META MAG

A fishing tournament in Texas was shrouded in controversy Monday due to a possible cheating scandal. The Texas Game Wardens were contacted after a fisherman was accused of tampering with a bass ahead of a weigh-in.

After performing a necropsy on the fish, Texas Game Wardens found three weights in the fish's stomach, they explained in a Facebook post.

The weights did not show signs of erosion, suggesting they had been placed in the fish recently. Additionally, Texas Game Wardens reportedly found similar weights of the same style and size in the angler's boat.

That angler, Curtis Lee Daniels, was arrested and charged with "fraud in fishing tournaments." That particular crime is considered a felony since, in this instance, Daniels is alleged to have violated the law during a tournament in which the prizes exceed $10,000.

According to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department code, altering the weight of a fish "for the purpose of representing that the fish as entered in the tournament was that length or weight when caught" is a violation of the law.

Advertisement

While there are some instances in which that violation can result in a misdemeanor, the nature of Daniels' alleged crime constitutes a third-degree felony charge, per Texas Parks & Wildlife Department code.

An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor, except that if the offense occurred during a tournament in which any prize or combination of prizes to be awarded for any one category for which an award is given, whether the prize or prizes are to an individual or a team, is worth $10,000 or more in money or goods, the offense is a felony of the third degree.

This particular tournament, the Lake Fork Lure Co. Tournament, features over $10,000 in prizes, making Daniels' alleged violation a felony.

In the Lake Fork Lure Co. Tournament rulebook, organizers explicitly mention that any person who attempts to artificially alter a fish's weight "will be subject to prosecution under federal laws."

As part of the tournament, contestants also agree to submit to a random polygraph examination. It's unclear whether Daniels took part in that exam or if it played a role in the scandal.

If found guilty, Daniels could face two to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 under Texas law.

It's far from the first time a fishing tournament has been rocked by aweight-related cheating scandal. Thesame thing happened in Ohioin 2022, where two fishermen were charged with felonies. They were eventually sentenced to "10 days local incarceration," had their fishing license suspended and were forced togive up the boat used in the tournament.

GOLD COAST, Australia (AP) — Two more members of theIranian women's soccer teamwere granted asylum in Australia before their teammates departed the country, Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Wednesday.

Women's Asian Cup Soccer Iran Philippines

It brings to seven the number of women granted humanitarian visas in Australia afterfive Iranian playerssought asylum earlier, Burke told reporters in Canberra. One of those in the later group was a player and the other a team staffer, and both sought asylum before their teammates were transported to the airport.

The rest of the team's departure from Sydney to return to Iran happened during fraught and outraged protests at the delegation's hotel and at the airport. Iranian Australians sought to prevent the women from leaving the country, citing fears for their safety in Iran. Their flight departed late Tuesday.

Women offered asylum as they departed

The team arrived in Australia for the Women's Asian Cup last month, before theIran warbegan Feb. 28. The team wasknocked out of the tournamentover the weekend and faced the prospect of returning to a country under bombardment.

Australia's government Wednesday disclosed their final attempts to ensure each member of the team could consider an asylum offer. Burke said that as the women passed through border security, they were taken aside individually to speak to Australian officials and interpreters, without minders present.

"Australia made the offer because we are so impressed by these women as individuals," he said. "The choice that Australia gave, the choice of government officials standing in front of you and saying it is up to you, is a choice that every individual should be entitled to."

Some called their families in Iran to discuss the offer, Burke added, but no further members of the delegation decided to remain in Australia.

"Everything was about ensuring the dignity for those individuals to make a choice," he said. "We couldn't take away the pressure of the context for these individuals, of what might have been said to them beforehand, what pressures they might have felt there were on other family members."

Those who sought asylum received temporary humanitarian visas, which would lead to permanent residency in Australia, Burke said. He added that some of the delegation were not offered visas because they had connections toIran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Team's fate drew national spotlight

The Iranian team became popular figures in Australia during the tournament. Iranian groups in Australia had urged the government to halt the women's departure after the team drew widespread news coverage in Australia when players didn't sing the Iranian anthem before their first match.

Advertisement

The players didn't explain publicly why they did not sing. They later saluted and sang the anthem before their other games. During the tournament, the women mostly declined to comment on the situation at home and made no political remarks.

