Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked the Army’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Randy George, to step down, the Pentagon said Thursday, as the United States wages a war against Iran.A Pentagon official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, confirmed that George has been asked to take early retirement from the post of Army chief of staff, which he has held since August 2023.The ouster of George is just the latest of more than a dozen firings of top generals and admirals by Hegseth since he first took office last year.CBS News was first to report the ouster.
WASHINGTON —
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked the Army’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Randy George, to step down, the Pentagon said Thursday, as the United States wages a war against Iran.
A Pentagon official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, confirmed that George has been asked to take early retirement from the post of Army chief of staff, which he has held since August 2023.
The ouster of George is just the latest of more than a dozen firings of top generals and admirals by Hegseth since he first took office last year.
Dallas premiered on April 2, 1978, and the groundbreaking nighttime drama was destined to change the face of television.
What Is Dallas?
Dallas was initially a five-part miniseries on CBS.
Based loosely on Romeo and Juliet, the first episode begins with Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) and Pamela Barnes (Victoria Principal) eloping without telling either one of their families.
The Ewing and Barnes families have been feuding bitterly over a massive fortune in oil for more than a generation, and the couple’s star-crossed romance — along with their families’ reactions to it — provided much of the initial dramatic tension for the show.
They faced resistance and outright hostility from Pam’s brother, Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval); Bobby’s brother, J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman); J.R.’s alcoholic, unfaithful wife, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray); Pam’s former flame, Ray (Steve Kanaly) and more.
Dallas became a cultural juggernaut, running for 14 seasons until it wrapped up in 1991.
As time went on, the fiendishly amoral J.R. Ewing became the breakout character on the show, fueled by former I Dream of Jeannie Hagman’s deliciously over-the-top performance.
In 1980, the show made television history with a season-ending cliffhanger that showed an unknown assailant shooting J.R.
“Who Shot J.R.?” became a cultural catchphrase, and the episode that revealed the shooter remains the second-highest-rated episode of television in U.S. history.
When Did Dallas End?
Dallas came to a close on May 3, 1991, with an episode titled Conundrum.
The show’s finale aired in two parts, and it featured J.R. getting his comeuppance after 14 seasons of his villainous ways finally come back to him.
Have There Been Any Dallas Reunions?
Hagman, Duffy, Gray and more reprised their most famous roles several times, including a 2012 reboot of Dallas for TNT.
Hagman died on Nov. 23, 2012, at the age of 81 after battling throat cancer. He was still playing J.R. Ewing at the time of his death.
PICTURES: See the Stars of ‘Dallas’ Then + Now
Dallas was more than just a television show; it was a cultural phenomenon. Scroll through the pictures below to see what the stars of Dallas look like today.
Griffin, 20 later this month, will be the first teenager to appear in the big leagues since Elvis Luciano and Juan Soto in 2019. The No. 9 pick in the 2024 Draft skyrocketed through the minors last season, slashing .333/.415/.527 with 21 home runs and 65 steals while climbing from Low Class-A to Double-A. Griffin is 7 for 16 (.438) with three doubles in five Triple-A games this year.
The rap on Griffin during his amateur days was that he had every tool but the hit tool, the most important of the bunch. It was encouraging, then, to see him ease concerns about his swing-and-miss during his first pro season. He connected on more than 75% of his attempts while showing off the power (he cleared the 114 mph threshold) and speed (he stole 65 bases) combination that gave him a high ceiling. Griffin even kept his strikeout rate under 24% during a 21-game stint in Double-A, suggesting that he wasn’t just feasting on younger pitchers or those with less raw talent. Knowing when to adjust priors is one of the trickiest parts of evaluating players. Given everything about Griffin’s year, it would be silly to ignore how much higher his chances of reaching his star ceiling are now than they were 365 days ago.
It should be noted there are not service time games being played here. Griffin did not spend enough time in the minors this year to push his free agency back. The Pirates will control him from 2026-31, though if the two sides complete their reported nine-year extension, service time will be moot, and Griffin will be tied to the Pirates for nine years.
