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The Texas House of Representatives voted Saturday to impeach Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton over charges of bribery, disregard of official duties and abuse of public trust after hours of debate in an afternoon session -- sending the case to the state Senate. The House voted 121-23 to impeach him, meaning he will step down temporarily as he faces trial in the upper chamber. A simple majority was required to impeach him.  The House’s Committee on General Investigating had initiated an inquiry in March after Paxton and his office asked the legislature for $3.3 million to settle a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by whistleblowers in the office. The former employees had called in 2020 for an investigation into Paxton’s actions regarding an Austin real estate investor who had his home searched by the FBI. They accused Paxton of using his office to protect him by authorizing an investigation into the FBI. SEN. CRUZ DEFENDS TEXAS AG PAXTON AMID IMPEACHMENT EFFORTS FROM ‘SWA...

Nearly two dozen Republican-led states have backed Florida’s legal challenge to a Biden administration policy that allowed for the release of migrants into the U.S. interior without court dates -- but was blocked just hours before the expiration of the Title 42 public health order. "The Administration’s en masse parole of aliens violates federal immigration law and abdicates its responsibility to secure the nation’s borders," the 23 states, led by Virginia, said in an amicus brief filed this week. The policy, known as "parole with conditions" was outlined in a May 10 memo and came a day before the end of Title 42. The policy set out how migrants can be allowed into the country on parole – a process typically reserved for "urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit" – if Customs and Border Protection (CBP) faced overcrowding.  Migrants released under the policy were required to make an appointment with Immigration and Customs Enforcement ...

A federal judge ruled Friday that a rural Colorado school district can bar a high school student from wearing a Mexican and American flag sash at her graduation this weekend after the student sued the school district. Judge Nina Y. Wang wrote that wearing a sash during a graduation ceremony falls under school-sponsored speech, not the student's private speech. Therefore, "the School District is permitted to restrict that speech as it sees fit in the interest of the kind of graduation it would like to hold," Wang wrote. CORNELL MEDICAL SCHOOL OFFERING FREE ANTI-RACISM COURSE, HELPS STUDENTS APOLOGIZE FOR OLD SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS The ruling was over the student's request for a temporary restraining order, which would have allowed her to wear the sash on Saturday for graduation because the case wouldn't have resolved in time. Wang found that the student and her attorneys failed to sufficiently show they were likely to succeed, but a final ruling is still to come...

Wes Fenlon / PC Gamer : The developers behind open source GameCube and Wii emulator Dolphin say Nintendo sent Valve a DMCA takedown notice to block Dolphin's impending release on Steam   —  The GameCube & Wii emulator developers say the Steam release is “indefinitely postponed.”  —  On Friday, the developers behind …

A Texas House of Representatives investigative committee recommended impeachment for embattled state Attorney General Ken Paxton. The Texas House Investigative Committee unanimously voted 5-0 to adopt articles of impeachment for Paxton on Thursday, according to FOX 4 . The House convened Saturday, during Memorial Day weekend, to begin debate over whether to indict the state's chief law enforcement officer in his impeachment.  In Texas, an impeachment from the House would require Paxton to leave his office immediately pending a trial in the Senate. TEXAS AG PAXTON SLAPS BIDEN ADMIN WITH LAWSUIT OVER USE OF CBP ONE APP: 'PRE-APPROVING MORE FOREIGN ALIENS' The committee vote comes as Paxton is under investigation in a corruption case being led by the FBI over accusations that the attorney general used his office to assist a donor. He was also indicted in 2015 on securities and fraud charges, but hasn't yet faced a trial. Multiple aides from Paxton's office beca...

Cam Thompson / CoinDesk : DappRadar: Blur's NFT lending marketplace Blend amassed 169,900 ETH, or about $308M, in volume since its May 1 launch, taking 82% of total lending volume market   —  Since NFT lending marketplace Blend launched May 1, it has amassed 169,900 ETH, or about $308 Million in volume.

