St. Thomas athletic director Phil Esten announced the decision to discontinue the men’s and women’s varsity tennis programs Tuesday.

The athletic department said its decision is due to the lack of tennis facilities and resources necessary for funding. Varsity tennis will be the only varsity sport cut in the move from Division III to Division I.

The decision comes during a period of success for the women’s tennis team as the team claimed its first MIAC regular-season championship in 30 years on Saturday.

Violence continues to escalate in the Middle East. The Palestinian militant group Hamas has confirmed that its Gaza City Commander was killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes earlier today.

Commander Bassem Issa was the highest-ranking military figure in Hamas to be killed since 2014.

Israel’s internal security agency says a series of airstrikes killed several other senior Hamas militants, including the head of rocket development and cyber warfare, the head of rocket production and the hamas engineering chief.

House republicans ousted Liz Cheney from her post as the chamber’s No. 3 GOP leader for her continued criticism of former President Trump’s false claims of election fraud and his role in inciting the Jan. 6 capitol attack.

Lawmakers used a voice vote Wednesday to remove the Wyoming congresswoman in less than 20 minutes from her leadership post.

Cheney was congress’ highest-ranking republican woman, and her removal marks a shocking turn in her fast rise within the party.

Hallie Doce can be reached at hallie.doce@stthomas.edu