By Clare Duffy, CNN

New York (CNN) — FanDuel has built a large and growing business with its sports betting app, becoming the largest online sportsbook in the United States. But online sports gambling remains illegal in many states, which is why it’s getting into the booming — and controversial — prediction market business.

Billions of dollars are exchanged weekly on prediction market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket. Bets range from which team will win the World Cup and which candidate will be the 2028 Democratic presidential nominee to the temperature in New York tomorrow or how many times Elon Musk will post on X this month. Huge amounts of money being wagered on those sites threatened to take business from online sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings.

Prediction markets are also more widely available than online betting apps, because they’re regulated differently. Prediction markets — where the odds are set not by a company but depend on how many people bet on each outcome — are legally considered trading products, not gambling, and are overseen federally by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Meanwhile, sports betting apps are regulated on the state level.

Last January, Kalshi made a splashy announcement that it would enable trading on sports in all 50 US states — even those that outlaw traditional sportsbooks.

Now, the sports betting companies are jumping into the prediction space, allowing a “reasonable facsimile” of a more conventional sportsbook, FanDuel President Christian Genetski told CNN’s “Terms of Service” podcast.

FanDuel launched its prediction market app, FanDuel Predicts, last year with derivatives marketplace CME Group. It’s now available in 16 states. (FanDuel competitor DraftKings also announced its own prediction market last year.)

“It’s not the full panoply of everything you can do on the FanDuel sportsbook,” Genetski said. “But it provides you a way to experience a FanDuel-type sports experience.”

FanDuel says it won’t allow FanDuel Predicts users to bet on sports in states where its core sportsbook app, which Genetski called the company’s “most important business,” is available.

FanDuel Predicts “enables us to harness a significant and incremental expansion of the US addressable market ahead of further state regulation — a space where our scale and experience give us a natural advantage,” Peter Jackson, CEO of FanDuel parent company Flutter, said in the company’s year-end financial report for 2025. FanDuel’s core sportsbook app averages 4 million monthly users across 25 states where sports betting has been legalized, according to Genetski.

FanDuel is entering the space in a moment when prediction markets face intense scrutiny over the risk of insider trading, along with larger ethical questions about the societal impact of letting people bet on elections or geopolitical conflicts. The White House last week warned staff not to engage in insider trading on prediction markets platforms following controversial trades related to the Iran war.

UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) -

Big West Softball:

UCSB 4, CSUN 3 Game 1: In the first game, UC Santa Barbara secured a narrow 4-3 victory. The Gauchos capitalized early, scoring three runs in the first inning. Dani Rauscher drew a walk, followed by Tehya Banks' single, advancing Rauscher to second. Emily Carr then doubled down the right field line and advanced to third on a throwing error, bringing in both Rauscher and Banks. Delaina Ma'ae then singled to right field, driving in Carr and giving UC Santa Barbara an early 3-0 lead by the end of the first inning.

Cal State Northridge responded in the fourth inning, scoring three runs to tie the game. Prior to the Matadors three run inning, Sophia Clark had set down the first 10 batters of the game. After a Matador reached on a fielder's choice and advanced on an error, a double down the left field line scored two runs. Another single brought home the unearned third run for Cal State Northridge. However, UC Santa Barbara regained the lead when Bella Fuentes singled, advanced on a fielder's choice, and scored on Mejia's groundout, making the score 4-3 by the end of the fourth inning. The fifth, sixth, and seventh innings were scoreless for both teams, with UC Santa Barbara's defense holding firm to secure the win.

Clark finished with another stellar pitching line. The freshman pitched seven innings, allowing three runs (one earned), while striking out three.

UCSB 9, CSUN 0 (5 innings, Game 2): In the second game, UC Santa Barbara decisively defeated the Matadors with a final score of 9-0. The Gauchos recorded 13 hits, including two home runs, while Malaya Johnson allowed only two hits in a complete-game shutout.

(Malaya Johnson struck out six batters as she improves to 10-8 on the year. Entenza Design).

Tehya Banks hit a home run in the first inning, securing an early lead for UC Santa Barbara. The inning concluded with the Gauchos leading 1-0. The second inning saw further action as Bella Fuentes singled to left field, followed by a two-run home run by Ella Myers. Jazzy Santos doubled, and Emily Carr singled through the right side, driving in another run, ending the inning with UC Santa Barbara ahead 4-0.

The Gauchos continued to extend their lead in the third inning; Fuentes singled and later scored on a single by Dani Rauscher. A wild pitch allowed Jaelyn Toledo to score, and Banks drove in Rauscher with a single, pushing the score to 7-0. During the fourth inning, Cat Benitez, pinch-hitting for Delaina Ma'ae, singled and was advanced by Fuentes' double. Myers singled, bringing in Benitez, and Toledo's sacrifice fly scored Kaylin Garcia, who was pinch-running for Fuentes, leading to a 9-0 advantage after the fourth inning.

In the fifth inning, Cal State Northridge was unable to generate any offense, resulting in a complete game shutout by Malaya Johnson, who pitched 5 innings with six strikeouts.

Big West Baseball:

UC Irvine 6, UCSB 3: A tough third inning undid the UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (24-12, 11-6 Big West) on Saturday, with UC Irvine (17-20, 8-9

Por Madeline Holcombe, CNN

¿Tienes un problema? Probablemente haya un producto que afirma resolverlo, especialmente en el ámbito de la longevidad.

Las redes sociales, las tiendas y los anuncios en internet están llenos de distintos regímenes, artículos, suplementos y estrategias que prometen una vida más larga y una belleza eterna. Puede ser fácil dejarse llevar por cosas que no son más que puro humo.

“Hay tanta desinformación en internet sobre todo”, dijo la periodista Kara Swisher. “Hay todos estos, esencialmente, estafadores del bienestar que le dan a la gente mala información, y estos atajos que en realidad no funcionan”.

Está bien si las cosas que no funcionan son inofensivas, como una pésima receta de pan de coliflor, añadió, pero “muchas de estas cosas son temas médicos reales que no son buenos para ti o te salen caros, y eso me pareció realmente ofensivo”.

En el episodio de esta semana de “Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever”, una serie de CNN que se emite en EE.UU. a las 9:00 p.m. hora de Miami el sábado y que investiga tendencias y ciencia de la longevidad, Swisher separa las estafas de las herramientas reales de longevidad.

Algunas de las cosas que se comercializan para quienes buscan vidas más largas y saludables son perjudiciales; otras simplemente son caras pero no efectivas, dijo. Y luego están aquellas que, aunque todavía necesitan más investigación, podrían ofrecer algo.

Una de las últimas modas en tendencias de belleza y longevidad es la terapia de luz roja, pero sus efectos no son estrictamente puro bombo publicitario, dijo la doctora Zakia Rahman, profesora clínica de dermatología en la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de Stanford y profesora afiliada en el Stanford Center on Longevity.

La luz roja y, con menos frecuencia, la luz infrarroja cercana son longitudes de onda específicas de luz, que pueden enviar distintas señales al cuerpo.

La idea es que la luz roja se convierte en energía en las mitocondrias, que, si lo recuerdas de la clase de biología, son la central energética de la célula. Aunque no se sabe con certeza, los investigadores creen que exponer las células a longitudes de onda de luz roja ayuda a mejorar el rendimiento y la resiliencia celular y reduce la inflamación, dijo el doctor Praveen Arany, profesor asociado de biología oral en la Facultad de Medicina Dental de la Universidad de Buffalo, en Nueva York.

La evidencia científica respalda cada vez más la afirmación de que la terapia de luz roja puede ayudar con la textura de la piel y el crecimiento del cabello, lo que ha provocado un auge de dispositivos para uso en casa con fines cosméticos, añadió Rahman.

Se están realizando estudios para analizar una serie de otros beneficios potenciales, como el tratamiento del dolor crónico, la enfermedad de Parkinson y la enfermedad de Alzheimer, dijo Arany.

Sin embargo, ir más allá de la superficie y tratar partes más profundas del cuerpo aún requiere más datos. Todavía no se han establecido protocolos como cómo administrar la luz, exactamente qué longitudes de onda usar y durante cuánto tiempo, señaló.

Hay dos maneras de administrar la terapia de luz roja: los láseres, que normalmente están en el consultorio de un médico, y los paneles LED, que muchas personas están comprando para sus hogares. La opción LED tiene menos potencial de causar daño si se usa incorrectamente, pero también hay menos control de calidad en el mercado, dijo Arany.

Si quieres probar la terapia de luz roja y sentirte seguro sobre la máquina que estás comprando, Rahman recomienda empezar buscando dispositivos que cuenten con autorización de la Administración de Alimentos y Medicamentos de Estados Unidos (FDA).

Pero recuerda, dijo, la terapia de luz roja no es un elixir mágico, y no vas a usar un dispositivo una vez y despertarte al día siguiente viéndote 10 años más joven con una cabell

The post UC Santa Barbara Softball Rebounds With Two Victories Over Cal State Northridge on Saturday appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

By Kaanita Iyer, Aleena Fayaz, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump will participate in a public Bible reading this week as the administration continues to integrate religion, particularly Christianity, into official business.

“On April 21, President Trump is scheduled to read Scripture via video message from the Oval Office during the 6 p.m. EST hour,” a press release from organizers reads. The event is called “America Reads The Bible.”

Trump’s participation in the weeklong reading is particularly notable given his recent feud with Pope Leo over the Iran conflict and the backlash he received earlier this week for posting – and then deleting – an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus.

In the video message, Trump, according to organizers, will read a passage from 2 Chronicles 7:11-22, which includes the frequently quoted verse 14: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

The verse also gained public attention when the founder of “Cowboys for Trump,” Couy Griffin, prayed over the crowd at the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot.

But Trump’s ties to the verse go back even further, according to the Christian Post. Soon after his 2016 victory, evangelist Anne Graham Lotz, Billy Graham’s daughter, said it was a sign that God was answering the prayer of his people, just like in 2 Chronicles 7:14.

Founder and president of Christians Engaged, Bunni Pounds, who helped organize the event, told Fox News that they “needed someone special to read Second Chronicles, chapter seven” and that they set aside the passage for Trump to read.

Margaret Susan Thompson, professor of history and political science in the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, told CNN the verse has been seen by many Evangelical Christians as a “justification of calling upon God to bless their nation.”

While the Trump administration has recently invoked Christian language in public affairs, Thompson noted that previously American leaders from former President Jimmy Carter to former President George W. Bush have integrated their religious convictions into a mindset that shapes their goals for the nation, but that individual public leaders have not made their faith a mandate.

“The problem is when it is prescribed for the entire nation as normative or as mandatory as a religious kind of doctrine,” Thompson said.

Many administration officials will join the president during the reading, according to the press release, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and chief of staff Susie Wiles.

Trump found himself at the center of two religious matters last week, which began with a feud with Pope Leo, who has spoken out against the war with Iran.

The president criticized the pope, telling reporters, “We don’t like a pope that’s going to say that it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon,” adding, “I’m not a fan of Pope Leo.”

The pope said in response that he has “no fear of the Trump administration.”

The president then had to defend himself after Read more