Reuters : Sources: PE firms Francisco Partners and TPG have ended talks to acquire observability software company New Relic after failing to secure enough debt financing   —  Private equity firms Francisco Partners and TPG Inc (TPG.O) have ended talks to acquire New Relic Inc (NEWR.N) …

The Verge : A California jury finds Google's products infringed on a Sonos smart speaker patent and orders Google to pay $32.5M, or $2.30 for each of the 14M+ devices sold   —  Google has been ordered to pay Sonos $32.5 million for infringing on the company's smart speaker patent.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is repeating a misleading claim that migrants are not given free transportation and travel at the southern border courtesy of the U.S. government -- as it seeks to tackle misinformation being spread by smugglers. "Claims that migrants will be provided free travel and transportation to their destination are false,"CBP said in a tweet. "The U.S. government does not provide help or financial support for noncitizens." The notice is similar to previous notices put out by the U.S. government. The claim that the U.S. is not directly providing financial assistance and/or free transportation to migrants is technically true. Adult migrants who are encountered by Border Patrol are processed and released into the U.S. and are not given money or transport directly by the U.S. government. A key exception is unaccompanied children (UAC), who are often transported to sponsors -- typically a parent or relative already in the U.S. -- across the ...

FinSMEs : Germany-based Sastrify, which operates a marketplace for buying and managing SaaS subscriptions, raised a $32M Series B, bringing its total funding to $55.2M   —  Sastrify, a Cologne, Germany-based provider of a platform for buying and managing SaaS subscriptions, raised $32M in Series B funding.

Gov. Joe Lombardo on Thursday signed a bill permitting Nevada students to wear religious and cultural regalia for graduation ceremonies. Students are entitled to express themselves at graduation through any unique cultural and religious identity, Lombardo said. NEW YORK SCHOOL DISTRICT TO KEEP 'WARRIORS' LOGO WITH SENECA NATION'S BLESSING "This legislation will allow students to walk with pride and confidence at their graduation, and I’m grateful to all of the teachers, legislators, and students who worked to get it to my desk," he said in a statement. Several lawmakers and students, most of them of Native American ancestry, attended the signing. OK LAWMAKERS OVERRIDE GOVERNORS' VETO OF BILL ALLOWING STUDENTS TO WEAR NATIVE AMERICAN REGALIA AT GRADUATION A similar measure passed in Oklahoma on Thursday when the Legislature overrode Gov. Kevin Stitt’s veto. The bill allows students to wear Native American regalia during high school and college graduatio...

Karissa Bell / Engadget : Bluesky rolls out a “custom feeds” feature that lets users subscribe to different algorithms and make their own for others to use; most are not chronological   —  A future update will allow users to create their own within the app.  —  Bluesky, the Jack Dorsey-backed decentralized …

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a ruling narrowing the federal government's authority regulating bodies of water and effectively upending a Biden administration policy that recently went into effect. The high court's decision, which was delivered by Justice Samuel Alito, rejected the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) broad definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS). The case centered on Michael and Chantell Sackett, two Idaho residents whom the EPA prohibited from building a home near a wetland years ago, citing the Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972. "The EPA ordered the Sacketts to restore the site, threatening penalties of over $40,000 per day," Alito's majority opinion stated. "The EPA classified the wetlands on the Sacketts’ lot as 'waters of the United States' because they were near a ditch that fed into a creek, which fed into Priest Lake, a navigable, intrastate lake. The Sacketts sued, alleging that their property was not...

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch : OpenAI launches a program to award 10 grants of $100K to develop proof-of-concepts for a “democratic process” to set rules for AI “within the bounds” of the law   —  OpenAI says it's launching a program to award ten $100,000 grants to fund experiments in setting …

EXCLUSIVE: Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee introduced a resolution Thursday to "recognize and honor" Daniel Penny – a military veteran charged with manslaughter – for his "heroism and courage" on a New York City subway train earlier this month. The resolution aims to set the record straight about what happened this month, and it recognizes Penny’s heroism in stepping up to protect himself and other frightened passengers in the subway car. Penny is charged with manslaughter in the May 1 chokehold death of Jordan Neely, a homeless man, aboard a subway train. Penny, a 24-year-old Marine veteran, was questioned by police that day and released, but cellphone video, which showed two other men holding Neely's arms as Penny held Neely in a chokehold for several minutes, went viral online. A medical examiner later ruled Neely's death a homicide, even though prosecutors noted Neely was yelling threats toward other subway passengers when Penny intervened. ...

