Author: Gesi Lloyd

 Coco Gauff did not make it easy on herself. But she made it through. The American No. 2 seed defeated World No. 21 Liudmila Samsonova 7-5, 6-1 on Thursday at the 2026 Stuttgart Tennis Grand Prix, punching her ticket to the quarterfinals despite spending much of the first set looking like she might not. For a player who has spoken openly about trying to break a cold streak at this particular tournament, surviving an early storm mattered just as much as the scoreline. Gauff dropped three consecutive games early in the opening set, handing Samsonova an edge she appeared ready…

Martin Lawrence did not just turn 61 on April 16. He broke the internet doing it. Videos of the comedian circulating across Instagram and TikTok showed a noticeably slimmer, more energetic version of the man fans have followed for decades. The reaction was immediate. Birthday tributes, shocked comments, and side-by-side comparisons flooded timelines throughout the day, with many fans saying he looks younger now than he did in his prime. Lawrence has been open about making changes to his health and lifestyle in recent months, and the results have clearly landed. For a comedian who built his career on commanding…

KaShawn Nicola Roper had been running for nearly six years. Then, within 24 hours of the FBI plastering her name and face across the country’s most notorious fugitive list, someone made a call. On Wednesday, law enforcement arrested her in High Springs, Florida, a small town about 20 miles northwest of Gainesville. The arrest came one day after the FBI added her to its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list and announced a reward of up to $1 million for information about her whereabouts. Roper was booked into Alachua County jail around noon and remained held without bond as of Thursday…

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted 213-214 Today to reject a resolution that would have directed President Donald Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from military operations against Iran. The margin was the narrowest possible, and the outcome broke almost entirely along party lines. Only one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, voted in favor of the resolution. Only one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, voted against it. Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio, who had supported a similar measure previously, voted present. Three other Republicans did not vote at all. Had any one of them voted yes, the result would…

When Sterling K. Brown walked out of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2001, he carried a degree and close to $100,000 in student debt. He was 25, newly trained, and stepping into one of the most competitive industries in the world without a guaranteed path forward. Rather than walk away from acting, Brown made a private promise. He told himself, and something larger than himself, that if he could simply make a living doing the work he loved, that would be enough. That promise, made quietly in the early years of a career that had not yet taken…

In July 2022, Ja Morant signed a contract worth close to $200 million and looked like the future of the Memphis Grizzlies for the foreseeable future. He had just led a young, electric team to a second-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors. He was 22 years old. The ceiling felt limitless. Four years later, the picture looks nothing like that. Morant has privately told players around the league and some of his former coaches that he will no longer play for the Grizzlies, according to multiple league sources who spoke with ESPN’s Tim MacMahon and Michael C. Wright.…

Coco Gauff’s clay season is officially underway, and it is not starting with a soft opener. The reigning French Open champion faces Liudmila Samsonova in the second round of the 2026 Stuttgart Open Today, beginning a title defense that carries serious weight after one of the best seasons of her career. Gauff arrives in Stuttgart off the back of a strong run at the 2026 Miami Open, where she reached the final before falling to Aryna Sabalenka. Her overall record in 2026 stands at 16-6, and her career win rate on clay sits at 73%. For most opponents, those numbers…

The New York Knicks had a season full of turbulence. A surprising NBA Cup victory over the San Antonio Spurs sat alongside a painful 2-9 stretch and narrow wins over a Golden State Warriors squad missing both Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler. By the end of the regular season, the Knicks finished 53-29 and locked up the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. Their reward is a first-round date with the Atlanta Hawks, who finished sixth at 46-36 and quietly became one of the most unpredictable teams in the league. According to Kalshi, New York holds a 70% probability…

Justin Fairfax, who served as Virginia’s lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2022, fatally shot his wife, Cerina Fairfax, inside their Annandale home before killing himself in the early hours of Thursday morning. Their teenage son called 911 shortly after midnight. Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis told reporters at a morning news conference that Justin Fairfax shot his wife in the basement of the home, then moved to the primary bedroom upstairs, where he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Both bodies were removed from the home on gurneys just before 10 a.m. and transported away in a white van.…

801 Restaurant Group, the Kansas-based operator behind the upscale 801 Chophouse chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 10 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas. The filing lists assets of nearly $15 million against liabilities of $18.7 million, with creditors’ claims that include more than $3 million in lease guarantees and a $1.8 million claim from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The company, which is represented by Brown and Ruprecht PC, did not specify what led to its financial difficulties. Chapter 11 allows a business to continue operating while it reorganizes its debt obligations,…