"When those players were silent at the start of their first match in Australia, that silence was heard as a roar all around the world," Burke said. "We responded by saying, the invitation is there. In Australia you can be safe."

It was not clear exactly how many people were in the delegation, but an official squad list named 26 players, plus coaching and other staff. Burke rejected suggestions that Australian officials should have done more to stop the women's departure.

"Australia's objective here was not to force people to make a particular decision," he said. "We're not that sort of nation."

The minister said he had viewed widely published footage that appeared to show a woman being led by the hand by her teammates from the team's hotel on Queensland's Gold Coast to their bus. Whether that constituted coercion was a matter for local Australian police, Burke said.

Iran criticizes Trump's remarks

"Iran welcomes its children with open arms and the government guarantees their security," Iranian first Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said Tuesday. "No one has the right to interfere in the family affairs of the Iranian nation and play the role of a nanny who is kinder than a mother," he added.

The team's fate had attracted international attention, including from U.S. President Donald Trump, who decried the Australian government Monday for not offering the women asylum. It emerged Tuesday that discussions between Australian officials and some of the women had already been unfolding privately.

Iranian state TV said the country's football federation had asked international soccer bodies to review what it called Trump's "direct political interference in football," warning such remarks could disrupt the 2026 World Cup.

Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand.

Tyrese Maxey is set for an extended absence.

The All-Star Philadelphia 76ers guard has a tendon injury in his right pinkie and will be re-evaluated in three weeks,ESPN's Shams Charania reports. Maxey injured his finger in Saturday's loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

The news is a blow for the 76ers as they fight to make the playoffs. The 76ers entered Monday in eighth place in the Eastern Conference at 34-30. They have a 6.5-game cushion over the 11th-place Milwaukee Bucks (27-36), who would be the first team to miss the play-in tournament if the postseason started today.

Advertisement

[Enter Yahoo Fantasy Bracket Mayhem now for your shot at $50K]

Philadelphia is 1.5 games behind the sixth-place Orlando Magic (35-28), who would be the last team in the East to avoid the play-in and clinch a guaranteed playoff spot.

Maxey is Philadelphia's most important player and key to the 76ers' hopes of maintaining playoff positioning and success in the postseason.

In 61 games this season, Maxey is averaging 29 points, 6.7 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2 steals per game, all career highs. He's shooting 46.1% from the floor and 37.3% from 3.

Injury puts All-NBA at risk for Maxey

Maxey's four games short of qualifying for the NBA's minimum games-played requirement of 65 to qualify for postseason awards, including All-NBA selection. The league's fourth-leading scorer, he's a candidate for All-NBA honors.

Per the three-week time frame, Maxey would miss 11 of Philadelphia's remaining 18 games at a minimum. From there, he'd have to play in four of Philadelphia's remaining seven games to be eligible for All-NBA selection.

BUCKS COUNTY, Pa. — The twoPennsylvania menaccused of plotting an ISIS-inspired terror attack in New York City were "strangers" before the alleged plot, an attorney for one of the suspects said.

Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, of Newtown, and 18-year-old Emir Balat allegedlythrew live explosive devicesinto a protest that was taking place outside Mayor Zohran Mamdani's Gracie Mansion residence on Saturday after traveling from Bucks County to Manhattan, federal officials said.

Balat's lawyer, Mehdi Essmidi, claimed to reporters that the two men didn't know each other prior to the attempted attack.

"They're strangers as far as I know," Essmidi said. "I'm saying they're from different parts of Pennsylvania, they're in different age groups, they are not known to each other. They do not live together, they do not have family or school ties."

Storage Facility Raided As Feds Investigate Alleged Isis-inspired Nyc Bomb Throwers

Though Balat is in high school, his attorney told reporters that he was finishing classes remotely.

Read On The Fox News App

"He's 18, he'sfinishing school remotelybecause he has only like three classes left to do. He's in his senior year," Essmidi said.

A district spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Balat is currently in 12th grade in the Neshaminy School District. Kayumi graduated in 2024 from Council Rock High School North, school officials confirmed.

The spokesperson told Fox News that Balat attended Neshaminy High School until September 2025 before going remote.

Prosecutors said in a complaint that a series of pictures show the men handling the alleged bomb, which was later determined to have contained TATP and had nuts and bolts attached with duct tape.

