Author: Gesi Lloyd

Oil prices dropped sharply Today after Iran’s foreign minister declared the Strait of Hormuz open to commercial shipping for the duration of a newly announced ceasefire, delivering an unexpected jolt to energy markets that had been under severe strain for weeks. Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 13% to $86.30 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the American benchmark, declined by the same margin to $79.20. Both contracts hit their lowest levels since early March, though they still trade above their pre-war figures of $73 and $67 per barrel, respectively. What Iran’s foreign minister said Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi announced…

Ford is recalling nearly 1.4 million F-150 pickup trucks in the United States after a transmission defect was linked to at least one crash and two injuries. The recall, announced April 14 on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website, covers 1,392,935 trucks built between 2015 and 2017. At the center of the problem is a signal failure between the transmission range sensor and the powertrain control module. When that connection breaks down, the truck can unexpectedly drop into second gear while moving, which can cause drivers to lose control. Ford confirmed that by April 2 the company had tallied…

While most of the crypto market has been sitting on its hands, XRP has been doing something unusual. It went up. The token posted a roughly 6.4% gain over the past seven days, making it the top weekly performer among major cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin, ether, and BNB all trailed behind during the same stretch. That kind of relative strength would be notable in any environment. In the middle of a market where the global Fear and Greed Index has collapsed to a reading of 23, a level classified as extreme fear, it stands out even more. XRP climbed to around $1.43…

 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…