FIFA said in a statement: "Following discussions between host country authorities and FIFA, a decision has been made to focus the sale of alcoholic beverages on the FIFA Fan Festival, other fan destinations and licensed venues, removing the sales points of beer from Qatar's FIFA World Cup 2022 stadium perimeters." While supporters can purchase alcohol at the official fan zones during the competition, the sale of beer at the matches themselves has been a controversial topic. It appeared an agreement was originally struck to allow FIFA to permit sponsors Budweiser to sell beer at the stadiums. This was then further clarified in the buildup to the tournament after The New York Times first reported that the beer tents would be less visible at the grounds on request of the hosts. But it emerged there was late pressure on FIFA to halt sales of alcohol at the stadiums themselves, two days before hosts Qatar kick off the tournament on Sunday against Ecuador. "There is no impact to the sale of Bud Zero which will remain available at all Qatar's World Cup stadiums," FIFA added.

Alabama's execution of a man convicted in the 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of a preacher’s wife was called off Thursday just before the midnight deadline because state officials couldn’t find a suitable vein to inject the lethal drugs. Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said prison staff tried for about an hour to get the two required intravenous lines connected to Kenneth Eugene Smith, 57. Hamm said they established one line but were unsuccessful with a second line after trying several locations on Smith’s body. Officials then tried a central line, which involves a catheter placed into a large vein. “We were not able to have time to complete that, so we called off the execution,” Hamm said. It is the second execution since September the state has canceled because of difficulties with establishing an IV line with a deadline looming. The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for Smith’s execution when at about 10:20 p.m. it lifted a stay issued earlier in the evening by the 11th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals. But the state decided about an hour later that the lethal injection would not happen that evening.

The 36-year-old man was admitted to the ER with “breakthrough abdominal pain” after his “legendary” stunt.

Two recent papers have shown that during a critical early period of brain development, the gut’s microbiome — the assortment of bacteria that grow within in it — helps to mold a brain system that’s important for social skills later in life. Scientists found this influence in fish, but molecular and neurological evidence plausibly suggests that some form of it could also occur in mammals, including humans.

Unapologetic awfulness is preferable to Silicon Valley hypocrisy. (What a day to publish this!)

A lake-effect snow warning is in effect through 1 a.m. Saturday for southern Erie County. (Let’s see your passing game now, Bills!)

Cable One: Fighting publicly funded rivals one of our "most important tasks."

John Jay Ray III helped manage the aftermath of some of the largest corporate failures in history, including the implosion of the energy trading firm Enron after an accounting fraud scandal in 2001. But the corporate dysfunction at FTX, the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange that he took over last week, is the worst he has ever seen. In a blistering court filing on Thursday, Mr. Ray described an astonishing level of disarray and said he had never seen “such a complete failure of corporate control.” He listed a series of “unacceptable management practices,” including the use of an unsecured group email to access sensitive data, and said the financial information maintained by FTX was deeply untrustworthy.

New York City’s security companies are embracing a new tool in their mission to protect private property: public trees. In recent months, security contractors have quietly drilled electronic “tokens” into the trunks of city street trees. Guards scan the trackers with their phones, providing real-time data on the status of their patrols. Security providers touted the devices as an effective accountability tool — a way to assure clients they are keeping a close eye on their assets. But as the arboreal checkpoints gain popularity, both tree lovers and surveillance skeptics are raising concerns. “They’re totally wounding the tree,” said Justin Lawson, an arborist in Brooklyn. “Even if they can withstand it, no one should be doing this to city trees.” A spokesperson for the city’s parks department confirmed they were aware of the trackers, which violate the city’s law against defacing trees. But that hasn’t stopped private companies, some of whom are contracted by the city, from taking advantage of the urban forestry. And it appears unlikely the city will issue violations, according to the parks department.

House investigators reported Thursday that a federal contractor that provided identity verification services for the Internal Revenue Service exaggerated the amount of money being lost to pandemic fraud in an apparent attempt to increase demand for its product and that it also overstated its capacity to provide services. The investigation of ID.me, which uses facial recognition to verify identities in some cases, was launched in April after critics of the software company said it could be a target of cyberthreats and presented privacy concerns. Other advocates were critical of a private company taking on what should be a core government task of verifying people’s identities to receive benefits. The report found that in 14 states that contracted with ID.me for identity verification services — including California, Texas, and Florida — wait times for ID.me video chats reached an average of more than four hours, though the firm claimed it answered calls in far less time, potentially delaying pandemic relief funds to millions of Americans. The report said ID.me asserted that there were significantly higher levels of pandemic fraud compared to other assessments that were based on expert analysis in an apparent effort to boost interest in its services.

Republicans managed to make their victory in the House seem like a loss by underperforming so badly. But while they did not win control by anywhere near the margin that they anticipated, they did win. And in the House, even the barest majority can work its will if it can hold together to produce 218 votes. The main question going forward is whether Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, who was nominated on Tuesday to lead the new Republican majority, can achieve the unity necessary to perform fundamental tasks such as funding the government, or whether unyielding far-right members will make the new speaker’s life miserable and the House an unmanageable mess. The likely single-digit-seat victory will allow Republicans to claim power — including subpoena power — set the agenda, run the committees and try to hold President Biden’s feet to the fire with a string of promised investigations. The only results that interest many in the House majority are those that inflict political pain on Mr. Biden and congressional Democrats, as demanded by their MAGA constituents. In a closed-door meeting of Republicans on Monday, right-wing lawmakers including Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia extracted a promise that their leaders would investigate Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Justice Department for their treatment of defendants jailed in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. But the new leadership cannot do only investigations. They still have to find some “yes” votes to approve spending bills and other legislation that must pass to keep the government running, when many of their members are very accustomed to voting “no” on just about everything.

The realist political scientist explains why Russia’s move to annex four Ukrainian provinces isn’t imperialism. (Has John Mearsheimer gotten any smarter in nine months? No.)

The implosion of FTX could end up forcing the GOAT to sign a large check.Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, who received a piece of FTX as part of a deal to become a brand ambassador, will now be paying the price in the aftermath of the company’s implosion.Via Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times, Brady [more]

When Officer James Beasley resigned from the Phoenix Police Department, his history of misconduct didn’t follow him to his new agency.

In a speech to supporters, Walker marveled at how "a werewolf can kill a vampire," and said vampires were "cool people."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the first time cleared a meat product grown from animal cells for human consumption, the agency announced on Wednesday.

Philadelphia's elected Democratic prosecutor faces a state Senate trial and possible removal from office after the Republican-led state House voted Wednesday to impeach him over progressive policies he has enacted amid rising crime in the city. Lawmakers voted 107-85 to impeach District Attorney Larry Krasner, setting the stage for what would be the first Pennsylvania Senate impeachment trial in nearly three decades. Republicans currently have a 29-21 majority in the state Senate, going to 28-22 early next year, and a two-thirds vote would be required to remove Krasner. Krasner, who was overwhelmingly reelected by Philadelphia voters last year, is not accused of breaking the law. Instead, Republicans argued that he should be removed from office for various reasons, including his failure to prosecute some minor crimes and his bail request policies, his staff oversight and reports that his office didn't adequately notify crime victims about certain matters. They also alleged that Krasner obstructed the House's investigation of his office.

Bass overcame Caruso's enormous financial advantage. He spent more than $100 million of his own money.

She also strutted her stuff in the music video for ZZ Top’s hit song “Legs.” (RIP eye-crossing blowjob ghost lady.)

The fallen crypto CEO on what went wrong, why he did what he did, and what lies he told along the way.