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The Power Within: The Kyiv Independent's first-ever magazine. Be among the first to get it.
Ukrainian forces have liberated approximately 16 square kilometers of territory near Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast in recent weeks, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi said on April 17.
There has been a notable slowdown in Russia's offensive operations after months of steady territorial gains across eastern Ukraine. According to battlefield monitoring group DeepState, Russian troops have captured just 133 square kilometers in March, the lowest monthly total since June 2024.
The recently recaptured territory by Ukrainian troops includes areas near the settlements of Udachne, Kotlyne, and Shevchenko, according to Syrskyi. He made the announcement after a three-day visit to the Operational-Tactical Group Donetsk, which he described as the strongest formation within the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"Over the course of three days, I visited almost all brigades of this most powerful grouping of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, which bears the brunt of the enemy's spring offensive and destroys its best forces and means," Syrskyi said.
According to Syrskyi, Ukrainian forces are halting around 30 Russian assaults daily in the Pokrovsk sector in Donetsk Oblast, inflicting significant losses on Russian troops.
During his visit, Syrskyi met with commanders at front-line command posts and reviewed operational plans with Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of the operational-tactical group. He said that on-site problems related to logistics, ammunition supply, and combat organization were being addressed.
Despite continued Russian efforts to push Ukrainian troops out of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and reach the administrative borders of these regions, Syrskyi said those objectives remain unfulfilled.
"We continue our defensive operation, carry out counteroffensive actions, and are achieving certain successes," Syrskyi said.
As of late 2024, Russian forces controlled around 60% of Donetsk Oblast and approximately 98.5% of Luhansk Oblast.
Moscow does not fully control any of the four Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson – that it illegally claimed to annex in 2022. According to media reports, including from The Moscow Times, Russia is seeking full control over these regions in the negotiations on ending the war with the United States, which started in March 2025.
Officials became ‘suspicious' of pair after learning they had not booked accommodation for entire stay
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Two German teenagers were allegedly strip searched and deported over a badly-planned trip to Hawaii.
Charlotte Pohl, 19, and Maria Lepère, 18, arrived in Honolulu with plans to explore the island for five weeks after graduating high school.
Instead, the pair say they were interrogated for hours upon their arrival before border agents denied them entry and turned them around, according to German newspaper Ostsee Zeitung.
“It was all like a fever dream,” Ms Lepère said. “We had already noticed a little bit of what was going on in the US. But at the time, we didn't think it was happening to Germans. That was perhaps very naive. We felt so small and powerless.”
Officials are said to have become suspicious of the teenagers after learning they had not booked accommodation for their entire five-week stay in Hawaii.
The pair said they were pulled aside and allegedly subjected to body scans and strip searches before being handcuffed and given green prison uniforms.
On March 19, a day after arriving, they were taken back to Honolulu International Airport in handcuffs, where they requested to be sent to Tokyo, Japan.
Three days after their arrest, they returned home to Rostock, Germany, according to Ostsee Zeitung.
“They found it suspicious that we hadn't fully booked our accommodation for the entire five weeks in Hawaii,” Ms Pohl said.
“We wanted to travel spontaneously. Just like we had done in Thailand and New Zealand.”
The German Foreign Office told the outlet it was involved in the pair's case and provided consular support following their experience.
Around the same time as the teenager's detention, Germany updated its travel advisory for the United States to emphasise that a visa or entry waiver does not guarantee entry for its citizens.
Since taking office, Donald Trump has announced a string of immigration-related executive orders that focus on stricter border policy, tighter visa vetting procedures and a crackdown on undocumented migrants in the United States.
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Pope Francis' death has garnered worldwide attention and a showering of support as admirers, both religious and not, reflect on his legacy. From Trump to the president of Italy, hear what world leaders are saying in the wake of the 88-year-old pontiff's passing.
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White House tradition bankrolled by tech bosses for first time, with sponsorship packages ranging from $75,000 to $200,000
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Donald and Melania Trump hosted the first White House Easter egg roll funded by corporate sponsors on Monday.
The event, a White House tradition, was bankrolled by tech bosses including Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.
The sponsorship packages ranged from $75,000 to $200,000 with the most expensive including tickets to a brunch with Mrs Trump and a choice of a meet and greet or a tour of the White House, according to CBS.
The event was attended by Mr Trump's family and top team. Elon Musk, the Tesla boss and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) was pictured at the event with a little girl, thought to be his daughter.
Karoline Leavitt, 27, Mr Trump's press secretary, made a rare appearance off the clock – alongside her husband Nicholas Riccio, 60, and their baby son Nicco.
Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defence, was also there, just hours after the New York Times reported he had again shared sensitive information into a Signal group chat, this time with his wife, former Fox News producer, and his brother.
Speaking at the egg roll, Mr Trump insisted the beleaguered defence chief has the full support of the White House.
He criticised the “fake news media” over its reporting of the second Signal leak and responded: “ask the Houthis”, when asked if Mr Hegseth was doing a good job in his role, amid rumours he could be forced to quit.
Later in the event, Mr Trump scolded a reporter for again asking if Mr Hegseth was doing a good job.
“Why do you even ask a question like that?” Mr Trump asked, then added: “The spirit in the armed forces is fantastic. Great confidence.”
Asked if he was comfortable with Mr Hegseth using Signal, he said: “Are you bringing up Signal again? I thought they gave that up two weeks ago. It's all, uh, it's the same old stuff … that's an old one. Try finding something new.”
Mr Hegseth told reporters at the event: “[The media] take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations. Not going to work with me.”
“I have spoken to the president, and we are going to continue fighting, on the same page all the way,” he added.
Also in attendance was Kash Patel, the FBI director, Stephen Miller, the deputy White House chief of staff for policy, and Doug Burgum, the interior secretary.
Mike Waltz, the National Security adviser, posted a photo on X alongside his wife Julia Nesheiwat, a former homeland security adviser, his son Armie, Mr Trump's chief of staff Susie Wiles and another woman. He wrote: “White House Easter Egg Roll with the Chief!”
Taking to the White House's Blue Room balcony with Mrs Trump and a large Easter bunny, Mr Trump told the crowds: “Happy Easter and enjoy your lives.”
“We're bringing religion back in America. We're bringing a lot of things back, but religion is coming back to America. That's why you see the kind of numbers that you see, the spirit and the kind of numbers that you see,” he said.
Promising children in attendance they would have “a lot of fun,” Mr Trump added: “We're going to have a great four years.” Mr Trump thanked the National Park Service for “making everything so beautiful and spiffy,” and the first lady for organising the egg roll.
“Easter is special and it's one of our favourite days,” he said.
The president also took the opportunity to praise the US military and said he had signed an executive order to fly federal and state flags at half mast, in honour of Pope Francis's death on Monday. When asked by a reporter if he agreed with the late pope's message of tolerance on migrants, he responded: “Yeah I do.”
Describing Pope Francis as “a very good man who loved the world,” he said: “He especially loved people that were having a hard time, and that's good with me.”
Later on in the day, the president joined a table of youngsters and helped with some colouring in. Footage showed Mr Trump, who has 10 grandchildren, chatting enthusiastically with the children and idly colouring in a worksheet with red and yellow crayons.
Mrs Trump accompanied some of the children to hopscotch, and later read aloud from the book Bunny with a Big Heart.
More than 100 guests gathered for the reading.
“Happy Easter! What a beautiful crowd!” Mrs Trump told the crowd, later quizzing some of the children on what they had learnt.
“Yes, we need to make friends and take care of them as well,” she told one of the audience members, adding: “Kindness, yes.”
“I hope to see you next year,” she said.
The event was forecast to be attended by as many as 40,000 guests. As well as the egg roll, egg hunt, hopscotch and story time activities, children were able to dress up as Founding Fathers and sign a mini Declaration of Independence.
The American Egg Board, which until this year had been the sole sponsor of the spring tradition donated 30,000 hand-dyed eggs for the event.
Emily Metz, the chief executive and president of the Egg Board, said the eggs were small and medium, sizes not typically sold by retailers, to avoid contributing to even higher prices amid an on-going egg shortage crisis in the United States, driving up prices.
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Footage of apes consuming fermented breadfruit leads researchers to ask if it may shed light on origins of human feasting
Humans have gathered to feast and enjoy a tipple together for thousands of years, but research suggests chimpanzees may also bond over a boozy treat.
Wild chimpanzees in west Africa have been observed sharing fruit containing alcohol – not in quantities to get roaring drunk but, possibly, enough for a fuzzy beer buzz feeling.
The researchers, led by scientists from the University of Exeter in the UK, caught chimpanzees on film sharing fermented African breadfruit in Guinea-Bissau's Cantanhez national park.
“For humans, we know that drinking alcohol leads to a release of dopamine and endorphins, and resulting feelings of happiness and relaxation,” said Anna Bowland, from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at Exeter's Penryn campus in Cornwall.
“We also know that sharing alcohol, including through traditions such as feasting, helps to form and strengthen social bonds.
“Now we know that wild chimpanzees are eating and sharing ethanolic fruits, the question is: could they be getting similar benefits?”
Using motion-activated cameras, the researchers filmed chimpanzees sharing the large, dense and fibrous fermented fruit on 10 occasions. The fruit shared was tested for alcohol content. The highest level found was the equivalent of 0.61% alcohol by volume (ABV).
“Chimps don't share food all the time, so this behaviour with fermented fruit might be important,” said Kimberley Hockings, also from the University of Exeter.
Though the alcohol level is relatively low, the chimpanzees ate a lot of fruit every day so might ingest a fair quantity of alcohol, she said. “They can feed on kilograms of the stuff every day. It's probably analogous to us sipping on a light beer.”
Hockings and her colleagues published a paper in 2015 describing how chimpanzees in west Africa stole and consumed palm sap alcohol created by humans. Some of them appeared to become troublesome, causing mischief such as not letting others build their night nests.
The researchers behind the latest study, however, said chimpanzees were unlikely to get “drunk” on the breadfruit because it would not improve their survival chances.
The sharing seemed to take place between all ages and sexes. Two adult females, nicknamed Chip and Até, were seen ignoring a larger hunk of breadfruit in favour of a smaller but fermented piece.
Two adult males, Mandjambé and Gary, were observed approaching ripe breadfruit with aggressive stances. Mandjambé claimed a piece and began to feed, while another adult male, Bobby, kept Gary at bay. They all had a taste of the ripe breadfruit in the vicinity in the end.
The paper, which appears in the journal Current Biology with the title “Wild chimpanzees share fermented fruits”, asks the question: “Do the origins of feasting behaviour derive from a shared common ancestor?”
Hockings said: “We need to find out more about whether the chimpanzees deliberately seek out ethanolic fruits and how they metabolise it, but this behaviour could be the early evolutionary stages of feasting. If so, it suggests the human tradition of feasting may have its origins deep in our evolutionary history.”
She said the number of observations was small but they could lead to “an explosion” of research into the topic.
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Kenya's Sharon Lokedi won a thrilling battle over compatriot and two-time defending champion Hellen Obiri at the Boston Marathon, smashing the course record in the process.
Lokedi surged away from her rival in the closing stages and crossed the line in 2:17:22 – more than two and a half minutes faster than Buzunesh Deba's previous record from 2014.
It was Lokedi's second major marathon victory having triumphed in New York in 2022, while also avenging her runner-up finish to Obiri at last year's race.
“I'm always second to her and today I was like: There's no way,” the 31-year-old said. “I just have to put it out there and fight till the end and see how it goes. I'm so glad I ran that fast and she was right behind me. We all fought and wanted this so bad.”
Ethiopia's Yalemzerf Yehualaw was third in 2:18:06, still well inside the old course record.
The lead group set off at a blistering pace, passing through the halfway mark in 1:08:46. The race started to thin out in the hilly latter stages, eventually leaving only Lokedi and Obiri to battle for the victory.
“We went through halfway in 68 minutes and I thought: That's so fast! We hadn't got to the hills yet,” said Lokedi. “We just kept the pace honest, but I was worried we were going too fast.”
In the men's race, Kenyan John Korir pulled clear from the lead pack around mile 20 to take a commanding victory in a time of 2:04:45.
Tanzania's Alphonce Simbu outsprinted Kenya's Cyprian Kotut to finish second, crossing the line 19 seconds behind Korir, while American Conner Mantz narrowly missed out on a podium place in fourth.
The 28-year-old Korir follows in the footsteps of his brother Wesley, who took the title in Boston 13 years ago. The pair embraced at the finish line as they celebrated becoming the first siblings ever to win the race.
“I expected him there (at the finish line). I had promised him that I am going to win and I made it,” Korir told ESPN, adding: “Today I will make jokes with him because I am the fastest in the family. He had a title for Boston in the family but now I've got it.”
The reigning Chicago Marathon champion had to overcome a difficult start in Boston when he fell in the first 50 meters and lost his race number from the front of his singlet. However, he soon managed to pick himself up and catch up with the lead runners.
The stumble didn't seem to faze Korir during the race as he built a big lead over the field in the last six miles, not long after defending champion Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia had pulled out.
In the wheelchair races, Switzerland's seven-time Paralympic champion Marcel Hug won his eighth title in Boston, while USA's Susannah Scaroni claimed her second having also triumphed in 2023.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
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When the newly elected Pope Francis returned to the front desk of his hotel in Rome to personally settle his bill a day after being introduced to cheering crowds in St. Peter's Square in 2013, it was a first glimpse into the modesty that would come to define his papacy.
But for one real estate developer turned reality television star observing developments from his penthouse in Manhattan, it was a sign of something else.
“I don't like seeing the Pope standing at the checkout counter (front desk) of a hotel in order to pay his bill,” Donald Trump, still years from mounting his first presidential bid, wrote on Twitter. “It's not Pope-like!”
There was little in common between now-President Trump and Pope Francis, who died Monday at 88. The two men sparred from afar on issues of immigration and the environment, adopted divergent approaches to the sumptuous trappings of their respective offices, and lived vastly different kinds of lives.
“That's why I'll never be Pope!” Trump responded to a commenter on his post in 2013, who observed “the difference between the Pope and you is the Pope doesn't have to constantly brag how great he is.”
Yet for all the obvious differences, there was some overlap in how Francis and Trump arrived at their positions, and how they viewed their roles.
Each was elected as an outsider and brought to their office a pledge to represent society's forgotten: for Trump, the American workers who he said Washington passed over in an era of globalization; and for Francis, the poor and marginalized often left to the side of a fast-changing world.
Both also sought dramatic changes to the institutions they ran: the sprawling federal government for Trump, and the billion-person strong Catholic Church for Francis.
“He's a very good man who loved the world. And he especially loved people that were having a hard time. And that's good with me,” Trump said Monday after ordering flags on federal buildings lowered to half staff.
Trump sent his love to American Catholics before quickly turning his remarks toward his strength among Catholic voters.
“We love you all, we're with you all. They were with me through the election, as you know, very strongly,” Trump said at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. “It's just an honor to have the support of the Catholics. I feel very badly for them because they love the pope.”
When they met during Trump's first term at the Vatican in 2017 — their only face-to-face encounter — Trump and Francis had already been tangling on the issue of immigration after Francis declared anyone who builds a wall to keep out migrants was “not a Christian.” Trump had spent the 2016 presidential campaign vowing to construct a wall along the Southern US border to keep migrants out.
Those differences were put aside during Trump's visit, where he was accompanied by his wife Melania, who wore a traditional black veil. Both leaders appeared determined not to let their dispute spoil the encounter.
And like most presidents before him, Trump emerged from his meeting with the pope appearing starstruck.
“He is something, he's really good. We had a fantastic meeting and we had a fantastic tour, it was really beautiful,” Trump said.
Trump and the first lady had arrived to the Vatican about a half-hour earlier, his long motorcade and armored black SUV a stark contrast to the blue Ford Focus that Francis himself had arrived in to work that day.
The meeting was not entirely devoid of politics. The pope presented Trump a copy of his influential encyclical document on preserving the environment, which was interpreted as an attempt by Francis to encourage Trump to adopt stronger efforts at combatting climate change. (It didn't appear effective; Trump withdrew from the Paris climate accord a few weeks later).
Like many world leaders who watch Trump from afar, Francis found Trump easier to talk to than his harsh language on the campaign trail might have suggested.
He lightened the mood when shaking Melania Trump's hand, asking her in Italian, “Did you give him potica to eat?” — referring to the Slovenian dessert few could imagine the glamorous former model whipping up in the White House kitchen.
Francis also handed Trump a medallion etched with the image of an olive tree, which he explained was “a symbol of peace.”
“We can use peace,” Trump responded. As they parted ways, Trump told him: “I won't forget what you said.”
The three US presidents who met Francis all found themselves moved by the experience in different ways. President Barack Obama took the rare step of traveling to Joint Base Andrews to greet Francis at the start of the pope's blockbuster visit to the United States in 2015.
Later, the pope led a short parade in his open-air popemobile around the South Lawn, which was crowded with thousands who had come to witness a rare papal visit to the White House, some carrying babies for the pope to kiss.
The cultural moment couldn't be denied several months later on Halloween, when the child of an administration official arrived to the annual White House trick-or-treating event dressed as the pontiff, complete with a tiny white car.
It was on that visit that Francis met privately with members of then-Vice President Joe Biden's family in the immediate aftermath of his son Beau Biden's death from cancer. Counseling the Biden's inside an airplane hanger at the Philadelphia International Airport, Francis “provided us with more comfort that even he, I think, will understand,” Biden would later recount.
After he became president, Biden traveled to Rome amid a raging debate inside the US Catholic Church over whether he and other politicians who support abortion rights should receive communion. Afterward, Biden said Francis called him a “good Catholic” and that he should continue receiving the sacrament.
Last year, as he was preparing to depart office under a cloud of disappointment following his exit from the 2024 race and his vice president's loss to Trump, Biden had planned to visit Rome again to meet Francis. The trip was canceled amid wildfires in Los Angeles, but in his final days as president Biden awarded Francis the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Trump and Francis would never meet again after their 2017 encounter. After Trump was elected to a second term, Francis took harsh aim at his administration's plans for mass deportations, warning such a step would deprive migrants of their inherent dignity and “will end badly.”
It was a remarkable rebuke, issued in a letter to US bishops. It appeared to take aim at Vice President JD Vance for his defense of deportations on theological grounds.
“Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups,” the pope wrote, responding to Vance's assertion that people should take care of their family, communities and country before expanding care to others.
In some ways, the rupture appeared to reflect a growing rift between traditionalist American Catholics and the Vatican under Francis, which had sought to be more inclusive of same-sex couples, women and other groups.
Still, the discord did not appear to seep into Vance's meeting with Francis on Easter Sunday, just a day before he died. Vance appears to have been the last world leader Francis met before his death. He sat briefly with the pope in a reception room at the Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican guesthouse where he has lived since his election in 2013.
Vance, who has called himself a “baby Catholic” after converting to the faith as an adult, was on Vatican grounds on Sunday for less than 20 minutes, and the meeting hadn't been confirmed ahead of time. During their short session, the pope gifted the vice president a tie, rosaries and three big chocolate Easter eggs for Vance's three children.
“I pray for you every day,” Vance could be heard telling the Pontiff as they sat together at the Vatican.
This story has been updated with Trump's remarks on Monday.
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Shooter Patrick Crusius was sentenced to life in prison without parole for 2019 massacre near US-Mexico border
The gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas – one of the deadliest mass shootings in US history – pleaded guilty on Monday to capital murder in a state district court.
Patrick Crusius was automatically sentenced to life in prison without parole for the massacre near the US-Mexico border. The change of plea comes after local prosecutors took the death penalty off the table.
The people who were killed ranged in age from a 15-year-old high school athlete to elderly grandparents. They included immigrants, a retired city bus driver, a teacher, tradesmen including a former iron worker, and several Mexican nationals who had crossed the US border on routine shopping trips.
Crusius has acknowledged he targeted Hispanics on 3 August 2019, when he opened fire in a Walmart in the Texas border city that was crowded with weekend shoppers from the US and Mexico.
The El Paso county district attorney, James Montoya, declined to pursue the death penalty. Montoya says that decision was driven by a majority of victims' relatives who want the case to be over.
Crusius has already been sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms at the federal level after pleading guilty to hate crimes and weapons charges.
Crusius was expressionless before the hearing began at the El Paso county courthouse, which was under heightened security. Crusius wore a striped jumpsuit, shackles and a protective vest.
About 100 people from victims' families were seated in the gallery behind a few rows reserved for media, prosecutors and Crusius's defense team.
If the plea arrangement proceeds, families will be able to give victim impact statements. Dozens of people made emotional statements during a similar hearing in federal court in 2023 that lasted for three days.
Crusius, a white community-college dropout, was 21 years old when police say he drove more than 700 miles (1,100km ) to El Paso from his home near Dallas.
Not long after posting a racist rant online that warned of a Hispanic “invasion”, he opened fire with an AK-style rifle inside and outside the store. Crusius was arrested shortly after.
Joe Spencer, a defense attorney in the state and federal cases, said Crusius had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder that can be marked by hallucinations, delusions and mood swings, and has suffered from debilitating mental illness for most of his life.
Armed thieves broke into reality TV star's flat in France in 2016, making off with possessions worth millions of euros
A group of pensioners nicknamed the “grandpa robbers” will go on trial in Paris next week, charged with stealing jewellery worth millions of euros from the US TV reality star Kim Kardashian when she attended Paris fashion week in 2016.
In what was considered the biggest robbery of an individual in France in 20 years, Kardashian was tied up and held hostage at gunpoint in her bedroom in central Paris by armed thieves dressed as police officers in the early hours of 3 October 2016. The thieves escaped with up to an estimated €10m in jewellery.
At the time of the robbery, Kardashian was without security protection and sitting alone in her bedroom at an exclusive apartment building in central Paris, known as a “no address” site, where celebrities visiting Paris often rent sumptuous suites.
Her bodyguard had instead accompanied her sister, the fellow reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian, to a Paris nightclub after the sisters had spent the day at major Paris fashion shows being photographed.
Kardashian, 44, a billionaire celebrity influencer and business owner, later told the TV interviewer David Letterman she had feared she would be raped and murdered during the heist. She said of one of the burglars: “I saw him have a gun out for me, and I was like, OK, this is it. I kept on thinking about Kourtney, I kept on thinking she's going to come home and I'm going to be dead in the room and she's going to be traumatised for the rest of her life if she sees me … I thought that was my fate.”
At that time, Kardashian routinely posted most of her daily movements and whereabouts on social media, where she also displayed her jewellery, including a large 18.88-carat diamond engagement ring given to her by her then husband, the rapper Kanye West, which was estimated to be worth $4m. Those details on social media may have facilitated the thieves' targeting of her.
Kardashian later told a Forbes Power Women's Summit the thieves had followed her movements on social media. “They knew my every move and what I had.” She said it had changed her approach to what she posted.
Kardashian, who is now a criminal justice advocate in the US, will travel to give evidence at the Paris trial, which runs from 28 April to 23 May.
A group of five armed men, all aged over 60, are alleged to have arrived by bicycle or on foot and impersonated police officers to enter the building just after 2am.
After allegedly holding the concierge at gunpoint, they went to Kardashian's apartment, where one man pulled a gun on her. Kardashian told police that the man spoke in “a very strong French accent” in English, telling her to hand over her diamond engagement ring. She was held at gunpoint, her arms and feet were tied and her mouth was taped. The men then fled the room in less than 10 minutes taking the ring and other jewels.
Ten people will go on trial in Paris in connection with the heist, on charges including armed robbery, membership of a criminal gang, and kidnapping – which refers to Kardashian being held hostage at gunpoint. Eight deny any involvement.
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One of the accused, Yunice Abbas, now 71, has admitted his part in the heist saying he was part of the group who entered the building and he stood guard downstairs. He told TF1 TV in France on Sunday: “We were all grandads.” He said he had previously served 20 years in prison for robbery, had been out of prison for 10 years and was struggling to make ends meet. “I had a proposal for a big job, which would be my last … They told me there was a 20-carat diamond that wasn't protected … That was tempting.”
He said that, at the time, he had not known who they were robbing. “I was told it was the wife of a rapper. I didn't ask questions.”
He said: “I see her as a victim; we had nothing against her personally.”
Aomar Ait Khedache, known as “Old Omar”, 68, has also admitted participating in the heist but denies the prosecution's accusation that he was the ringleader.
Of the 12 people originally charged over the robbery, only 10 will be present at the trial after one suspect died and another – Pierre Bouianere, 80 – was declared unable to participate in proceedings for health reasons. He will be tried separately.
Most of the jewels were never recovered. At least one item was dropped by the thieves while escaping – a diamond-encrusted cross worth €30,000, which was found by a passerby as she went to work the next morning and handed to police.
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The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear arguments in a case against the US Postal Service filed by a Texas woman who claims her carrier declined to deliver the mail to her rental properties because she is Black.
Lebene Konan, a realtor and licensed insurance agent, alleged that the post office that covers two rental properties she owns in suburban Dallas changed the lock on her post office box and then declined to deliver the mail to the property for two to three months.
Konan claimed that happened because the carrier and postmaster did not “like the idea that a Black person” owned them.
A 1946 law generally allows people to sue the federal government for damages if employees cause injury or property loss through their negligence. But the law includes a number of exceptions, including for any claim raising from the “loss, miscarriage, or negligent transmission of letters or postal matter.” The question for the high court, then, is whether the exception applies to Konan's situation.
A federal district court in Texas granted the government's request to dismiss the case, because of the exception. But the New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision, allowing the lawsuit to proceed. The Biden administration appealed the decision to the Supreme Court in September, and the Trump administration has continued to defend against the suit.
In the fiscal year that ended in 2023, the US Postal Service delivered more than 116 billion pieces of mail to more than 166 million delivery points across the nation, the government noted. If courts embraced Konan's position, the government said, it could open the USPS up to a flood of lawsuits.
“Under the logic of the Fifth Circuit's decision, any person whose mail is lost or misdelivered could bring a federal tort suit – and potentially proceed to burdensome discovery – so long as she alleges that a USPS employee acted intentionally,” the government told the high court in its appeal.
The Supreme Court is likely to hear arguments in the fall and hand down a decision next year.
Also Monday, the court also declined to review an appeals court ruling that found Minnesota's ban on people under 21 carrying handguns violated the Second Amendment.
The decision means that ban will remain blocked.
A three-judge panel of the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals said in a unanimous decision that the 2003 law runs afoul of both the Second Amendment and the 14th Amendment, holding that the state could not lawfully prohibit individuals between the ages of 18 and 20 from obtaining a public carry permit simply because they are not yet 21.
Minnesota appealed that decision in January, arguing that the appeals court failed to take into account a new Supreme Court decision from last year that softened the historical standard courts must consider when weighing whether gun regulations are constitutional.
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More than 30 states and the District of Columbia have similar regulations. Another appeals court, the 5th Circuit, ruled earlier this year that a law banning the sale of handguns to 18- to 20-year-olds is also unconstitutional.
The question of how far governments may go in regulating guns for those under 21 has been caught up in a broader debate about history that was created by a landmark 2022 decision from the Supreme Court that made it easier for Americans to carry guns in public. That decision required courts to find analogous gun regulations in history before ruling they were consistent with the Second Amendment.
In the case of Minnesota's law, the 8th Circuit ruled that there was no adequate historical analogue to the state's ban.
But a subsequent Supreme Court decision last year appeared to alter the analysis lower courts must make when weighing the constitutionality of gun laws.
In that case, the Supreme Court upheld a federal law that bars people who are the subject of domestic violence restraining orders from owning guns. A majority of justices said courts need not find the exact same regulation in the historical record but rather whether the new law is “relevantly similar” to laws that “our tradition is understood to permit.”
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Disability rights advocates are filing lawsuits as students, teachers and parents organize to protect education.
Disability rights advocates are filing lawsuits as students, teachers and parents organize to protect education.
If the Trump administration and the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) have their way, the basic educational and human rights of students with disabilities will soon be eviscerated. Due to the planned demolition of the Department of Education, the rights of students with disabilities to “a free, appropriate public education” — guaranteed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) — are under fire.
For nearly 50 years, the Department of Education (DOE) has been responsible for distributing funds — $14.2 billion in fiscal year 2025 — to state and local school districts to enable them to educate students with a range of disabilities. Among other things, this money goes toward training teachers, service providers, and other staff in best practices for both special and general education classrooms. It also goes toward coordinating research and record keeping; providing technical assistance; and doing outreach to parents and caregivers to make sure they know their rights. The Trump administration is attacking all of these functions with its plan to dismantle the Department of Education.
Moreover, the 12 regional sites of DOE's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) are also being threatened with closure (seven have already been shuttered). These offices have worked to investigate allegations of discrimination or abuse made by students and their families, including the still-common practice of isolating or restraining students in special ed programs. In fiscal year 2024, OCR received 22,687 complaints, all of which were meant to be investigated.
This oversight function apparently rankles the right wing, and groups like the Heritage Foundation claim OCR's work is an unnecessary expansion of “special rights.” In fact, 17 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and West Virginia) are currently suing the U.S. government, asking that it declare Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 unconstitutional.
Section 504 prohibits institutions that receive federal funds from discriminating against or excluding people with disabilities from programs or services. Then there's IDEA, which is also squarely in the right's crosshairs, since it guarantees every child access to public schooling.
More than 7.5 million K-12th graders — 15 percent of all U.S. students — receive services through IDEA. Each has an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that guides their schooling and stipulates the services they are legally entitled to receive, among them one-on-one or small group tutoring; speech, occupational, or physical therapy; and/or mental health counseling. An additional 1.5 million kids who do not have, or need, an IEP get accommodations through Section 504. For example, students with diabetes may be given permission to eat in class despite a general rule against doing so.
Education advocates and disability justice activists see this as common sense — right-wingers do not. Their educational wish list, delineated in Project 2025, includes overhauling special ed — and not in students' favor. They also want to freeze OCR, move DOE functions to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and return the bulk of education authority to the states. Already, 1,300 OCR staff have been fired, and on March 20, Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the secretary of education to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure” of the DOE.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), has been a vocal critic of the plan since it was announced. “The DOE and the laws it is supposed to execute have one major purpose: to level the playing field and fill opportunity gaps to help every child in America succeed,” she told Truthout by email. “Trying to abolish it and its Office for Civil Rights sends a message that the president doesn't care about opportunity for all kids.” She calls granting authority to the states “a grave mistake” and pledges that the AFT will “fight them tooth and nail.”
So will many others. A letter to Congress, signed by 15 disability rights groups, made clear that removing federal oversight of critical civil rights laws like IDEA “leaves students vulnerable to the variation in state implementation and threatens to bring us back to a time when many students with disabilities were denied an education.”
Denise Marshall is CEO of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA), an organizational signatory of the letter. Marshall told Truthout that COPAA and the National Center for Youth Law have filed a federal lawsuit to restore OCR's investigative functions. (Another pending lawsuit, filed by the National Education Association, aims to stop the closure of the DOE and asks for the reinstatement of all fired staff.)
“OCR has investigated a lot of egregious situations for kids who've been restrained, isolated or forced out of school,” Marshall said. “This administration does not hide its hostility to people of color, people with gender identities that it doesn't like, and the disabled. In many cases, people who'd filed complaints with OCR have discovered that investigations have been halted. It's why we filed a lawsuit. OCR had been investigating cases and holding districts accountable.”
Marshall also talked about another potential loss should DOGE and Trump succeed in their efforts. “Congress has spent years working to align disability, education and civil rights laws to support the educational success of all students, but particularly students with disabilities,” she said. “The right seems to be of the mindset that protections like IDEA, Section 504, even the Americans with Disabilities Act, are too expensive and are unfair to everyone else. We loudly disagree.”
Soyoung Park, author of (Re)Imaging Inclusion for Children of Color With Disabilities and director of online programs in early childhood and childhood special education at the Bank Street College of Education, concurs. “The whole reason for IDEA and the Rehabilitation Act was to ensure inclusion and the maintenance of rights,” she told Truthout. “Putting educational functions into HHS perpetuates a medical model and may contribute to increasing the segregation and isolation of people with disabilities. To consider the education of children with a disability only a health issue, rather than an equity issue, is wrong.”
Furthermore, Park is concerned that a move to HHS will limit research and data gathering, especially when it comes to racial inequities. “We know that Black and Brown students in special education experience disproportionate punishments. Stopping the DOE from gathering statistics about this and stopping research to identify best practices will be detrimental to children and their families and teachers,” she said.
Stephanie Flynt McEben, public policy analyst at the National Disability Rights Network, agrees and told Truthout that, in addition, she is afraid that moving DOE to HHS will perpetuate low expectations for children with disabilities. Instead, she says that she and her organization favor a “social model” that “focuses on each individual and works to ensure that they can contribute and compete with their nondisabled peers.” She also fears that returning education to the states will mean vast disparities in what's offered. “Already half of the OCR staff have been laid off, so we're already seeing a backlog of complaints build up,” Flynt McEben said. “The reason DOE was created in the first place was because states could not do what was needed to support students with disabilities, and the government recognized that federal oversight was necessary.”
This potential lack of oversight terrifies parent William Fertman, whose 7-year-old son attends the California School for the Deaf (CSD), a state-funded program in Fremont. “Once the DOE is gone, there may be no one to oversee the disbursement of funds for a school like CSD,” he told Truthout. “Before DOGE and this administration, if we had complaints or concerns, we could go to the OCR to make sure the money was going to the appropriate places and services were being delivered. I see what's being done as incredibly disruptive and dangerous. I fear that it will allow states to pass legislation that violates or undermines IDEA, and there will be no one at the federal level to stop it from happening.”
As for his son, Fertman says that because the school uses American Sign Language for classroom instruction and also teaches students to read and write in English, his son “has full access to everything. He's not the Deaf kid with an interpreter, or the kid who gets pulled out of class a few times a week for services.”
Fertman then addressed the broader issues facing education. “If the right succeeds, the money that is supposed to come to California for special education services could be disrupted. Kids with all kinds of disabilities deserve equal access to schooling, but they could be thrown into the darkness and left there because there will be no money for the state to disburse.”
Heather Dailey, a parent of a son who has autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), has similar concerns. Her son is now in a mainstream 7th-grade class but meets in a small group with a tutor for five 30-minute sessions each week. Like Fertman, she is worried about money.
“There have always been funding difficulties for special education,” she told Truthout. “If the funding stream changes, federal cuts will mean less money coming in, and more competition for scarce resources. I worry that the idea that children with disabilities can't learn and are a waste of resources will again get traction and will impact how people look at the disabled. Hateful rhetoric can impact policy and the way IDEA is implemented and overseen.”
“We live in a country with high income inequality,” parent Jessica Hardin added. “My daughter is 4, in pre-K. She gets speech, occupational, physical and music therapies in school. These are services my husband and I could not pay for out of pocket. Government support makes it possible for my daughter to have some semblance of an independent child's life, but I'm living with the devastating fear that this could all go away. If it does, we don't know what we'll do.” Hardin said that her daughter, who does not speak or use the bathroom independently, has to be supervised at all times. “She can be a danger to herself,” she explains, “so we need extra support to maintain our careers and also take care of our 9-year-old son. My daughter is making slow, steady progress, but while she needs special care, she is also really sweet and funny.”
Parent Jennifer Bukowski feels similarly. Her son has autism and Type 1 diabetes and relies on a one-on-one mentor in his 8th-grade classroom. “My son would be lost without his paraprofessional,” she told Truthout. “My son gets distracted easily and needs to be redirected back to the subject. He's come a very long way, but he doesn't have friends and needs to learn social skills. People don't realize this about special ed. It's not just about academics. The behavioral part is as important as math, science, history and English. In the long run, if my son gets what he needs to be independent and find a job, he'll be contributing to the community. Shouldn't everyone want this for every person with a disability who is able to work?”
All agree that early intervention matters. Tricia, who asked that her surname not be used, is the mother of two neurodivergent children, a 19-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter. Now living in New Hampshire, she said that her son, who excelled in school despite clear signs that he was struggling socially, did not get diagnosed until late middle school, by which point he was experiencing severe anxiety and depression. “He went into such autistic burnout that my goal became keeping him alive,” she said. He is now attending Landmark College, a private program for students with learning disabilities, ADHD and autism. Tricia said that while he is now doing well, the late diagnosis complicated his progress. Her daughter's experience was different. “My daughter has a language-based learning disability that was discovered when she was 7. After getting her services at a specialized private school that the district paid for, she's done well socially and academically.”
Still, like other parents interviewed, Tricia is enraged by what's happening in Washington. “The Trump administration seems to want people to be less educated. Maybe he thinks that this will lead to less pushback. The administration also seems to want to shove disability into a closet again. They see the disability justice movement as ‘wokeness' and they want the power to extinguish it.”
Nonetheless, despite being heartened by the resistance she's seen – in the courts, in the streets and in public gatherings — Tricia, like many others across the country, remains scared about what the future holds for herself and her family.
We've borne witness to a chaotic first few months in Trump's presidency.
Over the last months, each executive order has delivered shock and bewilderment — a core part of a strategy to make the right-wing turn feel inevitable and overwhelming. But, as organizer Sandra Avalos implored us to remember in Truthout last November, “Together, we are more powerful than Trump.”
Indeed, the Trump administration is pushing through executive orders, but — as we've reported at Truthout — many are in legal limbo and face court challenges from unions and civil rights groups. Efforts to quash anti-racist teaching and DEI programs are stalled by education faculty, staff, and students refusing to comply. And communities across the country are coming together to raise the alarm on ICE raids, inform neighbors of their civil rights, and protect each other in moving shows of solidarity.
It will be a long fight ahead. And as nonprofit movement media, Truthout plans to be there documenting and uplifting resistance.
As we undertake this life-sustaining work, we appeal for your support. We have 3 days left in our fundraiser: Please, if you find value in what we do, join our community of sustainers by making a monthly or one-time gift.
Eleanor J. Bader is a Brooklyn, New York-based freelance writer who focuses on domestic social issues and resistance movements. In addition to Truthout, she writes for The Progressive, Ms. Magazine, Lilith, The Indypendent, New Pages and other progressive blogs and print publications.
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on April 21 responded to a report that he shared plans for an attack in Yemen in a chat that included his wife and brother.
“What a big surprise that a few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax,” Hegseth told reporters at the White House in Washington.
“This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations. Not going to work with me. Because we're changing the Defense Department, putting the Pentagon back in the hands of warfighters, and anonymous smears from disgruntled former employees on old news don't matter. So I'm happy to be here at the Easter Egg Roll with my dad and my kids.”
Citing anonymous sources, The New York Times reported on Sunday that Hegseth in March shared details of forthcoming strikes in Yemen to a second Signal group. Hegseth's wife, Jennifer Hegseth, was in the chat, as were Hegseth's brother and Hegseth's lawyer, both of whom work for the Pentagon, according to the report.
The attack plans were said to be similar to those shared in a chat that included Cabinet members and whose existence was disclosed by the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic after administration officials said he was mistakenly added to the chat.
Parnell said that the NY Times was “enthusiastically taking the grievances of disgruntled former employees as the sole sources for their article” and that the paper “relied only on the words of people who were fired this week and appear to have a motive to sabotage the Secretary and the President's agenda.”
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement to news outlets: “No matter how many times the legacy media tries to resurrect the same non-story, they can't change the fact that no classified information was shared. Recently-fired ‘leakers' are continuing to misrepresent the truth to soothe their shattered egos and undermine the President's agenda, but the administration will continue to hold them accountable.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News that President Donald Trump “stands strongly behind Secretary Hegseth, who is doing a phenomenal job leading the Pentagon.”
Three Department of Defense officials who had been placed on leave as part of an investigation into unauthorized disclosures indicated on Friday that they were no longer with the Pentagon.
A Pentagon official told The Epoch Times in an email, “At this time, no final senior staffing changes have been decided, and the Secretary will make any future announcements on his own timetable.”
Some Democrats on Sunday called for Hegseth's resignation or termination after the report that a second Signal chat was published.
People attend the Auto Shanghai show in Shanghai, China, on April 19, 2021.ALY SONG/Reuters
More than 70 Chinese and international automotive brands will showcase more than 100 new or refreshed models at the Shanghai auto show this week, intensifying already cutthroat competition in the world's premier market for electric vehicles and hybrids.
Top-selling Chinese brands such as BYD and Geely are expected to take centre stage at the show from April 23 to May 2, while foreign automakers such as Volkswagen, Nissan, Toyota and General Motors' Cadillac brand will also jostle for attention.
As a years-long consumer price war in China drags on, next-generation automated-driving features have become the next front in the battle for vehicle sales and profits.
But automakers' plans to tout next-generation driver-assistance systems in Shanghai have been upended by a government crackdown on marketing claims using terms such as “smart” or “autonomous” to describe their technology after a fatal crash of Xiaomi SU7 in March.
The Chinese electric sport sedan struck a cement pole and caught fire, killing three people, shortly after the driver tried to take over from the car's assisted-driving system.
The launch of the SU7 shortly before last year's Beijing auto show created a sensation, and it has since sold more than 215,000 copies, outpacing Tesla's TSLA-Q Model 3 on a monthly basis since December.
The resulting government scrutiny has Chinese automakers such as BYD and Zeekr scrambling to revise their marketing presentations, veering away from boasts about automated-driving capabilities and instead emphasizing driver caution.
Driver-assistance systems have become a critical tool for automakers to differentiate themselves in China's crowded EV market.
BYD, the nation's leading EV-and-hybrid maker, supercharged the competition in developing such systems after announcing in February it would offer its “God's Eye” driver-assistance system as free standard equipment across its lineup, including in entry-level models costing as little as about $10,000.
BYD is following the same playbook with driver-assistance technology as it took with EVs – using its vast scale to drop the cost and pressure rivals, said Bo Yu, an analyst with auto industry research firm Jato Dynamics.
Many automakers “criticize BYD for the pricing war,” she said. “BYD is taking a similar strategy with God's Eye – making everyone else uncomfortable.”
China regulators in February also prohibited car makers from installing over-the-air software updates to driver-assistance software without government approval.
That prompted Tesla to halt a limited-time free trial of its “Full Self Driving” (FSD) software in China, which despite its name is not fully autonomous. Days later, it also dropped FSD from the name, calling it “intelligent assisted driving” instead.
Tech giant Huawei, which supplies automotive software and has launched eight models in partnership with Chinese car makers, on Tuesday launched a campaign urging caution when using its assisted-driving systems.
At a livestreamed event last week for Huawei and Chery's jointly developed Luxeed brand, popular Chinese American actress Liu Yifei, a celebrity endorser of the brand, said: “While the technology provides us with good assistance, we should also pay attention to driving safety.”
At the Shanghai auto show, Geely's Zeekr EV brand plans to launch its first model equipped with so-called Level 3 driver-assistance technology, meaning it can enable hands-off driving on highways and city streets but still requires drivers to watch the road.
But its press conferences will now focus instead on showcasing hybrid models and battery technology, Zeekr said.
Chinese regulators are also tightening EV-battery standards, aiming to reduce the risks of fires and explosions.
Regulatory challenges aside, China's “new energy vehicle” sector – including fully electric models and a wide variety of gasoline-electric hybrids – continues its historic sales surge.
Electrified vehicles now account for more than half of all new-car sales in China, a far higher share than in the United States, Europe and almost all other global markets, and marking the achievement of a goal Beijing originally set for 2030.
About a dozen new models to debut in Shanghai this week are electric crossovers priced to compete directly with Tesla's Model Y, potentially adding to the U.S. EV maker's mounting challenges in China and globally. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
Tesla has steadily lost market share in China, from a peak of 15 per cent in 2020 of the country's battery-electric vehicle market to 9 per cent in the first quarter and its annual sales declined globally for the first time last year.
Those declines accelerated in Europe and the United States in the first quarter amid widespread public backlash over CEO Elon Musk's polarizing politics as a top adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump.
Tesla has skipped China auto shows since 2021 after a protest by an unhappy customer at the site. The U.S. EV pioneer releases new models or redesigned models at a much slower pace than its Chinese competitors.
Many of the Model Y competitors to debut this week offer more advanced battery-charging, assisted driving and in-car entertainment for a lower sticker price, such as Xpeng's G6 and Zeekr's E6.
Xiaomi had been expected by some analysts to unveil its hotly anticipated YU7 crossover, deemed the biggest potential threat to the Model Y but it will instead only show its current SU7 and SU7 Ultra models at the show and has no plans to hold a news conference. It did not give a reason and did not respond to a request for comment.
Independent automotive analyst Lei Xing, who has followed the rise of China's auto industry for two decades, called those and other formidable new Chinese electric crossovers “Model Y killers.”
“It's a tsunami of pressure” on Tesla's best-selling model, he said. “It's not going to be just one vehicle that beats the Model Y – it's 12 or 13.”
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At least 11 state colleges enroll in program that trains officers for ‘limited' involvement in immigration operations
Fears of a new wave of deportations and student visa cancellations are rising at a number of Florida's most diverse universities after administrators signed agreements recasting campus police as federal immigration agents.
Miami's Florida International University (FIU) is one of at least 11 state colleges to enroll in the top tier of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) 287(g) program that trains local police departments for “limited” involvement in immigration operations.
The partnerships give campus officers broad new powers to stop, question and detain students about their immigration status, and share information directly with Ice, which students and faculty members believe could escalate the Trump administration's assault on those studying in the US from abroad.
Nationally, more than 1,400 international students and recent graduates perceived by the government to be pro-Palestinian have had their F-1 or J-1 visas canceled by the homeland security department, according to a tally by Inside Higher Ed, with the Miami New Times reporting dozens in Florida.
Additionally, a series of prominent arrests, detentions and deportations of students, alumni and scholars have sparked outrage and protests on campuses nationwide. They include Mahmoud Khalil, Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi.
At the University of Florida (UF), which confirmed its collaboration with Ice earlier this month, students have organized several demonstrations against the agreement, and in support of Felipe Zapata Velázquez, a Colombian third-year student deported after he was arrested last month by local police for alleged traffic offenses and handed over into Ice custody.
Maxwell Frost, a Democratic Florida congressman, decried what he called Velázquez's “government-funded kidnapping”. Protesters say his deportation is part of an ongoing Trump administration purge of overseas students, many for minor infractions.
Earlier this year, the government reactivated the taskforce model of the Ice partnership program that was discontinued by Barack Obama in 2012 for racial profiling, and which the American Civil Liberties Union has argued is unconstitutional.
Ron DeSantis, Florida's rightwing Republican governor, directed state law enforcement agencies in February to sign up, and the Miami Herald reported on Thursday that almost every college with its own campus law enforcement agency is enrolled.
“That the University of Florida has signed on to the highest level of these agreements is atrocious,” Stephen Sykes, the chair of the UF chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, said.
“There's no rule in Florida that any group sign on at this level, which effectively makes the police force a wing of Ice itself.”
Sykes continued: “Even across activist communities at UF that generally don't have the best relationships with police, they were seen as kind of the good people. They protected activists during our Palestine encampment, they were just there hanging out. It felt more like they were protecting us than trying to box us in. Now a lot of that trust is definitely gone.
“Students are scared to come out now, because to even speak up is to risk deportation.”
Activists at FIU share Sykes's concerns that international students in particular will be reluctant to seek help from campus law enforcement, or to report crimes.
“What will they do with any information they receive? Who will they send it to?” said Bayan Abedulazis, the president of FIU's Students for Justice in Palestine chapter.
“Things are very uncertain, and there is a lot of fear, just because of the fact that FIU is an international university. Most students either have a background of family not coming from the US or are directly coming from out of the country, and they've just kind of detached from a lot of these spaces, like SJP or the like, because they don't want to be caught or have risk for themselves or their families.”
FIU has almost 3,800 international students from more than 142 countries, according to its website. Madeline Baró, the senior director of media relations, told the Guardian that the visas of 18 students had been revoked, but would not comment about the university's agreement with Ice.
There was a “no Ice on campus” protest on Tuesday, but Abedulazis said her group had advised international students not to take part.
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“For SJP specifically, Palestine is such a big international issue, and we have a lot of international students that have wanted to be involved, or have been involved in the past,” she said.
“This past semester we've advised students not to attend any kind of public demonstrations, specifically in regards to Palestine, or just in the general sense, because of the kind of risk that it's been posing for students to speak out publicly in any kind political manner.”
Educators joined the midweek protest at FIU, with members of its Union Faculty of Florida chapter displaying placards opposing the Ice agreement.
“Universities have usually been considered free spaces, open spaces,” Terrence Peterson, a history professor, told WLRN.
“ We want our students to show up. It's hard enough to get them to show up anyways if they're afraid to come because they might be arrested and deported.”
Rogelio Tovar, the chair of FIU's board of trustees, defended the agreement to colleagues during their meeting on Tuesday, WLRN reported.
“No student should be fearful if they're here legally and they're in compliance with the law,” he said.
The university recently acceded to a request from DeSantis to appoint Jeanette Nuñez, a close political ally and his former lieutenant governor, as interim president, sparking allegations of cronyism.
The activist group Florida Student Power Network has also been helping organize campus resistance to Ice integration with university administrators, and lobbying Florida's state legislators in Tallahassee.
“University campuses do not have to comply to these agreements,” the group said in a statement ahead of a protest at Boca Raton's Florida Atlantic University (FAU).
“It is clear that schools are bowing down to a racist agenda rather than prioritizing the safety of their students. This won't stop at FAU. We need to fight back.”
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, pictured in March at the Federal Reserve in Washington, is the latest target of U.S. president Donald Trump's ire.Jacquelyn Martin/The Associated Press
Then: Antoine Walker, Ron Mercer, Dee Brown and Chauncey Billups. Now: JD Vance, Elon Musk, Tom Homan and Peter Navarro.
They are known for the same tactics.
The first group were members of coach Rick Pitino's 1997-1998 Boston Celtics, which opened the season with a full-court press that broke with NBA conventions and left opponents unsettled. The second are members of U.S. President Donald Trump's second administration, which opened with a full-court press that is leaving his opponents unsettled.
Since he began his second term, Mr. Trump and his team have been employing a full-court press on Washington and the world in ways, and intensity, never seen before from an American president – with no established institution, durable alliance or long-term exception going unaffected.
The new administration has placed maximum pressure on Congress, the courts, institutions, trading partners, universities, immigrants, museums, arts venues, news organizations, minorities and transgender people – all at the same time. It is a remarkable show of strength across a remarkable field of targets.
On the hard court, Mr. Pitino's full-court press was exhausting with a high risk of failure. In the court of public opinion, Mr. Trump's full-court press is exhausting Americans and brings with it a high risk of failure.
It's not only the assault on conventions and institutions that is marking the opening months of the Trump administration. It's also the breadth and depth of the set of opening offensives that are setting them apart from any earlier period.
Driven by a non-government employee, Mr. Musk, powered by a promiscuous use of executive orders, and having ripple effects far beyond Washington and the broader sphere of government, these moves have the potential of changing the nature of the American presidency and American politics and culture more broadly.
As the U.S. rails against DEI, Jackie Robinson Day stands tall
The administration's offensives take more the shape of a hurricane than a tornado – sustained winds over a widening mass of territory rather than a path of destruction confined to a narrow area.
So far, the White House has challenged the sovereignty of Canada, Greenland and Panama, to the prerogatives of Congress and the courts. It has threatened the independence of the Federal Reserve Board, the nation's high-prestige universities, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Smithsonian Institution.
In each case, Mr. Trump and his lieutenants have changed the character of the country and sowed resentment, retrenchment and re-evaluation abroad.
They've even challenged the nature and extent of tax exemptions for non-profit organizations, bringing many of the fiercest legal lions to heel. Mr. Trump's demands have prompted a US$1-billion in deals with law firms whose compositions and inclinations he opposes.
The latest incursion into established legal and institutional precedents is illustrative of the extent of the full-court press. The target: Fed chair Jerome Powell and, by extension, the once unquestioned inviolable independence of the central bank, tasked with balancing unemployment and inflation.
Established in 1913, the Fed's independence was assured because it was established by Congress, its funding decisions aren't subject to the appropriations process, its decisions can't be adjusted by the president or by lawmakers, and its chairs have assumed they cannot be removed before their terms, which don't coincide with the president, are completed.
But Mr. Trump, who appointed Mr. Powell, has grown impatient with the Fed chair, in part because he isn't cutting interest rates. Presidential frustration with Fed members is not unprecedented: president Richard Nixon, whose conferences with Fed chair Arthur Burns raised eyebrows, once urged him to discipline his colleagues. (“Just kick ‘em in the rump a little,” Mr. Nixon said in a 1971 conversation recorded on the White House tapes.)
But no president has issued a statement like Mr. Trump's description last week of Mr. Powell (a chair “who is always TOO LATE AND WRONG” and who “issued a report which was another, and typical, complete ‘mess!”).
At the same time, there is increased focus on Mr. Trump's apparent belief in the “unitary executive” theory, which provides for expanded presidential power and is the philosophical and legal basis of his resistance to court decisions.
That prompted a stunning reaction from Appeals Court Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, a conservative jurist appointed by president Ronald Reagan, who rebuked the administration's refusal to conform to court orders to return Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, deported to El Salvador, to the United States.
“The respect that courts afford the Executive must be reciprocated by the Executive's respect for the courts. Too often this has not been the case, as calls for the impeachment of judges for decisions the Executive disfavors and exhortations to disregard court decisions sadly illustrate,” the judge wrote.
Over the weekend, the Supreme Court ordered the administration to halt the deportation of a separate group of immigrants. Three in five Americans believe the President must conform to judicial rulings, according to a Wall Street Journal poll.
The ripples of change have produced ripples of fear across the country.
“We are all afraid,” Senator Lisa Murkowski, a second-generation Republican from Alaska, said at an Anchorage conference last week. “It's quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before. I'll tell you, I'm oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that's not right.”
Full-court presses often wear out the team employing them. It may have temporarily discomfited the Celtics' opponents, but the team finished with a losing record – and the coach chose to resign rather than be fired.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Tom Homan's surname.
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MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry has reported 4,900 breaches of the Easter ceasefire by Ukrainian forces.
The ministry stated that after the truce expired, Russian troops resumed their special military operation.
TASS has summarized the key developments.
- The Russian Defense Ministry has reported 4,900 breaches of the ceasefire by Ukrainian troops.
- According to the ministry, Ukrainian formations carried out attacks using artillery and drones on Russian military positions and civilian infrastructure in the Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk regions, as well as in Crimea.
- During the truce, the Kiev regime deployed 90 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including eight outside the zone of the special military operation.
- Nineteen artillery assaults by Ukrainian forces were observed in the Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk border regions during the truce. The Russian Defense Ministry said that 51 municipalities were impacted.
- The ministry emphasized that overall, enemy fire and combat activity was notably lower along the entire frontline.
- Russian troops strictly adhered to the ceasefire and maintained previously secured positions, the defense agency stated.
- After the ceasefire ended, Russian forces restarted the special military operation.
- In the last 24 hours, Russian units have conducted strikes on a Ukrainian military airfield, ammunition stockpiles, and drones across 74 locations.
- Russian air defense has intercepted and destroyed 104 Ukrainian fixed-wing UAVs in the past day.
- The Kiev regime lost up to 80 personnel, a Kozak armored vehicle, and a pickup truck in the operational zone of Russia's Battlegroup Center in the past 24 hours.
- In the Belgorod area, Ukrainian forces have lost around 20 troops and an artillery piece due to Russia's Battlegroup North, within the same timeframe.
- Ukrainian formations have suffered up to 45 casualties and lost a Kozak vehicle, and two field guns in Russia's Battlegroup South's zone of responsibility.
- Russia's Battlegroup West engaged Ukrainian mechanized units near Kupyansk in the Kharkov Region, with the enemy losing up to 30 troops.
- Ukrainian forces have lost more than 25 personnel, an armored personnel carrier, and a motor vehicle in the area operated by Russia's Battlegroup East.
- Due to actions by Russia's Battlegroup Dnepr, the Kiev regime also lost up to 10 troops, a radio-electronic warfare unit, and a US-manufactured AN/TPQ-36 counterbattery radar system over the past day.
William Burck and Robert Hur accuse the president of trying to ‘invade university freedoms'
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That America's oldest and most prestigious university would retain high calibre legal counsel in its confrontation with the Trump administration came as a surprise to nobody.
But the two individuals who agreed to spearhead its fight, after losing $2.3 billion in federal funding, have raised some eyebrows.
The lawyers – who signed and co-wrote the punchy legal response informing the president the university would not be complying with his demands – are William Burck and Robert Hur – both of whom are well known, and connected in Republican circles.
The administration had put pressure on Harvard to change its hiring, admissions and other internal procedures, which would include reporting foreign students accused of conduct violations.
On Monday, after Mr Hur and Mr Burck issued their response accusing the US president of trying to “invade university freedoms”, Mr Trump suspended federal funds before threatening to revoke the institution's tax-exempt status.
Mr Hur was appointed by Mr Trump himself to serve as United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, while Mr Burck worked under George W Bush and gave legal advice to several of Mr Trump's closest allies in the Russia-gate scandal.
The son of South Korean immigrants, Mr Hur was born in New York City and went on to study at Harvard, before reading for a masters degree in philosophy at King's College, Cambridge.
He earned his law degree at Stanford, and is currently in private practice at international firm King and Spalding, where he is a partner in its “special matters and government investigations” practice.
After leaving law school, Mr Hur spent a year as clerk to Chief Justice William Rehnquist of the US Supreme Court, before joining the justice department on and off for the next two decades.
In 2017, he was appointed by Mr Trump to serve as Maryland's District Attorney.
In 2023, Merrick Garland, the Attorney General at the time, tasked Mr Hur with the job of overseeing the department's investigation of classified documents that Joe Biden had been found to have at his Delaware home.
The probe took place at the same time that Mr Trump was investigated for allegedly wrongly possessing classified documents stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Mr Hur eventually decided not to bring charges against Mr Biden, but the reasons he gave for not doing so reverberated across the nation, where concerns about the president's well-being were growing
“We have also considered that, at trial, Mr Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” Mr Hur wrote in his Feb 2024 report.
“Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone for whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt. It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him by then a former president well into his eighties of a serious felony that requires a mental state of wilfulness.”
Mr Biden and other Democrats denounced Mr Hur's language.
In particular, he rejected a suggestion he could not remember the date that his son Beau had died.
“How in the hell dare he raise that,” Mr Biden told reporters in a hastily called press conference at the White House.
“Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself, it wasn't any of their damn business.”
Mr Trump also denounced the decision, saying at the time: “It was just announced that Joe Biden's department of injustice will bring zero charges against crooked Joe despite the fact he wilfully retained undisclosed droves of ultra-classified national security documents.
“If he's not going to be charged, that's up to them, but then I should not be charged.”
At the time, Mr Hur was urged by Democratic congressman Eric Swalwell to pledge not to accept any future roles offered by Mr Trump if he became president for a second time.
“I'm not here to speak about what may or may not happen in the future,” was Mr Hur's response.
Mr Burck earned a bachelor's degree in political science and government at Yale, going on to postgraduate study in the same subject at Harvard, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He studied law at Yale.
The lawyer, once described by The New York Times as the modern day “Washington super-lawyer”, now works in a private practice, at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan – before that he was a federal prosecutor, whose cases included that of Martha Stewart.
The TV personality was investigated for alleged insider trading. In 2004, Stewart was sentenced to five months in jail after being found guilty of conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
Mr Burck then spent several years in the Bush administration, initially as the deputy counsel, then as special counsel, and eventually as White House deputy staff secretary.
He was given the job of representing Mr Bush in his dealings with the National Archives and Records Administration.
As a lawyer Mr Burck has provided legal advice to a range of people, including Steve Bannon, who was Mr Trump's first campaign manager, as well as Don McGahn, the ex-White House counsel, and Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, as an investigation proceeded into alleged Trump campaign collusion with Russia.
None of the men were ever charged.
Mr Bannon was later jailed for four months for failing to comply with subpoenas surrounding the House of Representatives Jan 6 insurrection investigation.
In addition to being a Fox Corporation board member, in January, Mr Burck was appointed as an outside ethics adviser, tasked by the Trump organisation with vetting deals that could pose conflicts with public policy.
He also represented New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft against accusations that he paid for massage parlour sex, in a case that saw the matter dismissed.
Most recently Mr Burck represented Eric Adams, the New York City mayor, who had been charged with corruption.
The case was later dropped following demands from Mr Trump.
The mayor had agreed to help the president in an effort to crack down on illegal immigrants in the city.
The clash between Mr Trump and Harvard began on Friday, when the administration sent a list of demands to the university to institute a series of reforms or risk losing federal funding.
Those changes included abolishing its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes, reporting foreign students who were accused of breaching its code of conduct, and rejecting applicants who are “hostile” to “American values”.
Alan Garber, the university's president, accused the government of trampling over its First Amendment rights and attempting to “control the Harvard community”.
In a separate letter to government lawyers, Mr Hur and Mr Burck said the administration was trampling over Harvard's free speech rights and acting well beyond its legal authority.
Mr Trump suspended more than $2 billion in federal funding – something critics have said is illegal – and later mulled on social media: “Perhaps Harvard should lose its tax exempt status and be taxed as a political entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting “sickness?”
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WASHINGTON—An issue in Congress is once again bringing together progressive House Democrats and Freedom Caucus-aligned House Republicans in support of new legislation.
The issue? The trading of stocks by members of Congress. In recent years, several senators and representatives have been the subject of critical reports regarding stock trades they've personally undertaken, yielding handsome profits shortly before market-sensitive news.
Insider trading by members of Congress and their staff is already prohibited, and they are required to report any stock purchase to congressional authorities within 45 days of the transaction, per the Ethics in Government Act. Still, members routinely have access to sensitive and even classified information that could indirectly influence markets, which some lawmakers say gives them the ability to unfairly profit from their government service.
Several dozen members of the House have co-sponsored the “Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust (TRUST) in Congress Act,” which would ban members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from stock trading in its entirety. The legislation has the largest number of co-sponsors among several bills that have been introduced for this purpose.
The TRUST in Congress Act would require members of Congress to place their stock holdings into a blind trust for the duration of their elected service. The bill does not specify any penalties for non-compliance.
Efforts to ban stock trading by members have been repeatedly attempted in multiple Congresses, though none have ever received a final vote in either the Senate or House of Representatives. In both chambers, the party leadership effectively controls the placement of bills on the floor and can prevent legislation from being considered.
In the Senate, a previous effort to ban stock trading by members of Congress was led by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who introduced a bill with Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) during the 118th Congress, though it was never passed by the full body.
The bill has not been reintroduced in the 119th Congress.
Even as polling shows that many voters favor such bans, there is opposition in Congress. Hawley's legislation, when considered at the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in July 2024, received ‘Nay' votes from Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and James Lankford (R-Okla.). None have released a public statement about their vote against the bill.
Other branches of government have ethics rules requiring divestment of assets or the creation of blind trusts to prevent conflicts of interest. Supreme Court justices and other federal judges are permitted to hold individual stocks but are required to recuse themselves from cases involving those companies.
In the executive branch, officers may also hold stock but cannot work on issues involving those companies, with criminal penalties for non-compliance. Only the president and vice president are exempt from such conflicts.
The offices of Hawley and Pelosi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
U.S. stocks suffered steep losses on Monday as President Donald Trump ramped up his attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, prompting investors to worry about the central bank's independence even as they grapple with the effects of Trump's ongoing, erratic trade war.
All three major indexes tumbled more than 2%, and the U.S. dollar continued to get hammered, sinking to a three-year low against a basket of major currencies. The equity selloff was less intense in Canada, thanks largely to another surge in gold prices to fresh record highs.
Trump escalated his criticism of Powell on Monday, saying the U.S. economy is headed for a slowdown “unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates NOW,” in a bellicose Truth Social post which raised concerns over the Fed's autonomy.
The Fed has been resistant to lowering rates too quickly because it does not want to allow inflation to reaccelerate after slowing nearly all the way down to its 2% goal from more than 9% three years ago. While Wall Street generally loves lower rates, the bigger worry would be that a less independent Fed would be less effective at keeping inflation under control.
“Countries that have an independent central bank grow faster, have lower inflation; they have better economic outcomes for their people,” said Jed Ellerbroek, portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management in St. Louis. “And politicians trying to influence the Fed is a really bad idea, and it's very scary for the market.”
Also Monday, the Sino-U.S. trade rift deepened after Beijing warned other countries against striking deals with the United States at China's expense, adding fuel to the spiraling tariff war between the world's two largest economies. Meanwhile, many traders were left disappointed that no new tariff deals between the U.S. and other countries were announced over the long weekend.
In a troubling signal, investors were also shunning longer-term U.S. government bonds. Typically during an equity market selloff, they would buy American debt as a safe-haven play, pushing their yields lower and prices higher. But by late afternoon, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was up about 7 basis points. Canadian bond yields were also higher Monday.
“It's not good when you have inflation, interest rates and the [U.S.] dollar all lower on the same day, over the same week and the same month,” said Brian Nick, managing director and head of portfolio strategy with Newedge Wealth of Stanford, CT. “That kind of pattern tends to occur in emerging markets; it doesn't happen in the United States. It's a sign that people don't want to hold your currency any more and that even your bonds aren't appealing.”
All the uncertainty striking pillars at the center of financial markets means some investors say they're having to rethink the fundamentals of how to invest.
“We can no longer extrapolate from past trends or rely on long-term assumptions to anchor portfolios,” strategists at BlackRock Investment Institute said in a report. “The distinction between tactical and strategic asset allocation is blurred. Instead, we need to constantly reassess the long-term trajectory and be dynamic with asset allocation as we learn more about the future state of the global system.”
The S&P 500 closed 16% below its February 19 record closing high. If the bellwether index closes 20% below that all-time high, that will confirm the index has entered a bear market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 971.82 points, or 2.48%, to 38,170.41, the S&P 500 lost 124.50 points, or 2.36%, to 5,158.20 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 415.55 points, or 2.55%, to 15,870.90.
All 11 major sectors in the S&P 500 ended in negative territory, with consumer discretionary and tech suffering the biggest percentage losses.
First-quarter earnings season shifts into higher gear this week with dozens of closely watched firms due to report. So far, of the 59 companies that have reported, 68% have beaten Wall Street expectations, according to LSEG data.
As of Thursday, analysts expect aggregate first-quarter S&P 500 earnings growth of 8.1%, year-on-year, down from the 12.2% growth projected at the beginning of the quarter, per LSEG.
Notable earnings on the docket this week include Magnificent Seven members Tesla and Alphabet, and a host of high-profile industrials including Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and 3M.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 183.95 points, or 0.76%, at 24,008.86, snapping its five-session winning streak.
While most major sectors were down, materials was up about 0.5%, thanks to gold miners rallying, benefiting from the weaker U.S. currency. U.S. gold futures settled 2.9% higher at US$3,425.30.
Uranium shares were particularly hard-hit, with shares of leading uranium mining companies falling between 5% and 10%. Energy Fuels Inc., a uranium and rare earths-focused miner, fell 10% over tariff worries and curbs by China on rare earths exports. Denison Mines, a Saskatchewan-based miner, closed 7% lower and Nexgen Energy, another uranium miner, fell 6%.
On Wall Street, artificial intelligence heavyweight Nvidia dropped 4.5% after Reuters reported that Huawei Technologies planned to begin mass shipments of an advanced AI chip to customers in China as early as next month.
Tesla dropped 5.8% after Reuters reported that the production launch of its stripped-down version of the Model Y was delayed.
FIS gained 2.4% after a brokerage upgrade.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 4.76-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 77 new highs and 180 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 1,205 stocks rose and 3,174 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.63-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted one new 52-week high and nine new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 28 new highs and 184 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 13.89 billion shares, compared with the 18.87 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
Reuters, The Associated Press, Globe staff
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Editor's note: The article was expanded with responses from world leaders.
Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, April 21, at the age of 88, in his residence in Vatican City, the Vatican news service reported.
"At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of his Church," said Cardinal Kevin Ferrell, the Vatican camerlengo.
"He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with faithfulness, courage, and universal love, especially for the poorest and most marginalized."
The pope has struggled with numerous health problems in recent years, being hospitalized with bronchitis and pneumonia in February 2025. On Easter, he made his first prolonged public appearance after being released from the hospital in March.
Pope Francis was elected to lead the Catholic Church in 2013, following Pope Benedict XVI's abdication. Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he was the first pope from the Americas and the first Jesuit pope.
"Millions of people around the world are mourning the tragic news of Pope Francis's passing," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.
