed his employer, perhaps facetiously, as Facebook. The profile that included the auto-generated video with the flag burning also had a video of al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri urging jihadi groups not to fight among themselves. While the study is far from comprehensive   in part because Facebook rarely makes much of its data publicly available   researchers involved in the project say the ease of identifying these profiles using a basic keyword search and the fact that so few of them have been removed suggest that Facebook's claims that its systems catch most extremist content are not accurate. "I mean, that's just stretching the imagination to beyond incredulity," says Amr Al Azm, one of the researchers involved in the project. "If a small group of researchers can find hundreds of pages of content by simple searches, why can't a giant company with all its resources do it?" Al Azm, a professor of history and anthropology at Shawnee State University in Ohio, has also directed a group in Syria documenting the looting and smuggling of antiquities. Facebook concedes that its systems are not perfect, but says it's making improvements. "After making heavy investments, we are detecting and removing terrorism content at a far higher success rate than even two years ago," the company said in a statement. "We don't claim to find everything and we remain vigilant in our efforts against terrorist groups around the world." But as a stark indication of how easily users can evade Facebook, one page from a user called "Nawan al-Farancsa" has a header whose white lettering against a black background says in English "The Islamic State." The banner is punctuated with a photo of an explosive mushroom cloud rising from a city. The profile should have caught the attention of Facebook   as well as counter-intelligence agencies. It was created in June 2018, lists the user as coming from Chechnya, once a militant hotspot. It says he lived in Heidelberg, Germany, and studied at a university in Indonesia. Some of the user's friends also posted militant content. The page, still up in recent days, apparently escaped Facebook's systems, because of an obvious and long-running evasion of moderation that Facebook should be adept at recognizing: The letters were not searchable text but embedded in a graphic block. But the company says its technology scans audio, video and text   including when it is embedded   for images that reflect violence, weapons or logos of prohibited groups. The social networking giant has endured a rough two years beginning in 2016, when Russia's use of social media to meddle with the U.S. presidential elections came into focus. Zuckerberg initially downplayed the role Facebook played in the influence operation by Russian intelligence, but the company later apologized. Facebook says it now employs 30,000 people who work on its safety and security practices, reviewing potentially harmful material and anything else that might not belong on the site. Still, the company is putting a lot of its faith in artificial intelligence and its systems' ability to eventually weed out bad stuff without the help of humans. The new research suggests that goal is a long way away and some critics allege that the company is not making a sincere effort. When the material isn't removed, it's treated the same as anything else posted by Facebook's 2.4 billion users   celebrated in animated videos, linked and categorized and recommended by algorithms. But it's not just the algorithms that are to blame. The researchers found that some extremists are using Facebook's "Frame Studio" to post militant propaganda. The tool lets people decorate their profile photos within graphic frames   to support causes or celebrate birthdays, for instance. Facebook says that those framed images must be approved by the company before they are posted. Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert at the University of California, Berkeley, who advises the Counter-Extremism Project, a New York and London-based group focused on combatting extremist messaging, says that Facebook's artificial intelligence system is failing. He says the company is not motivated to tackle the problem because it would be expensive. "The whole infrastructure is fundamentally flawed," he said. "And there's very little appetite to fix it because what Facebook and the other social media companies know is that once they start being responsible for material on their platforms it opens up a whole can of worms." Another Facebook auto-generation function gone awry scrapes employment information from user's pages to create business pages. The function is supposed to produce pages meant to help companies network, but in many cases they are serving as a branded landing space for extremist groups. The function allows Facebook users to like pages for extremist organizations, including al-Qaida, the Islamic State group and the Somali-based al-Shabab, effectively providing a list of sympathizers for recruiters. At the top of an auto-generated page for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the AP found a photo of the damaged hull of the USS Cole, which was bombed by al-Qaida in a 2000 attack off the coast of Yemen that killed 17 U.S. Navy sailors. It's the defining image in AQAP's own propaganda. The page includes the Wikipedia entry for the group and had been liked by 277 people when last viewed this week. As part of the investigation for the complaint, Al Azm's researchers in Syria looked closely at the profiles of 63 accounts that liked the auto-generated page for Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, a group that merged from militant groups in Syria, including the al-Qaida affiliated al-Nusra Front. The researchers were able to confirm that 31 of the profiles matched real people in Syria. Some of them turned out to be the same individuals Al Azm's team was monitoring in a separate project to document the financing of militant groups through antiquities smuggling. Facebook also faces a challenge with U.S. hate groups. In March, the company announced that it was expanding its prohibited content to also include white nationalist and white separatist content  previously it only took action with white supremacist content. It says that it has banned more than 200 white supremacist groups. But it's still easy to find symbols of supremacy and racial hatred. The researchers in the SEC complaint identified over 30 auto-generated pages for white supremacist groups, whose content Facebook prohibits. They include "The American Nazi Party" and the "New Aryan Empire." A page created for the "Aryan Brotherhood Headquarters" marks the office on a map and asks whether users recommend it. One endorser posted a question: "How can a brother get in the house." Even supremacists flagged by law enforcement are slipping through the net. Following a sweep of arrests beginning in October, federal prosecutors in Arkansas indicted dozens of members of a drug trafficking ring linked to the New Aryan Empire. A legal document from February paints a brutal picture of the group, alleging murder, kidnapping and intimidation of witnesses that in one instance involved using a searing-hot knife to scar someone's face. It also alleges the group used Facebook to discuss New Aryan Empire business. But many of the individuals named in the indictment have Facebook pages that were still up in recent days. They leave no doubt of the users' white supremacist affiliation, posting images of Hitler, swastikas and a numerical symbol of the New Aryan Empire slogan, "To The Dirt"   the members' pledge to remain loyal to the end. One of the group's indicted leaders, Jeffrey Knox, listed his job as "stomp down Honky." Facebook then auto-generated a "stomp down Honky" business page. Social media companies have broad protection in U.S. law from liability stemming from the content that users post on their sites. But Facebook's role in generating videos and pages from extremist content raises questions about exposure. Legal analysts contacted by the AP differed on whether the discovery could open the company up to lawsuits. At a minimum, the research behind the SEC complaint illustrates the company's limited approach to combatting online extremism. The U.S. State Department lists dozens of groups as "designated foreign terrorist organizations" but Facebook in its public statements says it focuses its efforts on two, the Islamic State group and al-Qaida. But even with those two targets, Facebook's algorithms often miss the names of affiliated groups. Al Azm says Facebook's method seems to be less effective with Arabic script. For instance, a search in Arabic for "Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula" turns up not only posts, but an auto-generated business page. One user listed his occupation as "Former Sniper" at "Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula" written in Arabic. Another user evaded Facebook's cull by reversing the order of the countries in the Arabic for ISIS or "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria." John Kostyack, a lawyer with the National Whistleblower Center in Washington who represents the anonymous plaintiff behind the complaint, said the goal is to make Facebook take a more robust approach to counteracting extremist propaganda. "Right now we're hearing stories of what happened in New Zealand and Sri Lanka   just heartbreaking massacres where the groups that came forward were clearly openly recruiting and networking on Facebook and other social media," he said. "That's not going to stop unless we develop a public policy to deal with it, unless we create some kind of sense of corporate social responsibility." Farid, the digital forensics expert, says that Facebook built its infrastructure without thinking through the dangers stemming from content and is now trying to retrofit solutions. "The policy of this platform has been: 'Move fast and break things.' I actually think that for once their motto was actually accurate," he says. "The strategy was grow, grow, grow, profit, profit, profit and then go back and try to deal with whatever problems there are." ___ Barbara Ortutay reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writer Maggie Michael contributed to this report. ___ Follow the authors on Twitter at https://twitter.com/desmondbutler and https://twitter.com/BarbaraOrtutay __ Have a tip? Contact the authors securely at https://www.ap.org/tips


Glenn Robinson III, a former Michigan star, signed with the Golden State Warriors this offseason. That means that he will be sharing a roster with Draymond Green, a former Michigan State star. While that will likely lead to some trash talk in the locker room, it can't be any worse than the first time Robinson ever heard from Green. This story via an appearance on KNBR 680 : "I got a funny story about him from the first time I had ever talked to Draymond   actually was through a text. So, I was sitting in a summer class getting ready for my freshman year of college at Michigan. "And I think Draymond was back and he was playing some open gyms up at Michigan State. And all of a sudden I get a text message from an unknown number and it goes, 'Hey, you need to get up to Michigan State and come join these open gym games right now. It's Day Day.' "And I'm like, 'Who? Who is Day Day? Who is this crazy dude texting me?' Somebody cussing me out on text messages (laughter). And on the fly he's like, 'It's Draymond. Get up here now.' "First time I ever talked to him he was already yelling at me." That sounds like Draymond Green.


Football players love their mommas. Whenever a player notices a television camera on the sideline during a game, you're likely to hear "Hi mom!" So it should be no shock that the Baltimore Ravens' first-round pick in 2019, Marquise Brown, bought his mother a house. Brown posted a video surprising his mother with the keys to her new house on Twitter, and it's as great as you think it is. Since I was 7yrs old this the moment I been waiting for, bigger than any moment I ever been apart of.. Everything I do is for you momma I love you You wanted a house and a car and you got it , I got you Forever Ever !!! pic.twitter.com/oUyQwXtCLh - Hollywood Brown (@Primetime_jet) June 29, 2019 From the video, it looks like Brown was walking his mother through the house, pretending it was for him. When she said she liked an area, he presented the keys and told her it was hers. Oh, but Brown wasn't done yet. He opened the front door of the house to reveal a new car, complete with a red bow on the hood. Brown is far from the first professional athlete to treat his mother to some big gifts upon hitting the pros, but it's always cool to see it happen. MORE: What Kawhi Leonard is doing with his decision should be applauded News: Cowboys who could be traded, triple-threat WRs, Eric Berry talk These are the top scorers in Vegas Summer League history The Steelers got their new Brett Keisel with Isaiah Buggs Roundup: Donald Trump's Plane Thoughts; Colin Cowherd is Unflappable; Classic Mets Stuff


The Nate Sudfeld effect is trickling down the Eagles locker room, with Doug Pederson and company deciding to be proactive and cautious with two of the team's stars. According to Jeff McLane of The Inquire starting right tackle Lane Johnson and tight end Dallas Goedert are being shut down for the preseason. Johnson (knee) and Goedert (calf) have previously been classified as "week-to-week" and Eagles brass seems uncomfortable risking further injury over meaningless games. Johnson sat out the Eagles preseason loss to the Titans and has been seen sporting a brace on his knee. Goedert for his part caught three passes for 50 yards on 12 total snaps. Jordan Mailata will look to capitalize on the playing time at right tackle in place of Johnson, while at tight end, Richard Rodgers, Will Tye, Josh Perkins, and Alex Ellis will get the bulk of the reps. MORE: Four potential Carmelo Anthony landing spots in free agency Yankees' Brett Gardner gets ejected while sitting quietly, erupts on umpire Packers training camp practice roundup: August 10 Studs and duds from Saints preseason opener vs. Vikings Funniest Antonio Brown Helmet Controversy Memes and Tweets


After a run as one of the world's most powerful and notorious criminals, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is expected to be sentenced to life in prison when he appears in a New York courtroom on Wednesday. Guzman, the 62-year-old former leader of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel, was convicted in February of crimes spanning a quarter of a century, including trafficking hundreds of tons of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines and marijuana to the United States. The charges, which also include money laundering and weapons-related offenses, carry a mandatory life sentence. Last week, prosecutors asked US federal judge Brian Cogan to tack on a symbolic extra 30 years in prison for the use of firearms in his business, portraying Guzman as "ruthless and bloodthirsty." They also want Guzman to turn over $12.7 billion, based on a conservative estimate of revenues from his cartel's drug sales in the United States. So far, US authorities have not recovered a dime. Guzman is considered to be the most powerful drug lord since Colombia's Pablo Escobar, killed in a police shootout in 1993. "El Chapo" ("Shorty") was the co-leader of the still-powerful Sinaloa organization. During the three-month trial in New York, jurors heard evidence of Guzman's misdeeds. Witnesses described the cartel boss beating, shooting and even burying alive those who got in his way, including informants and rival gang members. At least one of Guzman's victims -- a woman who prosecutors say survived a hit ordered by the kingpin -- will speak at Wednesday's sentencing hearing. - 'Alcatraz of the Rockies' - Guzman launched his career working in the cannabis fields of his home state of Sinaloa. Now, he is likely to spend the rest of his days at the "Alcatraz of the Rockies" -- the supermax federal prison in Florence, Colorado. Current inmates include convicted "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski, Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols, the British "shoe bomber" Richard Reid and the Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is awaiting execution. Since his extradition from Mexico in 2017, Guzman has been held in solitary confinement at a high-security prison in Lower Manhattan. He has repeatedly complained about the conditions of his detention via his attorneys -- notably that his windowless cell is constantly lit. On Wednesday, Guzman -- who famously escaped Mexican prisons in 2001 and again in 2015 -- could see his wife Emma Coronel and their two daughters for the last time. "The government's request of life plus 30 years is a farce," said Guzman's attorney Eduardo Balarezo. "Joaquin's conviction and incarceration for drug trafficking will change nothing in the so-called war on drugs." New York's special narcotics prosecutor Bridget Brennan acknowledged that taking El Chapo out of the equation did not diminish the Sinaloa cartel's influence. "We believe that's the one that supplies most of the drugs coming into the US," she told AFP.


Stephen Curry scored 32 points as Golden State advanced to its first Conference Final since 1976 while Atlanta needed a waived off three at the buzzer to reach its first ever Conference Final.


Want the scoop on Houston's buzziest local spots? We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp to analyze which restaurants have been getting a noteworthy uptick in attention this month. To find out who made the list, we looked at Houston businesses on Yelp by category and counted how many reviews each received. Rather than compare them based on number of reviews alone, we calculated a percentage increase in reviews over the past month, and tracked businesses that consistently increase their volume of reviews to identify statistically significant outliers compared to past performance. Read on to see which spots are worth exploring, right now. 1751 Sea And Bar Open since March, this cocktail bar, which offers seafood and more, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Seafood" on Yelp. Citywide, seafood spots saw a median 3.5 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, but 1751 Sea and Bar saw a significant 143.8 percent increase, with a slight downward trend from a five-star rating a month ago to 4.5 stars today. It's not the only trending outlier in the seafood category: Captain Crawfish has seen a 41.9 percent increase in reviews, and Crawfish & Beignets has seen a 40 percent bump. Located at 191 Heights Blvd. in Washington Avenue Coalition / Memorial Park, 1751 Sea and Bar offers a raw oyster bar, along with seafood selections like swordfish, mussels, crawfish, calamari and clams. (See the full menu here .) La Vibra Tacos Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about the Heights's La Vibra Tacos , the Mexican spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data. While businesses categorized as "Mexican" on Yelp saw a median 2.1 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, La Vibra Tacos bagged a 25.8 percent increase in new reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a convincing four-star rating. Open at 506 Yale St., Suite A, since January, La Vibra Tacos offers a wide selection of street tacos on either a corn or flour tortilla. Try the pastor classico (marinated pork, onion, cilantro and pineapple on a corn tortilla) and the costilla costra with ribs and Gouda cheese on a flour tortilla. (Explore the rest of the menu here .) Dish Society The Heights's Dish Society is also making waves. Open since January at 1050 Yale St., the New American and breakfast and brunch spot has seen a 51.8 percent bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.5 percent for all businesses tagged "American (New)" on Yelp. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Dish Society's review count increased by more than 200 percent. There's more than one hotspot trending in Houston's New American category: Bloom & Bee has seen a 9.1 percent increase in reviews. Dish Society has five Houston area locations. The restaurant offers comfort food with separate breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner menus. Early risers can order favorites like Nutella and French toast, breakfast sandwiches and chicken and biscuits. Over the past month, it's maintained a convincing 4.5-star rating among Yelpers. (Find the rest of the menu here .) 1/2 The Guilt Greater Uptown's 1/2 The Guilt is the city's buzziest burger spot by the numbers. The halal spot, which offers burgers and more and opened at 2721 Chimney Rock Road in March, increased its new review count by an impressive 158.3 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 8.4 percent for the Yelp category "Burgers." 1/2 The Guilt offers grass-fed beef burgers, free-range chicken and more using organic ingredients. The spot also serves up vegetarian and vegan burgers. (The rest of the menu can be found here .) This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


