July 19, 2014

10-year-old bet will get McIlroy's dad thousands if he wins

Ten years ago, Rory McIlroy’s dad and three friends bet 400 pounds ($683 in American dollars today) that his son would win the British Open by the time he was...

Boy renews vows with wife 50 years his senior

The bride wore white — the groom wore a bib. Age is just a number for a 9-year-old boy and his 62-year-old wife, who have renewed their vows in South...

Obama dithering as the world is in chaos

On a trip to Ireland during the 1990s, I was struck by how little public discussion there was about “The Troubles.” Coming from New York, I expected the dispute between...

Hondo's freaking out

Hondo was no rocket scientist with his Astros investment Saturday night, suffering a second straight second-half setback that sent the debt skyrocketing to 1,375 bedrosians. Sunday: Mr. Aitch expects the...

Man in chokehold death had no throat damage: autopsy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT66U_Ftdng The forbidden chokehold used by a cop to take down a Staten Island man in a deadly encounter Thursday did not damage his windpipe or neck bones, sources said....

Daily Blotter

Manhattan He must have expensive taste. The fedora wearing thief pictured above burglarized two Madison Avenue designer stores on the Upper East Side within minutes, authorities said. The suspect was...

Florida jury orders RJ Reynolds to pay smoker's widow $23.6B

MIAMI — A Florida jury has slammed the nation's No. 2 cigarette maker, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., with $23.6 billion in punitive damages in a lawsuit filed by the widow...

New York hiking out-of-state boating sales tax

Long Island waters will become more taxing this summer for some boaters who dock in New York while trying to evade state sales tax. That’s the promise of New York...

You may have travel insurance without realizing it

They are problems many travelers never anticipate: a canceled flight, a missed connection, lost luggage, or worse, a last-minute illness or natural disaster before a trip. While it seems there...

Red Bulls draw after coughing up another lead

Last season’s Red Bull team won the Supporters’ Shield — the first silverware in team history — as much with toughness as it did talent. But that toughness is very...

Chasing down McIlroy daunting task for Fowler, Garcia

HOYLAKE, England — There are not two players in the British Open field entering Sunday’s final round at Royal Liverpool who need to bring the Claret Jug home more badly...

Knicks fall to Bobcats in Summer League finale

The Knicks saw their time in Las Vegas come to an end with an 82-79 loss at the hands of assistant coach Patrick Ewing and the Hornets in the quarterfinals...

Carlos Beltran starting to get into swing of things

Long home runs, quality at-bats, run production — this is what the Yankees had in mind when they inked Carlos Beltran to that three-year, $45 million deal in the offseason....

Brash Rex Ryan: The Patriots 'need to worry about us'

Rex Ryan is getting fired up. Sitting in his office after a practice in June, he is talking about the 2014 Jets. As he speaks, the words come out quicker,...

PIMCO straight shooting on bonds

While the financial world seems focused on the management, mood swings and yoga routines of Californian Bill Gross at PIMCO, the smartest guys in the bond world work 1,400 miles...

Yellen and Fed buddies shorting on economic forecasts

If the Fed thinks reading the economic tea leaves has proven to be a tough sport, just wait till they try stock trading as Fed Chair Janet Yellen did last...

Tiger, Phil lament missed opportunities

HOYLAKE, England — When they were finished with their respective British Open third rounds Saturday at Royal Liverpool, both Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods voiced similar laments. Both were disappointed...

This week's must-read books

Cold Type by Harvey Araton (Cinco Puntos Press) Longtime New York sportswriter Araton — at The Post in the ’70s and ’80s — has penned acclaimed books about the champion...

Yankees decline to sign Rivera’s son to contract

The Yankees announced Saturday they have signed 26 of their 39 selections in the 2014 amateur draft, and one name stood out of the 13 players who didn’t sign: right-handed...

In my library: Colum McCann

It was a brave act, even for a writer hailed for his compassion: When Colum McCann saw a woman being attacked last month on a New Haven, Conn., sidewalk, he ran to her aid. For his trouble,...

Despite OK weather, players praise two-tee start

HOYLAKE, England — Was it the right or wrong decision for tournament officials to — for the first time in British Open history — go to a two-tee start Saturday...

NYC weathers six months of a progressive City Council

It is one of the most like-minded — and liberal — legislative bodies in the nation. The New York City Council, in lockstep with Mayor de Blasio, aims to make...

Dear John: Take this bitcoin of advice

Dear John: Where can I go to learn about bitcoins? J.A.K. Dear J.A.K. Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you. I also wouldn’t tell you how to make bombs...

Rangers sign New York native Stempniak

The Rangers added another veteran to bolster the depth up front, inking Lee Stempniak to a one-year, $900,000 deal on Saturday. The 31-year-old from West Seneca, N.Y. — just outside...