Jay Peters / The Verge : Twitch raises the price of Turbo, its ad-free subscription that offers extra emoticons, chat badges, and more; the US price jumps from $8.99 to $11.99 per month   —  Twitch is raising the monthly price of Twitch Turbo, its monthly subscription that lets you pay to remove most ads …

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador again waded into the U.S. political situation on Thursday when he urged Hispanics not to vote for newly-declared presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis -- the latest example of the Mexican president meddling in U.S. elections against Republicans. Lopez Obrador spoke at a press conference a day after DeSantis declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president in 2024. DeSantis has taken a hard stance against illegal immigration, and has called for greater security at the border -- including shutting down the border with Mexico. Lopez Obrador accused DeSantis of pushing "anti-immigrant" policies and urged Hispanics not to vote for him. "I hope the Hispanics of Florida wake up and don't give him any votes, that they don't vote for those who persecute migrants, those who don't respect migrants," he said, according to The Guardian. CRENSHAW RESOLUTION CONDEMNS MEXICAN PRESIDENT ...

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch : Twitter launches API Pro, a $5,000/month tier offering access to full archive search endpoints and the ability to fetch 1M tweets and post 300K tweets monthly   —  Twitter announced a new API tier today called Twitter API Pro for startups that costs $5,000 per month.

Katharine Gemmell / Bloomberg : Microsoft formally files its appeal against the UK CMA's decision to block its $69B Activision deal; the judicial process could take as long as nine months   —  Microsoft Corp. formally filed its appeal against the UK antitrust watchdog's decision to block its $69 billion Activision Blizzard Inc. deal.

A Nigerian Afrobeat star facing trial on charges of assaulting a police officer will embark on a delayed concert tour after being released on bail, his manager said Wednesday. Seun Kuti, who was in court on Wednesday, has concerts scheduled in more than a dozen countries but his departure had been on hold because of the trial, his manager Ayo Moses told The Associated Press. The son of Nigerian musical icon and political agitator Fela Kuti, who himself was serially detained by Nigerian military regimes, Seun Kuti had been held for more than a week after he was caught allegedly assaulting a police officer in Nigeria's economic hub of Lagos. NIGERIAN AFROBEAT STAR SEUN KUTI ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY ASSAULTING A COP At Wednesday's court hearing, the presiding judge ruled that it was the public prosecutor – not the police – that had the power to prosecute the musician. The judge then adjourned the case until a further hearing on July 3. "He is on bail and as a responsible...

EXCLUSIVE — Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., will introduce legislation Wednesday to codify an executive order by former President Trump that made classical architecture the model for new government buildings but which was axed by President Biden. The ‘"Beautifying Federal Civic Architecture Act" declares "traditional and classical" architectural styles to be preferred for new Federal government buildings. The legislative framework is modeled after Trump's executive order on architecture that was bulldozed by Biden one month into his presidency. AMERICANS SAY BIDEN DESERVES A 2024 PRIMARY CHALLENGER: 'SOMEBODY YOUNGER' "The term 'traditional architecture' includes classical architecture; and the historic humanistic architecture, including Gothic, Romanesque, Pueblo Revival, Spanish Colonial, and other Mediterranean styles of architecture historically rooted in various regions of America," the bill states. The bill denounces modern, "b...

Misha Savic / Bloomberg : A Montenegro court overturns a lower court's decision that would have let Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon be released on €400K bail; Do Kwon remains in jail   —  A Montenegrin court has annulled a lower court's decision under which former crypto mogul and Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon would be released on bail.

"Jeopardy" fans are angry on behalf of nine-day champion Ben Chan after a spelling error caused his winning streak to come to an end. On Tuesday night’s episode, Chan reached the Final Jeopardy category after a rocky start with a Daily Double loss that put him close with his opponents, Lynn Di Vito and Danny Lesserman. The category was "Shakespeare’s Characters," and the clue was "Both of the names of these 2 lovers in a Shakespeare play come from Latin words for 'blessed.'" The answer is Beatrice and Benedick from "Much Ado About Nothing." ‘JEOPARDY!’ HOST KEN JENNINGS SLAMS FANS FOR COMPLAINING ABOUT ‘INCORRECT’ CLUE: ‘BUY A DICTIONARY’ None of the contestants got it right, but Chan was achingly close. He wrote "Beatrice and Benedict," an answer deemed incorrect because of the misspelling of the latter character's name. Chan bet $12,201 of his $17,400, leaving him with $5,199, while his competitor Di Vito wound up w...

