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TWO sports clubs in Athy that have served the town for a combined 217 years have been attacked by vandals who caused up to €12,000 worth of damage. The attacks happened on the weekend of Saturday 28 March. In Athy Town FC’s clubhouse, CCTV cameras, a router, a cashless vending machine and door locks were smashed, a physio table was slashed with a Stanley blade, and wheelie bins were set on fire causing up to €10,000 in damage. “The physio bed is scary. Why are they carrying knives, and would they do this to a person?” asked club chairman Sean Bolger, not unreasonably. In their neighbouring Athy GFC, a selection of recently installed outdoor furniture for the walking trail was destroyed, and all their signage was spray painted, estimated at €2,000 worth of damage. “It’s a couple of gurriers acting the ‘you-know-what’, but it’s a pain in the backside,” said cathaoirleach cllr Brian Dooley. “Unfortunately, the club is open 24/7 for people to use the walkway as a safe place for older people,  » Read More

BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech men’s basketball head coach Mike Young announced Thursday that guard Ben Hammond will be returning to the squad for his junior season in 2026-27. Hammond stepped up his play in his second season in Blacksburg, starting in 18 of 32 games and leading the Hokies in scoring in ACC play at 14.9 ppg. The sophomore guard saw his numbers increase in 2026 in all categories as he led the team in minutes played, 3-point field goal percentage and was amongst the league leaders in free throw shooting (fourth at 86.5%), assist to turnover ratio (tenth at 2.2) and steals (second at 2.0). He tied a program record with his six steals in an ACC game which he did in Tech’s win at Syracuse. Hammond willed the Hokies to an upset victory over No. 21 Virginia on New Year’s Eve in a three-overtime thriller. The point guard scored a career-high 30 points, including 20 after regulation to help Tech upset its rival. Hammond finished 16-18 from the free throw line, setting career totals in that category in addition to his 42 minutes played off the bench. With his 30-point performance, he became the first Hokie to score

Tjay was arrested in connection with Offset being shot outside a Florida casino earlier this week. 4/9/2026 Lil Tjay, Offset Jason Koerner/Getty Images; Gilbert Flores Lil Tjay and Offset were once friendly collaborators back in 2021, but their relationship has since soured. Money is at the root of many rifts in life, and that’s allegedly the issue here. Tjay put Offset on blast in early 2025 during a Twitch stream, airing out that the Migos rapper allegedly owed him $10,000, which he loaned to Offset during a casino trip. Tensions were raised and the pair traded jabs on social media with Set ultimately challenging to the Bronx native to a fight. Fast forward to April, Offset was shot outside Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida, on Monday (April 6) following an altercation in the valet area. Lil Tjay was arrested for disorderly conduct in connection with the shooting. A spokesperson for the Seminole Police Department relayed that “the incident began with an affray, or fight. was booked into the Broward County Jail late .” Offset was transported to the Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Fla. and treated for non-life-threatening injuries due to a gunshot wound and remained

The Big Picture The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is ten days away, and the newsletter class spent Wednesday asking an uncomfortable question: when an administration wages war on the press, do you still invite them to the party? Jeff Shell’s abrupt exit from Paramount gave the trade press plenty to chew on, with sources suggesting his colleagues were relieved to see him go. The podcast M&A market is in full frenzy following the TBPN-OpenAI deal, with dealmakers naming the next targets. And the Iran ceasefire touched off a media split — conservative outlets said the press overcorrected on war crime warnings, while left-leaning newsletters called it a strategic humiliation for Trump. All that, plus the Oscar calendar is staying put in March and Hollywood’s publicists are not happy about it. Today’s sources: Status | Page Six Hollywood | Puck | The Ankler | The Ankler/Like & Subscribe | The Bulwark | To the Contrary | Newsbusters | Politico Playbook | Tubefilter | The Free Press | Simon Owens | CJR | Poynter Top Story THE WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER INVITES ITS TORMENTORS The White House Correspondents’ Dinner arrives April 25, and with President Donald Trump attending for the first time

Trending on Billboard While some headlines say Pershing Square’s offer to buy the Universal Music Group (UMG) values the company at $64 billion — which would make it by far the biggest music industry deal ever — if you get into the details of the offer, it looks like Pershing Square’s founder and CEO, Bill Ackman, is trying to buy the major on the cheap. At least that’s the assessment of some Wall Street music investors and music industry executives. For one thing, despite all the headlines touting the more than $60 billion valuation of the convoluted offering, the cash option, if it were available for all shares — which it is not — wouldn’t even be bigger than UMG’s initial public offering. Related Pershing Square’s valuation is based on its forward-looking view that UMG’s stock price will have a projected value of 30.40 euros ($35) per share on Dec. 31, 2026, which would give the deal a valuation of 55.55 billion euros ($64 billion). However, if you read Pershing Square’s letter to the UMG board, it says UMG shareholders may elect to receive all cash or a mix of stock and cash consideration. If shareholders choose to receive all

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A new report from YouTube reveals how the cratering of traditional U.S. studio animation and the aging of a digital-first audience may be expanding opportunities for independent digital animation.  The latest research from the company’s Culture and Trends team, “Animation’s New Wave,” highlights the artists, stories, styles, funding models, and international reach behind the current growth of animation on the platform. The findings came from interviews with creators, analyzing viewership data among 16 to 49-year-old users across the globe on the platform’s main app (not YouTube Kids), and thousands of responses from U.S.-based animation viewers ages 14 to 49 as part of a survey co-conducted with SmithGieger.  According to the report, interest in animation is global, with 50 percent of online animation fans 14 to 49 reporting that they watch animated series in languages other than their own. In the case of a Korean series like Alien Stage, 90 percent of the animated survival audition show’s viewership came from outside Korea. “So many of these big series are originating outside of the U.S.,” says Maddy Buxton, Culture & Trends Manager at YouTube. “Alien Stage started in Korea, and Glitch is based out of Australia. These are having massive breakthroughs here

Our systems have detected unusual traffic from your computer network. Please try your request again later. Why did this happen? IP address: 185.181.255.246Time: 2026-04-09T14:37:15ZURL: https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DSYQShy6ZwCw

The arrest of an American man who told authorities his wife fell overboard while on a dinghy in rough waters in the Bahamas has brought greater scrutiny to his account of what happened as the search for her enters a fifth day. Brian Hooker was arrested by the Royal Bahamas Police Force on Wednesday in connection with the disappearance of 55-year-old Lynette Hooker, his lawyer confirmed to CNN. He was arrested “for additional questioning based on some probable cause we have,” Royal Bahamas Police Force Assistant Commissioner Advardo Dames told Reuters. He was taken into custody as a suspect, Dames said, though no charges have been announced. Brian Hooker “categorically and unequivocally denies any wrongdoing” in his wife’s disappearance, his attorney, Terrel Butler, said in a statement. “He has been cooperating with the relevant authorities as part of an ongoing investigation.” The Michigan couple, both US nationals, have been sailing together for more than a decade, documenting their life at sea across social media. The US Coast Guard said it opened a criminal investigation into Lynette Hooker’s disappearance as her family has called for a deeper probe into what happened.  » Read More