Monitors move quickly to secure Malaysian plane crash site

Pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine were planning to carry large fragments of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 to Russia on Saturday, the Kiev government charged. “The government of Ukraine officially states that...

McCarthy feeling like himself while wife tweets support

Brandon McCarthy said Saturday afternoon he is “feeling like myself again,” and for the Yankees and their fans, that offers both promise and entertainment, neither of which has been in...

8 things to watch this week

1. Ray Donovan Sunday, 9 p.m., Showtime Ray (Liev Schreiber) forces Mickey (Jon Voight) to return to LA and brings him to FBI agent Ed Cochran (Hank Azaria), who puts...

McCarthy, big bats lead Yankees past Reds, 7-1

For two days in their post All-Star Game, playoffs-hopeful world, the Yankees began talking about injuries and how 80 percent of their starting rotation at the beginning of the season...

Prison's roof collapses, trapping dozens of inmates

DIBOLL, Texas — Authorities say the roof of a privately run East Texas prison has collapsed, temporarily trapping dozens of inmates and injuring 20 — 10 of whom went to...

What to be watching for as football season gears up

Hot topics Peyton Refueled Peyton Manning’s window for capturing his second Super Bowl championship is closing rapidly, so Broncos GM John Elway stole CB Aqib Talib from the Patriots, and...

Jets WR: We can make playoffs

New Jets wide receiver Eric Decker has been with the team for just four months, but he likes what he sees. Speaking at his youth football camp on Saturday, Decker...

Meet Mary Lynn Rajskub, the misfit of TV's '24'

Many fans of the recently revived TV show “24” only know actress Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O’Brian, loyal counterpart to Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer. They might have been shocked,...

How the NHL and Devils combined to shaft NJ fans

No time for kids in New Jersey this year, and no, we’re not referring to the abundance of aging forwards — then again, we’re all aging, aren’t we? — on...

Meet the adorable dogs backstage on Broadway

This was the season Broadway let the dogs out — the pint-size Pomeranian of “Bullets Over Broadway,” Billie Holiday’s Chihuahua in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill,” the doomed...

Acupuncturist seeks a man with the right touch

Jessica, 29 Considers her patients her biggest priority — but she’s looking for a guy who’ll make her want to clear her schedule. Nice touch: Jessica says her hands are...

Steve Lavin recruiting in Bosnia

Steve Lavin isn’t done recruiting for this upcoming season. The St. John’s coach, looking to add depth to his front court, is in Sarajevo, Bosnia, this weekend recruiting 6-foot-9 sharpshooting...

This week's couple: Team spirit

Usually, two people meeting for a blind date have lots of questions for each other. But when Jemar, 32, met Betty, 27, at the East Village seafood restaurant Bait &...

Man who attacked 'friend' with hammer surrenders

The man who viciously attacked a “friend” with a hammer in the Bronx turned himself in to police Saturday, cops said. Michael Dilello, 43, attacked the 41-year-old victim, who had...

Open coverage commentators turn simple into absurd

The State of TV Golf in the United States, or How To Burn Water: Faux-hip crazy talk — the kind never spoken by golfers before, after or during golf —...

Powdered caffeine scrutinized after prom king dies

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A few weeks before their prom king's death, students at an Ohio high school had attended an assembly on narcotics that warned about the dangers of heroin...

How pure, genuine fury keeps baseball alive

You don’t have to be a sociologist to wonder if baseball is long for the front of the national attention span. It seems like every few minutes arrives a statistical...

Why this year's Giants training camp is anything but normal

Head coach and quarterback are the two hallmarks of any NFL team, and stability and excellence in those positions is vital for short- and long-term success. In Tom Coughlin and...

The Gyllenhaals' mother makes her first film

“I made some difficult choices to be there for my kids. I always really valued the idea of parenting as a job. And it’s paid off — I have the...

Overlooked trait essential to Jeter's lore

Derek Jeter smiles easily. He is expert at being polite and non-controversial. He connects quickly with children. His fraternity with his peers is unforced and pleasant, whether the exchange is...

Upcoming plaque ceremony an honor for O’Neill

Paul O’Neill earned his “Warrior” nickname from George Steinbrenner 17 years ago. “At the time it was a little embarrassing, but now, when you’re away from the game, you can...

Johnny Football and the top NFL preseason storylines

After a short and mercifully quiet summer break, the NFL is back in business. The Giants and Bills get a head start on training camp because of their matchup in...

Serby’s Sunday Q&A with John Mara

With training camps beginning this week, Giants co-owner John Mara huddled with Post columnist Steve Serby for some Q&A. Q: What sense do you have for coach Tom Coughlin’s hunger...

To make elite schools 'fair,' city will punish poor Asians

In 2004, 7-year-old Ting Shi arrived in New York from China, speaking almost no English. For two years, he shared a bedroom in a Chinatown apartment with his grandparents —...

Ukraine: Crew that shot down MH17 was Russian

Ukraine accused Russia and pro-Moscow rebels on Saturday of destroying evidence to cover up their guilt in the shooting down of a Malaysian airliner that has accelerated a showdown between...

Check out these refined makeovers on the plain old T-shirt

True blue Pair this cuffed-sleeve cutie with jean shorts for the ultimate denim-on-denim summer look. Jacquard denim top, $59.99 at mango.com Graphic content Pair this abstract print with a flirty...

McIlroy’s 2 late eagles give him 6-stroke lead at British Open

HOYLAKE, England — For the second consecutive major championship, the final round figures to be little more than a coronation. Last month it was Martin Kaymer, who put the U.S....

De Blasio phones in condolences after NYPD chokehold death

Mayor DeBlasio phoned in his condolences Saturday to grieving relatives of a Staten Island man who died after he was put in a chokehold by cops. The mayor “reassured the...

Luc Besson wanted a 'base of truth' with 'Lucy'

“The average person uses 10 percent of their brain capacity,” reads the poster for “Lucy,” featuring a close-up of Scarlett Johansson. “Imagine what she could do with 100 percent.” Well,...

4 questions for 5 Seconds of Summer

They’re already driving legions of teenage girls in the UK and their native Australia to wild frenzy. With the Tuesday release of their self-titled debut album, a scheduled performance at...

Sabathia: I will be back in the spring

After learning his fate, CC Sabathia returned to the Yankees’ clubhouse and expressed confidence he can avoid the dreaded microfracture surgery and will be ready for spring training next February....

'Fluffy' Gabriel Iglesias brings his comedy to the big screen

Gabriel Iglesias really is the next Kevin Hart: After Hart’s “Let Me Explain” became the fourth-highest-grossing comedy concert film ever last summer, the film company behind it was hungry to...

Common takes on gang violence in new album: 'People are dying'

Back in 2012, Chicago-born rapper Common voiced his concerns about his hometown’s rising gang violence problem and issued a call for a peace summit in the hope that the city’s...

Can 'Sharknado' outdo itself with a killer sequel?

Back on a bitter cold morning in February, the Citi Field set of “Sharknado 2: The Second One” was abuzz about the current, um, situation. The day’s scene — in...

Could the next generation of Republicans already be here?

There’s probably never been a time when humanity wasn’t collectively in a torment and uproar about what its young folk were up to. (Gur to Urp, 10,000 B.C.: “Can you...

Hey parents: Stop treating your kids like little princesses

Today’s candidate for world’s worst dad: Jeremiah Heaton. The Virginia father of three has claimed a disputed stretch of land between Egypt and Sudan as his own in order to...

The Truman Show Delusion, and how culture determines 'crazy'

“Maybe I’m going out of my mind,” said Truman Burbank, played by Jim Carrey in 1998’s “The Truman Show,” “but I get the feeling that the world revolves around me...

Why leaving New York might be the key to finding The One

For the month of June, my entire dating world turned upside-down. Every man I liked on Tinder liked me back. Whenever I opened my OkCupid profile, I’d find flirty, fun...

The plot to poison the world's best wine for a $1.3M ransom

His lair was a hole in the ground, no larger than a shallow grave. Across the top a tarpaulin was pulled taught and camouflaged. The hole smelled like cheese. For...

The 10 most entertainingly terrible movies

The “Sharknado” franchise is just the latest in a long tradition of entertainingly terrible movies. These 10 take the cake.

A tour through Gilded Age New York

“I just love New York history,” says Esther Crain. “Just walking the streets, you can feel all these ghosts, all these layers of the city’s past.” Crain, the founder of...

How Warren Beatty fell in love after '12,775' women

Tom and Katie went kaput. Antonio and Melanie split. But some 22 years in, Warren Beatty and Annette Bening are still going strong, upending expectations and defying logic. How did...

The World Cup is over, but NY's pro soccer team is just heating up

Once the World Cup ended with Germany’s victory, the soccer fever that swept the city — packing bars and helping to birth a national spirit not seen since Rocky fought...

Ukraine: Russia helping rebels destroy Flight MH17 evidence

HRABOVE, Ukraine — Ukraine accused Russia on Saturday of helping separatist rebels destroy evidence at the crash site of a Malaysia Airlines plane shot down in rebel-held territory — a...

US drone strike in Pakistan kills 11

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A U.S. drone fired several missiles at a sprawling compound in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan on Saturday, killing eleven militants, two Pakistani intelligence officials said....