Griffin is being called up early enough that he will accrue a full year of service time and thus be eligible for a Prospect Promotion Incentive pick. Those are extra draft picks given to teams that do not manipulate the service time of top 100 prospects. To get a pick for Griffin, he would need to win Rookie of the Year, or finish top three in the MVP voting in one of his pre-arbitration seasons between 2026 and 2028. (The extension would also have to be signed after he appears in a game.)
The Pirates are 3-3 in the early going. Thursday is a team off-day, then they’ll take on the Baltimore Orioles in Friday’s home opener. Utility man Jared Triolo has started five of the team’s six games at shortstop. Nick Gonzales has started the other.
A nine-year extension would still allow Griffin to become a free agent at age 28.
After a wet Wednesday conditions are drying out across the state with mild to seasonable high temperatures forecasted for Thursday afternoon. At the beginning of the afternoon, temperatures rose to the upper 50s, low 60s, and 70s throughout the Land of Enchantment. There is an increased risk for fire danger in the eastern half of […]
Ella Langley dropped her official “Choosin’ Texas” music video this week, and it’s a mini-movie that’s absolutely jam-packed with star cameos and fun twists.
Yellowstone star Luke Grimes plays Langley’s love interest in this story, and Miranda Lambert also co-stars as the bar performer who (spoiler alert) winds up rescuing Langley from being stuck in Texas with a boyfriend who’s still hung up on another girl.
Another familiar face is Kaitlin Butts, who follows Langley into the bathroom to warn her that her relationship just might be on the rocks. Butts plays the part of the mean girl perfectly, and the duo’s real-life friendship adds a little bit of an extra dynamic to her participation in this video (more on that later.)
But that’s not all that the “Choosin’ Texas” video delivers. Langley’s new clip includes some intriguing imagery and audio snippets that left us wondering: Is she teasing new music? What’s the story behind it? And why does everyone in this video look so familiar?
Keep scrolling as Taste of Country attempts to answer all your burning questions about Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas video.
No. 1: Who Plays The Ex-Girlfriend in Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” Video?
Ella Langley, YouTube
Ella Langley, YouTube
This girl — most often seen looking sultry and mysterious across the bar from Langley and her love interest Luke Grimes — looks so familiar, but we couldn’t quite place her.
Well, we did a little digging and solved the mystery. The ex-girlfriend stealing Langley’s man in the music video is played by Ava Phillippe, aka Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe’s daughter!
Country fans might know Phillippe from her role in Ransom Canyon. She’s also a model who’s worked with brands such as Chanel Beauty and Dior Beauty.
No. 2: Why Do So Many of the Bar Patrons Look Familiar?
Ella Langley, YouTube
Ella Langley, YouTube
Why? Because you’ve seen a lot of them onstage elsewhere, of course! Langley enlisted a bunch of her Texas-born friends in music and entertainment to act in this music video, including Texas singers Wade Bowen and Casey Donahew (whose wife also plays the bartender.)
Eagle-eyed fans will spot Tanner Usrey playing pool — he’s a Texas artist who just made headlines earlier in the week when he was arrested on serious drug charges.
Rodeo personality Dale Brisby makes an appearance, as do members of the Texas A&M’s Aggie Wranglers dance team.
No. 3: What Are the Unreleased Song Teases in the Music Video?
Ella Langley, YouTube
Ella Langley, YouTube
Before the music video starts in earnest, Langley and Grimes are cruising into Abilene, and playing on the radio is a song we can barely make out, and can’t place. It certainly sounds like it could be Langley’s voice, but we’d be hard pressed to say anything for sure about it.
We’re much more confident in another clip from the very end of the video, which includes a brief audio snippet as the credits role. In it, Langley sings, “I think we both know, it’s last call for us / It’s last call for us…”
Paradedid some extra sleuthing and discovered a blank YouTube page under Langley’s channel that’s called “Last Call For Us,” but offers no additional information.