Sign Up To Get True Crime Newsletter

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday thatthe devices were realand capable of causing serious injury or death.

Advertisement

"This is being investigated as an act of ISIS-inspired terrorism," Tisch said.

While at a precinct stationafter being arrested, Balat allegedly wrote and signed a pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State, according to federal prosecutors.

"All praise is due to Allah lord of all worlds! I pledge my allegiance to the Islamic State," Balat allegedly wrote. "We take action."

Follow The Fox True Crime Team On X

A search warrant was executed at a Public Storage self-storage facility in Langhorne on Monday evening, a source confirmed to Fox News. The source added that the search is connected to the terror investigation.

FBI New York said on Tuesday that "explosive residue" was found at the storage unit.

Send Us A Tip Here

"Yesterday's search of the storage unit believed to be connected the Gracie Mansion incident revealed explosive residue. FBI Special Agent Bomb Technicians and the local bomb squads conducted a controlled detonation to ensure the safety of law enforcement and others in the area. We're thankful for the assistance of the FBI Philadelphia Field Office and the local Middletown and Newton agencies who assisted our office throughout the night," FBI New York posted on X.

Click Here To Download The Fox News App

Balat allegedly told law enforcement that he and Kayumiwanted to go throughwith an attack"bigger than the Boston Marathon bombing."

LISTEN TO THE NEW 'CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO' PODCAST

While being processed at a local precinct station, apolice officertried to stop Balat frommaking hand signalsto the crowd, which some believe is a salute to ISIS.

Original article source:Alleged ISIS-inspired suburban terrorists lived 10 miles apart but were 'strangers' before NYC attack: Lawyer

Iran has begun laying mines in theStrait of Hormuz, the world's most important energy chokepoint that carries about one-fifth of all crude oil, according to two people familiar with US intelligence reporting on the issue.

The mining is not extensive yet, with a few dozen having been laid in recent days, the sources said. But Iran still retains upward of 80% to 90% of its small boats and mine layers, one of the sources said, so its forces could feasibly lay hundreds of mines in the waterway.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which now effectively controls the strait along with Iran's traditional navy, has the capability to deploy a "gauntlet" of dispersed mine-laying craft, explosive-laden boats and shore-based missile batteries, CNN has reported.

President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday that "if Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY!"

He added that if mines were placed and they are not removed, Iran will face consequences "at a level never before seen." He said, however, that if Tehran removes "what may have been placed, it will be a giant step in the right direction!"

Following Trump's post, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegsethposted on Xthat at Trump's direction, US Central Command "has been eliminating inactive mine-laying vessels in the Strait of Hormuz—wiping them out with ruthless precision. We will not allow terrorists to hold the Strait of Hormuz hostage."

US Central Command said in asocial media postlater Tuesday that the military destroyed multiple Iranian naval ships — including 16 minelayers — near the Strait of Hormuz.

Advertisement

The IRGC previously warned that any ship passing through the strait would be attacked, and the channel has effectively been closed since the start of the war. The state of the strait has been described to CNN as a "death valley" given the risks involved in transiting.

US officials said Tuesday that the US Navy had not escorted any vessels through the strait, though Trump said Monday that his administration was looking at options to do so.

Trump also said during a Monday press conference that "the Strait of Hormuz is going to remain safe. We have a lot of Navy ships there. We have the best equipment in the world inspecting for mines."

Nearly 15 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude production, plus another 4.5 million bpd of refined fuels, are now effectively stranded in the Gulf, CNN has reported, and producers like Iraq and Kuwait have no alternative to shipping oil through Hormuz. The G7 group of large economies has hinted it could move to release more oil to try to offset the shortages.

Uncertainty surrounding the ability to move oil through the waterway appeared to be causing severe volatility on the crude oil market on Tuesday, with theprice per barrel fluctuatingbetween more than $90 and less than $80 in a series of peaks and valleys.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

Tottenham head coach Igor Tudor made a bold decision for his side's match against Atlético Madrid on Tuesday, starting Antonín Kinský at goalkeeper ahead of regular starter Guglielmo Vicario.

It could not have backfired more spectacularly.

Kinský was brutally subbed off after just 17 minutes in Madrid after making two major errors leading to goals, departing the Champions League round of 16 first leg with his side already down 3-0.

