ARLINGTON, Texas — Shohei Ohtani has had plenty on milestones moments on the field in the last year.
This weekend, he’s about to have one off of it.
The Dodgers slugger and reigning National League MVP is being placed on the paternity list, manager Dave Roberts announced, in anticipation of the birth of his first child this weekend.
Ohtani stayed back in Los Angeles with his wife, Mamiko Tanaka, according to Roberts, and will be replaced on the roster during the Dodgers series against the Texas Rangers by veteran outfielder Eddie Rosario, who was called up from triple A.
Ohtani can stay on the paternity list for up to three days — which would rule him out until next week’s series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field — but Roberts said it’s possible he could rejoin the team later this weekend in Texas.
To make room on the 40-man roster for Rosario, the Dodgers transferred reliever Edgardo Henriquez to the 60-day injured list.
April 18 (UPI) — More than 400 demonstrations are planned nationwide on Saturday against President Donald Trump and his policies.
The same grass-roots group 505051 that organized “Hands Off” demonstration that drew millions of people on April 5 is planning another one event called “A Day of Action.” The website lists demonstrations’ locations, including some outside the United States.
“Coming off a historic day where an estimated 5.2 million of you all showed up to join us to declare that We the People reject the Trump/Musk administration’s war on our freedoms and future the 50501 movement has declared Saturday, April 19th a nationwide day of action!” the group posted on Instagram.
The group’s name stands for 50 States, 50 Protests, 1 movement, which is a “decentralized, people-powered network of resistance and resilience.”
“The 50501 movement has called for a National Day of Action, also known as a National Day of Community Action, not a National Day of Protest,” Hunter Dunn, national press coordinator for the organization, told Newsweek. “There are plenty of demonstrations happening around the country as part of the day of action, but the primary focus of the day of action is speaking to the needs of your community.”
The 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in 1775 is Saturday.
The protests are a response “to authoritarian threats, political overreach, and the erosion of democracy,” according to organizers.
The movement is against a “billionaire takeover,” including by Trump and Elon Musk who are “consolidating power, buying politicians, rigging the system, and silencing the people to serve their own interests,” according to its website.
Also, they are fighting “an economy rigged against the People.” They say “while billionaires amass historic wealth, working Americans are crushed by skyrocketing costs, union-busting, and poverty wages.”
The group is responding to “Trump’s Defiance of the Law” that includes ignoring court rulings against purged federal agencies and targeted political foes by declaring he is above the law.
And they are upset about “the Erosion of freedom.” They include “state-sanctioned kidnappings of students and immigrants deported without due process to attacks on voting rights, reproductive healthcare, workers’ rights, and free elections, oligarchs are dismantling the foundations of our country.”
The group said it represents a cross-section of people racially, ethnically, generationally, economically and political parties.
They say they are led by people who believe in nonviolence, mutual care, and democratic values.”
Demonstrations include marches and rallies. There will be diaper drives, skill sharing, free community meals and teach-ins.
“April 19 is just one day of action,” according to the website. “The 50501 Movement will continue to organize, resist, and build together as long as it takes.”
We the People Dissent, a 50501 affiliate, lists more than 525 broader events Saturday.
TEMPLEGATE tackles an interesting Saturday of racing confident of bashing the bookies.
Back a horse by clicking their odds below.
ALIGN THE STARS (3.35 Musselburgh, nap)
He was a rock-solid horse in staying handicaps last season and returned with a fine third in a Listed race at Nottingham. Will step forward for that and will be hard to beat back down in class.
DUBAI DAYS (3.15 Haydock, nb)
Won with a little bit to spare over course and distance before a fine effort over three miles last time. Big chance now back down to his optimum trip.
BUCKSY DES EPEIRES (4.19 Newton Abbot, treble)
Found the drop back to two miles a touch on the sharp side at Leicester. Back up in distance now and recent rain will be a big help.
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A poignant image of a nine-year-old amputee from Gaza is the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year. Mahmoud Ajjour lost both arms in an Israeli airstrike. His portrait was taken by Palestinian photographer Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times. Ajjour spoke with Al Jazeera about rebuilding his life and his dream of returning home.
The 79-year-old accordionist and bandleader has been battling a bevy of health issues stemming from diabetes. He’s collapsed onstage multiple times in recent years and has been forced to perform from a chair during concerts.
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It’s in the name of his current tour, reportedly his last — “La historia de un final,” which translates to “the story of an ending.” After more than 60 years of recording music, the self-proclaimed “Rey del acordeón” is stepping away from the limelight. His final turn across Mexico and the United States with his band, Los Bravos del Norte, began last summer and will last into the fall. On Saturday, the group played a sold-out show at Intuit Dome in Inglewood.
“I’m not doing well. My legs fall asleep, and I can’t be on my feet much,” he told a small group of reporters that had congregated in his dressing room an hour before he was set to hit the stage, his matter-of-fact voice raspy from a lingering cough. There was no trace of self-pity.
“I’ve been lucky to be able to work each week, and I thank God that it’s gone well for me,” he added. “I feel a lot of satisfaction in what I do.”
When asked by a reporter if he was on a special diet to address his health issues, Ayala pointed to a nearby table full of sandwiches, nachos and other snacks and let out a hearty laugh. “That’s why I don’t get better,” he cackled. “I eat whatever there is.”
It was a fitting reply from a man who sings the lyrics, “Hay que darle gusto al gusto, la vida pronto se acaba.” You have to give in to pleasures. Life ends quickly.
Born in 1945 in Monterrey, Mexico, Ayala started playing the accordion at age 5 —the story goes that his father, himself a musician, sold a pig to buy the instrument. He got his start as a teen in the Mexican bordertown of Reynosa, playing at cantinas for a few pesos a song. It was there that he met Cornelio Reyna, bajo sexto guitarist and songwriter. The two would go on to form Los Relámpagos del Norte, an act that redefined and modernized the Norteño subgenre thanks to Reyna’s unique vocals and Ayala’s dexterous and virtuosic mastery of the squeezebox. In 1971, the duo went their separate ways. Reyna left for Mexico City to try his hand at mariachi music, and Ayala formed Los Bravos del Norte, which went on to have even greater success. It was with Los Bravos del Norte that Ayala recorded his most popular material: “Un Puño de Tierra,” “Un Rinconcito en el Cielo” and “Tragos Amargos” — all songs that have become staples of the Mexican American songbook.