An elementary school in Georgia is being criticized after a poster depicting "appropriate" and "inappropriate" hairstyles for students went viral. All of the students featured on the poster are black. A parent of a student at Narvie Harris Elementary School shared the photo with her hairstylist Danay Wadlington, who posted it on Facebook. The post quickly went viral, and parents around the country are outraged that only black students were targeted by the school. "Wowzers....so that's how y'all feel Dekalb County Schools?... Hair is a form of self-expression, shouldn't be a right or wrong way.." Helena wrote on Facebook . While some commenters said the school has a right to dictate its dress code, the majority were appalled that the school failed to recognize the inherent bias in the poster. "The administration behind this should be ashamed," one commenter said. "It wouldn't have looked so bad if they had included other races," Wadlington, who is African-American, told the New York Times Friday. "Those styles are very popular styles. Who says that our hair is not professional? Our hair is part of us." Some people on Twitter also noted that, while the school is predominantly made up of black students and administration, that does not negate the inherent bias of the poster. "Black people can still be anti-black," one Twitter user said . "It's still ridiculous, still humiliating. May even be more painful coming from folks who 'should' know better." Many GA 🏫s opened today & racial profiling is still present. https://t.co/iOEePdezQa Imagine being a Black boy greeted by this. Sadly, this shows systematic bias against Black boys from all. @edu_post @PGeducator @bmeducatorschi @Mr_Ankrum @vesiawils #AJCBackToSchool #voices4ed pic.twitter.com/IzJwkWN6Lk   Jason B. Allen (@jballen5) August 1, 2019 So Narvie Harris Elementary School in Decatur, Georgia has a wall of shame where they appear to be shaming black kids for having *checks notes* black hairstyles? pic.twitter.com/YivgJfDjm4   🇹🇹Black🇭🇹Aziz🇳🇬aNANsi🇯🇲 (@Freeyourmindkid) August 2, 2019 This is ridiculous and discriminatory!!!!! WTH?   Nina Turner (@ninaturner) August 3, 2019 The school's dress code prohibits clothing, jewelry, tattoos and piercings that "disrupt the educational process or endanger the health or safety of other students." It does not mention hairstyles. "The poster was the result of a miscommunication relating to appearance rules at the school," the school district said in a statement. "Once the district was made aware of the poster, it was immediately removed. In addition, a letter was sent to parents clarifying the school's dress code and appearance policy." In August of 2018, Louisiana sixth-grader Faith Fennidy was kicked off school grounds because her braided hair violated school policy. A few months later, a wrestling official told New Jersey high school athlete Andrew Johnson he would have to cut his dreadlocks in order to compete, an incident that ignited nationwide outrage. In July, Gov. Gavin Newsom made California the first state to ban discrimination against black students and employees over their natural hairstyles. Gov. Andrew Cuomo followed just a few weeks later, signing a similar bill into law. Now, New Jersey lawmakers have introduced similar legislation, and organizations are urging all states to follow.


The U.S. women's volleyball team, on the brink of being forced to a last-chance Olympic qualifying tournament fewer than 24 hours ago, breezed into the Tokyo 2020 field by completing its sweep through an intercontinental qualifying tournament Sunday. The Americans, ranked third in the world, beat No. 11 Argentina to close out the event in Bossier City, La., where the top nation from a group of four qualified for the Olympics. The U.S., the only top-10 team in this field, was in real danger of not winning the group on Saturday. It trailed 16th-ranked Bulgaria two sets to one before rallying to win the last two sets. Now the U.S. will compete in its 10th straight Olympics since the 1980 Moscow Games boycott. A new potential star emerged against Bulgaria   opposite Jordan Thompson , a rising University of Cincinnati senior who came off the bench and started the last four sets, totaling 18 kills. The U.S. women, coached by Olympic indoor and beach champ Karch Kiraly , are seeking the program's first Olympic title. They took bronze in Rio, entering those Games as the reigning world champions. The U.S. took fifth at worlds last year and now sits behind Serbia and China in the world rankings. VIDEO: Brazil volleyball star faints during courtside interview OlympicTalk is on Apple News . Favorite us! Follow @nbcolympictalk


MINNEAPOLIS   A Minnesota man living at a halfway house while awaiting sentencing on a terror charge was returned to custody in April after a box cutter was found under his bed, according to a court document filed Monday. U.S. District Judge Michael Davis ordered Monday that because Abdullahi Mohamud Yusuf had access to the box cutter, "the safety of any other person or the community is at risk." Davis ordered that Yusuf would remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshal. Yusuf, 19, pleaded guilty in February to one count of conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State group. He faces a maximum of 15 years in prison, but was allowed to stay at a halfway house before sentencing and participate in a program designed to give him positive direction and engage him in the community, with hopes of eventually reintegrating him into society. Yusuf was sent back into custody in April for violating halfway house rules, but the alleged violation wasn't disclosed until Monday. Davis' order says halfway house staff found the box cutter under Yusuf's bed during a random search of the room he shared with three other males. Yusuf denied knowledge of the box cutter. Yusuf's attorneys didn't immediately return messages seeking comment. Authorities say a handful of Minnesota residents have traveled to Syria to fight with militants. At least one Minnesotan has died there. In addition, at least 22 young Somali men have traveled from Minnesota to Somalia since 2007 to join the terrorist group al-Shabab. During his plea hearing, Yusuf admitted that he attended meetings in Minnesota in March and April of 2014 in which participants discussed fighting with militants in Syria. Court documents show Yusuf, who was in high school at the time, applied for an expedited passport shortly after he turned 18. FBI agents stopped Yusuf at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on May 28, 2014, and he was arrested six months later. Yusuf told the court in February that he planned to meet another man, Abdi Nur, in Istanbul, Turkey, and that the two of them planned to travel to Syria together. Nur, who is also charged in the case, is believed to be fighting with militants in Syria. Yusuf's sentencing date has not been scheduled. ___ Follow Amy Forliti on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/amyforliti


A weekly updated roundup of shutters throughout New York City July 5   Varrio 408 in Park Slope shuttered after more than four years of serving a simple taco and burrito menu, all made with its popular homemade tortillas . It was a neighborhood favorite for Mexican food. The restaurant posted a notice outside noting that it became "significantly challenging" to provide quality food at affordable prices.   Bang Chengdu StreetKitchen in Chelsea closed after a short run of serving standout dumplings. Eater senior critic Robert Sietsema highlighted those dumplings last summer and, in particular, the chile oil dumplings, which he writes were "thickly snowed with crushed red pepper, and a bargain serving of 'spicy crinkled potatoes,' served cold and slicked with Sichuan peppercorn oil, which is one of four condiments offered; black vinegar, soy sauce, and red chile oil are also available." The menu was divided into three categories: Dianxin Bang (short dishes), Guokui Bang (pocket sandwiches), and Mian Bang (noodles and dumplings).   The American restaurant and bar near Union Square Park, Ichabod's , closed .   Longtime Upper East Side Jewish deli Pastrami Queen closed its Time Square outpost just three months after opening it.   After two decades in business, the East Village dive bar Manitoba's closed . June 27   After 13 years in Sunnyside, Quaint Restaurant closed . The American bistro had a solid reputation in the neighborhood throughout the years and attracted crowds for weekend brunch with its popular outdoor space. Owner Tim Chen announced the closure earlier this month, and the owner of the nearby Claret Wine Bar told the Sunnyside Post that Quaint helped spearhead a new age of dining in the neighborhood.   Mugs Alehouse closed in Williamsburg after 26 years of pouring brews and serving pub food. Co-owner Ed Berestecki said he no longer has the energy to keep the bar up and running, citing changes in the neighborhood and other factors for the closure.   The Carroll Gardens location of grilled chicken restaurant Purbird closed. The Park Slope location of the chicken shop remains open.   After two years, Black Tap closed its Lower East Side location in Hell Square. The bar and restaurant known for its over-the-top milkshakes has several other locations in the city.   Lower East Side burger joint Mikey's Burger has abruptly closed after nearly a decade. The restaurant at 134 Ludlow St., near Rivington Street, opened in December 2009, was reportedly a favorite among locals in the area.   On the Lower East Side, Spreadhouse Cafe closed after five years of serving coffee and simple cafe bites.   Chong Qing Xiao Mian II shuttered in East Village. It opened in 2017 and was a sibling restaurant to Hell's Kitchen's Chinese restaurant and takeout spot Chong Qing Xiao Mian.   ESquared's highly branded, Instagram-y Middle Eastern fast-casual restaurant Dez closed after just over a year in Nolita. June 20   Sibling neighborhood restaurants the Eddy and Wallflower are now closed. The West Village's French-influenced bar Wallflower opened in October 2013, and the Eddy, serving seasonal American cuisine, opened in the East Village in 2014. A farewell notice posted to both websites from owner Jason Soloway says that it was "a gut-wrenching decision," but neglected to provide a reason. In 2014, Wallflower received a favorable writeup in Ligaya Mishan's Hungry City column in the New York Times . Both restaurants were well liked neighborhood spots.   Miscelanea NY , Guillaume Guevara's combination casual restaurant and shop, shuttered in the East Village.   Chat 'N Chew , the diner that made its return in Union Square in April 2018, is closed again. There's a marshal's notice on the door, Yelp and Google list the location as closed, and the phone line has been disconnected. The casual diner originally opened in 1994 and then closed in July 2014. The new iteration lasted just over a year.   Upper West Side Indian restaurant Sapphire Indian Cuisine at 1845 Broadway closed ahead of its building being demolished. It was open for over two decades, and the owner is seeking a new space. June 13   The East Village restaurant Yakiniku West shuttered. The restaurant featured grills at the tables for firing up various meats, including Japanese and American wagyus . A fire previously closed down the restaurant last year, but it reopened following repairs.   Upper West Side French bakery La Toulousaine has closed . The original owner Jean Francoise Gatorze died in 2016.   Fire & Water , restaurateur Ravi DeRossi's vegan sushi and dim sum spot, closed after less than a year.   Less than a year after its $40 million rebuild, the iconic but problematic Four Seasons Restaurant closed following a troubled 10 months for the restaurant: Former partner Julian Niccolini pleaded guilty to sexual assault in 2016 and was forced to resign in December. The investors made the decision to close.   Chinese kitchen Jin Kitchen closed at 58 Third Ave. in East Village after just a few months.   The 14th Street location of Dunkin' has closed . June 7   East Village rice noodle shop Just for Fen has shuttered permanently . The sleek but tiny counter-service restaurant offered noodles from Guizhou, a southwestern Chinese province. It opened in September 2017, part of a whole crew of rice noodle shops opening in New York City, though one of the lesser known ones. Eater critic Robert Sietsema had enjoyed its spicy chicken rice noodles.   Over in the East Village, scoop shop Gelarto has closed at 145 Avenue A, after only two years in the neighborhood.   Bubble tea shop CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice has shuttered its St. Marks location. Plenty of locations of the Taiwanese chain are open elsewhere in the city.   The West Village has lost the beloved California-Italian restaurant Barbuto , where since 2004 diners have filled the dining room year after year, returning for signature dishes like garlicky kale salad and roast chicken with salsa verde. But chef Jonathan Waxman's restaurant may not be gone forever; it's possible that it will reopen elsewhere in the area in the future.   East Village cafe Nobletree Coffee has abruptly closed after five months in business at 37 St. Mark's Place, on Second Avenue. A sign on the coffee shop's window says the store was "forced" to close due to "slow food traffic."