Florida GOP Senator Rick Scott issued his own "travel advisory" warning "socialists" and "communists" that the Sunshine State is "openly hostile" to them and those who enable them. Scott issued a press release about his Florida "travel advisory" in the wake of the NAACP’s own travel warning for Black Americans against going to the state amid their claims that Governor Ron DeSantis is attempting "to erase Black history" with his new law banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives on public college campuses. The advisory is aimed at "all socialists visiting the state of Florida" and "comes in direct response to the Biden Administration attempts to erase capitalism and the system that has brought prosperity to Florida and the entire United States." NAACP LEADER DEFENDS LIVING IN FLORIDA DESPITE ORG’S TRAVEL WARNING: ‘WE HAVEN’T TOLD ANYBODY TO LEAVE’ According to the release, the formal tr...

Vjeran Pavic / The Verge : Final Cut Pro for iPad review: touch-friendly design and accessible pricing but limited Mac interoperability and lacks the blade tool, stabilization, and more   —  The long-awaited iPad version of Final Cut Pro is here and, with it, a touch-friendly design and accessible pricing.

Jeff Bridges has good news about his health. In an interview with AARP magazine, the actor revealed that the tumor from his cancer has shrunk "to the size of a marble."  Bridges was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2020, while on a COVID-19 pandemic mandated break from filming his FX series, "The Old Man." He first noticed an issue while he was working out. "I was doing some exercises while on the ground and felt what seemed like a bone in my stomach. I thought to myself,  Hmm.  But it didn’t hurt or anything. I asked Sue what she thought. She said: ‘I don’t know, but you’ve got to get it checked out.'" he said. The "Crazy Heart" star shared that, because he wasn’t in pain, he was reluctant to see a doctor, and even took a hiking vacation with his wife, Susan Geston . JEFF BRIDGES TALKS 'THE BIG LEBOWSKI' AND HIS TERRIFYING NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE "I’m hiking and feeling great. My shins really itch, and I think, ‘Oh...

The Biden administration on Tuesday sought input from the public on how to ensure artificial intelligence develops in a way that supports "equity" and civil rights and helps "underserved communities," as part of a broader plan to promote "responsible" AI. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) announced it is seeking input from any interested party on how to reach these and other goals as AI systems are developed. Policymakers and AI developers are increasingly in agreement on the need for federal rules, and possibly even a new federal agency, to ensure the risks of AI are managed . To inform this work, OSTP asked a series of questions on how to protect people’s rights and safety as AI systems become more widely used, as well as questions related to "advancing equity and strengthening civil rights. HERE'S HOW AI IS BEING USED TO UNLOCK SECRETS STILL HIDDEN IN THE HUMAN BRAIN "What are the opportunities for AI to e...

NBC News : Sources: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to launch his presidential bid on Twitter Spaces on May 24, in a conversation with Elon Musk moderated by David Sacks   —  The Florida governor will announce he is running for president on Twitter Wednesday evening in a conversation with Musk.

Sylvester Stallone is a master at breakup texts, according to his three daughters. The "Rocky" star often gives dating advice to his daughters Sistine, Sophia and Scarlet, whom he shares with wife Jennifer Flavin, and even drafts their breakup texts.  "My dad is a savant when it comes to our dating lives – in so many areas," Sistine revealed during an episode of the "Giggly Squad" podcast. "In one area, he writes most of our breakup texts," she added. SYLVESTER STALLONE'S DAUGHTERS REVEAL WHY HE MAKES IT DIFFICULT FOR THEM TO DATE Sophia followed up by encouraging girls to go to their fathers for dating advice – specifically about how to end a relationship. "I highly suggest girls should go up to their dad and have their dad write a breakup text because men know men," she explained. "I’m telling you." "And they never get mad for being honest," Sophia added. Sistine previously revealed in an interview wit...

Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch : OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, President Greg Brockman, and Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever say we'll likely need an international regulatory body for superintelligence   —  AI is developing rapidly enough and the dangers it may pose are clear enough that OpenAI's leadership believes that the world needs …

Ray Stevenson, a veteran actor of movies like "Punisher: War Zone," "Thor," "RRR" and major TV shows like "Vikings" and a Star Wars spinoff, has died at the age of 58, Fox News Digital can confirm. A rep for Stevenson confirmed that he died on Sunday. No other details have been shared at this time.  Stevenson had been cast for a role alongside Rosario Dawson in Disney+’s upcoming Star Wars show "Ahsoka," which is a spinoff from the hit show "The Mandalorian."  Stevenson was born in Lisburn in 1964. After attending the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and years of working in British television, he made his film debut in Paul Greengrass’s 1998 film "The Theory of Flight." In 2004, he appeared in Antoine Fuqua’s "King Arthur" as a knight of the round table and several years later played the lead in the Marvel adaptation "Punisher: War Zone." The Associated Press contributed to this report

Hillary Clinton weighed in on concerns surrounding  President Biden's age , saying it's a legitimate issue and "people have every right to consider it." Clinton made the under-the-radar comments on Saturday at the Financial Times Weekend Festival in Washington, D.C., when questioned about Biden stumbling at the G7 Summit in Japan. "There was that heart-stopping moment when he almost fell over coming down the stairs a day or two ago," Financial Times editor Edward Luce said. "He didn't use a railing, and Jill wasn't there with him.  "Every time that happens, your heart is in your mouth because these things could be consequential. Is that a concern?" he asked. BIDEN FACES DISMAL APPROVAL RATING ON THE ECONOMY AFTER LAUNCHING 2024 CAMPAIGN  Clinton responded , "It's a concern for anyone. We've had presidents who had fallen before who were a lot younger, and people didn't go into heart palpitations." "But h...

Rhiannon Williams / MIT Technology Review : Meta unveils open-source AI models it says can identify 4,000+ spoken languages and produce speech for 1,000+ languages, an increase of 40x and 10x respectively   —  They could help lead to speech apps for many more languages than exist now.  —  Meta has built AI models that can recognize …

Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen spoke about being randomly attacked outside a Four Seasons hotel for the first time. "I heard a couple of steps and then I just saw this [flash] and the next thing I knew was I was on the ground," Allen said during an appearance on "Good Morning America." "I landed on my backside … hit my head on the pavement." "I am no threat to you," Allen recalled saying to the 19-year-old boy who had seemingly come out of nowhere and tackled the musician to the ground. "I don't think he knew who I was, but he must have seen that I wasn't a threat because, you know, I've only got one arm," Allen explained. Allen was involved in a near-fatal car crash that took his left arm in 1984. DEF LEPPARD DRUMMER RICK ALLEN ‘FOCUSED ON HEALING’ AFTER ATTACK AT FLORIDA HOTEL Allen was smoking a cigarette outside the Four Seasons near the valet on March 13 when 19-year-old Max Hartley, who had reportedly been hidin...

A mini Brat Pack reunion took place over the weekend. Andrew McCarthy shared a present-day photo with Demi Moore on his Instagram, accompanied by a throwback pic to their "St. Elmo’s Fire" days. "So great to see (for the first time in years and years) my St. Elmo’s Fire co-star, the wondrous Demi Moore, and catch up for my Brat Pack documentary," McCarthy wrote in the caption. Moore and McCarthy starred together in the 1985 classic, alongside other young stars at the time, including Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Ally Sheedy and Judd Nelson. ANTHONY MICHAEL HALL TURNS 55: BRAT PACK MEMBERS THEN AND NOW APP USERS CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTO Those stars, along with others like Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall, would go on to be dubbed "The Brat Pack" for starring in teen-oriented coming-of-age movies popular in the 1980s. "St. Elmo’s Fire" was McCarthy’s big screen debut, and one of the first films for Moore after her time on "General H...

FIRST ON FOX - House Republicans are demanding that a veterans hospital in Austin, Texas, put back a cross display that officials removed from the lobby following complaints that displaying the symbol "somehow" violates the U.S. Constitution.  Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy, along with 16 of his GOP colleagues sent a joint letter Monday to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis R. McDonough demanding that Central Texas Veterans Health Care System (CTVHCS) immediately return the cross – which bears the emblems of American military branches and the words, "Remember our Veterans" – back to its original display.  The display is topped by what appears to be a bugle player, likely to represent the playing of "Taps" at military or veteran funerals. CTVHCS’s decision "exhibits remarkable disregard for the First Amendment and hostility toward basic military history and the traditions of the United States. We call on you to immediately reverse this decision,...