Ayala’s impending retirement will mark the end of an era for música Mexicana. He is a living legend, a legacy act whose prolific output — Ayala says he’s recorded more than 100 albums — and relentless touring across the U.S. have played a major role in laying the foundation for the genre’s newfound mainstream popularity. His accordion style is found in the DNA of acts like Intocable and Grupo Frontera.
“We’ve performed for several generations. The people who came to our shows in the ’60s got married, had kids and they played them our music,” Ayala said. “Then those people had kids themselves and now you have a younger generation listening to Ramón Ayala. Our shows are family-friendly.”
That was certainly the case at Intuit Dome. As I made my way to my seat, I looked around the arena and was struck by the age diversity of the crowd. No sabo kids who had never been near a horse rocked their finest tejana as they sat next to their elders.
As the house lights dimmed, cheers and applause roared throughout the venue. Ayala and his bandmates slowly made his way onto the stage. The bandleader stood in front of a microphone and addressed his adoring audience.
“It gives me such pleasure to greet you all, and I want to tell you to have a good time tonight,” Ayala said.
He then took his seat as a stagehand helped him strap on his accordion. For the next two hours, the band played its biggest hits, songs about love and loss, about living and dying. Complete strangers embraced each other as they sang along at full volume. Couples danced in the aisles and swayed to the likes of “Que Casualidad” and “Mi Piquito de Oro.”
Despite his health issues, Ayala proved that night that he still has it in him to turn a place like Intuit Dome into the world’s largest carne asada. So long as his fingers can move, he will remain the king of the accordion.
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Alicia Ramirez on her horse in the ring at Rancho Zamorez in Coachella, Calif. on Feb. 16, 2025.
Las Valentinas del Valle de Coachella are a group of middle and elementary schoolers who are taking on the sport of escaramuza — an essential component of Mexico’s national sport of charrería, or Mexican rodeo. This article is part of a De Los initiative to expand coverage of the Inland Empire with funding from the Cultivating Inland Empire Latino Opportunity (CIELO) Fund at the Inland Empire Community Foundation.
As part of our recurring series that looks back at past Latin music bangers, staff writer Andrea Flores wrote this tribute to “La Tortura,” the sensuous duet between Shakira and Spanish crooner Alejandro Sanz.
Cuenca is making history as the first Mexican immigrant to originate a co-leading role on Broadway before obtaining U.S. citizenship, portraying Estela Garcia in the musical adaptation of Josefina López’s “Real Women Have Curves,” which is currently in previews and opens April 27.
In February, De Los contributing columnist Alex Zaragoza was diagnosed with Stage 3A, Grade 3 invasive ductal carcinoma in her right breast. In her latest, she delves into her personal experience with breast cancer, the leading cause of cancer death among Latinas.
The Latin Grammy-nominated artist used his Coachella set to critique AI automation in the arts. Last Saturday, he was accompanied onstage by Brazilian American singer Zeeba and “Sweet But Psycho” hitmaker Ava Max, as well as 50 performers from the dance company Urban Theory, who used their hands to mimic machine-like movements in their choreography.
A UCLA international graduate student has been detained at the U.S.-Mexico border and is being held by Customs and Border Protection, the school confirmed late Thursday. The student, whose name was not released, was taken into custody Wednesday night.
The question scholars are asking themselves isn’t whether Trump’s proposal is legal: Case law dating to the 1950s makes clear it is not. They are questioning whether anything can stop Trump from a policy that endangers fundamental American freedoms.
Even in liberal-leaning California, undocumented immigrants who have worked here for decades are making plans to leave, choosing to depart on their own terms rather than risk being forced out with nothing.
Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, 20, was arrested by Florida Highway Patrol on Wednesday and was charged with being “an unauthorized alien” despite being born in the United States. Lopez-Gomez has since been released.
Marilu Mendez began recording on her phone after ICE agents surrounded her car in an effort to detain her husband and smashed her window with a hammer.
The city council for the Miami-Dade County enclave of Doral has voted unanimously to allow its police department to partner with ICE to carry out immigration enforcement operations. According to the Herald, 70% of Doral’s population is foreign-born.
Palestinian Christians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank are holding temperate gatherings leading up to Easter.
Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed at least 50 Palestinians in one day as Christians mark Good Friday in the besieged and bombarded enclave.
More than half of the casualties were in Gaza City and northern Gaza, but deadly attacks took place across the Palestinian Strip, including in Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, medical sources told Al Jazeera on Friday.
The Israeli military said troops were operating in the Shaboura and Tal as-Sultan areas near Rafah, as well as in northern Gaza, where Israel has taken control of large areas east of Gaza City.
On Friday, Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, repeated that Israel intended to achieve its war aims.
“The [Israeli army] is currently working towards a decisive victory in all arenas, the release of the hostages, and the defeat of Hamas in Gaza,” he said in a statement.
Palestinian Christians in Gaza however continued to hold temperate gatherings leading up to Easter, amid the attacks.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from a local church, Ihab Ayyad said he used to gather with other congregants and visit his neighbours’ homes every year to celebrate.
“This year, we didn’t make the visits because of the total destruction everywhere, as the [Israeli] occupation forces have levelled most of the houses of my relatives and my neighbours,” Ayyad said. “A lot of my relatives and neighbours were martyred or displaced in different places. We haven’t celebrated because we feel very sad.”
Ramez al-Soury said he used to travel out of Gaza to Bethlehem or Jerusalem for the holy week.
But now, an “atmosphere of war” permeates Gaza. “The death smell is everywhere. The smell of killing and destruction is putting a lot of pressure on us,” he said.
Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said the Christian community is holding onto their faith and has gathered at one of the oldest churches in the world in Gaza – not in defiance but in devotion.
“In Gaza, Good Friday is the power of faith and the quiet strength of those who still believe in peace even when the world around them is nothing but a stage filled with violence and death,” he said.
West Bank settler violence
Rituals to mark Good Friday and Easter have also been held in the occupied West Bank.
There are about 50,000 Palestinian Christians in the region. Israeli authorities, however, require them to acquire permits to travel to Jerusalem, making it difficult for many to join those celebrations.
Moreover, Israeli settlers and the military also attacked Palestinian people on their land in the town of Biddya, in the Salfit governorate in the occupied West Bank, according to Al Jazeera Arabic on Friday, tempering the celebrations.