Current Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt and former punter Shane Lechler have both been named among 20 nominees for the Texas Sports Hall of Fame's 2020 class . Other NFL players nominated include Baltimore Ravens quarterback Robert Griffin III, former Raven and Kansas City Chiefs running back Priest Holmes, and current Washington backup quarterback Colt McCoy. It seems highly likely that both Texans will be named Texas Sports Hall of Famers next year, given their incredible respective careers. Watt remains one of the NFL's most dominant defensive players of the past decade. A three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Watt is a former Walter Payton Man of the Year with five Pro Bowls and first-team All-Pro's to his name. The 30-year-old Wisconsin native has 92 career sacks to his name in 104 regular season appearances, not to mention his considerable charitable work off of the field including his Hurricane Harvey relief fund and the annual J.J. Watt Charity Classic held at Minute Maid in Houston. Meanwhile, recently retired Lechler will go down as one of the most consistent punters in NFL history. Likely a future Hall of Famer up in Canton, Ohio, Lechler spent 13 years in Oakland with the raiders and his final five with the Texans back in his home state. With 286 regular season appearances to his name, seven Pro Bowl appearances, six first-team All-Pro nods to his name, Lechler retired as one of the most decorated specialists of all time. Not to mention him having led the NFL four years out of his 18 as punting yards leader, even as late as 2017 at the ripe old age of 41. Former Texans receiver and current coach Andre Johnson is the only Texan to have previously been inducted in Waco. Texans Wire was there to cover all the action. If Watt or Lechler end up in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, we will be there again. MORE: Heavyweight champ Andy Ruiz hits back at Stephen A. Smith after 'Butter Bean' comment These five upcoming NBA free agents helped themselves in the playoffs Angel Hernandez's Blatant Missed Calls Should Spark Change for MLB Auden Tate is turning heads again at Bengals camp Cole Beasley plans to annoy Josh Allen


Plano is set to see light rainfall this coming week, according to drone-powered weather forecasting service Saildrone . Tomorrow's forecast shows the greatest likelihood of rain at 92 percent, with rain possible through Friday. The next few days will also see warm temperatures, due to persist through Thursday. Temperatures will rise even more Friday to Monday, with a high of 95 degrees. Skies will be mostly cloudy today and partly cloudy Saturday and Sunday. Winds will stay somewhat calm throughout the course of the week, with the highest speeds on Thursday at just 12 miles per hour. This story was created automatically using Saildrone's local weather forecast data, then reviewed by an editor. We also incorporate historic weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


Toyota remained on top on the second morning of the FIA World Endurance Championship Prologue test in Barcelona, as leading privateer Rebellion closed in on the Japanese marque's laptimes. Early on in the four-hour morning session, . Team newcomer was second in the sister #8 car with a 1m29.719s, which he set with some 30 minutes remaining. Rebellion improved on its best time from Tuesday by almost a second, as posted 1m30.110s in the second hour in the #3 Rebellion R-13. That was just 0.487s shy of Conway's benchmark, with a further three tenths down in the #1 car. Ginetta factory squad Team LNT also found significant time around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. in the #6 car. Read Also: WEC Prologue: Toyota maintains slim lead over Rebellion Ghiotto, Smith headline eight-man Ginetta test roster In LMP2, another F2 frontrunner, , handed Racing Team Nederland the top spot in the TDS-run #29 Oreca 07. The Dutchman posted a 1m32.941s, beating kept the #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca in the top-three, another three tenths back. Ferrari continued to lead the way in GTE Pro as gradually worked his way down to a 1m43.593s in the #71 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE. 's 1m43.945s effort. Team Project 1 stayed ahead of the field in GTE Am, as led the way with a 1m44.467s in the #57 2018-spec Porsche 911 RSR. Cairoli also set the second-best time in the #56 sister car, while made it a Porsche 1-2-3 with the #86 Gulf Racing car, staying within half a second of the lead. The session was interrupted for 12 minutes after an early off for the #47 Cetilar Dallara LMP2 exiting Turn 4, which brought out the red flag. Read Also: WEC Prologue: Lopez tops first session for Toyota WEC Prologue: Privateers close on Toyota in second session


Two more women have now come forward with sexual harassment complaints about Mesa police Officer Jeffrey Neese -- victims number seven and eight by my count -- and he has, at long last, been "reassigned to his home." One wonders what it would take for the Mesa Police Department to reassign someone to the unemployment line. Based upon the many women accusing Neese of randy behavior, this guy put the a-s-s in sexual harASSment. While he was the city's SWAT team sergeant, various female officers complained that he gave them naked pictures of themselves   pictures he had drawn based upon photos of them fully clothed   and/or notified them via text that he was masturbating as he thought about them. "I'm currently doing things to the thought of you right now," he texted to Officer Amanda Cook. Just in case she didn't get his drift, the text includes a helpful emoji to indicate masturbation. (Yes, there is one.) "I was just thinking of you watching me jerk off and it was intense how much came out and how strong it was," he texted to Officer Elisha Gibbs. Neese would often follow up his obnoxious texts by questioning whether he had "said too much" or "crossed the line." Apparently not too far over the line -- at least, not for the city of Mesa. City sided with the women (sort of) After five officers complained, the city investigated. Neese contended they were all lying but the city found the complaints had merit and decided to suspend him for 50 hours and move him laterally to a sergeant's position in the patrol department. Then a sixth woman complained and the city demoted him to a patrol officer. Because unleashing this character onto the streets to deal with an unsuspecting public   a guy who is bold enough to sexually harass police officers -- makes soooo much sense. Want more opinions? Subscribe to azcentral.com . The six officers last week filed a $1 million notice of claim with the city, alleging a hostile environment given the city's refusal to adequately discipline Neese. "How many victims does it take for the City to follow its zero tolerance policy?" their attorney David Lunn asked, in a statement. If not six, how about .... eight? Why is this guy still employed? Two more women have come forward with complaints about Neese since the officers went public last week. Neither works for the city. A Mesa spokesman on Tuesday told The Republic's Bree Burkit the city is investigating. Nease, meanwhile, has been "reassigned to his home." With full pay, of course. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight women have now complained, along with a male officer who says his wife was sexually harassed by Neese, Six of those complaints already have been investigated and found to be true and now two more. And the best Mesa can come up with is to pay this guy to sit home, probably until he becomes eligible for a full retirement in December? This, in a city that claims zero tolerance for sexual harassment? Gee, I hope the people who run the Police Department at least disarmed him of his cell phone… or if that's deemed too harsh by city standards, maybe they could disable his emojis? Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com . This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What does it take to fire Mesa Officer Jeffrey Neese?


