Massachusetts

Fantasy sports lottery games appear to gain traction in State House

Fantasy sports lottery games appear to gain traction in State House

Derrick Perkins

BOSTON – Rocked by scandal, declared a form of gambling in Nevada, scrutinized by lawmakers and reportedly under state and federal investigation, popular fantasy sports websites like DraftKings and FanDuel might soon face another challenge: a state-run competitor.

Massachusetts Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, who also heads the state Lottery, said last week that the agency plans to get in on the burgeoning market, according to the State House News Service. She said the popularity of DraftKings and FanDuel, which have flooded the airwaves with advertisements since the start of football season, prompted the move. "You don't want to be 20 years from now and say, 'Gee we missed the market,'" Goldberg told the Boston Herald. "There is clearly an appetite for this kind of game play."

Kidnapped Syrian priest escapes from Islamic State
islam

Kidnapped Syrian priest escapes from Islamic State

Catholic News Agency

HOMS, SYRIA (CNA/EWTN News) – A Syrian priest who was captured by Islamic State militants in May thought he would die for his faith. Now, he credits the Virgin Mary and the help of a Muslim friend for his escape.

"This is the miracle the Good Lord gave me: while I was a prisoner I was waiting for the day I would die, but with a great inner peace. I had no problem dying for the name of Our Lord; I wouldn't be the first or the last, just one of the thousands of the martyrs for Christ," the Syriac Catholic priest, Father Jacques Mourad, told Italian TV 2000.

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