The Palestine Red Crescent said that a Palestinian was injured in the attack.
Local sources also told Al Jazeera Arabic that dozens of settlers stormed Jabal al-Urma, a hill in the town of Beita in the Nablus governorate, under the protection of the Israeli army.
Settlers are Israeli citizens who live illegally on private Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israeli settler and military violence has soared across the West Bank – particularly in the north of the territory – since the war on Gaza began in October 2023. The United Nations has said this violence has displaced roughly 40,000 Palestinians since Israel began a new military operation in the occupied West Bank in January.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is embracing its legal fight over the fate of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man accused of gang membership who was deported to El Salvador last month, stating he is “not coming back” despite repeated judicial orders directing the administration to return him.
The case has fueled concern among Democrats and legal scholars that President Trump is increasingly willing to disregard U.S. courts. But the White House has leaned in further to the case in recent days, jumping on a messaging opportunity to pin Democrats as weak on immigration as popular opinion on deportations and the border shifts toward the right.
Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president and an ally to Trump, took part in that effort on Thursday when he allowed a Democratic senator, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, to meet with Abrego Garcia far from the confines of the maximum security prison where he is being held.
Cocktails were even served garnished with cherries and salted rims in photos of Abrego Garcia and Van Hollen that were released by Bukele’s office. But the festive drinks were not ordered by the table. Instead, they were delivered in the middle of their meeting by a Bukele aide. The El Salvadoran president then posted on social media that the comfort on display was evidence that Abrego Garcia was in good hands.
“Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the ‘death camps’ & ‘torture’, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!” Bukele wrote on X. “Now that he’s been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody.”
The episode was the latest play in a messaging war over Abrego Garcia’s case that is unfolding outside of the U.S. court system, which remains insistent that the Trump administration work to facilitate his return to the United States. Bukele, in a subsequent post, suggested he viewed the crisis as a game, writing, “I love chess.”
The series of images from Van Hollen’s visit also provided the White House with the split screen it was looking for in its argument that Abrego Garcia’s case is not a matter of personal liberty, but of immigration enforcement and national security — issues where President Trump’s policies remain popular with the American public.
Emphasizing the point, the White House posted another photo from the meeting contrasted with an image of Trump with the mother of Rachel Morin, a Maryland woman who was raped and killed by an undocumented migrant from El Salvador in a case unrelated to Abrego Garcia’s.
“Our messaging strategy is giving the American people the truth, the facts, which many in the media have refused to do and instead pushed a false story about an innocent,” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, told The Times. “He is anything but that.”
Abrego Garcia has acknowledged in court filings that he entered the country illegally, and was found by two immigration courts to have likely ties to MS-13, a brutal gang that started in the Los Angeles area in the 1980s.
The first finding, issued by a judge in 2019, found that a confidential law enforcement source provided “sufficient” evidence to draw the conclusion he was a gang member, and noted that Abrego Garcia “failed to present evidence to rebut” the assertion. A second judge affirmed the initial ruling. But a third court put a hold on his deportation out of concern for his safety should he be sent into El Salvador’s prison system.
President Trump, shown Friday in the Oval Office, called Kilmar Abrego Garcia a “very violent person.”
(Will Oliver / EPA / Bloomberg / Getty Images)
It is that third order that the Trump administration said it mistakenly ignored when deporting Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, back to his country. It is refusing to correct the error. Despite multiple subsequent orders directing the administration to “facilitate” his return, including from the Supreme Court, the White House said Thursday, “he’s NOT coming back.”
“This man is, according to certified statements that we get, is a very violent person,” Trump said Friday. “And they want this man to be brought back into our country where he can be free, and to stay as a happily — they call him the Maryland man. He’s a Maryland father. No. He’s a violent person.”
Democrats now find themselves in the politically precarious position of defending a basic constitutional predicate — that all persons within the jurisdiction of the United States, regardless of their status, must be afforded due process — in the specific case of an individual whose record appears to show association with an unseemly past.
Public opinion on immigration has taken a sharp rightward turn in recent years, a phenomenon fueled in part by Trump, who has declared an “invasion” at the U.S. southern border. Polling shows more Americans want to curb migration than at any point since 2001. The desire to decrease immigration has risen among Democrats as well as Republicans.
A tough stance on immigration is generally a winning issue for Trump — and is much more popular with voters than other Trump policies, such as tariffs.
An AP-NORC poll published last month found that immigration remains Trump’s strongest issue, with roughly half of Americans supporting his policies on deportations and the border — a higher number than his overall approval rating.
“The government asserts that Abrego Garcia is a terrorist and a member of MS-13. Perhaps, but perhaps not. Regardless, he is still entitled to due process,” a three-judge panel from the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote on Thursday, rejecting the Justice Department’s effort to appeal a lower court’s demand that the administration document efforts to return him.
The unanimous opinion was written by James Harvie Wilkinson III, the chief judge of the court appointed by former President Reagan.
“It is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter. But in this case, it is not hard at all,” the court continued. “The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order. Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done. This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.”
After his meeting with Abrego Garcia, Van Hollen wrote that the main purpose of his trip to El Salvador was “to meet with Kilmar.”
“Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love,” the senator wrote — another comment that drew ire from Republicans, who accused the senator of sympathizing with the alleged gang member.
On Friday, after arriving back in the United States, Van Hollen told reporters that the Trump administration was attempting to change the subject from a constitutional crisis over due process. Van Hollen said that Abrego Garcia told him he has been unable to speak with his wife, as well as his attorneys — a violation of international law, the senator said — although he had recently been moved out of El Salvador’s most notorious prison to a better facility.
Other Democrats praised Van Hollen’s visit. Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of State, New York senator and Democratic presidential nominee, wrote that Van Hollen was “standing up not just for Kilmar Abrego Garcia but for every American who believes in due process.”
“We can’t stop speaking out until he’s home and this administration stops its horrific practice of kidnapping people without charge or trial,” Clinton wrote.
Still, other Democrats worry that the party is falling into a political trap set by the president and his allies.
“This is a perfect test case for them,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said in an interview published Tuesday with Brian Tyler Cohen, a YouTube personality. “They do think this is a broader distraction, and they think it’s the perfect argument for the Democrats to get trapped into, because it goes to the immigration issue.”
“Then, somehow, we’re ‘defending’ someone they have not provided any evidence is a member of MS-13. And somehow it gets all caught into that, and conflated into that broader issue of him being tough on crime,” Newsom continued. “That’s why they, on this one, are being even more defiant than they normally would be.”