On July 16, 1969 , Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong , Buzz Aldrin , and Michael Collins launched from Florida's Kennedy Space Center with the goal of becoming the first people in history to walk on the Moon . Four days later, on July 20, 1969, the manned mission achieved that historic goal when Neil Armstrong took his famous "one small step" onto the lunar surface. But getting there was hardly smooth sailing. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of this groundbreaking event, we're sharing 50 facts about the Apollo 11 mission and its participants. 1. The original goal of the Apollo program was to send a crew into the Moon's orbit, but John F. Kennedy wanted more. When the Apollo program was announced in 1960, the original plan was to send a small crew into the Moon's orbit, not to its surface. President Kennedy, of course, made his famous speech in 1961, declaring his and the United States's commitment to landing a man on the Moon before the end of the decade. 2. Apollo 11's goal was simply to arrive on the Moon, then return to Earth. When it came to the primary objective of the Apollo 11 mission, NASA kept it simple: "Perform a manned lunar landing and return." 3. The Apollo 11 astronauts were oddly calm during liftoff. The average resting heart rate of an adult human is somewhere between 60 and 100 beats per minute (bpm), depending on the individual's age, size, heart conditions, and other factors. Throw a little excitement into the mix and one's heart is likely to beat much faster. Yet the Apollo 11 astronauts, whose heart rates were monitored throughout the expedition, remained surprisingly normal. At liftoff , Armstrong was the most excited of the bunch with a rate of 110 bpm. Collins, meanwhile, was clocked at 99, while a clearly calm Aldrin logged a rate of just 88 bpm. 4. The most important Apollo 11 spectators were seated miles from the launch pad. While millions of people kept track of Apollo's movements on television, space program enthusiasts also traveled to Florida to watch the guys launch into space with their own two eyes. It was the perfect opportunity for NASA to honor some of the organization's biggest supporters and VIPs with a prime seat for watching it all go down. But even then, those individuals were seated 3.5 miles from the launchpad in the event that the rocket exploded upon takeoff. 5. Richard Nixon had a speech prepared in case the Apollo 11 astronauts never came home. As with many historic undertakings, President Nixon had to prepare for the possibility that a tragedy might occur during the Apollo 11 mission. So his speechwriter, William Safire, wrote two different speeches: one to celebrate the mission's victory, another titled "In the Event of Moon Disaster." It stated: "Fate has ordained that the men who went to the Moon to explore in peace will stay on the Moon to rest in peace. These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice." You can read the full text online [ PDF ]. 6. Your toaster is more advanced than Apollo 11's command module computer. Though the Apollo Guidance Computer (ACG) was cutting-edge technology for its time, when compared to the computer-based items we use every day, they were pretty basic. Computer Weekly reported that these "ingenious computer systems" were no more powerful than a pocket calculator and that the ACG was "more basic than the electronics in modern toasters that have computer controlled stop/start/defrost buttons." 7. The Apollo 11 astronauts consumed a lot of fizzy water. Due to a problem with the spacecraft's hydrogen-gas filters, the men's drinking water was always a bit bubbly. "The drinking water is laced with hydrogen bubbles (a consequence of fuel-cell technology which demonstrates that H2 and O join imperfectly to form H2O)," Michael Collins wrote in Carrying the Fire : An Astronaut's Journeys , his 1974 memoir. 8. All those bubbles meant that there was a lot of farting. As if being in tight quarters for several days didn't already present enough challenges, all those fizzy drinks led to some serious flatulence. "These bubbles produced gross flatulence in the lower bowel, resulting in a not-so-subtle and pervasive aroma which reminds me of a mixture of wet dog and marsh gas," Collins wrote . 9. Normal bodily functions weren't a thing that NASA had adequately planned for with Apollo 11. Speaking of bodily functions: NASA hadn't fully worked out all the challenges the astronauts might face when attempting to go to the bathroom in a zero-gravity situation. One Apollo 11 astronaut spent the entire trip loading up on anti-diarrhea medication so that he could forgo having to deal with that situation altogether (though the identity of that astronaut has never been made public). 10. Buzz Aldrin's mom had a prophetic last name. Before Buzz Aldrin's mom, Marion, married Edwin Eugene Aldrin Sr., she was known as Marion Moon. When asked by The New York Times to confirm the veracity of that fun coincidence, Aldrin responded with an emphatic: "Yes. I didn't feel NASA needed to know that. Somebody would think I was trying to get favored treatment because my ancestors had the name Moon. And that's a joke." 11. Michael Collins designed the Apollo 11 insignia. In 1965, Gemini V became the first NASA crew to have a dedicated insignia, which was designed by pilot Pete Conrad and command pilot Gordon Cooper. This tradition of a crew wearing patches designed by its own members has continued over the years, with the Apollo 11 crew following suit. Ultimately, they decided to make the concept a representation of the larger goals of NASA and America at the time. "We wanted to keep our three names off it because we wanted the design to be representative of everyone who had worked toward a lunar landing, and there were thousands who could take a proprietary interest in it, yet who would never see their names woven into the fabric of a patch," Collins said . "Further, we wanted the design to be symbolic rather than explicit." 12. Neil Armstrong wasn't convinced that they'd be able to land the Lunar Module. In 2012, in a rare interview, Armstrong admitted that while he was confident he and his fellow crew members would make it back to Earth, he was less convinced that the crew would succeed in landing their lunar module, known as Eagle. "A month before the launch of Apollo 11, we decided we were confident enough we could try and attempt on a descent to the surface," Armstrong said . "I thought we had a 90 percent chance of getting back safely to Earth on that flight but only a 50-50 chance of making a landing on that first attempt. There are so many unknowns on that descent from lunar orbit down to the surface that had not been demonstrated yet by testing and there was a big chance that there was something in there we didn't understand properly and we had to abort and come back to Earth without landing." 13. The woman who coined the phrase software engineering is partly to thank for sending Apollo 11 to the Moon. Getting to the Moon requires some serious software innovation, especially in the 1960s. Margaret Hamilton led the team that wrote every line of code for the Apollo Guidance Computer. Hamilton a pioneer who coined the term software engineering  is probably most recognizable for the famous photo of her and the stack of printed-out code standing as tall as she is. She was just 33 years old when that code sent the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon. 14. The source code that took Apollo 11 to the Moon was full of jokes and political references. We're back with another surprise hunt of the #Apollo11 source code! These 2 surprises are buried within the "Burn, Baby, Burn" Master Ignition Routine. Comment below when you find it, and challenge a friend! For more Apollo-related fun, visit https://t.co/5nIHB5sciK . #hackthemoon pic.twitter.com/Aiop7EZNm6   Draper (@DraperLab) May 22, 2019 Computer programmers aren't generally known for their senses of humor, but a piece of space history  discovered in 2016 suggests that maybe they should be. Former NASA intern Chris Garry uploaded the Apollo 11 flight source code to GitHub , revealing a legendary piece of flight software that was full of jokes and topical 1960s references. Paired with the code that helped NASA astronauts navigate the Moon landing are file names like "BURN_BABY_BURN," which, as ABC News reported , is actually a reference to DJ Magnificent Montague and the Black Power movement. Other comments include "HELLO THERE," "GOODBYE. COME AGAIN SOON," and file names like "PINBALL_GAME_BUTTONS_AND_LIGHTS." 15. Pieces of the Wright Brothers' first aircraft were onboard Apollo 11. In 1969, the Air Force contacted Armstrong to see if he'd be willing to take pieces of the Wright Brothers' first aircraft to take flight to the Moon with him. As a thank you, Armstrong would be allowed to keep half of the pieces. Armstrong, an avid flier, was enthusiastic. "It was important to take the genesis of flight with him," Mark Armstrong, Neil's son, said earlier this year. "First and foremost, he was an engineer and someone who wanted to make aircraft better. That was his boyhood goal, to be an aircraft designer." 16. When asked what he wanted to take with him to the Moon, Armstrong's answer was somewhat prophetic. On July 5, 1969, the Apollo 11 astronauts did a roundtable interview with members of the press. When asked whether he'd be taking any personal mementos to the Moon with him, Armstrong responded : "If I had a choice, I would take more fuel." 17. When Apollo 11 landed, they were really low on fuel. Why was Armstrong's aforementioned response so prophetic? When Apollo 11 finally did land, their fuel supply was extremely low. The alarm had already sounded that the men had 60 seconds left to land or abort, then the 30-second alarm sounded. "When it got down to 30 seconds, we were about 10 feet or less" from the surface, Aldrin said . "I could sneak a look out, because at that point, I don't think Neil cared what the numbers were. He was looking at the outside. I could see a shadow of the sun being behind us." Seconds later, Armstrong confirmed to Houston that, "the Eagle has landed." 18. Eagle's overworked computer system had Apollo 11 landing in a boulder-filled crater. Eagle's computer was really put to the test during the mission's landing so much so that it was attempting to land the module in a crater full of boulders. "Those slopes are steep, the rocks are very large the size of automobiles," Armstrong said . In order to avoid that potential disaster, Armstrong took manual control of the lunar module and attempted to find a safer place for them to land. 19. Apollo 11 landed in the wrong place. Needless to say, Apollo 11 didn't touch down at its intended landing site. Thanks to Armstrong's quick thinking, they were able to successfully land albeit 4 miles from where they were supposed to. "I took it over manually and flew it like a helicopter out to the west direction, took it to a smoother area without so many rocks, and found a level area and was able to get it down there before we ran out of fuel," Armstrong said . 20. Armstrong's "small step" was more of a "giant leap." Because Eagle had to reconfigure its landing site, Armstrong's landing was a very gentle one so gentle that the module's pads and legs didn't collapse as they were supposed to. Which meant that the bottom rung of Eagle's ladder was about 3.5 feet above ground . In order to get to the surface of the Moon for that official step, he first had to hop off the ladder, then back up to it (to make sure he could reach it again). Then came that whole "one small step" business. 21. Armstrong's first steps took place late at night. Humans 1st set foot on a heavenly body #OTD 1969. Neil Armstrong stepped onto the Moon at 10:56 pm (Eastern Time). #OneGiantLeap pic.twitter.com/WhLkyYb5qN   NASA History Office (@NASAhistory) July 20, 2017 22. A lot of people watched the Apollo 11 Moon landing happen. It may have been past a lot of kids' bedtimes, but an estimated 600 million people around the world watched Apollo 11 land on live television. 23. Even Disneyland guests took a break from Mickey and Minnie to watch the Moon landing. The Apollo 11 moon landing, perhaps one of the greatest accomplishments in human history, was broadcasted live to thousands of #Disneyland park Guests gathered at the Tomorrowland Stage on July 20, 1969. #Tomorrowland #NASA pic.twitter.com/5dYBOQ5ZUT   Walt Disney Archives (@TWDCArchives) July 20, 2018 24. Armstrong swore that his "one small step" line was misheard back on Earth. People back on Earth who watched Armstrong's first steps onto the lunar surface could have sworn that they heard him say, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," but Armstrong repeatedly stated that this was incorrect. And what he really said was, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." "It's just that people just didn't hear [the 'a']," Armstrong told the press once he was back on Earth. In 2006, a computer programmer used a piece of software to analyze Armstrong's words and found that the "a" was indeed there (it was likely not heard because of radio static). 25. Armstrong tried to not be too awed by his surroundings. Ever the professional, Armstrong did his best to ignore the fact that he was standing on the Moon so that he and Aldrin could get their work done. According to The Guardian , "Armstrong said there was too much work to do to spend too long meditating or reflecting on where he was." 26. Armstrong may have been the first man to walk on the Moon, but Buzz Aldrin was the first man to pee on the Moon. "It's lonely as hell out there," Aldrin told a crowd of people at Washington, D.C.'s Newseum in 2009. "I peed in my pants." 27. No one back at NASA HQ knew what "Tranquility Base" meant. In all of the meticulous pre-mission planning, two words never came up: "Tranquility base." Which made Armstrong's announcement that, "Houston. Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed," kind of confusing. Fortunately, the folks back in Houston just rolled with it. 28. At the same time Armstrong and Aldrin were completing their moonwalk, a soviet spacecraft accidentally crashed into the Moon. At the same time that Armstrong and Aldrin were wrapping up their work on the lunar surface, Luna 15 an unmanned Soviet spacecraft accidentally crashed into the Moon approximately 530 miles from the Sea of Tranquility. 29. Collins was terrified that something would go wrong and he'd have to return to Earth alone. In his memoir, Michael Collins wrote about how dangerous the Apollo 11 mission was and how terrified he was that something would go wrong. "If they fail to rise from the surface, or crash back into it, I am not going to commit suicide," Collins wrote about the moment when he watched his fellow astronauts attempt their return home. "I am coming home, forthwith, but I will be a marked man for life, and I know it." 30. Some Apollo 8 legal problems caused a last-minute change of plans. When Apollo 8 circled the Moon on December 24, 1968, they were asked to do "something appropriate" to mark the occasion for the millions of people who were spending their Christmas Eve listening to them back on Earth. They decided to read a verse from Genesis, which ended up enraging noted atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair to the point that she sued the space organization, claiming that reading had violated her First Amendment rights. The case was eventually thrown out, but NASA didn't want to chance having to deal with a similar situation with Apollo 11. Buzz Aldrin had planned to read a communion passage, but was asked to scrap it at the last minute. 31. A communion wafer was the first item eaten on the Moon. Though Aldrin wasn't able to share his communion passage with those back on Earth, he did take a few moments to observe the sacrament privately shortly after landing on the Moon. "I ate the tiny host and swallowed the wine," Aldrin said . "I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility. It was interesting for me to think: The very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements." 32. Armstrong and Aldrin had to be careful not to lock themselves out of the module. If their heart rates were any indication, Armstrong and Aldrin were pretty calm, cool, and collected when they landed on the Moon. And it's a good thing: Had they been overwhelmed by the cosmic wonder of it all, they could have easily locked themselves out of their lunar module, as Eagle's door had no outer handle . 33. There was some confusion about where the Apollo 11 flag came from. Before landing on the Moon, there was much discussion as to how appropriate planting any single country's flag on its surface would be. Ultimately it was decided that the men would plant an American flag and leave a plaque emphasizing that they "came in peace for all mankind." Of course, then the big question became: Where did that American flag come from? NASA tried their best to dodge the question, explaining that they had purchased flags from several different manufacturers. However, it turned out that all of the flags came from Sears , but the space organization didn't "want another Tang" on their hands. In other words: They didn't want Sears to turn the Moon landing into an advertising campaign for the company. 34. Planting the American flag wasn't as seamless a task as it may have seemed. Though studies conducted before Apollo 11's mission had concluded that the Moon's surface would be soft, Armstrong and Aldrin quickly learned that wasn't the case. The surface was made of hard rock, with a layer of dust on top of it, which made planting the American flag one of their toughest jobs. 35. That flag didn't stand for very long. While the photos of Armstrong and Aldrin standing next to the planted American flag are famous around the world, that flag didn't stay standing very long, Thanks to the power produced by Eagle's thrusters when the two launched back into lunar orbit, the flag quickly toppled over. 36. The flag most likely disintegrated. As for what happened to that flag once it fell over? It likely turned to ashes. "The flag is probably gone," Tony Reichhardt wrote for Air & Space Magazine. "Buzz Aldrin saw it knocked over by the rocket blast as he and Neil Armstrong left the Moon … Lying there in the lunar dust, unprotected from the sun's harsh ultraviolet rays, the flag's red and blue would have bleached white in no time. Over the years, the nylon would have turned brittle and disintegrated." 37. The astronauts left a lot of stuff behind. Armstrong and Aldrin left more than just that flag behind: Among the other meaningful mementos that didn't make the trip back to Earth were messages from 73 world leaders, a gold pin in the shape of an olive branch (meant to symbolize peace), and a patch from the Apollo 1 mission (which never launched because three of its astronauts were killed during a training exercise). 38. Apollo 11's return to Earth is largely due to a felt-tipped pen. When Eagle landed on the Moon's surface, the circuit breaker's switch which was essential for their return to Earth accidentally broke off. Aldrin wrote about how some quick-thinking helped solve the problem in his 2009 memoir, Magnificent Desolation : The Long Journey Home From the Moon : "Since it was electrical, I decided not to put my finger in, or use anything that had metal on the end. I had a felt-tipped pen in the shoulder pocket of my suit that might do the job. After moving the countdown procedure up by a couple of hours in case it didn't work, I inserted the pen into the small opening where the circuit breaker switch should have been, and pushed it in; sure enough, the circuit breaker held. We were going to get off the Moon, after all." 39. Aldrin kept that pen as a memento. In addition to that pen, Aldrin also kept the broken circuit breaker switch. Before they took off, all three of the Apollo 11 astronauts were issued their own "Rocket" felt-tipped pen today, Collins's can be seen at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. 40. The rocks they brought back were billions of years old. While the press seemed most interested in what the Apollo 11 astronauts were planning to take with them to the Moon, what they brought back was even more amazing. Some of the rocks they brought home were estimated to be 3.7 billion years old. 41. Armstrong's bag of Moon dust was accidentally sold for $995. While surveying the surface of the Moon, Armstrong collected a bag of dust for NASA scientists to study and analyze. In 2015, that bag of Moon dust was purchased from a government auction site for $995 by Chicagoan Nancy Lee Carlson. When Carlson sent the bag to NASA to confirm the authenticity of what was inside it, NASA claimed the bag was their property and refused to send it back. So Carlson took the agency to court, where a judge ruled in her favor. In 2017, Carlson sold the bag for $1.8 million via Sotheby's. 42. The Moon apparently has a very distinct smell. "It smelled, to me, like wet ashes in a fireplace," Armstrong said of the Moon's smell. To Aldrin's nose , however, it was more of "a pungent metallic smell, something like gunpowder, or the smell in the air after a firecracker has gone off." 43. Buzz Aldrin had to fill out an expense report for his trip to the Moon. #TBT My mission director @Buzzs_xtina's favorite piece of my memorabilia. My travel voucher to the moon. #Apollo11 pic.twitter.com/c89UyOfvgY   Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) July 30, 2015 Bureaucracy doesn't stop for world-changing events. Though he made history by becoming the second person to walk on the Moon, Aldrin like so many other office drones before and after him was forced to be subjected to the mundane indignities of filling out his expense reports . The astronaut, who retired in 1971, requested reimbursement for $33.31 in travel expenses incurred while traveling to and from Cape Kennedy in Florida. 44. The astronauts had to fill out customs forms, too. Yes the #Apollo11 crew also signed customs forms. We brought back moon rocks & moon dust samples. Moon disease TBD. pic.twitter.com/r9Sn57DeoW   Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) August 2, 2015 Just like any other traveler who left the United States, the Apollo 11 team had to fill out customs forms when they made their way back through Honolulu. 45. Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins were quarantined for more than two weeks upon their return to Earth. On July 24, the Apollo 11 crew reentered Earth's atmosphere and splashed down into the Pacific Ocean after more than a week in space. In order to ensure the men hadn't brought back any sort of weird Moon diseases or other microbes, Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins were quickly placed into a mobile quarantine unit, which was then transported to the NASA Lunar Receiving Laboratory at Houston's Johnson Space Center. They were released from quarantine on August 10, 1969. 46. Hundreds of autographed photos were the astronauts' version of life insurance. To make sure that their families were taken care of, financially, if they did not return from their mission, the Apollo 11 astronauts spent part of their pre-mission quarantine signing hundreds of autographs , which were to be auctioned off if and when needed. Fortunately, they were not. 47. Apollo 11 "life insurance autographs" still pop up at auctions from time to time. Space historian Robert Pearlman told NPR that Apollo 11 insurance autographs began popping up at space memorabilia auctions in the 1990s, where they could fetch $30,000 apiece. When Armstrong, who did his best to stay out of the spotlight following Apollo 11, learned that people were profiting from his autographs, he stopped signing them altogether. 48. The Apollo 11 astronauts (mostly) laughed off the conspiracy theories. Even 50 years later, there are still some people who believe that the Moon landing was a hoax. But the men who manned Apollo 11 had a sense of humor about it. "It would have been harder to fake it than to do it," Armstrong once famously said . And on at least one occasion, Aldrin had a hard time laughing it off. In 2001, Aldrin was approached by conspiracy theorist Bart Sibrel, who wanted the astronaut to put his hand on a Bible and swear to God that he had walked on the Moon. While Aldrin did his best to ignore Sibrel, the NASA legend didn't take too kindly to being called "a coward, and a liar, and a thief" by Sibrel. So he punched him in the face ... 49. no, The Apollo 11 astronauts did not have an alien encounter. In 2018, UFO enthusiasts ran with an out-of-context quote Aldrin had given about an unidentified object the crew had seen outside the spacecraft's window. While many tabloids ran with the idea that Aldrin was saying the Apollo 11 crew had seen a UFO, Aldrin was quick to correct the record ... but it was too late to stop the conspiracy theories from developing. In a 2014 Reddit AMA , Aldrin tried to set the record straight yet again: "On Apollo 11 [en] route to the Moon, I observed a light out the window that appeared to be moving alongside us. There were many explanations of what that could be, other than another spacecraft from another country or another world it was either the rocket we had separated from, or the 4 panels that moved away when we extracted the lander from the rocket and we were nose to nose with the two spacecraft. So in the close vicinity, moving away, were 4 panels. And i feel absolutely convinced that we were looking at the sun reflected off of one of these panels. Which one? I don't know. So technically, the definition could be 'unidentified.' ... [W]hen we returned, we debriefed and explained exactly what we had observed. And I felt that this had been distributed to the outside world, the outside audience, and apparently it wasn't, and so many years later, I had the time in an interview to disclose these observations, on another country's television network. And the UFO people in the United States were very very angry with me, that I had not given them the information. It was not an alien." 50. The first men to walk on the Moon had a lot of help. In total, it's estimated that it took approximately 400,000 scientists, engineers, and technicians to make Apollo 11's mission a success.


