A New York City teacher was arrested today after allegedly crashing a drone into the stands during the U.S. Open tennis tournament Thursday night.

Citing police, The Associated Press reports that 26-year-old Daniel Verley has been charged with “reckless endangerment and operating a drone in a New York City public park outside of prescribed area.”

During a second-round match between Italy’s Flavia Pennetta and Monica Niculescu of Romania, the black, shoebox-sized drone flew over the court at Louis Armstrong Stadium and then crashed into empty seats and broke apart. The match was stopped briefly while police officers examined the drone.

The No. 26-seeded Pennetta called the incident “a little bit scary,” saying she initially thought it might have been a bomb, according to the AP.

“With everything going on in the world … I thought, ‘OK, it’s over.’ That’s how things happen,” she said.

A New York City Department of Education spokesman told NPR that Verley has been a science teacher at the Academy of Innovative Technology in Brooklyn since 2013. The department will monitor the criminal case closely and take any disciplinary action based on the information from the case.

Aviation attorney Guy Haggard of the Florida law firm GrayRobinson said the drone crash could have been caused by a loss of control or a system failure.

“Anything mechanical can break,” he told NPR.

As drone use for commercial and recreational purposes becomes more prevalent, there have been calls for more stringent regulations to be put in place. Haggard, however, says the laws already on the books are sufficient.

“I think they are very reasonable right now. Stay away from airports, stay over property that you have permission to fly over,” he said. “The FAA already has a regulation that you cant fly an aircraft recklessly to endanger other people.”

The Federal Aviation Administration says drones meet the legal definition for aircraft. In 2011, it fined a man $10,000 for using a small drone to film a commercial at the University of Virginia.

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Football giant FC Bayern Munich today pledged to help refugees in Germany. In a statement it announced plans to donate 1 million euros from a friendly match to support refugee projects and to establish a “training camp” for refugee youth in which participants will train at FC Bayern, take German language classes and be provided with meals and football jerseys.

The statement read in part:

“Germany is currently experiencing its greatest influx of refugees for many decades. This presents a special challenge to the state and society. FC Bayern München will play an active part in meeting the challenge and, working closely with the city of Munich and state of Bavaria, contribute financial, material and practical help.”

In the midst of a migration crisis, European countries are straining to integrate refugees into their societies, and none more so than Germany. The German government has welcomed more middle eastern and north African refugees in recent years than any other country, and as we reported earlier this week, there has been political push-back and an increase in xenophobic attitudes.

But Bundesliga, Germany’s professional soccer league, is helping to roll out the welcome mats.

Last week, fans hung banners from the stands in stadiums across the country that read “Welcome Refugees.” Borussia Dortmund, the club currently atop the league’s standings, even invited 220 refugees to a match, according to The Telegraph.

While professional sports teams around the world often engage in charity work, they usually opt for non-controversial initiatives that can win the support of all fans. FC Bayern Munich’s move is a rare example of a global franchise wading into a politically and emotionally charged discussion.

These symbolic and practical moves come at a time when people desperate for stability and safety continue to take risky, often deadly routes to reach European countries, undeterred by recent migrant deaths.

Meanwhile, Germany is struggling to come to terms with just how many more refugees it can accept, and Chancellor Angela Merkel is working to implement a refugee sharing system that would lighten the burden for Germany.

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He was already serving a lengthy prison sentence; now onetime St. Louis Rams running back Lawrence Phillips is being charged with murder in the death of his cellmate. Phillips was convicted of assaulting his girlfriend and other charges in 2006.

The new charges against Phillips, 40, stem from the death of his fellow inmate at the Kern Valley State Prison in California this past spring. Officials are accusing Phillips of strangling Damion Soward, 37.

The AP reports, “Phillips is serving a sentence of more than 31 years. He was convicted of choking his girlfriend and later of driving his car into three teens after a pickup football game.”

Phillips played in the NFL for three seasons; he had been a first-round pick out of the University of Nebraska.

During his college career at Nebraska, Phillips was an integral part of two national championship teams, in 1994 and 1995. But he also embroiled the school in controversy over its handling of his off-field behavior. When Phillips became an NFL player in 1996, he was on probation for assaulting his ex-girlfriend.

During his NFL career, Phillips ran for 1,453 yards. Perhaps his most important role in the league was as a catalyst that led the St. Louis Rams to trade another running back, Jerome Bettis, to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In addition to the Rams, Phillips played for the Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers.

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Take a trip to The Mob Museum in Las Vegas and you’ll find exhibits on gangsters, corruption, killers, crime bosses, drug traffickers — and, now, the international governing body of soccer.

Tuesday, the much maligned FIFA Congress finds itself alongside the likes of the Mafia and drug cartels, thanks to the opening of a new, temporary exhibit called “The ‘Beautiful Game’ Turns Ugly.”

“This is good, old-fashioned corruption,” the museum’s director of content, Geoff Schumacher, said of FIFA’s operations that resulted in the May indictment of 14 officials. “Organized crime has always thrived on corruption: bribes, kickbacks and influence that get you what you want.”

According to a press release about the exhibit, the aim is to provide “a breakdown of the kickbacks, secrecy and match-fixing” that led to the charges against the FIFA officials.

“While allegations of corruption have been made about FIFA for more than a decade, its activities were finally confirmed by U.S. FIFA representative Chuck Blazer in 2013. Blazer admitted to taking bribes to ensure South Africa would host the 2010 World Cup and agreed to wear a wire to record FIFA conversations. As a result of his cooperation, a May 2015 indictment by new U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch charged 14 top-ranking soccer officials and sports marketing executives with taking more than $150 million in bribes and kickbacks over 25 years.”

Schumacher told NPR that the museum, also called the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, began planning the exhibit following the May 27 announcement of the indictments.

“There was such big media coverage,” says Schumacher. “But it was also very quick to tie the FIFA scandal into organized crime, and we recognized that immediately as an opportunity for us.” Schumacher says the museum also considered the exhibit’s appeal for international visitors. “Soccer is growing as a sport in the United States but it is the thing in the rest of the world, so this FIFA scandal is always front page news.”

The exhibit, which comprises photographs, media clippings and cover stories, is the first in what the museum envisions as a series on contemporary organized crime.

“One of the things we are interested in doing is using it as an educational tool to talk about what organized crime looks like today versus 30, 50, 100 years ago,” Schumacher said. “It is a history museum. But in the old days when people wore fedoras and carried tommy guns, that’s not how it looks today.”

So what’s next in the series?

“We think the next exhibit will be on the El Chapo prison escape in Mexico,” Schumacher said.

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After a last-ditch effort to reach a settlement in the legal dispute over the NFL’s four-game suspension of quarterback Tom Brady, a federal judge says he’ll issue his ruling on Brady’s appeal on either Tuesday or Wednesday.

On Monday morning, Brady and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell attended discussions about a possible settlement. But after it became clear that the two sides don’t intend to give ground, District Judge Richard Berman held a brief hearing to announce that he’ll rule on the case early this week.

In another development, Jane Rosenberg, the courtroom sketch artist whose vision of Brady at an earlier appearance in Manhattan Federal Court sparked a flood of interest and commentary, issued a new sketch of the quarterback Monday. The earlier sketched sparked a slew of memes on Twitter.

Both Brady and the New England Patriots have insisted that they didn’t tamper with the inflation levels of footballs used in the AFC title game. In May, the NFL suspended the quarterback and levied a $1 million fine on his team, which also lost several draft picks.

From Boston’s member station WBUR, criminal law professor Robert Blecker writes today about the Patriots’ “false appearance of guilt” in the case.

Like others, Blecker notes that Brady’s punishment was doled out after the NFL-sponsored Wells report found “it is more probable than not that Tom Brady was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities.”

“No eyewitnesses, and no real proof,” writes Blecker, who also says he isn’t a Patriots fan. “No matter. The league would manufacture it, and suspend the quarterback for being ‘generally aware’ of something that most likely never happened.”

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Al Arbour, who set an NHL record by coaching 1,500 games, has died at age 81. As the head coach of the New York Islanders, he led the team to four Stanley Cup championships in 19 seasons. He also won four NHL titles as a player.

“Al will always be remembered as one of, if not the, greatest coaches ever to stand behind a bench in the history of the National Hockey League,” Islanders President and General Manager Garth Snow said, as the team announced Arbour’s death Friday.

“Arbour was being treated for Parkinson’s disease and dementia near his home in Sarasota, Fla.,” NHL.com reports.

When he retired in 1994, Arbour had logged 1,499 games as a coach. He made it an even 1,500 in 2007, when the Islanders brought him back to coach one game. An inductee of the NHL Hall of Fame, Arbour won 782 games as a coach — second all-time to Scotty Bowman (1,244 wins).

During his playing days, Arbour, a defenseman, was on Stanley Cup-winning teams for the Detroit Red Wings (1954), Chicago Blackhawks (1961), and the Toronto Maple Leafs (1962 and ’64).

Born in Sudbury, Canada, Arbour became a coach after playing in the NHL and other pro leagues for parts of three decades. He spent three years as the head coach of the St. Louis Blues, moving into that role directly after playing there.

In 1973, Arbour became the head coach of the Islanders, a young team that he eventually turned into a perennial contender.

From The New York Times:

“With General Manager Bill Torrey supplying the future Hall of Famers Denis Potvin on defense, Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy and Clark Gillies at forward and Billy Smith in goal, Arbour coached the Islanders to the league championship from 1980 to 1983. The Islanders became the second franchise in N.H.L. history to win four consecutive Stanley Cup titles, the Montreal Canadiens having captured five straight Cups from 1956 to 1960 and four straight in the seasons before the Islanders’ streak.”

Arbour is survived by his wife, Claire, and children Joann, Jay, Julie and Janice.

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His power and talent tested the nuts and bolts of basketball — literally. Darryl Dawkins, who became famous for backboard-shattering dunks after he was the first NBA player to skip college altogether, has died at age 58.

Lehigh Carbon Community College, where Dawkins coached for two seasons, says:

“LCCC community is saddened by the passing of Philadelphia 76er legend and former LCCC basketball coach Darryl Dawkins. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Dawkins family.”

From Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley Live:

“Dawkins, who had many ties to the Lehigh Valley, was pronounced dead at 11:19 a.m. Thursday at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township, the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office said.”

No cause of death has been determined; an autopsy is scheduled for Friday.

Nicknamed “Chocolate Thunder,” Dawkins played 13 seasons in the NBA after being drafted out of high school by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1975. From the start of his pro career, Dawkins was capable of soaring above other players and arriving at the rim with unstoppable force.

At 6 feet, 11 inches and more than 250 pounds, he broke two glass backboards in one month during the 1979 season — prompting the NBA to adopt a new rule making it a finable offense to shatter a backboard.

A native of Orlando, Fla., Dawkins was part of the 76ers’ playoff teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s, alongside Julius Erving and World B. Free. But he was traded to the New Jersey Nets after six seasons — and one year before Philadelphia broke through to win the NBA championship in 1983.

With his ferociously powerful play in the lane and a flair for outlandish outfits, creative nicknames (“Sir Slam,” “Dr. Dunkenstein”), and wild theories (“I’m from Lovetron,” he often said, claiming otherworldly status), Dawkins can in some ways be seen as an early version of Shaquille O’Neal. But unlike Shaq, Dawkins never claimed an NBA title.

A player who brought incredible raw power into the league as a teenager, Dawkins has been the subject of many stories among NBA players. In one anecdote, Bobby Jones told ESPN about the time he smelled smoke after a Dawkins dunk, when Jones played for the Denver Nuggets:

” ‘This is the truth — I’m smelling smoke,’ Jones says. ‘I’m smelling something burning. The nets weren’t on fire or anything, but as I looked up there, because of the friction his dunk had caused, I could see these tiny little silk strands sort of drifting through the air. I thought, “Boy, I’d like to have a guy like that watching my back.” ‘ “

Dawkins was 20 at the time.

After his NBA career, Dawkins played several seasons in Italy before taking several coaching positions and serving as an ambassador for the NBA. From 2009-11, he was the head coach of the men’s team at Lehigh Carbon Community College. Dawkins also gave his time to charity and community efforts, including the Autism Speaks campaign and the Special Olympics.

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Ronda Rousey celebrates her most recent Ultimate Fighting Championship win on Aug. 1, shortly after knocking out Bethe Correia in just over half a minute. Ricardo Moraes/Reuters/Landov hide caption

itoggle caption Ricardo Moraes/Reuters/Landov

Clock yourself the next time you tie your shoes. Chances are, in the time it took you to get those shoes laced up, Ronda Rousey would have knocked out her opponent in a typical mixed martial arts match.

Rousey, the reigning women’s bantamweight champion in the sport, has held the title since the women’s Ultimate Fighting Championship was established in 2012 — more or less to showcase her talent. The most lethal of those talents is the arm bar, a move that she brought over from her days as an Olympian in judo. Today, she continues to use it to her advantage, often taking down fighters in seconds.

Known also for her ice cold stare, Rousey’s used to getting booed by the crowd for her trash talk — and loves it, too. Yet Rousey needed speech therapy when she was a child.