Times staff writer Kate Linthicum in Mexico City contributed to this report.
BOOKS on healthy living date back at least 800 years — and include warnings about eating eels with cheese.
Doctors in the 13th century also gave exercise and sleep advice, a researcher has found.
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Books on healthy living date back at least 800 years — and include warnings about eating eels with cheese.
Professor Noa Nikolsky said: “Understanding a holistic relationship between mind and body is not as modern as we might think.
“We know people have practised preventive medicine since the beginning of time.
“But because those wellness practices were never written down, so much is lost in history.”
Prof Nikolsky, of Miami University in the US, unearthed one 13th century Italian text which reads: “Eating eels is bad for the voice, as those who know anything about medicine will attest.
“And cheese and eel are harmful when eaten together in great quantity, unless you often drink wine.”
She added: “These texts teach you to pay attention to different parts of your body and to your habits.
What does Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case say about the future of immigration under Trump?
What happens when the US ignores its own courts? Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported despite a judge’s order and imprisoned in El Salvador in one of the most notorious prisons in the world. The case reveals how gang allegations – often baseless – are still being used to deport immigrants. We unpack the decisions making it possible to turn Abrego Garcia’s life upside down.
Chinese president visits three Southeast Asian nations amid global uncertainty.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has been on a three-nation tour of Southeast Asia.
Xi is seeking to woo the region by projecting China as a source of stability in the face of global uncertainty caused by United States President Donald Trump’s tariffs on 185 countries.
Southeast Asia is China’s largest trading partner. But many countries, including Vietnam and Cambodia, also have strong business relations with the US.
Some have already reached out to the White House, hoping to negotiate a deal during the 90-day pause on tariffs.
Experts say that by excluding China, Trump’s conciliatory measure is aimed at isolating it globally.
So, did Xi Jinping succeed in winning over the leaders of Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia, to rally against Trump’s crippling trade barriers?
Can Beijing fend off Washington’s attempt to isolate it globally by using the tariff negotiations?
Presenter: Dareen Abughaida
Guests:
Shaun Rein – Director, China Market Research Group
Deborah Elms – Head of Trade Policy, Hinrich Foundation
Paolo von Schirach – President, Global Policy Institute
Celebrity Big Brother fans were left horrified when JoJo Siwa and Chris Hughes decided to wee in a cat litter tray during the latest task sparking calls for them to be evicted
Celebrity Big Brother fans were shocked by the behaviour of Chris Hughes and JoJo Siwa(Image: ITV/Celebrity Big Brother)
Celebrity Big Brother fan were horrified when they witnessed housemates Chris Hughes and JoJo Siwa relieve themselves in a human sized cat litter. On Friday night, fans tuned in to find out if Patsy Palmer or Daley Thompson would become the third star to be evicted from the show.
But scenes took a completely unexpected turn when the contestants had to embrace a cat themed task. The Celebrity Big Brother housemates wore huge cat costumes and had to take part in a number of chores – including Patsy being given the task of chasing a laser light whenever the sound of a car mewing was heard.
They also had to drink and eat from cat bowls – while the house was decorated with cat themed accessories like giant balls of twine and huge stuffed toy fish. But confusion arose in the bathroom when a giant cat litter tray was displayed on the floor.
Love Island star Chris, 32, assumed that the real toilets were out of bounds for the duration of the task. He was then concerned when he felt the urge to urinate and asked JoJo, 21, to assist him while he relieved himself.
The reality star asked her to guard the door while he enthusiastically urinated on the giant cat litter tray. He then used his hand to hide the wet sand pieces – much as a cat would do.
JoJo Siwa took a wee in the cat litter tray(Image: ITV/Celebrity Big Brother)
He was left blushing, however, when Big Brother announced over the in-house tannoy: “This is Big Brother. Housemates are reminded you can use the human toilets.”
Despite this clarification, JoJo also opted to relieve herself in the cat litter tray. Chris watched on in fascination as the American singer squatted over the sand and let go.
The scenes left viewers repulsed, however, with many turning on the pair. One fan wrote on X: “I feel uncomfortable #CBBUK.” But another more directly typed: “Not Puss Puss Chris is Piss Piss #CBBUK” alongside a number of vomit face emojis.
Some fans accused the stars of failing to consider the health and safety of show bosses. One wrote: “That’s actually disgusting, I feel so sorry for the producer that had to clean that up. #Cbbuk.”
Another suggested the series had hit a new low, writing: “What on earth is this Chris man doing? Acting like he is 3 years old! Inappropriate and immature! Especially in front of another housemate! What a ridiculous joke this show has become! #CBBUK.”
Another wrote in disbelief: “imagine telling someone last month they’d be watching Chris Hughes p***ing in a litter tray dressed as a cat while JoJo Siwa watched #cbbuk.”
And some fans have completely turned on Chris and JoJo – and have started campaigning for them to be removed from the house. One wrote: “Jojo and Chris need to be evicted asap. it’s not even entertaining just freaky #CBBUK.”
So far on the 2025 season of Celebrity Big Brother, politician Michael Fabricant was the first to be evicted, while talk show star Trisha Goddard was the second. Hollywood star Mickey Rourke was ejected from the house after less than a week as he repeatedly broke house rules.
WASHINGTON — Just days after being promoted to acting IRS commissioner, the whistleblower who testified publicly about investigations into Hunter Biden’s taxes is out again, according to three people familiar with the decision.
Gary Shapley, who previously testified to Congress as Republicans reviewed the business dealings of Joe Biden’s son, will be replaced by Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender, according to the three people, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the move and spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
Faulkender will be the fourth IRS leader since President Trump took office in January, a sign of the turmoil within the agency in the early months of the president’s second time in the White House.
Shapley’s short-lived tenure comes as a stream of high-ranking officials have exited the federal tax collection agency via a mix of resignations over Trump’s policy decisions, layoffs and demotions.
Shapley’s ouster and subsequent replacement were first reported by the New York Times, which said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had complained to Trump that Shapley had been installed without his knowledge and at the behest of Trump advisor Elon Musk, who has butted heads with Cabinet officials in his role spearheading his White House advisory team, which he calls the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Late Thursday night, Musk shared an X post from Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who has criticized certain administration officials for a lack of loyalty to Trump, a Republican.