Just as one of Barcelona's transfer sagas ends, it looks as though another will begin, with Philippe Coutinho linked with a move away from the Nou Camp. Following Barca's completion of the deal to sign Antoine Griezmann, playing time for Coutinho may become even more limited in the 2019/20 campaign. Mundo Deportivo report that reigning La Liga champions Barcelona would be willing to sell the 27 year-old   and more than that, have put him at the top of the list of players they want to sell   but have so far not received any offers. Barça signed Coutinho from Liverpool in January 2018 for a reported €145m, but he has since struggled to maintain a starting spot in Ernesto Valverde's side. There has been talk that the Brazilian could become part of a player-plus-cash deal to bring Neymar back to Camp Nou, but no official offer has yet been made. Neymar has been unsettled at Paris Saint-Germain over the last six months and his recent refusal to report for pre-season training is a signal that the former Barça man is prepared to leave the Ligue 1 club (as, to be fair, was PSG sporting director Leonardo saying 'it's clear to everyone [that he wants to leave]'). Coutinho has also been linked with a transfer to Manchester United , but it is believed that he is reluctant on this move because of his links to Merseyside. Coutinho has previously played on loan for Espanyol, who consider Barca as their biggest rivals. The former Red has scored 18 goals in his 68 league appearances for the Blaugrana, but has failed to become a regular starter as he was at Anfield. Having been played primarily as a winger, Coutinho has struggled. His hopes of playing in midfield look no more likely following the signing of Frenkie de Jong from Ajax earlier this month. The Brazilian will be in high demand, but what may prevent him from leaving Barca is the fee they paid for him just 18 months ago. In an effort to recoup as much of the €145m as possible, the Catalan club will not let Coutinho go on the cheap.