"He knew how to give hope, ease suffering through prayer, and foster unity. He prayed for peace in Ukraine and for Ukrainians. We grieve together with Catholics and all Christians who looked to Pope Francis for spiritual support."
"I am saddened to hear of the passing of Pope Francis... Under his leadership, the Holy See provided important humanitarian support to Ukraine and contributed to peace efforts," Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in response to the news.
Also extending his condolences, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Pope Francis "an advocate for the weak, a reconciling and a warm-hearted person."
"My sympathies go out to the religious community worldwide," the German chancellor said.
"From Buenos Aires to Rome, Pope Francis wanted the Church to bring joy and hope to the poorest. To unite people with one another and with nature. May this hope be reborn endlessly beyond him," French President Emmanuel Macron said on X.
"To all Catholics, to a grieving world, my wife and I send our thoughts."
"Today, the world mourns the passing of Pope Francis. He inspired millions, far beyond the Catholic Church, with his humility and love so pure for the less fortunate," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, joining other world leaders in extending her sympathies.
Pope Francis has often weighed in on the Russia-Ukraine war, condemning violence and urging a peaceful settlement. Some of his comments were a matter of controversy in Ukraine, as they were perceived as relativizing Russia's responsibility in the war.
During Sunday prayer on Dec. 15, 2024, Pope Francis referred to Russia and Ukraine as "brothers," while reiterating calls for peace.
"They are brothers, cousins. Let them come to an understanding. War is always a defeat. Peace to the whole world," the pope said during a visit to the French island of Corsica.
The pontiff, who enjoyed broad popularity around the world, has advocated for a more open stance of the church on sexuality and the LGBT community, drawing rebuke from conservative church members. In turn, he has also attracted criticism from progressives, who saw his reform efforts as insufficient.
Pope Francis passed away only a day after a brief meeting with U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the Vatican. The two have previously clashed over the Trump administration's stringent immigration policies.
"I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis. My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him," Vance said.
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The Associated Press
17:04 JST, April 21, 2025
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis, history's first Latin American pontiff who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change, died Monday. He was 88.
Bells tolled in church towers across Rome after the announcement, which was read out by Cardinal Kevin Ferrell, the Vatican camerlengo, from the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta, where Francis lived.
“At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of his Church,″ Ferrell said.
Francis, who suffered from chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, was admitted to Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14, 2025, for a respiratory crisis that developed into double pneumonia. He spent 38 days there, the longest hospitalization of his 12-year papacy.
But he emerged on Easter Sunday — a day before his death — to bless thousands of people in St. Peter's Square and treat them to a surprise popemobile romp through the piazza, drawing wild cheers and applause.
From his first greeting as pope — a remarkably normal “Buonasera” (“Good evening”) — to his embrace of refugees and the downtrodden, Francis signaled a very different tone for the papacy, stressing humility over hubris for a Catholic Church beset by scandal and accusations of indifference.
After that rainy night on March 13, 2013, the Argentine-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio brought a breath of fresh air into a 2,000-year-old institution that had seen its influence wane during the troubled tenure of Pope Benedict XVI, whose surprise resignation led to Francis' election.
But Francis soon invited troubles of his own, and conservatives grew increasingly upset with his progressive bent, outreach to LGBTQ+ Catholics and crackdown on traditionalists. His greatest test came in 2018 when he botched a notorious case of clergy sexual abuse in Chile, and the scandal that festered under his predecessors erupted anew on his watch.
And then Francis, the crowd-loving, globe-trotting pope of the peripheries, navigated the unprecedented reality of leading a universal religion through the coronavirus pandemic from a locked-down Vatican City.
He implored the world to use COVID-19 as an opportunity to rethink the economic and political framework that he said had turned rich against poor.
“We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented,” Francis told an empty St. Peter's Square in March 2020. But he also stressed the pandemic showed the need for “all of us to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other.”
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The Yomiuri Shimbun
16:58 JST, April 21, 2025
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Monday that he had not expected U.S. President Donald Trump to participate in the Japan-U.S. tariff negotiations held in Washington last week.
“I've never seen a [U.S.] president show up right from the start [of negotiations like that]. It was way beyond my expectations,” Ishiba said at a meeting of the House of Councillors Budget Committee on Monday morning.
Ishiba and economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa, who traveled to the United States for the negotiations, were among those attending intensive deliberations at Monday's Budget Committee meeting. The session focused on the Trump administration's tariff measures.
“President Trump prioritizes the negotiations with Japan. A decision will be made through the president's leadership,” Ishiba said, analyzing Trump's appearance at the talks. “I think these are the two meanings behind it.”
Akazawa said, “The government will work as one to give the highest priority and our full efforts [to the ongoing talks with Washington].”
Regarding the fact that tariff negotiations with Japan are seeing the most rapid progress, Ishiba said Japan and the United States have the closest relationship economically and otherwise.
“This means the situation is conducive to building a win-win relationship for both. It can become a model case for the rest of the world,” Ishiba said. “We must discuss what we can do together for the world.”
In contrast, Ishiba also said he had “serious concerns” about the tariffs' compatibility with the Japan-U.S. Trade Agreement, and expressed his intention to continue pointing this out to Washington.
Akazawa described Wednesday's talks at the White House as “a good first step toward building trust.”
Regarding Trump's participation in the negotiations, Akazawa said: “The president is dissatisfied with the trade deficit. He expressed his candid view of the situation of the United States in the global economy.”
Akazawa said he explained to the U.S. side that Japan is the world's top investor in the United States and is creating jobs across the country. He then requested a review of a series of U.S. measures, including the tariffs introduced on automobiles, steel and aluminum.
As to high prices, particularly for food and energy, Ishiba said, “They are having a serious impact on people's lives,” indicating his intention to implement measures to address energy issues.
Regarding the abolition of the provisional portion of gasoline taxes, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoji Muto stressed that he would pay close attention to discussions among the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito and the Democratic Party for the People.
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Russian nationals in the U.S. plan to hold the Immortal Regiment March in Washington, D.C., on May 3 to mark 80 years since the end of World War II, Ukrinform reported on April 21.
This will be the first time the event has been held in the U.S. capital since the outbreak of Russia's all-out war against Ukraine in 2022.
The Immortal Regiment March is typically a mass event throughout Russia, involving processions of people carrying photos of their relatives who fought in or were killed during World War II.
The organizers of the movement, who launched it in 2011, have since complained that Russian officials hijacked it for their political purposes.
The march is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. local time in Lafayette Square, near the White House, according to the brochure, which was distributed among Russian-speaking groups in the U.S. and obtained by Ukrinform.
The marchers will walk down Pennsylvania Avenue to the World War II Memorial in downtown Washington, D.C.
Similar events must be authorized by municipal authorities. The organizers said they had permission, the Ukrainian news agency reported, citing undisclosed sources.
The Metropolitan Police Department's press service in Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond to the news agency's request for comment, Ukrinform reported.
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Ukraine is under pressure to respond this week to a U.S. proposal on concluding the war with Russia, which includes the possibility of Washington recognizing Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea and barring Ukraine from NATO, the Wall Street Journal reported on April 20, citing an obtained document.
The proposals, outlined by senior Trump administration officials in a confidential meeting with Ukrainian and European counterparts in Paris on April 17, were confirmed by Western officials to the WSJ.
The news comes as Washington signaled readiness to drop ceasefire efforts within the coming days unless progress is achieved.
Ukraine's feedback is expected at a follow-up meeting in London later this week. If there is alignment between Kyiv, Washington, and European allies, the proposals could be formally introduced to Moscow.
Among the most controversial elements is the suggestion that the U.S. could formally recognize Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea. Additionally, Ukrainian accession to NATO would be ruled out under the current proposal.
"NATO isn't on the table," said U.S. Special Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg in an interview with Fox News on April 20.
Ukraine has previously said it would not recognize occupied territories as Russian as part of any peace deal. The move to recognize Crimea under Russian rule also contradicts a decade-long bipartisan consensus in Washington and international law.
In 2018, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reaffirmed U.S. opposition to the annexation, calling it a threat to "a bedrock international principle shared by democratic states: that no country can change the borders of another by force." The U.S. Congress has also passed legislation opposing any recognition of Russia's claim over Crimea.
Ukraine has also previously rejected restrictions on joining international alliances and organizations—namely, NATO and the EU—as part of a potential peace deal. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte recently said that Kyiv's path toward membership remains "irreversible" but added that the matter would not be part of an eventual peace settlement.
The Ukrainian delegation in Paris included Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelensky, along with Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. According to the WSJ, the Trump team, including Kellogg and special envoy Steve Witkoff, should be present at the London meeting as well.
Witkoff is then expected to travel to Moscow, the WSJ reported. Officially the special envoy for the Middle East, Witkoff has led Trump's diplomatic outreach to Russia, meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin three times, most recently on April 11.
In a comment to the WSJ, a senior State Department official emphasized that the ideas were presented as "potential options" rather than ultimatums, though Kyiv is expected to offer a firm stance quickly.
Another proposal would involve establishing a neutral zone around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest nuclear power station in Europe, potentially leaving it under American control.
In an earlier call with Zelensky, U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly suggested the idea of the U.S. acquiring Ukrainian energy assets, which he said could be the "best protection for that infrastructure."
While the U.S. proposals stop short of granting Russia formal legal recognition of its claimed annexation of four partially occupied eastern Ukrainian regions, they also do not call for the withdrawal of Russian troops from those areas.
Since 2022, Moscow has illegally declared Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts as part of the Russian Federation, incorporating them into its Constitution and demanding the complete retreat of Ukrainian forces from their administrative borders.
The Trump administration has not ruled out bilateral military assistance to Ukraine or support for European nations contributing forces to a "reassurance force," a potential buffer against future aggression. However, no specific security guarantees have yet been offered as part of the proposed deal.
This goes in contrast with Russian demands for a full halt of military support to Ukraine, which the Kremlin voiced as a precondition to a 30-day ceasefire suggested by the Trump administration over a month ago. While Ukraine has accepted the offer if Russia reciprocates, Moscow has not yet supported the idea. In recent weeks, Russia has intensified attacks on civilians in Ukrainian cities.
During talks with the U.S. representatives in Saudi Arabia, Kremlin officials were reportedly seeking relief from U.S. sanctions and the restoration of trade ties, efforts being led by Putin's envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
Zelensky's office has not publicly commented on the details of the U.S. proposal. On April 19, Ukrainian officials reaffirmed openness to a mutual 30-day ceasefire, though they accused Moscow of violating a temporary truce over the Easter holiday on April 20.
NEW YORK, April 21. /TASS/. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth sent detailed information on US strikes on Yemen to a private Signal messenger chat group that included his wife, brother and lawyer, The New York Times (NYT) reported citing sources.
According to the publication, on March 15, Hegseth posted the flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornet fighters, which struck positions of Yemeni Houthis from the Ansar Allah rebel movement, in a chat that included his wife Jennifer, who is not a Pentagon employee, as well as his brother Phil and personal lawyer Tim Parlatore, who work in the defense department.
As the publication points out, unlike the chat with the participation of US administration officials in the Signal messenger, this second chat was created by the Pentagon chief personally and included, in addition to his wife, about a dozen people from Hegseth's inner circle, including two officials suspended due to data leaks. Moreover, the head of the US defense department used his personal phone, not his work phone, to communicate in the chat.
According to the newspaper, the chat usually discussed information related to organizational and administrative issues.
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The political balancing act at the heart of the new conclave.
by Katherine Kelaidis
If you wrote a novel in which the first Latin American pope died on Easter Monday — which happened to fall on April 21, the traditional anniversary of the founding of the city of Rome — it would be rejected by any decent editor. But that is precisely what has happened. Pope Francis, a symbol for many of the possibility of a more compassionate Christianity, has died. The apostolic throne of St. Peter is now empty.
The period between the death of one pope and the election of his successor by the College of Cardinals is known rather ominously as a “sede vacante” (the vacant seat). It ordinarily lasts about 15 to 20 days, nine of which are the official mourning period known as the novendiale. Shortly after the nine-day period, after funeral rites for the recently deceased pope have been concluded, the Catholic Church's leading cardinals will meet privately to elect a new pope in a conclave.
The word conclave, from the Latin “with key,” comes from the 13th century when, following the death of Pope Clement IV, the cardinals were unable to agree on a new pope for almost three years. As frustration grew, it was decided to lock the cardinals away, providing them with only bread and water until they came to a decision. This practice of secluding the cardinals while they name their choice is now a matter of canon law. Even though the conclave has not begun, in our anxious times many are already starting to consider who might be the next Bishop of Rome.
The election of a new pope has always been as much political balancing act as spiritual exercise. Most of the current conversation has focused on the “progressive” versus “traditionalist” strands of the global culture wars. Broadly speaking, this refers to the growing divide in the Catholic Church between the so-called “progressives” who favor reforms to the church's attitude toward cultural and social issues (particularly those related to gender and sexuality) and the “traditionalists” who oppose such reforms, often advocating for creating even stricter norms in light of liberalization in the wider society. (Francis was considered more progressive, whereas his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI was a traditionalist.) This divide is not unique to the Catholic Church and can now be seen in nearly every religious tradition. But while this conflict will likely dominate the conclave and coverage of it, there are also other factors at play.
In trying to forecast the next papacy, it is also crucial to focus on the question of national — or more accurately, regional — origin. This has always been a factor in choosing a pope, the vast majority of whom have been Italians. The election of Polish Pope John Paul II in 1978, the first non-Italian in over 500 years, was considered an important show of support to the Catholics still living behind the Iron Curtain. So where might the next pope come from — and who might he be, and what might that signal about the future of the church?
The fact is that what the average Christian looks like and where the average Christian lives is changing faster now than ever before, which will inevitably shape the next papacy. Christianity is on the decline in North America and western Europe, even if that decline seems to have slowed in the United States, at least recently. But in Latin America, Asia, and Africa (a region some call the “Global South,” though the term hits a colonialist note), Christianity is growing, both because of higher birth rates and conversions. Some estimates suggest that by 2050, 78 percent of the world's Christians will live in the Global South. African Christianity, in particular, has experienced tremendous growth, with data suggesting that by 2050, 40 percent of the world's Christians will live in Africa. For Catholicism in particular, these numbers are even more stark, and the Vatican's own reports suggest that the future of the Catholic Church is undeniably in Africa.
While the demographic center of the Christian world has been shifting, the power centers have stayed firmly in the West. No African or Asian leader has been elected head of a major global Christian denomination since Late Antiquity. (The last pope born in Africa was Pope Gelasius I, who died in 496.) And though Pope Francis was indeed the first pope from Latin America, as the son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, he came firmly within the cultural framework and historical trajectory of southern European Catholicism. It is difficult to see him entirely as a “Pope from the Global South.”
One might assume that progressives within the Catholic Church would be championing the rise of leaders from outside Europe. Yet an uncomfortable truth for many of these progressives is that the Global South, and particularly Africa, has become a significant power center for traditionalists in the fierce cultural debates that have rocked Christianity over the past four decades. This has been true not just for Catholics, but Anglicans, Methodists, and others. Of course, it is important to note that millions of dollars have been spent pushing a conservative social agenda in Africa and that African Christians are far from a monolith. But in broad demographic terms, a betting progressive Catholic would likely prefer a European pope over an African one.
There are only a few realistic African contenders at the moment, both deeply traditionalist. There is Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, 76. Brought to the Vatican by Pope Francis's conservative predecessor, Turkson is best known outside of Vatican circles for his anti-gay attitudes, including endorsing Ghana's draconian anti-homosexuality law. He is joined by Cardinal Robert Sarah, 79, from Guinea, who once positioned himself as a “parallel authority” to Pope Francis. He has defended clerical celibacy, denounced “gender ideology,” and argued that there can be “no theological dialogue” with Islam. These men are among the most conservative potential candidates to be the next pope.
Meanwhile, the majority of the progressive candidates, including the most progressive, are nearly all from Europe. There is Cardinal José Tolentino Calaça de Mendonça from Portugal. His relatively liberal views on same-sex relationships as well as his sympathies with a pro-choice Benedictine nun who favors women's ordination put him firmly in the progressive camp. However, at 59, he is the youngest among the candidates and thus unlikely to get the job on those grounds. More likely would be the Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi (and what is more conventional than an Italian pope?). Largely in the theological and pastoral image of Pope Francis, Zuppi would in some ways be the most “Eurocentric” choice, having spent time as the Vatican's peace envoy to Ukraine and Russia and seen as largely focused on the European church.
Given the demographic realities facing the Catholic Church, a progressive European cardinal seems highly unlikely, even though a progressive, at least on issues of gender and sexuality, is likely needed to stem the bleeding in Europe in particular. Even a traditionalist European cardinal, of which there are many, might be seen as out of step with where Catholicism is headed. All this puts the coming conclave in a seemingly impossible situation.
The man who might offer a way around this impasse comes from the traditionally Catholic, Asian country of the Philippines, a progressive candidate from outside Europe (and this time with no European immigrant parents): Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle. Cardinal Tagle has been dubbed the “Asian Francis” in some circles because of his commitment to social justice. Yet, he is still not a European and would be the first Asian pope, and the first non-white pope since the early Middle Ages. (It is possible, even likely, that the three African-born popes of Late Antiquity were Black.)
His election would pacify Western progressives, who have proven all too ready to jump ship should the church maintain too conservative of a position on key social issues, while offering the Global South — and the new Christian majority — a leader who looks and has lived more like his flock. It seems a clear way forward for a church increasingly divided not just along ideological lines, but geographic ones as well. And, for what it's worth, Tagle currently leads the Vegas betting odds — as good an indication as any about who will step out onto the balcony in St. Peter's Square after the white smoke rises.
Whoever appears before the crowd that day will be a compromise, a man who in his life and theology must satisfy, to some degree, the varying factions of a changing Catholic Church that is increasingly divided by geography and politics — a reflection of the wider world. He will have just been handed the world's loudest pulpit and what he does with it will affect not only the faithful, but the world.
Understand the world with a daily explainer plus the most compelling stories of the day, compiled by news editor Sean Collins.
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The “cradle” vs. “convert” fight comes to Washington.
Although there are unanswered questions about how far the Court will go.
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The Trump administration plans to take action to remove artificial food dyes from the nation's food supply, according to a media advisory sent by the US Department of Health and Human Services on Monday.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary will share more about the administration's plans on Tuesday, the advisory said.
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In January, when former President Joe Biden was still in office, the FDA announced that it had banned the use of red dye No. 3 in food, beverages and ingested drugs. The move came more than 30 years after scientists discovered links to cancer in animals.
The Trump administration appears poised to take action on a broader set of petroleum-based synthetic dyes that are used to make food and beverages brightly colored and more appealing to consumers.
In March, Kennedy joined West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey to support newly signed legislation to ban certain synthetic dyes in food. The state was the first to institute a sweeping ban on synthetic food dyes, which have been tied to issues with learning and behavior in some children and of which Kennedy has been an outspoken critic.
Lawmakers in more than half of states – both Republican- and Democrat-led – are pushing to restrict access, according to a tracker by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit environmental health organization, reflecting a bipartisan push toward a safer food system.
Artificial food dyes are not explicitly mentioned in president's order forming the commission to “Make America Healthy Again,” but some Republican legislators have invoked Kennedy's “MAHA” motto in their proposals.
With a patchwork of state-led regulations bubbling, industry associations have pushed for a more consistent federal standard.
The National Confectioners Association said in March that there is a role for state legislators to play in the US food system, but that the FDA is the “rightful national regulatory decision maker and leader in food safety.” Some of the association's member companies sell products containing artificial dyes.
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“Food safety is the number one priority for U.S. confectionery companies, and we will continue to follow and comply with FDA's guidance and safety standards,” the association added via email.
John Hewitt, senior vice president of state affairs at the Consumer Brands Association, echoed this sentiment earlier this year, saying it's why the trade association has urged the FDA to “aggressively acknowledge its responsibility as the nation's food safety regulator.”
Governments, researchers and nonprofit organizations have long raised concerns about artificial dyes.
Red No. 3, red No. 40, blue No. 2 and green No. 3 all have been linked with cancer or tumors in animals. Other sources say red No. 40 and yellow No. 5 and No. 6 contain or may be contaminated with known carcinogens.
Blue No. 1 and yellow No. 6 may also be toxic to some human cells. And as little as 1 milligram of yellow dye No. 5 may cause irritability, restlessness and sleep disturbances for sensitive children.
But experts have criticized the lack of funding for more research, and minimal action taken by the federal government to regulate the dyes.
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“It's been obvious from RFK Jr's statements that this was going to happen. This is an easy one. Non-petroleum substitute dyes are available and used widely in other countries by the same companies that sell products here. Companies have been promising to get rid of the petroleum dyes for years. The time has come,” said Marion Nestle, a prominent food policy researcher. “In public health terms, this is low-hanging fruit. I want to see RFK Jr. take on ultra-processed foods, a much tougher problem and a far more important one.”
Food dyes are most commonly used in foods of low nutritional value such as candy and soft drinks, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group. But experts say that they may also be found in products that aren't conspicuously colorful.
Consumers who want to avoid artificial dyes can check ingredient lists on food and beverage products.
CNN's Meg Tirrell contributed to this report.
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Former Denver ICE field office director John Fabricatore discusses the arrests of Tren de Aragua members and other criminals on 'The Story.'
A New Mexico judge resigned from the bench after an alleged Tren de Aragua gang member was arrested at his home.
Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Joel Cano's resignation letter is dated March 3, but a spokesman for the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) told Fox News Digital it was not received by the Supreme Court and 3rd Judicial District Court until March 31.
Back in January, Homeland Security Investigations Las Cruces began looking into Venezuelan native Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, "an illegal alien from Venezuela and a suspected member of a criminal gang" who was "residing with other illegal aliens" and "in possession of firearms," according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
On Feb. 28, two search warrants were executed at a home investigators identified as owned by Cano's wife, Nancy Cano. Ortega-Lopez and his roommates were taken into custody, and agents "seized four firearms from April Cano's residence." April Cano is the daughter of Nancy and Joel, court documents state.
FEDERAL JUDGE CALLS DEPORTATION OF SALVADORAN MAN IN MARYLAND 'WHOLLY LAWLESS'
Alleged Tren de Aragua gang member Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, pictured in a social media account found by investigators. (U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico)
Ortega-Lopez was found by investigators posing with weapons in social media posts, some of which he said were owned by April Cano, who "allowed him to hold and sometimes shoot various firearms."
Ortega-Lopez admitted to illegally entering the U.S. from Mexico in December 2023, according to court documents. He allegedly told investigators he was living in an El Paso apartment with five others when he met Nancy Cano "to install a glass door for her."
14 DETAINED IN ARMED AURORA, COLORADO HOME INVASION ARE LIKELY ILLEGAL GANG MEMBERS: POLICE
A look at the Doña Ana County Magistrate Court in Las Cruces, New Mexico. (Google Maps)
"He continued to do a few jobs for Nancy Cano, and after being evicted from the apartment in April, 2024, Nancy Cano offered her ‘casita' in the back of the residence she shared with her husband Joel Cano," court documents state.
The suspect made his first appearance in a Las Cruces court on March 3. During a detention hearing on March 14, U.S. Magistrate Judge Damian L. Martinez "asked Assistant United States Attorney ('AUSA') Maria Armijo if she knew Judge Cano."
When Armijo said she did not, Judge Martinez said he had met him outside the courtroom "several times," adding, "I don't think he would just let anybody live in his property."
Martinez ruled Ortega-Lopez "was not a flight risk or danger to the community" and ordered him to be released. On April 8, a motion was filed by an assistant U.S. attorney to reconsider Ortega-Lopez's pretrial release order.
Records from Doña Ana County Assessor's Office say the home Ortega-Lopez was arrested at is owned by both Nancy and Jose Cano, who goes by Joel.
Cano's resignation letter stated his last day on the job was March 21.
"All the best to everyone of you," Joel Cano wrote. "I wish all of you a happy retirement once you are ready yourself."
Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Joel Cano resigned in March, according to his resignation letter obtained by Fox News Digital. (iStock)
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The AOC spokesman told Fox News Digital via email that Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham "will appoint someone to fill the vacancy through the remainder of the judge's unexpired four-year term that runs until the end of 2026."
"The Supreme Court has scheduled an oral argument on April 24, which is public and will be live streamed, concerning Judge Cano," spokesman Barry Massey said.
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Meghan Bannister put on a dress for class, a choice befitting the warm weather in Tallahassee. Thursday stood out as her last day of class before graduation but by noon, the Florida State University senior had to grapple with the chilling reality of a gunman opening fire on the sprawling campus.
Bannister had been practicing active shooter drills since she was in fourth grade and had heard the horror stories from her friends who experienced the 2018 Parkland high school massacre. So, when they heard the shots, she and her classmates from all different states knew exactly what to do as the school went on lockdown.
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“We sent desks to either door, we sat up against the wall altogether. We held hands, the lights came off, we fell silent, we prayed. It's so sad that everyone knew how to act,” Bannister told CNN.
Students all over campus hid under desks, barricaded doors and texted loved ones as emergency sirens wailed in the background. Within four minutes after the first shot was fired, the suspected gunman, FSU student Phoenix Ikner, 20, was shot by police and taken into custody, authorities said.
Thousands of students and staff received emergency alerts about the attack and went into lockdown. Two men working near the student union were killed and five others were wounded in the shooting. Another person was injured while trying to run away, police said. The hospital declined to say whether Ikner was one of their patients.
Law enforcement officers responded just two minutes after the first 911 call reported the shooting, authorities said. University officials, along with law enforcement and school safety preparedness experts credit the rapid response from police and timely messages through the school's emergency alert system for preventing an even greater tragedy.
Students like Bannister agree the response time is what saved lives: “The fact there is no student that passed away is truly a miracle and remarkable, and that is all credited to Florida State.”
They followed the advice offered in the alerts as best they could but encountered a problem.
“Lock and stay away from all doors and windows and be prepared to take additional protective measures,” the FSU school alert said.
Bannister and her classmate Sarah Walker were inside a classroom on the second floor of the university's HCB building, which had a view of the student union. The room was located right at the top of the staircase, open to the hallway.
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As they went into lockdown, a classmate shouted to lock the doors at the front and the back of the classroom, Bannister recounted. The student who was standing at the door said in response: “These doors don't lock,” she said. “The response was, ‘What do you mean they don't lock?'”
Walker said their classmates broke down. “The fear in people's faces, the shaking and the crying started really badly in everyone after we realized there were no locks on the doors,” Walker said.
“The only thing I could think about was if the shooter wanted to enter a classroom building from where he was at the union, he could walk right in, to the top of the stairs. We are the first classroom. Any external person had access to that room,” Bannister said.
But a university spokesperson said classroom doors in the HCB building did automatically lock — from the outside.
“During a lockdown situation, like on April 17, doors in the HCB Building lock immediately as they are part of our electronic locking system that is centrally managed,” FSU spokesperson Amy Farnum-Patronis said in an email to CNN.
“During normal operations, the doors in HCB are on card-swipe access, so the rooms remain locked at all times, unless there is a scheduled class,” she wrote.
“If you are inside the room, you can still leave — you are not locked in, but potential threats are locked out,” Farnum-Patronis said.
“As they could open the door from the inside, the students may have been under the impression that the doors were unlocked.”
The spokesperson did not immediately respond to CNN's question about whether just the HCB classrooms or all campus classrooms lock from the outside (but not from the inside) during a lockdown.
Before the university inspected the locks and clarified how they work, Walker and Bannister organized a petition signed by nearly 30,000 people calling for working locks on all classroom doors.
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“No one should have to be in a classroom feeling unprotected during what was the most terrifying moment of our lives. This is a basic safety measure that can no longer be overlooked,” the petition says.
Many of the students sheltering in place across the campus who signed the petition said they endured similar anxiety, believing their classroom doors didn't lock.
FSU students in support of the petition shared similar experiences in the comments, saying working locks would have made them feel safer. They recalled watching faculty members attempt to lock the doors “before giving up and shutting the lights off,” watching their teacher check the doors before informing them “they don't lock,” or using their body weight and chairs to hold the door closed.
After learning the HCB building classrooms did lock from the outside, “all I can say is our friend that was in the bathroom that came back into our room to let us know about the situation before it hit all our phones was that she walked right in,” Walker wrote Monday in a text to CNN.
“I haven't been contacted by any FSU faculty. None of our professor's were under that impression. If that's the case we and thousands of other students had ZERO idea that was even occurring. The only way SWAT personally got into our room was our instructor opening the door for them,” Walker said.
“Regardless we should have been briefed on this as a student body and i'm shocked, if this is the case, that we haven't been informed.”
Walker said although the locks may have been locked from the outside, they are asking the university to equip all doors to be manually lockable from the inside.
Brian Higgins, who teaches emergency preparedness and response at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and consults several colleges for active shooter response, said locks are “an integral part of an active shooter response plan.”
Colleges and universities like FSU are more challenging to fully lock down due to the open nature of their campuses, compared to K-12 schools, which are typically more enclosed, according to Juliette Kayyem, a CNN national security analyst who works with schools on security planning. This can make them a soft target for such attacks, she said.
“It's a unique population. They have a tremendous amount of freedom … Classes that don't take attendance, they can sleep wherever they want,” Kayyem said. At the same time, parents and families represent the outside stakeholders who have a key interest in emergency situations like an active shooter, she added.
Another challenge is perimeter control because colleges and universities exist as open environments for classes, social activities and extracurriculars, Kayyem said. FSU's campus, for example, is roughly the size of 400 football fields.
“The idea of ‘safe,' can't exist in this environment, so what you do is try to make these universities safer,” Kayyem said, like controlling access to buildings, strong lines of communication, security planning and lockdown training. The goal, she added, is to fortify the campus with relatively easy, cost-effective ways to minimize the likelihood of a high fatality event.
The speedy police response to Thursday's shooting aligns with the commonly taught active shooter protocol established after the Columbine school shooting of 1999, when Colorado police waited roughly an hour after gunfire erupted in the school for SWAT teams to arrive, during which two young men killed 13 people.
“The active shooter training is different now. The first on the scene get in there, go to the sound of gunfire, neutralize the individual to avoid more people being seriously injured or killed,” said Charles Ramsey, former police chief of the Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia police departments.
Ramsey said of the police response to the FSU shooting: “It was absolutely incredible how fast they got there … Within two minutes, they arrived on the scene and were able to neutralize the individual to keep him from causing even more harm.”
In an active shooter response plan, security planning consultant Brian Higgins says, “there are no silver bullets,” as relying on a single protocol could lead to failure. “Even if they have all the locks working, it could be at that very moment in a panic somebody doesn't turn the handle all the way and the hatch doesn't catch,” he added.
FSU adopted a “Run, Hide, Fight” protocol similar to other schools in responding to an active shooter event, which involves a one-hour training class led by the campus police department's Crime Prevention Officers, according to its website.
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While no method is perfect, Kayyem said the quick dissemination of information through alert systems is vital for students to know where the biggest threat is coming from, so they know what actions to take. It includes the capacity to lock-in, she added.
“I felt powerless, so unsafe, so unsettled,” Walker said. Bannister said the anticipation of waiting for someone to enter the classroom, either the SWAT team or the shooter, was “the scariest and worst moment of my life.”
It never crossed their minds to check whether their classroom doors could lock, but now both Bannister and Walker say they will never again feel safe in a confined room without the protective measure.
The two students commended Florida State University for its response to the tragedy, offering psychological services and deadline extensions.
“You never think that this could happen to you,” said Bannister. “I wouldn't be able to get through this if it wasn't for them. I'm so proud to be a Seminole. We are unconquered.”
Walker agreed, saying she will always remember how her classmates banded together to stay strong and calm each other down.
“I just want to say how much I love my classmates. I'll never forget their faces,” Walker said through tears. “We just did the best we could in the moment. I'll never forget that classroom … I hope we all stay in touch for life after this.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled Sarah Walker's surname.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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The two Republican justices appeared open to an attack on Obamacare, but ultimately seemed likely to reject it.
by Ian Millhiser
On Monday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could lead health insurance plans to offer narrower coverage. The case, known as Kennedy v. Braidwood Management, challenges the authority of a group within the US Department of Health and Human Services tasked with requiring insurers to cover some forms of preventative care.
This body, known as the US Preventive Services Task Force (PSTF), has exercised its authority to mandate coverage of a wide range of treatments — from cancer screenings, to drugs that prevent transmission of the HIV virus, to eye ointments that prevent infections that cause blindness in infants. Notably, the PSTF was given this power by the Affordable Care Act, the landmark legislation signed by President Barack Obama, which Republican litigants frequently ask the courts to undermine.
Get the latest developments on the US Supreme Court from senior correspondent Ian Millhiser.
The plaintiffs, represented by former Donald Trump lawyer Jonathan Mitchell, want the justices to strip the PSTF of this authority — thus permitting health plans to deny coverage for treatments they are currently required to pay for.
Based on Monday's argument, it does not appear likely that Mitchell has the votes for that outcome. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito came out swinging against the PSTF, and Justice Neil Gorsuch appeared likely to join them in attempting to sabotage Obamacare. But they were the only three justices who clearly telegraphed sympathy to Mitchell's arguments.
Notably, Republican Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett both seemed inclined to vote against Mitchell, although their questions did leave some uncertainty about how they would ultimately rule in this case. All three of the Court's Democrats appeared all but certain to uphold the PSTF, so that means there may be at least five votes to preserve health insurers' obligations under Obamacare.
This case turns on a somewhat arcane issue involving the government's hiring and firing practices. The Constitution says that certain officials — under the Supreme Court's precedents, officials who wield significant authority — are “officers of the United States.” Officers that answer only to the president and who make final decisions on behalf of the government are considered “principal officers,” and must be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Meanwhile, lesser-ranking officials known as “inferior officers” may be appointed by an agency leader such as a Cabinet secretary.
Members of the PSTF were appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, so they do not qualify as principal officers. So the question in this case is whether they are validly classified as inferior officers. To qualify as such an official, their work must be supervised by a principal officer confirmed by the Senate. As the Supreme Court said in Edmond v. United States (1997), “‘inferior officers' are officers whose work is directed and supervised at some level by others who were appointed by Presidential nomination with the advice and consent of the Senate.”
The government's argument that PSTF members count as inferior officers is pretty straightforward. Every judge who has looked at this case so far has concluded that the health secretary may remove PSTF members at will. A statute permits the secretary to delay implementation of the PSTF's recommendations indefinitely. And the PSTF is part of the Public Health Service, which by statute is controlled by the assistant secretary for health (who is also a Senate-confirmed official), and by the secretary himself.
Mitchell, meanwhile, primarily relies on a provision of federal law which states that PSTF members “shall be independent and, to the extent practicable, not subject to political pressure.” Task force members, he claims, cannot simultaneously be “independent” and also subject to secretarial supervision.
But most of the justices appeared skeptical of Mitchell's reading of the word “independent.” Justice Sonia Sotomayor pointed out that she sometimes asks her law clerks for their “independent judgment” regarding a legal question she needs to decide, but that does not mean that she has to take the law clerk's recommendation, or that she can't fire the clerk.
Significantly, Barrett — who repeatedly described Mitchell's interpretation of the word “independent” as “maximalist” — seemed persuaded by Sotomayor's argument. As Barrett said at one point during the argument, she sometimes asks her law clerks to provide recommendations that are “independent” of outside influence, but not “independent” of Barrett's own approach to how cases should be decided.
Even more significantly, Barrett pointed to the doctrine of “constitutional avoidance,” which says that if there are multiple ways of construing a statute, courts should avoid reading it in ways that raise constitutional problems. Thus, if the word “independent” can be read in more than one way, the Court should pick an interpretation that doesn't render the PSTF unconstitutional.
Kavanaugh, meanwhile, asked some questions that suggest he might be sympathetic to Mitchell's approach; early in the argument, for example, he told Justice Department lawyer Hashim Mooppan that he thought the government's interpretation of the word “independent” was “odd.” But he seemed to shift gears once Mitchell took the podium.
Among other things, Kavanaugh noted that his Court is normally reluctant to read the law to create federal bodies that are independent of the government's normal organizational chart, where agency leaders answer to the president and nearly everyone else answers to an agency leader. Indeed, the Supreme Court is currently considering a case that could eliminate Congress's ability to create such independent agencies. So Kavanaugh appeared to believe that this statute should not be construed to make the PSTF independent from the secretary if it is possible to read it in another way.
Again, Kavanaugh and Barrett did hedge enough in their questions that it is not entirely clear how they will vote in this case. And Chief Justice John Roberts, a Republican who also sometimes breaks with the Court's right flank, was silent for most of the argument. So it is not at all clear where Roberts will come down in Kennedy v. Braidwood Management.
Still, based on Monday's argument, it appears possible, perhaps even likely, that the PSTF will survive.
Gorsuch, at one point, floated an alternative way of resolving this case. While every judge who has heard the case so far agreed that the secretary has the power to appoint and remove task force members, there's no statute which directly states that he can do so. Instead, that power is likely implicit in other provisions of law, such as the provision giving the secretary control over the Public Health Service.
Gorsuch suggested that the Court may send the case back down to the lower court to decide whether the secretary actually has the power to appoint and remove task force members. And Barrett, at one point, also signaled that she is open to sending the case back down in a procedure known as a “remand.”
If that happens, that would be bad news for the PSTF in the short term, because the case was previously heard by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the most right-wing court in the federal appellate system, and one, based on its past behavior, that is likely to be hostile to any statute associated with a Democratic president.
Still, even if the case is sent back down to the Fifth Circuit, and even if the Fifth Circuit does read federal law to undercut the PSTF, the Supreme Court can still review that decision once it is handed down. So a remand does not necessarily mean that health insurers will gain the power to deny coverage for cancer screenings or anti-HIV medication.
Again, given the course of Barrett and Kavanaugh's questioning, it's difficult to say with certainty how this case will end up. For the moment, however, one of two outcomes seem most likely: Either the Supreme Court holds off on deciding the PSTF's fate for now, or it votes to permanently rescue this body from Mitchell's attack.
Understand the world with a daily explainer plus the most compelling stories of the day, compiled by news editor Sean Collins.
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Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
“Andor” star Diego Luna says the “Star Wars” series' second season is “meticulous” in depicting the origins of a revolution. (April 21)
Diego Luna poses for a portrait to promote “Andor” on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Rebecca Cabage/Invision/AP)
Diego Luna poses for a portrait to promote “Andor” on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Rebecca Cabage/Invision/AP)
Diego Luna poses for a portrait to promote “Andor” on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Rebecca Cabage/Invision/AP)
Diego Luna poses for a portrait to promote “Andor” on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Rebecca Cabage/Invision/AP)
Tony Gilroy poses for a portrait to promote “Andor” on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Rebecca Cabage/Invision/AP)
Tony Gilroy poses for a portrait to promote “Andor” on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Rebecca Cabage/Invision/AP)
Tony Gilroy poses for a portrait to promote “Andor” on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Rebecca Cabage/Invision/AP)
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — “Andor” returns for its second season on Disney+ with a three-episode premiere Tuesday and the weight of the “Star Wars” galaxy seemingly on its shoulders.
But creator Tony Gilroy says he and his collaborators felt little pressure from Disney and Lucasfilm as they sought to tell the story of a growing revolutionary resentment against the Galactic Empire and the birth of the Rebel Alliance leading up to the events of the 2016 film he scripted, “Rogue One.”
“We took no creative notes on this show,” Gilroy, whose deep screenwriting resume also includes four films in the “Bourne” franchise and 2007 Oscar nominee “Michael Clayton,” which he also directed. He told The Associated Press that “I've never had this much freedom before, even in final-cut films that I worked on. The latitude was astonishing.”
The forthcoming season, whose production was delayed by Hollywood's 2023 strikes, are coming with high expectations from fans who have been disappointed in other recent “Star Wars” TV offerings, with no new movies released in the franchise in six years.
The new episodes trace how the spark lit in Diego Luna's Cassian Andor in the 2022 first season spreads through the galaxy. And they do it with characters and arcs rarely found in this realm before.
“This second season, it's about all the layers, and the social and political climate that needs to happen for a revolution to erupt, for a rebellion to exist,” Luna told the AP. “The universe of ‘Star Wars' never stopped to tell the story of these regular people that becomes crucial for the history that we know.”
Gilroy drew inspiration from a broad range of historical and fictional sources.
“Who's ever going to get another chance to do another 1,500 pages on revolution again, with this much money and this much muscle, and everything else?” he said.
But as epic as the story is, its most essential moments are marked by intimate, one-on-one conversations.
“I start small,” Gilroy said. “I work teaspoon by teaspoon.”
That includes a season-opening scene that starts with Cassian giving a young imperial mechanic the courage to help him in a major heist. He sells her on the ecstatic feelings of destiny rebellion can bring.
“It's quite beautiful and idealistic also, like a revolution has to be, It's a great reminder of how romantic the idea of revolution is,” Luna said.
Cast members say it can feel revolutionary working for Gilroy, who passes on the same freedom to them that Disney gives to him. They're never kept in the dark with the sort of script-rationing and secret-keeping that are the norm in major franchises.
“He doesn't believe in withholding information as power,” said Adria Arjona, who plays Andor's partner Bix Caleen. “Before I read episode one, I knew the end. It's just unheard-of.”
Her character's arc in particular brings real-world elements including addiction and even darker forms of trauma unlike anything “Star Wars” has shown before.
Gilroy said he didn't have to fight over the galaxy's canon at all. He had to get used to certain elements when he first worked within the franchise — no paper, no hinged doors, no knives, for example. But it's not necessarily held as sacred.
“I've seen canon stretch so much,” he said. “It was really tight on ‘Rogue.' But a lot of things have changed since then.”
The overall direction of the show was basically determined when work began on the series five years ago.
“I know what I'm doing with Cassian,” Gilroy said. “I know that the first year is the making of a revolutionary and the road to Damascus, that's the first year, I know I'm leading to Rogue, I know where he's gonna end up.”
Other elements, like the route Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) takes from respectable senator to leader of the rebellion, were not predetermined. They were discovered in the writing and in the performances.
Her early-season path includes a wedding ceremony full of rituals — and dances — new to “Star Wars” that Gilroy invented out of whole cloth. He said one of the pleasures of getting to make something so large and sprawling is that he has gotten to use nearly every writing thought he has had.
“All I did for five years was just max out my imagination,” Gilroy said.
Mothma is among the “Rogue One” characters who appeared in the first season and return for the second, along with Forest Whittaker's radical rebel Saw Gerrera, who this season gives a spine-tingling call to arms that is teased in the trailer: “Revolution,” he preaches to an underling, “is not for the sane!”
Season 2 also sees the emergence of “Rogue One” characters for the first time in the TV series, including Andor's droid sidekick K-250, played by Alan Tudyk, and Death Star builder Orson Krennic, played by Ben Mendelsohn.
Luna took special pleasure in the return of Tudyk and his robot who speaks with no filter.
“I had so much fun playing with him, and having him back means a lot,” he said.
The three episodes dropping Tuesday gel to form what's basically a 2 1/2 hour movie, with Cassian stuck among rival rebel factions, Bix living in a farming community amid an imperial crackdown, and Mon Mothma having to play the patrician matriarch at her daughter's wedding, before all three are pulled in new directions.
The entire series has been planned in those kinds of clusters.
“We really think of it that we made eight movies in five years,” Gilroy said.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
In this July 31, 2019, file photo, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference following a two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance pause near the Oval Office after and event to welcome the 2025 College Football National Champions, the Ohio State University football team on the South Lawn of the White House, April 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump repeated his attacks Monday against the chair of the Federal Reserve, demanding that the central bank lower its key interest rate to boost the economy.
Trump called Powell “a major loser” and said that energy and grocery prices are “substantially lower” and “there is virtually No Inflation.” Yet Trump said the economy could slow without rate cuts.
Gas prices have fallen for the past two months, in part because oil costs have dropped on fears of slower growth, but food prices jumped in January and March and overall inflation remains above the Fed's 2% target.
Trump's comments drove the stock market and the dollar lower as investors in the U.S. and overseas grow increasingly wary about the economic standing of the U.S. On Friday, a top White House adviser said the administration is studying whether it can fire Powell, a move that would undermine the Fed's independence and likely send shock waves through global financial markets.
The stock market, which fell immediately at the opening bell Monday, tumbled further after Trump's post, with Dow dropping by more than 1,000 points and the broad S&P 500 stock index falling nearly 3% in mid-day trading. The dollar fell to a three-year low.
The Federal Reserve was established as an independent agency and most economists think central banks that are free of political interference do a better job at keeping inflation in check. Otherwise, it would be harder for the Fed to take unpopular steps to keep prices down, such as raising interest rates.
The interest rate on 10-year Treasuries has been rising as Trump rolled out aggressive tariff policies against trading partners and continues to attack Powell and the Federal Reserve. The interest rate ticked higher again on Monday to 4.37%.
The dollar losing value is unusual when stock prices fall and Treasury yields rise because investors typically buy U.S. government bonds during market turmoil, driving down the yield. Instead, investors appear to be avoiding U.S. markets due to the perception of rising risk.
Trump also criticized Powell for being “too late” to move on interest rates. Powell and other Fed officials have long acknowledged that they waited too long to raise rates when inflation was first ignited in 2021.
But right now, Powell has underscored that the Fed faces a potentially “challenging scenario.” Trump's tariffs could worsen inflation, and the Fed would typically respond to rising prices by keeping its rate elevated, or even raising it. Yet the economy could also slow because of the duties, which the Fed would normally seek to counter with rate cuts.
“Our tool only does one of those two things at the same time,” Powell said last week.
As a result, Powell has underscored that the Fed will stay on the sidelines as it waits to see how the tariff policies play out.
Trump lashed out at Powell on Friday and said he could fire him if he wanted, though it would likely touch off a legal battle that could go to the Supreme Court. Powell has said the president lacks the authority to fire him and has made clear he won't step down until his term ends in May 2026.
Kevin Hassett, director of the White House's National Economic Council, when asked Friday whether firing Powell is an option, said that Trump “and his team will continue to study that matter.” Hassett also accused Powell of acting politically.
Trump made a similar claim in his Truth Social post, accusing the Fed chair of cutting rates last year “in order to help Sleepy Joe Biden, later Kamala, get elected.” The Fed reduced its key rate three times in late 2024 as inflation cooled and out of concern that hiring was also slowing, though it later rebounded.
On Sunday, Republican Sen. John Kennedy from Louisiana defended Powell on NBC's “Meet the Press” and added that, “I don't think the president, any president, has the right to remove the Federal Reserve chairman.”
“The Federal Reserve ought to be independent,” he said.
Also Sunday, Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve's Chicago branch, said on CBS' “Face the Nation” that undermining the Federal Reserve's independence could lead to higher inflation, slower economic growth, and less hiring.
And William English, an economist at the Yale School of Management and a former senior Fed staffer, said Trump's attacks on the Fed aren't “going to make the American people better off over time.”
“They'll end up in all likelihood with higher inflation, and that is not something that people want,” he said.
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Legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson criticized the league for scheduling games on Christian holidays in a rare post on social media on Sunday.
Jackson, an 11-time NBA champion as a coach and two-time champion as a player, posted the criticism on Easter Sunday, when the league had four games in the first round of the NBA Playoffs scheduled.
Phil Jackson of the New York Knicks during the NBA Draft Combine Day 2 at the Quest Multisport Center on May 12, 2017, in Chicago. (Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)
"Again the NBA tests faith by playing multiple games on Christmas and Easter… sacred days," the post on X read.
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The post was Jackson's first in over a year, but his criticism of the NBA is not unique.
In 2023, Jackson made headlines when he said he stopped watching the NBA following the COVID-19 pandemic because the league had gotten too political.
"They went into the lockout year, and they did something that was kind of wonky. They did a bubble down in Orlando, and all the teams that could qualify went down there, and stayed down there," he said at the time during an appearance on the "Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin" podcast.
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green greets fans after winning Game 1 of first-round playoff series against the Rockets in Houston, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
POPE FRANCIS' DEATH PROMPTS TOP ITALIAN SOCCER LEAGUE TO POSTPONE MATCHES AS TRIBUTES POUR IN
"And they had things on their backs like ‘Justice.' I made a little funny thing like, 'Justice just went to the basket and Equal Opportunity just knocked him down.'... So, my grandkids thought that was pretty funny to play up those names. So, I couldn't watch that."
Jackson was referring to the NBA allowing players to wear social justice messages on the backs of their jerseys during the bubble in Orlando. He added at the time that he felt the league was catering to a "certain audience."
"They didn't know it was turning other people off. People want to see sports as non-political."
Former Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson during a news conference at the Lakers training facility on May 11, 2011, in El Segundo, California. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
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The NBA and NFL continue to compete for viewership on Christmas Day. This year, the NFL announced that three games will be played on the holiday following the success of last season's double-header on Netflix.
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Paulina Dedaj is a Sports Reporter for Fox News Digital.
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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said “disgruntled” former employees who were fired last week were behind the news that he allegedly shared sensitive information in a second, unreported Signal group chat.
“What a big surprise that a few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out,” he said Monday morning at the White House's Easter Egg Roll.
It was Hegseth's first public comments since the New York Times reported Sunday that he shared similar information about the United States's intended military operations in Yemen against the Houthis in a second Signal group chat allegedly including his wife and brother. His brother Phil has a job at the Department of Defense.
While Hegseth said the people behind the story were “disgruntled former employees,” he did not directly deny the existence of the group chat and whether he shared information about the strikes in it.
“This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations. Not going to work with me,” he said.
Last week, three Pentagon officials — senior adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll, chief of staff to the deputy secretary of defense — were fired following an investigation into media leaks, though the three have denied that they leaked information to the media.
HOW SECURE IS SIGNAL? GROUP CHAT SNAFU RAISES QUESTIONS OVER APP SECURITY
In a joint statement, the fired officials said they were “incredibly disappointed” by how their service ended.
“We understand the importance of information security and work every day to protect it. At this time, we still have not been told what exactly we were investigated for, if there is still an active investigation, or if there was even a real investigation of ‘leaks' to begin with,” they said.
On Sunday, former interim Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot wrote an op-ed for Politico — an outlet he kicked out of its designated seat in the Pentagon press corps — in which he described the last month as a “month from hell” in the department.
“It's been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon,” he said. “Even strong backers of the secretary like me must admit: The last month has been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon — and it's becoming a real problem for the administration.”
HEGSETH POSTED YEMEN STRIKE DETAILS IN SECOND SIGNAL CHAT: REPORT
“President Donald Trump has a strong record of holding his top officials to account,” Ullyot added. “Given that, it's hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer.”
Following the story, the White House said President Donald Trump stands behind Hegseth.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Pope Francis has died. He was history's first Latin American pontiff who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change. He was 88.
Pope Francis, history's first Latin American pontiff who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change, died Monday. He was 88.
What to know:
▶ Sigue nuestra cobertura en vivo sobre la muerte del papa
Nigeria is Africa's most populous country and is home to around 30 million Catholics, roughly 14% of the country's population.
President Bola Tinubu, who is Muslim, said Pope Francis was “a steadfast advocate for the developing world.”
“He challenged the powerful to act with justice, called nations to welcome the stranger, and reminded us that our common home—this Earth—is a gift we must protect for future generations,” Tinubu said in a post on X.
After his 38-day hospital stay, Francis stopped by the basilica on his way home on March 23, delivering flowers to be placed before the icon of the Virgin Mary.
He returned on April 12 to pray before the Madonna for the last time.
Faithful gather in front of St. Mary Major Basilica where Pope Francis presided over a procession on the Catholic festivity of Corpus Domini (Body of the Lord), in Rome, Sunday, June 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, file)
Francis wanted to be buried not in St. Peter's Basilica or its grottoes under the Vatican — where most popes are buried — but in the St. Mary Major Basilica across town in Rome.
His choice reflects his veneration of an icon of the Virgin Mary located there, the Salus Populi Romani (Salvation of the people of Rome).
After every foreign trip, Francis would go to the basilica to pray before the Byzantine-style painting that features an image of Mary, draped in a blue robe, holding the infant Jesus who in turn holds a jeweled golden book.
Pope Francis simplified the funeral rituals last year to emphasize his role as a mere bishop and allowing for burial outside the Vatican in keeping with his wishes.
▶ Read more about the pope's upcoming funeral and burial
Pope Francis bestows the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and to the world) blessing from the central lodge of St. Peter's Basilica at the end of the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis appears on the central lodge of St. Peter's Basilica to bestow the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and to the world) blessing at the end of the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis tours St. Peter's Square in his popemobile after bestowing the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and to the world) blessing at the end of the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pope Francis appears on the central lodge of St. Peter's Basilica to bestow the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and the world) blessing at the end of the Easter mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025. Francis died Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis appears on the central lodge of St. Peter's Basilica to bestow the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and to the world) blessing at the end of the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pope Francis tours the crowd at the end of the Easter mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025. Francis died Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis bestows the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and to the world) blessing from the central lodge of St. Peter's Basilica at the end of the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis, left, appears on the central lodge of St. Peter's Basilica to bestow the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and to the world) blessing at the end of the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis tours the crowd at the end of the Easter mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025. Francis died Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis appears on the central lodge of St. Peter's Basilica to bestow the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and the world) blessing at the end of the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pope Francis, left, sips water as he appears at the central lodge of St. Peter's Basilica to bestow the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and to the world) blessing at the end of the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis appears on the central lodge of St. Peter's Basilica to bestow the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and the world) blessing at the end of the Easter mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Faithful attend the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis appears on the central lodge of St. Peter's Basilica to bestow the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and the world) blessing at the end of the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pope Francis appears on the central lodge of St. Peter's Basilica to bestow the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and to the world) blessing at the end of the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
In the short text, Pope Francis decreed he would be buried in a simple underground tomb — with only “Franciscus” written on it — at St. Mary Major Basilica, home to Francis' favorite icon of the Virgin Mary, to whom he was particularly devoted.
Francis thanked those who prayed for him and asked for continued prayers.
“The suffering that became present in the latter part of my life I offered it to the Lord for world peace and brotherhood among peoples,” he concluded.
The will was dated June 29, 2022.
The Vatican says Pope Francis died of a cerebral stroke that put him into a coma and led to irreversible heart failure. The death was confirmed Monday by Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, the head of the Vatican's health department.
In a statement, he noted that Francis also suffered from episodes of respiratory insufficiency and had had bilateral pneumonia, as well as type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Francis died Monday at 7:35 a.m.
The prime duty of the all-male corps, with its colorful uniforms and plumed helmets, is to protect the pope. The members stand guard during papal ceremonies as well as at the various entrances of the Vatican — a tiny, independent walled city-state near Rome's Tiber River.
The Catholic archbishop of Mexico City, Carlos Aguiar Retes, highlighted Pope Francis' devotion toward Our Lady of Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico's more than 100 million Catholics.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote on X that the pope “leaves behind a great legacy of true love for one's neighbors.”
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who received the pope four years ago in a historic meeting, said Francis was “greatly respected by all for his distinguished role in serving the causes of peace and tolerance, and for expressing solidarity with the oppressed and persecuted across the globe.”
As the sun sets over St. Peter's Square, the Vatican has begun a Rosary prayer for Francis, who died after offering his final blessing from the square on Easter Sunday.
Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, led the Vatican's first public commemoration following the pope's death.
At the start of the Rosary, Gambetti bowed before an icon of the Madonna as a choir sang.
The first reading was delivered by Sister Raffaella Petrini, the president of the Vatican City State and one of the highest ranking women at the Vatican, whose appointment was a sign of his insistance that women be given more prominent, decision-making roles.
The South Sudan Council of Churches says it remembers with gratitude Francis' visit to the country and his “dedicated efforts to promote healing and unity among our leaders.”
The pope once famously knelt and kissed the feet of rivals President Salva Kiir and deputy Riek Machar, which the council called “a profound act of humility.”
Tensions continue, however, recently raising fears of a return to civil war.
To mourn Pope Francis, the Home Ministry said the Indian flag would be flown at half mast on government buildings nationwide for the next two days as well as the day of pontiff's funeral. There will also be no official entertainment activities.
India has roughly 30 million Christians, about 2.3% of the country's population.
A portrait of Pope Francis is displayed for the people to offer their respects, following the announcement of his death, during a multi-faith assembly at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi, India, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Piyush Nagpal)
Russian President Vladimir Putin says “the pope has done a lot of good not only for his flock, but also for the entire world.”
He noted in televised remarks that Pope Francis passed away immediately after Easter, suggesting, “This is a special sign that the person has lived their life not in vain and has done a lot of good.”
All professional matches in Argentina are postponed for a day due to the pope's death, the country's soccer body AFA said.
The games moved to Tuesday will be preceded by a minute of silence to mourn Francis, who was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires before being elected pope.
Games in Italy have also been postponed.
The U.S. House Speaker Emerita from California said it was a high honor to attend Pope Francis' installation in 2013 and to be in the House chamber during his historic address to the Congress in 2015.
“In San Francisco, we take special pride in Pope Francis, as he shares the namesake of our City and honors the call of our anthem, the Song of Saint Francis, to be an ‘instrument of peace,'” Pelosi said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, talks to Pope Francis after a group photo at the G7 in Borgo Egnazia, near Bari in southern Italy, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
FILE - US President Barack Obama, left, meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican, Thursday, March 27, 2014. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
FILE - Pope Francis walks next to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the occasion of a private audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, June 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, Pool, file)
Pope Francis waves as he sits beside Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after the family photo, at the G7 summit, Friday, June 14, 2024, in Borgo Egnazia, near Bari, southern Italy. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Pope Francis, left, greets U.S. President Joe Biden during a working session on AI, Energy, Africa and Mideast at the G7 summit, in Borgo Egnazia, near Bari in southern Italy, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Upper row from left, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Mathias Cormann, African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina, European Council President Charles Michel, Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and front row from left, Argentina's President Javier Milei, Kenya President William Ruto, U.S. President Joe Biden, Mauritania President and African Union Chairperson Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Pope Francis and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni pose for a group photo the G7 in Borgo Egnazia, near Bari in southern Italy, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Ivanka Trump, first lady Melania Trump, and President Donald Trump stand with Pope Francis during a meeting, Wednesday, May 24, 2017, at the Vatican. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Pope Francis meets Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, during a private audience at the Vatican, Tuesday, April 4, 2017. The heir to the British throne is on a three-country trip seen as an effort to reassure European Union nations that Britain remains a close ally despite its impending departure from the bloc. (L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP)
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Francis leaves behind “a legacy of faith, service and compassion for all — especially those left on the margins of life or trapped by the horrors of conflict.”
Guterres said the United Nations was greatly inspired by his message during a visit to U.N. headquarters in 2015, supporting the organization's ideal of “a united human family.”
President Donald Trump says he signed an executive order lowering U.S. flags at half-staff in recognition of the passing of Pope Francis.
“He was a good man,” Trump said. “He loved the world and it's an honor to do that.”
Marathon runners and spectators in Boston shared their reactions Monday to the death of Pope Francis.
Pope Francis receives U.S. Vice President JD Vance, left, at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP, HO)
One of Pope Francis' final encounters before his death was with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who visited the Vatican over the weekend.
The meeting took place on Easter Sunday. Vance, a Catholic convert, entered the room and reached down for the pope's hand. “Hello,” the vice president said. “So good to see you.”
Vance's visit was not without political sensitivities, and he met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin on Saturday for what the Vatican described as “an exchange of opinions.” The Catholic Church, under Francis' leadership, has championed the rights of migrants, while Vance and President Donald Trump have advocated for crackdowns.
Vance's office said the vice president and the cardinal “discussed their shared religious faith, Catholicism in the United States, the plight of persecuted Christian communities around the world, and President Trump's commitment to restoring world peace.”
▶ Read more about Pope Francis and Vance's meeting
Argentines gathered in Buenos Aires for a Mass following Pope Francis's death at the age o88 on Monday. (AP video by Victor Caivano)
Francis' address to Congress came at a pivotal moment in bitterly divided Washington in 2015.
He called on American lawmakers to create a “culture of care” in welcoming immigrants, protecting the environment and sharing the nation's wealth with those less fortunate.
Afterward, the pope spoke from a Capitol balcony, greeting thousands with “buenos dias.” He had been invited by the U.S. House then-embattled Republican speaker, John Boehner, himself a Catholic, who teared up at times, and announced his own resignation the next day.
Pope Francis leaves at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday May 15, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who chose the name of Pope Francis, waves to the crowd from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica after being elected 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, file)
Argentina's Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio gives a Mass outside the San Cayetano church where an Argentine flag hangs behind in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, Aug. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, file)
This undated file photo made available by Maria Helena Bergoglio shows Jorge Mario Bergoglio as a teenager in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Bergoglio family photo via AP, File)
This undated handout reproduction photo made available by Maria Elena Bergoglio, shows Jorge Mario Bergoglio, left, and his brother Oscar, posing for a photo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Bergoglio family photo via AP, File)
Pope Francis presides over the Via Crucis – or Way of the Cross – ceremony in St. Peter's Square, empty of the faithful following Italy's ban on gatherings to contain the COVID-19 contagion, at the Vatican, Friday, April 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, file)
People wave to Pope Francis as he leaves the Metropolitan Cathedral, in route to the airport in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, file)
Pope Francis waves from the popemobile after arriving to El Alto International airport in El Alto, Bolivia, Wednesday, July 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, file)
Pope Francis prays at Israel's separation barrier on his way to a mass in Manger Square next to the Church of the Nativity, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Sunday, May 25, 2014. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, file)
Flanked by Panama's President Juan Carlos Varela, right, and first lady Lorena Castillo, Pope Francis arrives at the foreign ministry headquarters Palacio Bolivar, in Panama City, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, file)
Pope Francis attends a prayer on the occasion of the World Day of the Creation's care in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca, File)
Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio leads a mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, file)
Pope Francis leaves at the end of his weekly general audience, in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, file)
Pope Francis greets faithful after celebrating Mass on the occasion of the Migrant and Refugee World Day, in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, file)
This undated handout reproduction of a photo made available by Maria Elena Bergoglio, shows the Bergoglio family as they pose for a portrait, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Top row, from left; Maria Elena, Regina Sivori, Alberto, Jorge Mario, Oscar, Marta and her husband Enrique Navaja. Bottom row, from right; Mario, Maria de Bergoglio and Juan. Mario and Regina were the parents of Jorge Mario, Maria Elena, Oscar, Marta and Alberto. Juan and Maria were Mario Bergoglio's parents, Jorge Mario's paternal grandparents. (Bergoglio family photo via AP, File)
Pope Francis attends an interreligious meeting with young people at the Catholic Junior College in Singapore, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, file)
Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who chose the name of Pope Francis, looks out to the crowd from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica after being elected 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, file)
Pope Francis exchanges his skull cap with one presented by a participant in the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
Pope Francis meets with US President Donald Trump and First lady Melania Trump on the occasion of their private audience, at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool, file)
Pope Francis puts on an indigenous headdress during a meeting with Indigenous communities, including First Nations, Metis and Inuit, at Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Catholic Church in Maskwacis, near Edmonton, Canada, Monday, July 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)
▶ See more photos of the life of Pope Francis
In Francis' hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentines gathered for Mass. Some cried. “I think he was a rebel. He may have been contradictory, but that was nice, too,” said worshipper Catalina Favaro.
Bishop Jorge García Cuerva told those gathered that “the pope of everyone has died. The pope of all humanity who insisted one and a thousand times that there must be room for everyone.”
The pope's beloved soccer team — Buenos Aires club San Lorenzo, who nickname is “The Saints” — wrote “Goodbye, Holy Father” on its website. The team won the national championship in 2013, the year Francis was elected pope.
The death of a pope initiates a centuries' old ritual to elect a new pontiff
The historic Sigismund Bell in Krakow, Poland, which is reserved only for the most national important events, rang out to mark the death of Francis.
But across mostly Catholic Poland, the death of Francis was met with nothing like the outpouring of grief when the Polish-born Pope John Paul II died 20 years ago. People then flooded the streets and filled churches in grief at the loss of a spiritual leader and a national hero – a man credited with helping bring about the fall of communism.
“I am better for having known him,” Biden, a Catholic who regularly attends Mass, wrote on X, where he described him as “the People's Pope.”
The former president's political agenda overlapped with Francis' vision for the Catholic Church, including a focus on environmental protection. They met at the Vatican in 2021 at a time when some conservatives thought Biden shouldn't be allowed to receive Communion because of his support for abortion.
Biden planned to visit Francis one more time before leaving office, but the trip was canceled because of devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area. He instead awarded the pope with the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a phone call.
Pope Francis appealed for peace in Gaza and Ukraine as well as other conflict hotspots, in his Easter speech. The address was delivered by Archbishop Diego Ravelli, Vatican master of liturgical ceremonies. (AP production by Silvia Stellacci)
Gianni Infantino, president of soccer's world governing body FIFA, noted the pope's love for soccer and said that “all the prayers of the whole football world are with him.”
Genali Nogales touches a painting of the late Pope Francis at the Basílica de San José de Flores, where he worshipped as a youth, following the Vatican's announcement of his death in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
Journalists report from the Cathedral in Buenos Aires, Argentina, following the passing of Pope Francis on Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
A shop owner places a black ribbon over a photo of the late Pope Francis after the news of his death at age 88, in Bethlehem, West Bank, on Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Copies of Pope Francis' autobiography book in the Korean language are displayed at Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A woman sits on the steps of the Wangfujing Catholic Church also known as East Church in Beijing, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
A nun during a special Easter Monday Mass at St Andrew's RC Metropolitan Cathedral in Glasgow, Scotland, Monday April 21, 2025, following the announcement by the Vatican of the death of Pope Francis. (Jane Barlow/PA Wire/PA via AP)
People pray next to a photograph of Pope Francis placed at Cathedral Basilica of Vilnius, Lithuania, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
Specialist Gennaro Saporito joins others on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to observe a Moment of Silence for the passing of Pope Francis, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
People light candles inside Notre Dame cathedral Monday, April 21, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
A parishioner prays at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Monday, April 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
An Indian artist Sagar Kambli makes a painting of Pope Francis as a mark of tribute on a sidewalk in Mumbai, India, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Catholic monks pray at San Francisco Church during a Mass in memory of the late Pope Francis after the news of his death, in Antigua, Guatemala, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
A woman prays during a mass at the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption which visited Pope Francis visited in 2024, in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
Issa Kassissieh touches a photo of the late Pope Francis, which he placed in Jerusalem's Old City following news of the pontiff's death at age 88, on Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune called Francis an “immense personality” and said he “wrote his name in golden letters in modern history.”
Though Christians have been increasingly targeted for proselytizing in Muslim-majority Algeria, the Catholic Church enjoys official recognition. Tebboune met Vatican officials when they visited on behalf of Francis in 2022, touring sites including the monastery where a group of Trappist monks were killed during the country's civil war.
Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle said Francis was “the rare leader who made us want to be better people.
“In his humility and his gestures at once simple and profound — embracing the sick, ministering to the homeless, washing the feet of young prisoners — he shook us out of our complacency and reminded us that we are all bound by moral obligations to God and one another,” the Obamas said in a statement.
Any baptized Catholic male is eligible, though only cardinals have been selected since 1378. The winner must receive at least two-thirds of the vote from those cardinals under age 80 and thus eligible to participate.
Here's a look at a few of the possible candidates:
Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo is interviewed by The Associated Press, in Budapest, on Thursday, April 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, file)
Erdo, 72, the archbishop of Budapest and primate of Hungary, was twice elected head of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences, in 2005 and 2011, suggesting he enjoys the esteem of European cardinals who make up the biggest voting bloc of electors.
Cardinal Reinhard Marx gives a press statement in Munich, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP)
Marx, 71, the archbishop of Munich and Freising, was chosen by Francis as a key adviser in 2013. Marx later was named to head the council overseeing Vatican finances during reforms and belt-tightening.
Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet attends a Mass inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, on March 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Ouellet, 80, of Canada, led the Vatican's influential bishops office for over a decade, overseeing the key clearinghouse for potential candidates to head dioceses around the world.
▶ Read more about who could succeed Pope Francis
The death of a pope starts a centuries-old ritual involving sacred oaths by the cardinals electing a successor, the piercing of ballots with a needle and thread after they're counted, and then burning them to produce either the white or black smoke to signal if there's a new leader for the world's 1.3 billion Catholics.
Here's a look at the process:
After the pope has died, the camerlengo, or chamberlain, must certify the death and seal the papal apartment. He runs administrative and financial duties of the Holy See until a new pope takes over.