There’s also a song called “Last Call For Us” listed on the track list of Langley’s upcoming Dandelion album, which is due out this month. Seems like a pretty likely bet that this is teasing that track.
No. 4: What the Heck Does “ICLYA” Stand For?
Ella Langley, YouTube
Ella Langley, YouTube
At the end of the “Choosin’ Texas” music video, Langley’s character meets Lambert’s, and Langley confides in Lambert that she’s afraid she’s losing her relationship. Lambert says their tour van is headed back to Tennessee and offers her a ride.
Langley accepts, and hops into the van as the camera prominently displays its Tennessee license plate, reading “ICLYA.”
There’s way too much focus on the plate for it to be a coincidence, but what does it stand for? Most fans seem to be guessing “I Can’t Love You Anymore,” perhaps another new song title (or even a duet with Lambert?).
But as of now, it’s anyone’s best guess.
No. 5: The Backstory Behind Kaitlin Butts’ Cameo (Fun Fact!)
Ella Langley, YouTube
Ella Langley, YouTube
Kaitlin Butts is actually not from Texas like many of the other artists who made cameos in the “Choosin’ Texas” video. She’s from Oklahoma, though, and has ties to the country music scene.
Butts and Langley are good friends, and they’ve toured together and shared stages.
Last year, Langley also famously lip synced to Butts’ viral hit “You Ain’t Gotta Die (To Be Dead to Me)” in a TikTok post.
This was smack-dab in the middle of a bunch of romance rumors that were circulating about Langley and her “You Look Like You Love Me” duet partner Riley Green, and many fans drew a connection between those rumors and Langley’s posts of Butts’ song.
Those rumors also included a love triangle with Megan Moroney, so it’s a bit of a full-circle moment that Butts would play a role in this fictional love triangle in the story for the “Choosin’ Texas” video.
The 10 Best Ella Langley Songs
As a breakout artist, having one massive hit is sort of a mixed blessing. So it is with Ella Langley and “You Look Like You Love Me,” a Riley Green duet that was a monster country radio hit in 2024.
It’s a great song, but fans are doing themselves a disservice if they don’t dig further. In fact, the very top song on this list is another — way underrated — track. Keep reading to see which one it is!
In the early game of the national TV doubleheader, the Detroit Pistons host the Minnesota Timberwolves, looking to move closer to locking up the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Even with star Cade Cunningham sidelined, the Pistons have won six of their past eight games.
The NBA uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first four picks. All 14 teams that fail to make the playoffs are eligible to move up to the top four. After the order of the top four picks is set via the draw, the remainder of the first round is set in inverse order of the teams’ regular-season records. The three teams with the worst records each have an equal 14% chance of winning the lottery, with the odds for the non-playoff teams decreasing from there.
Among the projected lottery teams, there are multiple trades that could impact picks. The Atlanta Hawks will get the better of the picks from the New Orleans Pelicans and Milwaukee Bucks, with the lesser of the two picks going to Milwaukee. If the Indiana Pacers‘ pick falls between five and nine, it will go to the LA Clippers. The Utah Jazz will send their pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder if it falls outside the top eight.
The Portland Trail Blazers will send their pick to the Chicago Bulls if it falls outside the lottery (if they make the playoffs through the play-in tournament). The Washington Wizards‘ pick is top-eight protected, and the probability of their selection ending up ninth or worse is extremely low.
More than 200 years after being sunk by Adm. Horatio Nelson and the British fleet, a Danish warship and part of a sailor’s jaw have been discovered on the seabed of Copenhagen Harbor by marine archaeologists.
Working in thick sediment and almost zero visibility 50 feet beneath the waves, divers are in a race against time to unearth the 19th-century wreck of the Dannebroge before it becomes a construction site in a new housing district being built off the Danish coast.
Denmark’s Viking Ship Museum, which is leading the monthslong underwater excavations, announced its findings on Thursday, 225 years to the day since the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801.
“It’s a big part of the Danish national feeling,” said Morten Johansen, the museum’s head of maritime archaeology.