The 22-year-old made his first error just six minutes in, as his attempted clearance found Ademola Lookman on the edge of the box. Lookman quickly found Julián Alvarez, who laid it for Marcos Llorente to score the opener.

Advertisement

After Atlético went up 2-0 in the 14th minute through Antoine Griezmann, it got even worse for Kinský.

Just seconds after the home side's second goal, the Czech goalkeeper completely mis-hit a routine pass, leaving the ball for Alvarez to stroll into a wide-open net.

Tudor had seen enough, removing Kinský from the match and replacing him with Vicario. A distraught Kinský went straight down the tunnel after his disastrous display.

Atlético would add a fourth immediately after the goalkeeper change through Robin Le Normand, before Pedro Porro pulled a goal back for the visitors in the 26th minute to make it 4-1.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky subbed after 17 minutes vs. Atletico Madrid

It's time for the richest tournament on the PGA Tour's schedule.

The golf world has landed atTPC Sawgrass this week for The Players Championship, which is the marquee event of the Tour's season each year. Naturally, it features the largest prize.

The Players Championship has a $25 million purse up for grabs this week, which tops the other signature events by a full $5 million. That's going to give whoever comes out on top this weekend a $4.5 million check.

By comparison,Akshay Bhatia claimed $4 million for his win at the Arnold Palmer Invitationallast week, which is also a signature event. While purses for the four major championships this season have not yet been announced, The Players Championship is well ahead of what was offered at those events last season.

Rory McIlroy earned $4.2 millionfor his win at Augusta National last season, which was part of a Masters record $21 million purse. The PGA Championship offered a $19 million purse last season, the U.S. Open had a $21.5 million purse and the British Open had a $17 million purse.

All eyes will be on McIlroy this week as he tries to defend his title at TPC Sawgrass, though he'sdealing with a back injury he suffered last weekat Bay Hill and is set to be a late arrival to the Jacksonville-area course. Scheffler is still on a dominant run as the top-ranked golfer in the sport, too, and is rarely not a threat on Sundays so far this season.

Advertisement

Here's a look at how much is up for grabs, and how to follow the action this week at TPC Sawgrass.

The Players Championship 2026 basics

Dates: Thursday-SundayCourse: TPC Sawgrass | Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida2025 Winner: Rory McIlroyFedExCup Points: 750Purse: $25 million

How To Watch The Players Championship

All times ET

Thursday & Friday7:30 a.m. — 7 p.m. | ESPN+1 p.m. — 7 p.m. | Golf Channel

Saturday8 a.m. — 7 p.m. | ESPN+2 p.m. — 7 p.m. | NBC, Peacock

Sunday7:30 a.m. — 6 p.m. | ESPN+1 p.m. — 6 p.m. | NBC, Peacock

The Players Championship 2026 payouts

1. $4.5 million2. $2.725 million3. $1.725 million4. $1.225 million5. $1.025 million6. $906,2507. $843,7508. $781,2509. $731,25010. $681,25011. $631,25012. $581,25013. $531,25014. $481,25015. $456,25016. $431,25017. $406,25018. $381,25019. $356,25020. $331,25021. $306,25022. $281,25023. $261,25024. $241,25025. $221,25026. $201,25027. $193,75028. $186,25029. $178,75030. $171,25031. $163,75032. $156,25033. $148,75034. $142,50035. $136,25036. $130,00037. $123,75038. $118,75039. $113,75040. $108,75041. $103,75042. $98,75043. $93,75044. $88,75045. $83,75046. $78,75047. $73,75048. $69,75049. $66,25050. $64,25051. $62,75052. $61,25053. $60,25054. $59,25055. $58,75056. $58,25057. $57,75058. $57,25059. $56,75060. $56,25061. $55,75062. $55,25063. $54,75064. $54,25065. $53,75066. $53,25067. $52,75068. $52,25069. $51,75070. $51,25071. $50,75072. $50,25073. $49,75074. $49,25075. $48,75076. $48,25077. $47,75078. $47,25079. $46,75080. $46,25081. $45,75082. $45,25083. $44,75084. $44,25085. $43,75086. $43,25087. $42,75088. $42,25089. $41,75090. $41,250