“I had a lot of trouble speaking as a kid. I didn’t really speak in coherent sentences until I was like 6 years old,” she tells NPR’s Audie Cornish. Diagnosed with apraxia when she was young, she fell behind in relation to other kids her age. “There was a long time where everybody was very worried, because my sisters were so advanced for their age and I would barely talk.”

Even later, she struggled for years to overcome her shyness.

“I was painfully shy for a long time,” she says. “I mean, that’s something I really had to work my way out of. And I really think it was because, after the 2008 Olympics, I spent a whole year bartending. It was the one thing that really forced me to be just not so scared to start conversations with strangers.”

These days, it’s her outspokenness and her fearsome reputation that have been nabbing headlines — and screen time. She has appeared in movies like the last of the Fast and Furious franchise and The Expendables 3, in which she was the only female action star on the bill full of men.

Still, though, in the octagon she’s never just another name on the card. In fact, she’s one of the most dominant athletes alive.

To hear their full conversation, click the audio link above.

Ronda Rousey (right), mid-fight with Bethe Correia. This bout didn’t last much longer after the photo was taken. It didn’t last very long, period. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

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Interview Highlights

On the fine art of trash-talking

I always thought I was really bad at it, because I could barely hang in there with my sisters and my mom. But then, when I got away from the Olympics, over to professional sports, where I was into entertainment and getting people involved, that’s when I really got to find a new means of expression of, like, I get to create this superhero character version of myself.

I don’t have to think about, “Oh my God, I might be misrepresenting my country in doing so,” because it wasn’t about representing my country anymore. It was about building myself as an individual.

On the pre-fight comments about Rousey’s family from opponent Bethe Correia, whom Rousey eventually defeated in 34 seconds

Well, I’m used to opponents trying to say as many mean things as possible as they can about me. But when it gets to the part where they’re saying things that are hurtful to my family, that’s when it gets to a point where I feel like I have to make an example out of that person — so people know where the lines are, and where to not cross them. And I don’t think anyone’s going to be crossing that line ever again after that last fight. …

The lines are there. I mean, they’re a little bit more flexible than, you know, any other workspace environment. But they’re still there and they still need to be respected.

On her long-running war of words with Floyd Mayweather, her remarks about his history of domestic violence — and whether she’d ever step into the ring for a fight with him

I don’t think it’s my duty or anything like that, I don’t think I have to do anything, but I’m in a position where I can say something. If I feel like somebody insults me, I don’t have to sit there and bow my head and be a good little girl and just take it. I can say something back. And it’s actually encouraging that he’s in the kind of situation where he feels like he has to respond to me. …

Honestly, I don’t even think that any kind of coed fight would be good for the sport at all. … Because I don’t think there should ever be a situation where everyone gathers around an arena to see a man hit a woman.

On the first time she recalls seeing an MMA fight

I saw Gina Carano fight Julie Kedzie on Showtime, and I thought it was just the most amazing thing — not just seeing how great they were fighting each other, and how great of a fight it was, but seeing the reaction of all the men I was watching that fight with. And where they would speak vulgarly about the ring girls that whole night, when the girl fighters came on, they spoke about them with awe and respect. And I envied them [Carano and Kedzie] in a lot of ways, because I trained with a lot of these guys and the kind of reverence they were giving these girls was something that I never received from them.

On the female fan base for mixed martial arts

Actually, MMA has a — pretty even when it comes to the fan base. I think it’s like 60-40 [percent] men/women. It’s much more even than people would think.

And I think one reason why women are so drawn to fighting is because it’s an instinct that everyone has. It’s not an instinct to hit a ball with a bat or to put a ball in a hoop or to kick a ball between two posts. But it is an instinct in every single human being to fight, and everyone has that thought in their mind of what would I do if I was in there? And it’s not something that we’re taught; it’s something that we have in us. It’s not a man or woman thing; it’s a human thing.

On the physical toll the sport takes on her

I’m actually a lot more healed now, doing MMA, than I was doing judo. In judo, I was on the verge of having to quit, because my joints, my knees, everything was so worn out. … It’s actually a lot more internally damaging.

Everyone thinks [MMA is] a lot worse than it is, because you’ll get a little cut here or there and it’ll bleed, it’ll look bad, but it’s not nearly as bad as, say, boxing when someone’s taking 12 rounds of punishment to the head, or judo, where someone’s face-planting and they could break their neck or something like that. As long as I keep walking out of the cage without a single bruise on me, I’ll be able to fight a lot longer. …

I say all the time, it’s the pretty fighters you gotta look out for, because they’re the ones that get hit the least.

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