Loomer accused Bessent of inviting a “Trump hater” to work with him on financial literacy efforts. “I am going to personally tell President Trump and personally show him these receipts,” Loomer wrote, adding “shame on” Bessent.
Musk responded, “troubling.”
Shapley had been installed to replace Melanie Krause, who resigned from her role as acting IRS commissioner over a deal between the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security to share immigrants’ tax data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help it identify and deport people illegally in the U.S.
Krause had replaced acting Commissioner Douglas O’Donnell, who announced his retirement from the agency after roughly 40 years of service in February as furor spread over DOGE gaining access to IRS taxpayer data.
Trump’s nominee to head the IRS, former U.S. Rep. Billy Long of Missouri, has not yet been confirmed.
Hussein and Megerian write for the Associated Press.
The Lakers have given Rob Pelinka a contract extension and a new title: president of basketball operations. Terms of the deal were not announced Friday.
Pelinka, who has been the storied franchise’s general manager since 2017, had been vice president of basketball operations since 2020.
He pulled off the stunning deal to acquire Luka Doncic before the NBA trade deadline after hiring JJ Redick as coach before the season. Pelinka is widely expected to be selected the league’s executive of the year.
The Lakers, who finished third in the Western Conference this season, open the first round of the playoffs Saturday evening by hosting the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“For eight seasons, I have relied on Rob’s vision and leadership to do what’s best for the Lakers organization,” said Jeanie Buss, Lakers co-owner and governor, in a statement. “I value his partnership and professionalism and believe in his ability to deliver championship-caliber basketball for Los Angeles and Lakers fans everywhere.”
International Committee for Solidarity with Rached Ghannouchi decries ‘repressive campaign’ against Ennahdha party leader.
Marking the second anniversary of the arrest of Tunisia’s prominent opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi, an international committee formed last year to raise awareness about his imprisonment says he is being held “unjustly” and on “trumped-up charges”.
The International Committee for Solidarity with Rached Ghannouchi called for the immediate release of the imprisoned Ennahdha party leader and former speaker of Tunisia’s parliament.
In a statement on Thursday, it said that more than 15 cases have been brought against Ghannouchi, and “several unjust convictions and sentences” have been issued.
The most recent of these was a 22-year prison sentence issued in February on charges that included plotting against state security – a case “to which he has no connection”, the committee said.
Earlier this year, Ghannouchi was also sentenced to three years for accusations that his party received foreign contributions.
The 83-year-old, who has been the main rival of Tunisian President Kais Saied, was arrested in April 2023 and sentenced to one year in prison on charges of incitement.
He has been a vocal critic of Saied, and became the highest-profile figure to be arrested in the continuing consolidation of power by the president who was elected in 2019 and has overseen a wave of repression and legal reforms that have expanded his rule.
“These unjust trials and sentences take place within the context of a widespread repressive campaign led by Kais Saied’s regime, which is targeting opposition voices from all backgrounds, repressing organised action in all its forms, controlling the media and civil society, and silencing critical voices,” the committee said in its statement.
It said Saied’s government has to “exploit the judiciary as a tool for settling political scores”.
‘An era of political prisoners’
The committee’s statement comes just days after United States-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the Tunisian government to halt its crackdown on opposition and free all detainees.
The rights group said arbitrary detention was being used to eliminate dissent in Tunisia amid a trial of prominent opposition figures – including Ghannouchi – on conspiracy charges.
In a report released Wednesday, HRW reinforced opposition leaders’ concern over what they call the authoritarian rule of Saied since he dissolved parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree.
The opposition described Saied’s move as a coup. He has denied such accusations, professing he would not become a dictator but rather is trying to rescue the North African country from political chaos and rampant corruption.
The report said Tunis had turned arbitrary detention into a cornerstone of repressive policy.
“Saied’s government has returned the country to an era of political prisoners, robbing Tunisians of hard-won civil liberties,” said Bassam Khawaja, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at HRW.
Since 2023, authorities have arrested dozens of prominent political opposition figures as well as journalists, activists and lawyers in a crackdown critics say has undermined the democracy gained in the 2011 Arab Spring popular uprising.
As Boko Haram and its rival faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), continue to escalate their violent campaigns across the Lake Chad region, resettled communities are facing fresh security threats, placing them at serious risk of renewed displacement and an impending humanitarian crisis.
The insurgents recently launched deadly attacks on several communities whose residents had only just returned to their ancestral homes in some parts of Borno State, northeastern Nigeria.
On Thursday, April 17, they stormed the community of Yamtake in Gwoza Local Government Area of the state, killing two soldiers and an unconfirmed number of civilians in what residents say was a coordinated nighttime assault.
The attack has heightened fears for the safety of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) resettled in the region under government-led reconstruction initiatives. Yamtake, like many other resettled villages, has faced strict security measures, including restricted access to distant farmlands, due to security concerns.
Yamtake in Gwoza, Borno State, Northeastern Nigeria. Map illustratration: Mansir Muhammed/HumAngle
A day before the attack at Yamtake, suspected members of the terrorist group attacked Pulka on Wednesday night, a community hosting thousands of resettled families who have not returned to their ancestral villages and towns, either due to the persistent threat of attacks or because those areas remain under terrorist control.
“There was heavy gunfire and sporadic shooting by Boko Haram when they attacked Pulka, but Alhamdulillah, the security forces and members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) were able to chase them away,” a resident told HumAngle via phone.
Pulka is a heterogeneous rural community located between Gwoza and Bama Local Government Areas of the state. It is mainly occupied by farmers and traders who are involved in both local and cross-border agricultural trade. It still hosts displaced communities in makeshift camps, and the recent security threats pose serious safety issues.
In March, suspected Boko Haram insurgents attacked Nguro Soye, a resettled town in Bama LGA, killing at least three residents and injuring several others. HumAngle found that homes were torched and essential supplies looted during the raid.
Kidnappings have also become common in under-resourced resettlement sites, with victims often forced to sell everything they own, or go into debt, to pay ransoms for their loved ones.
Resettlement efforts have seen the return of residents to towns such as Pulka, Limankara, Ngoshe, Kirawa, and Izge. Map Illustrated by Mansir Muhammed/HumAngle
Since 2020, the Borno State government has pursued an ambitious plan to return displaced families to dozens of communities once held by insurgents. Among these is Nguro-Soye, where more than 1,100 households from ten surrounding hamlets have been resettled into a mix of permanent and temporary shelters.