Massive wildfire forces residents to flee from homes in Washington

PATEROS, Wash. — A massive wildfire that has destroyed at least 100 homes has forced the residents of a second north-central Washington town to leave their homes, and prompted a...

Overbooked Flight MH17 saved one family from death

A chance of fate saved their lives. Baby-toting British couple Barry and Izzy Sim were set to board the doomed Malaysia Airlines flight out of Amsterdam, but were asked to...

The victims of the Flight MH17 tragedy

The tales of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 cover the emotional spectrum — from the heart-wrenching tragedies of those who boarded to the fortunate few whom fate kept away. They included a...

Heat on Putin over support of rebels who downed MH17

The world on Friday pointed a unified finger squarely at Russian President Vladimir Putin for his country’s support of the violent Ukrainian rebels who fired the anti-aircraft missile that blew...

Beltran enjoys success in return to Yankees' lineup

Carlos Beltran returned to the Yankees’ lineup Friday night for the first time since a freak batting practice injury on July 9 left him with two nose fractures and early...

Vikings suspend coach for three games for anti-gay remarks

MINNEAPOLIS — The Vikings will suspend special teams coordinator — and former Giants assistant special teams coach — Mike Priefer without pay for three games this season and donate $100,000...

Why Red Bulls are limping into matchup with San Jose

After finishing atop last year’s MLS standings and winning the Supporters’ Shield — their first-ever meaningful silverware — the Red Bulls will head toward the All-Star break having slumped into...

Israelis demolish tunnels as over 340 Palestinians die in offensive

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli bulldozers on Saturday demolished more than a dozen tunnels the military said were being used by Hamas gunmen to sneak beneath the southern border...

Knicks might sign Metta World Peace — again

Is anyone ready for World Peace II? The Knicks have discussed whether to extend a training-camp invitation to Metta World Peace on a mostly non-guaranteed deal. World Peace is eager...

Dustin Johnson plays way into final group spotlight

HOYLAKE, England — The player with the best chance to catch British open leader Rory McIlroy is Dustin Johnson, who posted a tournament-low 65 on Friday to stand at 8-under...

Overdosing doctor found guilty in patients' deaths

After a week of deliberations, a Manhattan jury found a greedy Queens doctor guilty of manslaughter in the overdose deaths of two patients for whom he’d recklessly prescribed painkillers. Dr....

Port Authority cop fired for drunk driving loses suit to get job back

A Port Authority cop who boldly called his 2013 ouster “draconian” — even though he was nabbed for driving drunk with two loaded handguns in his car trunk — unsurprisingly...

Meet the 'Big Time' former boxer who is running for Congress

Jameel McCline has never shied away from defying the odds. That’s why the former heavyweight boxer is confident he can unseat an incumbent candidate and win a congressional seat with...

'Friend' attacks man with hammer

A Bronx man is fighting for his life after a night out with a “friend” who viciously attacked him with a hammer early Friday morning, cops said. Police are looking...

Hondo flying high

Hondo started the second half with a setback Friday night, losing with the Royals against the Sawx to boost the debt to 1,325 lemongellos. Saturday: Mr. Aitch will attempt to...

Teen who fatally ran over toddler robbed dead woman's apartment: cops

The teen who fatally ran over 4-year-old Ariel Russo on the Upper West Side while fleeing cops last year was busted for looting a dead woman’s apartment, authorities said Friday....

Yankees' balanced effort just what the doctor ordered

There’s misery, so much misery, everywhere you turn in the Yankees’ universe. There’s Masahiro Tanaka, admitting “I still feel” the pain in his right elbow, although he professed it’s getting...

D'Arnaud's clutch hit helps streaking Mets

SAN DIEGO — A four-day hiatus for the All-Star break evidently did nothing to disrupt the Mets’ recent mojo. The good times are still rolling, along with Travis d’Arnaud’s single...

Labor commissioner gives no-bid contract to firm he founded

The city’s top labor negotiator turned to some familiar faces to help hammer out dozens of municipal contracts, by bringing on the consulting firm he founded. Three months after Robert...

Juror cut loose from Halloran’s trial thought he was guilty

A juror cut loose Friday from the corruption trial of ex-Councilman Dan Halloran said he would have found the accused pol guilty of brokering bribes to get Sen. Malcolm Smith...

Garage attendant took man’s car for a joyride: police

A businessman left his company-owned Range Rover in the hands of a Lower East Side garage attendant — who “borrowed” it for an eight-hour joyride through Queens, police sources said...

Fantasy predictions for the second half of the season

While  it’s always good to look ahead, it’s still impossible to predict exactly how the future will turn out. Take, for instance, Jacob deGrom. He was never high on the...