1. Major News: Cleveland will pay Tamir Rice's family $6 million to settle a lawsuit over his death.
The settlement from the city of Cleveland, announced Monday, is the result of a federal lawsuit filed by Rice's family. Rice had been carrying a toy pellet gun before he was shot in a park on November 22, 2014. He died during surgery the following day. The officers involved in the shooting have not faced criminal charges. (Read More)2. Double Take: Ted Cruz and John Kasich are teaming up to stop Donald Trump from clenching the GOP nomination.
The campaigns announced Sunday that they plan to coordinate in the remaining GOP presidential primary contests in hopes of blocking Trump from winning the delegates needed to secure the nomination outright at the party's July convention. (Read More)AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
3. Talking Points: Conservationists warn that Grauer’s gorillas, the world's largest primate, are being wiped out by war.
Fewer than 3,800 of these gorillas still live in the wild, according to an alarming report published this week by the Wildlife Conservation Society, Flora and Fauna International, and the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature. (The Washington Post)4. Cha-Ching: There's speculation that there could be a legal battle over Prince's $250 million estate.
Prince was unmarried and without any living children at the time of his death. His closest blood relatives are his six siblings — Omarr Baker, John R. Nelson, Sharon L. Nelson, Tyka Nelson, Norrine Nelson, and Alfred Jackson. If Prince didn't have a will in place, his siblings could become beneficiaries of his estate, according to Minnesota probate code. (Read More)5. Try Again: Piers Morgan wrote scathing op-ed about Beyoncé, calling her a "born-again Black woman."
To sum it up, he thinks Beyoncé is an entertainer. That's it. Nothing more. She should not have such a politically charged dialogue within her music. He also calls her a "born-again Black woman," and says she used to be less "inflammatory" and "agitating." As though he were ironically quoting Kanye West, he writes, "I preferred the old Beyoncé." (Read More)6. Lawyer Up: Alexander McQueen is being sued over Kate Middleton's wedding dress, five years later.
Bridal designer Christine Kendall has filed a lawsuit against the British fashion house, citing breach of copyright. Kendall claims the Duchess of Cambridge's custom wedding gown, designed by McQueen creative director Sarah Burton, bears a striking resemblance to Kendall's own sketches. (Read More)AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
7. Noms: Starbucks just launched 28 emoji — including cake pops, green-tea Frappuccinos, and iced coffee.
The coffee giant's first-ever emoji keyboard for phones is free from the App Store and on Google Play. For iOS, you'll need to follow a few extra steps after downloading the Starbucks keyboard app. Go to Settings, click General, then Keyboard, and choose "Add New Keyboard." (Read More)8. Weird, But True: A top canine scientist says that hugging dogs raises their stress and anxiety levels.
Think twice about squeezing that puppy: Psychology professor and neuropsychological researcher Stanley Coren studied 250 random photographs of dogs and found some disturbing results. “Only 7.6% of the photographs could rate as showing dogs that were comfortable with being hugged," he writes. (Read More)AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT