Heat’s Meyers Leonard says anti-Semitic slur during Twitch stream

As the Miami Heat return this week from the All-Star break, the team should expect to answer for the conduct of injured center Meyers Leonard.

Leonard, who is out for the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury and hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since January, was recorded saying an anti-Semitic slur during a Twitch stream of Call of Duty on Tuesday.

During the NBA’s restart in the Orlando bubble, Leonard was the lone Heat player to stand during the national anthem. Though protests during the anthem are not about the military, Leonard defended it at the time as him “supporting the military” rather than acting out of opposition for the Black Lives Matter movement.

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Paytm unveils Smart PoS, Soundbox device

Offering to aid small businesses: CEO

Financial services platform Paytm on Tuesday unveiled a new application — ‘Smart PoS’— which will enable merchants to accept debit and credit card payments through their smartphone.

The company also announced the new version of its Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled ‘Soundbox’, which provides instant voice-based confirmations of payments to merchants.

“Our target is five million IoT devices, [which is] 10% of the 50 million merchants… We are aiming to reach 50 million merchants in the next two years,” Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said. “Today’s launch of Soundbox 2.0 and Smart PoS for Android phones expands opportunities for small businesses to experience the latest technologies at the most affordable price,” he added.

The Smart PoS is supported by the ‘Paytm for Business’ app and enables merchants to start accepting contactless card payments using near field communication (NFC) technology. The company has partnered with financial services institutions, including Visa and MasterCard, for facilitating card payments for Smart PoS.

T.R. Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, India and South Asia, Visa, said, “Contactless payments or tapping to pay with a contactless card or mobile device, have fast emerged as the preferred way to pay globally with nearly 60% of Visa transactions outside of the U.S. occurring with a tap.”

Meanwhile, the new Soundbox devices come equipped with a digitally enabled screen that gives instant visual confirmation of the paid amount along with the voice-based response.

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Report: NHL, ESPN agree to 7-year TV broadcast rights deal

The NHL will reportedly have a new broadcast partner.

According to Sportsnet, which cited multiple unnamed sources, the league and ESPN have reached a seven-year broadcast deal to televise games in the United States. The deal is set to start next season, per the report.

The expectation is for ESPN to get the rights to broadcast four different Stanley Cup Finals series between 2022 and 2028. According to Sportsnet, there is another company that will split the package with ESPN.

The NHL and ESPN each declined comment when reached by USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday evening.

In April 2011, NBC signed a 10-year deal with the NHL in which the network agreed to pay $200 million annually for broadcasting rights. That deal is set to expire at the end of the current season.

Disney, which owns ESPN, is also negotiating a contract for its Monday Night Football package and reportedly pushed back on a 100% price increase.

Former Olympic swimmer Klete Keller pleads not guilty to charges from U.S. Capitol riot

Former U.S. swimmer and Olympic gold medalist Klete Keller pleaded not guilty Tuesday to seven charges stemming from the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Keller, 38, issued the plea during a virtual hearing in U.S. District Court in Washington. He is due to make his next court appearance April 6.

Keller's attorney, Edward MacMahon, declined to offer any additional comment on the case Tuesday.

A three-time Olympian, Keller initially faced three charges after law enforcement identified him as one of the hundreds of people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. A grand jury indicted him on four additional charges last month.

Biden's COVID aid bill clears procedural hurdle in House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday voted to advance President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, clearing the way for the measure to be considered on Wednesday, when a final vote is expected.