On Tuesday, the Vikings officially signed tight end Kyle Rudolph to a four-year extension worth $36 million . Ian Rapoport from NFL Network broke down Rudolph's contract which includes $16.025 million in total guarantees and $9 million of that is guaranteed for the 2019 season. On the 4-year, $36M extension the #Vikings & TE Kyle Rudolph agreed to last night that accomplished his ultimate goal of staying in Minnesota: Rudolph gets $1.625M additional this year added to his $7.625M base, per source. $9M fully guaranteed in all. $16.025 in total guarantes. - Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 11, 2019 Per Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press , the Vikings were able to open up more cap space for 2019. More from Tomasson below: For the Vikings, who entered the week with just $611,926 of cap room, it was important to get Rudolph's 2019 cap number down to create room for possible future moves. The Vikings did that with Rudolph, 29, saving about $4 million under the cap. The deal will likely make Rudolph a Viking for life. It also gives the Vikings cap flexibility for the 2019 season, but makes things tricky heading into 2020. We wish the best of luck to Rob Brzezinksi as he tries to figure that out. MORE: Why is Carli Lloyd not playing for USA at the World Cup? Dabo Swinney Calling Himself 'Osama bin Dabo' is Horrendous How Kevin Durant's Achilles injury alters Kyrie Irving's free agency Coach Matt LaFleur feels good about Packers' young, fast WR group Watch as jury convicts former NFL player Kellen Winslow Jr. of raping homeless woman