In Gwoza LGA, similar efforts have facilitated the return of residents to towns such as Pulka, Limankara, Ngoshe, Kirawa, and Izge.
However, critics say the resettlement drive has outpaced the provision of security.
“We have returned home, but we are living in fear.
There are no military patrols at night, and we sleep knowing the attackers could come back anytime,” a resident of Gwoza town told HumAngle.
Senator Ali Ndume, who represents the area in Nigeria’s National Assembly, condemned the Yamtake attack and called for a reassessment of the state’s security deployments. “We can’t afford to lose the progress made in rebuilding our communities,” he said.
As part of its renewed violent campaign, Boko Haram/ISWAP has also intensified the planting of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on key highways across the Lake Chad region. In the past month alone, several IED explosions have been recorded, killing and injuring multiple civilians and security personnel.
In a disturbing escalation of events in the past week, two major bridges, one in Gujiba local government area of Yobe State and another in Biu local government area of Borno State, were damaged by IED explosions planted by the terrorist group. These incidents have severely impacted mobility, rendering entire routes unsafe and exposing commuters to increased risk of attacks, especially in already volatile resettled communities. The destruction of these vital infrastructures also threatens humanitarian access and regional economic flow.
Humanitarian groups and local media have warned for months that resettlement without adequate security could leave vulnerable populations exposed to reprisals and further displacement.
Resettled communities in Borno State’s Gwoza Local Government Area are facing renewed security threats due to escalating violence by Boko Haram and ISWAP in the Lake Chad region.
Recent attacks have targeted communities like Yamtake and Pulka, killing soldiers and civilians, and raising safety concerns for internally displaced persons resettled through government initiatives. Critics claim that resettlement efforts have outpaced necessary security measures, increasing vulnerability to insurgent reprisals and kidnappings, and prompting calls for a reassessment of security deployments.
The terrorist groups have been planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to target key infrastructures like bridges, thus further hindering mobility and humanitarian access and posing a threat to regional economic stability. Humanitarian organizations have been warning that resettlement without adequate security exposes displaced populations to violence and risks of further displacement, underscoring the urgent need for protective measures to consolidate gains in rebuilding efforts.
An intergalactic pyjama party of excitable female celebrities appears to be hurtling towards space.
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Katy Perry, Lauren Sanchez, Gayle King, Kerianne Flynn, Amanda Nguyen and Aisha Bowe celebrate after touching down from their flight to spaceCredit: The Mega Agency
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It was just one of an asteroid field of affirmations from our star trekkers so vomit-inducing they would even make Meghan Markle cringeCredit: Getty
Oh wait, it’s even worse than we thought . . . now they’re coming back to Earth.
As UFOs go, Katy Perry and her fellow NASAssists on their Mission To Nowhere was quite the spectacle.
Here was a group of some of the most privileged women on the planet being shot into orbit to become the most privileged women in space.
Six ladies who launch on a pointless 11-minute vanity voyage that was over and done with before you had a chance to register, no that really was pop star Katy Perry looking like one of those Lycra-clad lasses from the Cannonball Run.
Meanwhile, we were all supposed to believe this Blue Origin launch was not a $150,000-a-head joyride for six rich chicks in designer jumpsuits but a giant leap for womankind.
“It’s an important moment for the future of commercial space travel and for humanity in general and for women all around,” gushed Perry in full competition-winner mode.
She went on to inform us she had felt “super-connected to love” 62 miles above her loyal fanbase.
“I think this experience has shown me you never know how much love is inside of you,” she declared.
It was just one of an asteroid field of affirmations from our star trekkers so vomit-inducing they would even make Meghan Markle cringe.
Much was made of the fact that “social entrepreneur” Amanda Nguyen had become the first Vietnamese woman in space.
Emily Ratajkowski blasts Katy Perry & Blue Origin astronauts for ‘destroying planet’ in video rant after space flight
Ditto, aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, who had finally put the Bahamas beyond the blue.
Two claims that made you wonder if we’d all been missing the most important aspect of exploring space.
That being: To ensure that someone from every country on the planet has spent some time above it performing a weightless somersault while holding a daisy and simultaneously shrieking at glass-shattering decibels.
What next? Will press gangs be sent to far-flung places like Togo and the Federated States of Micronesia to enforce global compliance?
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Perry and five other women took off from the Blue Origin base in TexasCredit: The Mega Agency
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Perry gave an emotional speech about ‘love and belonging’ after the 11-minute missionCredit: Blue Origin
And women only, please! Oh gimme a break.
It’s no wonder Perry and her pampered passengers’ aerospace antics were quick to be lampooned — most hilariously by women, from comedian Amy Schumer to singer Kesha.
Along with all the cheap (but funny) shots, such as the Wendy’s burger chain asking on Twitter/X, “can we send her back” were some more profound jabs.
Model Emily Ratajkowski spoke for many when she harrumphed: “You say you care about Mother Earth, and you’re going up in a spaceship that is built and paid for by a company that is single-handedly destroying the planet.” Ouch!
But of course the real reason for this week’s heavenly hi-jinks is far from rocket science.
And it had little to do with women’s achievements and a whole lot to do with . . . you guessed it: Men. And two men in particular.
Billionaire boys’ toys
Monday’s launch was just the latest instalment in the seemingly never-ending cock rocket contest between Jeff Bezos, who paid for this orbital odyssey (and whose fiancée Lauren Sanchez was, of course, on board) and his fellow maniacal manchild, Elon Musk.
You’ll remember Musk’s previous SpaceX missions, like the time he sent up one of his electric cars with a dummy in the driving seat.
OK, dude.
This is what space travel has become — a celestial train set for men so rich they literally have money to burn (a tank of rocket fuel costs at least $200,000).
Both Bezos and Musk like to dress up their billionaire boys’ toys playtime as some sort of benevolent gesture to the rest of the planet.
As if the problems of all the world’s poor and downtrodden will somehow evaporate overnight when Musk drives a Tesla on Mars’s first motorway.
Or when Bezos delivers his first Amazon package to ET’s wheelie bin.
No — move over, cocaine — commercial space travel is now God’s way of telling you you’ve got too much money.
So I’m sorry to knock you off that “super-connected” nebula of love, Katy.
But with your cynical stunt you just completed yet another giant step . . . for a man.
