Author: Gesi Lloyd

M&M’s turns 85 this summer and the celebration comes with a catch. Mars is launching a new line of the iconic candy in August made without artificial dyes, a move driven by mounting pressure from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his Make America Healthy Again initiative. But two of the candy’s six classic colors will not be part of the launch. Blue and brown are out, at least for now, because Mars has not found a way to replicate them using natural ingredients without causing serious problems at the manufacturing level. What the MAHA pressure…

When Apple unveiled iOS 27 at WWDC 2026, most of the attention landed on Siri. The redesigned assistant got a standalone app, cross-device conversation sync, on-screen awareness, and a backend that draws on Gemini models in collaboration with Google. It was a significant upgrade, and Apple knew exactly what it was doing by leading with it. But the more interesting story is what Apple buried underneath all of that. Apple Intelligence is not just powering a smarter Siri. It is running through Safari, Mail, Calendar, Messages, the Phone app, and the Passwords app, changing how each one behaves in ways…

James Harden was arrested in Houston before dawn on Saturday and charged with a misdemeanor for unlawfully carrying a weapon, adding an unexpected chapter to what was already a pivotal stretch in his career. Harris County court records show Harden was taken into custody at 3:41 a.m. after a Houston Police Department officer pulled him over at 1800 Crawford Street for a traffic violation. A handgun was visible on the seat of a vehicle Harden owns. The weapon was not holstered and sat in plain view, which constitutes a violation under Texas law. He was booked into the Harris County…

Two Southwest Airlines planes collided on the tarmac at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport late Thursday night, and it was the passengers who first raised the alarm. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the wing of Southwest Flight 3515 made contact with the tail of Southwest Flight 3409 at approximately 10:45 p.m. as Flight 3515 pushed back onto a taxiway. Both planes were able to return to their gates, and all passengers deplaned without incident. No injuries were reported. What made the episode more alarming than the collision itself was what happened in the moments after it. Passengers aboard…

There are performances that meet expectations, and then there are performances that reset them entirely. What the USA  men’s national soccer team produced at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on Friday night fell squarely into the second category. Team USA dismantled Paraguay 4-1 in their opening Group D match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It was the kind of performance that turns the casually curious into believers, and it came on the biggest stage the country has ever hosted. Folarin Balogun was the architect of much of the damage. The 24-year-old striker opened his account in the 31st minute,…

Forbes has released its latest ranking of the richest self-made women in the United States, and four Black women have secured spots on a list that celebrates 43 high achievers across fashion, retail, media and entertainment. Rihanna, Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey and Sheila Johnson each earned their place through decades of work that extended well beyond the fields that first made them famous. To qualify, women must have built their wealth substantially within the United States or hold permanent residency. Forbes specifies that none of the women on the list inherited their fortunes. Every name on it got there by navigating…

Simone Biles spent most of this past week in bed. On Saturday, she told the world why, at least in part. The most decorated gymnast in Olympic history posted a series of images to her Instagram Stories revealing that she had gone through a medical emergency earlier in the week, one she described as among the most frightening experiences of her life. She did not name the condition or describe what happened medically, but she made clear that the situation had been serious enough to land her in a hospital and serious enough that she felt compelled to share it…

The Power franchise is not done with New York. Starz announced June 4 that it has greenlit Power: Legacy, an eight-episode series that brings back Joseph Sikora as Tommy Egan and Michael Rainey Jr. as Tariq St. Patrick, the two characters whose separate arcs have driven much of the franchise’s second act. The series is a co-production between Starz and Lionsgate Television, a structural shift from the previous Power spinoffs, which were licensed rather than co-produced. That distinction matters for how Starz owns and profits from the franchise going forward. What the show is about Power: Legacy picks up after…

On June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and delivered news that should have come two and a half years earlier. The Emancipation Proclamation had already been signed. The war was over. Yet the people it most affected were the last to know. That lag was not an accident. It was a pattern. Juneteenth, now a federal holiday, marks that moment. But for many Black Americans, the day carries a weight that a cookout or a day off work cannot fully contain. It is a commemoration that doubles as a charge sheet — a yearly accounting of promises…

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, the country is contending with familiar fractures. Debates over race, religion, gender, and identity are running loud and hot across every institution, including sports. For LGBTQ Americans, the arena has always been both a battleground and, eventually, a place where something like progress became visible. That progress took decades, cost careers, and required individuals to absorb risks that most of their straight teammates never had to consider. The athletes who did it anyway changed the culture in ways that outlasted the games they played. How LGBTQ athletes found their footing in a…