An archaeologist points to a computer screen showing a map of the wreck of Danish flagship “Dannebroge” that sank during the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, in Copenhagen, Denmark, March 31, 2026.
James Brooks/AP
A great deal has been written about the battle “by very enthusiastic spectators, but we actually don’t know how it was to be onboard a ship being shot to pieces by English warships and some of that story we can probably learn from seeing the wreck,” Johansen said. The Associated Press was the only international outlet given access to the site.
In the Battle of Copenhagen, Nelson and the British fleet attacked and defeated Denmark’s navy as it formed a protective blockade outside the harbor.
Thousands were killed and wounded during the brutal hourslong naval clash, considered one of Nelson’s “great battles.” The intention was to force Denmark out of an alliance of Northern European powers, including Russia, Prussia and Sweden.
“A nightmare to be on board”
At the center of the fighting was the Danish flagship, the Dannebroge, commanded by Commodore Olfert Fischer.
The 157-foot Dannebroge was Nelson’s main target. Cannon fire tore through its upper deck before incendiary shells sparked a fire aboard.
“(It was) a nightmare to be on board one of these ships,” Johansen said. “When a cannonball hits a ship, it’s not the cannonball that does the most damage to the crew, it’s wooden splinters flying everywhere, very much like grenade debris.”
The battle also is believed to have inspired the phrase “to turn a blind eye.” After deciding to ignore a superior’s signal, Nelson, who had lost sight in his right eye, reportedly remarked: “I have only one eye, I have a right to be blind sometimes.”
Nelson eventually offered a truce and a ceasefire was later agreed with Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik.
The stricken Dannebroge slowly drifted northward and exploded. Records say the sound created a deafening roar across Copenhagen.
Four years later, in 1805, Nelson was killed by a French sniper and his crew pickled his body in brandy so that he could returned home and not buried at sea, historians told the BBC last October.
Marine archaeologists have discovered two cannons, uniforms, insignia, shoes, bottles and even part of a sailor’s lower jaw, perhaps one of the 19 unaccounted-for crew members who likely lost their lives that day.
Morten Johansen, head of maritime archaeology at Denmark’s Viking Ship Museum, shows part of a human lower jawbone recovered from the wreck of Danish flagship “Dannebroge,” March 31, 2026.
James Brooks/AP
The dig site will soon be enveloped by construction work for Lynetteholm, a megaproject to build a new housing district in the middle of Copenhagen Harbor that is expected to be completed by 2070.
Marine archaeologists began surveying the area late last year, targeting a spot thought to match the flagship’s final position.
“You get closer to the people onboard”
Experts say the sizes of the wooden parts found match old drawings. Dendrochronological dating, the method of using tree rings to establish the age of wood, match the year the ship was built. They also say the darkened dig site is full of cannonballs, a hazard for divers navigating waters darkened by clouds of silt stirred up from the seabed.
“Sometimes you can’t see anything, and then you really have to just feel your way, look with your fingers instead of with your eyes,” diver and maritime archaeologist Marie Jonsson said.
Chronicled in books and painted on canvases, the 1801 battle is deeply embedded in Denmark’s national story.
Archaeologists hope their discoveries may help reexamine the event that shaped the Scandinavian country and perhaps uncover personal stories of those who went into battle on that day 225 years ago.
“There are bottles, there are ceramics, and even pieces of basketry,” Jonsson said. “You get closer to the people onboard.”
Morten Johansen, head of maritime archaeology at Denmark’s Viking Ship Museum, shows a metal insignia recovered from the wreck of Danish flagship “Dannebroge,” March 31, 2026.
James Brooks/AP
The discovery was announced just weeks after a 17th century Swedish Navy shipwreck buried underwater in Stockholm for 400 years suddenly became visible due to unusually low Baltic Sea levels.
In 2024, archivists opened parcels from the Anne-Marie cargo ship, which was seized by the British Navy during the Second Battle of Copenhagen, finding a sweater, stockings, silver coins and other items from the ship.
In 2023, divers discovered a Dutch warship off the coast of southern England that sank in 1672.