PS ALIEN life may exist on a planet 729,000,000,000,000 miles away, according to boffins from Cambridge University.
Which makes for a great round two for Perry and her pals.
The trip will take at least 248 years to complete, there and back.
So by the time they return to Mother Earth we’ll all be dead and won’t have to listen to how bloody “empowering” they found it.
Votes must be Erned – just ask Nigel
OUR survey this week on what people think of our party leaders didn’t surprise me one bit.
Reform’sNigel Farage has more charisma than the other three – don’t forget Ed Davey! – put together.
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Nigel Farage has a whole heap of problems to overcome – not least all those nasty racists and bigots in his partyCredit: x/@nigel_farage
Coupled with a solid grasp of what’s actually going wrong with this country, and a thick enough hide to actually spell it out, he is an attractive solution for many.
Of course, Nigel has a whole heap of problems to overcome – not least all those nasty racists and bigots in his party – before he can even dream of building that smoking shed at Number 10.
But I can see why he’s giving the likes of Tory leader Kemi Badenoch the heebie-jeebies.
She is the polar opposite of tab-puffing, pint-swilling “man of the people” Farage.
I’ve no doubt Kemi means well, but she often comes across as so uptight she makes Theresa May look like a barrel of laughs.
The plain-speaking MP for North West Essex will say she doesn’t care about such trivial matters.
But I think the electorate do.
In politics, selling the sizzle can be just as important as selling the sausage.
Look at the affection Boris Johnson had in the Red Wall seats she urgently needs to win over.
Likeability matters.
Kemi can be as tough on this, that and the other as she likes, but she needs to find a bit of the X Factor before voters will give her their “X”.
BITTER SWEET TIMES
HOW sad that youngsters find beer that is called “bitter” or “mild” too challenging.
They need it watered down and given a jazzier name, according to Wye Valley Brewery, which has just given one of its ales the gibberish moniker “Pyoneer”.
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Wye Valley Brewery’s Pyoneer
A session on the bitter or mild is a rite of passage.
If you can stomach a beverage that looks like Worzel Gummidge’s bath water, you’ll be set up for any other drinks that may come your way in later life.
Growing up, I guzzled gallons of Stones Bitter at my local in Derbyshire.
A few years necking that and I was ready for anything the barman had to offer.
Just in time for my 18th birthday.
BRAVE FRED’S LESSON
HEARTBREAKING to watch Freddie Flintoff in the new trailer for his Disney+ documentary about his life-changing 2022 horror smash.
He was a very lucky lad indeed.
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Freddie Flintoff in his Disney+ documentary about his life-changing 2022 horror smashCredit: PA
And it has been a gruelling comeback for the former cricket dynamo as he slowly pieces back together his handsome face.
But in spite of all this misery, we haven’t heard a single “woe is me” comment from the no-nonsense Lancastrian.
His determination to bounce back and selflessly help others through his excellent Field Of Dreams TV series was inspiring.
Bravery and positivity – that’s a lesson to us all.
Still, it’s all part of and parcel of being a football fan – for every soaring high there is a soul-sapping low just around the corner (or six if, like me, you follow Man United).
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Prince George had to witness Aston Villa get booted out of the Champions League after such a nail-biting gameCredit: Getty
But there is one part of his football education that needs some urgent attention.
He was spotted at Tuesday’s game wearing a half ’n’ half scarf.
No proper supporter would be seen dead with one of them.
Time to go slo
I’VE just returned from a delightful week in Slovenia, also known as “wherever that is” to some folk who I told where I was going.
Among the many highlights were the charming dot matrix motorway announce-ments that attempted to regulate drivers’ speed.
One in particular tickled me: “Slovenia is a small country. What’s the hurry?” Well, quite.
There is really nothing worse than all those BMW and Audi drivers hurtling along at 100mph, flashing their lights at you for daring to drive at the speed limit.
Don’t they realise that the Complete Ar*ehole Convention they are in such a rush to get to can’t start without them?
Lisa Murkowski, Alaska’s longtime U.S. senator, was home from Washington this week, touching base. As part of her rounds, the Republican lawmaker appeared in Anchorage before an annual meeting of tribal leaders and nonprofit executives.
Asked what she had to say to those living in fear, or who represent constituents afraid of today’s McCarthyesque climate, Murkowski responded with honesty and bracing candor.
“We are all afraid,” she said.
She then paused five long seconds, her face a rictus of wonderment and concern, allowing the observation and admission — from a sitting member of the United States Senate, no less — to sink in.
“It’s quite a statement,” Murkowski went on. Another brief pause, then several starts and stops.
“But we’re in a time and a place where … I’ve not been here before,” she said. “And I’ll tell you, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.”
It’s a fine pass we’ve come to when simply speaking the truth and stating the obvious are considered newsworthy, much less an act of courage. But here we are, folks.
America, 2025.
If you wish to be cynical, there are reasons why Murkowski — whose comments Monday quickly ricocheted across the country — may be more prepared to speak out against Trump than her timorous Republican peers.
Trump easily carried Alaska all three times he ran for president. But his showing — the 54% of the vote he received in November was a high mark — is a shadow of his blowout victories elsewhere. Trump won Wyoming with 70% of the vote, West Virginia with 68% and Oklahoma and North Dakota with 65% support.
In other words, the Last Frontier is not exactly head over heels for Trump. Besides, Murkowski won’t face reelection — should she decide to run for a fifth term — until 2028, when Trump’s time in office will finally, mercifully be winding down.
Those factors, however, don’t take away from the starch in the senator’s spine or her willingness to stand up while so many others in her party cower in submission. Give Murkowski her due: She doesn’t shrink from a fight.
In 2010, she notched a rare write-in victory after losing the GOP nomination to a right-wing “tea party” Republican. In 2021, Murkowski was one of just seven Republican senators — and the only one to face constituents in the next election cycle — to vote to convict Trump in an impeachment trial for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Her act drew a censure from state GOP leaders and the petulance you would expect from Trump, who urged some Republican, any Republican — “If you have a pulse, I’m with you!” — to challenge Murkowski’s reelection. When Kelly Tshibaka, a 2020 election denier, stepped forward, Trump appeared at an Anchorage rally to lend his support. Murkowski won anyway.
She may be the state’s most popular living politician, said Amy Lovecraft, a political science professor at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. “She knows the state,” Lovecraft said. “She gets stuff done. She’s a doer.”
She’s also outspokenly independent, a rare commodity in today’s increasing cult-like GOP. In fact, the whole notion of checks and balances — a foundational principle of American democracy — has gone out the window, Murkowski suggested in Anchorage. “Right now, we are not balancing as the Congress,” she said, expressing concern, as well, over Trump’s attempted undermining of the judiciary.
Murkowski has taken on Trump more than once.
She refused to vote for him in 2024 — she didn’t support Kamala Harris, either — and was one of the few Republicans in office to publicly condemn Trump’s shameful pardon of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. She opposed Pete Hegseth’s risible nomination as Defense secretary and voted to undo Trump’s heedless tariffs on Canada. She’s also expressed concerns about Elon Musk’s wanton assault on federal employees.
“Things are happening so fast through this Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE” — the fictive name of Musk’s made-up agency — “None of us understand the half of it. It’s literally piecing it together,” Murkowski told those gathered in Anchorage.
Speaking on Monday to the Alaska Daily News, Muskowski recounted numerous conversations with some of those summarily fired in Musk’s precipitous purge. Many were in tears.
“They thought that they were in a profession they’ve given so much to and thought that they were doing well,” Murkowski said. “And literally, with no notice whatsoever, [they were] terminated and told that their work performance was not satisfactory, which was not true.
“These are real emotions. These are real people,” she said. “These are real fears and they need to be heard.”
Indeed.
Sadly, for now, Murkowski is one of vanishingly few Republican politicians with the guts to speak up against the party’s rogue president — a brave, but lone, voice in the wilderness.
Seven-time winner Ronnie O’Sullivan says he will overcome “stage fright” to take on Ali Carter in the first round of the World Snooker Championship.
O’Sullivan, 49, who only confirmed his participation on Thursday, has not played competitively since snapping his cue at the Championship League in January.
“Because it is the World Championship and the last tournament [of the season] I thought I need to try and break that cycle,” he told BBC Sport.
“Call it stage fright, I just haven’t had the [will] to go and compete. Call it lost my bottle. You sometimes lose your nerve. Just to come here is an achievement for me.
“The kind of nerves I have [been] feeling off and on for the last two years have not been good nerves. I have just been not wanting to go out there – sometimes struggling to even take my eyes off the floor. The confidence has been draining away, so it has not been a great place to be.”
Next Tuesday’s meeting with Carter, who at 18th in the world is the highest ranked qualifier, is a repeat of the 2008 and 2012 Crucible finals, which were both won by ‘The Rocket’.
The pair also contested a Masters final in 2024, which O’Sullivan triumphed in, but there were genuine fears that he would not go for a record eighth world title in the modern era this year having been an ever-present at the sport’s showpiece event since turning professional in 1992.
He pulled out of the Masters at Alexandra Palace on medical grounds, missed the German Masters in Berlin and apologised to fans after electing not to play at the Welsh Open.
He also withdrew from the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong in March and has not played in anything over a best-of-seven match since his first-round loss to Barry Hawkins at the UK Championship in November.
“Ali is a really good match player and I will have to play better than I have been just to give him a game,” added O’Sullivan.
“I really have nothing to lose. I have done well to just get here to be honest. If it was any other tournament I probably wouldn’t have come.
“I don’t know how excited I am because the reason I stopped was because my game was suffering and I wasn’t getting anything from it. Not much has changed but I thought at some point I have to try and play.
“I am always mentally ready, that has not been a problem. I always find a way to get through any situation but with my game technically I am at a loss with it and I have never been in this situation before in my life. I have never experienced this and it is hard especially at this stage in my career, you sometimes think ‘is it worth trying to rebuild?'”
1 of 2 | Capital One has more than 100 million customers. Photo by Pixabay
April 18 (UPI) — Capital One’s planned $35.3 billion acquisition of a rival credit card company, Discover, was approved by two regulators, the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, on Friday.
The merger will create the largest credit card issuer, as well as expand Capital One’s deposit base.
Capital One entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Discover in February 2024 and expects to close the deal on May 18, the company said in a news release.
Through the transition, it would acquire Discover Bank, which was approved by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
“The Board evaluated the application under the statutory factors it is required to consider, including the financial and managerial resources of the companies, the convenience and needs of the communities to be served by the combined organization, and the competitive and financial stability impacts of the proposal,” the Fed said in a release.
It is an all-stock deal.
Discover shareholders will receive 1.0192 Capital One shares for each Discover share, or about a 26% premium from Discover’s closing price of $110.49 at the time, Capital One said in a release.
Capital One shareholders will hold 60% of the combined company and Discover shareholders own 40%.
As a condition merger, Capital One said it will comply with the Fed’s penalty against Discover, according to the release. The Fed fined Discover $100 million for overcharging certain interchange fees from 2007 through 2023. The company is repaying those fees to affected customers.
“This is an exciting moment for Capital One and Discover,” Richard Fairbank, founder, chairman and CEO of Capital One, said. “We understand the critical importance of a strong and competitive banking system to our customers and our economy, and we appreciate the thoughtful and diligent engagement of our regulators as they thoroughly reviewed this deal over the past 14 months.
“I am grateful to the thousands of associates across Capital One and Discover who have worked tirelessly to help us achieve this significant milestone. We look forward to bringing these two great companies together with a profound sense of possibility and responsibility to deliver for our customers, associates, shareholders, and communities.”
All required regulatory approvals have now been received.
“The combination of our two great companies will increase competition in payment networks, offer a wider range of products to our customers, increase our resources devoted to innovation and security, and bring meaningful community benefits,” Michael Shepherd, interim CEO and president of Discover, said.
No immediate changes to Capital One and Discover customer accounts and relationships are planned.
Capital One had more than 100 million customers with Discover at 74.5 million. In all, there are about 190.6 million ones in use.
The Discover brand credit cards represent 8% of all of them, the third largest behind Visa at 48% and Mastercard at 36% but ahead of American Express at 17%. Capital One was far behind.
Capital One Financial Corporation was founded in 1988 and headquartered in McLean, Va. It had $362.7 billion in deposits and $490.1 billion in total assets as of Dec. 31.
It grew from a credit card company to a Fortune 500 full-service bank with operations in the US, Canada and Britain. Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange. Markets were closed Friday.
Discover Financial Services became a credit card issuer in 1983 and was introduced by Sears. It operates Diners Club International.