Mauricio Pochettino and his Tottenham Hotspur squad are all said to be concerned by the club's transfer strategy this summer, as they fear money will not be spent in the right way. Spurs' recruitment (or lack thereof) has turned into a somewhat of a joke amongst rival fans. The club have failed to sign any new first-team players in the last two transfer windows, and many previous signings have been young players with high potential. However, according to the Daily Mail , this sort of strategy is said to have concerned Pochettino and many members of his squad, who are desperate to see some established stars arrive at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer. After battling for Champions League qualification in the Premier League , Spurs fell to  Liverpool in the European final, and there are fears that the club, as it stands, may not have what it takes to make it to the next level. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has often preferred to sign younger players who could grow into first-team stars. Whilst this strategy has proven to be successful with the likes of Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen , there is always a risk that things may not work out, and Pochettino is thought to be wary of taking that risk again. As a result, he will meet with Levy in the near future to discuss the club's direction, where he will insist that Spurs continue to push on and improve at such a pivotal moment in their recent history. The Argentine will look to find out the scale of his transfer budget for the summer, and he wants to see Levy match his desire to see the club improve, before he commits his long-term future to them. Their run to the Champions League final is said to have helped convince Pochettino that he may not need to leave the club this summer, although the uncertainty surrounding their transfer strategy could change his opinion. Spurs have long faced criticism over their lack of depth, with key players such as Harry Kane and Son Heung-min said to have been suffering from fatigue during the season.


The Pittsburgh Steelers announced on Tuesday they were adding two former players as coaching interns. Former Steelers cornerback William Gay and tight end David Johnson are going to be members of the Steelers coaching staff. Gay played 10 of his 11 NFL seasons with the Steelers and was considered one of the slot cornerbacks in the league. His claim to fame was turning interceptions into touchdowns. Gay scored five touchdowns in 13 career picks. Johnson spent five of his seven seasons with Pittsburgh. And like Gay left the Steelers to play elsewhere before returning. Johnson was largely a blocker but did catch 29 passes for the Steelers. We have hired William Gay and David Johnson as coaching interns. MORE: https://t.co/DhwNnGoxyM pic.twitter.com/2kwUM7GB5U - Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) June 4, 2019 MORE: Why James Holzhauer's small Final Jeopardy! bet made total sense Did Nike accidentally reveal that Kevin Durant is staying with the Warriors? Report: Suns, Bulls offering lottery picks for Lonzo Ball PFF projects Raiders DE Maxx Crosby to beat out Arden Key for starting role Kwon Alexander already having impact on 49ers LBs


Nine French jihadists are now on death row in Iraq after a court sentenced two more to death on Sunday for joining the Islamic State group, rejecting a claim of torture. Fodil Tahar Aouidate and Vianney Ouraghi were among 11 French citizens and one Tunisian handed over to Iraqi authorities in January by a US-backed force fighting the jihadist group in Syria. Described as violent and ready to die for the extremist IS ideology, Aouidate first appeared in court on May 27 but a judge delayed his trial and ordered a medical examination after the 32-year-old claimed he was tortured into confessing. "The medical report shows that there are no signs of torture on his body," the judge told the court before handing down his sentence. His trial was quickly followed by that of 28-year-old Ouraghi, who acknowledged in court that he "worked with" IS but said he did not participate in any fighting. Baghdad has handed capital punishments to seven of the other French jihadists and the Tunisian over the past week. Hearings for the last two suspected French IS members to be tried in Baghdad are set for Monday. Iraq has sentenced more than 500 suspected foreign members of IS since the start of 2018. Its courts have condemned many to life in prison and others to death, although no foreign IS members have yet been executed. Those convicted have 30 days to appeal. - 'Outsourcing' IS trials - Ouraghi, who has Algerian roots, left France for Syria in 2013 and joined the Al-Qaeda affiliate there before jumping to IS when the latter declared its "caliphate" in 2014. "Yes, I worked with IS, but I did not participate in any combat in Syria or Iraq," Ouraghi said in classical Arabic, which he picked up in Egypt. Sporting thick glasses and a light brown goatee, he pleaded that he was only an "IS administrative officer" in charge of "widows and families" of the jihadist group. Aouidate showed no reaction when the judge handed down his death sentence, according to an AFP journalist at the trial. He first went to Syria in 2013 and returned in 2014 with 22 members of his family to join IS, according to the French judiciary. Authorities also linked him to Belgium's Salafist movement including Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the presumed mastermind of the 2015 Paris attacks. Interrogated for four months, he alleged during his first hearing that he was beaten to "confess" to the charges levelled against him. Human Rights Watch on Friday accused Iraqi interrogators of "using a range of torture techniques... which would not leave lasting marks on the person's body". It also condemned France's "outsourcing" of trials of IS suspects to "abusive justice systems" and criticised Iraq's "routine failure... to credibly investigate torture allegations". France has long insisted its adult citizens captured in Iraq or Syria must face trial before local courts, while stressing its opposition to capital punishment. French government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye reiterated Sunday that officials were intervening "at the highest level" in the cases. "France's position has been constant... As soon as our citizens around the world face the possibility of a death sentence after a conviction, we intervene at the highest level of state," Ndiaye told Europe 1 television. Iraqi law provides for the death penalty for anyone joining a "terrorist group" -- even those who did not take up arms.


SACRAMENTO   A bill to protect Californians from spiking rents narrowly passed the Assembly on Wednesday, after a last-minute deal to scale back the proposal. Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, agreed to make amendments in the Senate, where AB1482 heads next, to reflect changes requested by the California Association of Realtors. Under the deal, the measure would limit annual rent increases to 7 percentage points above the regional change in the cost of living, rather than the 5 percentage points plus inflation that Chiu originally proposed. He said would have preferred a lower rate, but "this is the political process." Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, called it "a very moderate measure that will guard against some of the more egregious practices that we're seeing." The bill passed 43-28, two more votes than it needed to clear the 80-member house. The deal with the Realtors includes a second measure, AB1481 , by Democratic Assemblymen Tim Grayson of Concord and Rob Bonta of Alameda, which did not come up for a vote Wednesday. It would require landlords to provide a just cause when evicting a renter. Examples include a tenant failing to pay rent, breaching a rental agreement, creating a nuisance or engaging in criminal activity. But with the proposed changes, it would not kick in until a tenant has been in a rental for a year. Renters evicted through no fault of their own, such as when a property is taken off the market, would receive relocation assistance equivalent to one month of rent. Both the rent-cap and eviction bills would exempt housing built within the past 10 years and those controlled by landlords who own 10 or fewer single-family homes. They would also expire in 2023, although lawmakers could renew them. The authors had already amended their bills last week in an effort to blunt opposition from landlords and the business community, but they struggled to secure enough support for the measures on the Assembly floor. Business groups argued that limiting how much landlords can charge for rent discourages housing construction. They also asked for "stability" provisions that would prevent the Legislature from quickly revising the renter protections. Debra Carlton, senior vice president of public affairs for the California Apartment Association, which represents owners and developers of rental properties, said last week that without legislation to make it easier to build more housing, her organization was unlikely to support a deal on a rent cap and just cause for evictions. She pointed to SB50 by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, which was shelved in committee earlier this month, as an example of something the Legislature should pass but won't. "That's what's challenging for us   they're not moving on any bills to speed up housing production," Carlton said. Her argument held sway with opponents of AB1482 such as Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore (Riverside County), who said the bill would "harm the very people that need the help the most." "You can say it's not rent control all day long, but it is. And you know it is," she said. Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff