Charles Barkley rails against TV 'clowns' over Victor Wembanyama takes

Charles Barkley did little to hide his frustration with “clowns on TV” who’ve created a narrative that the Oklahoma City Thunder are playing “dirty” against San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama.

Throughout the Western Conference Finals, fans and pundits alike have argued that theThunder— namely center Isaiah Hartenstein — are bending the rules while guardingWembanyama. Following hishistoric 41-point outburst in Game 1, Oklahoma City defenders have begun grabbing, pushing, and pressuring the Frenchman in an effort to slow him down in the paint.

The physical style of play has largely gone unchecked by the referees, prompting many around the NBA to question the officiating. NBC Sports’ Reggie Miller noted during a broadcast: “[Hartenstein is] using all of his body weight. He’s grabbing him, pushing him, and constantly trying to wear him down.”

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Bill Simmons similarly called out the officials for not blowing the whistle, writing on X: “I thought Hartenstein couldn’t play in this series. But if they’re letting him grab and hit Wemby on every possession, then he should play all 48 minutes.”

On Saturday’s edition of ‘Inside the NBA,’ Barkley couldn’t help but poke fun at the overall discourse surrounding Wembanyama and the Thunder’s defense against him.

“I think we need to all pray for Wemby, because he can’t play too many minutes, they’re gonna kill him out there,” he said.

Once Kenny Smith questioned if his colleague was joking, Barkley replied: “Man I am damn sure joking, because you guys — these people — man they pissing me off. I’m watching the whole game, they ain’t playing dirty.

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“These are some of the softest fouls I've ever seen in my life. You've got these clowns on TV talking about, 'Oh, they're going to hurt poor Wemby.' I was like, ‘Hurt him? You're kidding, man.’ It drives me crazy watching these shows."

Barkley expressed a similar sentiment following the Thunder’s 122-113 victory over the Spurs in Game 2 of the series, adding: “All of you at home and on TV saying they were too physical with Wemby need to stop. I’ve had kisses harder than those contacts.

“Sure, he was bodying him up, but it wasn’t anything excessive. No hard shots, no dirty fouls. If you think that’s physical, then you’re overreacting.”

Wembanyama, to his credit, is hardly letting the Thunder’s divisive approach throw him off his game.

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In Game 4, the 22-year-old scored a game-high 33 points — eight of which came at the free-throw line — along with eight rebounds, five assists, and three blocks en route to propelling the Spurs to a 103-82 win that tied up the series at two apiece.

Assessing his performance during a postgame press conference, Wembanyama told reporters: “We all have high standards, and I know I have a lot of responsibilities, but I’m here for it.

“Yeah, it was better today. It wasn’t perfect. But, you know, all of us, I’m talking about the whole organization, so we’re going to have to do things that we didn’t sign up for.”

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May 26, 2026

Charles Barkley rails against TV 'clowns' over Victor Wembanyama takes

Charles Barkley did little to hide his frustration with “clowns on TV” who’ve created a narrative that the Oklahoma City Thunder are pl...

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Social media as bad for children as smoking, British doctors say

By Paul Sandle

LONDON, May 26 (Reuters) - Social media ranks alongside smoking as a danger to children, senior British doctors said on Tuesday, as they urged lawmakers ‌to tackle the harm that they say excessive screen time is causing to young ‌people.

The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges detailed the impact of social media on children in a submission to the ​government's consultation on protecting children online, which closes on Tuesday.

"It ranks alongside smoking and wearing seatbelts in cars as a unifying force for the medical profession."

"There can be few issues which have united clinicians so resoundingly in recent years as the impact that unfettered exposure to tech and ‌devices is currently having on ⁠children and young people's health," said the body, which represents the UK and Ireland's 23 royal medical colleges and faculties.

More than half of 132 ⁠doctors surveyed saw at least one case of health harm that could be related to tech and devices every week, and over a third saw evidence of harm multiple times a week, it ​said.

Harms ranged ​from physical injuries, for example caused by replicating ​acts of extreme pornography, to mental ‌health impacts, such as trauma from seeing violence online.

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Britain is consulting on restricting children's access to social media, including a possible ban for under-16s, as well as curfews, app time limits and curbs on what it has described as addictive design features.

Australia last year became the first country to ban social media for children under 16, with European countries considering similar measures.

Britain's ‌online safety law requires social media companies to take ​measures to protect children from illegal and harmful online ​content, but the government has committed to ​going further.

"The question isn't whether we are going to act; we will, ‌whether that is a ban on social ​media for the under-16s ​or restrictions on key features and functions," Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told BBC News.

Hundreds of British families are testing social media bans, curfews and app time limits to ​see how they impact children's ‌sleep, family life and schoolwork.

Experts are divided on how effective a total ban ​would be, while a group of young people in London recently told Reuters ​they were opposed to restrictions.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle)

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May 26, 2026

Social media as bad for children as smoking, British doctors say

By Paul Sandle LONDON, May 26 (Reuters) - Social media ranks alongside smoking as a danger to children, senior British doctors sa...

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Oil rises, stocks waver as new US strikes dampen peace deal hopes

SINGAPORE, May 26 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday and stocks dithered as investor optimism over an imminent U.S.-Iran peace deal was tempered by new U.S. strikes in the Middle East.

U.S. forces conducted strikes ‌in southern Iran in what was described as defensive action, as Tehran's top negotiator and its foreign minister were ‌in Doha for talks with Qatar's prime minister on a potential deal with Washington to end the three-month-old war.

Also, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said ​negotiating a deal with Iran could "take a few days", quashing hopes of an imminent end to the conflict.

The developments sent Brent futures rising more than 2% in Asian trade to $98.21 a barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up slightly from Monday's last traded price but down 4.9% from Friday's close. There was no settlement on Monday due to the U.S. Memorial Day holiday.

"I'm a bit sceptical... We ‌keep being told there's a deal that's near, ⁠but what does the deal look like? That's what's really important. When's the Strait of Hormuz going to open... There's a lot we don't know," said Joseph Capurso, a strategist at Commonwealth Bank ⁠of Australia.

Stock markets were mixed, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advancing 0.67%, while Japan's Nikkei shed 0.14%.

Nasdaq futures trimmed earlier gains to trade 0.86% higher, while S&P 500 futures rose 0.66%.

EUROSTOXX 50 futures eased 0.16%, while FTSE futures added 0.2% and DAX futures lost ​0.26%.

"The ​market wants to believe that it's all going to end soon, because ​the war not ending is quite bad for ‌the world economy. The world economy's had these buffers of running down inventories, but you can't keep running down inventories," said Capurso.

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In Hong Kong, stocks rose as the chipmaking sector's gains helped overcome jitters around Beijing's crackdown on illegal cross-border trading.

The Hang Seng Index was up 0.5%, while on the mainland, China's CSI300 blue-chip index dipped 0.3%.

DOLLAR BACK IN THE RECKONING

In currencies, the dollar steadied on Tuesday on renewed safe-haven demand, though it remained some distance away from a six-week peak hit last week.

The euro fell ‌0.1% to $1.1633, while the sterling eased 0.13% to $1.3488.

Against the yen, the dollar was ​flat at 158.94.

Bonds were largely steady after a rout last week on ​worries that higher energy prices for longer would stoke ​a resurgence in inflation and prompt rate hikes across both developed and emerging markets.

The yield on the ‌two-year U.S. Treasury note fell nearly 7 basis points ​to 4.0573%, while the 10-year yield ​fell more than 6 bps to 4.5083%.

"We are likely to see periodic yield retracements on occasions when geopolitical risks subside, but inflation and fiscal risks are likely to be more sustained," said Eric Robertsen, Standard Chartered's head of global ​research and chief strategist.

"Commodity supply dislocations will ‌take months to resolve, and fiscal support measures are likely to drive a sustained deterioration in sovereign balance ​sheets - which will also require increased borrowing in an environment of higher funding costs."

Elsewhere, spot gold was down ​1% at $4,525.18 an ounce. [GOL/]

(Reporting by Rae Wee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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May 26, 2026

Oil rises, stocks waver as new US strikes dampen peace deal hopes

SINGAPORE, May 26 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday and stocks dithered as investor optimism over an imminent U.S.-Iran peace deal...

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Hernández's walk-off grand slam against Williams gives Marlins 4-0 win, 3-game sweep of Mets

MIAMI (AP) — Heriberto Hernández hit a grand slam off Devin Williams in the ninth inning for his first big league walk-off hit, giving the Miami Marlins a 4-0 win Sunday and a three-game sweep of the New York Mets.

Mets Marlins Baseball

New York had just two runs and 11 hits in the series and has scored two runs or fewer in four straight games. The Mets (22-31), who have dropped into last place in the NL East, were shut out for the sixth time this season as they completed a 2-5 trip. They have scored one run or none in 15 games.

Juan Soto was scratched before the game because of a fever. Marcus Semien went 0 for 10 in the series, dropping his average to .214.

Miami (25-29) swept a series for the first time since its opening three games against Colorado.

Christopher Morel doubled against Williams (3-2) leading off the ninth, Javier Sanoja sacrificed, Liam Hicks walked and Xavier Edwards was intentionally walked.

Hernández took a changeup for a called strike and Williams, who had not allowed a run in his previous 10 appearance, left a changeup over the plate that Hernández hit 416 feet over the center-field wall. It was the first walk-off slam in a 4-0 win since Kansas City's Justin Maxwell in the 10th inning off Texas' Joakim Soria on Sept. 22, 2013.

Pete Fairbanks (2-2) stranded a runner at second in the ninth when Carson Benge took a called third strike.

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New York rookie center fielder A.J. Ewing threw out Sanoja at the plate when he tried to score from second on Edwards’ seventh-inning single.

Mets starter Christian Scott allowed four hits in a season-high 5 2/3 innings.

After 15 relief appearances to begin the season, Miami's Tyler Phillips started and gave up two hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Miami first baseman Connor Norby left because of left elbow discomfort after Scott hit him with a 85.6 mph fastball in the fourth.

Up next

Mets: RHP Nolan McLean (2-3, 3.57) will start the opener of a home series against Cincinnati on Monday after allowing career highs of nine runs and six earned in his last start, against Washington. LHP Nick Lodolo (0-1, 7.20) starts for the Reds.

Marlins: RHP Janson Junk (2-5, 5.07) starts Monday at Toronto against RHP Trey Yesavage (2-1, 1.07)

AP MLB:https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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May 25, 2026

Hernández's walk-off grand slam against Williams gives Marlins 4-0 win, 3-game sweep of Mets

MIAMI (AP) — Heriberto Hernández hit a grand slam off Devin Williams in the ninth inning for his first big league walk-off hit, giving ...

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Ravens face a difficult rest disadvantage in their 2026 NFL schedule

The NFL released the regular-season schedules for all 32 teams two weeks ago, and one of the biggest topics of discussion among fans, pundits, and experts is the lack of rest for some teams compared to others.

Rest differential is a real thing, according to NFL analystArif HasanandWarren Sharp.Hasan describes his version as the "sum net rest days vs. opponents across all 17 games." Hasan calculates it by adding up the difference in rest days between each team and its opponent for all games. A high positive number means the team has more recovery and preparation time than the teams it faces.

Sharp uses net rest edge to general rest advantage, and notes the unfavorable historical nature of the 2026 schedule for some teams.

A rest edge in the NFL is the number of extra days a team has to rest and prepare for their game over their opponent.

An example of rest edge: if theDolphinshave a full 7-day bye week ahead of their game vs. the Bills, and the Bills play on Monday Night Football and are on a short week, the Dolphins have a rest edge of +8 days before their game against the Bills. Conversely, the Bills have a rest edge of -8 days.

Based on Hasan's version, only the Steelers,Rams, Colts, Dolphins, Saints, Jets,Raiders,Eagles, and Chargers will play against 2026 opponents on less rest than theRavens.

On the positive end of the schedule spectrum, the NFL team with the highest net rest differential in Hasan's version is theChicago Bearsat +15, a total of 15 extra days compared to their opponents. The Bears, along with theBuffalo Bills(+14) and Dallas Cowboys (+11.5), have the highest net rest differentials in the league since 2002. The Bears, Cowboys, Bills, and 12 other teams won't face a single team off a bye week in 2026.

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Warren Sharp Rest Disparity

In Sharp's version, Baltimore has a -3 in rest differential, with 11 other teams getting less rest.

Baltimore opens the season on September 13 against theIndianapolis Coltsbefore hosting theNew Orleans Saintsin Week 2. One of the most unique games on the schedule arrives in Week 3 when the Ravens face the Dallas Cowboys in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, marking another major international showcase for the franchise.

Baltimore's 2026 slate again looks brutal, featuring matchups against playoff contenders such as the Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Chargers, and Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Ravens close the regular season with two massive AFC North battles against Pittsburgh in Weeks 15 and 18, potentially setting the stage for another dramatic division finish.

This article originally appeared on Ravens Wire:NFL scheduling metrics expose Ravens uphill battle in 2026

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May 25, 2026

Ravens face a difficult rest disadvantage in their 2026 NFL schedule

The NFL released the regular-season schedules for all 32 teams two weeks ago, and one of the biggest topics of discussion among fans, p...

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What is Memorial Day and how has it evolved from its Civil War origins?

Memorial Day is a U.S. holiday that is officially about mourning the nation's fallen service members, but it has come to signal theunofficial start of summeranda long weekend of traveland discounts on anything from mattresses to lawn mowers.

US Memorial Day

Here is a look at the holiday and how it has evolved:

When is Memorial Day?

It falls on the last Monday of May. This year, it is May 25.

Why is Memorial Day celebrated?

It’s a day of reflection and remembrance of those who died while serving in the U.S. military, according to the Congressional Research Service.

The holiday is observed in part by the National Moment of Remembrance, which encourages all Americans to pause at 3 p.m. for a moment of silence.

What are the origins of Memorial Day?

The holiday's origins can be traced to the American Civil War, which killed more than 600,000 service members, Union and Confederate, between 1861 and 1865.

The first national observance of what was then called Decoration Day occurred May 30, 1868, after an organization of Union veterans called for decorating war graves with flowers that were in bloom.

The practice was already widespread. Waterloo, New York, began a formal observance on May 5, 1866, and was later proclaimed to be the holiday’s birthplace.

Yet Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, traced its first observance to October 1864, according to the Library of Congress. And women in some Confederate states decorated graves before the war’s end.

David Blight, a Yale history professor, points to May 1, 1865, when as many as 10,000 people, many of them Black, held a parade, heard speeches and dedicated the graves of Union dead in Charleston, South Carolina.

A total of 267 Union troops had died at a Confederate prison and were buried in a mass grave. After the war, members of Black churches buried them in individual graves.

“What happened in Charleston does have the right to claim to be first, if that matters,” Blighttold The Associated Press in 2011.

When did Memorial Day become a source of contention?

As early as 1869, The New York Times wrote that the holiday could become “sacrilegious” and no longer “sacred” if it focused more on pomp, dinners and oratory.

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In an 1871 Decoration Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery, abolitionist Frederick Douglass said he feared Americans were forgetting the Civil War’s impetus: enslavement.

“We must never forget that the loyal soldiers who rest beneath this sod flung themselves between the nation and the nation’s destroyers,” Douglass said.

His concerns were well-founded, said Ben Railton, a professor of English and American studies at Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts.

Although roughly 180,000 Black men served in the Union Army, the holiday in many communities would essentially become “white Memorial Day,” especially after the rise of the Jim Crow South, Railton told the AP in 2023.

In the 1880s, then-President Grover Cleveland was said to have spent the holiday going fishing, and “people were appalled,” Matthew Dennis, an emeritus history professor at the University of Oregon, told the AP.

But when the Indianapolis 500 held its inaugural race on May 30, 1911, anAP reportmade no mention of the holiday, or any controversy.

How has Memorial Day changed?

Dennis said Memorial Day’s potency diminished somewhat with the addition of Armistice Day, which marked the end of World War I on Nov. 11, 1918. Armistice Day became a national holiday by 1938 and was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.

In 1971, Congress changed Memorial Day from every May 30 to the last Monday in May. Dennis said the creation of the three-day weekend recognized that Memorial Day had been transformed into a more generic remembrance of the dead, as well as a day of leisure.

A year later, Time Magazine wrote that the holiday had become “a three-day nationwide hootenanny that seems to have lost much of its original purpose.”

Why is Memorial Day tied to sales and travel?

Even in the 19th century, grave ceremonies were followed by leisure activities such as picnicking and foot races, Dennis said.

The holiday also evolved alongside baseball and the automobile, the five-day work week and summer vacation, according to the 2002 book “A History of Memorial Day: Unity, Discord and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

In the mid-20th century, a small number of businesses began to open defiantly on the holiday.

Once the holiday moved to Monday, “the traditional barriers against doing business began to crumble,” authors Richard Harmond and Thomas Curran wrote.

These days, Memorial Day sales and traveling are deeply woven into the nation’s muscle memory.

byAdministrator

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May 25, 2026

What is Memorial Day and how has it evolved from its Civil War origins?

Memorial Day is a U.S. holiday that is officially about mourning the nation's fallen service members, but it has come to signal the...

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Lithuania suspects foreign involvement in data leak of over 600,000 national register entries

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuanian authorities are on high alert after a massive data leak involving more than 600,000 entries from national data registers, which is believed to have been executed by another country.

The Lithuanian general prosecutor’s office on Friday announced the leak was primarily from registers of real estate and legal entities accessed by using login credentials of institutions authorized to receive the data.

The head of the State Enterprise Centre of Registers, Adrijus Jusas, resigned Monday following the leak.

The authorities immediately implemented additional cybersecurity measures, including blocking the accounts of suspected data users and restricting access with a requirement to update credentials, the prosecutors said.

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The prosecutor’s office said a foreign country is suspected of involvement, although authorities did not specified which nation.

Lithuanians are especially cautious given that the country, with a population of 2.9 million, is one of the main targets ofRussia’s hybrid waragainst Europe, which includes sabotage, arson attacks and vandalism, as well as influence operations.

Opposition politician Laurynas Kasčiūnas wrote on social media Sunday that the data theft is suspected to be a Russian intelligence operation, although he offered no evidence for the claim.

The politician warned that addresses of intelligence officers, military personnel, diplomats or politicians may have been accessed, which could potentially allow the perpetrators to spy on or exercise pressure against the targets.

byAdministrator

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May 25, 2026

Lithuania suspects foreign involvement in data leak of over 600,000 national register entries

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuanian authorities are on high alert after a massive data leak involving more than 600,000 entries from n...

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