THE MORNING LOOP: 07.20.11

Yao Ming retires x Taliban leader not dead x Brangelina's kids eat crickets

Yao Ming, the 7' 6" NBA center from China formally ended his basketball career, announcing his retirement at a news conference. Perhaps he saw that there might not be any more NBA seasons to speak of and decided to cut his losses and start collecting his pension now.

Rumors of Taliban leader Mullah Omar's death have been exaggerated, according to Taliban spokesmen. Apparently someone hacked into their cellphones and computers and began sending texts saying the one-eyed Omar had been killed. The Taliban leader, who currently has a $10 million bounty on his head, was Afghanistan's leader in the '90s when he set a law that banned girls from going to school.

We may not know if Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are finally getting married, or if they're already married, but we do know what they like to feed their kids: crickets. According to Jolie, her kids eat the insects "like Doritos." They ate so many she had to stop them for fear of getting sick.

Comic-Con aka "nerd prom" -- or is it "nerd porn," or is it "comic porn," or is it "comic porn at a nerd prom"? -- starts tomorrow in San Diego, and every fanboy's palms are sweaty -- pause -- about the new "The Amazing Spider-Man" movie coming out that will be teased at the comic book convention.

The United Nations has declared a famine emergency in the Horn of Africa nation of Somalia, though the parts of the country suffering the worst are under seige by militants. According to Oxfam, $1 billion is needed to avoid mass deaths and right now the U.S. and countries throughout Europe have managed to pony up a little less than half of that.

ESPN is following reporting from TMZ that 75 ex-NFL players are suing the League over concussions. According to the lawsuit, the former players are saying that the League knew of the harmful impacts of concussions but kept this information from the athletes for decades. This suit comes as the NFL comes closer to an end to the lockout.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Taliban leader Mullah Omar might not be dead, but he has his eye on you.

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Following gay marriage state law trends, the call for the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) to be repealed grows louder.