5 Big News Stories Overnight - Thursday, April 16, 2026

NY: Live Nation Illegally Monopolized Concerts and Ticketing, Jury Finds

Wall Street Journal reports:

A federal jury on Wednesday found that Live Nation illegally monopolized the ticketing market for major concerts in the U.S., in a win for a group of states that accused it of overcharging music fans and pressuring venues to use its dominant Ticketmaster service.

The verdict came after five weeks of trial and nearly four days of deliberation by jurors in a New York City federal court. The Justice Department made the decision last month to settle its case against Live Nation, leaving more than 30 states to try their claims without the federal government.

Now, the group of states will likely try to persuade a judge during a new phase of proceedings that splitting up Live Nation is the only way to fix a broken market. Consumers who were overcharged for tickets will be eligible to get money back, but the total amount Live Nation will pay hasn’t been determined yet.

Saudi Arabia: LIV Golf on the Brink of Collapse

The Telegraph reports:

LIV Golf executives have been called to a meeting in New York over a “seismic” announcement amid fears that the league’s Saudi Arabian funding could be withdrawn.

Telegraph Sport has learnt there was not a single executive present on Tuesday at the Club de Golf Chapultepec, the Mexico City venue where the sixth tournament of the league is taking place, after they were all summoned to what was described as “an emergency summit” in Manhattan. The reason for the meeting remains unclear.

The development came on the same day that the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund that manages its near $1tn worth, announced its new strategy for 2026-30 that included “a new phase of achieving sustainable value, maximising impact and increasing investment efficiency”. Saudi Arabia has so far pumped nearly $5bn into LIV during its four years of existence and while its total losses are not known, its United Kingdom-based entity LIV Golf Ltd – which manages activities outside of the United States – posted a £461.8m loss in 2024.

PHOTO: Scott Warman, Unsplash

New Haven: Yale Report Finds Colleges Deserve Blame for Higher Education’s Problems

The New York Times reports:

American colleges and universities bear significant responsibility for plunging public trust in higher education, a Yale University committee suggested in a report released on Wednesday.

High costs, murky admissions practices, uneven academic standards and fears about free speech on campuses, the committee said, are among the reasons for widening discontent over higher education’s worthiness.

The findings reflect misgivings that Americans have described across years of polling and interviews. But the report, from a 10-professor panel at one of the nation’s most renowned universities, amounts to a damning depiction of academia’s role in cultivating the political and cultural forces that are reshaping higher education’s place in American life.

“Trust is earned by doing what you say you’re going to do — and, ideally, doing it well,” the committee wrote, describing “widespread uncertainty about the fundamental purpose and mission of higher education.”

Iran: 'Jailed Iranian Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi in critical condition'

France 24 reports:

The health of jailed Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi is critical after she suffered a heart attack last month, supporters warned on Wednesday.

Her Iran-based family and legal team were on Saturday allowed a second in person visit with Mohammadi in her prison in northern Iran where "clear signs of a deterioration in her general condition were observed, and her physical state was described as critical", her foundation said in a statement.

The latest meeting came after an earlier visit in late March where it emerged that Mohammadi had suffered a heart attack earlier in the month.

The family reported after the latest visit that Mohammadi "has become extremely weak and has suffered significant weight loss", the statement quoted her Norway-based brother Hamidreza Mohammadi as saying.

Washington: Trump Lashes Out at Fox

President Trump posts:

Why is FoxNews showing SLEAZEBAG Tom Steyer, doing a big piece on him right now, and probably putting him “into play,” instead of talking about Republican Candidates, and really good ones like Steve Hilton, and Republicans? How can a Republican expect to win that State, with their Mail In Voting and Rigged Elections, when you have FoxNews promoting the Democrats? Nobody cares about Tom Steyer, he is a LOSER, but Fox is making it possible for a guy like this to win. VOTE FOR STEVE HILTON, AND TURN CALIFORNIA AROUND! President DONALD J. TRUMP