The largely ceremonial job of camerlengo is currently held by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Irish-born American head of the Vatican's laity office, who also announced the death on Monday morning.
The death of a pope begins a precise sequence of events that include the confirmation of death in the pontiff's home, the transfer of the coffin to St. Peter's Basilica for public viewing, a funeral Mass and burial. Interment must take place between the fourth and sixth day after his death.
After the funeral, there are nine days of official mourning, known as the “novendiali.”
During this period, the cardinals arrive in Rome. To give everyone time to assemble, the conclave must begin 15-20 days after the “sede vacante” is declared, although it can start sooner if the cardinals agree.
Only cardinals under age 80 are eligible to vote. Current regulations notionally limit the number of electors to 120, but popes have often exceeded that ceiling. According to the most recently updated Vatican statistics, there were 135 cardinals under age 80 and eligible to vote. Cardinals over age 80 can be elected pope.
Those over 80 can't vote but can participate in pre-conclave meetings, known as general congregations, in which church problems are discussed. It was in these meetings in 2013 that then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio spoke about the need for the church to go to the “existential peripheries” to find those who suffer — an off-the-cuff speech that helped his election.
▶ Read more about how the next pope will be chosen
“Where Francis had supreme power, he refused to make the necessary changes,” said Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of the U.S.-based group BishopAccountability.
David Clohessy, former national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, noted the pope's “prompt and impressive action” on other matters but said the pope's “genial personality and warm demeanor distracted many from the unhealthy and still essentially unaddressed structural and cultural flaws in the church that cause kids to keep being hurt.”
In a message of condolences following Francis' death Monday, Mattarella focused on what Francis decided to do on Easter Sunday, when he appeared on the same loggia where he first was introduced to the world after his 2013 election, and delivered the Easter Urbi et Orbi blessing (Latin for “to the city and the world”).
After delivering the blessing, Francis delighted the crowd of some 35,000 people with a long loops of greeting from his popemobile.
Pope Francis tours St. Peter's Square in his popemobile after bestowing the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and to the world) blessing at the end of the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
“One thought stands out over everything — what he decided to do yesterday — on Easter, with his blessing to the world and his tour of the square among the faithful, with his final reminder of the principle of humanity as the criterion of conduct for each person,” Mattarella said. “Today it appears as a greeting to the church, to women and men around the world.”
Pope Francis has died. He was history's first Latin American pontiff who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change. He was 88.
The period will start on Tuesday, Justice Minister Félix Bolaños said on Monday.
Bolaños on X called Francis a “good man and a great Pope” and praised his defense of the weak, saying that Francis's “reformist” 12-year papacy would “leave a great legacy in the Church and in the world.”
The pope visited Africa five times, acknowledging the strong growth of the Catholic Church there. He often spoke about issues at the heart of the region, from climate change to marginalization.
The pope was “very unambiguous in telling world powers to stop exploiting Africans,” said the Rev. Michael Nsikak Umoh, spokesperson for the Nigerian bishops' association.
In Congo, where pope visited in 2023 to demand that foreign powers stop plundering Africa's natural resources, Abbé Camille Esika in the capital, Kinshasa, said Francis “wanted to be the voice of the voiceless.”
The South African Catholic Bishops' Conference has encouraged all Catholics to pray for those choosing his successor.
The Pope's last day, Easter Sunday, was marked by an appearance on the Loggia balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, meeting the faithful in the piazza below, and a private meeting with U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
Pope Francis died Monday. He was 88. His last public appearances, on Easter Sunday, were marked by a speech from the Loggia balcony and a meeting with crowds outside St. Peter's Basilica.
In an appearance on Fox News, Karoline Leavitt pointed to President Donald Trump's statement about the pope's passing and added that the pope “touched millions of lives throughout his tenure as the head of the Catholic Church and so it's a solemn day for Catholics around the world and we are praying for all those who loved the pope and believed in him.”
A woman holds a picture of Pope Francis reading in Italian “Farewell Francis, thank you His Holiness, today all the people cry for you” in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican after Cardinal Camerlengo Kevin Joseph Farrell announced the death of Pope Francis, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
The date will be confirmed when cardinals gather Tuesday morning, for the first time since Francis' death, to make the first decisions about funeral plans and other urgent matters.
Francis' coffin will be moved from the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta hotel, where he lived, to St. Peter's Basilica for public viewing.
According to a new ritual Francis approved last year, the body of the pope will be placed in a wooden coffin, with a zinc coffin inside. The pope will be dressed in red liturgical vestments, his miter — the traditional headdress of bishops — and the pallium woolen stole, a kind of scarf.
When the body is brought into the basilica, the Litany of Saints chant is sung. The camerlengo, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, leads the procession.
In a change ordered by Francis, the pope's body will no longer placed on an elevated bier in the basilica. Rather, the simplified wooden coffin is placed facing the pews, with the Pasqual candle nearby.
No date for the funeral has been announced, but it must be held between four and six days after the death.
The Vatican said they met for a few minutes at the Domus Santa Marta “to exchange Easter greetings.” Vance and the pope have tangled sharply over migration and the Trump administration's plans to deport migrants en masse.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism — an umbrella group for more than 800 Reform synagogues in North America -- said the relationship between the Catholic and Jewish communities flourished under Francis.
“He honored the shared heritage of our faiths and took meaningful steps to heal historical wounds, reinforcing a path toward mutual respect and collaboration,” he said.
He said the group especially appreciated Francis's consistent calls for dialogue and mutual respect between Israelis and Palestinians, emphasizing the necessity of a two-state solution that ensures security and self-determination for both.
“In Jewish tradition, when a righteous soul dies, we say, based on Proverbs 10:7, ‘The memory of the righteous is a blessing.' With Pope Francis, we are certain that his memory will be a source of inspiration to all people of faith as we continue his extraordinary life's work of building a world rooted in love, justice, and peace.”
President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social: “Rest in Peace Pope Francis! May God Bless him and all who loved him!”
The Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has offered prayers and condolences for Francis to his spiritual brothers, sisters and followers around the world.
He said in a letter that Francis had dedicated himself to the service of others, “consistently revealing by his own actions how to live a simple, but meaningful life. The best tribute we can pay to him is to be a warm-hearted person, serving others wherever and in whatever way we can.”
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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Scores of foreign students across the country are included in a pair of sweeping lawsuits that allege the Trump administration unlawfully stripped them of their legal status amid a broader crackdown on immigration.
By CNN's tally, more than 1,000 students and graduates have had their visas or statuses revoked, undermining their ability to remain in the US and continue their studies. Cases have ranged from high-profile instances involving alleged support of terror organizations to relatively minor offenses, like years-old misdemeanors.
While some affected students have brought individual cases, at least two federal lawsuits filed in courts in Georgia and New Hampshire aim to represent large swaths of students at once – more than a hundred in each.
“I can file 133 lawsuits, but I think the court wouldn't be happy about that, so we're filing one,” Charles Kuck, the attorney for one of the cases and former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told CNN Sunday. Lawyers are expensive; grouping the cases together, Kuck said, made it possible for the plaintiffs to afford representation while ensuring his firm, Kuck Baxter, could litigate the case.
The state affiliates of the American Civil Liberties Union have also championed the cases.
Both cases are focused on the plaintiffs' lawful status as foreign students, which the lawsuits argue is distinct from the visa allowing them entry into the United States: The complaints allege the government unlawfully stripped the students of their status, leaving them vulnerable to detention or deportation.
Kuck told CNN he was aware of at least 10 other lawsuits filed on behalf of international students that made similar arguments.
Asked for comment about the lawsuits, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the ACLU “should consider changing their name.”
“The American Civil Liberties Union appears far more interested in protecting foreign students than then (sic) civil liberties and safety of Americans,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to CNN.
“It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live & study in the United States of America,” McLaughlin said. “When you break our laws and advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked and you should not be in this country.”
Here's what we know.
At the heart of both lawsuits is the difference between a foreign student's visa and their legal status as a student.
There are several types of visas for international students studying in the United States. Both lawsuits deal with F-1 visas, among the most common type of student visa.
The visa, however, is distinct from a student's status, these lawsuits argue: The visa allows foreign students to enter the United States. Once admitted, they must “maintain” their status by pursuing their course of study, avoiding unauthorized employment and adhering to other rules.
While a person's legal status – their ability to remain in the United States – is determined by US Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the Department of Homeland Security, visas are issued by the State Department. DHS may initiate the termination of status for several reasons, one of the lawsuits notes, including by revoking a special waiver issued on the individual's behalf, the introduction of a private bill to make them a permanent resident, or following a notification to the federal register citing national security, diplomatic or public safety reasons.
The expiration of an exchange visitor visa does not typically mean that person is immediately considered to be in the US illegally: ICE's website notes someone can stay in the US even if their F-1 visa is expired – so long as they maintain their status.
Neither lawsuit challenges the students' visa revocations – rather, they allege the Trump administration unlawfully terminated the plaintiffs' legal status, kneecapping the students' ability to continue working and studying in the United States and jeopardizing their plans for completing their programs.
The first lawsuit – initially filed in the Northern District of Georgia on April 11 – originally included 17 foreign students attending colleges and universities in Georgia, Louisiana, Arizona, Texas, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Missouri, Illinois and New York. Nine of those students were from India; five were from China and one each were from Colombia, Mexico and Japan.
The case has since ballooned, with 133 foreign students included among the plaintiffs –– all of whom are identified using pseudonyms “due to fear of retaliation by Defendants.” US Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Acting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons are all named as defendants.
CNN has reached out to the White House, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Justice Department office for comment.
On Friday, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order directing the government to reinstate the plaintiffs' student status by Tuesday while the case proceeds.
The complaint argues the Trump administration terminated their statuses by removing the students from the Student and Exchange Visitor System, or SEVIS – an online database schools use to provide the government legally required information about international students.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs' SEVIS records were marked as “OTHER - Individual identified in criminal records check and/or has had their VISA revoked. SEVIS record has been terminated,” or “Otherwise Failing to Maintain Status.”
The lawsuit acknowledges some of the plaintiffs have faced criminal allegations or charges, but none have a criminal conviction. None have violated the restriction that requires them not to be convicted of a violent crime carrying a sentence longer than one year, the lawsuit says.
For example, Jane Doe 1, a college student in Georgia, believes she is being targeted for a domestic violence case dismissed in February because “there was no underlying proof of any crime,” the complaint says. John Doe 2, also a Georgia student, believes he's being targeted for traffic citations, including driving with an expired license plate while his driver's license was withdrawn; his case was ultimately closed.
Regardless, the revocation of a visa is not grounds for the termination of student status, the lawsuit argues: “A nonimmigrant visa controls a noncitizen's admission into the United States, not their continued stay.”
“Rather,” the lawsuit says, “DHS's act of unlawfully terminating SEVIS records appears to be designed to coerce students, including each Plaintiff, into abandoning their studies and ‘self-deporting' despite not violating their status.”
Attorneys for the plaintiffs celebrated the Friday ruling. Another hearing is set for Thursday.
“We believe this ruling shows the students are likely to prevail on their claims and we are pleased the court ordered the government to halt its unlawful actions while the lawsuit continues,” Akiva Freidlin, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia said in a statement Saturday.
The second lawsuit contains similar arguments. Filed Friday in the District of New Hampshire, it so far represents five international students: Three, all from India, attend Rivier University in New Hampshire, while two others are from China and attend the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts.
However, the suit proposes to represent far more: The plaintiffs' attorneys have asked the court to certify the case as a class action, which means it could include many other students in similar situations. The lawsuit notes at least 112 students have had their F-1 status terminated in New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico.
Sec. Noem, acting ICE Director Lyons, DHS and ICE are all named among the defendants.
Again, the plaintiffs allege they were stripped of their student status unlawfully.
One of the plaintiffs, a 23-year-old, claims to have received an email this month from his school notifying him his SEVIS record indicated he had failed to maintain status. “Individual identified in criminal records check and/or has had their VISA revoked,” it read, according to the lawsuit. “SEVIS record has been terminated.”
The language closely echoes that cited in the Georgia case.
The New Hampshire lawsuit also acknowledges the students had faced run-ins with police, mostly for traffic-related offenses.
“The only criminal matters the individual Plaintiffs have encountered are either dismissed non-violent misdemeanor charges or driving without a valid US driver's license (but using an international or foreign driver's license),” the lawsuit says.
“While Defendants' reasons for these mass terminations of student status are unclear, what is clear is that these terminations – across the board – flout the applicable regulations governing student status termination and the regulations governing failure to maintain student status.”
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A new report on cancer in the US shows a steady decline in overall deaths from 2001 through 2022. The rate of diagnoses among men fell from 2001 through 2013 and then stabilized through 2021 but these incidence rates among women increased slightly every year between 2003 and 2021.
Those trends were interrupted in 2020, when cancer incidence rates fell significantly, the report shows, possibly because of disruptions in medical care related to the Covid-19 pandemic. After 2020, they returned to expected levels. “Because fewer cancers were diagnosed in 2020, especially through screening, we may see a larger percentage of cancers diagnosed at a late stage in future years,” the report says.
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The 2024 Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer was published Monday in the journal Cancer. It's based on data from cancer registries funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute, and it's released by those institutions, the American Cancer Society and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries.
“Overall, cancer incidence and death rates continue to decline, representing changes in risk factors, increases in screening utilization, and advances in treatment,” the researchers write. “However, sustained disparities by race and ethnicity emphasize the need to fully understand the factors that create these differences so that they can be mitigated.”
Fewer people in the US are using tobacco, helping lower incidence and death rates for smoking-related cancers like lung, bladder and larynx, the report says. And these sustained declines in lung cancer have been a major contributor to the overall improvements in cancer death.
However, incidence rates are on the rise for several other cancers, including those linked with excess weight, such as pancreas and kidney cancers; uterine, breast and liver cancers among women; and colon and rectal cancers among adolescents and young adults.
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Young women are almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with cancer as young men: ‘We're seeing a change'
Previously published research has shown that cancer diagnoses are shifting from older to younger adults and from men to women. Middle‐age women now have a slightly higher cancer risk than their male counterparts, and young women are nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with the disease as young men, according to an American Cancer Society report published earlier this year.
The new report shows that incidence rates among women have risen 0.3% each year. The largest observed increase among women was for stomach cancer, which the researchers say may be largely due to a change in the classification of tumors by the World Health Organization.
Rates of breast cancer diagnoses are also gradually increasing, driven mostly by types of cancer that have been associated with factors like obesity, alcohol use and age when someone gives birth for the first time.
The data continues to show large racial disparities. For example, Black women have a 40% higher rate of death from breast cancer than White women, and their rate of death from uterine cancer is double that of White women.
Differences in access to care and less use of diagnostic procedures and treatment may account for some of the difference, the researchers say. “One additional potential risk factor disproportionately affecting Black women is the use of chemical hair relaxers, which may be associated with an increased risk of uterine cancer among postmenopausal women.”
Changing habits such as stopping tobacco use, staying at a healthy weight, eating a healthy diet with fruits and vegetables, avoiding alcohol and protecting skin can all reduce risk of cancer. Screening can help find and treat cancers early, before they spread. Screenings are available and recommended for certain people for breast cancer, colon and rectal cancer, cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, lung cancer and prostate cancer.
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Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
This book cover image released by Legacy Lit shows “The World of Nancy Kwan” by Nany Kwan with Deborah Davis. (Legacy Lit via AP)
This book cover image released by Legacy Lit shows “The World of Nancy Kwan” by Nany Kwan with Deborah Davis. (Legacy Lit via AP)
Demure, submissive and erotic, Suzie Wong is that bigger-than-life stereotype, that caricature Asian women grew up with in the U.S.
We may have also secretly hoped to play that geisha-like image to win our way out of our oppression. But over the years, some of us grew to resent it, fight it and reject it, hoping to claim our true identity and dignity as a person.
In “The World of Nancy Kwan,” a memoir by the pioneer Hollywood star, we hear from the real-life woman who played Suzie Wong.
We learn an Asian actor getting to play an Asian role was a victory back in those days, as the roles were taken by white actors wearing strange slant-eyed makeup.
Kwan was born in Hong Kong in 1939. Her father was Chinese, an architect with a love for movies. Her mother was English, a model and actor, although she left when Kwan was young, and she was raised by a stepmother. It was hard because being Eurasian was an anomaly, she recalls.
“I've broken barriers, celebrated achievements, overcome disappointments and survived tragedies, all part of my remarkable journey from Hong Kong to Hollywood and beyond. This is my story,” she writes in the prologue.
Her book is speckled with the big names of that era, Pat Boone, Katherine Hepburn, Dick Van Dyke. Some passages read like a gossip column, such as her accounts of her friendship with Bruce Lee.
But she also depicts the racial barriers of that period.
All women, especially in Hollywood, were trying to be beautiful and desirable. In fact, being dubbed “the Asian Bardot,” referring to Brigette Bardot, was a genuine compliment.
She talks about how Jack Soo, a Japanese American who portrays a nightclub owner in “Flower Drum Song,” was incarcerated with other Japanese Americans in internment camps during World War II.
Kwan believes her story is about hard work and advancement despite racism, not succumbing to it.
After all, Asian actors' roles used to be limited to “Fu Manchu villains, hypersexualized Dragon Ladies and comic buffoons” and “shopkeepers, maids and houseboys,” according to Kwan.
And so getting featured on the cover of Life magazine, wearing a body-hugging cheongsam, counted as a victory.
Another big win is when Ross Hunter, a hot producer, rushes over to her at a Hollywood party and casts her in “Flower Drum Song.”
The musical film shattered stereotypes, she says, by focusing on fashionably dressed, wealthy Asians. Regardless of race, people cherish family, suffer heartbreak, laugh, sing, dance and dream of happiness, she writes.
Kwan calls the work “joyous entertainment with the universal message that whatever our race, we're all alike.”
Even those who may find that message lacking in addressing the meaning of diversity and Asian American pride will acknowledge there is a lot to learn from Kwan's history.
She is simply trying to land roles, hopefully good ones that showcase her talent in works by respected directors.
Miyoshi Umeki, her friend and another prominent Asian actor of that period, did not like having to speak pidgin in her roles, but did it because that was her job as a professional.
That kind of pain is the legacy being explored in Kwan's life.
Being an Asian in America is what she calls “our shared humanity,” in which “East can meet West and possibly make the world a little better.”
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Alex Clark, host of the wellness podcast "Culture Apothecary," breaks down how easy it is to make one smart food decision that aligns with the growing MAHA movement.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recently announced a public health alert over a Mexican-inspired pork product sold at Aldi supermarkets nationwide.
The 16-ounce refrigerated sleeved tray packages, which are labeled "Pork Carnitas," were flagged in a public announcement on April 19 due to potential foreign object contamination. The FSIS said the product "may be contaminated with foreign material, specifically pieces of metal."
"The products subject to the public health alert bear establishment number 'Est. 46049' inside the USDA mark of inspection," the statement added.
ENOKI MUSHROOM PACKAGES RECALLED FOR POSSIBLE LISTERIA CONTAMINATION
"These items were shipped to Aldi supermarkets nationwide."
The affected products have use-by dates of 06/30/2025 and 07/01/2025.
The affected 16-ounce sleeved tray packages labeled "Pork Carnitas" have a use-by date of June 30 or July 1. (USDA / FSIS)
The issue was noticed by the manufacturer of the carnitas packages, Cargill Meat Solutions, during production.
"The problem was discovered when the establishment notified FSIS that during routine process checks they found equipment damage that may have contaminated the carnitas products with pieces of metal," the FSIS's statement read.
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The FSIS is not recalling the product because it is no longer available for sale.
Yet the agency stressed that anyone in possession of the meals should throw them away.
Equipment damage may have contaminated the pork carnitas product (not pictured) during production. (iStock)
"Although this product is no longer available for sale, FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers' refrigerators or freezers," the statement read.
"Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase."
For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle
No injuries associated with the product have been reported, per the FSIS.
In January, some packages of Casa Mamita Chicken & Cheese Taquitos – another product sold at Aldi – were recalled due to metal contamination.
FSIS officials urge consumers to throw away or return the affected products (not pictured). (iStock)
Several thousand packages of oyster crackers were recalled in March after a "stainless steel wire" contaminated the crackers during production.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Cargill Meat Solutions for additional comment.
Andrea Margolis is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Readers can follow her on X at @andreamargs or send story tips to andrea.margolis@fox.com.
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“One more trip,” he says. “And then I'll stop.”
He's a fisherman by trade, born and raised in the coastal city of Manta — a place once known for tuna and tranquility. But these days, the fish are harder to find. The trips are longer. And the money, he says, just isn't there anymore.
“As a fisherman, in a month you can make $300,” he says. “But with the drug, the white one… that's the money, brother!”
One trip, running cocaine by sea to Mexico, pays $60,000, he says. Half up front. Half when you make it back alive. “I think that if I get one more trip, I would go, to try my luck,” he says, adding he wants to buy his mother a house. “And then I'll stop.”
He agrees to take us out — not on a drug run, but to show us how it's done. The routes, the tactics, the escape paths. He asks that we not use his name or show his face.
If this was his one last trip, he says he would have dozens of black sacks of cocaine — worth an estimated $500,000 in Ecuador but as much as $5 million on US streets, he says — hidden beneath the false floors of “pregnant” speedboats he and three others power across the Pacific. “We leave from here to get to one point over there in Mexico, where there's a boat waiting for us. We don't enter a port,” he explains.
Once the drop is made, they head back to Ecuador, this time with a cargo of fish as a cover story. “If I come back with nothing,” he says, “the people will quickly realize one is involved in something that's not good.”
The fisherman says he isn't proud of what he does. And he knows the risks: rough waters, failing engines, criminal rivalries, and coast guard patrols. “If we are stopped, we lose everything… we don't know if they stop us to rob us or kill us.”
Still, he goes, moving with a youthful energy in his voice and a face weathered by decades at sea. They carry just enough to last: food, water, energy bars — “six sacks of supplies,” he says.
Now in his late 50s, he says fear doesn't stop him. “Fear, only towards God,” he says. “I know it's a crime. I know it goes against God… but I have to support my mother.”
She runs a small evangelical church and pleads with him not to go. “‘Don't be involved in that,' she tells me. But I tell her, ‘Mom, you can't clean anymore… I'm the one who needs to care for you,'” he says.
When we meet him, the sun is dipping behind the Pacific. The dock is alive with fishing boats weaving between larger vessels anchored offshore. The water glows in the orange light and the air is thick with the sharp smell of gasoline.
As we pull away, another boat full of police officers drifts past. The fisherman smiles and waves, confidently.
The officers wave back.
Several hundred miles from the Ecuadorian mainland, the waters off the Galápagos Islands glisten with postcard beauty. But this stretch of the Pacific has become a critical corridor in the cocaine trade — and a battleground in Ecuador's fight against it.
On patrol with Ecuador's navy, a coast guard captain surveys the horizon from the deck of his vessel. CNN is withholding his name due to growing concerns that military officials are being targeted by the very traffickers they're trying to stop.
“The area where drugs are smuggled is about 200 miles off the shore… right by the limits of the Galápagos exclusive economic zone with the high seas,” he says.
It's only March, and already his crew has seized six tons of cocaine. “Last year, we caught 15 tons,” he adds — noting this year's pace, if sustained, could nearly double last year's haul.
The captain says their first responsibility is saving lives at sea — shipwrecks, distress calls, rescue operations. But close behind is the fight against organized crime.
“What's happening is the boats (the drug runners) are using are not massive, so they need to refuel. Some of these refueling stations are in Galápagos, and they then continue onto Central America,” he explains. “That's why our navy is looking for the fuel… because it's one of the ways the narco-traffickers move drugs.”
What officials call the “gas stations at sea” look like fishing boats — nets tossed off the sides, poles out for show — but they're part of a vast narco-logistics network. Quietly stationed near the Galápagos Islands, each contains up to 40 large canisters of fuel to supply the high-speed boats running cocaine north toward Mexico and the United States.
The strategy is simple: stay just outside Ecuador's territorial waters, avoid major patrol routes, and supply the drug runners as they go. If they're not intercepted, the vessels link up mid-ocean — often under cover of night — and continue their journey, undetected.
It's a supply chain built for stealth — and for speed. And it's helping fuel a wave of cartel-driven violence that's turned Ecuador's coastal cities into some of the deadliest in Latin America.
Many of those who take these trips never return.
In a modest home near the port, more than two dozen women crowd into Solanda Bermello's living room — mothers, wives, and sisters of men who were arrested abroad or simply never came home. Some hold photographs. Others clutch letters, hoping someone might deliver them to husbands or sons locked up overseas.
Bermello founded the Association of Mothers and Wives of Fishermen Detained in Other Countries nine years ago — after her own son was caught running drugs and imprisoned. Today, she says the group includes 380 members and they've documented more than 2,000 cases in Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the United States since January 2024.
“We've sent letters to all those countries,” she says, pleading for repatriation of their loved ones.
Many don't know where their relatives are being held or even if they're still alive.
“Our fishermen are not drug traffickers,” Bermello says. “They are drug trafficking mules. Unfortunately, they are offered an amount of money that is so large for them… but at times they do not collect any of that money because they end up in prison and leave their families adrift and their children fatherless.”
She says economic desperation, not ambition, is what drives them. “They are not drug traffickers,” she repeats. “Unfortunately, they do it because of the economic situation in the country — we don't have money, we don't have work, we don't have a way to subsist.”
Even those trying to fish legally, she says, aren't safe. “Our fishermen are robbed by pirates. Not even making an honest living is possible.”
She supports the idea of a US security presence returning to a nearby military base, vacated in 2009 after Ecuador banned foreign troops on its soil. “The US used to help us,” she says. “We need that again.”
The streets of Ecuador's coastal cities are soaked in blood. In just the first few months of 2025, more than 2,500 homicides have been recorded according to national police statistics — on pace to make this the deadliest year in the country's history. InSight Crime, an organization that tracks and investigates crime in the Americas, now ranks Ecuador as having the highest homicide rate in Latin America.
The surge in violence is fueled by a complex web of transnational crime: drug trafficking routes, turf wars, and brutal alliances between local gangs and foreign cartels. Ecuador's location between Peru and Colombia, top producers of cocaine, and its efficient transport and export network has made it attractive to traffickers.
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It's a crisis unfolding beyond its borders but with real consequences for the US — from the cocaine flooding into American cities to the migration pressures reshaping its southern border.
Newly re-elected President Daniel Noboa says Ecuador can't face it alone. “We would love to have US forces,” he told CNN last week in his first interview since winning the April 13 runoff vote. Noboa described the country's gang war as a “transnational fight” — one that requires international backing to win.
“There are plans,” he said. “We had conversations, we had a plan, we had options… and now we just need another meeting, post-election, to consolidate it.”
But Noboa insists this won't mean American boots patrolling Ecuadorian streets. “The control of the operations will be in the hands of our military and our police,” he said. US forces, he explained, would play a support role — focused on monitoring illegal operations and reinforcing Ecuador's ability to stop them before they reach open waters.
Last month, CNN obtained plans showing that Ecuador has already begun construction of a new naval facility in the coastal city of Manta — infrastructure a senior Ecuadorian official says is designed with US troops in mind. “It will be eventually occupied by US forces,” the official said.
Noboa, who was born and educated in the United States, has pushed to revive Ecuador's cooperation with Washington across multiple fronts, including security, trade, and migration. He says he wants to fix conditions at home to keep Ecuadorians from fleeing north, while also stepping up efforts to intercept drug flows bound for the US.
He's even expressed willingness to reform Ecuador's constitution — potentially allowing for the formal return of a US military presence, like the one that existed from 1999 to 2009 at the now-defunct Manta Air Base.
“That would help to keep peace,” Noboa said. “Like we had in the past.”
As he heads into his second term, the young president is staking his political future on security. He has invited both US President Donald Trump and El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele — another right-wing populist who cracked down on gangs — to his inauguration in May. And he insists another meeting with US officials is just around the corner.
“I think sooner than later,” he told CNN.
For Ecuador, the war is already underway — at sea, on land, in homes and streets. And for the fisherman who once cast lines for tuna, it's a war that pays. His next drug run, he says, might be his last. But the system that pulled him in shows no signs of stopping.
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The incredible technology is harnessing the potential of solar and wind — and quietly revolutionizing the energy system.
by Umair Irfan
The tricky thing about generating electricity is that for the most part, you pretty much have to use it or lose it.
This fundamental fact has governed and constrained the development of the world's largest machine: the $2 trillion US power grid. Massive generators send electrons along a continent-wide network of conductors, transformers, cables, and wires into millions of homes and businesses, delicately balancing supply and demand so that every light switch, computer, television, stove, and charging cable will turn on 99.95 percent of the time.
Making sure there are always enough generators spooled up to send electricity to every single power outlet in the country requires precise coordination. And while the amount of electricity actually used can swing drastically throughout the day and year, the grid is built to meet the brief periods of peak demand, like the hot summer days when air conditioning use can double average electricity consumption. Imagine building a 30-lane highway to make sure no driver ever has to tap their brakes. That's effectively what those who design and run the grid have had to do.
But what if you could just hold onto electricity for a bit and save it for later? You wouldn't have to overbuild the grid or spend so much effort keeping power generation in equilibrium with users. You could smooth over the drawbacks of intermittent power sources that don't emit carbon dioxide, like wind and solar. You could have easy local backup power in emergencies when transmission lines are damaged. You may not even need a giant, centralized power grid at all.
That's the promise of grid-scale energy storage. And while the US has actually been using a crude form of energy storage called pumped hydroelectric power storage for decades, the country is now experiencing a gargantuan surge in energy storage capacity, this time from a technology that most of us are carrying around in our pockets: lithium-ion batteries. Between 2021 and 2024, grid battery capacity increased fivefold. In 2024, the US installed 12.3 gigawatts of energy storage. This year, new grid battery installations are on track to almost double compared to last year. Battery storage capacity now exceeds pumped hydro capacity, totaling more than 26 gigawatts.
There's still plenty of room to expand — and a pressing need to do so. The power sector remains the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, and there will be no way to add enough intermittent clean energy to sufficiently decarbonize the grid without cheap and plentiful storage.
The aging US grid is also in dire need of upgrades, and batteries can cushion the shock of adding gigawatts of wind and solar while buying some time to perform more extensive renovations. Some power markets are finally starting to understand all the services batteries can provide — frequency regulation, peak shaving, demand response — creating new lines of business. Batteries are also a key tool in building smaller, localized versions of the power grid. These microgrids can power remote communities with reliable power and one day shift the entire power grid into a more decentralized system that can better withstand disruptions like extreme weather.
If we can get it right, true grid-scale battery storage won't just be an enabler of clean energy, but a way to upgrade the power system for a new era.
Back in 2011, one of my first reporting assignments was heading to a wind farm in West Virginia to attend the inauguration of what was at the time the world's largest battery energy storage system. Built by AES Energy Storage, it involved thousands of lithium-ion cells in storage containers that together combined to provide 32 megawatts of power and deliver it for about 15 minutes.
“It was eight megawatt-hours total,” said John Zahurancik, who was vice president of AES Energy Storage at the time and showed me around the facility back then. That was about the amount of electricity used by 260 homes in a day.
In the years since, battery storage has increased by orders of magnitude, as Zahurancik's new job demonstrates. He is now the president of Fluence, a joint venture between AES and Siemens that has deployed 38 gigawatt-hours of storage to date around the world. “The things that we're building today, many of our projects are over a gigawatt-hour in size,” Zahurancik said.
Last year, the largest storage facility to come online in the US was California's Edwards & Sanborn Project, which can dispatch 33 GW for several hours. That's roughly equivalent to the electricity needed to power 4.4 million homes for a day.
It wasn't a steady climb to this point, however. Overall grid battery capacity in the US barely budged for more than a decade. Then, around 2020, it began to spike upward. What changed?
What could a giant battery do for your city? #batteries #electriccar #climate #climateaction #climatecrisis #climatechange #cleanenergy #environment #renewableenergy #greenenergy
One shift is that the most common battery storage technology, lithium-ion cells, saw huge price drops and energy density increases. “The very first project we did was in 2008 and it was on the order of $3,000 a kilowatt-hour for the price of the batteries,” said Zahurancik. “Now we're looking at systems that are on the order of $150, $200 a kilowatt-hour for the full system install.”
That's partly because the cells on the power grid aren't that different from those in mobile devices and electric vehicles, so grid batteries have benefited from manufacturing improvements that went into those products.
“It's all one big pipeline,” said Micah Ziegler, a professor at Georgia Tech who studies clean energy technologies. “The batteries in phones, cars, and the grid all share common characteristics.” Seeing this rising demand, China went big on battery manufacturing and, much as it did in solar panels, created economies of scale to drive global prices down. China now produces 80 percent of the world's lithium-ion batteries.
The blooming of wind and solar energy created even more demand for batteries and increased the pressure to improve them. The wind and the sun are often the cheapest sources of new electricity, and batteries help compensate for their variability, providing even more reason to scale up storage. “The benefits of this relationship are apparent in the increasing number of power plants that are being proposed and that have already been deployed that combine these resources,” Ziegler said. The combination of solar plus storage accounted for 84 percent of new US power added in 2024.
And because grid batteries don't have to be small enough to be mobile — unlike the batteries in your laptop or phone — they can take advantage of cheaper, less dense batteries that otherwise might not be suited for something that has to fit in your pocket. There's even talk of giving old EV batteries a second life on the power grid.
Regulation has also helped. A major hurdle for deploying grid energy storage systems is that they don't generate electricity on their own, so the rules for how they should connect to the grid and how much battery developers should get paid for their services were messy and restrictive in the past. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Order 841 removed some of the barriers for energy storage systems to plug into wholesale markets and compete with other forms of power. Though the regulation was issued in 2018, it cleared a major legal challenge in 2020, paving the way for more batteries to plug into the grid.
Eleven states to date including California, Illinois, and Maryland have also set specific procurement targets for energy storage, which require utilities to install a certain amount of storage capacity, creating a push for more grid batteries. Together, these factors created a whole new businesses for power companies, spawned new grid battery companies, and fertilized the ground for a bumper crop of energy storage.
Energy storage is the peanut butter to the chocolate of renewable energy, making all the best traits about clean energy even better and balancing out some of its downsides. But it's also an important ingredient in grid stability, reliability, and resilience, helping ensure a steady flow of megawatts during blackouts and extreme weather.
The most common use is frequency response. The alternating current going through power lines in the US cycles at a frequency of 60 hertz. If the grid dips below this frequency when a power-hungry user switches on, it can trip circuit breakers and cause power instability. Since batteries have nearly zero startup time, unlike thermal generators, they can quickly absorb or transmit power as needed to keep the grid humming the right tune.
Grid batteries can also step in as reserve power when a generator goes offline or when a large power user unexpectedly turns on. They can smooth out the hills and valleys of power load over the course of the day. They also let power providers save electricity when it's cheap to produce, and sell it back on the grid at times when demand is high and power is expensive. It's often faster to build a battery facility than an equivalent power plant, and since there are no smokestacks, it's easier to get permits and approvals.
Batteries have already proven useful for overstressed power networks. As temperatures reached triple digits in Texas last year, batteries provided a record amount of power on the Lone Star State's grid. ERCOT, the Texas grid operator, didn't have to ask Texans to turn down their power use like it did in 2023. Between 2020 and 2024, Texas saw a 4,100 percent increase in utility-scale batteries, topping 5.7 gigawatts.
Grid batteries have a halo effect for other power generators too. Most thermal power plants — coal, gas, nuclear — prefer to run at a steady pace. Ramping up and down to match demand takes time and costs money, but with batteries soaking up some of the variability, thermal power plants can stay closer to their most efficient pace, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and keeping costs in check.
I have been covering clean energy for more than a decade, growing well-acquainted with the drawbacks of intermittent wind and solar power.
Batteries seemed like an obvious solution, and after one of my earliest reporting assignments, I thought that grid-level energy storage would take off. But the sector sat stagnant for years until it started to rocket upward around 2020.
I was curious about the reason why grid-scale batteries took off so suddenly and what heights they might reach.
“It's kind of like hybridizing your car,” Zahurancik said. “If you think about a Prius, you have an electric motor and you have a gasoline motor and you make the gas consumption better because the battery absorbs all the variation.”
Another grid battery feature is that they can reduce the need for expensive grid upgrades, said Stephanie Smith, chief operating officer at Eolian, which funds and develops grid energy storage systems. You don't have to build power lines to accommodate absolute maximum electricity needs if you have a battery — on the generator side or on the demand side — to dish out a few more electrons when needed.
“What we do with standalone batteries, the more and more of those you get, you start to alleviate needs or at least abridge things like new transmission build,” Smith said. These batteries also allow the grid to adapt faster to changing energy needs, like when a factory shuts down or when a new data center powers up.
On balance this leads to a more stable, efficient, cheaper, and cleaner power grid.
As good as they are, lithium-ion batteries have their limits. Most grid batteries are designed to store and dispatch electricity over the course of two to eight hours, but the grid also needs ways to stash power for days, weeks, and even months since power demand shifts throughout the year.
There are also some fundamental looming challenges for grid-scale storage. Like most grid-level technologies, energy storage requires a big upfront investment that takes decades to pay back, but there's a lot of uncertainty right now about how the Trump administration's tariffs will affect battery imports, whether there will be a recession, and if this disruption will slow electricity demand growth in the years to come. The extraordinary appetite for batteries is increasing competition for the required raw materials, which may increase their prices.
Though China currently dominates the global battery supply chain, the US is working to edge its way in. Under the previous administration, the US Department of Energy invested billions in energy storage factories, supply chains, and research. There are dozens of battery factories in the US now, though most are aimed at electric vehicles. There are 10 US factories slated to start up this year, which would raise the total EV battery manufacturing capacity to 421.5 gigawatt-hours per year. Total global battery manufacturing is projected to reach around 7,900 gigawatt-hours in 2025.
There's also a long and growing line of projects waiting to connect to the power grid. Interconnection queues for all energy systems, but particularly solar, wind, and batteries, typically last three years or more as project developers produce reliability studies and cope with mounting regulatory paperwork delays.
The Trump administration is also working to undo incentives around clean energy, particularly the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The law established robust incentives for clean energy, including tax credits for stand-alone grid energy projects. “I do worry about the IRA because it will change the curve, and quite honestly we cannot afford to change the curve right now with any form of clean energy,” Smith said. On the other hand, Trump's tariffs may eventually spur even more battery manufacturing within the US.
Still, utility-scale energy storage is a tiny slice of the sprawling US power grid, and there's enormous room to expand. “Even though we've been accelerating and going fast, by and large, we don't have that much of it,” Zahurancik said. “You could easily see storage becoming 20 or 30 percent of the installed power capacity.”
Understand the world with a daily explainer plus the most compelling stories of the day, compiled by news editor Sean Collins.
The world is steadily moving away from fossil fuels.
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Climate progress is actually good business.
by Umair Irfan, Benji Jones, Adam Clark Estes, and Sam Delgado
Data visualization by Gabrielle Merite
At every light switch, power socket, and on the road, an unstoppable revolution is already underway.
Technologies that can power our lives and jobs while doing less harm to the global climate — wind, solar, batteries, etc. — are getting cheaper, more efficient, and more abundant. The pace of progress on price, scale, and performance has been so extraordinary that even the most optimistic forecasts about green tech in the past have turned out to be too pessimistic. Clean energy isn't just powering our devices, tools, and luxuries — it's growing the global economy, creating a whole suite of new jobs, and reshaping trade.
And despite what headlines may say, there's no sign these trends will reverse. Political and economic turmoil may slow down clean energy, but the sector has built up so much momentum that it's become nigh unstoppable.
Take a look at Texas: The largest oil- and gas-producing state in the US is also the largest in wind energy, and it's installing more solar than any other. Texas utilities have come to realize that investing in clean energy is not just good for the environment; it's good business. And even without subsidies and preferential treatment, the benefits of clean technologies — in clean air, scalability, distribution, and cost — have become impossible to ignore.
And there's only more room to grow. The world is still in the early stages of this revolution as market forces become the driver rather than environmental worries. In some US markets, installing new renewable energy is cheaper than running existing coal plants. Last year, the US produced more electricity from wind and solar power than from coal for the first time.
If these energy trends persist, the US economy will see its greenhouse gas emissions diminish faster, reducing its contribution to climate change. The US needs to effectively zero out its carbon dioxide emissions by the middle of the century in order to keep the worst damages of climate change in check.
Now, just a few months into Trump's second presidency, it's still an open question just how fragile the country's progress on clean energy and climate will be. But the data is clear: There is tremendous potential for economic growth and environmental benefits if the country makes the right moves at this key inflection point.
Certainly incentives like tax credits, business loans, and research and development funding could accelerate decarbonization. On the other hand, pulling back — as the Trump administration wants to do — would slow down clean energy in the US, though it wouldn't stop it.
But the rest of the world isn't sitting idle, and if the US decides to slow its head start, its competitors may take the lead in a massive, rocketing industry. —Umair Irfan, Vox climate correspondent
President Donald Trump does not like wind energy — apparently, in part, because he thinks turbines are ugly. “We're not going to do the wind thing,” Trump said after his inauguration during a rally. “Big, ugly windmills, they ruin your neighborhood.”
He's put some power behind those feelings. Within mere hours of stepping into office, Trump signed an executive order that hamstrung both onshore and offshore wind energy developments, even as he has claimed that the US faces an energy crisis. The order directed federal agencies to temporarily stop issuing approvals for both onshore and offshore wind projects and pause leasing for offshore projects in federal waters.
Policies like this will harm the wind industry, analysts say, as will existing and potential future tariffs, which will likely make turbines more expensive. Those policies could also pose a serious threat to offshore developments. But the sector overall simply has too much inertia to be derailed, according to Eric Larson, a senior research engineer at Princeton University who studies clean energy.
“Because costs have been coming down so dramatically in the last decade, there is a certain momentum there that's going to carry through,” Larson said.
Since 2010, US wind capacity has more than tripled, spurred by federal tax incentives. But even without those incentives — which Congress may eventually try to cut — onshore wind turbines are the cheapest source of new energy, according to the research firm Lazard. In 2023, the average cost of new onshore wind projects was two-thirds lower than a typical fossil fuel alternative, per a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency.
In fact, wind energy might be the best example of how politics have had little bearing on the growth of renewable energy. Texas, which overwhelmingly supported Trump in the recent election, generates more wind energy than any other state, by far. The next three top states for wind energy production — Iowa, Oklahoma, and Kansas — all swung for Trump in the last election, too. These states are particularly windy, but they've also adopted policies, including tax incentives, that have helped build out their wind-energy sectors.
“It's just a way to make money,” Larson said of wind. “It has nothing to do with the political position on whether climate change is real or not. People continue to get paid to put up wind turbines, and that's enough for them to do it.”
In Iowa, for example, wind energy has drawn at least $22 billion in capital investment and has helped lower the cost of electricity. In 2023, wind generated about 60 percent of the state's energy — more than double any other source, like coal or natural gas.
The wind sector is not without its challenges. In the last two years the cost of wind energy has gone up, due in part to inflation and permitting delays — which raised the costs of other energy sources, too. Construction of new wind farms had begun slowing even before Trump took office. Dozens of counties across the US, in places like Ohio and Virginia, have also successfully blocked or delayed wind projects, citing a range of concerns like noise and impact on property values. Offshore wind, which is far costlier, faces even more opposition. Opponents similarly worry that they'll affect coastal property values and harm marine life.
Yet ultimately these hurdles will only delay what is likely inevitable, analysts say: a future powered in large part by wind. —Benji Jones, Vox environmental correspondent
It's hard to think of a natural wonder more unstoppable than the sun, and harnessing its energy has proven just as formidable. The United States last year saw a record amount of clean energy power up, with solar leading the way. Over the past decade, solar power capacity in the US has risen eightfold.
Why? Solar has just gotten way, way, way cheaper, even more than wind.
The main technology for turning sunlight into electricity, the single-junction photovoltaic panel, has drastically increased the efficiency by which it turns a ray of sunlight into a moving electron. This lets the same-size panel convert more light into electricity. Since the device itself is a printed semiconductor, it has benefited from many of the manufacturing improvements that have come with recent advances in computer chip production.
Solar has also benefited from economies of scale, particularly as China has invested heavily in its production. This has translated into cheaper solar panels around the world, including the US. And since solar panels are modular, small gains in efficiency and cost reduction quickly add up, boosting the business case.
There are some clouds on the horizon, however. The single-junction PV panel may be closing in on its practical efficiency limit. Solar energy is variable, and some power grid operators have struggled to manage the spike in solar production midday and sudden drop-off in the evening, creating the infamous “duck curve” graph of energy demand that shows how fast other generators have to ramp up. Still, solar energy provides less than 4 percent of electricity in the US, so there is immense room to grow. Overall costs continue to decline, and new technologies are emerging that can get around the constraints imposed by conventional panels. Across the US and around the world, the sun has a long way to rise. —Umair Irfan
While wind and solar energy have soared upward for more than a decade, storing electricity on the grid with batteries is just taking off.
Grid-scale battery capacity suddenly launched upward around 2020 and has about doubled every year since. That's good news for intermittent power sources, such as wind and solar: Energy storage is the booster rocket for renewables and one of the key tools for addressing the stubborn duck curve that plagues solar power.
Batteries for the grid aren't that far removed from those that power phones and computers, so they've benefited from cost and performance improvements in consumer batteries. And they still have room to get cheaper.
On the power grid, batteries do a number of jobs that help improve efficiency and cut greenhouse gas emissions. The obvious one is compensating for the capriciousness of wind and solar power: As the sun sets and the wind calms, demand rises, and grid operators can tap into their power reserves to keep the lights on. The specific combination of solar-plus-storage is still a small share of utility-scale projects, but it's gaining ground in the residential market as these systems get cheaper.
Batteries also help grid operators cope with demand peaks: They can bank power when it's cheap and sell those electrons when electricity is more expensive. They also maintain grid stability and provide the juice to restart power generators after outages or maintenance. That means there's a huge demand for grid batteries beyond backing up renewables.
Right now, the main way the US saves electricity on the grid is pumped hydropower, which currently provides about 96 percent of utility-scale storage. Water is pumped uphill into a reservoir when power is cheap and then runs downhill through turbines when it's needed. This method tends to lose a lot of energy in the process and is limited to landscapes with the ideal terrain to move water up and down.
Batteries get around these hurdles with higher efficiencies, scalability, and modularity. And since they stay parked in one place, energy density and portability don't matter as much on the grid as they would in a car or a phone. That opens up several more options. Car batteries that have lost too much capacity to be worthwhile in a vehicle can get a second life on the power grid. Designs like flow batteries that store energy by the megawatt-hour and molten salt batteries that stash power for months could outperform the reigning lithium-ion battery. —Umair Irfan
Transportation is the single largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Fossil fuels currently account for nearly 90 percent of the energy consumption in the transportation sector, which makes it an obvious target for decarbonization. And while it will take some time to figure out how to electrify planes, trains, and container ships, the growth of EVs, including passenger cars and trucks, has reached a tipping point.
The price of a new EV is nearly equivalent to a new gas-powered car, when you include state and federal subsidies. And the US charging infrastructure is getting better by the day: With over 200,000 chargers currently online, the number is growing. Even though the Trump administration has effectively waged war on the EV transition by pulling funding for charging infrastructure expansion and threatening to end subsidies for new EV purchases, at best those moves may slow a largely unstoppable EV transition in the long term. The automotive industry is all in on the electric transition. Buoyed by strong and growing EV sales trends in China and increasing EV offerings, global demand is growing.
There are signs, however, that the number of people buying EVs in the US and Europe is slowing, even as subsidies remain available. Experts say this is likely due, in part, to more consumer choice, as the number of EV offerings, including off-road trucks and minivans, continues to grow. But even here we see encouraging signs: As more EVs have come to market, more plug-in hybrid models have also appeared. And plug-in hybrids tend to be slightly cheaper and help people deal with range anxiety, the umbrella term for the fear of not being able to find a charger, while still reducing emissions.
“The early adopters who are just all in on that EV tech, they've adopted it,” Nicole Wakelin, editor at large of CarBuzz, told Vox in January. “So now it's up to everybody else to dip their toes in that water.”
Around the world, cheap EVs are surging in popularity. Prices of EV batteries, the most expensive component of the vehicle, are dropping globally even as their capacity grows. That trend is leading to more and more inexpensive EV models hitting the market. China, once again, is leading the charge here. The cheapest model from Chinese front-runner BYD now costs less than $10,000, and by 2027, Volkswagen promises it will sell a cheap EV in Europe for about $20,000. Meanwhile, in the US, the average price for a used EV in mid-2024 was $33,000, compared to $27,000 for an internal combustion engine vehicle. Those Chinese EVs aren't currently available in the US.
It remains to be seen how far Trump will go to keep America hooked on fossil fuels. It's clear, however, that more and more people want EVs and are buying them, charging them, and quite frankly, loving them. —Adam Clark Estes, Vox senior technology correspondent
For any of these clean energy sectors to reach their highest potential, there's an essential requirement they all share: a robust, skilled workforce. The good news for the clean energy industry is that data show the jobs are rolling in.
The 2024 Clean Jobs America report by E2, a national group focused on climate solutions across industries, paints a positive picture for clean jobs. Renewable energy jobs increased by 14 percent from 2020 to 2023 — a surge boosted by the Inflation Reduction Act's (IRA) climate-focused policies. Jobs in the solar sector have grown by 15 percent in that same period, with 12 percent growth for wind and 11 percent growth for geothermal. In just 2023 alone, 150,000 jobs in the clean energy industry were added. All together, clean energy outpaced economy-wide employment growth for the last five years.
And while the Trump administration has targeted the wind industry, rolled back some climate-friendly policies, and griped about solar, the administration's policies have yet to put a dent on positive job growth in clean jobs.
“I expect [the administration] will go after some provisions, but there is quite a bit in the IRA that will be very difficult to repeal since large-scale clean energy investments have been made, and a majority of those in red states whose politicians will not want to give them up,” one former US official told Heatmap News. Republican districts have benefited far more than progressive ones from clean tech manufacturing investments to the tune of over $161 billion, Bloomberg reported. Going after clean jobs would mean stalling economic growth in communities that helped deliver Trump a second term — a move that most would call politically unwise.
The clean industry is growing beyond the United States. Globally, clean energy sectors added over 4.7 million jobs to a total of 35 million from 2019 to 2022 — exceeding the amount of fossil fuel jobs internationally.
While the data bodes well for the industry, there are concerns from workers, unions, and communities that the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy may leave many skilled employees behind. One paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that fewer than 1 percent of fossil fuel workers have transitioned to green jobs, citing a lack of translatable skills — operating an oil derrick isn't as applicable to installing solar panels, for example. Another paper from Nature found that while some fossil fuel workers might have the right skills for clean energy jobs, the location of green jobs often aren't where fossil fuel workers are based.
Several policy routes can be taken to create a more equitable transition for these workers, such as funding early retirement programs for fossil fuel workers who lose their jobs or heavily investing in fossil fuel communities where there is potential for creating renewable energy hubs.
Clean energy jobs are growing, and it doesn't have to be at the cost of the 1.7 million workers in the US with fossil fuel occupations. —Sam Delgado
While President Trump has largely been hostile to renewable energy, there's one clean energy source that the administration actually supports: geothermal.
Geothermal has long lived in the shadows of other renewables — especially as wind and solar have surged. But geothermal's potential may be greater than any of those, and ironically, being in Trump's good graces may give this sector the final boost it needs.
If you know President Trump's motto of “drill, baby, drill,” this might not come as a surprise. Geothermal energy is tapped by drilling into the ground and extracting heat from the earth, and it uses similar technology to the oil and gas industry. US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has long praised geothermal, and the fracking company he oversaw prior to joining the Trump administration invested in Fervo Energy, a company that specializes in geothermal technologies.
Despite the fact that the first geothermal plant was built in 1904 in Italy, the energy source is still in its infancy. In 2023, geothermal energy produced less than half a percent of total US utility-scale electricity generation, far behind other renewables like solar and wind.
Historically, developing geothermal energy has been constrained by geography and relatively few have been built. Most geothermal production happens in the western United States because of the region's access to underground hot water that can drive turbines isn't too far from the surface. California dominates the geothermal landscape, with 67 percent of US geothermal electricity generation coming from the state — the outcome of state policy priorities and the right geologic conditions. The regional specificity has been a big barrier to geothermal taking off more broadly.
Then there's the issue of cost. Compared to solar and wind development and operations, building geothermal plants and drilling is much more expensive. And it currently costs more per megawatt hour than solar and wind.
But these geographic and financial barriers could be broken down. Geothermal companies have been exploring enhanced geothermal, a method that could make it possible to drill for geothermal energy everywhere. Coupling enhanced geothermal with drilling technology and techniques from the oil and gas industry can also help with efficiency and bring down costs — a parallel to how advances in fracking in the early 2000s helped supercharge the US oil and gas industry.
What geothermal lacks in current scale, it makes up for in future potential. Because it's not intermittent and doesn't rely on specific weather conditions (the way that solar, wind, and hydropower do) geothermal has a capacity advantage over other renewables. In 2023, geothermal had a capacity factor, or how often an energy source is running at maximum power, of 69 percent, compared to 33 percent and 23 percent for wind and solar, respectively — meaning it's more capable of producing reliable power.
That advantage could be critical for US decarbonization goals. According to the Department of Energy (DOE), enhanced geothermal has the potential to power more than 65 million homes and businesses in the US.
Right now, stakeholders from energy policymakers to climate scientists to geothermal company executives, are determined to turn potential into reality.
In March 2024, the DOE released a lengthy report on the necessary steps to unlocking enhanced geothermal's full potential on a commercial scale. In October of last year, the federal government approved a massive geothermal project in Utah that plans to provide power for more than 2 million homes and aims to be operational by 2026. The company behind the project and one of the leading enhanced geothermal startups, Fervo Energy, secured $255 million in funding from investors just before the year came to a close.
Geothermal also has bipartisan support (and is perhaps one of the few issues that the Biden and Trump administration would share similar views on). And because it's borrowing technology from the gas and oil industry, it can tap into former fossil fuel workers to staff these plants.
But it's key to note that getting to take off will be really, really expensive — the DOE projects that it will take $20 billion to $25 billion to get geothermal ready for a commercial breakout by 2030. Geothermal's breakthrough isn't assured, but it's on the cusp of takeoff. If the necessary financial investments are made, and companies can show that advances in technology can be scaled up beyond the western US, it could usher in the age of a geothermal energy revolution. —Sam Delgado, former Future Perfect fellow
Understand the world with a daily explainer plus the most compelling stories of the day, compiled by news editor Sean Collins.
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Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
An industry expert says tariffs will drive more customers to seek out secondhand clothing items to avoid higher prices, and a thrift store manager in Mississippi says she's already seeing the change. (AP Video: Sophie Bates, Thomas Peipert, Terry Chea)
People work amid boxes of returned or overstocked clothing, shoes, boots, coats, packs and other items in a warehouse where the goods are cleaned or repaired before they are marketed on resale platforms in Englewood, Colo., on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Bags of returned or overstocked clothing, shoes, boots, coats, packs and other items sit in a fulfillment warehouse after the goods were cleaned or repaired as they are marketed on resale platforms Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Englewood, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Seen through a fisheye lens, people work amid boxes of returned or overstocked clothing, shoes, boots, coats, packs and other items in a warehouse where the goods are cleaned or repaired before they are marketed on resale platforms in Englewood, Colo., on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
A worker sews a coat in a warehouse where the goods from various clothing manufacturers are cleaned or repaired before they are marketed on resale platforms Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Englewood, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Boxes of returned or overstocked clothing, shoes, boots, coats, packs and other items sit in a warehouse where the goods are cleaned or repaired before they are marketed on resale platforms Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Englewood, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Bags of returned or overstocked clothing, shoes, boots, coats, packs and other items sit in a fulfillment warehouse after the goods were cleaned or repaired to be marketed on resale platforms in Englewood, Colo., on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
People work amid boxes of returned or overstocked clothing, shoes, boots, coats, packs and other items in a warehouse where the goods are cleaned or repaired before they are marketed on resale platforms in Englewood, Colo., on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
People work amid boxes of returned or overstocked clothing, shoes, boots, coats, packs and other items in a warehouse where the goods are cleaned or repaired before they are marketed on resale platforms in Englewood, Colo., on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
People work amid boxes of returned or overstocked clothing, shoes, boots, coats, packs and other items in a warehouse where the goods are cleaned or repaired before they are marketed on resale platforms in Englewood, Colo., on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
People work amid boxes of returned or overstocked clothing, shoes, boots, coats, packs and other items in a warehouse where the goods are cleaned or repaired before they are marketed on resale platforms in Englewood, Colo., on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
A woman works amid boxes of returned or overstocked clothing, shoes, boots, coats, packs and other items in a warehouse where the goods are cleaned or repaired before they are marketed on resale platforms in Englewood, Colo., on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
A man works amid boxes of returned or overstocked clothing, shoes, boots, coats, packs and other items in a warehouse where the goods are cleaned or repaired before they are marketed on resale platforms in Englewood, Colo., on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
People work amid boxes of returned or overstocked clothing, shoes, boots, coats, packs and other items in a warehouse where the goods are cleaned or repaired before they are marketed on resale platforms in Englewood, Colo., on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
A worker walks past boxes of returned or overstocked clothing, shoes, boots, coats, packs and other items in a warehouse where the goods are cleaned or repaired before they are marketed on resale platforms in Englewood, Colo., on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
NEW YORK (AP) — Stores selling secondhand clothes, shoes and accessories are poised to benefit from President Donald Trump'strade war even as businesses the world over race to avert potential damage, according to industry experts.
American styles carry international influence, but nearly all of the clothing sold domestically is made elsewhere. The Yale University Budget Lab last week estimated short-term consumer price increases of 65% for clothes and 87% for leather goods, noting U.S. tariffs “disproportionately affect” those goods.
Such price hikes may drive cost-conscious shoppers to online resale sites, consignment boutiques and thrift stores in search of bargains or a way to turn their wardrobes into cash. Used items cost less than their new equivalents and only would be subject to tariffs if they come from outside the country.
“I think resale is going to grow in a market that is declining,” said Kristen Classi-Zummo, an apparel industry analyst at market research firm Circana. “What I think is going to continue to win in this chaotic environment are channels that bring value.”
The outlook for pre-owned fashion nevertheless comes with unknowns, including whether the president's tariffs will stay long enough to pinch consumers and change their behavior. It's also unclear whether secondhand purveyors will increase their own prices, either to mirror the overall market or in response to shopper demand.
Jan Genovese, a retired fashion executive, sells her unwanted designer clothes through customer-to-customer marketplaces like Mercari. If tariffs cause retail prices to rise, she would consider high-end secondhand sites.
“Until I see it and really have that sticker shock, I can't say exclusively that I'll be pushed into another direction,” Genovese, 75, said. “I think that the tariff part of it is that you definitely rethink things. And maybe I will start looking at alternative venues.”
The secondhand clothing market already was flourishing before the specter of tariffs bedeviled the U.S. fashion industry. Management consulting firm McKinsey and Co. predicted after the COVID-19 pandemic that global revenue from pre-owned fashion would grow 11 times faster than retail apparel sales by this year as shoppers looked to save money or spend it in a more environmentally conscious way.
While millennials and members of Generation Z were known as the primary buyers of used clothing, data from market research firm Sensor Tower shows the audience may be expanding.
The number of mobile app downloads for nine resale marketplaces the firm tracks — eBay, OfferUp, Poshmark, Mercari, Craigslist, Depop, ThredUp, TheRealReal and Vinted — increased by 3% between January and the end of March, the first quarterly gain in three years, Sensor Tower said.
The firm estimates downloads of the apps for eBay, Depop, ThredUp and The RealReal also surged compared to a year earlier for the week of March 31, which was when Trump unveiled since-paused punitive tariffs on dozens of countries.
Circana's Classi-Zummo said that while customers used to seek out collectible or unusual vintage pieces to supplement their wardrobes, she has noticed more shoppers turning to secondhand sites to replace regular fashion items.
“It's still a cheaper option” than buying new, even though retailers offer discounts, she said.
Poshmark, a digital platform where users buy and sell pre-owned clothing, has yet to see sales pick up under the tariff schedule Trump unveiled but is prepared to capitalize on the moment, CEO Manish Chandra said.
Companies operating e-commerce marketplaces upgrade their technology to make it easier to find items. A visual search tool and other improvements to the Poshmark experience will “pay long dividends in terms of disruption that happens in the market” from the tariffs, Chandra said.
Archive, a San Francisco-based technology company that builds and manages online and in-store resale programs for brands including Dr. Martens, The North Face and Lululemon, has noticed clothing labels expressing more urgency to team up, CEO Emily Gittins said.
“Tapping into all of the inventory that is already sitting in the U.S., either in people's closets or in warehouses not being used,” offers a revenue source while brands limit or suspend orders from foreign manufacturers, she said.
“There's a huge amount of uncertainty,” Gittins said. “Everyone believes that this is going to be hugely damaging to consumer goods brands that sell in the U.S. So resale is basically where everyone's head is going.”
Stock analysts have predicted off-price retailers like TJ Maxx and Burlington Stores will weather tariffs more easily than regular apparel chains and department stores because they carry leftover merchandise in the U.S.
Still, resale vendors aren't immune from tariff-induced upheavals, said Rachel Kibbe, founder and CEO of Circular Services Group, a firm that advises brands and retailers on reducing the fashion industry's environmental impact.
U.S. sellers that import secondhand inventory from European Union countries would have to pay a 20% duty if Trump moves forward with instituting “reciprocal” tariffs on most trading partners and eliminates an import tax exception for parcels worth less than $800, Kibbe said.
A circular fashion coalition she leads is seeking a tariff exemption for used and recycled goods that will be offered for resale, Kibbe said. Trump already ended the duty-free provision for low-value parcels from China, a move that may benefit sellers of secondhand clothing by making low-priced Chinese fashions pricier, she said.
James Reinhart, co-founder and CEO of the online consignment marketplace ThredUp, said the removal of the “de minimis” provision and the 145% tariff Trump put on products made in China would benefit businesses like his. He doubts creating resale channels would make a big difference for individual brands.
“Brands will explore this and they may do more, but I don't see them massively changing their operations,” Reinhart said. “I think they're going to be figuring out how to survive. And I don't think resale helps you survive.”
Rebag, an online marketplace and retail chain that sells used designer handbags priced from $500 to tens of thousands of dollars, expects tariffs to help drive new customers and plans to open more physical stores, CEO Charles Gorra said.
Gorra said the company would analyze prices for new luxury goods and adjust what Rebag charges accordingly. The two historically rose in tandem, but Rebag could not match Chanel's 10% price increase last year because of lower resale demand, Gorra said.
“That has nothing to do with the tariffs,” he said. “Consumers are feeling priced out.”
Norah Brotman, 22, a senior at the University of Minnesota, buys most of her own clothes on eBay. She also thrifts fashions from the 1990s and early 2000s at Goodwill stores and resells them on Depop.
If tariffs upend the economics of fast fashion and discourage mindless consumption, Brotman would count that as a plus.
“I would love if this would steer people in a different direction,” she said.
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People in Michigan, Texas, Tennessee and Washington, D.C. contemplate President Trump's executive order establishing English as the official language of the United States.
Americans are divided over the fact that English has been deemed the official language of the United States under the new Trump administration.
U.S. citizens throughout the country told Fox News Digital this month what they think about President Donald Trump's recent executive order to make English the official language in America. While many found the mandate to be a no-brainer, others said it flies in the face of America's diversity.
"I disagree with that. I think we're a melting pot," Shane, a Kentucky resident, said. "I mean, this is how the country was built hundreds of years ago – it was based on a group of people from different nations coming in to form this country."
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Americans weigh in on whether they support President Trump's executive order to make English the official language of the United States. (Insets: Fox News Digital | Background: Anna Moneymaker / Staff)
Trump signed the executive order on March 1, marking the first time that the U.S. has ever had an official language.
The text of Trump's order stated, "A nationally designated language is at the core of a unified and cohesive society, and the United States is strengthened by a citizenry that can freely exchange ideas in one shared language."
The order added that an official language is intended to "promote unity" and "cultivate a shared American culture for all citizens," while ensuring consistency in government operations and creating a pathway to civic engagement.
About 180 of the 195 countries across the globe have already set their own official languages.
Steve from Birmingham, Mich., told Fox he thinks Trump is "100 percent absolutely correct" to sign the order, noting that there "should be no other language" officially designated.
Junior, a Mexican-American living in Houston, said he respects the order.
"I'm Mexican, but I'm American and this is America, you know what mean? So America, it's English, you know what I mean?" he said.
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President Donald Trump signs an executive order. (Getty Images)
However, Mary in Washington, D.C., said, "I don't think that's fair."
"I think that we need to be multicultural, and I think that the more diversity we have, the more beautiful the land is, the more enriched we can be by learning something else about someone else," she said.
Michigan resident David shared Mary's viewpoint, stating, "I think there is no official language for a reason. We're a polyglot country. We have nothing but immigrants from all over the world."
He argued that when the U.S. Constitution was ratified, "there were probably 40 to 50 languages being spoken in the United States."
Darryl from Houston said, "I think English should always have been the official language of the United States."
Tennessee native Glen was less opinionated on the subject, stating, "Hard to say, really. I don't know that I necessarily agree with that, because we have people from all different nationalities. So, I don't have any strong thoughts on that one way or the other."
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Lindy and Trudy – two friends from Houston – slammed the executive order.
"I think it's wrong," Linda said. "We're not there. I think we were there, you know, in the 1950s. You know, or at least that's what everyone grew up – my generation grew up thinking that. But it's just not a reality in today's world."
Trudy added, "I think we are a mixed nation of diverse people, and we have to face the fact that not everyone is going to speak English."
When asked if he supported the order, Howard from North Carolina told Fox, "Yes."
Jay from Knoxville, Tenn., appeared to indicate he supported the order, though he expressed openness to cultural diversity in the U.S.
"I would prefer that everybody speaks English, but I also am respectful of people and their cultures and their languages when they come to America," he said.
Charles, a Mississippi man touring D.C., was forceful in his defense of the order, stating, "You know, we're Americans. English is our language."
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Daniris Espinal stands for a portrait in Sunset Park, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Daniris Espinal walks through Sunset Park, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Daniris Espinal stands for a portrait in Sunset Park, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Moments after Daniris Espinal walked into her new apartment in Brooklyn, she prayed. In ensuing nights, she would awaken and touch the walls for reassurance — finding in them a relief that turned to tears over her morning coffee.
Those walls were possible through a federal program that pays rent for some 60,000 families and individuals fleeing homelessness or domestic violence. Espinal was fleeing both.
But the program, Emergency Housing Vouchers, is running out of money — and quickly.
Funding is expected to be used up by the end of next year, according to a letter from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and obtained by The Associated Press. That would leave tens of thousands across the country scrambling to pay their rent.
It would be among the largest one-time losses of rental assistance in the U.S., analysts say, and the ensuing evictions could churn these people — after several years of rebuilding their lives — back onto the street or back into abusive relationships.
“To have it stop would completely upend all the progress that they've made,” said Sonya Acosta, policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which researches housing assistance.
“And then you multiply that by 59,000 households,” she said.
The program, launched in 2021 by then-President Joe Biden as part of the pandemic-era American Rescue Plan Act, was allocated $5 billion to help pull people out of homelessness, domestic violence and human trafficking.
People from San Francisco to Dallas to Tallahassee, Florida, were enrolled — among them children, seniors and veterans — with the expectation that funding would last until the end of the decade.
But with the ballooning cost of rent, that $5 billion will end far faster.
Last month, HUD sent letters to groups dispersing the money, advising them to “manage your EHV program with the expectation that no additional funding from HUD will be forthcoming.”
The program's future rests with Congress, which could decide to add money as it crafts the federal budget. But it's a relatively expensive prospect at a time when Republicans, who control Congress, are dead set on cutting federal spending to afford tax cuts.
Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, who championed the program four years ago, is pushing for another $8 billion infusion.
But the organizations lobbying Republican and Democratic lawmakers to re-up the funding told the AP they aren't optimistic. Four GOP lawmakers who oversee the budget negotiations did not respond to AP requests for comment.
“We've been told it's very much going to be an uphill fight,” said Kim Johnson, the public policy manager at the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Daniris Espinal walks through Sunset Park, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Espinal and her two daughters, aged 4 and 19, are living on one of those vouchers in a three-bedroom apartment with an over $3,000 monthly rent — an amount extremely difficult to cover without the voucher.
Four years ago, Espinal fought her way out of a marriage where her husband controlled her decisions, from seeing her family and friends to leaving the apartment to go shopping.
When she spoke up, her husband said she was wrong, or in the wrong or crazy.
Isolated and in the haze of postpartum depression, she didn't know what to believe. “Every day, little by little, I started to feel not like myself,” she said. “It felt like my mind wasn't mine.”
When notices arrived in March 2021 seeking about $12,000 in back rent, it was a shock. Espinal had quit her job at her husband's urging and he had promised to cover family expenses.
Police reports documenting her husband's bursts of anger were enough for a judge to give her custody of their daughter in 2022, Espinal said.
But her future was precarious: She was alone, owed thousands of dollars in back rent and had no income to pay it or support her newborn and teenage daughters.
Financial aid to prevent evictions during the pandemic kept Espinal afloat, paying her back rent and keeping the family out of shelters. But it had an expiration date.
Around that time, the Emergency Housing Vouchers program was rolled out, targeting people in Espinal's situation.
Daniris Espinal stands for a portrait in Sunset Park, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A “leading cause of family homelessness is domestic violence” in New York City, said Gina Cappuccitti, director of housing access and stability services at New Destiny Housing, a nonprofit that has connected 700 domestic violence survivors to the voucher program.
Espinal was one of those 700, and moved into her Brooklyn apartment in 2023.
The relief went beyond finding a secure place to live, she said. “I gained my worth, my sense of peace, and I was able to rebuild my identity.”
Now, she said, she's putting aside money in case of the worst. Because, “that's my fear, losing control of everything that I've worked so hard for.”
___
Bedayn is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Former chief Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot, who was once a strong backer of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, is now warning that the “total chaos” of the last month at the Defense Department, including Signalgate and the recent firings over supposed leaks, could lead to Hegseth's ouster.
In an op-ed in Politico, Ullyot detailed his shift from once arguing that Hegseth was the “best man to shake things up” at the DOD to now observing that the Pentagon is in “disarray” under his leadership and may not have much time left as defense secretary.
He particularly shed light on the recent firings of three Pentagon officials, two of whom were leading advisers to Hegseth. All three were put on leave as part of an investigation into leaks in the department, with the Pentagon using polygraph tests in its inquiry.
Yet Ullyot revealed that none of the fired officials were given a polygraph test in the investigation, and one of them was told by investigators that he would soon be cleared of all wrongdoing. He said this is indicative of a larger “habit” of Hegseth's team of “spreading flat-out, easily debunked falsehoods anonymously about their colleagues on their way out the door.”
Ullyot was also critical of Hegseth's response to the Signal leak revealed in late March, when the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic was mistakenly added to a group chat discussing sensitive details of imminent U.S. strikes on the Yemeni Houthis. The defense secretary's initial response to reporters was to deny that any “war plans” were shared, which Ullyot said only made things worse as editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg then released the full text chain shortly after.
These incidents at the Pentagon are not the end of what Ullyot called the “Month from Hell” for the defense agency, as he predicted more firings as well as “even bigger bombshell stories” coming out this week.
Now faced with the loss of two of his closest advisers and another Signal chat leak revealed by the New York Times on Sunday night, Ullyot concluded by suggesting that Hegseth's time in the high-level Cabinet post may be coming to a close, given President Donald Trump's first term, which saw him go through three different defense secretaries.
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“President Donald Trump has a strong record of holding his top officials to account. Given that, it's hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer,” he said.
Ullyot was no longer serving in his role as chief Pentagon spokesman in late March following uproar over the deletion of a story about Jackie Robinson as part of the DOD's initiative to remove DEI content. His resignation from the department came just last week on April 17.
The "sell America" trade was in full swing as investors kicked off the week on Monday.
Stocks and bonds tanked, while the US dollar set a fresh three-year low. The moves came after President Trump further escalated his feud with Fed Chair Jerome Powell, saying on saying on Truth Social that the central bank head is a "major loser" who has taken too long to cut interest rates.
These comments shouldn't be confused with Trump saying on social media last week that Powell's "termination cannot come fast enough," again in reference to a lack of rate-cut activity. Both are new entries in the pair's long-running feud.
"A lot of this could just be trying to set the storyline for later on, that if we do go into a recession, it was because the Fed didn't cut rates," Bespoke co-founder Paul Hickey told Business Insider, adding that it "sets the Fed up for being scapegoated down the line."
Regardless of the motivation, the comments prompted traders to "sell America" in markets on Monday. Here are the three major assets impacted:
Stocks
S&P 500: 5,142.18, -2.7%
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 38,170.41, -2.5% (-972 points)
Nasdaq Composite: 15,870.90, down -2.6%
Bonds
Currencies
Dollar Index: Down 0.9%, paring losses of as much as 1.3%
On Friday, Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, said that Trump will "study" ways to remove the Fed chair. The president has long lambasted Powell for not lowering interest rates. Trump's frustration has gained steam since Powell's latest speech, in which he suggested that the president's tariffs could create policy issues for the central bank.
"I think the Fed's hands are tied, and he doesn't like it," Jamie Cox, Harris Financial Group financial advisor, told BI
White House interference in Fed leadership isn't seen sitting well with investors, and attempts to politicize monetary policy decisions would likely introduce further uncertainty into markets.
"Not only is the independence of the Fed clearly under threat, but the prospect of de-dollarization and a move away from US hegemony is an increasingly realistic one," said Michael Brown, a senior research strategist at Pepperstone.
Here's more detailed context behind the moves across asset classes:
Major stock indexes have swung violently over the past few weeks in reaction to Trump's sweeping tariffs unveiled in early April. Though most of the trade duties were later paused, tariffs on China have soared even higher, and the resulting trade war has been a challenge for investors to digest.
No new trade deals were announced over the weekend to uplift that market's spirits; instead, China warned that it would take countermeasures against any nation that reaches a deal with the US to isolate the country from global trade.
The sell-off was led by dominant tech mega-caps, with Tesla and Nvidia shedding 7% and 6%, respectively. The former is getting battered as analysts brace for pain ahead of Tuesday, when the electric vehicle maker will release first-quarter earnings.
Bond prices, which move in the opposite direction to yields, have dropped in recent weeks amid threats to US growth and deep uncertainty around trade. Commentators have observed that instability in the US economic outlook has hurt Treasurys' ultrasafe reputation.
It's a dynamic that's played out several times already this year, with tariff uncertainty and policy headwinds sending yields surging.
Bond vigilantes may have forced Trump to hit pause on the trade war earlier in the month, but headwinds for US Treasurys also include foreign investors selling and volatility in the so-called basis trade orchestrated by hedge funds.
Trump's attacks against Powell will likely only heighten investors' nervousness, keeping yields elevated.
The greenback has continued to plunge, sending the US Dollar Index deeper to a three-year low.
"President Trump's renewed criticism of Fed Chair Powell … is a reminder that trade policy is not the only channel through which the administration's unconventional approach could undermine the dollar and US asset markets," Capital Economics wrote.
The dollar's move lower goes against earlier expectations, as it was implied that tariffs would support currency levels.
Overall, the retreat from US safe-havens, coupled with a broader risk-off mood, sent gold surging to a new record high on Monday. Crypto also gained, with bitcoin touching $88,000 for the first time since March.
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US Jobs Report:
President Donald Trump has initiated sweeping cuts to federal staffing across the country in an effort to reduce waste and government spending.
Photographer: Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg
The broader US federal workforce could shrink by more than 1 million, according to an analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, largely reflecting an estimated reduction in those indirectly employed by the government through contracts and grants.
“Given the size of the federal workforce, the reduction in employment levels could have a measurable impact on labor market outcomes,” M. Melinda Pitts, a researcher at the Atlanta Fed, wrote in a blog post published Monday.
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A Republican proposal to impose a tax hike on millionaires offers to generate about $400 billion over a decade, according to two new estimates provided to Bloomberg News, providing fresh revenue to partially offset the cost of the party's multi-trillion-dollar tax package.
The Budget Lab at Yale projects that taxing income over $1 million at a 40% rate would generate $420 billion over a decade. The Tax Foundation in its own preliminary analysis finds that the new bracket would raise $358 billion over the same 10-year period, according to Garrett Watson, the director of policy analysis for the think tank.
A federal judge has once again blocked Department of Government Efficiency staffers, operating inside the Social Security Administration, from accessing sensitive personal data of millions of Americans.
U.S. District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander on Thursday granted a preliminary injunction to block the so-called DOGE from further accessing sensitive personal data stored by the agency. As a result, DOGE will have to comply with certain legal requirements when accessing SSA data. The order applies specifically to SSA employees who are working on the DOGE agenda.
The lawsuit was brought by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees; the AFL-CIO; American Federation of Teachers and Alliance for Retired Americans.
They are represented by national legal organization Democracy Forward.
The plaintiffs argue DOGE's actions violate the Privacy Act, Social Security Act, Internal Revenue Code and Administrative Procedure Act.
More from Personal Finance:Estimates point to lower Social Security cost-of-living adjustment in 2026Social Security Administration updates new anti-fraud measuresDisability advocates sue Social Security and DOGE to stop service cuts
Defendants in the case include the Social Security Administration; the agency's acting commissioner Leland Dudek; SSA chief information officer Michael Russo and/or his successor; Elon Musk, senior advisor to the president, and DOGE acting administrator Amy Gleason.
The order blocks the agency and its agents and employees from granting access to systems containing personally identifiable information including Social Security numbers, medical records, mental health records, employer and employee payment records, employee earnings, addresses, bank records, tax information and family court records.
DOGE and its affiliates must also disgorge and delete all non-anonymized personally identifiable information in their possession or control since Jan. 20, according to the order. They are also prohibited from installing any software on Social Security Administration systems and must remove any software installed since Jan. 20, the order states. In addition, the defendants are blocked from accessing, altering or disclosing the agency's computer or software code.
"The court's ruling sends a clear message: no one can bypass the law to raid government data systems for their own purposes," said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, in a statement.
"We will continue working with our partners to ensure that DOGE's overreach is permanently stopped and that people's rights are protected," Perryman said.
The injunction does allow DOGE staffers to access data that's been redacted or stripped of anything personally identifiable, if they undergo training and background checks.
A temporary restraining order, which was issued by Hollander on March 20, is vacated and superseded with this order. The Trump administration had unsuccessfully appealed the temporary restraining order.
"We will appeal this decision and expect ultimate victory on the issue," White House spokesperson Elizabeth Huston said in an email statement. "The American people gave President Trump a clear mandate to uproot waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government. The Trump Administration will continue to fight to fulfill the mandate."
The Social Security Administration did not respond to CNBC's request for comment.
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Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street.
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President Donald Trump on Monday met with chief executives from three of the nation's top retailers, who came to the White House to discuss how his sweeping tariff plans could impact their import-heavy business models.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon and Target chief executive Brian Cornell both attended, as did Home Depot CEO Ted Decker.
A White House official told CNBC earlier Monday that a representative from Lowe's would also be at the meeting. After the meeting concluded, an official told NBC News that no one from Lowe's attended.
After the meeting wrapped, the three companies issued nearly identical statements.
"We had a productive meeting with President Trump and his team and appreciated the opportunity to share our insights," a Walmart spokesperson said.
"We had a productive meeting with President Trump and our retail peers to discuss the path forward on trade, and we remain committed to delivering value for American consumers," read the statement from Target.
"We had an informative and constructive meeting with the President and look forward to continuing the dialogue," Home Depot's statement said.
The meeting, first reported by Bloomberg earlier in the day, was not included on the president's public schedule.
In a statement provided to CNBC later Monday, Trump said that the meeting "went very well," adding, "It was an honor to have them" in the Oval Office.
For retailers, tariffs are the latest threat to an already challenging economic landscape, where consumers are looking for low prices after years of high inflation.
Yet tariffs will weigh on some retailers more than others. As the nation's largest grocer, Walmart is in a better position than many of its competitors.
About two-thirds of what Walmart sells in the United States is made, grown or assembled in America, chief financial officer John David Rainey said earlier this month at an investor event in Dallas.
Walmart imports the final one third from around the globe, he said, but China and Mexico are the "most significant" supplier countries.
Target, on the other hand, is in a tougher spot. The Minneapolis-based retailer is best known for discretionary merchandise like inexpensive, chic clothes and home goods, products that are typically manufactured overseas.
Target's annual revenue has been roughly stagnant for the past four years, and the company recently projected just 1% sales growth for the current fiscal year.
The industry's key trade group, the National Retail Federation, has sounded alarms about the harms tariffs pose to U.S. families. The group, which lobbies for and represents retailers, has released its own estimates of how much more consumers would have to pay for everyday items like sneakers, toasters and mattresses.
"More tariffs equal more anxiety and uncertainty for American businesses and consumers," David French, NRF's executive vice president of government relations, said on the day Trump unveiled his "reciprocal" tariff plan, which he has since pared back.
"While leaders in Washington may not care about higher prices, hardworking American families do," French said.
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Married student-loan borrowers won't have to worry about changes that could increase their monthly payments after all.
After the American Federation of Teachers sued President Donald Trump's administration for taking down online access to income-driven-repayment applications, the Department of Education wrote in a legal filing that married student-loan borrowers who file separate tax returns would have their combined income counted to calculate monthly payments.
That would've surged some borrowers' payments because it would mean that monthly payments on an income-driven repayment plan would be based on a higher combined income.
The Department of Education corrected that in a legal filing last week, saying the change to married borrowers' payment calculations "was erroneous." Instead, acting Undersecretary James Bergeron said that married borrowers filing separately would have the spouse counted in the family size to calculate monthly payments.
"But, to be clear, the inclusion of a spouse for purposes of determining family size does not involve the consideration of spousal income," the filing said.
So, for now, the process for monthly payment calculations will stay the same, and married borrowers who file taxes separately do not have to worry about affording payments based on the combined spousal income.
The department said it initially removed online access to income-driven-repayment applications as a "required consequence" of a federal court blocking the SAVE plan. SAVE, which was created by then-President Joe Biden to give borrowers lower monthly payments and a shorter timeline to debt relief, has been blocked since this past summer following a lawsuit from GOP-led states.
Borrowers enrolled in SAVE are on administrative forbearance pending a final legal decision. They can choose to apply for a different repayment plan if they want to continue making payments and earning credit toward the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
But there's not yet a timeline for when servicers will begin to process the backlog of income-driven-repayment applications.
"This timeline is due to the servicers' internal procedures," Bergeron wrote. "Specifically, before servicers can begin to process applications, they must update the processing rules in their systems according to the terms of their contracts with Education."
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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's purse containing $3,000 in cash was stolen while she was dining at a popular Washington, DC restaurant over the weekend, an incident now under investigation by the US Secret Service.
Noem was eating with her family at The Capital Burger when she felt what she thought was her grandchild brush against her leg, said a person familiar with the incident. Moments later, she realized her purse was missing, according to the person, who isn't authorized to speak publicly.
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Companies large and small are turning to special U.S. Customs-approved sites to avoid, at least temporarily, the payment of new tariffs implemented by President Trump.
These locations, called foreign trade zones (FTZs) and bonded warehouses, are specially designated, secured storage or manufacturing sites approved by U.S. Customs where freight is not subject to U.S. duties or excise taxes. Duties are only paid by the importer when the goods are transferred out of the FTZ or bonded warehouse for U.S. market consumption.
"A year ago, an FTZ was a nonstarter because of the investment a company would have to make," said Jackson Wood, director of industry strategy for Descartes Global Trade Intelligence, which provides FTZ technology system assistance. "Now they are crunching the numbers to see if it makes financial sense, and for some it does," Wood said, including smaller companies that are starting to consider FTZs as tariff rates soar.
There is a 90-day pause in place for most countries before new tariffs hit, though tariffs for Chinese goods are now as high as 145%.
FTZs enable U.S. importers and manufacturers to store imports of finished goods for an indefinite amount of time without paying trade duties. Freight imported under bond and placed in a bonded warehouse can be stored for up to five years starting the day it was imported into the country. Depending on the day the freight is moved out of an FTZ or bonded warehouse, importers might be able to pay either reduced customs duties, taxes, or fees, or none at all — a strategic approach to import management also known as an "inverted tariff."
The deferment of duties, taxes and fees normally applicable upon importation can significantly enhance a company's financial position by providing cost savings, operational flexibility, and improved cash flow.
Jeffrey J. Tafel, president of the National Association of Foreign Trade-Zones, says his organization started to see an increase in membership during the 2024 presidential election, and registrations have continued to pour in, with membership is at an all-time high.
"With tariff changes happening so quickly, there are companies that are looking for FTZ storage space in order to defer the duties until they are able to decide how they want to proceed with the merchandise, much of which was purchased before the tariffs were known," said Tafel. "Any time tariffs are in the news, we see an increase in interest in all programs that help U.S. companies mitigate the impact."
Tafel said there is also increased interest regarding FTZ grantees, which are authorized by the Foreign-Trade Zones Board to establish, operate, and maintain a foreign-trade zone, with inquiries up as much as two to four times what is typical.
FTZs were created by Congress in the 1930s to incentivize domestic investment in U.S. The foreign-trade zones program employs more than 550,000 American workers across all 50 states and Puerto Rico, and in virtually every industry sector.
Companies can choose to not ship goods at all, and recent data out of Asia shows a steep decline in manufacturing orders and freight vessel sailings. Bringing the goods in, and using duty-free zones, is the other option.
"Recent tariff changes have made FTZs more appealing, as other duty reduction or recovery options, like duty drawback, are not eligible for the new tariffs," said Chelsea Pavona Gardner, a Maersk spokeswoman for North America. "As a result, companies that previously dismissed FTZs are now considering them as a viable strategy," she said.
"We're at the point where we have a combination of clients waiting the next 30 days to see what happens," said Janet Labuda, head of customs and trade issues at Maersk. "We have others taking product and moving into bonded warehouses for 30 days or so to see if any of this blows over and then extract it out at the duties being charged that day," she added.
Setting up an FTZ can be costly, with charges for professional services to navigate the initial process and approval of the zone usage, as well as trained staff and dedicated IT systems to manage the zone once operational.
According to Gardner, using an FTZ depends more on the scale of a company's import activities rather than the industry itself, but the primary users of FTZs in the past have been consumer goods and retail, automotive, aerospace, and electronics.
In addition to warehouse storage, manufacturing plants, or portions of plants, can become an FTZ in cases where a company's components have a higher tariff than the finished good. Once the finished good is released from the FTZ, the company pays a lower tariff. There is also an option for companies to have Customs approve the scrap of any leftover material not used in the manufacturing process, which would not be subjected to duty. This exemption can also include exporting the product to another country.
Jordan Dewart, president of Redwood Logistics Mexico, said his company has been fielding many prospects and requests for FTZ services. While the Trump administration has said it is in talks with 75 countries for trade deals since announcing new tariffs, Dewart said the surge in FTZ interest is a sign that importers are worried about how long the trade war could last. "It seems customers are looking for a solution in case the tariffs stick long term," he said.
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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's purse was stolen Sunday night while she was dining at a restaurant in downtown Washington, D.C., two law enforcement sources confirmed to CNBC.
Noem's bag contained roughly $3,000 in cash, which she had withdrawn to treat her family to dinner and Easter gifts and activities, a DHS spokesperson said Monday.
The bag also contained Noem's passport, makeup, blank checks, her driver's license, keys and medication, according to CNN, which first reported the theft.
The U.S. Secret Service has reviewed security footage that shows an unidentified white male, who wore a medical mask, snatching the bag, CNN reported.
Noem, asked about the theft during the White House Easter Egg Roll later Monday morning, said that it is "not resolved yet."
She told NBC News that the Secret Service is aware of the incident, but that she has not yet spoken to the agency about it.
The Secret Service is still gathering information about the theft, a spokesperson for the agency told CNBC.
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A foundational shift is underway in enterprise software, and it's being driven by generative AI.
The rise of reasoning models and AI agents is beginning to erode the core assumptions that have defined the software-as-a-service business model for decades, according to a new study released on Monday by AlixPartners.
The consulting firm warned that this is squeezing more than 100 mid-market software companies, which are stuck in the midst of a powerful trend.
These companies are caught in a "big squeeze," pressured on one side by nimble, AI-native entrants that can replicate applications at a fraction of the cost and on the other side by tech behemoths, such as Microsoft and Salesforce, that are pouring billions of dollars into the AI arms race, AlixPartners said.
"We believe many mid-size enterprise software companies will face threats to their survival over the next 24 months," the firm added ominously. It declined to identify specific companies, given the sensitive nature of its findings.
The most mature uses of AI in enterprise software today include copilots for software coding, such as GitHub Copilot from Microsoft, and support chatbots like Zendesk's Answer Bot. But these could be just the beginning. Generative AI is advancing from narrow use cases to the broader "logic and presentation layers" of software, the very foundation that traditional SaaS tools are built on, AlixPartners explained in the study.
This means AI agents are no longer just assistants within applications; they are becoming the applications themselves. These agents are capable of handling complex tasks, such as scheduling meetings, analyzing reports, and creating code, with little need for a graphical interface or structured workflow. And because they can run across various data types without needing extensive data normalization, they could render some traditional SaaS layers redundant.
"This shift could eliminate the need for many enterprise software companies that thrived in the traditional SaaS architecture," AlixPartners said.
This puts mid-size SaaS vendors in a tricky position, the firm explained, citing a recent analysis it conducted of 122 publicly listed enterprise software companies with annual revenue below $10 billion.
It found that sales growth has slowed considerably lately. For instance, the percentage of high-growth companies in this group decreased from 57% in 2023 to 39% in 2024. This year, industry analysts are expecting further declines, indicating that only 27% of companies will be in the high-growth category.
AlixPartners also highlighted that software customers are moving around more than before. The median net dollar retention rate of enterprise software companies dropped from 120% in 2021 to 108% in the third quarter of 2024, the firm noted, citing data from Bank of America. (NDR is a common way to measure customer stickiness. When it's above 100%, that indicates revenue from existing customers is growing, while an NDR below 100% suggests revenue is declining from these sources.)
Many of these companies are now being undercut by AI-powered challengers with lower costs and faster iteration cycles. Simultaneously, larger players are integrating AI into their broader platforms, offering bundled functionality at lower price points through economies of scale, according to the consulting firm.
Klarna's recent decision to drop Salesforce and Workday in favor of smaller AI-powered vendors and in-house agents is a sign of where this trend may be headed, AlixPartners noted.
Traditional SaaS depends heavily on the user interface, structured data workflows, and seat-based pricing. But AI agents don't need dashboards, and they can function without rigid data hierarchies. This calls into question the relevance of the SaaS model itself, according to AlixPartners.
Some companies are already pivoting. Salesforce and ServiceNow have begun experimenting with outcome-based pricing for AI agents, where fees are tied to results, not user counts.
Among those 122 mid-sized software companies, AlixPartners found that half expect significant changes to business models in the next year.
At the same time, the compute costs associated with running AI agents can be significantly higher than for classic SaaS tools, making profit margin compression a potential threat. Software providers may need to rethink infrastructure strategies, possibly shifting to more efficient inference architectures, industry experts have warned recently.
Meanwhile, higher interest rates and tightening capital markets in recent years have put the onus on SaaS profitability, not just growth. Software companies have responded by cutting costs, optimizing portfolios, and rethinking pricing strategies.
According to the AlixPartners report, more than 60% of executives are now focused on AI as a growth driver. Unlocking that growth requires more than just product tweaks, it may require transformation across operations, go-to-market models, and customer relationships, the consulting firm suggested.
So what's the path forward? The report discusses several strategic imperatives. Here are a few:
In a world where generative AI tools can write or replicate software pretty well, differentiation must come from speed, relevance, and efficiency, not UI design or legacy feature sets.
The software era isn't ending. But the SaaS era, as we know it, is evolving. The next generation of enterprise tools may not be applications, they could be agents. And only the most adaptable companies will make the leap, according to AlixPartners.
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President Donald Trump on Monday ratcheted up his pressure campaign on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, calling him a "major loser" and warning that the U.S. economy could slow down unless interest rates are lowered immediately.
"'Preemptive Cuts' in Interest Rates are being called for by many," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump claimed that there is currently "virtually No Inflation" in the U.S., and that costs for energy and "most other 'things'" are on the decline.
"With these costs trending so nicely downward, just what I predicted they would do, there can almost be no inflation, but there can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW," Trump wrote.
Trump's latest salvo against Powell — whom he appointed during his first administration — came as the president and his team are studying whether they can legally fire the central bank leader before his term expires in May 2026.
Powell has flatly stated that the president cannot remove him under the law.
Any attempt by Trump to fire Powell would likely trigger a steep sell off in U.S. equity markets, Evercore ISI's vice chairman, Krishna Guha, told CNBC on Monday.
"If you start to raise questions about Federal Reserve independence, you are raising the bar for the Federal Reserve to cut. If you actually did try to remove the Federal Reserve chairman, I think you would see a severe reaction in markets with yields higher, dollars lower and equities selling off," Guha said on "Squawk Box."
"I can't believe that that's what the administration is trying to achieve," Guha said.
The stock market, already reeling from heightened uncertainty and other concerns stemming from the Trump administration's sweeping tariff plans, sank further Monday morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 750 points, a nearly 2% drop, within the first hour of trading, while the Nasdaq fell 2.6%.
The U.S. dollar, meanwhile, slid to its lowest level since 2022. The churn in global markets has sent investors flocking to safe-haven assets such as gold, which hit a record high price on Monday, while the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield crept up.
Trump's latest attacks on Powell followed the central bank leader's suggestion last week that the president's trade war will constrain growth and could fuel inflation.
Tariffs are "likely to move us further away from our goals ... probably for the balance of this year," Powell said at the Economic Club of Chicago.
Powell also stopped short of suggesting that interest rate cuts were on the horizon.
"For the time being, we are well positioned to wait for greater clarity before considering any adjustments to our policy stance," he said.
— CNBC's Alex Harring contributed to this report.
Correction: Krishna Guha is vice chairman of Evercore ISI. An earlier version misstated his title.
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Chipotle Mexican Grill will open its first location in Mexico early next year as the latest stage in its international expansion.
The company announced Monday that it has signed a development agreement with Alsea, which operates Latin American and European locations of Starbucks, Domino's Pizza and Burger King, among other chains.
After the initial restaurant opens in 2026, Chipotle plans to explore "additional expansion markets in the region," which could mean broader Latin American development.
The deal to expand in Mexico comes as President Donald Trump wages a trade war with the country, straining the relationship between the two neighbors. Avocados from Mexico were originally subject to a 25% tariff until he paused new duties on goods compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. While Chipotle has diversified its avocado sourcing in recent years, it still imports about half of its avocados from Mexico.
In recent years, Chipotle has been trying to expand internationally, after decades focusing almost entirely on its U.S. business. The company operates 58 locations in Canada, 20 in the United Kingdom, six in France and two in Germany. Chipotle also currently has three restaurants in Kuwait and two in the United Arab Emirates through a deal with Alshaya Group.
Chipotle is betting that Mexico's familiarity with its ingredients and appreciation for fresh food will win over consumers, according to a statement from Nate Lawton, Chipotle's chief business development officer.
But U.S. interpretations of Mexican food don't always resonate in the market; Yum Brands' Taco Bell has twice attempted to expand into Mexico, but both efforts failed quickly.
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Gold prices broke $3,400 on Monday, hitting a new record as President Donald Trump's threats against the Federal Reserve's independence and his tariffs shake investor confidence in the U.S. economy.
Gold futures jumped 2.91% to close at $3,425.30 per ounce, with investors buying the precious metal as the dollar hit a three-year low. Gold has jumped about 30% since the start of the year and about 8% since Trump unveiled his sweeping tariffs on April 2.
The president ramped up pressure on Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Monday, calling him a "major loser" and demanding that the central bank lower interest rates now.
Trump said last Thursday that Powell's "termination cannot come fast enough," after the U.S. central bank chief warned that the president's tariffs will likely increase inflation in the near term. Trump is looking into whether he can fire Powell, White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett said Friday.
Gold has been on a tear this year as confidence in the U.S. falls and central banks buy up the precious metal. Citi sees gold prices rallying to $3,500 over the next three months as investment demand outstrips supply from mining.
"We estimate that tariff-related US and global growth concerns are likely to continue to combine with strong central bank and other institutional demand," analysts led by Kenny Hu told clients in a recent note.
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Nvidia doesn't need a big cultural shift to get workers to be hardcore. It's been there for years.
Companies like Shopify, Microsoft, and Meta are ramping up the intensity for workers, pushing the need to get ahead in AI and drive efficiency. The shift inside tech companies has led to a culling of "low performers," inflexible return-to-office mandates, and a reduction in perks.
Nvidia's staff has grown immensely in the past few years, and its market capitalization is on a wild roller coaster ride. But the tentpoles of the company's culture go back much further than the AI boom. The company and its CEO, Jensen Huang, are also the subject of two books released in the past four months, which corroborate what former Nvidians have told Business Insider.
Nvidia has a demanding work culture that trickles down from its famous CEO, providing a foil for the tech firms that aspire to be hardcore but do so by fiat.
"Basically, every single person in Nvidia is directly accountable to Jensen," said Stephen Witt, the author of "The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World's Most Coveted Microchip."
Nvidia declined a request for comment from BI.
Nvidia has an extremely horizontal structure, with dozens of people — about 60 — reporting directly to Huang.
He sets the direction and the goal, but the Santa Clara, California, company also has a defining mantra: "The mission is the boss," Tae Kim wrote in his book "The Nvidia Way: Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant."
Nvidia shies away from short-term goals, Kim said. There's a central goal or mission, but planning and strategizing are constant processes that don't focus on management incentives or satisfying a hierarchy.
Project leaders may suddenly find themselves reporting directly to Huang. These newly anointed direct reports are dubbed "pilots in charge" and are subject to his wrath and carry his weight, Kim said.
A former Nvidia employee who asked to remain anonymous to discuss internal matters said everyone in the company must be prepared to answer Huang in detail.
"His ability to track small details across countless projects is incredible," a former director told BI.
This method of extreme accountability means Nvidia hasn't had to rein in employees as many other companies have postpandemic. Nvidia is still remote-friendly, for example. But meetings are far from relaxing.
Huang is known to publicly discuss failures and disagreements to benefit the group rather than spare feelings. If he suspects someone isn't on top of their work, a public cross-examination may ensue. Perks are few, but that's always been the case, two former Nvidians told BI.
The "mission is boss" ethos helps Nvidia avoid the pitfalls of large firms, which often struggle to make quick decisions, let alone pivot when needed, Kim wrote.
"Jensen really doesn't tolerate" nonsense, a former engineer from Nvidia's early days told BI. This intolerance makes playing politics nearly impossible, they added.
"It's not just, 'You did something wrong.' It's, 'You did something wrong that was self-serving' — that's the typical problem in big companies," they said.
The philosophy is that the mission can change, but as long as everyone serves it rather than their manager, the company should thrive. Nvidia's pivot to focus on machine learning was even communicated in 2014 in a companywide Friday-night email. By Monday, Nvidia was an AI company, Witt wrote.
Huang is known to send more than 100 emails a day, which brings another "Jensen-ism" into play. (Kim's book has an entire appendix of Jensen-isms.)
The 62-year-old CEO often refers to Nvidia's modus operandi as "speed of light." That's how fast Huang wants everything at Nvidia to progress. He's publicly used the phrase to refer to hiring processes and fixing technical problems.
Witt thinks that Nvidia's email culture may have inspired a memorable moment from the early days of the White House DOGE office. On a Saturday, Elon Musk requested that every federal government employee send a five-point email recounting what they had done that week. Huang has requested these emails from his staff since 2020.
Kim said at least 100 of Huang's daily diet of emails are "top five" emails.
The irony in Nvidia's position among the Silicon Valley elite is that the "mission is boss" mentality and the constant email status updates mean a lot of Nvidians have flexibility that most of Big Tech, including Nvidia's largest customers, have abandoned in 2025.
The hours can be long at Nvidia, which also stems from Huang. Sixty-hour weeks are the norm, and 80-hour weeks are likely at crucial times, a contrast to companies that feel the need to delineate exact office hours.
"I don't even know when Jensen sleeps," another former Nvidia director said.
Many Nvidians are still able to work from wherever they like. The reason is twofold, Witt said.
"One of the reasons he's so big on work-from-home is because it gives women, and especially young mothers, the opportunity to continue their work without their careers getting interrupted," Witt said.
Inspired by his wife, Lori Huang, an electrical engineer who dropped out of the workforce after becoming a mother of two, Huang is aware that some valuable engineering brains find balancing work and family difficult.
"It works really well at Nvidia," Witt said. "You know if you're dropping the ball at Nvidia, the spotlight is turning directly at you, more or less instantly. There is nowhere to hide if you are shirking your work at Nvidia, and I think that makes work-from-home work better for them."
If there's one hallmark of the new era of hardcore tech culture, it's layoffs. Rolling layoffs are constantly whirring in the background of tech workplaces in 2025.
That's where Nvidia diverges from the pack.
The company hasn't had layoffs since 2008, and despite the hard-charging atmosphere rife with accountability, the turnover at the company is minuscule — under 5% annually for the past two years.
Witt said that's in part due to a self-selection dynamic. Engineers who like a no-nonsense atmosphere where technological supremacy is the focus naturally gravitate toward the company.
"He can get these guys to work for Nvidia on little more than a dream, but those guys will do it because they know the circuits; they know the technology," Witt told BI. "And they know that Jensen's always at the cutting edge, even if it's not making money. They'll do anything to be at the cutting edge."
But another reason many Nvidians spend decades with the company may come from Huang's competitive anxiety.
"When Nvidia is evaluating an engineer, they won't think just about what they're worth," Witt said. "They'll think about what it's worth to keep that person away from the competition."
Huang, though, has offered a different explanation.
"I don't like giving up on people because I think that they could improve," Huang said at a Stripe event last year. "It's kind of tongue in cheek, but people know that I'd rather torture them into greatness."
Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at ecosgrove@businessinsider.com or Signal at 443-333-9088. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.
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The average banker didn't go to Harvard and is less likely to be white than you may think — unless he's the boss. A demographic breakdown of modern Wall Street.
Imagine the average Wall Street worker, and Christian Bale's investment banker character from "American Psycho" might come to mind: conventionally attractive with slicked-back hair, a posh Manhattan address, dual Harvard degrees, and, of course, white and male.
What if we told you that front-office workers at four of the largest banks were actually less white than the general public? And equally male and female? Or that Baruch College, a public school in New York City, is a more common undergrad alma mater than Harvard?
The Wall Street stereotype exists in part because the industry is insular and hard to break into, a trend that is only calcifying as the industry's already strict recruiting pipeline narrows. Students who want to become investment bankers, private equity dealmakers, or hedge fund traders now feel they must start checking off a long to-do list as early as freshman year — or risk missing out. The system prioritizes people who are lucky enough to be exposed to the finance industry and its all-important investment banking internship at a young age.
In light of this, BI decided to put Wall Street's diversity to the test. We wanted to know where the average Wall Street worker went to school, how likely they are to have a master's degree, and how far the banks have come in hiring more women and minorities after years of promising to branch out. This is the third in a series of stories about the changing path to jobs on Wall Street and how this is affecting young people and the industry at large.
See more stories from BI's Path to Wall Street series here, including what it's really like to work for a hedge fund and why young people are flocking to investment banking despite its challenging apprenticeship model.
We turned to disparate sources of information to synthesize a picture across four of the largest Wall Street banks: JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs. We used Equal Employment Opportunity Commission disclosures for race and gender information and the data software firm Revelio Labs for other things, like educational and professional experiences. To determine pay, we consulted the New York State Comptroller's annual compensation report, which relies on tax data.
Read on to learn more about the average Face of Wall Street.
While an Ivy League degree can help you land a front-office bulge bracket job, it's far from a requirement, the data showed.
Only 11.7% of New York-based front-office workers at the four firms we studied went to Ivy Plus schools (defined as the Ivy Leagues plus the University of Chicago, Stanford, Duke, and MIT) for undergrad, according to the Revelio Labs data.
Nearly as many received their undergraduate degree internationally, which can serve as a proxy for employees who are not from the US. Almost four out of five went to other schools.
The numbers change as you go up the pecking order. BI studied the educational backgrounds of the 69 members of the management committees at these four banks and found that 17.4% of them went to an Ivy Plus for undergrad, and a striking 30.4% hailed from an international school.
Wall Street's front-office workers hail from a range of undergraduate programs, but there are some top hits. Three of the five most popular undergraduate schools are in New York City, led by New York University, which charges more than $65,000 a year for tuition. Next up is Baruch College, a public school in Manhattan known for spitting out finance talent, and Fordham University, a private Jesuit school in the Bronx.
New York City's Ivy League representative, Columbia, didn't make the top five. The only two Ivies in the top five are the University of Pennsylvania, home of the Wharton Business School, and upstate New York's Cornell.
The study found that 28.3% of these workers have a graduate degree, most likely an MBA, though it could be another degree.
The most attended graduate schools among this cohort are largely a who's who of top business schools, with NYU and Columbia taking the lead. UPenn and Harvard also make an appearance. Fordham is the third most common in another strong showing for the Bronx school.
Nearly a quarter, 22.3% of employees, have been at the same firm since graduation — highlighting the importance of getting on the right career track in college. Among job switchers, most worked at other bulge-bracket banks led by Bank of America.
The only non-bank employer in the top five was the US government, which remains the nation's largest employer despite recent cutbacks under the Trump White House.
Note: The above chart shows nominal bonus size and is not adjusted for inflation.
Working on Wall Street pays well, with entry-level bankers earning about $110,000 a year, not including bonuses. Bonuses can make up half or more of total pay but will fluctuate depending on how bad or good business was the year prior.
In 2024, bank revenues soared, sending Wall Street's bonus pools to an all-time high of $47.5 billion, according to New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli's report. That works out to an average bonus of $244,700 for every Wall Street worker, the report said.
Using banker pay data for 2023, BI estimated that the average Wall Street worker earned roughly $529,970 in 2024. According to the latest data from the Social Security Administration, the average salary in the US is $66,622.
The latest available data shows that the employees at these banks are 48.67% white, about 10 percentage points less than the latest census data shows for non-Hispanic whites. It's also, however, slightly less Black and slightly less Hispanic than the country.
One exception is the Asian population, whose representation in finance is about three times that in the country as a whole. Nearly a fifth of the employees identified as Asian, compared with 6.4% of the US population.
Since 2019, the studied banks have become 5 percentage points less white, with all minority categories increasing, led by Asian workers.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Wall Street's executive level is whiter than the general population. The four banks are essentially three-quarters white at that level. Asian executives are also more highly represented at that level, with 14.18% of roles.
Other minority groups are substantially less represented than they are in the general population, with only 4.74% Black executives, who make up 13.7% of the general population, and 5.23% Hispanic executives, who account for 19.5% of the general population.
Despite banks' diversification efforts, white people now represent 74.2% of firms' executive ranks, up from 70.2% in 2019. At all other levels captured in the disclosures, the firms have become more diverse since 2019.
While the data is separated into different job categories, it doesn't make more granular distinctions between investment bankers and those who work in other fields like technology and marketing.
Most of the banks' data comes from 2023 EEOC disclosures with the exception of Citi, which has not released its 2023 disclosure. As a result, we're using Citi's 2022 data.
We've also collapsed the Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaskan Native, and multiracial categories into one "other" category. We're following JPMorgan Chase's lead in combining these categories so we can compare the banks against one another.
If you look at the overall gender breakdown, the banks are almost exactly 50/50 male and female, and have been since 2019.
But an interesting story emerges when you look at the gender split by rank. At the "other" level, which features administrative employees among others, the banks are 57.5% female.
The next bar up, professionals, are more male than female (53.3% to 46.7%) but near parity. At the midlevel management rung, the firms get slightly more male, with 57.8% of employees identifying as male.
The executive levels are the most male, with 69.6% of executives identifying as male. That share is lower than in 2019, when nearly three-quarters, 74.1%, of top bank executives were male. But as with race, Wall Street has the furthest left to go at the executive level.
Want to share your career path with us? Fill out this quick form.
Editor's note: Revelio Labs' data comes from its internal talent database, which uses public sources like LinkedIn profiles that are standardized through the firm's proprietary algorithms. For this project, Revelio pulled data for roughly 36,500 employees of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citi, and JPMorgan who identified as front-office workers based in the New York area.
Jump to
Some Americans are secretly working multiple full-time remote jobs simultaneously. Whether it's beating the system or cheating depends on who you ask.
Over the past two years, I've interviewed more than two dozen "overemployed" people, many of whom work in the IT and tech sectors. These people have doubled and tripled their earnings by juggling multiple roles simultaneously, and used their extra income to travel the world, buy expensive weight loss drugs, and pay off their student debt.
These stories have drawn a wide range of reactions from readers. Some people have commended these job jugglers for finding a way to maximize their earnings and job security. Others have argued that these workers are taking advantage of their employers — getting full-time pay without giving full-time attention — and holding jobs that unemployed Americans need.
I asked four ethics academics and consultants to weigh in on the debate. The consensus: Secretly juggling multiple full-time remote jobs isn't ethical, but the motivations behind it are understandable.
Several of the sources Business Insider spoke with said the ethics question often starts with whether an employee has a contract and what it says.
Todd Haugh, an associate professor of business law and ethics at Indiana University, said that if an employee's contract stipulates that they must work exclusively for their employer, it'd be hard to argue that it's ethical for them to work another job.
However, Haugh said most workers in the US are "at will" employees who don't have formal employee contracts, which generally allows them to be fired or quit at any time. He thinks many job jugglers are likely breaching their employer's implied expectation that they'll focus fully on only one job during work hours. Even if a worker doesn't have a formal contract that prohibits job juggling, Haugh said they could be fired if they're found out.
"We expect that if you took a job with one company, you work for just that company," he said. "You're going to give your full attention, time, and energy to that particular company."
Jeffrey Moriarty, executive director of the Hoffman Center for Business Ethics at Bentley University, feels similarly.
"When you promise to work during certain hours for an employer, you implicitly promise not to work for another employer during that time period," he said, adding that job juggling likely involves lying and deception, behaviors generally frowned upon from an ethical standpoint.
Moriarty said workers likely wouldn't appreciate it if their employer started violating implicit agreements without their consent. For example, by paying them in a "wheelbarrow full of pennies" instead of the direct deposit they assumed was a given, he said.
Elizabeth Anderson, a professor of public philosophy at the University of Michigan and author of "Value in Ethics and Economics," said she believes lying is generally wrong, but an employer isn't entitled to know whether someone is working multiple jobs unless it's explicitly prohibited in an employment contract.
"As long as the salaried employee is working hard enough not to get fired, the employee has done everything they owe to their employer and is not obligated to reveal that they are moonlighting for someone else," she said.
Additionally, she doesn't think it would be unethical for an employee to evade a question about their work status or offer "truthful but misleading" information.
In the case of contract workers, who are often hired temporarily for a specific purpose, Anderson said job juggling is ethically acceptable unless it is explicitly prohibited in a formal contract.
"Their employer has no loyalty to them — else they'd be permanent — so no loyalty is owed back," she said.
Overemployment could open the door to other ethical trouble, along with questions about loyalty.
Chris MacDonald, an associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University who also consults on ethics, said it could create a conflict of interest if a person juggles multiple jobs and the employers are in the same field, presenting a different set of ethical concerns.
Meanwhile, Anderson said it would be wrong to work for a second employer from the first employer's office, rather than from a separate workspace, she added. And if an employee is paid by the hour, they should only bill for the time actually spent working for that employer.
While some job jugglers might think it's fine to have multiple jobs if the work gets done, MacDonald said it's probably wrong unless they've asked their employers first. Additionally, he said there could be times when performing well at two or more jobs isn't realistic.
"When two bosses both give you urgent deadlines on a Friday afternoon, who will you be loyal to?" he said. "You're likely going to have to lie to one of them, and probably fail in your responsibilities to them as well."
However, not every overemployed person will agree. In fact, Haugh said job jugglers likely have little trouble coming up with their own justifications for their working arrangements.
"Individuals are very good at viewing their own behavior as ethical," he said. "They come up with lots of good stories about why it's OK to do a thing, when really, if you step back objectively and look at it, oftentimes it's a lot harder to defend."
Do you have a story to share about secretly working multiple jobs or discovering an employee is doing so? Contact this reporter via email at jzinkula@businessinsider.com or Signal at jzinkula.29.
Jump to
President Donald Trump said on Sunday that business leaders who oppose his reciprocal tariffs do not appreciate what he is doing for them.
"THE BUSINESSMEN WHO CRITICIZE TARIFFS ARE BAD AT BUSINESS, BUT REALLY BAD AT POLITICS," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Easter Sunday.
"THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND OR REALIZE THAT I AM THE GREATEST FRIEND THAT AMERICAN CAPITALISM HAS EVER HAD!" Trump added.
Trump announced sweeping tariffs on more than 180 countries on April 2.
A baseline rate of 10% went into effect on April 5, while a higher set of tariffs that varied by country took effect on April 9 before Trump announced a 90-day pause on the same day. Trump's tariffs triggered a massive market sell-off.
Trump did not include any names in his Truth Social post on Sunday, but several prominent entrepreneurs and executives have publicly criticized Trump's decision to impose tariffs on US trading partners.
JPMorgan's CEO Jamie Dimon told the Financial Times in an interview published Tuesday that the uncertainty created by Trump's tariffs was challenging America's reputation as a "haven."
"I am not worried about the markets as much as I am about keeping the Western world together, free and safe for democracy," Dimon told the FT.
"And that, to me, means you want to strengthen the economic relationships. If there's unfairness, deal with it. But yeah, we should be careful. I don't think anyone should assume they have a divine right to success, and therefore, don't worry about it," Dimon added.
Earlier, on April 9, Dimon said in an interview with Fox Business that a recession is a "likely outcome" with Trump's tariffs. Trump said in a Truth Social post, hours before announcing a 90-day pause on tariffs, that he had watched Dimon's interview.
Dimon isn't the only business leader who has warned of the risks that Trump's tariffs could have on the economy.
"Shark Tank" star Mark Cuban has repeatedly panned Trump's tariffs. On April 2, the day Trump announced his sweeping tariffs, Cuban wrote on Bluesky that people should 'buy lots of consumables" now before prices go up.
"Even if it's made in the USA, they will jack up the price and blame it on tariffs," Cuban wrote.
Then, on April 9, hours before Trump rolled back his tariffs, Cuban said businesses probably reacted to the tariffs by cutting jobs to save costs.
"What some people aren't factoring into their analysis is the reality that companies were buying tons of inventory to beat the tariffs. That's cash taken from being able to invest or hire," Cuban wrote in a post on Bluesky.
Elon Musk, one of Trump's biggest backers, also broke with the administration's position on tariffs. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO called for a "free trade zone" between Europe and the US and slammed Trump's top trade advisor, Peter Navarro, after Trump's tariff announcement.
Elon Musk's younger brother, Kimbal Musk, was more pointed in his criticisms of Trump's tariffs.
"Through his tariff strategy, Trump has implemented a structural, permanent tax on the American consumer," Kimbal Musk wrote in an X post on April 7.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Jump to
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Surabhi Bhargava, a machine tech lead at Adobe's San Jose office. It has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified her employment.
In just five years, I went from an entry-level machine learning engineering role to a machine learning tech lead at Adobe. It's been quite the journey.
What's been key for me is that I always had the chance to work on Adobe's most relevant AI projects.
AI has advanced rapidly over the last five years. I started with computer vision, moved to natural language processing, and now I'm focused on generative AI.
The key to my advancement has been consistently finding the right opportunities, being in the right place at the right time, and sometimes starting projects from scratch.
A key aspect of working in this industry is translating ideas into real products.
You've probably heard the phrase "show, don't tell." People often share ideas but don't usually have proof of concept or something tangible people can interact with.
Having something real that others can test goes much further than just talking about ideas.
I've always made it a point to translate my ideas into something people can try. I'd create initial prototypes and give them to product managers or senior folks. If they liked it, we'd move forward with developing the product.
If not, I'd get feedback and useful information to iterate it further.
It doesn't need to be an entire product or have a shiny user interface — just something tangible they can engage with. A simple front-end that lets them test the backend tech works just fine.
This approach helps me build faster, get feedback faster, and share ideas more broadly, which builds credibility.
When people work on similar projects and need collaborators, you want to be the first person they think of. Having visible work behind you makes that much more likely.
Building connections at work is valuable, but it wasn't natural for me to go up and talk to someone randomly.
I had to push myself out of my comfort zone. What I found was that the more vulnerable I was — whether talking about the challenges I was facing or the opportunities I was seeking — the more others opened up, too. This wasn't just with my manager — it was across the company.
As a minority in tech, having a strong support system, like fellow women engineers, was also important.
Being open about my struggles and ambitions encouraged others to share their experiences and offer valuable help. The key was always bringing that advice back to my work and growth.
People don't do that enough. You won't always get what you ask for, but you definitely won't get it unless you ask. This applies not only to career progression but also to life advice.
Vulnerability helps create those connections — people are more likely to support you when you let them in. Be open, reach out without hesitation, and help will come in unexpected ways.
Do you have a story to share about working in AI? Contact this reporter at cmlee@businessinsider.com.
Jump to
Stacy Hazinski received one of those annoying text messages that claimed she was about to be charged $114.02 for something she didn't buy. So she called the number, supposedly for her Apple Pay account, to make sure that she didn't get stuck with the bill.
She got stuck talking to scammers.
One simple phone call set off a scheme that ultimately enabled someone to steal her entire income tax refund and drain her savings account at a local credit union.
Filing her taxes early in the year essentially meant little, she told me at her Michigan condo, because now she has nothing to show for it.
She's out $17,500 in all.
Her story highlights one huge red flag that consumers must watch out for these days — how scammers are convincing you to take cash to a crypto ATM at the local party store, gas station or grocery.
Con artists deceive people with backstories on how they can protect their money or avoid trouble by depositing money in a cryptocurrency ATM.
The crooks — who might pretend to be from Apple, Google, an Internet service provider or even law enforcement — do their research and know where these ATMs are in your neighborhood. They'll tell you to withdraw cash from the bank and give you directions to one of these crypto ATMs.
The crooks even go so far as to call bitcoin ATMS “safety lockers," according to regulators.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued a consumer alert April 8 to warn residents about scammers using bitcoin ATMs to defraud consumers.
“Because money sent through bitcoin ATMs is nearly impossible to recover and these machines lack oversight and regulation, they have become an attractive option for criminals engaged in fraud and money laundering,” Nessel said in a statement.
Consumers lost $66 million to crypto ATM fraud in the first six months of 2024, according to the Federal Trade Commission. The actual number is likely much higher as such types of fraud often go unreported, according to the FTC. The FTC said the losses involving these ATMs increased dramatically from $12 million in 2020 to $114 million for all of 2023.
People 60 and over were more than three times as likely as younger adults to report a loss using a bitcoin ATM in the first half of 2024, according to FTC data.
Once the money is deposited into bitcoin, experts warn, it is transferred quickly, making it often impossible to track. Your bank is unlikely to reimburse you because you withdrew the money on your own.
Hazinski, 51, heard slew of scary stories on Feb. 28 — starting with a guy named John from Apple and switching over to a guy named Eric who claimed to be from her credit union — on how scammers were in the process of getting their hands on her federal income tax refund, as well as the rest of her savings.
As part of the scam, she was told by the guy who claimed to be an employee at the credit union that she would need to transfer her cash into a "security" account to protect her savings from someone who was about to send her money into an account at www.poker.com.
What? Why was her money going to cover some online poker tournament? She got terribly nervous, especially since her savings was limited after she had been out of work for a few months.
"And I said, 'I don't gamble,' " Hazinski recalls.
She said she wasn't using her refund to play poker — and she wasn't about to let someone else use her money, either.
"It was so stressful," Hazinski said.
The fraudsters kept her on the phone most of the time, except for when they were disconnected a few times. She was told to go to a Community Choice Credit Union branch first to take out $12,500 where she remembers that the stack of bills was stuffed into zippered bag.
The crooks told her not to tell any bank employees why she was taking the money out. When a teller asked, she repeated a story the man on the phone told her. She needed money for home improvements.
She and her son and daughter live in a condo that she rents in Troy, Michigan. She had no plans for home improvements.
After she made the first withdrawal, the man on the phone told her to drive to the Community Choice Credit Union where he instructed her to take out $5,000 cash. The teller put those bills in a paper envelope.
After that, he told her that bitcoin is secure and she needed to deposit her money at a bitcoin ATM to protect it from scammers.
"So I believed him," she told me as we talked at her dining room high-top table.
Hazinski said the con artists told her to drive to a party store where people usually go to buy liquor or lottery tickets. Instead of winning big, she ended up losing her money on the spot.
There, she would find an ATM operated by Bitcoin Depot where she could deposit her cash.
The Bitcoin Depot ATM stands near the front register, not far from a refrigerated case that sells BB's Buzzin Brews for $8.99 and up, ready-to-mix drinks that often include minibar size bottles of liquor.
When I visited the store April 12, I did not see any signs posted on the machine warning of potential scams. I did not attempt to buy bitcoin. The sign on the screen flashed: "Touch the screen to get started. With Bitcoin Depot there's no hassle. Just crypto made easy."
When I called the store April 16, I asked to speak to a manager who apparently hung up on me after I mentioned that a woman had lost $17,500 at the bitcoin machine in the store. I asked how long the ATM had been there and the phone went dead. No one picked up after I tried to immediately call again.
The party store had a decent number of customers in it that February afternoon, Hazinski remembered, but no one said a word as she pulled out the two envelopes stuffed with $17,500 from her purse.
"I was standing there at least a half hour putting money in that machine," Hazinski said.
She had no idea how to use a bitcoin ATM or set up an account. The con artist remained on the phone to walk her through the steps.
"He's telling me exactly what to do," Hazinski said.
At one point, the ATM asked her for a QR code. And con artist told her: "I'll send you the QR code."
She scanned it. "What I find out after the fact, right, is the QR code that he sent me went to his account," Hazinski said. "I did that twice like an idiot."
As part of the scam, crooks text you a QR code to scan at the ATM, and once you do, the cash you deposit goes right into the bad actor's wallet. It's gone.
She was still in the store when her 16-year-old son Joshua, who attends high school, called her wondering why she wasn't home yet.
"I said, 'I'll be home in a minute,' " she recalled.
When she told him what had happened, her son said "Mom, are you kidding me?"
If her bank account somehow wasn't secure, her teen son wondered, why wouldn't the credit union tell her to transfer it right to his account? It made no sense to go to a crypto ATM.
The lights came on, and Hazinski knew her son had to be right.
The man impersonating a credit union employee had told her earlier that someone would come to her house the next day to give her a new debit card and a new account number. No one showed up. After her conversation with her son, Hazinski didn't expect that anyone would.
"All the bills, and you have no money," Hazinski said.
Fortunately, her father has been able to help her cover some expenses, such as her rent.
Hazinski was laid off in August from a job as a robotics engineer, work she has done for some 25 years. Initially, she used that time off to take care of her father who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He's now in remission and she's still looking for work.
Hazinski has been on interviews but thinks many companies, including auto suppliers, are holding back hiring in light of the Trump tariffs. She voted for Trump and favors his strategy of raising revenue for the federal government by getting countries to pay higher tariffs. But she's hoping that hiring picks up, too.
She's far from the first person to be caught in this bitcoin ATM scam.
Crypto ATM abuse has gotten so bad that a top Democratic senator introduced a bill in Congress in February that would protect new customers who are most likely to be fraud victims by setting transaction limits of $2,000 per day, and $10,000 total over the first 14 days.
The Crypto ATM Fraud Protection Act — introduced by Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee — would require full refunds for fraudulent transactions at crypto ATMs if the new customer makes a report within 30 days.
And it would be required that the ATM offer a way for consumers to give live, verbal confirmation for any transaction greater than $500.
ATM operators would need to provide clear warnings to consumers about the risk of fraud.
In a Senate floor speech, Durbin shared the story of a man from New Lenox, Illinois, who lost $15,000 via a bitcoin ATM. That scam started when the con artists called and claimed to be a deputy in the Will County Sheriff's Office. Supposedly, the man missed jury duty and needed to pay a fine to avoid arrest.
Durbin said it was past time to put some "commonsense guardrails in place to stop fraud in this largely unregulated industry."
Bitcoin Depot, which operates the ATM along with more than 8,400 kiosks in North America, said the company remains focused on "prevention and user safety as we work to make crypto more accessible and secure."
"We display multiple scam warnings throughout the entire transaction process and offer live customer support via phone, text, chat and email to assist users in real-time before they complete a transaction," according to a statement sent to the Detroit Free Press by a spokesperson for Bitcoin Depot.
Bitcoin Depot also emailed photos of several types of warnings. One was of a permanent label attached below a keypad on the kiosk that stated: "Warning: Have you received a phone call from someone demanding payment in bitcoin? This is likely a scam. All bitcoin transactions are irreversible."
I did not see such a label when I looked at the ATM on April 12.
Other warnings, according to the company, appear during the transaction. They include warnings to new customers to not use the Bitcoin Depot ATM for payments to any government entities, law enforcement, employers, tech support companies or anyone saying you've been hacked.
Another photo showed a warning that appears before a wallet is scanned: "Are you being scammed? Do not buy bitcoin for IRS payments, utility bills, or if someone says you have been hacked or are being investigated. These are scams."
That warning also indicates that "losses due to fraudulent or accidental transactions may not be recoverable and transactions in virtual currency are irreversible."
Hazinski told me she did not see any alerts about scams when the con artist on the phone was telling her what to do next.
"I did not receive any of those warnings," she later told me by email after I sent her images of the Bitcoin Depot warnings.
I initially wrote about crooks using bitcoin ATMs to steal money roughly three years ago. A 27-year-old woman thought she snagged a great work-from-home job, but she ended up losing $500 to scammers. They sent a phony check to her Oakland Township home for her to buy Apple computer products to work remotely as an administrative assistant for a biopharmaceutical company.
But first, she somehow needed to deposit money in a bitcoin ATM to prove where she lived before they'd send any equipment. She, too, had never bought bitcoin before.
In another case in 2022, a northern Michigan couple received a phony call from "Apple Support." Ultimately, the couple ended up withdrawing $350,000 from various banks and then turning that cash into cryptocurrency, according to the Grand Traverse Sheriff's Department.
The man, 76, and the woman, 87, sent that money via CoinFlip platform to scammers. Some money was sent via bitcoin ATMs; the rest was through wire transfers, according to authorities.
In 2024, consumers reported losing more money to scams where they paid with bank transfers or cryptocurrency than all other payment methods combined. People reported losing $2 billion through a bank transfer and $1.42 billion through cryptocurrency, according to Federal Trade Commission data. These cryptocurrency-related scams also involved phony investments, not just cash lost at a bitcoin ATM.
Crooks, of course, take advantage of our lack of knowledge when it comes to these ATMs. Consumers need to realize that they should only send crypto to a wallet that that they control.
Once it's in someone else's wallet, experts say, there's nothing you can do to recover your crypto.
The Community Choice Credit Union said it consistently shares information to alert consumers about fraud, including the use of bitcoin. Warnings about bitcoin ATM scams, according to the credit union, have been posted on its website and social media pages.
“We are extremely concerned and saddened to hear that our member was a victim of fraud,” said Jeff Dubey, vice president of Enterprise Risk Management for Community Choice Credit Union.
In a statement sent to the Free Press, the credit union said frontline credit union staff will encourage a credit union member to engage with the risk management team, if the staff suspects someone is a potential victim.
"Our internal teams are alerted to current scam techniques and trained to assist members if they indicate they have been told to withdraw money for a suspicious purpose," according to the statement.
The credit union stated that fraudsters are increasingly tech-savvy and can "spoof" financial institution phone numbers and send text messages to take over accounts. "They also commonly employ scare tactics via phone calls, demanding that consumers purchase gift cards, wire funds or deposit cash into bitcoin machines," the credit union stated.
Lt. Ben Hancock of the Troy Police Department said right now, scams where crooks are demanding payments by bitcoin or outright cash have seen an uptick lately.
On March 16, for example, a 61-year-old man told police that he was contacted by someone who falsely claimed to be from the Department of Justice. The man was told that his bank accounts had been breached and his money could be stolen if he did not safeguard his cash.
As part of the scam, the government imposters told him to wire transfer $33,000 to a Coinbase account. Coinbase is an online platform, which promises that you can buy and sell crypto in "less than 3 minutes."
After transferring the money, the victim was contacted again and told he needed to transfer any remaining money he had to protect it. The man did not send any more money.
It's another reminder, Hancock said, that scammers impersonate government agencies and brand names we trust. But no legitimate federal agency or business, he said, is going to contact you and demand that money be transferred or paid immediately by cryptocurrency, cash or other methods.
"We are still seeing some gift card scams," Hancock said, "but currently bitcoin or other electronic payments seem to be happening more than gift card scams."
His advice: Do not purchase bitcoin or transfer money via other means to pay a bill or handle a problem.
"Please do your research and contact whatever company these people are claiming to be from directly to confirm they are, in fact, employees," Hancock said. "They are likely not."
Contact personal finance columnist Susan Tompor: stompor@freepress.com. Follow her on X @tompor.
As cryptocurrency makes strides toward real-world spending accessibility, payment card and security solutions provider CompoSecure announced the integration of its Arculus Cold Storage Wallet with MoneyGram Access.
The move lets users convert physical cash to digital USDC stablecoins and withdraw cash at MoneyGram locations worldwide, according to a Monday (April 21) press release.
According to the release, this integration allows users to deposit cash at participating MoneyGram locations and receive Circle USDC on the Stellar blockchain, which can be managed within the self-custody Arculus crypto wallet. Users can also withdraw local currency from their digital USDC holdings at over 440,000 MoneyGram retail locations across more than 200 countries and territories, the release said.
Adam Lowe, chief product and innovation officer at CompoSecure and Arculus, said this could be particularly appealing to those who lack access to traditional banking services. “We are bringing efficient and alternative technologies to millions of unbanked individuals without ready access to traditional banking and providing them with security and flexibility,” Lowe said in the release. “This integration enables people to convert physical cash into digital dollars on the highly performant Stellar blockchain and store those digital dollars securely, giving them complete autonomy and control over their assets.”
The release also noted that Stellar blockchain's infrastructure supports the tokenization and trading of various currencies — including the U.S. dollar and the euro — providing interoperability between financial systems.
In addition, CompoSecure received a grant from the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) to develop Soroban smart contracts for the Stellar blockchain, according to the release. This initiative aims to allow stablecoin holders to make payments directly from self-custody wallets at merchants that accept Visa or Mastercard. Once implemented, stablecoin holders will be able to make purchases at conventional point-of-sale terminals using their digital assets, connecting digital finance to everyday commerce.
“Arculus is making it possible to spend stablecoins with a simple tap just like any other payment card. This is the kind of utility that drives real-world adoption and demonstrates how everyday purchases can be made easy, accessible, and secure on Stellar,” Stellar Development Foundation CEO Denelle Dixon said in the release.
CompoSecure Launches Wallet Integration With MoneyGram for Cash-to-Crypto Access
Workers Open to Lower Wage Amid Perceived Decline in Labor Market
Alternative Data Boosts Credit Access as New Legislation Emerges
Reports: Trump to Discuss Tariffs With Major Retailers in White House Meeting
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NEW YORK, April 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Verae™, a startup co-founded by blockchain co-inventor Dr. Stuart Haber, announces its integration with Evercycle, a leader in ITAM innovation and asset circularity. The two companies are working together to seamlessly incorporate Verae's blockchain technology into the Evercycle platform, enhancing the integrity, accountability, and transparency of ITAM/ITAD data.
Evercycle offers a comprehensive platform for IT device lifecycle management, focusing on automation, traceability, security, and sustainable practices. They help customers streamline processes such as device deployment, recovery, repair, refurbishment, redeployment, and asset disposition, providing end-to-end automation and transparency. Evercycle is built not just to track assets, but to move them.
Verae secures the integrity of digital records through blockchain technology. The company's DataCubes™ provide a platform for organizations to enhance trust, transparency, and traceability across digital ecosystems. Verae's blockchain technology provides secure, auditable records that can be selectively shared, enhancing data integrity and simplifying compliance.
By integrating Verae's DataCubes into the Evercycle platform, the two companies provide an effortless means of implementing blockchain technology, creating an immutable history of each device throughout its lifecycle. Verae's technology allows for linking records across multiple owners and custodians, offering a complete asset history for ITAM professionals, ITAD companies, risk and compliance teams, auditors, and regulators.
This partnership will enable enterprises and ITAD companies to immediately leverage blockchain technology, without implementing new software systems and without changing their existing business processes. The collaboration ensures transparent, immutable tracking of device histories, helping businesses to prove compliance with sustainability and data security requirements, as well as to prevent fraud.
As organizations face mounting pressure to track, report, and recover IT assets with precision and transparency, this collaboration underscores the value of blockchain-based validation in addressing the systemic gaps in today's ITAM landscape.
"Integrating blockchain into ITAM is about solving for trust at scale," said Nate Poynter, Founder and CEO of Evercycle. "Our company is focused on advancing the circular economy and making life easier for IT asset managers. This industry has long struggled with fragmented systems, unverifiable records, and opaque chains of custody. Evercycle's collaboration with Verae ensures that asset data is secure, portable, and independently verifiable."
IT asset management is entering a critical moment: enterprises are managing increasing volumes of hardware across distributed workforces while facing regulatory scrutiny around sustainability and data security. By leveraging blockchain, Evercycle and Verae aim to create a foundation for systems that are auditable and built for the next generation of asset recovery and reuse.
"Partnering with Evercycle is an important step toward a world where fully verifiable data serves as a backbone for compliance in the circular economy," said James Garfinkel, CEO of Verae. "We're not just testing tech — we're creating a foundation for trust."
For more information, visit https://www.evercycle.io and https://www.verae.com.
About Verae: Verae™ secures the integrity of digital records through blockchain technology. Co-founded by blockchain co-inventor Stuart Haber, Verae enables organizations to enhance trust, transparency, and traceability across digital ecosystems.
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/verae-and-evercycle-announce-partnership-for-blockchain-enabled-itam-302433633.html
SOURCE Verae
Crypto analyst Incognito has predicted that the Ethereum price could soon rally to as high as $2,700. This bullish prediction comes despite ETH's underperformance so far, with the altcoin's market share already dropping to new lows.
Ethereum Price Could Rally To $2,700 As Wyckoff Accumulation Nears
In a TradingView post, Incognito predicted that the Ethereum price could witness a big move to $2,700 with the Wyckoff accumulation almost over. He remarked that if support holds, the ETH should see a breakout of the falling wedge. The analyst's accompanying chart showed that $2,499 is the target for the falling wedge, while $2,700 is the second target that Ethereum could reach on this breakout.
However, Incognito warned that this could be a huge trap to shake out sellers, so he advised market participants to be looking to take profits. In the meantime, the Ethereum price could indeed break out to the upside, especially with the Bitcoin price attempting to reclaim the $90,000 level.
The Ethereum price is likely to reach new local highs if Bitcoin can sustain this bullish momentum, given their positive correlation. In an X post, crypto analyst Ali Martinez remarked that this week would be big for ETH as the TD Sequential just flashed a buy signal, hinting at a potential shift in momentum.
Martinez also raised the possibility of the Ethereum price recording a new bull rally. For that to happen, he mentioned that ETH needs to break the supply wall at $2,330. The leading altcoin could face significant selling pressure at that range, as 12.62 million addresses bought 68.63 million ETH around that range.
ETH May Have Already Bottomed
In an X post, crypto analyst Titan of Crypto suggested that the Ethereum price has already bottomed or may be bottoming out. He revealed that the leading altcoin is progressing within a giant ascending channel on the macro chart. His accompanying chart showed that ETH could rally to as high as $4,200 following this bullish reversal.
Crypto analyst Hardy also echoed a similar sentiment, suggesting that the Ethereum price has already reached its bottom. He noted that ETH's weekly candle close was bullish and a good indicator of a potential reversal at the key support level around its current price. His accompanying chart showed that Ethereum could rally to as high as $4,300 on this bullish reversal.
Ethereum price reclaiming the $4,000 level could pave the way for a rally to a new all-time high (ATH). Crypto analyst Crypto Patel predicted that ETH could reach between $6,000 and $8,000 by the end of the year.
At the time of writing, the Ethereum price is trading at around $1,639, up almost 2% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
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The SEC under US President Donald Trump announced it would closie its investigation of Uniswap and lawsuit against Consensys in February, roughly a month after the donations.
New filings from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) reveal that several cryptocurrency firms and their executives made significant contributions to US President Donald Trump's inauguration fund after the results of the 2024 election.
According to FEC filings made public on April 20 by the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, Uniswap CEO Hayden Adams donated more than $245,000, Solana Labs donated $1 million, and software firm Consensys sent $100,000 in January to support the then-president-elect's inauguration. Many major crypto firms had previously announced their support of Trump through donations to the inaugural fund, including Coinbase, Ripple Labs, Kraken, Ondo Finance, and Robinhood.
Altogether, the fund reported more than $239 million in net donations between Nov. 15 and April 20 from companies and individuals. These included $1 million from McDonald's, $1 million from Meta, $1 million from Apple CEO Tim Cook, $1 million from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and various contributions from Delta Air Lines, ExxonMobil, FedEx, Nvidia, PayPal, Target, and Coca-Cola.
Since Trump took office on Jan. 20 and appointed Mark Uyeda as acting chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the agency has dropped multiple investigations and enforcement actions against crypto firms, including those that donated to the president's 2024 campaign or inauguration fund. In February, Uniswap reported that the SEC had dropped its probe into the firm, and Consensys founder Joseph Lubin said the agency had agreed to end a separate lawsuit.
Trump's memecoin, launched on Jan. 17 on the Solana blockchain — along with his wife Melania's, which was available a few days later — has many in the crypto industry and members of Congress voicing concern over conflicts of interest potentially arising from the president appearing to capitalizing on his position.
Trump's family is also behind the launch of World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm responsible for a US dollar-pegged stablecoin at a time when lawmakers are considering legislation to regulate the technology.
In addition to the Consensys case, the SEC said it intended to drop enforcement actions or investigations into Ripple, Kraken, Robinhood Crypto and Coinbase. The three firms donated a combined $9 million to the inauguration fund.
Related: Trump's next crypto play will be Monopoly-style game — Report
The 2024 US election cycle saw crypto-backed political action committees (PACs) spending more than $131 million to influence races in crucial congressional districts. The Fairshake PAC has already said it had more than $100 million available, in part from contributions from Coinbase and Ripple, to spend on the 2026 midterms.
Magazine: Trump's crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions
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Crypto ETF issuers are jumping on every opportunity, hoping to take advantage of a more crypto-friendly SEC.
This year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will have its hands full with ETF applications. On Monday, April 21, Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas pointed out that 72 crypto exchange-traded funds are currently waiting for approval.
There are now 72 crypto-related ETFs sitting with the SEC awaiting approval to list or list options. Everything from XRP, Litecoin and Solana to Penguins, Doge and 2x Melania and everything in between. Gonna be a wild year. Great roundup from @JSeyff pic.twitter.com/IHTqqxeH35
The list includes altcoins, NFT tokens, memecoins, as well as a leveraged fund that bets on the Melania Trump token. The Melania 2x fund is one of ten leveraged memecoin and altcoin funds by Turtle Capital, registered in the Cayman Islands. Due to the number of these filings, Balchunas predicted a “wild year” for crypto.
“There are now 72 crypto-related ETFs sitting with the SEC awaiting approval to list or list options. Everything from XRP, Litecoin and Solana to Penguins, Doge and 2x Melania and everything in between. Gonna be a wild year.”
While the list of ETF filings is diverse to say the least, there are clear leaders in the space. Notably, altcoins like XRP (XRP), Solana (SOL), and Litecoin (LTC) are in the lead when it comes to the number of individual filings. Specifically, by April 15, there were 10 individual filings for XRP and five for Solana. As some of the biggest altcoins on the market, they have attracted institutional attention.
At the same time, Litecoin and Dogecoin (DOGE) were tied in third place, with three prospective issuers. Both of these tokens benefit from their decentralization, while Doge also gained mainstream attention thanks to its association with Elon Musk.
ETFs are becoming a key narrative for crypto adoption as they offer an easier way for both retail and institutional investors to gain exposure to digital assets. Instead of holding the assets directly, the fund holds underlying assets, while also having to adhere to stringent regulatory requirements over its custody.
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The SEC under US President Donald Trump announced it would closie its investigation of Uniswap and lawsuit against Consensys in February, roughly a month after the donations.
New filings from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) reveal that several cryptocurrency firms and their executives made significant contributions to US President Donald Trump's inauguration fund after the results of the 2024 election.
According to FEC filings made public on April 20 by the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, Uniswap CEO Hayden Adams donated more than $245,000, Solana Labs donated $1 million, and software firm Consensys sent $100,000 in January to support the then-president-elect's inauguration. Many major crypto firms had previously announced their support of Trump through donations to the inaugural fund, including Coinbase, Ripple Labs, Kraken, Ondo Finance, and Robinhood.
Altogether, the fund reported more than $239 million in net donations between Nov. 15 and April 20 from companies and individuals. These included $1 million from McDonald's, $1 million from Meta, $1 million from Apple CEO Tim Cook, $1 million from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and various contributions from Delta Air Lines, ExxonMobil, FedEx, Nvidia, PayPal, Target, and Coca-Cola.
Since Trump took office on Jan. 20 and appointed Mark Uyeda as acting chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the agency has dropped multiple investigations and enforcement actions against crypto firms, including those that donated to the president's 2024 campaign or inauguration fund. In February, Uniswap reported that the SEC had dropped its probe into the firm, and Consensys founder Joseph Lubin said the agency had agreed to end a separate lawsuit.
Trump's memecoin, launched on Jan. 17 on the Solana blockchain — along with his wife Melania's, which was available a few days later — has many in the crypto industry and members of Congress voicing concern over conflicts of interest potentially arising from the president appearing to capitalizing on his position.
Trump's family is also behind the launch of World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm responsible for a US dollar-pegged stablecoin at a time when lawmakers are considering legislation to regulate the technology.
In addition to the Consensys case, the SEC said it intended to drop enforcement actions or investigations into Ripple, Kraken, Robinhood Crypto and Coinbase. The three firms donated a combined $9 million to the inauguration fund.
Related: Trump's next crypto play will be Monopoly-style game — Report
The 2024 US election cycle saw crypto-backed political action committees (PACs) spending more than $131 million to influence races in crucial congressional districts. The Fairshake PAC has already said it had more than $100 million available, in part from contributions from Coinbase and Ripple, to spend on the 2026 midterms.
Magazine: Trump's crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions
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Despite its growing footprint as a major corporate holder of bitcoin (BTC), Strategy's large-scale purchases of the cryptocurrency appear to have little, if any, influence on its price, according to a research paper by TD Cowen.
The findings published Monday challenge a popular theory among skeptics — that Strategy's aggressive buying spree is helping prop up bitcoin's value, and that without its continued demand, prices would falter. But based on the data, that argument doesn't hold much weight, the analysts said.
Strategy recently issued another 1.8 million shares under its at-the-market (ATM) offering, raising an additional $842 million in net proceeds. The funds were used to purchase 6,556 bitcoins, boosting the firm's bitcoin yield this quarter by 1% to 12.1%. However, when measured against the broader bitcoin market, these purchases are just a drop in the bucket.
According to the TD Cowen analysis, Strategy's bitcoin buys have typically accounted for just 3.3% of weekly trading volume on average. Over the past 27 weeks, the company's total activity amounted to 8.4% of volume — but this figure was skewed by a handful of weeks where its buying briefly surged past 20%. In eight of those weeks, Strategy didn't buy any bitcoin at all.
“Our conclusion is that in most periods, it doesn't appear plausible that Strategy's purchases could have had a sustained, material impact on the price of bitcoin,” TD Cowen analysts wrote.
The analysis further tested the relationship between Strategy's bitcoin purchases and market prices — and found it to be statistically weak. The correlation coefficient between Strategy's weekly bitcoin buy volume and BTC price at week's end came in at just 25%. When comparing purchases to weekly price changes, the correlation rose only slightly to 28%.
Given a correlation coefficient close to 0 suggests no or weak correlation, these results indicate little to no link between Strategy's actions and short-term market movements — let alone any kind of sustained price influence, the paper said.
Another common critique is that Strategy frequently purchases more bitcoin than is mined in a given period, implying it's creating upward price pressure. While technically true, the analysis shows this argument misunderstands how the bitcoin market works.
Over the past six months, secondary bitcoin trading has outpaced mining volume by nearly 20 times. Even removing Strategy's purchases from the equation, secondary market activity still exceeds new supply by 17 times. In that environment, miners and buyers alike are price takers — not setters.
“As we have seen, its purchases represent a very small percentage of total bitcoin trading volume; thus the idea that it is somehow having a profound or even notable impact on bitcoin price action seems incongruous, to us,” TD Cowen said.
While Strategy's influence on the bitcoin market may be overstated, the value it's generated for shareholders is harder to ignore.
Last week's purchases created an estimated incremental gain of 5,281 bitcoins, bringing quarter-to-date gains to nearly $600 million. Since the beginning of 2023, Strategy has increased its bitcoin holdings by 306%, while only expanding its fully diluted share count by 94% — a strong showing for a company using bitcoin as a strategic treasury asset.
With $1.53 billion in remaining ATM capacity and board approval for a larger share authorization, Strategy is well-positioned to continue this strategy — without disrupting the very market it's betting on.
“We expect Strategy will continue to drive positive BTC Yield for the foreseeable future. While BTC Yield will likely fall to the extent bitcoin continues to rise in price, the dollar value of incremental gains from Strategy's Treasury Operations could remain highly advantageous to shareholders,” the analysts wrote.
Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy.
Source Newsroom:
Higher Education Press
Researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University have created CHASER, a new blockchain-based incentive system that makes mobile crowdsensing easier and safer. Mobile crowdsensing is a method of collecting data using mobile devices and everyday users. However, traditional systems often face problems with privacy, data security, and too much centralized control.
From Overwhelmed Supermarkets to Self-Checkout Efficiency
To understand CHASER's benefits, imagine a traditional crowdsensing platform as a supermarket managed by one cashier. If that single cashier gets overwhelmed or compromised, the entire operation can halt. CHASER, however, turns this scenario into a self-checkout marketplace. In this setup, smart contracts work like automated, unbiased cashiers that handle transactions fairly, privately, and without slowdowns.
Empowering Participation: Fairness, Transparency, and Rock-Solid Data Security
CHASER stands out because it promotes high user participation by ensuring fairness and transparency. It protects user identities with advanced encryption methods, keeping personal data safe. This results in a more reliable and efficient data collection process that can benefit many areas, from urban planning to environmental monitoring.
“CHASER is more than just a new system—it's a transformative leap that ensures every participant's contribution is valued and securely managed,” says Prof. Yuan Luo, the lead researcher.
Raising the Bar: Enhanced Social Welfare with Unmatched Reliability
The research shows that CHASER benefits all participants and boosts overall social welfare. This means the people who provide data and those who collect it enjoy better outcomes than older systems (i.e., PROM-F, PROM-M, and RBSM). CHASER uses strong anonymity and data protection measures to prevent misuse of sensitive information, and it consistently achieves a task completion rate above 80%, even on a large scale, proving its reliability.
Seamless Automation: Harnessing Blockchain and zk-SNARK for Swift, Secure Transactions
The researchers implemented smart contracts within a blockchain framework to automatically manage tasks, payments, and verifications. This automation reduces human errors and speeds up the process. Additionally, CHASER uses a unique cryptographic method known as zk-SNARK, which allows for quick transaction verification while keeping users anonymous.
Overall, the study marks a significant step in developing decentralized systems that balance user incentives, data protection, and operational efficiency—a key milestone in applying blockchain technology to everyday challenges. The complete study is accessible via DOI: 10.1007/ s11704-024-3542-1.
Front. Comput. Sci. 19, 193802 (2025)
Research Results
SCIENCE
blockchain, Smart Contract, CHASER, Mobile Crowdsensing, Edge-Assisted Crowdsensing, Incentive Mechanism, Data Security, privacy protection, Encryption
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STOCK OF THE DAY: Why This Big Retailer Is Dodging Tariff Trouble
The U.S. dollar index tumbled to a three-year low early Monday, while the S&P 500 fell sharply. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed, as government bond investors demand a higher return. Meanwhile, gold and bitcoin are shining as investors shun U.S. financial assets.
The financial market turbulence unleashed by President Donald Trump's trade policies, which already forced him to suspend reciprocal tariffs north of 10% for 90 days, may prove to be the Achilles' heel that compels a more fundamental retreat. It also is highlighting the internal contradictions of Trump's policies, including his desire to protect the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency, while erecting a wall of tariffs that keeps both global trade and capital at bay.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of advanced economy currencies, fell 0.9% to 98.49 after hitting its the lowest point since February 2022. The 10-year Treasury yield rose four basis points to 4.37%.
By itself, a lower dollar isn't necessarily a bad thing. Many economists think the dollar is overvalued. The worry is that investors are fleeing the safest U.S. assets at a time of rising recession risk. That's when investors would normally gravitate to the dollar and Treasuries, which move in the opposite direction of Treasury yields.
Practically speaking, the economic drag from a falling S&P 500 will be compounded because higher longer-term Treasury yields raise borrowing costs for mortgages and auto loans. But the worry is that a shift in global capital flows could turn into a financial market rout.
Financial flows into U.S. markets have been the other side of the coin of the annual U.S. goods deficit that reached $1.2 trillion in 2024. The U.S. net international investment position sank to -$26.2 trillion at the end of 2024. That's how much more foreigners hold in U.S. financial assets than overseas positions held by Americans.
Trump has bemoaned that $26 trillion figure as a curse. He expects his "medicine" of Trump tariffs to create a U.S. manufacturing boom and shrink the trade gap. But his plan lacks a short-term bridge to get from here to there without risking a financial market drubbing that compounds the hit from tariffs. That could trigger a recession that hurts demand, delays investment and makes federal finances even less sustainable.
Many of the factors that contributed to U.S. financial market outperformance, attracting foreign funds, are suddenly under threat. In addition to wide trade deficits, that includes wide fiscal deficits that added fuel to the economy. Pro-growth immigration policies, an antidote to an aging workforce, and an independent Federal Reserve have also been seen as underpinning America's economic strengths.
The gold futures price surged 3.25% to a record $3,437 per ounce on Monday. Gold got a further lift after Trump renewed his attack of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, demanding "preemptive cuts" in interest rates to stave off economic weakness. Powell has thus far taken a cautious line on further rate cuts amid concern about the inflationary impact of Trump tariffs.
Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM) rose 1.7% Monday, hitting a fresh high. AEM stock is on IBD Leaderboard.
The bitcoin price, which used to trade a lot like the Nasdaq, rising in a risk-on environment, has recently been acting like a hedge against a weak dollar. Bitcoin is up 3.2% over the past 24 hours to $87,357, according to CoinDesk.
Strategy (MSTR), formerly MicroStrategy, popped 1.1%, off morning highs.
The S&P 500 is slumping 2.4%, adding to losses after Trump attacked Powell as a "major loser." Through Thursday, the S&P 500 was 14% below its Feb. 19 all-time closing high, but up 6% from its 2025 closing low on April 8, before Trump's delay of reciprocal tariffs.
The S&P 500 finished the holiday-shortened weak 8.65% below its Election Day close.
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Highlights
On-chain tokenization is shifting from concept to reality, enabling real-world assets like fiat, real estate and securities to be represented as programmable digital tokens on the blockchain.
Tokenization offers new capital and liquidity strategies through real-time, cross-border and programmable money movement.
Despite regulatory fragmentation and digital identity concerns, adoption is growing due to tokenization's potential for speed, cost efficiency, transparency and automation.
The convenience, security and speed of digital innovation have reshaped the way businesses and individuals transact.
Now, money and assets are undergoing their own fundamental transformation.
It's all happening by way of tokenization on the blockchain. On-chain tokenization is moving from concept to practice, with players like Visa, Mastercard, J.P. Morgan and other commercial banks exploring or piloting real-world tokenized payment and financial systems.
For chief financial officers and corporate treasurers, tokenization isn't just a tech issue; it could represent a capital strategy shift.
As recently as Friday (April 18), Vera Capital announced a partnership with Blocksquare to tokenize “a substantial portfolio of commercial and multifamily real estate assets” across the United States, having already tokenized a $5.4 million commercial property in Fort Lauderdale.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink also wants all assets to be tokenized on a blockchain and tradable online, writing in his shareholder letter: “Every stock, every bond, every fund — every asset — can be tokenized.”
At its most fundamental level, tokenization refers to representing real-world assets, such as fiat currency, deposits, securities and investment contracts, as digital tokens on a distributed ledger. These tokens can then be transferred, programmed or settled in ways traditional systems don't allow.
Tokenization isn't a cryptocurrency play. Tokenization helps give businesses and financial services stakeholders a way to move value faster, cheaper and more securely across different networks. It's about modernizing the movement of money and assets while democratizing investment access to institutional-grade products.
See also: Stablecoin Sandwiches? Here's What CFOs Need to Know About Crypto Jargon
Unlike traditional digital assets, which are typically ledger entries in a private system (like a bank or card network), on-chain tokens are blockchain-native. They can be programmed, split, audited or transferred with a few lines of code, and often faster than traditional methods allow.
These tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) can be anything: fiat currency (like dollars or euros), real estate, equities, loyalty points or invoices.
Payments giants aren't waiting on regulators to get started prototyping. Last year, Visa tested the settlement of stablecoins. J.P. Morgan's JPM Coin is now facilitating billions of dollars in daily transactions, primarily for institutional clients.
“Banks are in the state where they are thinking about blockchains as public infrastructure that they need to rely on,” Chainalysis co-founder and CEO Jonathan Levin told PYMNTS this month.
“When we started the business in 2014 … cryptocurrency only meant blockchains that had native cryptocurrency tokens,” he said. “Today, people are putting all types of financial instruments on the blockchain.”
As appetite grows from corporate treasurers for 24/7 programmable money, tokenization could provide tangible benefits to companies managing global supply chains, complex vendor networks or digital platforms. While tokenized payments are not a panacea, they can help to solve specific, persistent pain points in the global movement of money.
Read also: 3 Things Payment Stakeholders Can All Agree on About Stablecoins
Cross-border payments, treasury management and programmable contracts are among the emerging real-world use cases for on-chain RWA.
Traditional correspondent banking networks are fragmented and slow. Tokenized fiat or deposits on a shared ledger allow for near-instant cross-border transfers, potentially collapsing multiday settlement windows into minutes or seconds. This is among the main benefits of stablecoins, an increasingly popular payment mechanism that involves the tokenization of fiat and other reserve backings.
At the same time, multinational corporations can struggle with liquidity fragmentation across jurisdictions. Tokenized deposits can be moved 24/7 across entities or regions, enabling just-in-time funding and optimizing working capital.
Blockchain-based smart contracts can also allow conditional or milestone-based payments to execute automatically, which could prove useful for trade finance, supply chains or royalty payments. Ultimately, tokenization's benefits such as real-time liquidity, conditional payments and borderless value exchange can create competitive advantages.
Two primary roadblocks to scalable utility across the enterprise are regulatory fragmentation and digital identity.
Regulatory alignment remains patchy, especially across borders. Cybersecurity and smart contract auditing are still evolving. And adoption depends not just on technology, but on user trust and industry coordination.
Sensitive financial data and transactions may be increasingly exposed to public scrutiny on-chain, so there's a pressing need to address privacy and identity challenges within crypto.
However, the marketplace isn't standing still, and work is being done to overcome these challenges. For forward-thinking finance leaders, it could be worth entertaining that the next decade of payments may be built not just with APIs and rails, but with tokens, smart contracts and interoperable ledgers.
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Senior Contributor.
04/21 update below. This post was originally published on April 20
Bitcoin and crypto prices are treading water after U.S. president Donald Trump's trade war sparked market chaos that's threatening to spiral into a full-blown “U.S. dollar confidence crisis.”
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The bitcoin price has plummeted from its January peak of almost $110,000 per bitcoin, dropping along with the stock market, as crypto hurtles toward a $19 trillion “tipping point.”
Now, as billionaire Ray Dalio warns the U.S. is teetering on the verge of a financial crisis and recession that could be worse than 2008, the White House has confirmed Trump is exploring whether he can fire Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell—something that could trigger an “apocalyptic scenario" for markets.
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“The president and his team will continue to study that matter,” Kevin Hassett, Trump's economic adviser, told reporters at the White House when asked if firing the Fed chair was an option and if Trump has the authority to remove Powell.
This week, Trump posted to his Truth Social account that “Powell's termination cannot come fast enough” after Powell reiterated his intention to keep interest rates on hold due to uncertainty over Trump's tariff trade war.
Last month, influential Democratic Party senator Elizabeth Warren said Trump could try to fire Powell, ominously warning, “nobody is safe.”
“It would be a huge, huge shock,” Bilal Hafeez, chief executive of investment research company Macro Hive, told The Telegraph newspaper. “Overall, it would almost be like an apocalyptic scenario for the market.”
04/21 update: The bitcoin price has shot higher after U.S. president Donald Trump doubled down on his calls for immediate, “preemptive” interest rate cuts, suggesting Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell surprised markets with September's rate cut in order to help the Democratic Party in November's election.
“'Preemptive cuts' in interest rates are being called for by many,” Trump posted to his Truth Social account.
The bitcoin price has climbed to over $88,000 per bitcoin, up from April lows of under $75,000.
“With energy costs way down, food prices (including Biden's egg disaster!) substantially lower, and most other ‘things' trending down, there is virtually no inflation," Trump wrote.
"With these costs trending so nicely downward, just what I predicted they would do, there can almost be no inflation, but there can be a slowing of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, now,” Trump wrote, adding Europe has “already 'lowered' seven times.”
Stock markets have opened lower on Wall Street, led by Nasdaq and tech company declines, while the U.S. dollar has hit fresh multi-year lows against other major currencies.
The gold price has surged to over $3,400 a troy ounce, a new record, as traders cash out of equity and into the traditional safe haven.
“Bitcoin and gold are surging in tandem this morning as the market digests yet another shock move from the U.S. president Donald Trump—this time, an apparent outright threat to fire Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell,” Nic Puckrin, crypto analyst and founder of The Coin Bureau, said in emailed comments.
“This has caused the U.S. dollar to plummet to a three-year low, but both gold and bitcoin are emerging as safe havens.”
Trump's barrage of global trade tariffs have blown up the established order of international trade, fuelling market uncertainty and driving investors out of risk assets such as bitcoin and crypto.
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The bitcoin price has diverged from gold, which has rocketed to all-time highs as traders flee to the traditional safe haven, though some have predicted bitcoin will ultimately benefit and begin trading as “digital gold.”
“Powell continues to sit on the fence with the ‘we'll wait and see' approach because he still believes tariffs will lead to higher inflation,” bitcoin and crypto investor Lark Davis wrote in his Wealth Mastery newsletter.
"Only time will tell but firing Powell risks bringing even more uncertainty to markets. However, intervention of some kind will be needed at some point, whether it's rate cuts, quantitative easing or Trump softens. Or a mix. It's a matter of when, not if.”
You've built a blockchain solution that you're truly proud of. Your team knows the value it brings. Other blockchain enthusiasts are excited by it. However, you have one significant problem: gaining buy-in from the mainstream market.
Despite the significant growth the crypto and Web3 space has experienced in recent years, it remains a relatively fringe industry. On top of this, it's highly complex and esoteric to the vast majority of people. That means that unless your solution is very straightforward, most non-natives will be scratching their heads at your company, wondering why they should care.
If you really want your blockchain solution to break through to broader markets and expand its user base, you need to rethink how you communicate its value.
The first mistake many blockchain companies make (and most traditional businesses, for that matter) is assuming everyone cares about the same things they do. Unfortunately, that is simply not the case.
Blockchain natives are well-acquainted with terms like “decentralization,” “immutability,” and “trustless systems.” They know that these concepts represent potentially revolutionary improvements to traditional systems. But for non-natives? These words could be in another language.
Mainstream audiences and everyday people not involved in the Web3 space don't wake up thinking about consensus mechanisms. They wake up thinking about their problems. Because of this, you need to create two distinct communication approaches:
For blockchain natives, it is essential to highlight technical innovations, network effects, and protocol improvements. These informed audiences appreciate the “how” of your solution.
For mainstream markets, it's best to focus on the tangible benefits that your solution provides. Instead of the tech, talk about the “so what.”
The truth is that most people don't care HOW things work. They just want to enjoy the benefit. The vast majority of people are unaware of (and uninterested in) how refrigeration technology works, but they appreciate having fresh food that lasts longer and cool beverages.
That's exactly how you need to approach blockchain marketing with mainstream audiences. The technical complexities that make developers geek out will never resonate with the masses. They don't need to understand distributed consensus to appreciate that their financial information is safer and cannot be tampered with.
This approach is practical because it directly addresses what people truly care about in their daily lives. When you translate technical features into real-world benefits, you're speaking a language everyone understands: “What's in it for me?”
The main point to keep in mind here is that this benefit-focused communication doesn't need to diminish your amazing technology. It actually showcases its actual value by highlighting the tangible differences it makes in people's lives. This is how you overcome the blank stares and start generating genuine interest from non-blockchain enthusiasts.
Most blockchain projects quite rightly devote their time and resources to development and technical specifications. For better or worse, that means that marketing often becomes an afterthought, something you'll get to “once the product is perfect.” But even the most revolutionary and innovative technology won't sell itself, especially when it's complex.
There's a good chance your developers might struggle to explain your technology without diving into technical jargon. Your existing team might also lack experience reaching mainstream audiences and marketing products.
This is where partnering with a blockchain PR company can help to bridge the gap between your technical expertise and the communication needs of broader markets.
A good blockchain PR firm won't just blast out press releases into the void and call it a day. They will gain a deep understanding of your value proposition and help craft tailored messaging approaches for different audiences. They will know which publications reach blockchain enthusiasts and which ones influence mainstream consumers.
This allows you to focus on what you do best without worrying that your crypto public relations approach is being neglected. After all, if you want to find success, you need to be pushing forward with both sides of that coin at the same time.
Suppose you want the value of your solution to be understood by as many people as possible. In that case, you need to make connections to concepts they already understand. Analogies are your friend here.
If you're creating a decentralized finance application, don't start by explaining smart contracts; instead, begin by defining the underlying concepts. Instead, start by connecting to familiar financial concepts that everybody will understand.
“Remember how online banking changed how you manage money? We're taking the next step by removing the middlemen who take fees from your transactions.”
If you're developing a supply chain solution, connect it to consumer concerns about product authenticity: “Have you ever wondered if that expensive product is really authentic? Our system gives you a complete, tamper-proof history from factory to store.”
These aren't just simplifications. They help to bring a clear and concise benefit/use case to the hard work you're doing.
Lastly, it is essential to be honest about the image problem that mainstream audiences may have with cryptocurrency. Your potential customers have likely seen headlines about hacks, scams, market volatility, and environmental concerns. They've almost certainly heard stories from friends who lost money in crypto investments, struggled with complicated wallet setups, or have unfortunately been hacked.
Many blockchain companies make the mistake of ignoring or dismissing these concerns as misunderstandings. But that's precisely the wrong way to go about it.
As a flag bearer for the blockchain space, it is in your best interest to tackle these perceptions directly. If someone asks about security, don't just say “blockchain is secure” – explain specifically how your solution protects users in language they understand. If they worry about environmental impact, be honest about your energy usage and any steps you're taking to minimize it.
This transparency builds credibility. It shows you respect your audience's intelligence and concerns. It also allows you to distinguish your solution from others that might have contributed to negative perceptions.
Breaking into mainstream markets isn't about turning everyone into blockchain experts. Most people won't be interested in the technical details that blockchain-natives obsess over – and that's perfectly fine.
What they do care about is whether your solution improves their lives in some meaningful way. Can they trust it? Is it easy to use? Does it solve a problem they actually have?
The companies that succeed in mainstreaming blockchain won't be the ones with the most elegant code or the most innovative consensus mechanisms (though those things do matter). They'll be the ones who successfully translate their technical achievements into benefits that resonate with everyday people.
MD does not stand behind any specific agenda, narrative, or school of thought. We aim to expose all ideas, thinkers, and arguments to the light and see what remains valid and sound.
© 2023 moderndiplomacy.eu. All Rights Reserved.
Ethereum L2 Base Launchpad Zora Announces TGE Amid Jesse Pollak 'Content Coin' Campaign
$87,117.00
$1,576.61
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$597.24
$135.99
$0.999926
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$1,578.00
$86,995.00
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$13.09
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$2.91
$0.00001239
$0.999974
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$2.19
$346.72
$1,886.18
$17.81
$78.12
$3.83
$4.44
$1.00
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$1,572.28
$28.21
$214.98
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Zora, a social media platform that automatically turns every post into a token on Coinbase's Base chain, is launching its own token on Wednesday. This comes amid a “content coin” campaign from the creator of Ethereum layer-2 network Base, Jesse Pollak, with many criticizing the founder for his timing.
This all began on Wednesday last week, when Base's official X account created a token on Zora called Base is for everyone which soared to a $16.9 million market cap then crashed 92% to $1.3 million within two hours. It would later hit a new all-time high then plummet again. This crash came as Base continued to create tokens on Zora as Pollak started to explain his “content coin” thesis.
Put simply, Pollak says that content coins are a way to revolutionize the social media economy by paying creators fees—a solution he says that fixes the problem of platforms not properly rewarding creators. His thoughts have now become Base's official stance on the matter.
But detractors, like Pump.fun co-founder Alon Cohen, think that while Pollak's heart is in the right place, the campaign may have come too soon to be fully accepted by the market.
Either way, according to Dune data, Zora activity exploded with daily traders spiking 601% from 40,638 the day before the campaign started to its all-time high on Sunday of 284,931. Throughout this period, Pollak continued to wave the flag for the content coin movement as he posted on social media, went on a press tour, and continued buying tokens.
That's why on Sunday when Zora announced its token would launch on April 23, with its second snapshot capturing much of this newfound hype, many onlookers thought the timing was suspicious.
$ZORA will be live on April 23, 2025. pic.twitter.com/yZdjlnDohH
— zora (@zora) April 20, 2025
“I'm sure it is a coincidence that Zora is [launching its token] less than a week after the ‘coin everything' hard shill campaign,” pseudonymous crypto trader IcoBeast posted on X, formerly Twitter. “The way this plays out is that people who coined things the last few days will get larger than expected allocations to the token and then get a nice pump into day one [Coinbase] listing.”
But Pollak refutes this, claiming that it was a coincidence after all.
“The truth is the effort to coin things from Base went 0 to 1 in [less than a] day,” he wrote on X. “The Zora team didn't know we were coining anything until after it happened. [Zora creator Jacob Horne] had nudged me before paternity leave to do it and I told him I'd figure it out but it took a while.”
the @zora team didn't know we were coining anything until adter it happened@js_horne had nudged me before paternity leave to do it and I told him I'd figure it out but it took a while
glad I did it!
— jesse.base.eth (@jessepollak) April 21, 2025
Later, he explained that while the campaign's execution happened quickly, the team had thought “long and hard” about whether this type of coin was the future.
Speculation intensified when it was found out via CryptoRank that Coinbase took part in at least two funding rounds totalling $52 million, although exactly how much Coinbase invested remains unclear. The Zora tokenomics also reveal that 45% of the supply will go to the team and strategic contributors, many believing this includes Coinbase.
“Base is for everyone was actually just a marketing stunt to pump a token they invested into lmao,” crypto gaming content creator Jesus Martinez posted on X.
Not everyone was so skeptical about the Base and Zora relationship and have just been enjoying the app.
“All you had to do to make it was coining everything for a week only but instead you decided to clown everything from Jesse Pollak,” pseudonymous crypto trader Cbb0fe wrote on X, and was reposted by Pollak. “Get ready to cope hard.”
Neither Pollak, Base, nor Coinbase responded to Decrypt's request for comment.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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April 21, 2025 10:27 ET
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Futurum Gaming
Futurum Gaming
STAFFORDSHIRE, England, April 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Futurum Gaming has announced the official launch of its debut Web3 title, Race to Infinity, alongside the minting of its Genesis NFT collection and the forthcoming Token Generation Event (TGE) slated for Q2 2025. Positioned at the nexus of immersive gameplay and purposeful learning, the platform sets a new benchmark in blockchain-enabled educational entertainment.
Race to Infinity isn't a traditional game. Designed in collaboration with educational innovator Begenio, it turns curriculum-aligned mathematics into a mentally demanding, strategy-driven experience. Field data shows a 59% improvement in mathematical proficiency among players, a statistic that underscores the platform's pedagogical backbone.
At the core of this initiative resides a distinct objective: to eliminate the perceived divide between cognitive development and digital play. “Our goal is to create an ecosystem where learning is seamlessly integrated into the gaming experience,” said Martin Hugo, Project Leader at Futurum Gaming. “By merging education with Web3, we're not just building games; we're building the future of learning.”
Futurum is not just building a platform; it's addressing a deep, persistent issue in modern education. Traditional learning environments struggle to keep pace with the attention economy. Static lessons, rigid structures, and minimal feedback loops leave many students disengaged. Futurum's approach transforms abstract learning into kinetic engagement.
Every problem solved, every move made, and every decision taken in Race to Infinity pushes cognitive boundaries and reinforces academic foundations. It also redefines the role of assessment by offering real-time feedback and tokenized recognition.
While Race to Infinity introduces players to a world where academic fluency equals strategic advantage, its successor, Quest to Infinity, deepens the narrative and gameplay complexity. Tailored for adult learners, this iteration introduces philosophical puzzles, applied math, and real-world logic, wrapped in a competitive game structure that rewards mental agility with token incentives.
With the launch comes the Genesis NFT mint. Known as the Paddles! NFT, these tokenized assets, function as playable in-game characters and gateways to exclusive digital privileges. Paddles come in four rarity tiers (each represented by a different character), each offering ascending levels of staking benefits and competitive edge. Beyond gameplay, they are fully tradable across secondary markets, introducing collector value and market liquidity into the educational space.
Meanwhile, the TGE marks a pivotal structural advance. The FTRM token will act as the system's fuel, enabling in-game transactions, NFT upgrades, reward mechanisms, and participation in DAO governance. This introduces an economy of learning, where intellectual progression finds reward in tangible assets.
The technological infrastructure behind the project has been reinforced by a strategic collaboration with Immutable. “We partnered with Immutable for their easy onboarding for web2 users via the IMX passport,” said a Futurum spokesperson. “We're also in discussions with SKALE (SKL) to explore complementary infrastructure support that prioritizes interoperability. Our goal is to build a platform that's frictionless, adaptable, and enduring.”
The broader architecture supporting this initiative is Futurum Group, an ecosystem builder that backs high-impact projects across education, AI, and decentralized technologies. With holdings in both traditional and blockchain-native ventures, the Group operates as both incubator and strategist.
“Futurum Gaming is a flagship venture, but it's also a proof of concept,” noted (Tony Walden, BlockConsult). “We are designing environments where learning isn't a byproduct; it's the product. And we're ensuring that those environments have economic gravity.”
The platform's roadmap includes new content releases, deeper integration of community-driven features, and a reward structure that evolves alongside user engagement. Leaderboards, staking programs, and guild-based challenges are designed to nurture both competition and collaboration.
The next phase will also see the seamless integration of Immutable's Passport, creating a frictionless onboarding journey for gamers regardless of their familiarity with crypto technologies.
Race to Infinity anchors all of these ambitions in one accessible, well-engineered experience. It is, at once, a game, a learning tool, and an invitation to participate in an economy that values intellectual agility.
To learn more, visit https://futurumgaming.io Follow Futurum Gaming on X for regular updates: https://x.com/futurum_gaming
For media inquiries, please contact:TobiasProject Managermedia@futurumgaming.io
About Futurum Gaming:Futurum Gaming is the digital arm of Futurum Group, a leading animation and media company with five exciting wholly owned IPs and an award-winning team linked with popular brands such as Bob the Builder, Barney & Friends, Thomas & Friends, and Jakers.
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Despite the rising amount of untraceable assets, Bybit said it is still tracking $960 million from the stolen Ethereum.
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
The amount of stolen funds from the Bybit hack that have slipped out of reach continues to rise as the days go by.
On April 21, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou revealed that around $400 million, around 27.6% of the $1.4 billion in stolen Ethereum, can no longer be traced.
This represents a sharp increase from March, when only 7.59% of the missing assets were untraceable.
Zhou explained that the surge in untraceable funds stems from using crypto mixers and decentralized cross-chain services. While these tools are designed to enhance privacy, the attackers increasingly rely on them to conceal their nefarious activities.
According to him, Wasabi Mixer, a service known for its anonymity features, was used to launder 944 BTC, worth over $90 million. Meanwhile, Thorchain, a decentralized cross-chain platform, facilitated the swap of 531 BTC (equivalent to 18,206 ETH) into Ethereum.
After passing through Wasabi, smaller amounts of the crypto were funneled through other privacy-focused platforms, including CryptoMixer, Tornado Cash, and Railgun. The assets were then moved across various crypto platforms like eXch, Lombard, LiFi, Stargate, and SunSwap.
Zhou explained that these platforms enabled the attackers to shift assets across multiple blockchains before converting them into fiat via peer-to-peer and over-the-counter exchanges.
Blockchain security firm Bitrace confirmed that:
“[The Bybit] hackers are dumping stolen funds through OTC channels. Our customers in multiple countries or regions have reported relevant cases to us.”
Despite the growing portion of untraceable funds, Bybit maintains that most stolen assets remain visible on-chain.
Zhou stated that 68.57% of the stolen Ethereum can still be tracked, while only 3.84% of the funds have been frozen.
The Bybit CEO pointed out that roughly 343,000 ETH (worth over $960 million) have been converted into about 10,000 BTC and scattered across nearly 36,000 wallets. Another 5,991 ETH, about 1.2% of the total, remains in Ethereum wallets spread across more than 12,000 addresses.
Considering this, Zhou urged the crypto community to cooperate with the firm to trace the stolen funds.
He said:
“We welcome more reports, we need more bounty hunters that can decode mixers as we need a lot of help there down the road.”
Within two months, the exchange has received 5,443 bounty submissions from on-chain sleuths. Of these, 70 have been verified, and 12 contributors have been rewarded $2.3 million.
Oluwapelumi values Bitcoin's potential. He imparts insights on a range of topics like DeFi, hacks, mining and culture, underlining transformative power.
Also known as "Akiba," Liam Wright is the Editor-in-Chief at CryptoSlate and host of the SlateCast. He believes that decentralized technology has the potential to make widespread positive change.
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Justin Sun highlights TRON's latest innovations and collaborations with Tether and TRM Labs at Liberland's milestone event.
Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform that enables the creation of smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps).
Bitcoin, a decentralized currency that defies the sway of central banks or administrators, transacts electronically, circumventing intermediaries via a peer-to-peer network.
THORChain is built for cross-chain permissionless digital asset liquidity.
Tornado Cash is a decentralized, non-custodial privacy solution built on Ethereum.
Bybit is a cryptocurrency derivative trading platform established in March 2018 and registered in the BVI.
Ben Zhou is the co-founder and CEO of Bybit, a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange headquartered in Singapore.
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Whale accumulation is officially underway, and Ethereum is displaying encouraging signs of recovery, which are confirmed by on-chain activity. A significant whale has taken out 3,844 ETH in total over the last two weeks (approximately $6.51 million) from Bitget, a centralized exchange. The most recent withdrawal was 1,897 ETH, or about $3 million, 10 hours ago. These significant fluctuations imply that powerful investors are lining up for a possible Ethereum rally.
From a technical perspective, Ethereum is now trading above $1,700, indicating a robust daily gain of almost 4%. Recently the asset exited a short-term bullish pennant, which is a continuation pattern that frequently indicates additional upward movement. The breakout supports the notion that a local trend reversal is gaining momentum, especially when combined with a discernible increase in trading volume.
Whales continue to accumulate $ETH!A whale withdrew another 1,897 $ETH($3M) from #Bitget 10 hours ago.This whale has withdrawn 3,844 $ETH($6.51M) from #Bitget since April 3.https://t.co/HZN9KLPt6M pic.twitter.com/0HCPswZx8w
Now at about $1,880, ETH is making an effort to retake the 50-day EMA, which has served as the asset's consistent ceiling over the previous month. In addition to possibly opening a route toward the $2,200-$2,300 resistance zone, regaining this level would probably pique investor interest once more. This level may serve as a medium-term target for bulls and is also in line with the 100-day EMA. At the same time, the RSI has risen out of oversold territory and is now hovering around 39, suggesting that momentum is building without going overboard.
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The upward trend coincides with growing on-chain accumulation patterns, particularly by big organizations that have a history of outpacing fluctuations in the market. The ongoing removal of Ethereum from exchanges suggests that there is less short-term sell pressure and that investors are confident in Ethereum's long-term prospects.
This whale behavior, whether it be for staking, holding or DeFi-related activity, foreshadows marketwide optimism and might be a trigger for Ethereum's reversal. This is a phase worth closely monitoring because it combines a technical breakout, increasing momentum and whale accumulation - all of which point to Ethereum possibly preparing for a significant recovery.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are not investment advice; they are provided for informational purposes only. The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. Every investment and all trading involves risk, so you should always perform your own research prior to making decisions. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. We do not recommend investing money you cannot afford to lose.
Circle, the firm behind the $60 billion USDC stablecoin, is launching a new payments and cross border remittance network on Tuesday — the company's “next product move” — from its plush New York City headquarters, high on the 87th Floor of One World Trade Center.
The launch event is aimed at banks, fintechs, payment service providers, remittance providers and USDC strategic partners. It will feature Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire sharing his vision for the stablecoin giant's next move within the payments space, according to an invite seen by CoinDesk.
New and incipient regulations around the globe are opening up the stablecoin space, where Circle has shared the limelight with larger rival Tether. It makes sense then that Circle — a firm that has successfully pivoted during its years in the crypto space — should look to consolidate its position and return to its roots as a payments company.
“Circle is launching a payments network that is initially targeting remittances but is ultimately aiming to rival Mastercard and Visa," said a person familiar with the plans.
Stablecoins have reached an adoption level where the technology could disrupt global money transfers in a way similar to WhatsApp and international calls, VC firm Andreessen Horowitz said in recent report.
In a recent interview, crypto custody tech specialists Fireblocks pointed to billions being moved around by payments services providers doing things like cross border payments using stablecoins like USDC and USDT.
Circle was in the news most recently, after the firm announced plans to go public in the U.S., only to postpone the date of its IPO thanks to choppy and uncertain market conditions.
Circle did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ian Allison is a senior reporter at CoinDesk, focused on institutional and enterprise adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Prior to that, he covered fintech for the International Business Times in London and Newsweek online. He won the State Street Data and Innovation journalist of the year award in 2017, and was runner up the following year. He also earned CoinDesk an honourable mention in the 2020 SABEW Best in Business awards. His November 2022 FTX scoop, which brought down the exchange and its boss Sam Bankman-Fried, won a Polk award, Loeb award and New York Press Club award. Ian graduated from the University of Edinburgh. He holds ETH.
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Publicly-listed Metaplanet announced fresh bitcoin (BTC) purchases on Monday as BTC went above $87,300, reversing last week's loses.
Metaplanet picked up 330 BTC bring its overall holdings to 4,855 BTC, worth over $420 million, based on current prices.
This is the Japanese firm's third bitcoin purchase this month, even as broader markets reel from tariff concerns amid a general lack of optimism. Earlier this month, Metaplanet became the tenth-largest public holder of BTC.
However, Metaplanet is not the only Japanese firm raking up bitcoin.Fashion brand ANAP Holdings purchase approximately 16.6591 BTC, valued at around 200 million yen (approximately $1.4 million), last week.
The holdings will be overseen by its subsidiary, ANAP Lightning Capital. The company plans to conduct quarterly market value assessments of its BTC holdings, with any gains or losses reflected in its profit and loss statements.
Its BTC yield from quarter-to-date is at 12.1% so far, with the previous quarter's yield at 95%. BTC Yield is a custom metric used by the firm to assess the performance of its strategy. This measures the growth of bitcoin per fully diluted share.
Bitcoin has fared relatively better than U.S. equities in such a time of financial instability. U.S. equities lost $5.4 trillion in value in two days after President Trump unveiled his reciprocal tariffs earlier in April, which sent the Nasdaq tumbling down 11% at the time. BTC fell a relatively smaller 6%, in comparison.
Metaplanet's stock on the Tokyo Stock Exchange is up nearly 0.9% since open.
Shaurya is the Co-Leader of the CoinDesk tokens and data team in Asia with a focus on crypto derivatives, DeFi, market microstructure, and protocol analysis.Shaurya holds over $1,000 in BTC, ETH, SOL, AVAX, SUSHI, CRV, NEAR, YFI, YFII, SHIB, DOGE, USDT, USDC, BNB, MANA, MLN, LINK, XMR, ALGO, VET, CAKE, AAVE, COMP, ROOK, TRX, SNX, RUNE, FTM, ZIL, KSM, ENJ, CKB, JOE, GHST, PERP, BTRFLY, OHM, BANANA, ROME, BURGER, SPIRIT, and ORCA.He provides over $1,000 to liquidity pools on Compound, Curve, SushiSwap, PancakeSwap, BurgerSwap, Orca, AnySwap, SpiritSwap, Rook Protocol, Yearn Finance, Synthetix, Harvest, Redacted Cartel, OlympusDAO, Rome, Trader Joe, and SUN.
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The digital euro, the future digital currency issued by the European Central Bank, is set to profoundly transform the European monetary landscape. According to the ECB, this CBDC could replace up to 50% of cash in circulation and significantly impact bank deposits! Thus marking a strategic turning point for Europe in the face of digital assets.
The digital euro, the central bank digital currency (CBDC) promoted by the European Central Bank (ECB), could profoundly change the use of money in the eurozone. Although its official launch is only about 6 months away, the ECB is already anticipating its effects on banknotes and bank deposits.
In its latest report, the institution estimates that 5 out of 10 euros in physical banknotes could be replaced by digital euros. Furthermore, 3 out of 10 of these new “digital euros” would come directly from citizens' bank deposits.
The ECB has considered three levels of adoption: low, medium, and high. In the most limited scenario, 15 billion euros worth of banknotes would be replaced. In the case of massive adoption, this figure would rise to 256 billion euros. However, even in this hypothesis, the circulation of the digital euro would remain marginal compared to the 1,567 billion euros in banknotes currently circulating in the eurozone.
Unlike the United States, where President Trump recently banned the development of a digital dollar while supporting cryptocurrencies, Europe is actively pushing the digital euro. ECB board member Piero Cipollone considers this project a matter of strategic sovereignty.
The ECB also warns against risks related to technological dependency on this new currency. The Polaris Project, led by the Bank for International Settlements, aims to strengthen the resilience of CBDC infrastructures against cyber threats.
Scheduled for October 2025, the digital euro represents much more than a simple monetary innovation: it is a structural change that could redefine how Europeans use and store their money. Between digital sovereignty, geopolitical competition, and banking transformation, Europe seems determined to move forward on the path of CBDCs.
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The world is evolving and adaptation is the best weapon to survive in this undulating universe. Originally a crypto community manager, I am interested in anything that is directly or indirectly related to blockchain and its derivatives. To share my experience and promote a field that I am passionate about, nothing is better than writing informative and relaxed articles.
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
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Bitcoin's (BTC) price broke above its key resistance level after facing multiple rejections around it the previous week. Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP) prices are approaching their key resistance levels; a breakout could signal a rally ahead.
Bitcoin price has faced multiple rejections around its 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $85,000 since April 13. At Monday's start of this week, BTC finally broke above the $87,000 resistance level.
If BTC continues its upward momentum, it could extend the rally to the key psychological level of $90,000. A successful close above this level could extend an additional rally to test its March 2 high of $95,000.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the daily chart reads 57, indicating bullish momentum, as it is positioned above its neutral level of 50.
BTC/USDT daily chart
However, if BTC declines, it could find support around its key level of $85,000.
Ethereum price was rejected around the $1,700 level at the start of the previous week but recovered slightly during the second half. At the time of writing on Monday, it trades at around $1,640, approaching the $1,700 resistance level.
If ETH continues its recovery and closes above $1,700, it could extend the rally to retest its next daily resistance at $1,861.
The RSI on the daily chart reads 44 and points upward toward its neutral level of 50, indicating fading bearish momentum. The RSI must move above its neutral level of 50 for the bullish momentum to be sustained.
ETH/USDT daily chart
On the other hand, if ETH continues its correction, it could extend the losses to retest its daily support level at $1,449.
XRP faced rejection around the daily level of $2.23 on April 13 and declined 3.75% last week. At the time of writing on Monday, it hovers the $2.11 level.
If XRP breaks and closes above $2.23, it could extend the rally to retest its March 24 high of $2.50 before $3.00.
The RSI on the daily chart reads 49, around its neutral level of 50, indicating fading bearish momentum. The RSI must move above its neutral level of 50 for the bullish momentum to be sustained.
XRP/USDT daily chart
However, if XRP continues its decline and closes below its 200-day EMA, it could extend the decline to retest its next support level at $1.77.
Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, a virtual currency designed to serve as money. This form of payment cannot be controlled by any one person, group, or entity, which eliminates the need for third-party participation during financial transactions.
Altcoins are any cryptocurrency apart from Bitcoin, but some also regard Ethereum as a non-altcoin because it is from these two cryptocurrencies that forking happens. If this is true, then Litecoin is the first altcoin, forked from the Bitcoin protocol and, therefore, an “improved” version of it.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to have a stable price, with their value backed by a reserve of the asset it represents. To achieve this, the value of any one stablecoin is pegged to a commodity or financial instrument, such as the US Dollar (USD), with its supply regulated by an algorithm or demand. The main goal of stablecoins is to provide an on/off-ramp for investors willing to trade and invest in cryptocurrencies. Stablecoins also allow investors to store value since cryptocurrencies, in general, are subject to volatility.
Bitcoin dominance is the ratio of Bitcoin's market capitalization to the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies combined. It provides a clear picture of Bitcoin's interest among investors. A high BTC dominance typically happens before and during a bull run, in which investors resort to investing in relatively stable and high market capitalization cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. A drop in BTC dominance usually means that investors are moving their capital and/or profits to altcoins in a quest for higher returns, which usually triggers an explosion of altcoin rallies.
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The cryptocurrency market sparkles with altcoins like Sui, Stacks and Fartcoin extending gains on Monday. Sui breaks above a critical descending trendline, but the 100-day EMA crossing below the 200-day EMA signals potential bearish hurdles.
Bitcoin price breaks and trades above its key resistance level of $85,000 at the time of writing on Monday after facing multiple rejections the previous week. Institutional demand shows mild recovery, as it recorded nearly $16 million inflow into Bitcoin spot Exchange Traded Funds last week.
PancakeSwap breaks out, reclaiming $2.00 in support as investors return. The implementation of the tokenomics 3.0 software upgrade will allow access to staked CAKE and cake. PancakeSwap is shifting its focus from a 5% trading fees revenue sharing model to the CAKE token burn mechanism.
Ondo (ONDO) and SUI (SUI) prices gain nearly 5% at the time of writing on Monday, after a slight decline in the previous week. Both altcoins are approaching their key resistance levels; a breakout would indicate a bullish rally ahead.
Bitcoin price consolidates above $84,000 on Friday, a short-term support that has gained significance this week. The world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization continued to weather storms caused by US President Donald Trump's incessant trade war with China after pausing reciprocal tariffs for 90 days on April 9 for other countries.
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What do cat memes, scam compounds and central bank digital currencies have in common? The answer may surprise you: Myanmar's Civil War.
Since the military coup in 2021, various armed opposition groups, fragmented ethnically and geographically, have come together to unseat the Tatmadaw – Myanmar's military – from power. Their stated aim is to establish a democratic federal National Unity Government (NUG) in its place.
As of 2025, the NUG's armed wing – the People's Defence Forces – and its allies maintain the upper hand against the Junta, claiming control over two thirds of the country's townships. The European Union recognizes the NUG as the legitimate government of Myanmar.
Meanwhile, accusations of war crimes, including of a sexual nature and bombing schools, have been made against the Junta and its associated paramilitaries. More recently, the Junta has been accused of conducting air strikes in areas hard hit by the 7.7 magnitude earthquake in March 2025. Many jurisdictions, including the United States and Singapore, have imposed sanctions or restrictions on financing the Tatmadaw.
Left: Soldiers from the People's Defence Force. Right: Opposition weapons, military equipment and ammunition in eastern Myanmar.
With financing being key to the success of any armed rebellion, the Junta has clamped down on the opposition fighters' ability to access funding from both within Myanmar and the outside world.
To evade these restrictions, the NUG, in mid-2022, opted for a unique solution hardly ever observed before in a conflict setting: it tokenized the Myanmar Kyat – the national currency – and issued it in the form of a crypto token to populations under its control.
The Digital Kyat (DMMK), hosted on the Stellar blockchain and held on a digital wallet app called NUGPay, has its 1:1 peg with the Myanmar Kyat black market rate guaranteed by the NUG – making it, essentially, a central bank-issued digital currency (CBDC). In mid-2023, amid a weakening Kyat, the NUG also issued nUSDT, a token replicating the USDT stablecoin and pegged 1:1 with the USD.
Users from both within Myanmar and abroad can make payments or donations to each other in DMMK or nUSDT through accounts on the NUGPay mobile app, using QR codes and @ handles – similar to other established payment systems in east and southeast Asia such as Alipay.
Left: An advertisement for NUGPay wallet. Center: A NUGPay-initiated fundraiser for opposition fighters that has raised over $23,000. Right: A NUGPay Goodwill Fund set up after the devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake in March 2025.
Public block explorers suggest that DMMK transaction volumes have reached 2.3 trillion as of March 2025, worth almost half a billion dollars at current black market rates. However, both NUGPay and publicly accessible blockchain data suggest that the app has around 38,000 accounts – indicating that wider usage among the general population is limited.
Given the blockchain-based nature of the Digital Kyat CBDC, Elliptic has the capability to trace DMMK and nUSDT transactions. The tracing of blockchain-based CBDCs is a major step for the blockchain analytics industry as over 100 countries are actively researching, developing or piloting their own CBDC projects to make international trade and retail payments more efficient.
This is despite privacy concerns in the US, where the Trump Administration has barred the creation of a Digital Dollar.
Furthermore, Elliptic has identified close to 150 People's Defence Forces (PDFs), military fundraisers and pro-opposition diaspora groups seeking donations through NUGPay.
NUGPay fundraisers of two armed opposition groups (left, middle) and a raffle fundraiser (right). The group on the left also advertises a QR code for their account at Spring Development Bank – a digital opposition-controlled bank based on the Polygon blockchain.
In a year where the NUG seeks to deal the knock-out blow against the Junta while also managing major natural disasters, tracing the DMMK enables us to shed light on one of the world's lesser-known conflicts – with major geopolitical implications for the region and beyond.
Below, we explore how effective this digital payment solution – itself “created to safely support the needs of the revolution” according to the NUG's Ministry of Finance – has been at fuelling the opposition's battlefield successes.
You can read our earlier coverage about how the DMMK has been used to bypass aid restrictions in response to the March 2025 earthquake here.
Opposition-aligned armed groups and diaspora organizations alike have been running increasingly creative social media campaigns to entice donations to their NUGPay wallets.
AI-generated campaign posters, cat memes, cartoons and even a youth song contest have been used to collect DMMK. Lotteries for Teslas, holidays and jewellery are also commonplace. Donors of notable sums are frequently rewarded with certificates in their name, displayed proudly on the recipient organization's social media page.
A selection of more unorthodox fundraiser campaigns – including cats, raffles, cartoon soldiers and a birthday poster for deposed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.
Our analysis suggests that DMMK and nUSDT donations to domestic and diaspora fundraisers, PDFs and other allied armed groups, the NUG's administrative institutions, civil disobedience movements and disaster relief initiatives have topped $11.5 million since November 2023, across over 53,000 individual transfers.
Though not as much as the $100 million+ donated in crypto to Ukraine after Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion, the DMMK nevertheless reinforces the power of blockchain technology in national emergencies and war. The volume of donations is still comparable to other uses of crypto in crisis situations, such as the $12.5 million donated to Turkey after the 2023 earthquakes.
Our analysis also reveals that DMMK and nUSDT donations have remained largely consistent over time, even though there is a slight downward trend between late 2023 and 2025. This is in contrast to Ukraine, where donations sharply declined after the first few days of the invasion and never recovered.
The committee representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw – the opposition Union Parliament of Myanmar to which the NUG is accountable – has established an official fundraiser page that lists close to 300 vetted donation campaigns.
These operate across multiple countries, including Myanmar itself, Australia, the United States, United Kingdom, Thailand, Singapore, Korea, Canada and Japan. Among them are food kitchens, overseas concerts, medical networks and women's organizations.
Our analysis shows that Singapore-based groups have been by far the most successful – receiving over $3 million in DMMK/nUSDT donations, followed by Australian ($500,000) and UK-based ($240,000) organizations. Many of them have in turn forwarded donations to groups based on the ground.
Elliptic Investigator shows Singapore and Australia-based diaspora organizations donating DMMK and nUSDT to armed groups within Myanmar.
Armed groups on the ground have predominantly called for donations to purchase military equipment and food supplies. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been in particularly high demand, with some fundraisers existing with the sole purpose of procuring drones for the front lines.
Some armed groups have also financed the creation of their own 3D printed weapons and drones. According to past reports, these include the prominent Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) in the south-east of the country – which has raised over $160,000 in DMMK and nUSDT.
Propaganda material showing opposition-aligned fighters and drone operators.
Tracing the financial aspect of this war is also important for other reasons. Many armed groups, including the above-mentioned KNDF, operate in regions with burgeoning industrialized fraud, so-called “pig butchering” and labor trafficking activity.
In particular, the town of Myawaddy in Karen State is home to hundreds' of thousands of victims of labor trafficking, forced to conduct digital scams from dedicated scam compounds. Some of these compounds, such as the notorious KK Park, function as entire towns in themselves with a range of facilities for forced workers and organized criminals.
Various armed and political Karenni groups have been affiliated in the past with these compounds. For instance, local media reported in 2023 that the opposition-aligned Karen National Union was linked to contracts and leases involving KK Park in Karen State. The same outlet later reported that the group had pledged to probe five of its officials for alleged involvement.
More recently, in light of pressure from China and Thailand, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and Border Guard Force have been raiding certain compounds and freeing thousands of workers.
China's traditional backing for the Junta has fuelled anti-Chinese propaganda by opposition groups.
Though such cases do not yet show any association with DMMK transactions, our ability to trace them nevertheless provides an additional level of pre-emptive visibility should that situation ever change.
Elliptic Investigator shows numerous opposition-aligned groups in Karen and Shan states, known hotbeds of organized industrialized scam activity. KNDF = Karenni Nationalities Defence Force.
Becoming a medium for making everyday payments and paying taxes, DMMK has also been used by various NUG ministries, including the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs & Disaster Management. The Union Parliament in exile also owns a public NUGPay wallet.
On-chain DMMK and nUSDT transactions between various NUG Government Ministries, the Union Parliament in exile and various anti-Junta fundraisers.
When Typhoon Yagi caused extensive damage and flooding in the Mandalay and Magway regions in September 2024, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs launched a Disaster Relief Fund NUGPay wallet alongside its own, receiving over $700,000 in donations overall.
One week after the March 2025 earthquake, a special Goodwill Fund set up by NUGPay itself received $20,000.
In states and regions almost completely under control of opposition forces, some townships have started soliciting DMMK donations to begin setting up new local layers of government. Elliptic has observed this practice predominantly in Chin State, where groups such as the Chin Defence Force have consistently had the upper hand for some time.
Left: A Ministry of Health NUGPay Fundraiser. Right: Chin Defence Force flags fly above the entrance to an opposition township established with help from NUGPay funds in Chin State.
It should be noted, however, that the extent of NUGPay usage across regions differs based on the stability of the conflict situation and the strength of the affiliation between resident armed groups and the NUG. The usage numbers, in the low 30,000s, indicate that sustained use has not been established in all areas where the NUG is nominally in control.
To aid areas where NUGPay use is scarce, Dr. Tu Hkawng, the NUG Union Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, has publicized his NUGPay wallet for donations to armed groups in Kachin State – suggesting that some entities there may have never used NUGPay before.
The below map shows the amount and distribution of funds received by entities where we have been able to determine their specific geographic areas of operation.
Though the DMMK is certainly a unique case, CBDCs are not necessarily a novel technology. According to the Atlantic Council, 10 states – including Norway, Ukraine, Australia and Bhutan – are currently exploring the establishment of a blockchain-based CBDC, predominantly to digitize payments and to streamline trade and cross-border transfers.
However, unlike the DMMK (which is operational), these projects are all in the proof-of-concept or research phase. Presumably, none are being developed with financing conflict in mind.
You can read more about CBDCs at Elliptic's knowledge hub.
Elliptic's tools now have the capability to trace and screen transactions occurring in both DMMK and nUSDT. In addition, close to 150 entities engaging in civil war fundraising have been labelled in our tools.
Whether you're a VASP or a law enforcement agency – and regardless of where your jurisdiction stands on the conflict – this capability matters. Here's why:
Noting that prevention is the best cure, we consistently monitor unique and emerging crypto use cases to ensure that any potential compliance or sanctions risks are pre-emptively addressed.
Our support for DMMK and nUSDT also underscores our industry-leading coverage of assets and blockchains. As of 2025, our tools are able to screen and trace over 50 blockchains.
Check out our other research – including our reports on the use of crypto in other conflicts such as Russia-Ukraine – on our blog or resources page.
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Arda is the Lead Crypto Threat Researcher (APAC) at Elliptic and an Assistant Professor of Crypto & Future Crimes at City University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on crimes enabled by cryptoassets and emerging technologies, including fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing and illicit activity on the dark web. He has advised numerous international organizations, public and private sector entities on emerging crime trends and prevention measures.
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Trading cryptocurrency was just a bit of fun for Tzoni Raykov, but losing $1,500 worth to an administrative error has left him with serious concerns about his treatment by the industry.
The oil engineer has held an account with Revolut for several years - using its app to split bills with friends after going out for dinner or drinks. They would pay each other using traditional currency, like the pound sterling or US dollar.
But after seeing the e-money firm advertise its cryptocurrency services, he decided to give it a try.
What Tzoni thought would be a straightforward transfer of cryptocurrency coins has left the Bulgarian national angry and out of pocket.
His experience highlights some of the frustrations people have had using cryptocurrency where many of the customer safeguards which underpin standard online banking transactions, some mandated by law, do not apply.
"When they treat you like this, it makes you feel like you can't do anything," he told BBC News. "Like you are powerless."
While the cryptocurrency market is dominated by Bitcoin, there is a plethora of other digital currencies, including USDC - which Tzoni had already amassed in a separate crypto account.
His frustrations began in February when he decided to transfer some of his USDC coins to his Revolut account.
As a precaution - which Revolut suggests doing - he first sent 10 of the coins, worth $10. It was a success and the funds were credited to his Revolut account.
Days later he tried to make a larger transfer of what he thought was 1,500 USDC. The transfer was completed but, this time, the funds were not credited to his account.
Tzoni says the problem occurred because Revolut's deposit instructions were unclear.
When you transfer cryptocurrency from one account to another, you have to select a network to send it through - like choosing which courier service to use when sending a parcel.
Revolut's deposit instructions say to transfer USDC to it, you have to use a network called Polygon. In his first, successful, deposit Tzoni selected one called "Polygon PoS".
In the second deposit, when he tried to transfer 1,500 USDC, he selected a different network - "Polygon (bridged)".
He thought it would work just as well but says instead it caused the coins to be converted into USDC.e - a different cryptocurrency.
This is what Revolut received. The company does not handle USDC.e coins.
After seeing his Revolut account had not been credited with the 1,500 coins, Tzoni contacted the Revolut support team.
In messages seen by BBC News, they told him the issue seemed to be with "the specific type of Polygon network used, which led to the conversion".
In another, he was told: "The app currently specifies 'Polygon' without differentiating between standard and bridged options. I'll note your feedback for future improvements."
Tzoni thinks if Revolut's deposit instructions had been more specific, his problem would have been avoided.
When approached by BBC News about this case, Revolut gave a different answer.
The firm said the problem was not because Tzoni had used the wrong Polygon network - which he claimed turned his coins into USDC.e.
The deposit failure was "not because the network itself had 'converted' the token", it said, without explaining why its support team had suggested to Tzoni that it was.
Revolut told us the deposit ultimately failed because the USDC.e coins it received were not supported by the company's technology.
It said: "As is standard industry practice due to the significant technical challenges involved in supporting every combination of token and chain, the recovery of these unsupported assets does not sit within Revolut's scope."
It means the 1,500 USDC.e coins have not been credited to Tzoni's account or sent back to him.
To Tzoni's mind, this isn't acceptable treatment from a company of Revolut's size and reputation, which handles normal banking deposits as well as cryptocurrency, stocks and commodities.
Revolut says it has 10 million users in the UK while last year it was granted a provisional banking licence, paving the way for it to become a fully fledged UK bank.
When using a High Street bank, a mistaken transfer of traditional currency would usually be resolved with the money being reverted back to the customer.
This was established in 2014 in a voluntary code of practice that most UK banks signed up to. There is no such equivalent in the cryptocurrency industry.
After contacting Revolut several times in recent weeks, Tzoni has been told the coins are effectively lost.
"They are waiting for me to get bored and give up, to accept the money is gone. But I won't," Tzoni said, pointing out the coins are in the Revolut system. "It is ridiculous that they can behave like this."
While Tzoni's loss of cryptocurrency is significant to him, the sum is tiny compared with the size of the industry, which has risen sharply in value over the past 18 months.
The global market peaked in value at $3.9tn last December, following the re-election of Donald Trump. Since then it has fallen by $1.1tn, according to tracking website CoinGecko.
Government policies in the US and other countries are also changing to favour the cryptocurrency industry, even though it has suffered several scandals.
FTX, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency firms, went bankrupt in 2022. Sam Bankman-Fried, its chief executive, was sentenced to 25 years in prison last year for defrauding customers of billions of dollars.
Investigators also found FTX was using QuickBooks, a popular accounting software designed for individuals and small businesses, to manage the money.
John Ray III, a lawyer tasked with recovering funds from FTX for defrauded customers, told a bankruptcy court: "Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here."
He later told a congressional hearing: "Nothing against QuickBooks. It's a very nice tool, just not for a multibillion-dollar company."
A couple of months ago Bybit, the world's second largest cryptocurrency exchange by some estimates, was tricked out of $1.5bn worth of coins by hackers thought to be working for North Korea.
The firm had been using Safe, a free digital storage software popular with individuals who want to store cryptocurrency on their own devices, as part of their business operations.
Following the theft, Bybit's chief executive said they "should have upgraded and moved away from Safe" earlier.
One of the problems with cryptocurrency firms, says Prof Mark Button, who researches cybercrime, is they can grow very quickly, which means they don't always keep up with the accounting and security challenges of managing so much money.
"For me it illustrates that if we are going to be serious about cryptocurrencies in the future… there needs to be some kind of regulation."
In Tzoni's case, it might have been easier for him to get his cryptocurrency back or be compensated if there were laws stating what firms need to do if they are sent a coin they don't handle.
Higher industry standards might also have prevented him making such a transaction in the first place.
Mykhailo Tiutin is chief technology officer at AMLBot, a company that analyses how risky cryptocurrency transactions are.
Their service runs checks similar to those supported by banks, where details for a transfer, such as the account holder's name, sort code and account number, are verified.
He says cryptocurrency is safe enough for the average person to use but that they should be careful about which products and services they choose. He says he has also lost cryptocurrency after making an administrative mistake.
"You have to do your own research," he told us. "The successes and the losses are ultimately at your own risk."
The MP's office says "steps were taken quickly to secure the account and remove misleading posts".
Figures from Action Fraud shows cryptocurrency fraud is on the rise, a police force says.
Bitcoin miners will go to remote locations to take advantage of cheap electricity.
Aleksej Besciokov is wanted by the US for allegedly laundering money and violating sanctions.
Hackers from the infamous Lazarus Group are in a cat-and-mouse game to launder their stolen funds from the ByBit heist.
Copyright 2025 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.
A closely followed crypto strategist and trader believes that the time for altcoins to shine is close at hand.
Pseudonymous analyst TechDev tells his 520,200 followers on the social media platform X that two macroeconomic factors are flashing bullish for altcoins based on historical precedent.
The trader shares a chart suggesting that altcoins tend to explode whenever global liquidity surges and the business cycle bottoms out.
Global liquidity refers to the amount of money sloshing in the world's financial system, while the business cycle tracks the rise and fall of economic activity over time.
Says TechDev,
“Altcoins don't run until liquidity breaks out. It's time.”
Based on the trader's chart, he appears to suggest that altcoins have sparked steep rallies in 2016 and 2020 following a business cycle bottom and a global liquidity breakout.
Turning to Bitcoin (BTC), the trader predicts that the crypto king will also rally due to the bullish alignment of the two macro factors.
“Are you ready?”
Zooming in on BTC, the trader predicts that Bitcoin will hit a massive price target this cycle after breaking out from a cup-and-handle pattern, which is typically viewed as a bullish continuation structure, indicating that buyers are stepping in without waiting for the asset to drop to its price lows.
“After all the rigorous analysis, will be amusing if it ends up this simple…”
Looking at the trader's chart, he seems to predict that BTC can surge to as high as $500,000 by 2026.
At time of writing, Bitcoin is worth $85,165.
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More than half a century after the world's first heart transplant, scientists are finding fascinating ways to improve the success of the notoriously difficult surgery.
In the U.S. alone, nearly 3,800 people are on the waiting list for heart transplant, but as Yale Medicine notes, demand for healthy hearts currently outstrips supply by a significant margin, leading many people to suffer for months with failing hearts. To help ease the stress on this biological ‘supply chain,' scientists have turned to new methods to ease the suffering of those waiting for hearts while also ensuring that surgical success rates climb ever upward.
Earlier this year, St. Vincent's Hospital Sydney in Australia reported that a man survived 100 days with a titanium heart while waiting for a donor heart to become available. And now, a medical team at the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) claims to have performed the very first “beating heart” transplant, meaning that the donor heart never stopped beating during its removal, connection to support system, and surgical transplantation. The results of the procedure were documented in a paper published in the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Techniques
“The system comprised a heart box, reservoir, centrifugal pump, oxygenator, and perfusion tubing,” the authors wrote in a pre-proof of the paper. “It enabled continuous normothermic diluted donor blood myocardial perfusion from donor explantation to recipient implantation.”
The major breakthrough is that the donor heart—which came from a 35-year-old male who experienced brain death after complications during cerebellar tumor surgery—never experienced cardioplegia (a stoppage of the heart) or ischemia (reduced blood flow). Both of these complications can damage the organ during the transplant process and cause issues down the road.
Previously, teams from Stanford University (the university where the first U.S. heart transplant was performed in 1968) had also published studies claiming that they performed beating heart transplants back in 2023 and 2024. But the Taipei Times reports that those procedures still required very brief ischemic time between removal and being hooked up to a “heart in a box” support system.
“We wanted to perform a heart transplant without any ischemic time so that the heart wouldn't have to stop, and we could also avoid injury [to heart tissue] that typically occurs after reperfusion,” Chi Nai-hsin, an attending physician at NTUH, said during a press conference in Taipei. “We have demonstrated the safety and feasibility of the surgery.”
Post-transplant—during which the heart continued to beat during the entire process—a 49-year old who was experiencing end-stage heart failure is alive and well. With this technique, doctors and scientists hope to see less tissue damage during transplantation, which in turn should tick up the success rate of heart transplants overall. That's certainly good news for the tens of thousands of people around the world waiting for a new heart.
Darren lives in Portland, has a cat, and writes/edits about sci-fi and how our world works. You can find his previous stuff at Gizmodo and Paste if you look hard enough.
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April 21, 2025
8 min read
Proposed Trump Cuts to NOAA Threaten Hurricane Hunters and Toxic Algal Bloom Monitoring
The Trump administration has proposed gutting NOAA's cooperative institutes, which study everything from improving lifesaving weather forecasts to monitoring fish stocks
By Chelsea Harvey & E&E News
Commander Mark Nelson, with NOAA, climbs the steps to one of the hurricane hunter planes after a press conference at MacDill Air Force base on Thursday, May 22, 2008.
ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy Stock Photo
CLIMATEWIRE | Researchers in Oklahoma are hard at work on a new lifesaving weather forecasting system. In Michigan, they're keeping tabs on toxic algae blooms. In Florida, they're studying tropical cyclones by flying into the hearts of hurricanes.
These are just a handful of the hundreds of research projects ongoing at NOAA's cooperative institutes, a network of 16 science consortiums involving 80 universities and research institutions across 33 states.
But many CI scientists are worried their work — and their jobs — may soon be on the chopping block.
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
A new proposal from the White House Office of Management and Budget would dramatically reorganize NOAA and gut most of its climate research programs in fiscal 2026. Part of that plan includes terminating funding for NOAA's cooperative institutes and its 10 laboratories, which are heavily staffed by CI researchers.
The plan, presented last week in an OMB document known as a “passback” memorandum, is technically still hypothetical. While passbacks typically outline the priorities eventually included in the White House's budget proposal each fiscal year, Congress must ultimately approve the president's request.
But even if Congress rejects the cuts that the Trump administration proposes for fiscal 2026, experts worry that funding for the remainder of fiscal 2025 is still in question.
“Once a certain amount of damage is done, it's not recoverable.” —Waleed Abdalati, director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)
Congress last month passed a continuing resolution to avert a shutdown and fund the government through the end of the current fiscal year. But the bill provides little guidance for agencies on how exactly they must use their funds.
“The administration can largely move money however it wants within the agency,” said Waleed Abdalati, director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) housed at the University of Colorado, Boulder. “That's the authority Congress afforded them by not articulating more detail in its agency budgets.”
In theory, some experts say, that means the Trump administration could direct agencies to shuffle their funds in ways that would diminish or eliminate programs previously funded in fiscal 2024.
And the OMB passback suggests exactly that: directing NOAA to align its 2025 spending with the plan laid out in the memo — even though that proposal has not yet been approved by Congress.
“OMB expects that the Department will exercise all allowable authorities and flexibilities to align the 2025 operating plans with the 2026 Passback,” the document states.
There's no indication that NOAA has yet complied. And it's unclear whether this direction would legally sidestep Congress' authority to direct the appropriation of funds.
But if the agency began implementing the passback's plan this year, a broad swath of programs could see their funding suddenly curtailed — including the cooperative institutes.
Meanwhile, some CIs across the country have not yet received any of their 2025 funds. Some are still waiting on some of their 2024 money, due to a variety of payment delays. Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick — head of the agency that houses NOAA — is personally reviewing all funding commitments above $100,000.
“The money is very slow in coming, and a number of institutes are at great risk of not having the funding after a couple months from now,” Abdalati said. “If that's the case, we're required to either lay off or furlough people until the money comes.”
Even if Congress restores funding for 2026, cuts and layoffs in the near term would be devastating, he added. Long-term datasets would be disrupted. Many staffers likely would seek new jobs, taking their knowledge and experience with them.
“Once a certain amount of damage is done, it's not recoverable,” Abdalati said.
Meanwhile, CI directors say even short-term interruptions in their research could threaten the safety of the communities they serve.
CIGLR — the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research, housed at the University of Michigan — keeps tabs on toxic algae in lakes Erie and Huron, where nearby communities are well acquainted with the dangers. A harmful algal bloom sparked the Toledo water crisis of 2014, in which 400,000 residents in and around the Ohio city had no safe drinking water for two days.
An algae bloom in Lake Erie, seen here on the shores of Maumee Bay State Park in Ohio, polluted the water supply of Toledo in 2014.
Ty Wright for The Washington Post via Getty Images
But because of the ongoing funding delays, “we're looking at having to lay off a substantial number of our workers in the next few months,” said CIGLR director Gregory Dick.
And it's possible the institute will have to halt its algal monitoring program. If that's the case, the region may be less equipped to predict and prepare for events such as the Toledo water crisis.
“One of my big fears is that we'll be more vulnerable to such incidents,” Dick said, adding that the program “seems like it's in limbo — it's complete uncertainty.”
The cooperative institutes are one part of NOAA's broader research ecosystem and just one of many proposed cuts across the department.
The passback memo calls for the elimination of NOAA's entire Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), which facilitates a variety of Earth system studies. Alongside the CIs, OAR houses 10 laboratories and a number of other programs including its global ocean observing and monitoring program; its ocean acidification program; and its Sea Grant program, which partners with 34 universities on marine research and education initiatives.
But the CIs play a special role in NOAA science — and in its impact on U.S. communities — experts say.
“The CIs are 50 percent of everything we do in research,” said Craig McLean, NOAA's former top scientist. “They are of equal vitality and importance to the NOAA mission as every NOAA scientist — many of whom have come from the CIs.”
The CIs exist via a particular type of federal funding award known as a cooperative agreement, which operates much like a grant but involves close collaboration with federal employees. Each agreement is awarded on a five-year basis, with the potential to renew for another five years. After that, universities must compete again for a new award.
Still, many cooperative institutes have been around for decades — CIRES, the oldest and largest, was established in 1967. Many involve multiple university partners and employ dozens or hundreds of staff. And many maintain long-standing data collection programs with major impacts on human societies.
CIMAR, for instance — the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, housed at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa — monitors “basically the entire ecosystem of the tropical Pacific,” said its director, Douglas Luther. That includes everything from the life histories of marine animals to the ocean's rising sea levels.
And CIMERS at Oregon State University — the Cooperative Institute for Marine Ecosystem and Resources Studies — keeps tabs on everything from salmon stock in the Pacific Northwest to the movement of ships in the remote Arctic Ocean. It's also active in ocean exploration, mapping parts of the seabed where methane reserves or critical minerals may be abundant.
[The cuts represent a] "complete sabotaging of American weather forecasting. It would totally change the game in terms of our prediction.” —Marc Alessi, a science fellow with the Union of Concerned Scientists
These studies help keep the U.S. competitive with other global science leaders, said CIMERS director Francis Chan.
“There's a new science race going on,” he said. “People are thinking about what are the different ways of using the ocean.”
Other CIs help improve the forecasting tools used by NOAA's own National Weather Service.
Scientists from the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies are key members of NOAA's famed Hurricane Hunter missions, which fly specialized data-collecting aircraft through tropical cyclones.
Meanwhile, scientists at the Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations (CIWRO), are developing products to help meteorologists spot dangerous weather events with more advance warning. One of these is Warn-on-Forecast, an experimental system designed to rapidly incorporate radar and satellite observations into a high-resolution model, producing updated forecasts about every 15 minutes.
And it's showing promise.
As twisters whirled across the central U.S. last month, amid an outbreak that killed dozens in the Southeast and Midwest, Warn-on-Forecast predictions helped accurately predict a storm track in the Missouri Ozarks with about two hours of lead time, according to CIWRO's director, Greg McFarquhar.
The forecast, combined with other data, prompted National Weather Service staff to contact emergency managers on the evening of March 14 and warn them that long-track tornadoes may be forming. NWS followed up shortly afterward with a Special Weather Statement, narrowing down the tornado tracks to nearby Carter and Ripley counties.
When a strong tornado touched down shortly afterward, more than 125 people already had checked in at a nearby Carter County shelter. There were no fatalities reported in the aftermath of the event.
Traditional forecasting tools typically predict tornadoes with an average of only 13 minutes of advance warning, according to NOAA. The extra time afforded by new tools like Warn-on-Forecast “makes a huge difference in terms of people being able to get out of the way of these tornadoes,” McFarquhar said.
With funding delays dragging on and existential cuts looming, scientists say these research projects are all in jeopardy.
Some CI directors told POLITICO's E&E News that their institutes likely would shut down without NOAA funding. Larger institutes like CIRES said they might continue to exist in a diminished form — but the loss of NOAA resources would take a huge toll.
“We wouldn't be as robust,” said Abdalati, the CIRES director. “And honestly it would be, I think, a big loss to the American people — because we do things that matter, that are important.”
Much of the Trump administration's attacks on NOAA research center on climate science. The conservative policy blueprint Project 2025 referred to the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research as the "source of much of NOAA's climate alarmism” and called for much of its work to be dissolved — a plan reflected in the OMB passback memo.
But CI scientists note their projects delve far beyond climate change research. And many have implications for the economy, national security and competition with countries such as China — priorities the Trump administration has claimed to support.
“I think that's the part that worries me,” said Chan, the CIMERS director. “Are people making decisions because they don't have the full picture of what science is doing? If that's the case, we're open to providing information.”
The cuts proposed in the OMB passback memo have sparked widespread backlash among science advocates.
The American Meteorological Society warned in a statement that eliminating NOAA's research arm would have “unknown — yet almost certainly disastrous — consequences for public safety and economic health.”
The cuts represent a "complete sabotaging of American weather forecasting,” said Marc Alessi, a science fellow with the nonprofit advocacy organization Union of Concerned Scientists. “It would totally change the game in terms of our prediction.”
Some lawmakers in Congress have raised similar concerns.
Nine Democratic representatives from New Jersey submitted a letter last week to Lutnick decrying the proposed cuts, which they argued would endanger their state and its nearly 1,800 miles of coastline. They expressed particular concern about the proposed elimination of NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, New Jersey. The lab is a leading developer of the atmosphere and ocean models that inform weather forecasts.
“Without their work, Americans will not receive accurate weather or tidal predictions, impacting our safety, economy and national security,” the letter stated.
Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado said in a statement to E&E News that worsening droughts and wildfires across the western United States mean that the "work our scientists and civil servants do at NOAA is essential to U.S. national security and the personal safety and daily lives of Americans.”
Colorado is the only state to house two cooperative institutes, and it's home to the largest of the CIs.
Despite these kinds of concerns, McLean, the former NOAA top scientist, said the response from Congress hasn't gone far enough. Some CIs — like the extreme weather-focused institute in Oklahoma — are housed in red states, where Republicans in Congress have so far raised few objections to cuts at NOAA.
“On the Republican side, they're cowering behind Trump's voice and they're not raising any alarm,” McLean said. “And they're going to watch many assets and attributes in their states go away.”
Reprinted from E&E News with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2025. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment professionals.
Chelsea Harvey covers climate science for Climatewire. She tracks the big questions being asked by researchers and explains what's known, and what needs to be, about global temperatures. Chelsea began writing about climate science in 2014. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Popular Science, Men's Journal and others.
E&E News provides essential energy and environment news for professionals.
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Nutrient stress represents an important barrier for anti-tumour immunity, and tumour interstitial fluid often contains metabolites that hinder immune function. However, it is difficult to isolate the effects of tumour nutrient stress from other suppressive factors. Thus, we used a chemically defined cell culture medium based on the metabolomic profile of tumour interstitial fluid: tumour interstitial fluid medium (TIFM). Culture of CD8+ T cells in TIFM limited cell expansion and impaired CD8+ T cell effector functions upon restimulation, suggesting that tumour nutrient stress alone is sufficient to drive T cell dysfunction. We identified phosphoethanolamine (pEtn), a phospholipid intermediate, as a driver of T cell dysfunction. pEtn dampened T cell receptor signalling by depleting T cells of diacylglycerol required for T cell receptor signal transduction. The reduction of pEtn accumulation in tumours improved intratumoural T cell function and tumour control, suggesting that pEtn accumulation plays a dominant role in immunosuppression in the tumour microenvironment.
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RNA sequencing data that support the findings of this study have been deposited in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) under accession code GSE235214. Metabolomics and lipidomics datasets have been deposited and are available via Metabolomics Workbench under study number ST003664 at https://dev.metabolomicsworkbench.org:22222/data/DRCCMetadata.php?Mode=Study&StudyID=ST003664&Access=IqaQ1644. Data in Extended Data Fig. 5a were reanalysed from ref. 31, and data in Extended Data Fig. 6j were reanalysed from ref. 46. Source data are provided with this paper. All other data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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We thank C. J. Workman for the assistance with synapse imaging, S. G. Wendell and S. J. Mullett for the help with lipidomics analysis and L. C. Hermida for the help with RNA sequencing analysis. A.M. was supported by the Brinson Foundation and the Cancer Research Foundation. We thank L. Becker for sharing interstitial fluid samples from B16F10 murine tumours. We also thank M. V. Heiden and M. Sullivan for sharing interstitial fluid samples from BrafCA; PTENfl/fl; Tyr-CreER and MMTV-Cre; Brca1fl/fl; Trp53+/− tumour-bearing mice. We thank funding sources for this work, including the Cancer Research Institute Lloyd J. Old STAR Award (CRI3447) awarded to G.M.D., Mark Foundation for Cancer Research's Emerging Leader Award (19-040-ELA) awarded to G.M.D., The Pittsburgh Foundation (MR2023-134140) awarded to G.M.D., NIAID R01AI171483 awarded to G.M.D., NIAID R01AI166598 awarded to G.M.D., NCI R01CA277473 awarded to G.M.D., T32AI089443 awarded to D.W., L70CA294410 awarded to D.W., Brinson Foundation Junior Investigator Award to A.M. and Cancer Research Foundation Young Investigator Award to A.M.
These authors contributed equally: Yupeng Wang, Drew Wilfahrt.
These authors jointly supervised this work: Alexander Muir, Greg M. Delgoffe.
Tsinghua Medical School, Beijing, China
Yupeng Wang
Department of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Drew Wilfahrt, Konstantinos Lontos, Benjamin Cameron, Bingxian Xie, Ronal M. Peralta, Emerson R. Schoedel, William G. Gunn, Dayana B. Rivadeneira & Greg M. Delgoffe
Tumor Microenvironment Center, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Drew Wilfahrt, Bingxian Xie, Ronal M. Peralta, Dayana B. Rivadeneira & Greg M. Delgoffe
Ben May Department for Cancer Research, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Patrick Jonker, Chufan Cai & Alexander Muir
Metabolomics Platform, Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Roya AminiTabrizi & Hardik Shah
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D.W. and Y.W. designed and performed the majority of experiments, analysed data and wrote the manuscript. They are listed alphabetically by last name on the manuscript, and they provided equal contribution. P.J. conducted and analysed lipidomics analysis. K.L. designed overexpression vectors. C.C. performed and analysed metabolomics. B.C. performed cell culture and flow cytometry experiments. B.X. generated overexpressing tumour cells and aided in tumour experiments. R.M.P. performed and analysed microscopy experiments. E.R.S. performed some of the cell culture studies. W.G.G. measured tumours blinded and generated tumour growth curves. R.A. and H.S. collected and processed data. D.B.R. assisted with tumour growth and tumour-lymphocyte analysis. A.M. and G.M.D. jointly oversaw and directed the research, analysed data, obtained research funding, and wrote and edited the manuscript.
Correspondence to
Alexander Muir or Greg M. Delgoffe.
G.M.D. declares competing financial interests and has submitted patents targeting exhausted T cells that are licensed or pending and is entitled to a share in net income generated from licensing of these patent rights for commercial development. G.M.D. consults for and/or is on the scientific advisory board of BlueSphere Bio, Novasenta, Xyphos and Kalivir Immunotherapeutics; has grants from Novasenta, Astellas, RemplirBio and Kalivir; and owns stock in Novasenta, BlueSphere Bio and RemplirBio. The other authors declare no competing interests.
Nature Cell Biology thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
Publisher's note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
A) %PD1hi cells from Fig. 1c. Data are ±SEM from four independent experiments (n = 8 mice/group (p-value 0.0018). B-E) Cells from Fig. 1d-f analyzed for B) Normalized IFNγ MFI±SEM C) Normalized TNF MFI ±SEM D) %Granzyme Bhi cells and E) %IL-2hi cells. Data quantified from four independent experiments (n = 8-9 mice/group, B) p = 0.1918, C) p = 0.3385 D) p < 0.0001 E) p = 0.5219). Statistics were calculated using a two-tailed paired t-test. B) p-value F) Timeline Schematic of experiments in G-J G) Normalized PD-1 MFI (mean fluorescence intensity) ±SEM from four independent experiments (n = 8-9 mice/group, p-value RPMI vs. T3 p = 0.0010, T1 vs. T3 p = 0.0061). H) Day 7 OT-I CD8+ T cells were analyzed for IFNγ+TNF+ co-expression after 6 hours αCD3/αCD28 restimulation. Data quantified show %IFNγ+TNF+ events among Live CD8+ T cells ±SEM from four independent experiments (n = 8 mice/group). I-J) Day 7 OT-I T cells were analyzed for expression of I) IL-2 or J) Granzyme B after 6 hours of αCD3/αCD28 restimulation. Data quantified show normalized MFI ±SEM from four independent experiments (n = 8-9 mice/group, J) p-value RPMI vs. T3 p < 0.0001, RPMI vs. T3, p = 0.0026). K) Day 7 OT-I CD8+ T cells were co-cultured with B16-OVA cells at a 1:1 effector:target ratio in an Agilent xCELLigence RTCA DP system to monitor target cell killing. XY plot on the left shows %Cytolysis ±SEM, and Area under the curve values are quantified from three independent experiments (n = 5-6 mice/group, p values RPMI vs. T1 p = 0.9897, RPMI vs. T3, p = 0.0179, T1 vs. T3, p = 0.0224). Statistical analysis for all indicated comparisons in F-K) was determined using a one-way ANOVA with Tukey's multiple comparisons test. L-O) Cells from Fig. 1h-j were restimulated with αCD3/αCD28 in RPMI or TIFM for 6 hours. After restimulation, cells were analyzed for L) Normalized IFNγ MFI of Live IFN+ CD8+ Cells, M) Normalized TNF MFI of Live TNF+CD8+ cells N) % of Granzyme Bhi cells and J) % of IL-2hi cells. (n = 8 mice/group from three independent experiments). For L-O), statistics were calculated using a two-tailed paired t-test (p-values L) p = 0.0268 M) p < 0.0001, N) p < 0.0001, O) p = 0.0006) Source numerical data are available in source data.
Source data
Fold change of the metabolite concentrations measured in the TIF relative to those in the plasma of mice bearing PDAC tumor, highlighted metabolites are marked by color to indicate metabolites that are depleted (red) and enriched (blue) in the tumor. Source numerical data are available in source data.
Source data
A) Data related to Fig. 2c. Data from Fig. 2c were analyzed for % of PD-1hi cells from three independent experiments (n = 5 mice/group, RPMI vs. TIFM p = 0.0499, RPMI vs. TIFM+Arg p = 0.190, TIFM vs. TIFM+Arg p = 0.0954) B-E) Data from Fig. 2d-f were analyzed for B) Normalized IFNγ MFI of Live IFN+ CD8+ Cells, C) Normalized TNF MFI of Live TNF+CD8+ cells D) % of IL-2hi cells and E) % of Granzyme Bhi cells. Data are compiled from three independent experiments (n = 5 mice/group, p-values B) RPMI vs. TIFM+Arg p = 0.0478, TIFM vs. TIFM+Arg, p = 0.0398, C) RPMI vs. TIFM+Arg, p = 0.0025, TIFM vs. TIFM+Arg, p = 0.0453, D) RPMI + TIFM+Arg p = 0.0151, E) RPMI vs. TIFM p < 0.0001, RPMI vs. TIFM+Arg p = 0.0002, TIFM vs. TIFM+Arg, p = 0.0002). F-I) Data from Fig. 3i-k were analyzed for F) Normalized IFNγ MFI of Live IFN+ CD8+ Cells, G) Normalized TNF MFI of Live TNF+CD8+ cells H) % of IL-2hi cells and I) % of Granzyme Bhi cells. Data from I-L are quantified from 3 independent experiments (n = 6 mice/group, p-values, F) RPMI vs. RPMI+pEtn p = 0.0627, RPMI vs. TIFM p = 0.0424, RPMI+pEtn vs. TIFM p = 0.0030, G) RPMI vs. RPMI+pEtn p = 0.0336, RPMI vs. TIFM p = 0.0856, RPMI+pEtn vs. TIFM p = 0.8107, H) RPMI vs. RPMI+pEtn p = 0.0137, RPMI vs. TIFM p = 0.9164, RPMI+pEtn vs. TIFM p = 0.2426 I) RPMI vs. RPMI+pEtn p = 0.0018, RPMI vs. TIFM p < 0.0001, RPMI+pEtn vs. TIFM p = 0.0055). Statistical analysis for all indicated comparisons in this figure was determined using a one-way ANOVA with Tukey's multiple comparisons test. Source numerical data are available in source data.
Source data
A-C) OT-I CD8 + T cells were activated and cultured as in Fig. 1a) in RPMI, TIFM, or TIFM formulated without pEtn and supplemented with RPMI levels of Arginine. (TIFM -pEtn +Arg) for 5 days. At the end of culture, cells were restimulated and analyzed for A) Granzyme B MFI B) IL-2 MFI and C) %IFNγ+TNF+ cells. Bar plots show quantified normalized MFI or %+ ±SEM on the left of each flow cytogram, data are from 3 independent experiments (n = 6 mice/group, p-values A) RPMI vs. TIFM p = 0.0014, TIFM vs. TIFM+Arg-pEtn p = 0.0458, RPMI vs. TIFM-pEtn+Arg p = 0.5720 B) RPMI vs. TIFM p = 0.0389, TIFM vs. TIFM+Arg-pEtn p = 0.0315 RPMI vs. TIFM-pEtn+Arg p = 0.9741 C) RPMI vs. TIFM p = 0.0019, TIFM vs. TIFM+Arg-pEtn p = 0.0210, RPMI vs. TIFM-pEtn+Arg p = 0.1116). Statistical analysis for all indicated comparisons in A-C) was determined using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey's multiple comparisons test. Source numerical data are available in source data.
Source data
A) Data analyzed from previous reports31. Previously generated data pEtn concentration (µM) of human patient plasma or renal cell tumor tumor interstitial fluid (TIF) (n = 27-46 samples/group, p < 0.0001). B) Choline and phosphocholine levels in the plasma and the tumor interstitial fluid of mice bearing PDAC tumors. (n = 7 samples/group). Statistical significance for indicated comparison quantified using a two-tailed unpaired t-test. Source numerical data are available in source data. Error bars in both graphs represent SEM.
Source data
A) PCA analysis of lipidomics performed in 4I-O and S6B B) Heatmap showing Log2FC over mean for each lipid measured in lipidomics described in Fig. 4i-o). C-E) Lipidomics analysis of activated OT-I T cells cultured in either RPMI or RPMI supplemented with pEtn. C) Ratio of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) to Phosphatidylcholine (PC) (p-value p = 0.0142). Boxes range from 25th to 75th percentiles, while the whiskers extend to the minimum and maximum value for each dataset. Fold change of D) PE species and E) PC species in pEtn treated OT-I T F-H) Cells treated with F) pEtn, G) Choline, or H) pCholine at TIFM-levels for 3 or 5 days and analyzed via lipidomics as described in Fig. 4i-o). Each volcano plot shows Log2 fold change of treated cells over RPMI-treated controls on the x axis, and Log10 p-value on the y axis. Red dots indicate DAG species, tan dots are PE species, blue dots are PC species, and purple dots are sphingomyelins. I) DAG levels in OT-I T cells that were cultured as described in 4I-O). Normalized DAG MFI is quantified on the left from six independent experiments (n = 18 mice/group, RPMI vs. pEtn p = 0.0037, RPMI vs. Chol p = 0.8314, RPMI vs. pChol p = 0.9923) and statistical analysis for all indicated comparisons in was determined using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey's multiple comparisons test. J) RNA expression of choline and choline-like transporters in PD1+Tim3+ tumor-infiltrating CD8 + T cells. Data retrieved from previous report46. ND = transcripts not detected. K-M) Representative flow plots for quantification shown in Fig. 4 Panels Q-S). N) Western blot for Pcyt2 and β-Actin on Day 7 WT and Pcyt2 KO CD8 T cells from Fig. 4p-s. (n = 4 mice/group from 3 independent experiments) Statistical significance for indicated comparison in ED6C) quantified using a two-tailed paired t-test (p = 0.0098). Proteins were probed across multiple independent blots that were loaded with the same original proteins. Source numerical data are available in source data.
Source data
A) Quantification of metabolites in TCA cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, glycolysis, glutaminolysis and pentose phosphate pathway of SIINFEKL-activated OT-I T cells in RPMI+pEtn versus RPMI culture B) Quantification of lipid metabolites of SIINFEKL-activated OT-I T cells in RPMI+pEtn versus RPMI culture as shown in Fig. 3a. C) Volcano plot of RNA-Sequencing of activated OT-I T cells cultured in RPMI or RPMI +pEtn. Highlighted genes represent exhaustion associated genes. D) Gene set enrichment assay of RNA-Seq data shown in C) of activated OT-I cells cultured in either RPMI or RPMI+pEtn. (E-G) OT-I T cells activated by SIINFEKL O/N were cultured in RPMI for 2 days and then in either RPMI or RPMI+pEtn for 5 days as described in Fig. 3a). Then the cells were restimulated by either α-CD3 and α-CD28 or PMA/Ionomycin for 6 hours in RPMI. After restimulation, cells were analyzed for E) IFNγ and TNF co-expression F) Granzyme B expression, and G) IL-2 expression by flow cytometry. Normalized MFI ±SEM is quantified for Granzyme B and IL-2, while %IFNγ+TNF+ cells ±SEM are quantified on the left of each plot from three independent experiments (n = 6 mice/group, p-values left to right E) p = 0.0002, p = 0.6170, F) p = 0.0046, p = 0.0267, G) p = 0.0007, p = 0.2566). two-tailed paired t-test. ns, non-significant. Source numerical data are available in source data.
Source data
A) OT-I CD8+ T cells were treated with RPMI + pEtn for 5 days as described in Fig. 3a then labeled with Cholera Toxin Subunit B-GFP. Sum fluorescent intensity of GFP is quantified on the left. (n = 70-80 cells/group) Statistical significance for indicated comparison was calculated using a two-tailed unpaired t-test (p < 0.0001). B) OT-I CD8+ T cells were treated with RPMI + pEtn for 5 days as described in Fig. 3a. On day 7, cell lysates were prepared, and western blot was performed with antibodies specific for Cdk6, Cyclin D3, phosphorylated and total Chk1 (pChk, and tChk, respectively). Representative blots are shown on the left. Quantification on the right is from 3 independent experiments (n = 6 mice/group, p values left to right, CDK6 p = 0.4213, Cyclin D3 p = 0.5531, p-Chk1 p = 0.5491) Proteins were probed across multiple, independent blots that were loaded with the same original proteins. C-E) OT-I T cells were treated as in A), then on Day 7, cells were treated with protein transport inhibitor cocktail for 6 hours without restimulation, and then C) Granzyme B MFI, p = 0.4806, D) IL-2 MFI, p = 0.9536, and E) %IFNγ+TNF+, p = 0.6104, was measured by flow cytometry. All data in C-E) are from 3 independent experiments (n = 6 mice/group). Statistical significance for indicated comparisons was calculated using a two-tailed paired t-test. Source numerical data and unprocessed blots are available in source data.
Source data
A) DAG expression of the tumor infiltrating transferred Pmel T cells from the tumors in Fig. 6a. Bar graph on the left shows normalized DAG MFI ±SEM from three independent experiments (n = 7 mice/group, p = 0.0729) B) Western blot confirmation for Pcty2 and Actin in B16 EV and B16-Pcyt2 melanoma cell lines. (Data show n = 3 lysates from 1 independent experiment) Proteins were probed across multiple independent blots that were loaded with the same original proteins. C) PD1 and Tim3 co-expression of endogenous CD8+ T cells from tumors in Fig. 6i, Data quantified on the left show % PD1hiTim3hi from three independent experiments (n = 14-15 mice/group, p = 0.8162). Statistical significance for all indicated comparisons in this figure was calculated using a two-tailed unpaired t-test. D) Data from Fig. 6k were analyzed for Normalized TNF MFI of Live CD8+ TNF+ cells. Data are quantified from three independent experiments (n = 9-10 mice/group, p = 0.1188) E-F) pmel T cells from tumor-draining lymph nodes were restimulated with gp100 peptide for 1 hour and analyzed by flow cytometry for E) % p-S6+ (n = 8-10 mice/group from 3 independent experiments p = 0.8470) and F) % p-ERK+ (n = 8-10 mice/group from 3 independent experiments p = 0.7162) Statistical significance for all indicated comparisons in this figure was calculated using a two-tailed unpaired t-test. Source numerical data and unprocessed blots are available in source data.
Source data
Gating strategy for CD8+ T cells isolated from cell culture: cells were collected on day 7 of In vitro RPMI culture. The flow cytograms show the representative gating strategy of CD8+ T cells used throughout all in vitro experiments.
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Dementia is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Here we tested the effectiveness of blood pressure (BP) reduction on the risk of all-cause dementia among 33,995 individuals aged ≥40 years with uncontrolled hypertension in rural China. We randomly assigned 163 villages to a non-physician community healthcare provider-led intervention and 163 villages to usual care. In the intervention group, trained non-physician community healthcare providers initiated and titrated antihypertensive medications according to a simple stepped-care protocol to achieve a systolic BP goal of <130 mm Hg and a diastolic BP goal of <80 mm Hg, with supervision from primary care physicians. Over 48 months, the net reduction in systolic BP was 22.0 mm Hg (95% confidence interval (CI) 20.6 to 23.4; P < 0.0001) and that in diastolic BP was 9.3 mm Hg (95% CI 8.7 to 10.0; P < 0.0001) in the intervention group compared to usual care. The primary outcome of all-cause dementia was significantly lower in the intervention group than in the usual care group (risk ratio: 0.85; 95% CI 0.76 to 0.95; P = 0.0035). Additionally, serious adverse events occurred less frequently in the intervention group (risk ratio: 0.94; 95% CI 0.91 to 0.98; P = 0.0006). This cluster-randomized trial indicates that intensive BP reduction is effective in lowering the risk of all-cause dementia in patients with hypertension. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03527719.
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Since patients have not explicitly consented to data sharing, we are not allowed to post individual participant data in a public data repository for legal reasons. However, researchers with a valuable research question can request study data from the corresponding authors. If the proposal is approved by the CRHCP Study Steering Committee, deidentified individual data may be shared after consultation with the data protection officers and legal representatives of the participating institutions and after signing a data-sharing agreement. All data sharing will abide by the rules and policies defined by the sponsor, relevant ethics committees, and government laws and regulations. A response to requests for data access can be expected within 4 weeks. Source data are provided with this paper.
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This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (grant no. 2017YFC1307600, Y.S.), Chinese Society of Cardiology Foundation (grant no. CSCF2022B02, Y.S.), and the Science and Technology Program of Liaoning Province, China (grant no. 2020JH1/10300002, Y.S.). The funder of the study had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation or writing of the report. The US investigators did not receive any financial support from this study. We are grateful to the NPCHPs, primary care physicians, hypertension specialists and research staff at all participating institutes for their support throughout the study. A full list of the committee members and study group members of the China Rural Hypertension Control Project is provided in Supplementary Information. We acknowledge C. Li from the Alzheimerʼs Disease Research Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and J. S.-Lemus from the Department of Psychology at Montclair State University for their advice and recommendations on cognitive and functional status screening tools and diagnostic guidelines for dementia and CIND. We thank C. Li and X. Zeng for providing training and certification on cognitive and functional status assessment to the key investigators. Furthermore, we express our gratitude to H. He and S. Geng from the Tulane University Translational Science Institute for their advice and assistance in statistical analyses.
These authors contributed equally: Jiang He, Chuansheng Zhao, Shanshan Zhong, Nanxiang Ouyang, Guozhe Sun, Lixia Qiao.
Department of Epidemiology, Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
Jiang He
Department of Internal Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
Jiang He
Department of Neurology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
Jiang He
Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
Jiang He
Department of Neurology, First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China
Chuansheng Zhao, Shanshan Zhong, Huayan Liu, Weiyu Teng & Xu Liu
Department of Cardiology, First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China
Nanxiang Ouyang, Guozhe Sun, Lixia Qiao, Chang Wang, Songyue Liu & Yingxian Sun
Hanzhong People's Hospital, Hanzhong, China
Ruihai Yang
Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Chunxia Zhao
Tulane University Translational Science Institute, New Orleans, LA, USA
Chung-Shiuan Chen
Sticht Center for Healthy Aging and Alzheimer's Prevention, Department of Internal Medicine, Section on Geriatric Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
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J.H., Chuansheng Zhao, S.Z., N.O., G.S., J.D.W. and Y.S. conceived and designed the study. J.H., Chuansheng Zhao, S.Z., N.O., G.S., L.Q., R.Y., Chunxia Zhao, H.L., W.T., X.L., C.W., S.L. and Y.S. supervised the data collection. J.H., Chuansheng Zhao, S.Z., N.O., G.S., L.Q., C.-S.C., J.D.W. and Y.S. analyzed and interpreted the data. J.H. drafted the paper. All authors revised the paper for important intellectual content and approved the final submitted version. J.H., Chuansheng Zhao, S.Z., N.O., G.S., C.-S.C. and Y.S. accessed and verified the data. J.H. and Y.S. had full access to all the data in the study and had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication. All authors vouch for the completeness and accuracy of the data and for the fidelity of the trial to the protocol.
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Jiang He or Yingxian Sun.
The authors declare no competing interests.
Nature Medicine thanks Josef Coresh, Ruth Peters and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Primary Handling Editor: Jerome Staal, in collaboration with the Nature Medicine team.
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List of CRHCP committee members and study group members, eligibility criteria, definition of study outcomes, and Supplementary Tables 1–8 and Fig. 1.
Systolic and diastolic blood pressure in the intervention and usual care groups over the 48 months of follow-up.
Forest plot of the primary and main secondary outcomes according to subgroups.
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“Give me a qubit for long enough and a probe in which to measure it, and I shall extract the geometry of our world.”
Is there a chance that the secrets of our universe are contained in some of its smallest, newest components: the quantum bit, or qubit? In a recent paper exploring the spirit of this question, uploaded to the preprint server arXiv, quantum physicists James Fullwood and Vlatko Vedral suggest that spacetime itself may be a large-scale rendering of tiny quantum changes within time that could be found on these microscopic devices. After all, qubits are simple enough to be one logical bit in a quantum computer, but robust enough to embody quantum mechanics principles like superposition.
The theory sounds (and is!) far out, but it joins a growing discussion about the nature of spacetime. As quantum and classical physicists continue to search for the union between their separate sets of ideas, we know after nearly 100 years of work that spacetime is more of a shorthand for something we don't understand yet. Cosmologists continue to wind time backward as best they can, but there's much we will never be able to study or verify about where our universe came from—or what it really is or isn't.
“There is a growing consensus in theoretical physics that spacetime is not a primitive notion,” Fullwood and Vedral explain, meaning that the universe is not as intuitive, or apparent, as people have guessed by looking at the sky. Is there an “I think, therefore I am” Descartes moment for the universe?
In their research, the scientists found that a single qubit acting within its phase space (the mathematical set of all the physical states a system can take) over time draws out what is known as a three-dimensional Euclidean space—one which has comparable qualities to the universe overall. The shape created had those same qualities regardless of the qubit's starting position, meaning that the complex waveforms created by a single qubit's behaviors over time and within space did not matter.
Curiously, the scientists say that this setup of one qubit is the only one they can imagine where a specific quantum function called the two-time correlation function matches with a particular measurement of Euclidean geometry. In the world of quantum physics, descriptions of systems are often very abstract, with calculations that can rise into many dimensions. In this case, the qubit's behavior lines up with the way we describe spacetime using regular Euclidean geometry.
To illustrate the theory, Fullwood and Vedral used a ‘toy model' of a one-qubit universe. A toy model is an extremely simplified version, usually to show one or two key mechanics without other variables. The toy qubit universe “serves as a reservoir from which an observer may extract the information necessary for a geometric structure to emerge,” they concluded. “[T]he question remains as to how the metric of spacetime [emphasis theirs] may emerge in such a framework, and more generally, how gravity may enter the picture.”
This paper is intended as a letter, meaning that is a shorter piece meant to appear in a peer reviewed journal with a small page limit. If it's peer reviewed and published, the work could slot into future research and lead to further conclusions about gravity and other missing pieces. Often, the hope is to give colleagues a tool or thought exercise that will shake loose the next step toward a bigger breakthrough—like using a system of two equations to substitute and solve for two variables.
The researchers hint at this themselves with a concluding thought:
“Archimedes is said to have summarized his discovery via the poetic statement ‘Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.' [W]e summarize this Letter with the following statement: ‘Give me a qubit for long enough and a probe in which to measure it, and I shall extract the geometry of our world.'”
Caroline Delbert is a writer, avid reader, and contributing editor at Pop Mech. She's also an enthusiast of just about everything. Her favorite topics include nuclear energy, cosmology, math of everyday things, and the philosophy of it all.
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Elon Musk is sitting on a lot of inventory.
It's no surprise that we've reported on Tesla's current struggles quite frequently in recent weeks. Things continue to deteriorate, with the Cybertruck being one of the leading causes for concern. Many of you will know that Tesla is sitting on inventory, which isn't ideal—especially when we take into account that most of the inventory is made up of old vehicles.
For those not in the know, old inventory is particularly problematic in Tesla's case, as these older vehicles are not eligible for the federal tax credit awarded to many who purchase electric vehicles (EVs). Electrek reports that some of the old stock may even include foundation series trucks reserved for early adopters of the Cybertruck. Regardless, Tesla's recent promotions of improved financing options for the vehicle, along with five-figure discounts, point to sales struggles.
Despite the doom and gloom that seems to be happening behind the scenes at Tesla, it's only reduced its Cybertruck inventory by 100 units in the last month. However, it appears that the brand will be throttling production down further in the near future. Business Insider reports that the Texas Gigafactory is not operating at full capacity anymore, and has pivoted some Cybertruck workers to the Model Y production line.
For context, Elon himself said Giga Texas was capable of churning out 200,000 Cybertrucks annually, with the manpower to up that to 250,000 units if needed. To parse that out a little bit further, 200,000 units per year would mean roughly 16,667 units per month and over 4,000 units a week. So, you might be wondering: how many Cybertrucks has Tesla moved in the first quarter of this year? Forbes reports they've only sold 6,406. Thanks to Tesla's most recent recall notice, we also know that they've sold less than 50,000 trucks altogether.
This curbs any ideas that Tesla's more affordable rear-wheel-drive (RWD) Cybertruck could save the day. We use “affordable” lightly, as it's slated to start at $72,000—that's $10,000 cheaper than the AWD spec—and features considerably fewer amenities. If you ask us, it seems as if most everyone who wanted Tesla's steel-clad truck has bought one. And it's not looking like current events are bolstering the brand's sales numbers, either.
Many outlets throw around the fact that Tesla took 1 million reservations for the Cybertruck. While that's a nice round figure, it's not rocket science that it doesn't necessarily equate to 1 million orders. A recent Wired article mentioned that, typically, about 2 to 16 percent of reservations transfer into actual vehicle sales. If we assume Cybertruck was at the top of the range, retaining 16 percent of people who made reservations, that would equate to 160,000 sales. Tesla is currently hovering around 50,000 vehicles, which is closer to the 5 percent mark.
The Cybertruck reminds us a lot of the case of Segway. When Dean Kamen unveiled his “Segway Human Transporter” in the early 2000s, the bubbly startup was telling everyone that Segways would transform the way we navigate cities. He was so confident in the device that he claimed it would replace cars for inner-city travel. The initial goal was to move 40,000 units per year, targeting between 50,000 and 1,000 units sold in the first 13 months. Sound familiar? Now, they're merely a fringe mobility solution that you'll occasionally see doing tours of your city.
We should clarify that the Cybertruck's waning popularity isn't as dire a scenario as it sounds for Tesla and Giga Texas. Yes, there's no getting around the fact that they've spent billions building the Gigafactory down south, but production won't just stop altogether. They'll likely continue to pivot production towards more profitable vehicles like the Model Y.
Matt Crisara is a native Austinite who has an unbridled passion for cars and motorsports, both foreign and domestic. He was previously a contributing writer for Motor1 following internships at Circuit Of The Americas F1 Track and Speed City, an Austin radio broadcaster focused on the world of motor racing. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona School of Journalism, where he raced mountain bikes with the University Club Team. When he isn't working, he enjoys sim-racing, FPV drones, and the great outdoors.
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April 20, 2025
Public Health Focuses on Childhood, Magnetic Poles Once Wandered, and Colossal Squid Discovered
This week's news roundup covers measles and whooping cough cases, evidence of a carbon cycle on Mars and the first glimpse at a colossal squid in its natural habitat.
By Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi & Alex Sugiura
Anaissa Ruiz Tejada/Scientific American
Rachel Feltman: Happy Monday, listeners! For Scientific American's Science Quickly, I'm Rachel Feltman. Let's kick off the week with a quick roundup of the latest science news.
First, some public health updates. Measles is continuing to spread in the U.S., with 712 cases confirmed so far in 2025 as of April 11, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For reference, there were just 285 confirmed cases in all of 2024. The CDC has confirmed two deaths from measles this year and is investigating a third.
Last week the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met after its planned meeting in February was postponed. During the meeting last Tuesday a scientist leading the CDC's measles response said the number of measles cases is likely underreported.
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But measles isn't the only illness that's increasingly putting kids at risk. Cases of whooping cough, or pertussis, are up more than 1,500 percent nationwide compared with 2021, according to recent reporting by ProPublica. Deaths from whooping cough are also on the rise.
Caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis, whooping cough spreads easily between humans. Even people with mild symptoms can pass the microbe along, and the resulting illness can be much worse in vulnerable individuals like babies. While some infants will have cold symptoms, others may develop pneumonia and difficulty breathing.
The best way to prevent the spread of pertussis—and to avoid serious symptoms—is with the DTaP or Tdap vaccine, both of which offer combined protection against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. The CDC recommends that all children get doses of the DTaP vaccine at two months, four months, six months, sometime between 15 and 18 months, and again sometime from age four to six. Kids should then get a Tdap booster from age 11 to 12. The CDC also recommends that people get a Tdap booster while pregnant—ideally between 27 and 36 weeks—to help confer immunity to their newborns. If you're an adult who's never been immunized against pertussis, you can get a Tdap shot at any age. You can also opt to get a Tdap jab when it's time for a tetanus booster in case your immunity against whooping cough has waned.
According to ProPublica, vaccination rates among kindergarten students have fallen for measles, mumps and rubella; pertussis; diphtheria; tetanus; hepatitis B; and polio.
In other public health news a new CDC study published last Tuesday shows a rise in the autism rate in children. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is helmed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., put out a statement about the report that claimed it showed “a persistent rise in [autism spectrum disorder] prevalence [and] an alarming escalation in case severity,” but this contradicts the conclusion of the study's own authors. The report suggests that rates of autism spectrum disorder are likely rising because early detection is improving, especially in groups that previously had less access to diagnostics. Kristin Sohl, who chairs the Autism Subcommittee of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Council on Children with Disabilities, told CNN that the results of the report were “encouraging.”
Looking back to simpler times, a study published last Wednesday in the journal Science Advances explored how ancient humans survived something called the Laschamp event. This incident about 41,000 years ago was a geomagnetic “excursion,” which is where the Earth's magnetic poles move around. While the North and South poles didn't completely flip, they did kind of wander. The planet's magnetic field was much weaker than usual during this period. According to the authors of the new study, it was running at something like 10 percent of its current strength. Given that Earth's magnetic field helps protect us from cosmic radiation, it's likely that people were exposed to more UV light as a result.
During this time Homo sapiens seem to have started using the naturally occurring pigment ochre more often, according to the study. Ochre has been shown to provide sun protection. The researchers also saw an uptick in humans' use of caves in times and places that solar radiation would have posed more of a threat.
Speaking of cosmic happenings: another study from last week's Science Advances describes a planet with an unprecedented orbit.
The story starts with a pair of rare “failed stars” about 120 light-years away. They're both brown dwarfs, which sit somewhere between gas giants and small stars on the planet-to-star spectrum. Brown dwarfs interest scientists because they seem to form the way stars do, but they don't actually manage the hydrogen fusion that gives stars their light. Back in 2020 this couple made the news because scientists caught one of them eclipsing the other. Eclipsing brown dwarf pairs are really rare, and the passage of one star in front of the other helps scientists make certain observations to calculate their masses.
Now this binary system is proving to be even more rare than we thought: it features a planet that orbits perpendicularly around them, instead of orbiting roughly along the same plane on which the brown dwarfs themselves orbit. That's never been seen in a binary star system before.
Still in space, but much closer to home, scientists have found new evidence that Mars once had a carbon cycle. In a study published last Thursday in Science, researchers report that the Curiosity rover dug up a mineral called siderite when drilling the Gale crater. This mineral is made of iron and carbonate, and it indicates that carbon once moved through the Red Planet's environment similarly to how it does on Earth. That supports the idea that Mars once had a thicker atmosphere that could support liquid water.
And speaking of making a splash, we'll end on a fun note with a very, very tiny colossal squid. The species, which was first discovered a century ago, has never been caught on camera in its natural habitat. Now, using a remote-controlled vessel at 1,968 feet [600 meters] below the surface, scientists have finally spotted a colossal squid in the comfort of its deep-sea home. This one is young, so it's only about a foot [30 centimeters] long. But it could grow to be as long as 23 feet [seven meters] in adulthood and might weigh as much as 1,100 pounds [500 pounds]. You can check out the footage for yourself on our YouTube channel. You'll find a link in our show notes.
That's all for this week's science news roundup. We'll be back on Wednesday.
Science Quickly is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, along with Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for more up-to-date and in-depth science news.
For Scientific American, this is Rachel Feltman. Have a great week!
Rachel Feltman is former executive editor of Popular Science and forever host of the podcast The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week. She previously founded the blog Speaking of Science for the Washington Post.
Fonda Mwangi is a multimedia editor at Scientific American. She previously worked as an audio producer at Axios, The Recount and WTOP News. She holds a master's degree in journalism and public affairs from American University in Washington, D.C.
Alex Sugiura is a Peabody and Pulitzer Prize–winning composer, editor and podcast producer based in Brooklyn, N.Y. He has worked on projects for Bloomberg, Axios, Crooked Media and Spotify, among others.
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Single-cell CRISPR screens such as Perturb-seq enable transcriptomic profiling of genetic perturbations at scale. However, the data produced by these screens are noisy, and many effects may go undetected. Here we introduce transcriptome-wide analysis of differential expression (TRADE)—a statistical model for the distribution of true differential expression effects that accounts for estimation error appropriately. TRADE estimates the ‘transcriptome-wide impact', which quantifies the total effect of a perturbation across the transcriptome. Analyzing several large Perturb-seq datasets, we show that many transcriptional effects remain undetected in standard analyses but emerge in aggregate using TRADE. A typical gene perturbation affects an estimated 45 genes, whereas a typical essential gene affects over 500. We find moderate consistency of perturbation effects across cell types, identify perturbations where transcriptional responses vary qualitatively across dosage levels and clarify the relationship between genetic and transcriptomic correlations across neuropsychiatric disorders.
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Raw sequencing data are deposited on SRA under BioProject PRJNA1100571. Aligned sequencing data and processed single-cell populations are available on GEO at GSE264667. Perturb-seq data from Replogle et al.6 can be accessed at https://gwps.wi.mit.edu/ (raw data available at SRA under BioProject PRJNA831566). dTAG data from Naqvi et al.26 are available at Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) under accession number GSE205904. dTAG data from Weber et al.27 are available at GEO under accession number GSE145016. Summary statistics from the PsychENCODE consortium are available at https://github.com/mgandal/Shared-molecular-neuropathology-across-major-psychiatric-disorders-parallels-polygenic-overlap; Raw data are all available at Synapse under accession number syn4921369. RNA-seq data from the OneK1K dataset are available at GEO under accession number GSE196830.
The TRADE method, with accompanying documentation, is publicly available as an R package at https://github.com/ajaynadig/TRADEtools. The publication version of this package is available as a persistent repository via Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14993815 (ref. 58).
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We thank K. A. Lagattuta, D. J. Weiner, B. Harris, T. Aicher, D. L. Barabasi, K. Maher, T. Kamath, M. T. Tegtmeyer and members of the O'Connor and Robinson laboratories for helpful comments and discussions. A.N. is supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant no. F31HG013036. J.M.R. is supported by NIH grant nos. F31NS115380, T32GM007618. This work was supported by a grant from SFARI (704413, E.B.R.). This work was supported by the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute. L.J.O. acknowledges funding from the NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences, 1R35GM155278, and SFARI, GR0243225. J.S.W. acknowledges funding from the NIH Center of Excellences in Genome Sciences, 2RM1HG009490, the Whitehead Innovation Initiative and The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center at the Broad Institute. The project described was supported by award no. T32GM007753 and T32GM144273 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences or the NIH. J.S.W. and S.A.M. are HHMI investigators.
Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Ajay Nadig & Luke J. O'Connor
Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Ajay Nadig & Elise B. Robinson
Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
Ajay Nadig, Mukundh Murthy, Steven A. McCarroll & Elise B. Robinson
Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Ajay Nadig & Elise B. Robinson
Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Joseph M. Replogle
Medical Scientist Training Program, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
Joseph M. Replogle
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
Joseph M. Replogle, Angela N. Pogson & Jonathan S. Weissman
Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Steven A. McCarroll
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA
Steven A. McCarroll & Jonathan S. Weissman
David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
Jonathan S. Weissman
Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
Jonathan S. Weissman
Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
Luke J. O'Connor
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A.N., E.B.R. and L.J.O. conceived the study. J.M.R. and A.N.P. collected new data. J.S.W. supervised new data collection. A.N., M.M. and L.J.O. conducted analyses. A.N., J.M.R., M.M. and L.J.O. wrote the manuscript. S.A.M. provided additional project supervision.
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Ajay Nadig, Joseph M. Replogle or Luke J. O'Connor.
J.S.W. declares outside interest in 5 AM Venture, Amgen, Chroma Medicine, KSQ Therapeutics, Maze Therapeutics, Tenaya Therapeutics, Tessera Therapeutics, Ziada Therapeutics and Third Rock Ventures. J.M.R. consults for Third Rock Ventures and Maze Therapeutics, and is a consultant for and equity holder in Waypoint Bio. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.
Nature Genetics thanks Stefan Peidli, Ying Ma and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Peer reviewer reports are available.
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Nadig, A., Replogle, J.M., Pogson, A.N. et al. Transcriptome-wide analysis of differential expression in perturbation atlases.
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Cytosine base editors (CBEs) show promise for multiplex gene knockout applications, but impure edits, indels and off-targets still frequently occur. We describe here QBEmax, which exhibits high efficiency, low indel and off-targets and high product purity with up to 99.8% of edits comprised of C-to-T. Through molecular dynamic modeling, QBEmax presents as a compact and stable base editor that shields protected bases from undesired repair processes.
The two most common classes of base editors are modular fusion proteins comprised of a deaminase and DNA-binding protein to perform targeted and precise C·G-to-T·A (cytosine base editors (CBEs)) or A·T-to-G·C (adenine base editors (ABEs)) base conversions with high efficiency1,2. In addition to the use of base editors to correct disease-causing genetic mutations, base editors have shown promise as an alternative to nucleases for multiplex gene knockout applications. CBEs can precisely edit arginine, glutamine or tryptophan codons to generate premature stop codons; because this process does not undergo the formation of DNA double-strand breaks, base editing for multiplex gene knockouts minimizes the risk of genomic translocations, cell toxicity and DNA chromothripsis3,4. However, unintended indels and impure base editing byproducts (for example, C-to-G and C-to-A) are still frequently observed when using CBEs. The formation of impure edits could be detrimental and act as a missense mutation in a gene otherwise targeted for knockout. In this regard, an ideal CBE for gene knockout should exhibit properties such as high efficiency, low indel formation, low off-target edits, an expanded editing window to reach more potential bases and, importantly, high product purity for safety purposes.
Because canonical base editors are comprised of different proteins fused together end-to-end, each protein's orientation may not be best to balance catalytic processes including nontarget strand association/dissociation by the deaminase, target base deamination, base protection/exposure and, ultimately, endogenous cellular DNA repair enzymes. Previous engineering studies have demonstrated that either the use of an inlaid deaminase domain or a circularly permuted Cas protein could affect the on-target or off-target editing efficiencies, product purity or editing windows of base editors5,6,7,8,9. However, the combination of these parameters has not been optimized using any one approach. To obtain a more ideal base editor, we hypothesized that we could treat the deaminase and Cas9 protein together as one complex comprised of different domains. Therefore, by shuffling the orientation of domains from both the deaminase and Cas9 together, which combines concepts of circularly permuted proteins and inlaid deaminases, we hoped to identify a CBE that maximizes the beneficial properties of using CBEs for gene knockout.
We first designed four base editor orientations in which a deaminase was internally embedded within a circularly permuted Cas9(D10A) protein10 (Fig. 1a) based on Cas9 positions previously found to be amenable for circular permutation or for inlaying a small peptide10,11. These architectures are hereby designated as Q base editors (QBE1 to QBE4) to reflect the reconstitution process of circularizing domains from the Cas9 protein and inserting a deaminase internally to generate a new start codon (circle with an internal cut resembling the letter ‘Q'). To characterize the properties of different QBE architectures, six different cytidine deaminases (rAPOBEC1 (ref. 1), hA3A, mini-Sdd3, mini-Sdd6, Sdd7 and mini-Sdd9 (ref. 12)) were evaluated.
a, Schematic representations of the BE4max, QBE1, QBE2, QBE3 (QBEmax), QBE4 editors. Numbers under and above nCas9(D10A) represent amino acid positions in reference to wild-type SpCas9. b, Frequencies of C-to-T or C-to-R conversions (left y axis) and indels (right y axis) induced by mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax; values and error bars represent the means and s.e.m. for three independent biological replicates. c, Gray scale heat map showing average cytosine base editing frequencies by mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax at each protospacer position across 17 endogenous sites tested. Numbers below the heat map indicate protospacer positions. d, AlphaFold3-predicted structures of mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax bind to a sgRNA and DNA target (site 1). Blue, Cas9 domains; orange, sgRNA; purple, dsDNA target; pink, mini-Sdd9. e–g, Average editing frequencies of C-to-T conversions (e), indels (f) and ratio of base edit-to-indel (g) induced by the mini-Sdd9-BE4max or mini-Sdd9-QBEmax editors across 17 endogenous sites; each dot represents the mean for three independent biological replicates for a specified target site, the violin plot shows the base editing frequency distribution with medians and quartiles, and significances are indicated between the mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax by exact P value using two-tailed Student's t-test, n = 17. h, Percent of edited reads with C-to-T conversions among edited events at each C1 to C16 base position, cumulated across 17 endogenous sites; values and error bars represent the means and s.e.m. for three independent biological replicates. CMV pro, enhanced cytomegalovirus promoter; DEA, deaminase; NLS, nuclear localization signals; bGH, bovine growth hormone polyadenylation signal.
Plasmids encoding corresponding CBEs were transfected in HEK293T cells and compared with the canonical BE4max architecture13 at two endogenous genomic sites. Deep sequencing revealed that QBE3-based editors showed comparable or higher editing frequencies for four of the six deaminases evaluated; in contrast, QBE1-based, QBE2-based and QBE4-based editors exhibited lower editing frequencies (Supplementary Fig. 1a,b). Compared to the BE4max counterparts, the QBE3-based editors showed substantially lower indels, with an average indel reduction of 60.4% for site 1 and 62.6% for site 3 (Supplementary Fig. 1c,d). We next measured the edit-to-indel ratios and found that six of the seven editors at site 1, and five of the seven editors at site 3 showed substantially higher edit/indel ratios (Supplementary Fig. 1e,f). We then analyzed the editing window and product purities of QBE editors. We observed higher editing efficiencies at PAM-proximal Cs for QBE3 editors and greatly improved product purities compared to BE4max editors (Supplementary Fig. 2a,b). Based on these, we hereby refer to QBE3 as QBEmax (Fig. 1a).
From initial evaluations, we found that mini-Sdd9-based QBE editors exhibited superior editing properties in terms of editing activity, indel formation and product purity. Using mini-Sdd9, we designed seven additional QBEs (QBE5–QBE11; Supplementary Fig. 3a). We found that only one editor, QBE6 demonstrated similar performance to QBEmax in terms of editing efficiency and purity; however, its editing window appeared narrow, so we hereby designate it as QBEn (Supplementary Fig. 3b,c). Because of mini-Sdd9-QBEmax's overall superior performance and relatively wide editing window, which is desired for expanding the targeting scope of gene knockout applications with base editors, we selected it for further study.
It was reported that fusing the deaminase to the N terminus of a circularly permuted Cas9 (referred to as CP-BE)5 could broaden the editing window, and inlaying the deaminase within the Cas9 protein (referred to as inlaid-BE)6,7,8,9 could affect the editing efficiency or off-target efficiency. We next compared mini-Sdd9-QBEmax with CP-BEs and inlaid-BEs with Cas9 permutation or deaminases inlaid at positions used in the QBE1–QBE11 editors. We found that all CP-BEs and inlaid-BEs induced more impure products than QBEmax. Notably, QBEmax (which uses positions 1,031 and 1,244 for modular assembly) outperforms individual CP-1031 and inlaid-1244 CBEs when comparing the combination of editing frequencies, indel formation and product purities (Extended Data Fig. 1), suggesting that the modularly designed QBEmax architecture enhances desired properties from each functional domain.
To further profile editing properties of mini-Sdd9-QBEmax, we compared mini-Sdd9-QBEmax with mini-Sdd9-BE4max across 17 endogenous genomic sites in HEK293T cells. We found that, in contrast to mini-Sdd9-BE4max, which biases editing at the PAM-distal region, mini-Sdd9-QBEmax showed a wider editing window as far as C16 (Fig. 1b and Supplementary Fig. 4). Aggregate analyses revealed a ‘forward-shifted' and wider editing window for mini-Sdd9-QBEmax with target Cs between 4 and 14 being favored (Fig. 1c). We used AlphaFold3 (ref. 14) to predict a mini-Sdd9-QBEmax–sgRNA–target DNA ternary structure and compared it with that of the corresponding BE4max architecture (Fig. 1d). We found that these structures revealed the deaminase in mini-Sdd9-QBEmax being more closely associated to PAM-proximal Cs, while in BE4max, more closely associated to PAM-distal Cs, which is consistent with experimental results from genomic edits.
The average editing frequencies across 17 genomic sites for mini-Sdd9-QBEmax and mini-Sdd9-BE4max were 52.4 ± 2.4% and 54.5 ± 2.2%, respectively (Fig. 1e). Mini-Sdd9-QBEmax induced lower indels at 16 of 17 sites tested, with average indel frequencies decreasing by 56.5% from 2.8 ± 0.3% to 1.2 ± 0.2% (Fig. 1f and Supplementary Fig. 4), which also substantially increases average edit-to-indel ratios (Fig. 1g). We next evaluated cytosine base editing product purities, which is calculated as the proportion of ‘C' edited to ‘T' as opposed to ‘G' or ‘A', for each position within the protospacer and aggregated all sites together. Importantly, mini-Sdd9-QBEmax exhibited superior product purities (99.4% ± 0.4%) at all positions within a C1–C16 editing window compared to that of mini-Sdd9-BE4max (95.5% ± 2.8%; Fig. 1b,h and Supplementary Fig. 4). To test the versatility of the QBEmax, we evaluated mini-Sdd9-QBEmax in additional mammalian cell lines, including A549, HeLa and HCT116. QBEmax exhibited higher or comparable editing efficiencies, improved product purities and decreased indels in all cell lines tested (Extended Data Fig. 2). These results highlight QBEmax in achieving efficient and precise base edits at a flexible editing window with minimal indel and byproducts.
Chimeric antigen receptor-T cell (CAR-T) therapy has demonstrated success as a cancer immunotherapy for hematological malignancies. Many clinical trials and research studies have found that multiplex knockout of genes related to immune rejection and graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) would further benefit CAR-T therapy in terms of both durability and potency. Encouraged by the performance of mini-Sdd9-QBEmax, we next sought to perform multiplex gene knockout to simultaneously edit genes that could compromise the efficacy of CAR-Ts. Five genes, PD-1 (ref. 15), CISH16, Fas17, TGFBR2 (truncating off the endodomain)18,19,20 and TRAC21, were selected, which all previously demonstrated potential in improving CAR-T performance when knocked out or downregulated.
We first identified all possible SpCas9 protospacers with an NGG PAM and target C located within codons encoding tryptophan (W), arginine (R) or glutamine (Q), so that a cytosine base edit would generate a stop codon (TAA, TAG or TGA). We obtained 46, 21, 16, 30 and 4 protospacers for PD-1, CISH, Fas, TGFBR2 and TRAC, respectively (Supplementary Table 1). We next filtered for potential off-target sites (mismatches ≤ 3) and ultimately selected 16 targets for PD-1, 9 for CISH, 10 for Fas, 10 for TGFBR2 and 3 for TRAC. Lastly, we included one additional target for CISH, PD-1 and TRAC, which disrupts a splice site to perform gene knockout as reported previously21,22 (Fig. 2a).
a, Schematic representations showing PD-1, CISH, Fas, TGFBR2 and TRAC genes. Light blue boxes indicate exons of genes, and short red lines represent the position of selected protospacers. b–d, Average editing frequencies of desired editing efficiencies (b), indels (c) and ratio of base edits to indels (d) induced by mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax editors for PD-1 (n = 17), CISH (n = 10), Fas (n = 10), TGFBR2 (n = 10) and TRAC (n = 4) genes; each dot represents the mean for three independent biological replicates for a specified target site and the violin plot shows base editing frequency distribution with medians and quartiles. e, Percent of edited reads with C-to-T or C-to-R conversions at target genes indicated with values and error bars representing the means and s.e.m. for three independent biological replicates across all target sites for PD-1 (n = 17), CISH (n = 10), Fas (n = 10), TGFBR2 (n = 10) and TRAC (n = 4) genes; significances are indicated between BE4max and QBEmax by exact P value using two-tailed Student's t-test. f, Schematic representations of potential editing outcomes induced by C-to-T, C-to-G and C-to-A conversions of tryptophan (W), arginine (R) and glutamine (Q). g–i, Desired editing efficiencies (g), indels (h) and percent of edited reads with C-to-T or C-to-R conversions at target genes indicated (i) induced by mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax editors during multiplexed base editing of five genes; values and error bars represent the means and s.e.m., respectively, for four independent biological replicates. j, Single-cell colony analysis of multiplex base editing distributions in unsorted and sorted cell populations. k, Schematic representation of the experimental design for the R-loop assay. l, Frequencies of C-to-T conversions at the dSaCas9-induced R-loop sites; values and error bars represent the means and s.e.m. for four independent biological replicates. m, Number of C-to-U RNA variants induced by the editors indicated; values and error bars represent the means and s.e.m. for two (Cas9(D10A)) or four (BE4max and QBEmax) independent biological replicates, significances are indicated by exact P value using one-way ANOVA Tukey's multiple comparisons.
HEK293T cells were transfected with mini-Sdd9-BE4max or mini-Sdd9-QBEmax together with each sgRNA plasmid. We then analyzed desired editing efficiencies (calculated as percent C-to-T for stop codon creation), indel frequencies, desired edit-to-indel ratios and product purities. We found that mini-Sdd9-QBEmax achieved comparable or slightly higher average desired editing at the target base for all sites aggregated for each of the five genes (Fig. 2b). Average indel frequencies for all sites aggregated decreased by 76%, 75%, 59% and 71% for PD-1, CISH, Fas and TGFBR2, respectively (Fig. 2c). The average indel frequency at TRAC was 0.8 ± 0.15% for mini-Sdd9-BE4max and 1.0 ± 0.34% for mini-Sdd9-QBEmax due to one outlier at TRAC-site 3 whereby mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax exhibited 1.4 ± 0.18% and 2.9 ± 0.22%, respectively. Cumulatively, the desired edit-to-indel ratios induced by mini-Sdd9-QBEmax were 3.26, 3.99, 2.02, 9.91 or 1.99-fold higher than that of mini-Sdd9-BE4max (Fig. 2d). Importantly, average product purities at the target cytosine base for stop codon creation by mini-Sdd9-QBEmax and mini-Sdd9-BE4max were 99.7% versus 95.7% for PD-1, 99.7% versus 97.7% for CISH, 99.7% versus 96.5% for Fas, 99.8% versus 98.0% for TGFBR2 and 99.5% versus 95.8% for TRAC (Fig. 2e). This increase in product purity minimizes the formation of missense mutations from imprecise C-to-G or C-to-A edits (Fig. 2f). When analyzed individually, mini-Sdd9-QBEmax induced lower indels at 47 of the 51 target sites and higher product purities at 45 of the 51 target sites (Extended Data Figs. 3–7).
For each gene, we identified one ideal guide and next edited PD-1, CISH, Fas, TGFBR2 and TRAC simultaneously for multiplex gene knockout. We transformed plasmids for each of the five sgRNAs together with QBEmax or BE4max editors into HEK293T cells. We observed that mini-Sdd9-QBEmax exhibited comparable or higher editing compared to mini-Sdd9-BE4max across all five sites in HEK293T cells in the absence of any selection pressure (Fig. 2g). Notably, mini-Sdd9-QBEmax achieved lower indel formations (Fig. 2h) and exhibited superior product purity (Fig. 2i) at all five genes. To validate that all five base edits occurred in a single cell, we sequenced 48 and 112 QBEmax-transfected single-cell colonies arising from unsorted or sorted cell populations, respectively. We found that 21 (43.8%) and 100 (89.3%) cell colonies exhibited all five genes edited, respectively, demonstrating successful multiplex base editing by QBEmax in a single cell (Fig. 2j). To further evaluate the potential of QBEmax, we co-electroporated QBEmax and all five sgRNA plasmids into an immortal Jurkat T cell line. In these T cells, QBEmax also exhibited superior editing efficiencies, improved product purities and decreased indels, which is similar to its performance in HEK293T cells and further supports the versatility of QBEmax for safe and robust base editing in clinical applications (Extended Data Fig. 8).
Because DNA off-targets are a major concern for base editing therapeutic applications, we next evaluated Cas-independent DNA off-target effects of mini-Sdd9-QBEmax using the orthogonal R-loop assay23,24,25. We cotransfected a dead-SaCas9 (dSaCas9) and sgRNA to induce the formation of an orthogonal R-loop simultaneously with the multiplexed gene knockout strategy (Fig. 2k). We evaluated five orthogonal sites and deep sequencing at each orthogonal R-loop showed that mini-Sdd9-QBEmax induced lower Cas-independent off-target editing at all five R-loop sites compared to that of mini-Sdd9-BE4max (Fig. 2l). We next evaluated the RNA off-target effects of mini-Sdd9-QBEmax. We conducted whole transcriptome sequencing and analyzed the number of C-to-U variants in QBEmax, BE4max and nCas9 (D10A) treated samples together with a sgRNA plasmid targeting CISH. We found that QBEmax induced substantially lower RNA off-target edits on transcriptome-wide RNA transcripts compared to that of the BE4max without compromising DNA on-target editing (Fig. 2m and Supplementary Fig. 5). The robust desired editing efficiencies, minimized indels, high product purities and decreased DNA and RNA off-target effects portray QBEmax as an ideal base editor for multiplex gene knockout applications.
We next sought to probe the molecular basis by which mini-Sdd9-QBEmax embodies its desired properties. We performed molecular dynamic (MD) simulation analyses based on the AlphaFold3-predicted ternary structures of mini-Sdd9-QBEmax or BE4max with a sgRNA and target DNA (Fig. 1d). With these models, all-atom MD simulations of approximately 300 ns were performed (Supplementary Fig. 6a,b). We first investigated the conformational stability of these two systems by projecting their free energy landscapes onto corresponding root mean square deviation (RMSD) and radius of gyration (Rg) components. We found that both the RMSD and Rg of mini-Sdd9-QBEmax were lower than that of mini-Sdd9-BE4max, and only one single stable energy state was observed (Fig. 3a,b and Supplementary Fig. 6b). This suggests that the QBEmax architecture better treats the deaminase and Cas protein as one complex so that each domain is oriented compactly within itself. At the minimum energy state, while the deaminase was predicted to be associated with the nontarget strand in both systems (Supplementary Fig. 6c,d), the RMSD of mini-Sdd9-QBEmax system was lower throughout the 300 ns MD process (Supplementary Fig. 6b). When analyzing individual amino acids, we observed that the root mean square fluctuation (RMSF) of the linkers connecting the deaminase to the Cas protein were lower in the QBEmax system (Fig. 3c,d) compared to the BE4max architecture. We speculate a more compact QBEmax architecture that limits the deaminase from sporadically swinging in space, thereby contributing to lower Cas-independent DNA off-target editing, lower indel formation and higher product purity.
a,b, The free energy landscape against RMSD and Rg for mini-Sdd9-BE4max (a) and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax (b) during a 300 ns MS simulation. c,d, RMSF plot for mini-Sdd9-BE4max (c) and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax (d) in the MD simulation, systems equilibrated after 150 ns; schematic representations of editors are shown above the plots. e, SASA analysis of Cs within the editing window of site 1 in predicted mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax ternary structures; each replicate represents the SASA by a 1.0 nm probe during a 1 ns time scale; n = 150 ns following system equilibration, boxes and lines represent the interquartile range (IQR) and median, respectively, and whiskers represent 1.5× IQR. f, Snapshots showing exposed Cs in the editing window. Blue, Cas9 and UGI; yellow, linker; green, mini-Sdd9 deaminase.
During cytosine base editing, intermediate uracil cleavage by endogenous uracil DNA glycosylase (UNG) drives the formation of indels and imprecise C-to-G or C-to-A edits1,26. We envisioned that an ideal base editor adopts a compact and protective conformation for the exposed R-loop so that the intermediate uracil base is not excised before cellular mismatch repair resolving a permanent C-to-T conversion. To evaluate R-loop exposure, we performed solvent accessibility analyses using a 1.0 nm probe and found that the solvent-accessible surface area (SASA) was increased for C3 and substantially increased for C7 and C8 in the mini-Sdd9-BE4max compared to the mini-Sdd9-QBEmax architectures (Fig. 3e,f), suggesting that these residues are accessible by UNG and ultimately form indels and byproducts. We also speculated that the distance of the UGI to the ssDNA target bases may affect product purity. We evaluated the position and distance of the two UGI domains to the ssDNA target bases in the QBEmax, BE4max or individual CP-1031 and inlaid-1244 CBEs based on molecular dynamic modeling data. We observed that indeed both UGI domains in QBEmax exhibited a relatively shorter distance to the target bases in the ssDNA R-loop region, which suggests an inverse relationship between UGI positioning to product purities and indel formation, as others previously have also identified5 (Supplementary Fig. 6e).
Based on these results, we propose a model for QBEmax base editing. In cytosine base editing using a canonical BE4max architecture, indel formation and impure C-to-G or C-to-A base edits arise from uracil excision and abasic site formation. Because QBEmax exhibits a more compact architecture, limits deaminase swinging and shields the Cas9-induced R-loop, base editing intermediates are protected from cellular UNG excision before Cas9 detaching from the target DNA and subsequent mismatch repair. Therefore, a protective and compact base editor conformation reduces unintended effects driven by DNA repair processes and further promotes desired base editing events (Extended Data Fig. 9).
Taken together, we designed and identified a base editor architecture, QBEmax, which achieves high efficiency on-target editing while decreasing low indel formation, exhibits high edit product purities and minimizes DNA off-targets. The development of QBEmax serves as a promising base editor architecture for developing more efficient and precise base edits toward the use of base editing in multiplex therapeutic applications such as CAR-T immunotherapies. The efficient delivery of QBEmax in vivo will further expand on its use and analysis of desired base editing properties. Advances in protein prediction and MD further help shed light on the molecular basis of genome editors and would greatly aid in future developments of new editing technologies.
The construct fragments were PCR amplified using 2× Phanta Max Master Mix (Vazyme Biotech) and 2× KOD one Master Mix (TOYOBO Life Sciences) and cloned into the pCMV24 backbone, using Uniclone One Step Seamless Cloning Kit (Genesand). Plasmids for HEK293T cell line transfection were extracted and purified using EndoFree Plasmid Kits (Qiangen) or FastPure EndoFree Plasmid Mini Kit DC203 (Vazyme Biotech). The amino acid sequences of the representative vectors used are provided in the Supplementary Note. Primers used for amplicon sequencing were synthesized by the Beijing Genomics Institute and are listed in Supplementary Table 2.
HEK293T, A549, HeLa and HCT116 cells are cultured in DMEM (Gibco) supplemented with 10% (vol/vol) FBS (Gibco) and 1% (vol/vol) penicillin–streptomycin (Gibco); Jurkat, Clone E6-1 cells are cultured in Roswell Park Memorial Institute (RPMI, Gibco) 1640 medium supplemented with 10% (vol/vol) FBS (Gibco) in a humidified incubator at 37 °C with 5% CO2. All the cells were routinely tested for Mycoplasma contamination with a mycoplasma detection kit (TransGen Biotech). For HEK293T cells transfection, 6 × 104 cells per well were seeded into 48-well poly-d-lysine-coated plates (Corning) in the absence of antibiotic. After 16–24 h, plasmids were transfected into the cells; for single target base editing, cells were transfected with 1 μl jetPRIME transfection reagent (Polyplus), 375 ng editor plus 125 ng sgRNA plasmids per well, for simultaneous editing of the five CAR-T relevant genes and the R-loop assays, 200 ng of editor plasmid and 66 ng of sgRNA plasmid for each gene was transfected, together with 200 ng of dSaCas9 plasmid and 66 ng of an orthogonal R-loop inducing sgRNA plasmid, at a 60–80% cell confluency. Cells were washed with PBS and followed by DNA extraction 72 h after transfection. To isolate single-cell colonies, transfected cells with or without sorting were diluted and plated into 96-well plates at a density of 0.9 cells per well. The cell colonies were cultured for 2 to 3 weeks and then transferred into 48-well plates to grow for another 5 days before cell lysis, DNA extraction and sequencing of all five targeted genomic loci. Effective editing in a single-cell colony for any individual gene is benchmarked as having an editing efficiency surpassing 50% at the targeted base when analyzed by CRISPResso2 (ref. 27). For the sorted cell population, sgRNA plasmids and a mini-Sdd9-QBEmax-P2A-mScarlet plasmid were transfected and the top 5% of mScarlet-positive cells were collected and diluted into single-cell colonies. For A549, HeLa and HCT116 cells, 5 × 104, 2 × 105 or 4 × 105 cells were seeded into 12-well poly-d-lysine-coated plates (Corning), respectively, in the absence of antibiotic. After 16–24 h, 375 ng of mini-Sdd9-BE4max-P2A-mScarlet or mini-Sdd9-QBEmax-P2A-mScarlet plasmids were transfected into cells together with 125 ng sgRNA plasmid while using 2 μl of jetPRIME transfection reagent (Polyplus). After 48 h, cells were resuspended for fluorescence-activated cell sorting. For Jurkat cells, 1,000 ng of mini-Sdd9-BE4max-P2A-mScarlet or mini-Sdd9-QBEmax-P2A-mScarlet editor plasmids and 250 ng of sgRNA plasmid for each of the five genes were cotransfected into 4 × 105 cells using Entranster-E (Engreen Biosystem) and the 4D-Nucleofector (Lonza Biosciences) with program DS167. mScarlet-positive cells were collected for DNA extraction.
Cells were collected and resuspended in a culture medium supplemented with 2% FBS in a 0.5 ml volume. Cells were sorted on a FACSAria III (BD Biosciences) cytometer after gating for the singlet-cell population by the mScarlet signal. For RNA off-target analysis, both the fluorescence-positive and negative cells were collected for further paired analysis. A representative flow cytometry gating strategy can be found in Supplementary Fig. 7.
Genomic DNA extraction was performed by the addition of 100 μl freshly prepared lysis buffer (10 mM Tris–HCl (pH8.0), 0.05% SDS and 25 μg ml−1 proteinase K (Thermo Fisher Scientific) directly into the 48-well culture plate after cells were washed once with 1× Dulbecco's PBS (Thermo Fisher Scientific). The mixture was incubated at 37 °C for 60 min and then treated at 80 °C in the thermocycler for 20 min.
To profile the transcriptome-wide RNA off-target effects of the QBEmax and BE4max, 2 × 105 HEK293T cells were seeded into 12-well poly-d-lysine-coated plates (Corning) in the absence of antibiotics. After 24 h, 750 ng of mini-Sdd9-BE4max-P2A-mScarlet, mini-Sdd9-QBEmax-P2A-mScarlet or Cas9(D10A)-P2A-mScarlet plasmids were transfected into cells together with 250 ng sgRNA plasmid targeting the CISH-site 1 using 2 μl of jetPRIME transfection reagent (Polyplus). After 48 h, cells were collected for cell sorting. For each treatment, both the mScarlet-positive and negative cells were collected for paired analyses. RNA samples were sequenced using an MGI T7 (2 × 150 PE) platform at the JMDNA, at a depth of ~45 million reads per sample. Raw reads were cleaned by fastp28. The reads were mapped to the human reference genome (hg38) by Hisat2 (ref. 29) software (version 2.2.1). After removing duplication, variants were identified using strelka30 (version 2.9.10). Finally, C-to-U edits in the transcribed strand were considered for downstream analyses.
Two rounds of PCR were used to amplify a DNA fragment spanning the target site. In the first round PCR, the target region was amplified from genomic DNA with site-specific primers using the DNA template. In the second round, both forward and reverse barcodes were added to the ends of the PCR products for library construction. Equal amounts of PCR product were pooled and purified with a FastPure Gel DNA Extraction Mini Kit (Vazyme Biotech. Inc.) and quantified with a Qubit 4 (Thermo Fisher Scientific). The purified products were sequenced using the Illumina Miseq platform or the BGI G99 platform, and the sequences around the target regions were examined to analyze the editing outcomes. Sequences of the NGS primers and the corresponding amplicons are listed in Supplementary Table 2. Analysis of the base editing outcomes was performed as described previously31.
Initial protein structure models of mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax ternary complex were predicted using AlphaFold3 (ref. 14), with the optimal model_0 selected as the starting structure for MD simulations. MD simulations were conducted using GROMACS32 (version 2023.1, CUDA) with the Amber99BSC1 force field and the TIP3P water model33,34. In each simulation system, the complex was positioned at the center of a cubic box with a distance of 15 Å maintained between the surface and the edges of the box. Na⁺ and Cl− ions were added to the system to achieve charge neutrality with an ion concentration set at 0.15 M. During the simulation, the particle mesh Ewald method35 was employed to calculate electrostatic interactions and a cut-off distance of 14 Å was used for analysis of short-range electrostatic and van der Waals forces. The LINCS algorithm36 was applied to constrain bonds involving hydrogen atoms, and periodic boundary conditions were specified in all three dimensions. To optimize the system, energy minimization was performed using the steepest descent method, continuing until a maximum of 2,500 steps was reached or the maximum force <1,000 kJ mol−1 nm−1. Next, 100 ps of NVT equilibration and 100 ps of NPT equilibration were conducted. During the equilibration process, the V-rescale temperature and Parrinell–Rahman pressure coupling methods were employed, with the system's temperature and pressure set to 310 K and 1.0 bar, respectively. After system equilibration, a 300 ns MD simulation was performed.
RMSD and RMSF data were generated using the gmx rmsd and gmx rmsf commands in GROMACS. The SASA data were obtained through the gmx sasa command, with a probe diameter of 1.0 nm, and snapshots of the SASA state were collected every 1 ns within the stable region. All data were statistically analyzed and visualized using R packages ggplot2 (3.5.1) and tidyverse (2.0.0). The free energy landscape data were generated using the gmx sham command with the parameter -tsham set to 310 K. The data were plotted along the two projection components of RMSD and Rg. Visualization of this data was performed using the matplotlib (3.8.2) package in Python37.
GraphPad Prism 9 software was used to analyze the data. All numerical values are presented as means ± s.e.m. Significant differences between controls and treatments were tested using the Student's t-test or one-way ANOVA Tukey's multiple comparisons. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant, and P < 0.01 was considered statistically extremely significant.
Further information on research design is available in the Nature Portfolio Reporting Summary linked to this article.
The deep amplicon sequencing data have been deposited in the NCBI BioProject database under accession code PRJNA1147008 (ref. 38). Plasmids encoding QBEmax and QBEn are available at Addgene. All other data are available in the main paper or Supplementary Information.
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This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program (2023YFF1001600), Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission (Z241100009024035) and Beijing Rural Revitalization Agricultural Science and Technology (project NY2401010024). We thank Y. Li at Qi Biodesign for assistance in RNA-sequencing raw data analysis and B. Zhou at Xin Hua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine for assistance in cell colony isolation. We thank the Flow Cytometry Facility at the National Center for Protein Sciences Beijing, particularly C. Han and Y. Wang, for their assistance. The Jurkat, Clone E6-1 cells were kindly provided by Cell Bank, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Qi Biodesign, Beijing, China
Jiacheng Hu, Mengyue Guo, Qiang Gao, He Jia, Mingyang He, Zhiwei Wang, Lina Guo, Guanwen Liu, Quan Gao & Kevin Tianmeng Zhao
Center for Genome Editing, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Guanwen Liu
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K.T.Z. and J.H. conceptualized the study. M.G., J.H., M.H., G.L. and Quan Gao assembled the vectors and conducted experiments in HEK293T cells. M.H., L.G. and G.L. performed amplicon sequencing. J.H. and M.G. collected and analyzed amplicon sequencing data. Qiang Gao and H.J. performed the MD analysis. Qiang Gao and Z.W. wrote scripts and processed the raw amplicon sequencing data. J.H., M.G., M.H. and K.T.Z. prepared the figures. J.H. and K.T.Z. wrote the manuscript with input from all authors.
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Kevin Tianmeng Zhao.
The authors have submitted a patent application based on the results reported in this paper. K.T.Z. is the founder and holds equity at Qi Biodesign. J.H., M.G., Qiang Gao, H.J., M.H., Z.W., L.G., G.L. and Quan Gao are employees of Qi Biodesign.
Nature Biotechnology thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
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a, Three-dimensional plots of editing efficiencies (y axis), indels (z axis) and product purities (x axis) induced by BE4max, QBEmax, CP-BEs and inlaid-BEs at site 1 (left) and site 3 (right). A golden cube in the top right corner highlights ideal base editors that exhibit high editing efficiency, high product purity and low indel formation simultaneously (thresholds for efficiency, purity and indel are set to be >70%, >98% and <3%, respectively). Each point represents the mean for three independent biological replicates; the target sites are shown above the plots with targeted Cs in red and PAM in blue. b, Values used for plotting the graph in a.
a–c, Desired editing efficiencies (a), indels (b), and percent of edited reads (c) with C-to-T conversions induced by mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax editors at site 1 with C7 in red used to calculate the efficiency and product purity. Values and error bars represent the means and s.e.m. for three independent biological replicates.
a, Frequencies of C-to-T or C-to-R conversions (left y axis) and indels (right y axis) induced by mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax for ten sites targeting CISH knockout. b, Ratio of base edits to indels induced by mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax; significances are indicated between the mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax by exact P value using two-tailed Student's t test. c, Percent of edited reads with C-to-T or C-to-R conversions at the target sites indicated. Values and error bars represent the means and s.e.m. for three independent biological replicates.
a, Frequencies of C-to-T or C-to-R conversions (left y axis) and indels (right y axis) induced by mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax for ten sites targeting Fas knockout. b, Ratio of base edits to indels induced by mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax; significances are indicated between the mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax by exact P value using two-tailed Student's t test. c, Percent of edited reads with C-to-T or C-to-R conversions at the target sites indicated. Values and error bars represent the means and s.e.m. for three independent biological replicates.
a, Frequencies of C-to-T or C-to-R conversions (left y axis) and indels (right y axis) induced by mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax for 17 sites targeting PD-1 knockout. b, Ratio of base edits to indels induced by mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax; significances are indicated between the mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax by exact P value using two-tailed Student's t test. c, Percent of edited reads with C-to-T or C-to-R conversions at the target sites indicated. Values and error bars represent the means and s.e.m. for three independent biological replicates.
a, Frequencies of C-to-T or C-to-R conversions (left y axis) and indels (right y axis) induced by mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax for ten sites targeting TGFBR2 knockout. b, Ratio of base edits to indels induced by mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax; significances are indicated between the mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax by exact P value using two-tailed Student's t test. c, Percent of edited reads with C-to-T or C-to-R conversions at the target sites indicated. Values and error bars represent the means and s.e.m. for three independent biological replicates.
a, Frequencies of C-to-T or C-to-R conversions (plot on the left y axis) and indels (plot on the right y axis) induced by the mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax for four sites targeting TRAC knockout. b, Ratio of base edits to indels induced by the mini-Sdd9-BE4max and the mini-Sdd9-QBEmax; significances are indicated between the mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax by exact P value using two-tailed Student's t test. c, Percent of edited reads with C-to-T or C-to-R conversions at the target sites indicated. Values and error bars represent the means and s.e.m. for three independent biological replicates.
a–c, Desired editing efficiencies (a), indels (b) and percent of edited reads (c) with C-to-T conversions at target genes induced by mini-Sdd9-BE4max and mini-Sdd9-QBEmax editors during multiplexed base editing of five genes; values and error bars represent the means and s.e.m. for three independent biological replicates.
UNG, uracil DNA glycosylase; AP lyase, apurinic or apyrimidinic site lyase; NHEJ, nonhomologous end joining.
Supplementary Figs. 1–7, Supplementary Tables 1–3 and Supplementary Note (sequences of mini-Sdd9-BE4max, mini-Sdd9-QBEmax and mini-Sdd9-QBEn).
sgRNA list of the 5 CAR-T genes.
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
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The satellite, Aryabhata, provided a huge boost to India's space programme.Credit: NASA/Alamy
In the early hours of 19 April 1975, the mood at the Soviet military launch site of Kapustin Yar — a space test facility north of the Caspian Sea — was heavy with anticipation. Scientists and engineers moved with brisk deliberation, the pre-launch silence was punctuated only by the rustle of paper, the clicking of relays and the careful exchange of words in thick Russian and Indian accents.
The Indian engineers, most of whom were less than 35 years old, had arrived at this remote enclave in what is now southern Russia to hurl their nation's first satellite, named Aryabhata after an ancient Indian astronomer, into space, with the help of a Kosmos-3M launch vehicle. The relatively light satellite — a 358-kilogram payload packed with scientific instruments — had been flown halfway across the continent in a custom-built shockproof container padded with helical springs, designed to shield it from any forces it wouldn't be able to endure.
Space debris is falling from the skies. We need to tackle this growing danger
Space debris is falling from the skies. We need to tackle this growing danger
When Aryabhata arrived at the Kapustin Yar cosmodrome, its constituent parts — bottom shell, instrumentation deck and top shell — were reassembled and carefully inspected. Soviet scientists meticulously checked the satellite's shock resistance, thermal cycles and vibration. To their surprise, it passed the tests with flying colours.
At the time, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was still a young agency with limited experience. For many of the 200-odd scientists and engineers at what was then the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bengaluru, India, the moment marked their first real encounter with orbital space flight. Although they had previously worked on sounding rockets and small collaborative projects, nothing matched the scale or importance of this mission. The modest polyhedral satellite was about to redefine what a low-income country could accomplish.
When the Kosmos-3M rocket roared to life, it carried not just circuitry but also the dreams of a nation not even 30 years free from colonial rule. The launch was a success. As Aryabhata hurtled through layers of piercing cold Soviet air, a space programme destined to become the envy of the world, for its ability to operate on a shoestring budget was quietly born.
Fifty years on, ISRO provides launch services to other low- and middle-income countries, nurturing the space ambitions of many African and Latin American nations. With private for-profit enterprises increasingly dominating the space industry, Aryabhata's legacy offers a valuable counterpoint.
India's space programme showcases the value of public investment in science. The nation's space-related technology has contributed to the development of ultralightweight artificial limbs, health-care devices and water-purification systems, for instance. Perhaps Aryabhata's more immeasurable impact, however, is the boost it has given to national confidence — inspiring a generation of scientists and engineers. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Aryabhata did not just orbit Earth, it orbited India's imagination.
Aryabhata was never meant to dazzle as a payload. Its purpose was humble but profound: to provide hands-on experience in designing, building and operating a spacecraft to a team of young Indian scientists. Its solar panels were modest, its instruments sparse and its spin-stabilization system rudimentary. Yet, all of the spacecraft's components, from its telemetry boards to its thermal insulation, were made in India.
The decision to go low-tech was intentional. U. R. Rao, the project's director, had convinced ISRO's leadership that developing operational communications and remote-sensing satellites was impossible without building experimental ones first. The mission served as an orbital classroom. Its main purpose: training a new generation of space technologists and validating home-grown hardware.
Why the European Space Agency should join the US mission to Uranus
Why the European Space Agency should join the US mission to Uranus
The name of the satellite — Aryabhata — was chosen deliberately. During the initial days of the project, it was called ISRO Satellite-1, or IS-1, internally. The idea to rebrand the spacecraft emerged when then-ISRO chair Satish Dhawan sought then-prime minister Indira Gandhi's input, because the satellite neared completion and its public launch was imminent. Both ISRO and the government wanted a name that embodied India's national pride and cultural heritage.
Gandhi saw scientific modernity as an extension of India's civilizational legacy. After careful consideration, she proposed naming the satellite after the fifth-century mathematician-astronomer Aryabhata, whose pioneering contributions included postulating that Earth rotates on its axis, calculating the value of π to a remarkable precision and laying the foundations of algebra.
The name carried deep symbolism, reaffirming India's rich history of scientific enquiry and linking ancient intellectual achievements to modern technological progress. Politically, it also provided an alternative narrative to the cold war-era space race between the United States and the Soviet Union by reinforcing India's unaligned stance. The country was not following global trends, it was merely reclaiming its own long-standing intellectual prowess.
With symbolism deeply woven into the project, success was crucial. That's why, when Aryabhata started tumbling soon after reaching orbit, the engineers who had clustered around consoles at what was then the Sriharikota Range ground station in India held their breath.
The issue was traced to a faulty valve relay that failed to initiate the satellite's spin, which was crucial for orbital stability. Engineers on the ground sent a correction command and, over four tense days, Aryabhata gathered data on X-ray sources and ionospheric electrons.
India's space scientists continue to expand their programme and inspire the next generation.Credit: Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times via Getty
By day five of the mission, another snag was detected. A 9-volt power bus, which powered all three scientific experiments (X-ray astronomy, solar γ-rays and aeronomy), had failed. It was then decided to shut down the experiments and operate Aryabhata as a technological test platform. It was a tough but pragmatic decision. The mission's main goal had always been to build capability; the scientific experiments were a bonus. Then, on its 45th orbit, the backup spin system kicked in and the satellite steadied at 50 revolutions per minute. Cheers erupted at mission control. With this, India had not only launched but also controlled its first satellite in orbit. Despite the satellite being scientifically extraneous, it continued to transmit data reliably for the next two years.
or
Nature 640, 877-879 (2025)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-01235-4
The author declares no competing interests.
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ChatGPT search, OpenAI's feature within ChatGPT that allows the chatbot to access and incorporate up-to-date information from the web into its responses, is growing at a fast clip in Europe.
A report filed by one of OpenAI's EU corporate divisions, OpenAI Ireland Limited, reveals ChatGPT search had roughly 41.3 million average monthly active “recipients” for the six-month period ending March 31. That's up from approximately 11.2 million average monthly active recipients in the six-month period ending October 31, 2024.
OpenAI regularly publishes information on ChatGPT search to comply with the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), which regulates many aspects of online services in European nations. The DSA defines monthly active recipients as “[people] actually engaging with the service at least once in a given period of time” by “being exposed to information disseminated on the online interface of the online platform, such as viewing it or listening to it, or by providing information.”
Interesting update in the OpenAI EU Digital Services Act (DSA) FAQ article
ChatGPT search had about 41.3 million average monthly active recipients in the European Union for the six-month period ending 31 March 2025
(Earlier, for the six-month period ending 31 October 2024,… pic.twitter.com/AY9sNI1vu9
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One component of the DSA instructs “very large” online platforms or search engines — those with over 45 million average monthly recipients — to allow users to opt out of recommendation systems and profiling, share certain data with researchers and authorities, and perform external auditing. ChatGPT search may soon be subject to these requirements, assuming the current growth trend holds.
Online platforms that don't comply with the DSA's rules could see fines of up to 6% of their global turnover. A platform continually refusing to comply could result in a temporary suspension in the EU.
ChatGPT Search has made inroads against incumbents like Google since debuting last year. According to a poll published in September, 8% of people said they'd choose ChatGPT over Google as their primary search engine. But Google remains far and away the dominant online search tool. By one estimate, it handles 373 times more searches than ChatGPT.
Researchers have found ChatGPT search and other AI-powered search engines to be less reliable than conventional search, depending on the query. According to one study, ChatGPT incorrectly identified 67% of searched-for articles. Another study surfaced accuracy problems related to ChatGPT's treatment of news content, including content from publishers with which OpenAI has licensing agreements.
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TSMC is reportedly facing a $1 billion fine for unknowingly producing a compute chiplet for blacklisted Huawei, which put an order to the company using a proxy. The situation did not look good for the contract chipmaker, and in its most recent annual report TSMC acknowledged difficulties in monitoring how its chips are used once they leave its fabs. In other words, it cannot guarantee that the Huawei story will not repeat itself.
"Our role in the semiconductor supply chain inherently limits our visibility and information available to us regarding the downstream use or user of final products that incorporate semiconductors manufactured by us," reads a statement by TSMC in its annual report. "This constraint impedes our ability to fully ensure that semiconductors manufactured by us will not be diverted to unintended end use or end-user, including potentially by our business partners, or by third parties with an intent of circumvention."
When TSMC is contracted to produce a chip, it is supplied a GDS file that contains all the geometrical shapes, layers, and hierarchy information needed to fabricate that chip. TSMC (or any other foundry) validates the GDS file using various tools to ensure that it complies with process technology rules, and then generates photomasks to eventually make chips. At no point can TSMC determine developer of the chip, or its final destination. To that end, there is always a risk that a proxy contracts TSMC to produce a chip that will end up in a machine supplied by Huawei, which will trigger the U.S. government to fine TSMC for violation of American export controls.
"In addition, if we or our business partners fail to obtain appropriate import, export or re-export licenses or permits or are found to have violated applicable export control or sanctions laws, we may also be adversely affected, through reputational harm as well as other negative consequences, including government investigations and penalties resulting from relevant legal proceedings," TSMC stated.
Last year it turned out that TSMC fabricated a chip for a company called Sophgo using its 7nm-class fabrication process. The chip appeared to be a compute chiplet for Huawei's HiSilicon Ascend 910B/910C processor. The company apparently produced enough silicon for Huawei to assemble around a million dual-chiplet Ascend 910C processors, enough to meet Huawei's need for AI processors for about a year. Now, TSMC faces a $1 billion fine.
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Curious what happens to the power vacuum at the top of the Catholic Church once the pope dies?
The 2024 Oscar-winning film Conclave deals with that exact scenario. If you're looking for a dramatized version of what the Catholic Church will be doing in wake of Pope Francis' death at 88, you'd be hard pressed to find one more current. Just one problem: Due to the frustrating and fluid nature of content licensing, you can't actually stream it via any subscription service right now.
The movie, which stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow as cardinals all hiding dirty secrets while vying to be pope, was available to stream on Peacock until very recently. Thanks to a deal between Universal and Amazon Prime Video, though, the title is moving to Prime video—a transition that was in progress right as news of Pope Francis' passing came out on Monday. Currently, you can rent the film for between $6 and $20 on Prime, or you can wait until 3 am Eastern time on Tuesday to watch it on the service for free if you're a Prime member.
The deal, signed in 2021, means that following their theatrical releases, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group movies head to Peacock for four months before switching to Prime Video for 10 months, then migrating back to Peacock for the last four months of the “Pay-One” window—the period that follows a theater release. WIRED has reached out to Amazon to confirm Conclave will stream starting Tuesday and will update this post if we receive a response.
Meanwhile, Bluesky, X, and TikTok are overflowing with bits about the movie—including jokes about how Pope Francis died soon after meeting US vice president JD Vance—and how a real-life conclave could work.
The timing of the Conclave movie shuffle to coincide with the incredibly rare historical event of a Catholic pope dying is an extreme example of the perpetual game of whack-a-mole viewers are subjected to when it comes to streaming deals. Sometimes, no matter how many services we're subscribed to, we still can't watch what we want when we want it.
Conclave is a beautifully shot and spicy take on the church's highest ranking clergy going through the highly secretive and ancient ritual of selecting a new pope, a period known as sede vacante. But it's not the only good papal content out there.
So if you're looking to scratch the itch with something that's available to stream now, here are a couple of other options:
Streaming on Netflix, The Two Popes stars Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict XVI and follows his friendship with his eventual successor, Pope Francis. It's inspired by their real-life relationship.
Starring Jude Law as the world's first American pope, this 10-episode miniseries focuses on a pope who bucks conventions and eschews the advice of Vatican stalwarts in favor of the guidance of Sister Mary, an American nun played by Diane Keaton.
The New Pope picks up where The Young Pope leaves off, with Jude Law's Pope Pius XIII comatose as the succession race creates turmoil and reveals scandal after scandal.
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Jeff Bezos-backed Slate Auto has planted multiple concept versions of its EV on the streets of California. It's a marketing tactic that teases the secretive startup's strategy to sell a “Transformer”-like vehicle, people familiar with the company's internal discussions told TechCrunch.
This unconventional real-world tease comes days before Slate's April 24 launch event at Long Beach Airport, according to an invite viewed by TechCrunch.
The Michigan-based startup, founded in 2022, has operated in relative secrecy until TechCrunch published a report revealing Bezos' financial involvement, as well as its plan to price its EV at around $25,000 while encouraging buyers to customize the vehicle to their liking. That base model is referred to as the “Blank Slate” version, according to a trademark application and another person familiar with the company's plans. Slate has also filed for a trademark for the phrase: “We Built It. You Make It.”
The Autopian's David Tracy traveled to Venice, California over the weekend where Slate parked a concept version of the truck made to look like a two-door SUV used by a fake business. Similarly, Reddit users posted pictures over the weekend of yet another version of the truck made to look like a hatchback that almost resembles Rivian's forthcoming R3.
The vehicle Tracy saw up close this past weekend looks just like the two-door pickup truck spotted by a Reddit user earlier this month in Long Beach, but with a hard cover over the bed that gives it more of an SUV shape. The vehicle is covered in a wrap for a fake business called “Rockabye Rides,” which includes a URL that leads to a website that is counting down to Slate's event later this week.
That makes three different silhouettes we've seen of Slate's truck so far — and that adaptability is something the company has privately touted as it locked down well over $100 million in funding, TechCrunch has learned.
Slate's leadership focused heavily on the “Transformer” metaphor as it wooed investors to fill out its Series B funding round last year, according to a person familiar with the pitches. The company carefully choreographed the meetings around the idea, according to another person familiar with how they went.
This involved showing prospective investors a generic version of the truck, and then leading them to another room while a team quickly customized the vehicle. Then the prospective investors would be brought back to the first room only to find the truck looking completely different.
Those efforts appear to have been convincing. Guggenheim Partners CEO (and controlling owner of the LA Dodgers) Mark Walter seemingly invested in the round and joined Slate's board, TechCrunch has reported.
A spokesperson for the company didn't respond to a request for comment.
These new photos give a pretty clear view of the exterior of Slate's truck, and the potential level of customization. The interior remains a mystery, and there is no public knowledge about the vehicle's specs.
The company has briefed a number of automotive journalists ahead of Thursday's event, and Tracy wrote that he's “under a strict NDA” on any of the sepecifics.
Even still, Tracy wrote that the Slate truck “is unlike any new vehicle I've ever seen not just in my decade as a car journalist, but in my entire lifetime.”
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Your politeness could be costly for OpenAI
Uncovered emails showed how Meta struggled to keep Facebook culturally relevant
Famed AI researcher launches controversial startup to replace all human workers everywhere
© 2025 Yahoo.
Memory and fabric overclocking now covered by the warranty wrapper.
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According to documents shared with Tom's Hardware by a source, Intel will announce a new "Intel 200S Boost" feature for its Arrow Lake processors tomorrow that's designed to boost gaming performance by providing official warranty coverage for a subset of overclocking features, including memory overclocking. As you can see below, we have put the new feature through a battery of tests before its official launch and found the gains generally match our expectations for memory overclocking, with an average improvement of 7.5% over the officially supported memory speeds.It's no secret that Intel's Arrow Lake chips delivered disappointing gaming performance at launch — in fact, they are significantly slower than even Intel's own previous-gen models. The company has since corrected multiple launch-day issues, but that has not improved overall performance. The new approach aims to leverage several existing features and package them under the warranty protection umbrella, much like AMD introduced a 105W mode to boost performance for its underperforming 65W Ryzen 9000 models. However, Intel hasn't issued any official performance projections for the new feature yet.The Intel 200S Boost feature enhances the performance of Arrow Lake K-series processors by enabling a few overclocking features in an easy-to-use one-click BIOS profile, but the new settings don't impact CPU clock speeds or power settings above current warranty limitations. Instead, the tweaks optimize specific memory and fabric speeds, marking the first time Intel has offered official warranty coverage for potential chip damage resulting from XMP memory overclocking profiles or adjusting fabric speeds.There are, however, several caveats, and the tweaks are already well known to the enthusiast and overclocking community. Firstly, Intel now covers "up to" DDR5-8000 memory speeds within its warranty; however, not all chips will be able to reach that speed, and because the approach is still considered overclocking, Intel does not guarantee system stability with XMP profiles. As we demonstrate below, more affordable and easily supported DDR5-7200 kits offer nearly the same performance in most games and applications we tested.
Core Ultra 200S Stock (K-Series)
200S Boost
Voltage Limitations
D2D
2.1
up to 3.2 GHz
VccSA ≤ 1.2V
NGU Fabric
2.1
up to 3.2 GHz
VccSA ≤ 1.2V
DDR5 Speeds (UDIMM/CUDIMM) 1DPC
DDR5-6400
up to DDR5-8000
VDD2 ≤ 1.4V and VccSA ≤ 1.2V (DIMM - VDDQ and VDD ≤ 1.4V)
The 200S Boost feature will be integrated into BIOS revisions from major motherboard vendors, with BIOS updates expected to arrive tomorrow from at least a few OEMs. The feature will only be implemented on Z-Series motherboards, which is a curious limitation given that Intel now supports memory overclocking on B-Series boards. It's also only available on K- and KF-series SKUs.The 200S Boost profile also increases the speed of the Next Generation Uncore (NGU/SA Fabric), which enables communication between various chip elements, such as the CPU cores, memory controllers, and other components. This interface is upgraded from its standard 2.6 GHz speed to 3.2 GHz. Additionally, the Die-to-Die (D2D) communication fabric, which serves as a bridge between the Compute and SOC tiles or dies present inside the Arrow Lake chip, is increased from its stock 2.1 GHz to 3.2 GHz.
Intel is also obviously wary of motherboard vendors pushing the limits with their BIOS settings (which they have been known to do) and thus creating another potential chip reliability issue. As such, the company has also instituted several guardrails around the feature, with strict limitations that prevent motherboard makers from altering any other features, such as CPU clock speeds or power thresholds, as part of the 200S Boost settings. Intel also has voltage ceilings for the System Agent and memory that cannot be exceeded. You cannot use XMP kits that exceed the DIMM voltage ratings. The limits are listed in the table above.The OEMs are allowed to tailor their voltage and speed settings within those constraints to optimize performance with their product. Any manual manipulation by the end user of clocks or other settings will automatically disable the 200S Boost profile, reverting you to manual overclocking. This feature also locks the overclocking mailbox to prevent OS-based overclocking. Finally, 200S Boost is entirely opt-in; it can't be enabled by default in the BIOS and requires users to turn it on.Intel 200S Boost is separate from the Intel Performance Optimization (IPO) program, a China-specific collaboration between Intel and System Integrators (SIs) that facilitates more robust overclocking, including clock speeds and power settings. However, the SIs carry the warranty for that program, and Intel has no current plans to bring the IPO program to other regions.Now on to the benchmarks.
The 200S Boost feature is built on firmware with an MR1 or newer revision. We tested with the Core Ultra 9 285K on the MSI MEG Z890 ACE motherboard with a .1A53 BIOS revision that supports adding the feature, although it is not explicitly enabled yet. We merely recreated the correct settings for the feature in this BIOS, and sources close to the matter have confirmed that our results align with general expectations.We tested six configurations and three memory speeds across 16 games at 1080p. The tested memory speeds include the stock DDR5-6400 with JEDEC timings, which was the previous limit for Intel's warranty, as well as the cost- and compatibility-friendly DDR5-7200 speed we use for our CPU reviews (32GB G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-7200 kit for both). We also tested with a 32GB Patriot Extreme 5 DDR5-8000 kit to measure the peak supported XMP speeds.
The first slide displays the geometric mean of our gaming tests, which we conducted using an RTX 5090 Founders Edition. We tested the different memory speeds with the fabrics at stock settings and the listed memory speed (marked as stock in the chart), and then retested after increasing the fabric speeds to the higher 3.2 GHz threshold (marked as '200S Boost').The largest increase in performance undoubtedly comes from memory overclocking. Moving from the stock DDR5-6400 configuration to the peak DDR5-8000 with fabric overclocking (200S Boost) yielded a 7.5% performance increase in our overall measurement. Naturally, performance increases vary by title, from as low as a 3.7% increase in A Plague Tale: Requiem to an 11.6% increase in Baldur's Gate 3. The per-game results generally hover in the 7% to 9% range. The titles that benefit most are simply the memory-sensitive titles, so there are no surprises here.We, like many other outlets, test with a DDR5-7200 XMP profile as our default memory configuration. We chose this speed because it is widely supported by most chips (you may encounter issues with DDR5-8000 UDIMMs on some chips or motherboards) and it is more affordable — 32GB DDR5-8000 kits typically carry a $45 to $60 (43 to 57%) premium, yet deliver precious little extra performance.We see that trend hold strong in our results, with the DDR5-8000 200S Boost configuration only being a mostly imperceptible 1.2% faster performance overall in 1080p gaming. Our advice for most enthusiasts remains the same — DDR5-7200 is the sweet spot for price and performance.We have experimented with overclocking the fabric speeds in the past, but we found the increased performance to be largely unremarkable unless you are engaging in heavy overclocking of the CPU cores, which is not allowed in tandem with the 200S Boost feature.To determine the impact of fabric speeds on the overall performance improvement, we toggled the fabrics between 200S Boost and Stock fabric settings for each memory speed. As you can see, it did give at least some boost in performance, but the gains undoubtedly fall into the imperceptible range. For instance, we measured a sub-1% increase in performance when using higher fabric clocks with the DDR5-6400 and DDR5-7200 configurations, and a 1.4% increase with the DDR5-8000 configuration.It's possible that you could eke out higher gains from the fabric tweaks with lesser chips, like the Core Ultra 7 265K and the Core Ultra 5 245K, but you should keep your expectations in check.We'll see how the fully-boosted Intel chips stack up against the competition further below.
In the interest of due diligence, we ran the chips through several productivity application benchmarks to assess the impact, but the results were entirely predictable — applications that benefit from memory overclocking saw small gains, while others saw none at all. In fact, the variations mostly fall within our expected run-to-run variance, so you shouldn't expect significant uplift in productivity applications.
Here we've added the primary competitors for the Core Ultra 9 285K to the test results, and as you can see, the landscape remains largely unchanged from our most recent testing. Notably, we don't see as significant a gain because we test all processors with reasonable XMP settings applied as our stock configuration in reviews.The fact that Arrow Lake couldn't match the gaming performance of Intel's own prior-gen Raptor Lake Refresh chips was one of the most disappointing aspects for enthusiasts. That still remains the case; the Core i9-14900K is now 6.5% faster than the 285K, whereas it was 9% faster in our prior testing (with both at DDR5-7200). That change isn't enough to drastically change the value equation between the Intel chips.The situation also remains rough in comparison to AMD's competing models — the 285K is now about 3% slower than the Ryzen 9 9950X, roughly halving the distance between the two and bringing it closer to a draw, but the gaming-optimized X3D chips continue to dominate by almost absurd amounts. Here, the much less expensive Ryzen 7 9800X3D and its premium counterpart, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, still hold a 30%+ lead in gaming, so it remains a no-contest if you're strictly focused on gaming performance.Despite the addition of new fabric tweaks and support for up to DDR5-8000, we still recommend that most users stick with DDR5-7200 — stepping up to DDR5-8000 incurs a significant cost for only about 1% more performance.Overall, the new 200S Boost feature doesn't alter the competitive landscape, but it does provide an easy-to-use option for less-advanced users to gain a few extra percentage points of performance. The addition of warranty coverage for damage associated with the limited XMP memory or fabric overclocking is nice, but moderate memory overclocking is typically fairly safe in either case.Intel is expected to officially announce the 200S Boost feature tomorrow, we'll follow up with further details as warranted.
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Andreessen Horowitz's hiring spree continues. On Monday, Erik Torenberg announced that the giant VC firm had acquired his Turpentine podcast, with him joining as a general partner.
Torenberg's podcast focuses mostly on interviewing VCs at a variety of firms about their approach to investing. Recent guests include Accel's Andrew Braccia, Seven Seven Six's Alexis Ohanian, and Benchmark's Sarah Tavel and Eric Vishria.
Torenberg said he plans to continue with his podcast, but we'll see if it changes direction. A16z creates a lot of corporate content, including its own podcasts. But the focus tends to be on founders rather than other VCs.
Torenberg makes sense as a hire for a16z, though. Beyond the pod, he was an early employee at Product Hunt and has been a successful angel investor and pro VC in the years since. He has spent the last seven years at firm Village Global. While there, he helped launch On Deck, a program that trains aspiring founders. His investments include Scale AI, Lattice, Figma, Perplexity, Replit, Flexport, and others, he says.
So he's a fairly classic a16z hire. The venture firm also recently hired former North Carolina congressman Patrick McHenry and, several months ago, former U.S. Marine Daniel Penny
Topics
Tesla reportedly delays launch of new low-cost model by months
Palantir exec defends company's immigration surveillance work
OpenAI's o3 AI model scores lower on a benchmark than the company initially implied
Your politeness could be costly for OpenAI
Uncovered emails showed how Meta struggled to keep Facebook culturally relevant
Famed AI researcher launches controversial startup to replace all human workers everywhere
OpenAI's new reasoning AI models hallucinate more
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Companies are quietly raising prices and consumers have already taken notice.
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We knew it was only a matter of time before prices started creeping up in more obvious ways. The tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have caused rippling effects across many industries, and PC hardware is no exception. Today, we're looking at evidence of price increases related to several Logitech products in particular.
This observation has come to light thanks to YouTuber Cameron Dougherty from the channel Cameron Dougherty Tech. In his recent video, Dougherty reports several notable price increases that have reached as high as 25%. This applies to a handful of Logitech's flagship products. That said, when researching these price increases, it looks like some of them have been discounted over at Amazon, but the price they have been marked down from is definitely higher than the usual rate.
It's also important to note that this isn't a blanket price increase. Some prices have stayed the same, while others have gone down. Similar hikes have been reported from Chinese company Anker. And whether or not the changes are directly due to tariffs or companies capitalizing on demand ahead of currently paused tariffs, these two companies are almost certainly not alone in their price increases.The best way to investigate price changes is to check price archiving tools like PC Part Picker or Camel Camel Camel for products listed over at Amazon. These are some of our favorite tools to use when researching deals and tracking price changes.
We investigated the Logitech claims ourselves and confirmed some of the reported price increases. For example, the MX Keys S keyboard is now listed for $130 on the official Logitech website, an 18% increase. The MX Master 3S mouse has risen 20%, going from $100 to $120. However, the biggest price jump applies to the K400 Plus Wireless Touch keyboard. It's been selling for around $28 lately, but now has jumped up to $35. This is only an increase of $7, but percentage-wise, it's among the most significant increases.
These price increases were not part of any announcement, but were quietly implemented. Again, since the release of Dougherty's video, Logitech has listed a few of these items on sale, but the new price floor for them is consistently higher across multiple vendors. It's unclear whether more of Logitech's hardware is destined to join the wave of increases, but it is very likely given the ongoing tariff situation.
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Ash Hill is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware with a wealth of experience in the hobby electronics, 3D printing and PCs. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting while also finding the best coupons and deals on all tech.
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The ROG Strix Scar 16 is just a driver update (or two) away from greatness.
Brilliant display
Second M.2 SSD slot with PCIe 5.0 support
Tool-free access to hardware components
Strong game performance
Some game compatibility issues with RTX 5080
Expensive
Why you can trust Tom's Hardware
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When it comes to the best gaming laptops, there's been a heavy focus on systems featuring Nvidia's GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs for the past two years. However, Nvidia launched new “Blackwell” gaming GPUs for laptops as part of the new RTX 50 Series. As a result, a new wave of gaming laptops is starting to hit the market, and Asus is among the first to jump on the bandwagon.
Enter the ROG Strix Scar 16, a 16-inch class gaming laptop featuring an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, 32GB of RAM, and an RTX 5080 GPU. While the RTX 5080 isn't the top entry in Nvidia's laptop GPU family, as you'll see, it still packs a punch. However, you will pay a significant price premium ($3,299 as reviewed) to enjoy the latest that Nvidia has to offer.
Asus's ROG family of products is often infused with rather outlandish design touches that help them stand out from the crowded field of gaming laptops, and the ROG Strix Scar 16 is no exception. The first thing you'll notice when removing the laptop from the box is the ROG logo on the lid, which initially looks like a standard reflective chrome badge. However, as soon as you turn the machine on, it lights up in all its RGB glory to add color to the black exterior of the laptop.
But that's not the only illumination on the aluminum lid – Asus also has included a diagonal strip of white LEDs that dance around with a scrolling effect when the laptop is in standby mode. Asus calls it AniMe Vision, which features an array of 810 LED lights that shine through the milled holes in the lid. When the laptop is turned on, flashes of light display “STRIX” branding by default. There are several premade animations you can select from, or you can import a GIF of your own to customize your laptop further.
Wait, there's more! An RGB light ring runs around the entire perimeter of the bottom half of the enclosure, and the keyboard features per-key RGB lighting. The ROG Strix Scar 16's lighting can be configured using Aura Sync in Armory Crate.
The ROG Strix Scar 16 features a 16-inch 2560 x 1600 display with thin bezels along the sides. The top bezel is thicker to accommodate the 1080p webcam and infrared sensors for Windows Hello that are front and center. The bottom bezel is larger still, roughly twice as wide as the top bezel, and incorporates ROG STRIX branding.
The keyboard deck and the chassis bottom are constructed of plastic. Although I would have preferred an aluminum unibody at this price point, the plastic at least feels high quality.
A massive touchpad sits below the keyboard and features Asus' virtual NumberPad feature. After pressing NUMLK on the top right-hand corner of the touchpad, it lights up with a full number pad that you can use to make quick entries in apps like Calculator or Microsoft Excel. It works well enough, and I find it a suitable alternative to including a full physical number pad on the keyboard, especially if it's a feature you won't use frequently.
The ROG Strix Scar 16 is a big laptop, and Asus thankfully puts the space to use by incorporating a large assortment of ports for connectivity. You'll find just two USB 3.2 Type-A ports on the right side. However, the bulk of the connections are on the left side, which is home to a proprietary power connector, a full-size 2.5 GbE LAN port, an HDMI 2.1 port, another USB 3.2 Type-A port, two Thunderbolt 5 ports, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Regarding wireless connectivity, the ROG Strix Scar 16 has an Intel BE200 card, which combines Wi-Fi 7 with Bluetooth 5.4.
The ROG Strix Scar 16 measures 13.94 x 10.55 x 0.90 inches and weighs 6.28 pounds. For comparison, the Razer Blade 16 is 13.98 x 9.86 x 0.69 inches and weighs 4.72 pounds, while the 5.67-pound Alienware x16 is 14.36 x 11.41 x 0.73 inches. The Gigabyte Aorus Master 16 weighs 5.4 pounds and measures 14.06 x 10.0 x 1.18 inches.
CPU
Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX
Graphics
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 (16GB GDDR7, 1,500 MHz Boost Clock, 175 W Max TGP)
Memory
32GB DDR5-5600 (2x 16GB)
Storage
2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD
Display
16-inch, 2560x1600, 165 Hz, 16:10
Networking
Intel Wi-Fi 7 (BE200), Bluetooth 5.4
Ports
2x Thunderbolt 5, 3x USB 3.2 Type-A Gen 2, 1x HDMI 2.1, 3.5mm headphone jack, 2.5 Gbps Ethernet
Camera
1080p IR webcam
Battery
90 Whr
Power Adapter
380 W
Operating System
Windows 11 Home
Dimensions (WxDxH)
13.94 x 10.55 x 0.90 inches
Weight
6.28 pounds
Price (as configured)
$3,299
The ROG Strix Scar 16 features high-end hardware, including an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, a GeForce RTX 5080 laptop GPU, and 32GB of DDR5-5600 memory. The Core Ultra 9 275HX has 8 performance cores and 16 efficiency cores. The performance cores have a base clock of 2.7 GHz and a maximum turbo clock of 5.4 GHz, while the efficiency cores have a 2.1-GHz base clock and a maximum 4.6 GHz turbo clock. The RTX 5080 has a 175W TGP and a 1,500 MHz boost clock.
I had time to play various games on the ROG Strix Scar 16, but I spent most of my time running and gunning in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. The game is a visual masterpiece with its lush environment, high-quality textures, realistic reflections, and intricate detail of real-world objects. With the resolution set to 1440p and the detail setting cranked to “Ultra,” I averaged between 70 and 100 fps in the game, depending on how much action took place on-screen.
The ROG Strix Scar 16 started strong in our Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Highest setting) benchmark, delivering 177 fps at 1080p. Performance at 1600p fell sharply to just 112 fps. The Aorus Master 16 (Core Ultra 9 275HX, RTX 5080) took the crown at 1080p (185 fps), and scored slightly more than Asus at 1600p (114 fps). For comparison, the Blade 16 (Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, RTX 5090) delivered 166 fps at 1080p, but vastly outperformed at 1600p (161 fps). The x16 (Core i9-13900HK, RTX 4080) was at the back of the pack, achieving 117 fps at 1080p and 79 fps at 1600p.
Cyberpunk 2077 (Ray Tracing Ultra settings) was the most recent game added to our benchmark suite, so the x16 didn't make the cutoff for testing. However, we do have a showdown between the systems with Blackwell GPUs. The ROG Strix Scar 16 hit 61 fps at 1800p and 35 fps at 1600p. The Aorus Master 16 performed similarly, with 62 fps at 1080p and 38 fps at 1600p. The Blade 16 surpassed those numbers by around 10 percent at both resolutions, with 66 fps at 1080p and 43 fps at 1600p.
Far Cry 6 (Ultra settings) saw another flip-flop in the rankings, with the Aorus Master 16 besting all competitors, including the RTX 5090-equipped Blade 16. It averaged 120 fps at 1080p and 113 fps at 1600p. The ROG Strix Scar 16 was a few ticks behind at 112 fps and 103 fps, respectively. The Blade 16 performed more in line with the x16 at 1080p (each hitting 97 fps), while its 94 fps at 1600p was enough to earn second place.
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Medium settings) proved to be a challenge for the ROG Strix Scar 16, and is a testament to the early driver issues that have plagued Nvidia's RTX 50 Series laptops GPUs (as we noted in our Blade 16 review). The system would not run the benchmark at 1080p resolution. It would, however, run at 2560 x 1600, and we recorded 77 fps at that resolution. The Aorus Master 16 fared even worse, managing just 54 fps at 1600p.
The Aorus Master 16 won the Borderlands 3 (Badass settings) benchmark showdown by default — our Blade 16 couldn't even run the benchmark, achieving a heady 172 fps at 1080p and 121 fps at 1600p. The ROG Strix Scar 16 was the next-closest competitor with 156 fps and 113 fps at 1080p and 1600p, respectively.
We use Metro Exodus for our stress testing, running the in-game benchmark 10 consecutive times using the RTX preset. During the test, the ROG Strix Scar 16's efficiency and performance cores averaged 3.11 GHz and 4.61 GHz, respectively, with a CPU temperature of 74 degrees Celsius. The RTX 5080 averaged 1.845 GHz with a core temperature of 72 degrees C.
Thanks to its use of a Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, 32GB of DDR5-5600, and a fast Western Digital SN8000S PCIe 4.0 SSD, the ROG Strix Scar 16 proved to be a top performer in our productivity suite.
The ROG Strix Scar 16 quickly shot to the top of the Geekbench 6 synthetic CPU benchmark charts. It recorded a single-core score of 3,071 and a multi-core score of 19,597. This put it slightly ahead of the Aorus Master 16 with the same processor, which came in at 3,049 and 19,175, respectively. The Blade 16 with its Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor was a bit behind the rest of the pack (2,922, 16,025). The x16 was one of the last laptops we tested with Geekbench 5.x, so it is not represented here.
Switching gears to our file transfer test, which involves copying 25GB of mixed-media files, the ROG Strix Scar 16 delivered a speedy 1,841.40 MBps. For comparison, the Omen 16 led the pack at 1,913 MBps, while the Blade 16 came in at 1,729.51 MBps. The Aorus Master 16 was dead last at 665.26 MBps.
We use our Handbrake benchmark to transcode a 4K video file to 1080p, with the Aorus Master 16 and ROG Strix Scar 16 handily besting the competition — it wasn't even close. The former took just 2 minutes and 17 seconds to finish the operation, while the latter took 2 minutes and 22 seconds. The x16 with its older processor took over 4 minutes on the test.
Asus equipped the ROG Strix Scar 16 with a 16-inch 2560 x 1600 display with Mini LED backlighting. Given its gaming aspirations, the panel refreshes at up to 240 Hz, which makes it a great dance partner for the RTX 5080.
Our tests showed that the ROG Strix Scar 16's panel covered 81.2 percent of DCI-P3 and 114.7 percent of sRGB. The Mini LED backlighting allowed the laptop to stand far above its peers in brightness, as we saw 457.2 nits with SDR content. Brightness with HDR content topped 1,200 nits, which tracks with Asus's claim of 1,200 nits.
I played several games on the display, including Forza Horizon 5, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Action was smooth and tear-free, with vibrant colors all around.
Asus outfitted the ROG Strix Scar 16 with a full-size keyboard, offering 2mm of key travel. Four media keys are tacked on to the right side of the keyboard: Play, Pause, Previous Track, and Next Track. There are also five programmable “M” keys at the top of the keyboard deck that correspond with volume up/down, microphone off, power mode (which cycles through Silent, Performance, and Turbo), and a shortcut for Armoury Crate. The function of each button can be configured using Armoury Crate.
Using the keyhero.com typing test, I achieved 90 words per minute at 97.93 percent accuracy with the keyboard. It's not my best performance with a laptop keyboard, as my fingers had to stretch a bit more than I'm used to, which slowed me down a bit.
You'll find a rather large glass trackpad below the keyboard, which I found to operate smoothly, with a satisfying click response. As previously mentioned, the touchpad includes Asus' nifty NumberPad feature, which instantly displays a touch-enabled number pad when you tap the NUMLK.
The ROG Strix Scar 16 features four speakers (two tweeters plus two woofers). I found the audio quite good, with loud and clear volume (I didn't go past 80 percent to save my hearing) and adequate bass.
I played some tunes with the laptop, including “Something in My Heart” by Röyksopp. The electronic drums and bass synth sounded pleasing to me along with the quavery vocals. The real test, though, was with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, where the sound effects were particularly poignant, from the whip cracks to Indy's feverish punches, to the grunts he makes when he jumps from ledges. I still prefer to opt for one of the best gaming headsets when listening to music or gaming, but you won't be disappointed by the audio system in the ROG Strix Scar 16.
The ROG Strix Scar 16 is one of the easiest laptops that I've ever had the opportunity to open. When I first flipped the laptop over to expose its bottom panel, I was perplexed as to how to open it -- there were no visible screws to remove. I started poking around at the rubber feet to see if those needed to be removed, but they wouldn't budge. Then, I noticed a small latch at the front of the chassis with an arrow on it.
I pushed the latch in the direction of the arrow, and it slid over, revealing a red indicator. This red indicator signified that the bottom panel was unlatched. I then slid the panel toward me and was able to lift it off the chassis, exposing the interior. It's a simple system, and I'm surprised that more manufacturers haven't integrated something similar.
With the bottom panel removed, you can access the system's upgradeable components. Unlike more compact ultraportables that have RAM soldered onto the motherboard, the ROG Strix Scar 16 has two SO-DIMM slots — our review unit had both slots occupied with 16GB DDR5-5600 SO-DIMMs.
In addition, two M.2 slots accommodate full-length 2280 SSDs (only one was populated on our review unit). Even better, the ROG Strix Scar 16 supports the PCIe 5.0 interface, although our review unit was equipped with a Western Digital SN8000S 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD. However, it's nice to know that the option is available if you want to upgrade to a faster SSD interface.
The ROG Strix Scar 16 uses a 90 Whr battery. To see how long the laptop can operate on a charge, we ran it through our usual endurance benchmark — our test browses the web, streams videos, and runs light OpenGL tests with the brightness set to 150 nits.
In the end, the ROG Strix Scar 16 lasted 6 hours and 30 minutes. That put it in second place behind the Blade 16, which lasted 7 hours and 21 minutes.
The x16 (5:37) and Aorus Master 16 (5:02) were further back in the pack when it comes to endurance.
The ROG Strix Scar 16 does an excellent job of exhausting heat generated by its top-shelf hardware components with its twin internal fans. While running the Metro Exodus stress test, the bottom of the chassis was warm to the touch but not uncomfortable. The fans audibly spun during the entire test, but the sound was not objectionable and was easily overpowered by the internal speakers (or a pair of the best headphones, if you wish).
Our temperature measurements showed that the keyboard was 102.9 degrees Fahrenheit between the G and H keys, while the touchpad was much cooler at 82.7 degrees F. The underside of the chassis measured 119.6 degrees F, and the hottest part of the keyboard that we measured was between the F5 and F6 keys (120.3 degrees F).
Like most new laptops arriving on the market these days, Asus has outfitted the ROG Strix Scar 16 with a 1080p webcam. Given the $3,300 price tag, it would have been nice to have seen some more impressive hardware – video and images came out slightly grainy, although overall colors and skin tones were accurate.
The camera is more than adequate for videoconferencing, but I'd look for a third-party setup if you're into game streaming.
Asus includes several apps with the ROG Strix Scar 16, including the oft-maligned Armoury Crate. Armoury Crate is an all-in-one software utility for controlling performance profiles to adjust RGB effects for the chassis and keyboard (with Aura Sync). It can even control the AniMe display on the lid using AniMe Vision. AniMe Vision allows you to upload your own GIFs to customize the LED display on the lid.
Other apps preinstalled include MyAsus, which allows you to register your device, perform system upgrades, and run hardware diagnostics. CapCut is a short-form video and graphics editing app, ScreenXpert is a window manager for use across multiple displays, while GlideX is a screen sharing app.
The most annoying preinstalled app, however, is McAfee. The app continually bombards you with pop-ups and warns that your trial period will soon end. I'd immediately ditch the app and rely on Microsoft Defender or any less resource-intensive anti-malware app.
The ROG Strix Scar 16 comes with a one-year warranty from Asus.
The ROG Strix Scar 16 is available in two configurations from Asus, with our review unit being the cheapest offering. The system features an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, 32GB DDR5 memory, 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, RTX 5080, and a 16-inch 2560 x 1600 Mini LED 240Hz display. As configured, this system costs a staggering $3,299.99.
Currently, the only other configuration is this same system with an RTX 5090 instead of the RTX 5080 – all other specifications are the same. The premium to jump from the RTX 5080 to the RTX 5090 is substantial, as the flagship system costs $4,299.
Both systems are only available directly from the Asus online store.
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 has a strong foundation, with a solid chassis, plentiful ports (including 2.5 GbE), Wi-Fi 7 connectivity, a fast SSD (which is further futureproofed with PCIe 5.0-enabled M.2 slots), and a vibrant 1600p Mini LED panel.
The wildcard with this laptop comes down to the RTX 5080 graphics card. While overall performance was strong, lingering driver issues still prevent consistent playback with some popular video games. It's likely that future driver issues may lessen or even completely resolve these performance and compatibility issues. However, if you're spending over $3,000 on a new gaming laptop, you don't want any barriers to entry in whatever game may be in your library.
Brandon Hill is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware. He has written about PC and Mac tech since the late 1990s with bylines at AnandTech, DailyTech, and Hot Hardware. When he is not consuming copious amounts of tech news, he can be found enjoying the NC mountains or the beach with his wife and two sons.
Tom's Hardware is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.
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Your next 3D printer might have to come from Facebook Marketplace.
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The era of cheap 3D printing appears to be coming to a screeching halt in the US. A perfect storm of newly imposed tariffs is quickly driving costs upward as tariffs on Chinese-made goods, which include popular 3D printers from Bambu Lab, Creality, Elegoo, and Anycubic, have hit a record high of 145%.Bambu Lab's newest printer, the H2D, was launched on March 25 with a starting price tag of $1,899 for the two-color, non-laser unit. It's now listed at $2,399, a 23% increase, while the 40-watt laser unit we reviewed last month will now set you back a whopping $4,399. This is $500 to $900 more than its intended price — a 20% increase.
Tracking the rising cost of 3D printers is a difficult task. Some Chinese manufacturers have not raised their prices, but their goods are also not in stock, making availability another issue 3D printer hobbyists and business owners are dealing with. Notable in this category is the Elegoo Centauri Carbon, which is still listed at its debut price of $299. But it is also listed as a “pre-order” that will only become available in late July.
The Creality K2 Plus Combo, which we reviewed in January, is still holding its original price tag of $1,499, and is listed as shipping from a U.S. warehouse. Tariffs are only applied to items at the time of shipping. While no one wanted to be named, several company representatives at this year's Rapid + TCT event told me they had rushed shipments to U.S. warehouses before the tariffs took effect and are hoping to hold prices down for as long as possible.Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
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Denise Bertacchi is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US, covering 3D printing. Denise has been crafting with PCs since she discovered Print Shop had clip art on her Apple IIe. She's been a freelance newspaper reporter, online columnist and craft blogger with an eye for kid's STEM activities. She got hooked on 3D printing after her son made a tiny Tinkercad Jeep for a school science project. Excited to learn more, she got a Creality CR10s and hasn't looked back. She loves reviewing 3D printers because she can mix all her passions: printing, photography and writing. When she's not modding her Ender 3 Pro or stirring glitter into a batch of resin, you'll find her at the latest superhero movie with her husband and two sons.
Tom's Hardware is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.
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At current prices, the 5070 makes far more sense than the 5060 Ti 16GB.
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The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 and RTX 5060 Ti 16GB are the two most recent GPUs launched by Team Green. Since the beginning of 2025, Nvidia has released five Blackwell RTX 50-series GPUs — six if you want to count the RTX 5060 Ti 8GB as a separate entry.
To say that supplies have been limited and insufficient to keep up with demand would be a gross understatement, but the same applies to any of the best graphics cards right now. In fact, of all the Blackwell RTX GPUs, the 5070 and 5060 Ti are currently the most readily available; just don't expect to find most models at MSRP.Our GPU benchmarks hierarchy ranks all the graphics cards by performance, and naturally the more expensive cards come out ahead of their less expensive siblings. But how do the RTX 5070 and RTX 5060 Ti 16GB stack up? We'll look at the performance, approximate pricing — because no GPU prices are reliably set in stone right now — as well as other aspects of the cards to help you decide which one might be right for your gaming PC.Most of the features between the two GPUs will be identical. Both use the Blackwell architecture and support DLSS 4 and MFG, for example. Still, let's start with the specifications to see how the 5070 and 5060 Ti stack up.
Graphics Card
RTX 5070
RTX 5060 Ti 16GB
Architecture
GB205
GB206
Process Node
TSMC 4N
TSMC 4N
Transistors (Billion)
31
21.9
Die size (mm^2)
263
181
Streaming Multiprocessors
48
36
GPU Shaders (ALUs)
6144
4608
Tensor / AI Cores
192
144
Ray Tracing Cores
48
36
Boost Clock (MHz)
2512
2572
VRAM Speed (Gbps)
28
28
VRAM (GB)
12
16
VRAM Bus Width
192
128
L2 Cache
48
32
Render Output Units
80
48
Texture Mapping Units
192
144
TFLOPS FP32 (Boost)
30.9
23.7
TFLOPS FP16 (FP4)
247 (988)
190 (759)
Bandwidth (GB/s)
672
448
TBP (watts)
250
180
Launch Date
Mar 2025
Apr 2025
Launch Price
$549
$429
Online Price
As you'd expect, the RTX 5070 offers more raw performance on paper and in practice. It uses a GPU that's 45% larger, with 41.6% more transistors. More importantly perhaps, it has 33% more SMs, tensor cores, RT cores, and related computational units. It also has 50% more memory bandwidth and a 50% wider memory interface, plus 50% more L2 cache.Memory interfaces don't scale as well as core logic on modern process nodes, and there are other aspects of the Blackwell GPU — the video encoders/decoders, display outputs, etc. — that don't really change, which explains why the chip size and transistor counts don't necessarily scale linearly.Clock speeds aren't quite the same, at least on paper. The 5060 Ti has a 2572 MHz boost clock and the 5070 has a slightly lower 2512 MHz boost clock. But we're also looking at the 5070 Founders Edition with reference clocks, and a PNY 5060 Ti 16GB OC that has a 2692 MHz boost clock. Plugging in those numbers gives the 5070 30.9 teraflops of FP32 compute and the PNY 5060 Ti has 24.8 TFLOPS. That means the 5070 'only' has 25% more compute on paper — which isn't actually all that accurate.In our full suite of gaming benchmarks, the 5070 Founders Edition averaged clock speeds of 2826 MHz while the PNY 5060 Ti 16GB OC averaged 2776 MHz. That means despite theoretically 180 MHz lower clocks, in practice Nvidia's 5070 card came out 50 MHz ahead.
That means the 5070 FE offers about 34.7 TFLOPS compared to 25.6 TFLOPS, a 35.5% advantage. Practically speaking, though, the 5070 should be up to 35% faster in games that are compute bound, and up to 50% faster for games that are memory bandwidth bound — and potentially the 5060 Ti could close the gap if VRAM capacity comes into play.
There are multiple facets of performance to discuss. We'll start with gaming performance, as that's what the majority of people looking at the RTX 5070 and RTX 5060 Ti 16GB care about the most. We have an expanded test suite of 21 games, with 15 rasterization benchmarks and six ray tracing benchmarks — slightly more than the 18 games we use in our GPU hierarchy (we're planning to add these into the hierarchy but haven't tested every GPU yet).The charts group things together by overall performance (geometric mean across all 21 games, where each gets equal weighting), rasterization-only performance, and ray tracing-only performance. We also have separate tables that show the percentage differences below the charts (sorted in reverse order due to the vagaries of Excel).
It's safe to say that neither the RTX 5070 nor the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB are primarily targeted at native 4K ultra gaming. The 1440p result works as a proxy for 4K with DLSS quality mode upscaling, and the 1080p result stands in for 4K with performance mode upscaling, though there would be potential differences. Upscaling does have some overhead, but since we're looking at two Nvidia GPUs we can expect a pretty consistent delta cause by DLSS. CPU bottlenecks would potentially affect performance at lower resolutions as well, which we can see by the results.At 4K, the RTX 5070 leads the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB by 32% on average, with a performance difference of -5% (Indiana Jones and the Great Circle) to +43% (A Plague Tale: Requiem). Indiana Jones is known to want a lot of VRAM — you can even run the ultra setting on cards with less than 12GB — while various other games appear to want more memory bandwidth.Dropping to 1440p, the 5070 lead shrinks fractionally to 31% overall, and this time there are no performance deficits. There may be a few other games out there that can push beyond 12GB of VRAM use, but from our test suite — a rather demanding suite overall, we'd say — 12GB remains sufficient in all games for 1440p, and in all but one of the games for 4K.1080p starts to run into CPU limits, even more so at medium settings, which shrinks the delta between the 5070 and 5060 Ti to 28% at ultra settings and 24% at medium settings. That's still a sizeable gap, with a few of the games showing basically equivalent performance due to the CPU bottleneck (Baldur's Gate 3, Flight Simulator 2020, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and Stalker 2 end up tied in one or both cases).Looking at the rasterization and ray tracing performance, overall there's not much difference at the various resolutions and settings. 4K ultra does run into VRAM limits on one of the RT games, so that the gap is slightly narrower there than at 1440p and 1080p, and our RT test suite does end up with lower FPS than the rasterization games at ultra settings. Medium settings with RT enabled actually runs faster on average for our test games, but only Control and Cyberpunk are truly demanding RT games in our title selection.
Our content creation test suite consists of a variety of test that all loosely fall into the "professional" category. We have multiple AI tests, 3D rendering benchmarks, video transcoding performance courtesy of SPEC Workstation 4.0, and the SPEC Workstation 4.0 Viewport benchmarks (basically the same tests as SPECviewperf).
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Benchmark
RTX 5070
RTX 5060 Ti 16GB
RTX 5070 vs. RTX 5060 Ti 16GB
Blender Monster
2996.2
2086.9
+43.6%
Blender Junkshop
1695.8
1132.6
+49.7%
Blender Classroom
1586.1
1130.6
+40.3%
Blender Overall Geomean
2004.9
1387.7
+44.5%
MLPerf Client 0.5 1st Token ms
159.0
214.0
-25.7%
MLPerf Client 0.5 Tokens/sec
111.7
84.2
+32.8%
SPEC WS4.0 GPU Handbrake
239.9
232.6
+3.1%
SPEC WS4.0 GPU Inference
61.5
46.6
+32.0%
Procyon SD1.5 512x512
2889.0
2027.0
+42.5%
Procyon SDXL 1024x1024
2476.0
1812.0
+36.6%
Procyon AI Vision
4067.0
3406.0
+19.4%
SPEC WS4.0 SolidWorks
455.9
331.3
+37.6%
SPEC WS4.0 Medical
50.3
39.6
+27.0%
SPEC WS4.0 Maya
443.5
412.1
+7.6%
SPEC WS4.0 Energy
91.8
69.0
+33.1%
SPEC WS4.0 Creo
129.6
132.6
-2.3%
SPEC WS4.0 Catia
93.9
72.5
+29.4%
SPEC WS4.0 3ds Max
208.3
157.0
+32.7%
SPEC WS4.0 Overall Geomean
157.1
128.0
+22.8%
Overall Content Creation Geomean
391.3
303.2
+29.0%
As expected, the RTX 5070 generally walks away with the content creation crown. It's 45% faster in the Blender 3D rendering benchmarks, 33% faster in MLPerf text generation tokens per second, and 20–43 percent faster in the Procyon and SPEC AI tests that we ran. The 5060 Ti 16GB did have a faster time to first token in MLPerf, though it's possible that's due to updates to the benchmark (we'll recheck the 5070 in the near future, once our test rig isn't busy).For SPEC Workstation 4.0's Viewport tests, there's another instance of the 5060 Ti 16GB garnering a win — it's 2% faster in Creo. But overall the 5070 still has a 23% lead. Handbrake video transcoding meanwhile ends up as a tie, which is expected as the fixed function encoding and decoding hardware is the same, so the only difference would be GPU clocks during that test.Neither GPU is specifically marketed as a professional solution, though we anticipate there will be professional variants of both chips (with more VRAM and drivers that enable additional accelerations in some of the SPEC Viewport tests). Mostly, the AI results are interesting as a hobbyist solution, though it's possible future games might leverage the AI hardware more.
Which is better: RTX 5070 or RTX 5060 Ti 16GB? Price, as we said at the start, will arguably be the biggest factor in deciding between the RTX 5070 and RTX 5060 Ti 16GB. It's also the one thing that we can't really pin down at present. Since the 5060 Ti launched just a few days ago, pricing and availability are more likely to fluctuate in the near term. The 5070 has been out for a month now, and we have a better idea of what to expect.
First, let's talk about MSRPs and performance. On paper, Nvidia gives the 5060 Ti 16GB a $429.99 MSRP and the 5070 has a $549.99 MSRP — so $430 and $550. That means the 5070 is supposed to cost 28% more than the 5060 Ti 16GB. And based on the performance results, that's exactly in line with what you get.
Linear performance scaling generally means you're better off buying the more expensive card — we would normally expect to see diminishing returns. So if you buy an RTX 5060 Ti 16GB at MSRP and get 0.171 FPS/$ across our gaming tests, versus the RTX 5070 with 0.170 FPS/$, we give the win to the 5070. The reason is because the GPU doesn't exist in a vacuum; there's the rest of the PC to consider.
Alternatively, let's talk current street prices. These will change dramatically over time, but we can currently find an RTX 5060 Ti 16GB for $509.98, or an RTX 5070 for $619.98. That's the second pair of tables in the above gallery, which obviously skews in favor of the 5070 at current prices. And that's what you need to look at, first and foremost.
Finally, imagine a PC where the CPU, motherboard, SSD, RAM, PSU, and case together cost $750 for example. Now you're looking at a total cost of $1,180 for the 5060 Ti 16GB compared to $1,300 for the 5070 build (using the base MSRPs for the GPUs). That works out to just 10% more total money for about the same 25~30 percent performance uplift. It's what the last set of tables above show, and again, it favors the 5070 heavily.
Given the 25~30 percent performance advantage of the RTX 5070 over the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB, spending up to 30% more on the RTX 5070 would make sense. It's the clear winner at current online prices, or at the given MSRPs. In fact, we would argue that it's worth spending up to 40% more for the 5070 compared to the 5060 Ti, as we normally expect diminishing returns.
We don't know where prices will end up, in the U.S. or elsewhere, but you can use the above 30–40 percent figure as a guideline. If the RTX 5070 were to cost $550, we wouldn't recommend spending more than $425 on the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB — and $400 would be better. Conversely, if the best price you can find on the RTX 5070 ends up being $700, then the 5060 Ti 16GB would be worth $500 to at most $540. (And you can replace the dollar signs with whatever monetary symbol you choose.)
Long-term, we expect both GPUs will trend toward about a 30% higher price for the RTX 5070 vs RTX 5060 Ti 16GB. Anything less makes the slower card very difficult to justify, even if it does technically offer more VRAM. So unless you specifically need a card with 16GB, perhaps to run a particular LLM, the RTX 5070 offers the better overall value right now, and will probably continue to do so in the future.
Jarred Walton is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware focusing on everything GPU. He has been working as a tech journalist since 2004, writing for AnandTech, Maximum PC, and PC Gamer. From the first S3 Virge '3D decelerators' to today's GPUs, Jarred keeps up with all the latest graphics trends and is the one to ask about game performance.
Tom's Hardware is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.
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New York,
NY 10036.
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The Anker SOLIX C1000 portable power station is currently available for a record-low price of only $449 on Amazon, reduced by 55% from the original price of $999. This handy device is perfect for a wide range of applications from providing backup power during home outages to energizing outdoor camping excursions, road trips, or even remote work stations.
See SOLIX C1000 at Amazon
The SOLIX C1000 has a powerful 1056Wh LiFePO4 battery that can supply 1800W of continuous power and surge up to 2400W which makes it ideal for powering almost any home or outdoor device. With 11 ports of different types—including AC outlets, USB-A, USB-C, and a car socket—you can charge multiple devices at once ranging from laptops and smartphones to mini-fridges and power tools. The battery's long life (with a 3,000 full charge cycle rating over 10 years) ensures that it is a trusted companion for years to come.
The SOLIX C1000 also boasts an UltraFast recharging technology: You can recharge the battery from a standard AC outlet to 80% in just 43 minutes and get a full recharge in less than an hour. For eco-conscious users interested in renewable energy, the power station supports 600W of solar input (solar panels are sold separately) to charge fully in about 1.8 hours with similar solar panels.
Contrary to its superior power rating, the SOLIX C1000 is quite portable: It's 15% smaller than other similarly sized 1kWh units and weighs just shy of 13 kilograms: it is pretty simple to transport and carry around. The smart app that comes with it allows you to track power consumption in real time and adjust charging speeds according to your requirements.
If you're looking to maximize your investment, you should definitely consider the bundle option that includes a 200W solar panel which is currently discounted to $699 from $1,299. This package offers a complete off-grid power solution at a fraction of the original price and it is perfect if you want to embrace sustainable energy without sacrificing convenience.
See SOLIX C1000 + 200W Solar Panels at Amazon
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I can't believe they did it. Even before season one of The Last of Us was released, anyone who had played both Last of Us video games looked at a singular event in the second game as a major TV question mark. Could that happen on TV? How would people react? Surely, it would be changed in some manner because there was simply no way. Well, Sunday's second episode of The Last of Us season two not only had that moment in it, it had it happen at the same time as the game, which is almost as shocking as the moment itself. Almost.
We're talking, of course, about the death of Joel. Yes, we're sorry to inform you, but that actually happened. You thought you were watching a Pedro Pascal show and now Pedro Pascal's character is dead. It's an event that's going to set the stage for everything that follows this season and next.
Of course, we're getting a little ahead of ourselves. Joel's death came at the end of an already incredible episode featuring the biggest and scariest action scenes to date in The Last of Us. You don't want to forget all that simply because of the ending. So let's get back to Joel in a bit.
Just to hammer home that, yes, it's going to happen, the second episode started with the same character as the first one: Abby. She's in a hospital, terrified, when she sees herself and tells the other her not to go into the room. Someone's brains are on the floor. Abby wakes up from the nightmare on the floor too. She and her team found a cabin outside of Jackson and now, in the daylight, notice just how big it is. They realize that infiltrating the city, as well as finding Joel, will be all but impossible. Nevertheless, Abby wants to press on, even though the rest of the group secretly decides they need to convince her to go back to Seattle.
Down in Jackson, Jesse wakes up Ellie to go on patrol and razzes her about kissing his ex the night before. It's a tense morning because someone discovered that the infected have a new trick where they put a handful of bodies on top of the snow, hiding dozens below it. That means the whole town is on alert and Tommy holds a meeting to go over their elaborate emergency plans. It's a good piece of story and a nice bit of exposition because, well, they're going to need it.
After all but ignoring an apology from Seth, the homophobic commenter from the party, Ellie says she wants to go out on patrol with Joel. This is odd because last we saw them, they weren't talking. Now though, she implies they've buried the hatchet and are sick of everyone prying into their business. (No spoilers but… remember this.) Unfortunately, Jesse says Joel has already left with Dina. He wanted to go with her, but decided to let her sleep.
And so it's Jesse and Ellie heading out together as the people of Jackson make preparations for the worst. There's also a huge storm cloud on the horizon too but Jesse says he's not worried about it. That changes quickly, though, and Jackson calls everyone out on patrol back to the city. However, Joel and Dina don't answer and Ellie and Jesse say they're too far to get back. They shelter in an old 7-11. There, we learn more about Gail's husband Eugene, who Joel killed, and he seems like he was a pretty cool guy.
Abby is keeping watch on everything going on when she sees two people on horses. She goes down to investigate but slips and falls down the side of a mountain. She winds up in a field exactly like the one Jesse described earlier, except much, much bigger. Jesse said seven bodies were hiding another 30. Here, there are probably 70 bodies on the surface so, yeah. This is bad. Abby isn't aware of this though so is terrified when the ground starts to collapse and infected start to pour out. Hundreds. Thousands. Who knows? But the race is on and even though Abby is clearly a villain at this point on the show, we find ourselves cheering for her to get away.
This whole chase is wildly entertaining and intense as Abby narrowly avoids capture a few times, before eventually finding herself stuck between a building and a chain-link fence littered with infected. She's about to be eaten, crushed, or both when someone comes out of nowhere and saves her. It's Joel.
Here's a good moment to say: really? What are the odds of this happening? Jackson has so many citizens and for Abby to be out in the surrounding area and just so happen to run into the one person she has traveled across the country for feels way too easy. Or, if you look at it another way, maybe this was karma finally coming for Joel. The world's way to right the wrongs of his actions. It's certainly something to think about.
Joel saves Abby, and as they and Dina try to figure out a place to go, Abby suggests the nearby cabin where her friends are. Clever girl. Off they go as a massive, massive horde of infected chases them. Eventually, another horde joins the chase and things look bleak. But that's when things cut to Jackson and people working on the pipes. The living plants we saw at the end of last week seem to sense this is where the people are and, well, out of nowhere, the hordes change direction. They give up on Joel, Dina, and Abby and head the other way.
This is also about when Tommy realizes Joel and Dina haven't radioed back in so Jesse and Ellie, who have been in Eugene's 7-11, decide to set off into the storm like Han Solo on Hoth, desperate to find their friends at whatever the cost.
The person who saw the living plants runs to tell Tommy about it, but that's also when the lookout sees thousands upon thousands running toward the city. They ring the bell. It's time to take emergency measures as everything bad that could happen all happens at exactly the same time. Almost like it's supposed to.
What follows is, without a doubt, the biggest action scene in The Last of Us history. (Which, we admit, isn't a long history, but this is still a huge step above everything else.) Thousands of infected hammer on the walls of Jackson as people shoot them, drop barrels of gasoline that become bombs, and just try to survive. I'm not going to get into every detail, but it's an incredible scene, especially Tommy's fight with the Bloater when he unleashes an entire flame thrower on it.
On a normal show, you wouldn't be able to top a scene like that. But, on The Last of Us, as epic as the invasion scene is, it's about to be eclipsed by what happens once Joel and Dina got back to Abby's cabin. Her friends take her and the strangers in and everything is nice… until Abby reveals the man's name is Joel. Instantly, the entire vibe changes. The switch goes from “kind” to “evil,” and the group starts to carry out a plan they have clearly been talking about for years.
They put Dina to sleep and Abby starts in. She's given this speech a million times in her head and it shows. She wants Joel to slowly realize who she is and why they're there. It gets taken up a notch when she shoots him in the leg and has him wrapped in a tourniquet. She doesn't want him to bleed too much. She wants him to suffer.
Abby explains that she's the daughter of the doctor Joel killed in the hospital and that he killed 18 other people beyond that. As she goes on, Joel slowly starts to realize there's no way out of this. He accepts his fate and tries to get her to kill him quickly. Abby refuses. She beats him with a golf club, just like in the game. It's sinister. It's intense. And, it's also kind of deserved. Yes, Joel saved Ellie, but at what cost? Nineteen lives? Millions more if they made a cure? Since he's the star of the show, we're supposed to feel sympathy for him, but step back and think about the other point of view for a minute. It's a classic Last of Us moral dilemma.
Ellie sees tracks in the snow and follows them to the cabin. Inside, she quickly realizes what's happening and tries to intervene. She gets a slash or two in before she's restrained and forced to look at the bloody mess on the floor she knows is Joel. She screams at him to get up but he can't. He's all but gone. Then, Abby takes the golf club that she snapped in two after beating him so badly and stabs him in the neck. Joel is dead. Ellie vows she's going to kill everyone there but they leave her alive anyway. That's their code.
Back in Jackson, the horde has been defeated, but the destruction and casualties are beyond measure. We see the people of Jackson start to regroup. Abby and her friends begin their trip back to Seattle, and Jesse and Dina bring Ellie, and Joel's body, back to town.
This was an episode of The Last of Us that none of us will ever forget. If you played the game and knew Joel was going to die, you can't believe you got to see it on TV. If you didn't play the game, you probably still don't believe that it actually happened. It did happen. Pedro Pascal just died on the show you watched for Pedro Pascal. What does that mean for Ellie, the people of Jackson, Abby, and others? We'll find out throughout the rest of the season and next.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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Recreating that key moment from The Last of Us Part II for TV was an undertaking for its cast and its co-creators.
Plus, Daredevil: Born Again's Aaron Moorehead weighs in on the "Foggy faked his death" theory.
Come on by and share your thoughts on the moment The Last of Us fans have been anticipating and dreading for years.
Plus, find out which Last of Us survivor wishes they had a stronger fence.
Season two of the HBO series introduces Dever's take on the controversial video game character.
Based on the PlayStation video game, season 2 of the hit HBO show stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.
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Meta is using AI technology to search for kids who are lying about their age on Instagram in order to bypass safeguards, the company announced on Monday. When Meta finds an account that it suspects belongs to a teen, the platform will enroll them into a restricted Teen Account, even if the account lists an adult birthday.
Teen Accounts, which launched on Instagram last year, enroll young users into an app experience with built-in protections. The safeguards are applied to teens automatically, and limit who can contact a teen on the app and restrict the type of content the account holder can view. Teens under the age of 16 need their parents' permission to change any of these settings.
Instagram has been using AI to determine age for quite some time, but now the social network confirms it's using the technology to ensure that teens are accessing Instagram via a Teen Account rather than an adult one.
The company told TechCrunch last year that it had planned to do this, and noted that some of the ways it would find accounts that belong to teens who entered a fake adult birthday is by detecting happy birthday posts and receiving reports from other users.
Instagram says that it's taking steps to ensure that its technology is accurate and that it's correctly placing teens into Teen Accounts. However, in case the company does make a mistake, it's giving people the option to change their settings.
“The digital world continues to evolve and we have to evolve with it,” the company wrote in its blog post. “That's why it's important that we work together with parents to make sure as many teens as possible have the protective settings that come with Teen Accounts.”
Instagram also announced that it's going to begin sending notifications to parents that include information about how they can discuss the importance of providing the correct age online with their teens. The platform notes that one of the most important ways parents can make sure their teens are in protected accounts is to check if their account lists their correct birthday.
Today's announcement comes two weeks after Meta introduced Teen Accounts to Facebook and Messenger.
Meta says it has enrolled at least 54 million teens into Teen Accounts globally so far, and that 97% of teens ages 13-15 have remained in these protected accounts.
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Aisha is a consumer news reporter at TechCrunch. Prior to joining the publication in 2021, she was a telecom reporter at MobileSyrup. Aisha holds an honours bachelor's degree from University of Toronto and a master's degree in journalism from Western University.
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Having a second screen handy has become a necessity for anyone who is working, gaming, or creating on the go. The MNN 15.6-inch portable monitor sold on Amazon provides an ideal combination of mobility, performance and value that makes it a great accessory to improve productivity. Originally debuted about two years ago for roughly $190, this multi-purpose monitor is now available on Amazon for just $61—a price near a record low and an incredible bargain given its debut price.
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Picture yourself working from a busy coffee shop or a small hotel desk… and your laptop screen by itself simply won't do. Using this monitor, you can quite easily double up on your screen space so that multitasking becomes effortless. Whether you need to consult documents while writing emails, keep a video call on screen while taking notes, or simply prefer to watch a movie on a larger, brighter display, this monitor brings the convenience of your home office wherever you may be. Its 1920×1080 Full HD IPS panel displays sharp and clear graphics with a wide 178-degree viewing angle, which means colors stay true and details remain clear no matter how you tilt the screen.
The MNN monitor also serves gamers and content creators: Hooking up to your laptop, gaming console, or even phone is easy with two full-feature USB-C ports and an HDMI input which support everything from the latest MacBooks to the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation consoles. Plug and play capability means you won't waste time with annoying setups: just plug in one cable and you're ready to go. HDR support and speakers enhance your entertainment experience and turn this slim screen into a great immersive on-the-go gaming or movie streaming companion.
It's also weighs a lot less than many tablets and slips easily into a backpack or briefcase. The included smart cover doubles as a sturdy stand and protective case so that your display is ready for action whether you're working from a park bench or a train seat. And by the way, this lightweight construction doesn't come at the expense of durability.
At $61, this MNN 15.6-inch portable monitor is not only a fraction of its original $190 price but it is also one of the best values you'll find for a portable display of this quality. It's a rare opportunity to grab a high-performance second screen at a price that's almost unheard of (except during Black Friday) whether you're working from home, traveling the world, or just want more space to play and create.
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We're kind of in a no-mans-zone for big deals days. We're well past the winter holiday season and still have over a month before Memorial Day comes up. The good news is that even those these sales events are well off in the distance, you can still find some great deals and discounts on consumer tech if you look hard enough. Take for instance this Samsung monitor. This 27″ FHD display is normally priced at $190, but right now it is part of a limited time deal. This hefty discount brings the price down by 32% to a measly $130—saving you $60.
Measuring in at 27″ with a Full HD resolution of 1080p, this is a perfectly serviceable monitor. It has a refresh rate of 75 Hz. For gamers, you won't be getting ridiculously high detail and frame rates, but what you are getting is a size-able display that does its job for just over $100. It does have AMD FreeSync which can allows for smooth and consistent frame rates at least.
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For non-gamers, this is a great option for someone who deals in spreadsheets that just needs a larger screen than they're laptop has so they can view more at once—or someone who likes to have multiple windows in view at once.
The bezel is nice and thin, so you can experience a near-borderless display. You'll be looking at more picture and less plastic while hanging out on the computer.
As far as ports, on the back you'll find the AC power along with a DisplayPort and two HDMI ports so you can have multiple devices hooked up at once and switch between inputs with ease. The USB hub allows you to plug in your mouse and keyboard directly to the monitor and still work on your laptop. It's sort of an all-in-one docking station for those who aren't looking for a crazy complicated setup but still more than just working off the laptop.
The Samsung FT45 monitor itself has height-adjustable stand which can also be tilted to your ideal viewing angle. It also supports wall mounts or multimonitor setups if you want to mount to a singular arm holding all your monitors.
This monitor is designed to be easy on the eyes. Eye Saver mode and flicker free technology are there to help reduce eye strain, especially during long working hours.
This 27″ Full HD monitor from Samsung is down to a significantly reduced price at the moment. Going for a solid 32% off, the price has been shaved down from $190 to just $130 for a limited time over at Amazon.
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8/10
Panasonic-owned hi-fi brand Technics scored a surprise hit with 2023's fantastic EAH-AZ80 wireless earbuds (9/10, WIRED Recommends). The premium pair quickly became a top pick for me, thanks to their stylish looks, great fit and features, and stellar sound quality. So, a first look at the AZ80's sequel at CES 2025 promising even better sound had my heart all in a twitter.
It's always tough to follow a chart topper, but the AZ100 successfully succeed their predecessor in most ways that count, led by richer and more vivid sound from their new magnetic ferro-fluid drivers and revamped acoustic housings. They also bring advanced features like support for Spatial Audio and Bluetooth LE Audio, and stealthier yet still suitably flashy style.
The new fit, while more compact, feels less ergonomic to my ears, and I wish Technics had stepped up the noise canceling more to close in on leaders like Bose's QuietComfort Ultra. Those points aside, the AZ100 are another Technics hit thanks to premium digs and sound quality that stands tall among the very best wireless earbuds you can buy.
As glitzy as the AZ80 are, the AZ100 raise the stakes with a slimmer and sleeker design. The signature sparkling accents that recall Technics turntables return, now with even more metallic floss around the rims and smaller, less obtrusive endcaps. At 6 grams per side, they've lost a gram of heft, but their new shape doesn't slip into my ears with the driving-glove fit of the AZ80, tending to wear a bit more over time. There are also fewer ear tips to try (five compared to seven), but the Technics app assisted me in finding a stable and relatively comfy fit.
The AZ100's charging case is modestly slimmer and drops a full 8 grams to 42, making it among the smallest in its class. That doesn't leave a ton of room for the battery, offering less than two earbud fill-ups on the go. Luckily, the buds themselves pack plenty of playback time, with up to 10 hours per charge with noise canceling for standard Bluetooth, or seven hours with LDAC lossless connection. That's more than you'll get from buds like Bose's QC Ultra or Apple's AirPods Pro (8/10, WIRED Recommends), and it's a noticeable upgrade over the older pair.
Technics EAH-AZ100
Rating: 8/10
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Technics is no slouch in the feature department, and the latest pair offers just about every modern feature you could want. You'll find all the basics like auto-pause sensors, a multiband EQ, Google Fast Pair, and an Earbuds Finder, with customization available in the Technics app. In fact, virtually everything is customizable for an almost dizzying array of options. If there's something you don't like, from how the buds relay video sync to how your voice sounds on calls, there's likely an adjustment available.
Not everything feels as polished as Apple's AirPods Pro, the software leader in the space. The AZ100's call suppression feature, for instance, does a great job killing ambient noise around your voice (or even the voice on the other end), but it makes you sound a bit sterile and robotic in the process. The app itself sometimes refused to load, forcing me to refresh it, though it was otherwise stable.
Multitaskers will be pleased to see the return of three-device multipoint pairing, letting you easily swap between your computer, tablet, and phone over Bluetooth, with no brand loyalty required. Speaking of Bluetooth, you'll not only get support for regular codecs like AAC and LDAC over Bluetooth 5.3, but also Bluetooth LE Audio, which should futureproof the buds for next-gen wireless streaming.
The AZ100's touch controls are responsive, customizable, and comprehensive, with default options for playback, calling, volume, and ambient audio at the ready. The layout is a tad confusing at first, but I appreciate the ability to accomplish just about any task without grabbing your phone.
I often save the sound performance for last, but the AZ100's sound is too good to hold off any longer. Like most hi-fi buds, they provide a slow and steady revelation of their skills. The further you drill down, the better they sound.
When I first fired them up, I was surprised by the sound signature's warm and almost thick flavor, seeming more reliant on the bass and lower mids than expected. That said, I generally prefer a smoother touch in my hi-fi over sharp and zingy, and it didn't take long to find that the AZ100's warm entrance acts almost like a velvet backdrop on which instrumental textures and effects glitter like jewels in the light.
Technics EAH-AZ100
Rating: 8/10
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Like any great pair of headphones, you'll find yourself rediscovering songs you've heard dozens of times. Not everything steps up to a revelatory level, but well-recorded tracks are elevated. One example is St. Vincent's Digital Witness, which sounded almost like an alternative mix with the AZ100. Clark's vocals are haunting, with long reverb trails that hang in the air and slip into the sides of the mix. The groove's right side kick drum felt like it was popping directly in my ear, the horns cut with Sgt. Pepper grit and, for the first time, I noticed the instruments all going flat at the end of their staccato chorus. It's the little things.
The AZ100's new drivers deliver on their promise of cutting distortion, which leaves instruments brilliantly separated and fully exposed. Deep and rich timbres flow across the stereo image or double at the far sides with refined definition. Little moments like an extra breath or the click before a guitar strum surface effortlessly. All instruments sound great, but percussion is particularly lovely, arriving in sandpaper pulses and loads of colors that sneak out from little pockets along the height and width of each mix.
Only Sennheiser's Momentum 4 TW (7/10, WIRED Recommends) keep up for the money. I think the AZ100 has the edge for instrumental textures, while the Momentum sometimes do better carving out darker mixes. I occasionally found the AZ100's bass too heavy, but you can adjust that to order in the EQ, and I mostly just leaned back and let the buds do their thing.
Unlike their sound, the AZ100's active noise canceling is decidedly middle-rung for their class. After nearly two years between releases, a weightier upgrade would have been nice, but even middle-rung in this competitive segment is enough to fulfill most needs. In my AZ80 review, I called their noise canceling powerful enough to have folks sneaking up on you with light music playing, and the AZ100's Adaptive ANC is a skosh better. It satisfyingly silences HVAC hums and other annoyances in your home or office and quickly quells outdoor interruptions like construction work or landscaping.
In A/B testing in my acoustically treated studio with airplane drone effects, the AZ100 fared well against premium contenders like Sony's WF-1000XM5 (7/10, WIRED Recommends), though like the Momentum 4, they're less effective in higher frequencies like keystrokes and voices. The Momentum held an edge over the Technics for lower frequencies, while Beats' new Powerbeats Pro 2 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) did better with voices and keystrokes. All these models are obliterated by Bose's flagship QuietComfort Ultra, so if you have to have the best, it's an easy choice.
Technics EAH-AZ100
Rating: 8/10
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The AZ100's adjustable transparency mode is similarly good-not-great. Exterior sounds are slightly muddled and some higher frequencies are over-accentuated, but it's enough to keep you aware of your surroundings and carry on a conversation with soft music playing. I was pleased to find advanced transparency features like wind buffering and a limiter to suppress sudden loud noises like Apple's and Bose's flagship pairs.
For those who put sound quality first, Technics' AZ100 have few rivals in their class, with the sale-priced AZ80 perhaps the most enticing. If you're after new premium buds with premium sound to match, these earbuds are a top choice from an iconic brand.
Technics EAH-AZ100
Rating: 8/10
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An early February 2024 game between English Premier League contenders Liverpool and Arsenal was set to be a vital clash that would help determine the eventual league champion. Liverpool held a narrow lead in the league, but an Arsenal victory would draw them within just two points of overtaking their rivals in the standings.
I was lucky enough to be watching this vital match up close and decided to brag a bit: I texted a friend, a keen EPL fan, with a couple pictures of my pitch-side view. He was jealous, naturally, and also probably a bit confused at why a limited soccer fan like myself would be flying thousands of miles from my home in the western US all the way to the UK to watch a match between two clubs I have no connection to.
But it was a ruse!
I wasn't across the pond, even if the pics I sent my buddy sure looked like it. I was just 20 minutes from my home in Salt Lake City at the Cosm Experience Center, a facility on the University of Utah campus with a 65-foot, 8K screen. The game didn't just look real from pictures; it felt real for large chunks of the livestream, with the massive wraparound screen and thumping spatial audio system providing sights and sounds that truly made me feel like I was in the stadium.
My silly little trick isn't remotely novel, whether at this smaller SLC venue or one of Cosm's two larger locations in Los Angeles and Dallas, where the company showcases its “shared reality” immersive experiences. Cosm reps tell me people take photos of the screen all the time, searching for some way to adequately capture the feeling of being at one of the broadcasts. Like The Sphere, the wildly popular venue in Las Vegas, it's a jolt to feel such realism from digital displays—and to experience the roar of the crowd and a communal experience that's a far cry from simply watching the game at home.
Cosm offers multiple viewing angles for soccer games.
Cosm represents a growing trend in live sports experiences. The company made headlines when tickets for game 1 of the Yankees-Dodgers matchup in the 2024 World Series at its LA facility sold out in just seven minutes. Now the company is pioneering first-of-their-kind broadcasts across other leagues, including the NBA, NHL, and UFC.
I recently went back to the SLC facility for another demo. What I saw was a window into an immersive future—in sports, entertainment, and education—which can be accessed through any screen, from a towering Cosm dome to the phone in your pocket.
Cosm's history is fascinating, and it touches on the earliest days of immersive projection systems.
The company's roots in immersive tech date back decades, when said tech was pioneered for planetariums. The Cosm brand was born in 2020 when a leader in planetarium projection technology partnered with major entities in computer graphics and virtual reality. The name Cosm is derived from the collision of the Colosseum and the Cosmos.
Cosm proved its abilities in the immersive space through streaming feeds for VR coverage of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games and the 2022 FIFA World Cup, then opened its first official venues with large screens in LA and Dallas in 2024.
Those venues hold around 1,400 people, according to Cosm; the SLC venue I visited is much smaller, but has a similar setup. A lobby with huge LED screens welcomes visitors; classic stadium concessions are readily available, including seat-side delivery; like a real arena, seating is split into multiple levels.
Once I got inside, in front of me was that massive 8K screen—other Cosm venues use screens with even higher resolutions, including up to 12K—that took up my entire field of view and then some, wrapping around the sides of the venue and up over my head. The picture quality was insane; Cosm tells me its venues are the first true “black domes” in the industry, a design which minimizes issues like cross-reflection (an effect where light bounces off a display's surface in unpredictable ways, causing diminished clarity and brightness) and allows for incredibly rich visuals. When combined with the use of high-quality LED lights for the actual displays, the resulting visuals are breathtaking.
“The system contrast is 10 times that of what you can achieve with any projector,” Cosm chief operations officer Kirk Johnson tells me.
For sound, Cosm uses an array of speakers—16 speakers plus four subwoofers at the SLC facility; 38 speakers and 15 subwoofers at the LA and Dallas locations—affixed at various points directly behind the LED displays, which are permeable to allow sound through them. This allows Cosm to make noises and effects sound like they're coming from any part of the room, even seemingly behind me.
During hockey games, Cosm's camera angles can virtually put you right on the ice.
On the sports side, both the NBA (Cosm's first league partner) and NHL experiences are amazing. Cosm can put you courtside for NBA games, both at center court and on either baseline. The NHL program feels a touch more immersive than that, even, particularly a corner view that's technically from outside the glass, but truly makes you feel like you're standing on the rink itself.
UFC was another highlight. Cosm's standard UFC viewing angle is a perch just above the octagon, as if you were sitting on a magic carpet hovering a few feet off the ground; it's a far better view than I've ever seen on a UFC pay-per-view. “We had a few fights where there was blood on the lenses,” Cosm president and CEO Jeb Terry tells me.
If the crowd in an actual arena is doing the wave during one of the livestreamed games, fans inside the Cosm venue will join in as it reaches their section.
There are other views for UFC events as well, including octagon-side. Between bouts, it pans back to a wide shot in the stands.
“I feel like I have a seat in the crowd,” says Alon Cohen, UFC senior VP of research and development, of what it's like to watch a match at a Cosm venue. “It gives you a different experience than if you put on a set of VR glasses. It gives you a different experience than going to a Sphere where everything's so big.”
The view for UFC matches hovers over the octagon.
While the Sphere comparison is unavoidable at first, Cosm doesn't really consider the concert venue a competitor. They do such different things, even if both are enabled by incredible visual technology. “We both believe in an amazing human experience powered by technology, something that will wow you,” Terry says.
The non-sports experiences I sat through were just as impressive, including beautiful views of a performance of Cirque du Soleil's “O” stage show. Maybe most impressive, though, was Cosm's suite of tools that straddle between the worlds of entertainment and education.
First, Cosm brought me inside a true-life rendering of the Sistine Chapel. An engineer floated around the chapel using nothing but an Xbox controller; it felt like I was inside a drone flying around the room.
Cosm then showed me a bird's-eye rendering of the building we were sitting in and its surroundings; think Google Maps, but on steroids. From there, the view zoomed out as we were transported several hundred miles to the LA Cosm facility, with every inch of earth between the two locations mapped on the screen. We then zoomed out even further to see the entire country, then the entire world, the entire galaxy, and the entire known universe.
All of this is brought to life on Cosm's giant screen using a software platform called Digistar. It was originally developed to power computer graphics projections for planetariums in the 1980s and has evolved into a fully modern digital animation platform. (The company that developed Digistar is one of the handful that merged in 2021 to form Cosm.)
The system engineers tell me the Digistar software accurately maps every piece of space debris over one meter in size, including billions of stars and data points. Cosm folks tell me kids love this exercise of flying around the universe; it left my head spinning a bit.
With many of Cosm's main offerings, sports especially, it's about more than just the graphics and the visual quality. It's the communal experience. The Cosm folks tell me that if the crowd in an actual arena is doing the wave during one of the livestreamed games, fans inside the Cosm venue will join in as it reaches their section. When a UFC fight ends in a knockout, everyone jumps out of their seat like they would if they were actually there.
“You feel like you're in this space with people where that's the appropriate reaction,” Cohen says. “The reactions you [get in Cosm] are the reactions you get in the arena.”
The actual Cosm facilities, however, are just one piece of the company's overall role in the immersive space. The company hopes to eventually get its flavor of content into other facilities and onto other platforms.
Cosm's tech also powers planetariums around the world.
Even as it has expanded into sports and other forms of entertainment, Cosm has maintained a strong foothold in planetariums and similar educational venues. Europe's first ever LED dome, the Prague Planetarium, integrates Cosm's CX System backend technology. The company has been involved with facilities like the Arizona Science Center, the MOSI Saunders Planetarium in Tampa Bay, Florida, and the Shanghai Astronomy Museum. Cosm's tech powers over 700 planetariums around the world.
Among its most recent ventures was at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, where in December 2024 Cosm helped convert the Texas museum's decommissioned Omni IMAX theater into a 360-degree immersive dome, complete with 12,000 LED panels. This dome hosts all sorts of content, from Cosm-produced films to various educational programs for all ages; that same zoom-out-to-the-entire-universe feature I saw at my demo is a regular part of programming, for instance.
“It doesn't just function as a regular screen. It can sort of be anything and do anything,” says Nikki Diller, VP of collections, interpretations, and programs for the museum. “People say the sky is the limit. I say the known universe is the limit, because that's part of what our planetarium software can do.”
Like many other entities using the tech, the Fort Worth Museum is still figuring out the best ways to bring it to new audiences. The museum and various other Cosm partners have tried a number of approaches, from live orchestra performances to trivia and karaoke.
Cosm has also positioned itself as a central hub in the growing immersive entertainment space, one that some refer to broadly as “180 video”—a bit of a misnomer, as many of Cosm's programs take up much more than 180 degrees in the field of view. Because Cosm has already done all the backend formatting, the platform can serve as a clearing house for content outside the giant dome setting.
Cosm can easily port its experiences over to VR, for instance. It can also provide ready-made content for smartphone-based “immersive” experiences where users move their devices around to engage with a 3D space.
Fans take in an immersive basketball game at a Cosm venue.
Many of the NBA's courtside VR game experiences, which place viewers right at court level with viewpoints on both baselines and at the center-court scorer's table, are produced by Cosm. On the combat side, the company is involved with VR and phone-based experiences efforts for both UFC and WWE alike.
New immersive Cosm facilities in Atlanta and Detroit are set to open in 2026, the latter of which will contain betting-focused elements, due to the legality of sports gambling in Michigan. Terry says the company hopes to announce several other venues in the near future. Those who have worked with Cosm tend to be extremely optimistic about the company's potential.
“I am bullish on Cosm,” Cohen tells me, before comparing the company's potential to another unique in-person experience, TopGolf; the driving-range chain has over 100 locations around the world. “That's at least how many Cosms there ought to be. These things have a much smaller footprint, they fit in more places. Any major city that has a certain number of people should have a Cosm.”
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The incidence of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) has been escalating annually, positioning it as the leading cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Ursolic acid has demonstrated promising therapeutic efficacy in managing MASLD, thereby justifying the need for an in-depth exploration of its pharmacological mechanisms. This study aimed to investigate elucidate the therapeutic mechanisms by which ursolic acid modulates estrogen conversion in the treatment of MASLD.
Building upon prior studies that have highlighted the potent anti-inflammatory effects of ursolic acid and its specific targeting of 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 14 (HSD17B14), this investigation employed a western diet to induce MASLD in murine models with varying severities over different time intervals.
The protein expression of HSD17B14 initially increased, followed by a subsequent decrease. This trend was accompanied by corresponding changes in 17β-estradiol (E2) and estrone (E1) levels. Intervention with ursolic acid resulted in a reduction in HSD17B14 and E1 levels during the phase of high HSD17B14 expression, while simultaneously elevating E2 levels. In steatotic hepatocytes, E1 promoted cellular inflammation, whereas E2 exhibited anti-inflammatory effects. However, the alleviated effects of E2 were antagonized by HSD17B14. As expected, ursolic acid modulated HSD17B14, thereby mitigating the inflammatory response in steatotic hepatocytes.
HSD17B14, a crucial enzyme regulating the balance between E1 and E2, catalyzes the conversion of estrogen E2 into E1, thereby exacerbating tissue inflammation induced by metabolic stress. Ursolic acid, by modulating HSD17B14-mediated estrogen conversion, appears to ameliorate immune-related inflammation in MASLD.
Xia & He Publishing Inc.
Gu, S., et al. (2025). Ursolic Acid Modulates Estrogen Conversion to Relieve Inflammation in Metabolic Dysfunction-associated Steatotic Liver Disease via HSD17B14. Journal of Clinical and Translational Hepatology. doi.org/10.14218/jcth.2024.00414.
Posted in: Medical Science News | Medical Research News | Medical Condition News
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Rafael E. Carazo Salas
CellVoyant leverages AI and live-cell imaging to predict cellular behavior, transforming cell therapy development and making it more accessible and efficient.
Roya Amini-Naieni
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Dr. Pascale Allotey advocates for comprehensive maternal health policies, stressing the importance of women's voices in shaping effective healthcare solutions.
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A new research paper was published in Aging (Aging-US) Volume 17, Issue 3, on March 14, 2025, titled "Effects of a natural ingredients-based intervention targeting the hallmarks of aging on epigenetic clocks, physical function, and body composition: a single-arm clinical trial."
A team of researchers, led by first authors Natalia Carreras-Gallo and Rita Dargham, and corresponding author Varun B. Dwaraka from TruDiagnostic, studied how a natural anti-aging supplement called the Cel System might influence the aging process. They found that participants who took the supplement for one year showed a reduction in biological age, along with improved muscle strength and body composition. The study highlights the potential of lifestyle and nutritional supplements to support healthy aging.
"The Cel System supplement range was formulated to target pathways associated with the Hallmarks of Aging when combining Cel1, Cel2, and Cel3 formulas."
Cel System is a natural supplement made from a mix of plant compounds, vitamins, and antioxidants designed to target the biological mechanisms associated with aging. Over the course of a year, 51 adults between the ages of 54 and 84 participated in the clinical trial. The group included 26 men and 25 women. Researchers tracked changes in biological age using DNA-based tests known as epigenetic clocks, along with physical performance and body composition metrics. Participants were also encouraged to walk for 10 minutes and practice mindfulness for five minutes daily.
Results showed that participants experienced improvements in grip strength, lower body mobility, and reductions in body weight, waist circumference, and body mass index. These physical gains were supported by slower biological aging, as measured by multiple epigenetic clocks. In addition, the supplement appeared to reduce stem cell turnover, a key marker of aging at the cellular level.
The study also reported changes in immune cell composition, suggesting that the supplement may help regulate immune function as people age. Biomarkers associated with liver function also shifted, pointing to potential improvements in organ health. However, levels of inflammation markers did not significantly change.
Analysis of methylation chemical marks on DNA revealed that the supplement influenced gene activity related to stress response, brain function, and cell communication. These molecular-level changes may help explain the broader benefits seen in physical and biological aging measures.
Although this was a pilot study without a control group, the findings suggest that the Cel System supplement shows potential for reducing signs of aging and improving overall health. The authors suggest future randomized controlled trials with larger sample sizes to confirm these results and explore the supplement's long-term effects on longevity.
This study adds to growing evidence that targeted natural supplements may slow biological aging and extend healthspan. By combining epigenetic analysis with real-world health data, the findings offer new insight into how nutraceuticals, like Cel System, could promote long-term health and resilience.
Aging-US
Carreras-Gallo, N., et al. (2025). Effects of a natural ingredients-based intervention targeting the hallmarks of aging on epigenetic clocks, physical function, and body composition: a single-arm clinical trial. Aging. doi.org/10.18632/aging.206221.
Posted in: Medical Science News | Medical Research News
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Rafael E. Carazo Salas
CellVoyant leverages AI and live-cell imaging to predict cellular behavior, transforming cell therapy development and making it more accessible and efficient.
Roya Amini-Naieni
Dr. Allotey
Dr. Pascale Allotey advocates for comprehensive maternal health policies, stressing the importance of women's voices in shaping effective healthcare solutions.
News-Medical.Net provides this medical information service in accordance
with these terms and conditions.
Please note that medical information found
on this website is designed to support, not to replace the relationship
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A new study asked three questions about muscle protein synthesis in response to a nine-day diet and weight training regimen: First, does the source of protein - plant or animal-based - make any difference to muscle gain? Second, does it matter if total daily protein intake is evenly distributed throughout the day? And third, does a moderate but sufficient daily protein intake influence any of these variables? The answer to all three questions is "no," the researchers found.
Their findings are reported in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.
"The longstanding belief or the current dogma was that animal-based protein sources were better, particularly for the muscle-building response," said Nicholas Burd, a professor of health and kinesiology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who led the new study with former graduate student Andrew Askow. This belief was rooted in science: Previous studies that took muscle biopsies after a single feeding found that an animal-based meal provided more of a stimulus for muscle protein synthesis than a vegan meal, Burd said. "And so, our general hypothesis based on these previous studies was that the animal-based eating pattern would be more effective at supporting the muscle-building response."
But measurements taken after a single meal might not reflect the effects of consuming a balanced vegan diet over time, Burd said.
One previous clinical trial had looked at muscle responses in vegans and omnivores who ate a laboratory diet and engaged in weight training for 10 weeks. That study found no significant differences in muscle protein synthesis over time. However, volunteers in that study consumed 1.6-1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, which is much higher than what is needed to maximize muscle protein synthesis and build bigger muscles with weight lifting, Burd said. It also gave those on the vegan diet the bulk of their plant protein in supplements, which is not a realistic recreation of how vegans normally eat, he said.
Burd and his colleagues wanted to know whether the habitual consumption of a varied vegan or meat-based diet of whole foods - rather than ingestion of just a single meal or getting one's protein from limited sources - would influence the rate of muscle protein synthesis over time. They also wanted to test the hypothesis that a moderate protein intake - in the range of 1.1-1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day - should be distributed evenly throughout the day to maximize muscle growth.
A previous study from Burd's lab found that protein intakes higher than 1.1 g/kg per day make no difference to the rate of muscle protein synthesis when weight training. This amount of protein also is more in line with a typical American diet, and testing what people normally eat is important, he said.
For the new study, the team recruited 40 healthy, physically active 20-40-year-old adults. The participants underwent a seven-day "habituation diet" to standardize their nutritional status prior to the clinical trial. Then they were randomly assigned to either a vegan or omnivorous diet. The research team provided all meals, some of which were eaten in the lab while most were consumed at home. Roughly 70% of the protein for the omnivorous meals was obtained from animal sources: beef, pork, chicken, dairy, eggs. The vegan diet balanced the amino acid content of the meals, ensuring that participants consumed complete proteins.
The vegan and omnivorous groups were each divided again into those who ate roughly the same amount of protein at each of three meals and those whose protein intake varied across five meals throughout the day, with a larger proportion of protein consumed toward the end of the day.
All participants engaged in a series of muscle-strengthening activities in the lab every three days. They also wore accelerometers to keep track of their activity levels when not in the lab.
Each day, participants drank "heavy" water, which was labeled with deuterium, a stable isotope of hydrogen. The deuterium atoms "exchanged with hydrogen atoms within amino acids to make them heavy and served as tracers" that allowed the team to trace their incorporation into muscle tissue, Burd said. Biopsies of tissue from a leg muscle were taken at the beginning and end of the trial.
Burd was initially surprised to see that there were no differences in rates of muscle protein synthesis between those eating vegan or omnivorous diets. He also was surprised to see that protein distribution across the day had no effect on the rate of muscle building given results from past studies of acute responses to dietary interventions and weight training.
"It was thought that it was better to get a steady-state delivery of nutrients throughout the day," he said. "I also thought that if you're getting a lower quality protein - in terms of its digestibility and amino acid content - that perhaps distribution would make a difference. And surprisingly, we showed it doesn't matter."
Now, Burd says, if anyone asks him what's the best type of food they should eat for muscle building, he'll tell them: "It's the kind you put in your mouth after exercise. As long as you're getting sufficient high-quality protein from your food, then it really doesn't make a difference."
The Beef Checkoff program, overseen by the National Cattlemen's Beef Board, supported this research.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Askow, A. T., et al. (2025). Impact of Vegan Diets on Resistance Exercise-Mediated Myofibrillar Protein Synthesis in Healthy Young Males and Females: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. doi.org/10.1249/mss.0000000000003725.
Posted in: Medical Science News | Medical Research News
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Scientists from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and University of Las Vegas Nevada (UNLV) have uncovered a genetic link between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and a rare genetic condition called myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1). The study, published today in Nature Neuroscience, suggests that while ASD has previously been characterized by a loss of gene function, another mechanism may be leading to the social behaviours often observed in individuals with ASD.
DM1 is an inherited condition which causes progressive muscle loss and weakness. While ASD is present in around one per cent of the general population, it is 14 times more likely to develop in people with DM1.
The study revealed that the genetic variation that causes DM1 - tandem repeat expansions (TREs) in the DMPK gene - also impacts brain development. The research team found that the effects of TREs interfere with a critical process called gene splicing, which is essential for gene function. The disruption causes a protein imbalance that can result in mis-splicing of multiple genes involved in brain function, and may explain why some of the social and behavioural outcomes of ASD develop in people with DM1.
Our findings represent a new way to characterize the genetic development of autism. By identifying the molecular pathway behind this connection, we can begin to investigate new approaches to ASD diagnosis and the development of precision therapies that release these proteins back into the genome."
Dr. Ryan Yuen, Senior Scientist in the Genetics & Genome Biology program, SickKids
TREs occur when sections of a DNA strand are repeated two or more times, and the likelihood of those repeats causing errors in gene function increases each time.
In 2020 Yuen discovered that TREs are genetic contributors to autism, identifying more than 2,588 different places in the genome where TREs were much more prevalent in people with ASD. Similarly, people with DM1 have a TRE in the DMPK gene.
"A variation really stood out to me that we see in rare neuromuscular disease," says Dr. Łukasz Sznajder, a research lead and Assistant Professor at UNLV. "This is how we started connecting the dots. We found a molecular link, or overlap, which we believe is the core of causing autistic symptoms in children with myotonic dystrophy."
As the tandem repeat expands in the DMPK gene, the research team, including collaborators at the University of Florida and Adam Mickiewicz University (Poland), found its altered RNA binds to a protein that is involved in gene splicing regulation during brain development. This so-called "toxic RNA" depletes the protein and prevents it from binding to other RNA molecules in important areas of the genome, causing a protein imbalance which results in mis-splicing other genes.
"TREs are like a sponge that absorbs all these important proteins from the genome. Without this protein, other areas of the genome don't function properly," explains Yuen.
The Yuen Lab and Sznajder Lab are already exploring whether this mis-splicing is happening in other genes associated with ASD, as well as how their findings could inform precision therapies that release these proteins back into the genome.
Some of this work is already underway. In 2020, Dr. Christopher Pearson, Senior Scientist in the Genetics & Genome Biology program at SickKids, identified a molecule that can contract TREs in Huntington's disease. While more research is needed to identify how this could be applied to other conditions, the team remains optimistic their findings could inform future research and care for DM1, ASD and other conditions.
This study was funded by the Azrieli Foundation, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation, Muscular Dystrophy Association, the UNVL startup fund, the University of Florida Centre for Autism and Neurodevelopment, the National Science Centre, Poland, SickKids Research Institute, Brain Canada, the Government of Ontario, the University of Toronto McLaughlin Centre, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), The Petroff Family Foundation, Tribute Communities, The Marigold Foundation and SickKids Foundation.
The Hospital for Sick Children
Sznajder, Ł. J., et al. (2025). Autism-related traits in myotonic dystrophy type 1 model mice are due to MBNL sequestration and RNA mis-splicing of autism-risk genes. Nature Neuroscience. doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-01943-0.
Posted in: Child Health News | Genomics | Medical Research News
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Ticks are more likely to carry the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease in areas where pheasants are released, new research shows.
Pheasants are not native to the UK, but about 47 million are released here each year for recreational shooting.
Researchers studied ticks in 25 woodland areas in South West England where pheasants are released – and 25 nearby control sites where no pheasants are released.
They found that Borrelia spp. – the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease – was almost 2.5 times more common in ticks in the pheasant-release areas.
The research was carried out by the University of Exeter and the UK Health Security Agency.
Borrelia bacteria can live in a wide range of hosts, including pheasants, wild birds and mammals – and humans.
Pheasants are known to be 'competent' hosts of Borrelia – meaning they have a relatively high likelihood of contracting and retransmitting the bacteria.
More research is needed, but our findings suggest there may be an increased risk of potential exposure to Borrelia-infected ticks for people – such as gamekeepers – who work in woodlands where pheasants are released in numbers."
Emile Michels, Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter's Penryn Campus, Cornwall
Researchers tested ticks at different life stages (nymphs and adults) and found that, overall, the proportion containing Borrelia was 7.8% in pheasant-release woodlands, and 3.2% where pheasants were not released.
Dr Barbara Tschirren, also from the University of Exeter, said: "Our findings are evidence of 'spillback' – where non-native species increase the prevalence of native pathogens.
"This can be an important route for the emergence of zoonoses (diseases that animals can give to humans)."
Dr Jolyon Medlock, head of the Medical Entomology and Zoonoses Ecology team at UKHSA, said: "While we have observed an increase in the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease in ticks, we do not have data on the resulting impact on human health, including evidence of Lyme infection.
"Following these findings, we continue to work with academic partners to better understand what drives Borrelia transmission, including the roles of climate and environmental change."
The control sites in the study were one to two kilometres from the pheasant-release sites, so more research would be required to see if Borrelia in ticks declines further at greater distances.
Emile Michels' PhD is funded by the NERC GW4+ DTP scheme.
The paper, published in the journal Ecology Letters, is entitled: "The release of non-native gamebirds is associated with amplified zoonotic disease risk."
University of Exeter
Michels, E., et al. (2025). The Release of Non‐Native Gamebirds Is Associated With Amplified Zoonotic Disease Risk. Ecology Letters. doi.org/10.1111/ele.70115.
Posted in: Medical Research News | Disease/Infection News
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April 21, 2025
A recently released statement on Trump administration's drug policy priorities called for a focus on stopping illicit drugs from coming into the United States, prosecuting those responsible for overdose deaths, expanded access to naloxone, and new campaigns “to inform the American people of the dangers of illicit drug use, the hope of a life in recovery, and the ways to prevent an overdose death.”
The administration's plans to address opioid use disorder (OUD) include encouraging state and local authorities to “increase the availability of drug test strips and naloxone” and that it would also support efforts to connect people using drugs to supportive services, diverting them from incarceration.
Released in early April, the Statement of Drug Policy Priorities comes from the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which has traditionally been the locus of addiction policy and has helped guide the response to the opioid epidemic.
The office does not yet have a permanent leader. In late March, President Donald Trump nominated Sara A. Carter, a former Fox News journalist, to the post. Carter, whose appointment requires Senate confirmation, has reported on drug cartels and immigration.
The White House said in a statement it will seek to ensure that “effective, timely, and evidence-based treatment is available to all Americans who need it,” including expanding access to medications for OUD and strengthening the peer recovery support services workforce.
Brian Hurley, MD, president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), said in a statement that the organization “is pleased to see the Trump Administration prioritize efforts to make evidence-based substance use disorder (SUD) treatment readily available.”
ASAM urged the White House to also direct the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to modify a regulation that keeps methadone for the treatment of OUD restricted to a single type of federally defined program.
Another priority for drug policy will be drug use prevention. The administration will use evidence-based prevention programs in schools and use social media to promote healthy behaviors, warn of the dangers of illicit drug use, and educate Americans on how to access treatment and recovery services.
In February, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that it estimates there will be a nearly 24% decline in drug overdose deaths for the 12 months ending in September 2024. Provisional data showed that some 87,000 Americans died from a drug overdose from October 2023 to September 2024, down from 114,000 the previous year. The CDC said that would be the fewest overdose deaths in any 12-month period since June 2020.
Meanwhile, the statement from the Office of National Drug Control Policy did not say whether the Trump administration would pursue or block reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule 1 to a Schedule 3 substance, a process that began under the previous administration. In May 2024, the US Department of Justice proposed the reclassification, as reported by Medscape Medical News.
After a public comment period, the DEA was due to hold hearings on the issue in December 2024. Those hearings were postponed and then delayed again in January as multiple parties sued, alleging that the agency had engaged in misconduct.
Two of the parties to the suits, Village Farms International and Hemp for Victory, “are awaiting action from DEA,” according to their attorney, Shane Pennington, with Blank Rome in Houston.
Thirty-nine states, three territories, and Washington, DC, allow the medical use of cannabis, whereas 24 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia allow or regulate recreational use, according to the National Council of State Legislatures.
Alicia Ault is a Saint Petersburg, Florida-based freelance journalist whose work has appeared in many health and science publications, including Smithsonian.com. You can find her on X @aliciaault and on Bluesky @aliciaault.bsky.social.
Send comments and news tips to news@medscape.net.
California has halted a court-ordered medical parole program, opting instead to send its most incapacitated prisoners back to state lockups or release them early.
The unilateral termination is drawing protests from attorneys representing prisoners and the author of the state's medical parole legislation, who say it unnecessarily puts this vulnerable population at risk. The move is the latest wrinkle in a long-running drive to free those deemed so ill that they are no longer a danger to society.
"We have concerns that they cannot meet the needs of the population for things like memory care, dementia, traumatic brain injury," said Sara Norman, an attorney who represents the prisoners as part of a nearly three-decade-old federal class-action lawsuit. "These are not people who are in full command and control of their own surroundings, their memories — they're helpless.”
Caring for a rapidly aging prison population is a growing problem across the United States. It is twice as expensive to imprison older people than those younger, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers, and prisoners 55 and older are more than twice as likely to have cognitive difficulties as non-incarcerated older adults.
Medical parole is reserved for the sliver of California's 90,000 prisoners who have a "significant and permanent condition" that leaves them "physically or cognitively debilitated or incapacitated" to the point they can't care for themselves, according to the state parole board. Prisoners who qualify — excluded are those sentenced to death or life without parole — can be placed in a community health care facility instead of state prison.
Attorneys said the roughly 20 parolees the state has returned to lockup need significant help performing basic functions of daily life, with some in wheelchairs or suffering from debilitating mental or physical disabilities. They say outside facilities have the capacity to provide more compassionate and humane care to very ill prisoners.
Kyle Buis, a California Correctional Health Care Services spokesperson, characterized the program as "on pause" as patients return to in-prison facilities and as officials anticipate increasing their use of the compassionate release program. Prisoners granted compassionate release have their sentences reduced and are released into society, while those on medical parole remain technically in custody.
"There were multiple considerations that went into this decision," Buis said. "Our growing ability to support those with cognitive impairment inside of our facilities was one factor." Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom also cited "eliminating non-essential activities and contracts" to save money.
While nearly every state now has a medical parole law, they are rarely used, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. One common reason is eligibility. Texas, for instance, screened more than 2,600 prisoners in 2022 but approved just 58 people. Officials also often face procedural hurdles, according to the Vera Institute of Justice, a national nonprofit research and advocacy group.
Some states, however, have tried to expand medical parole programs. Michigan did so because an earlier version of the law proved too difficult to use, resulting in the release of just one person. New York has some of the nation's broadest criteria for release but is among states struggling to find nursing home placements for parolees.
California's first effort to free prisoners deemed so incapacitated that they are no longer dangerous began in 1997 with a little-used process that allowed corrections officials to seek the release of dying prisoners. But that program resulted in the release of just two prisoners in 2009. The medical parole program was officially created by a state law that took effect in 2011 and was expanded in 2014 to help reduce prison crowding so severe that federal judges ruled it was harming prisoners' physical and mental health.
Nearly 300 prisoners had been granted medical parole since July 2014, state officials reported. The average annual cost per medical parolee was between about $250,000 and $300,000 in 2023, Buis said. And despite lawmakers' expectations when they started the program, he said, Medi-Cal — California's Medicaid program, which is partly funded by the federal government — did not reimburse the state for their care because they were still considered incarcerated.
California has had a rollercoaster relationship with its sole nursing home contractor for medical parolees. The state ended its contract with Golden Legacy Care Center in Sylmar at the end of 2024, Newsom reported in January in his summary of the state's 2025-26 budget.
In 2021, prison officials said they were sending dozens of paralyzed and otherwise disabled prisoners back to state prisons and limiting medical parole, blaming a federal rule change that barred any restrictions on prisoners in such facilities. The move came after state public health inspectors fined Golden Legacy for handcuffing an incapacitated patient's ankle to the bed in violation of state and federal laws.
Golden Legacy did not return repeated telephone and email requests for comment. Buis said state officials "continuously monitored care at Golden Legacy, and we never had concern for the quality of care provided."
Attorney Rana Anabtawi, who also represents prisoners in the class-action suit, toured Golden Legacy's medical parole building with Norman in November and saw caregivers offering memory care patients special art classes and a "happy feet" dance party.
She felt it "was a much better place for our patients than being in prison — there appeared to be regular programming aimed at engaging them, there were no officers walking around, the patient doors were open and unlocked, patients had general freedom of movement within their building."
Over the past several years, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has built up its capacity to service those with severely compromised health. The state created two of its own memory care units in men's prisons, a 30-bed unit in the California Health Care Facility in Stockton in 2019 and a 35-bed unit in the California Medical Facility in Vacaville in 2023. The Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla provides up to 24-hour skilled nursing care for women with life-limiting illnesses including dementia.
Yet Norman fears the in-prison facilities are a poor substitute.
"They're nowhere near enough and they are inside prisons, so there's a limit to how compassionate and humane they can be,” she said.
In addition to the 20 returned to state prisons when the contract expired, Buis said, one was paroled through the standard process, while 36 were recommended for compassionate release. Of those, 26 were granted compassionate release, eight were denied, and two died before they could be considered.
The use of compassionate release increased under a law passed in 2022 that eased the criteria, including by adding dementia patients. Last year, 87 prisoners received compassionate release. By contrast, during the six years before the new law, just 53 were freed. Officials expect about 100 prisoners each year will qualify for compassionate release, Buis said.
Compassionate release would allow them to "sort of die with dignity," said Daniel Landsman, vice president of policy for the criminal justice advocacy group FAMM, previously known as Families Against Mandatory Minimums, and ensure "that the California prison system is not turning into a de facto hospice or skilled nursing facility.”
Mark Leno, who authored California's medical parole law when he was a Democratic state senator, criticized prison officials for ending their use of the law without legislative approval and instead just terminating the Golden Legacy contract. He also railed against returning very ill patients to prisons, a decision he called "perfectly inhumane."
"Is it just cruel punishment and retribution or is this thoughtful execution of the law put in place by the legislature?” he said.
This article was produced by KFF Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation.
This article was reprinted from khn.org, a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF - the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.
KFF Health News
Posted in: Healthcare News
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Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has just 34 days left in charge as manager, as per various reports coming out of the club. The Italian manager will not be sacked before the end of the La Liga season, but Brazil do believe that they can have him in place before their South American World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay in early June.
Brazil have made him their top target, but want Ancelotti in charge by June, complicating matters for Ancelotti's exit from Los Blancos, as they have just 24 days between the end of the domestic season and the Club World Cup. Within those dates is an international window too.
As per Relevo, there is confidence that they will secure Ancelotti's signature before the end of May, although they have Al-Hilal coach Jorge Jesus waiting as a back-up should that fail. They say the most likely situation is that Ancelotti and Real Madrid part ways after the final La Liga match.
Meanwhile Diario AS note that Real Madrid are considering Santiago Solari, their sporting director, and Raul Gonzalez, Real Madrid Castilla manager, as potential interim coaches for the Club World Cup. Solari struggled in the role in 2018-19, but knows the squad, the situation and the problems well. He also has the confidence of the hierarchy. Meanwhile Raul is in a different situation – he is keen on the job but on a permanent basis. However he has more experience coaching than Solari.
It has now been confirmed by Bayer Leverkusen that Xabi Alonso, Ancelotti's expected successor, has an agreement with the club that he can leave for Real Madrid. They will give him several weeks to take a decision on his future. However it is not yet clear whether Alonso would be willing to take over before the Club World Cup, or would rather wait until what will admittedly be a curtailed preseason.
ATLANTA (April 21, 2025) – U.S. Soccer has named Vanessa Mann as the new head coach for the U.S. Under-15 Girls' National Team. Mann takes over from Ciara Crinion, who has transitioned to the head coach of the U.S. Under-16 Girls' National Team.
“The Under-15 age group holds significant importance as it represents a pivotal stage in the development of our young female players on their path to the senior National Team,” said U.S. Soccer Head of Youth Women's National Team Development Tracey Kevins. “Vanessa comes to us with a depth and breadth of experience, and we eagerly anticipate her continued growth as a top coach. We are confident that she will serve as an inspiring leader for our most promising young talents.”
As part of an integrated Women's Youth National Team coaching staff headed by Kevins and guided by U.S. Women's National Team head coach Emma Hayes, Mann will work across other age groups with a focus on her U-15 player pool.
“I'm honored to join U.S. Soccer at such an exciting time in our history and with such amazing resources being dedicated to our young players,” said Mann. “I've always felt that as coaches, it's our responsibility to develop the person and the player, and I know that Tracey and Emma's leadership is focused on that holistic approach as well. This age group represents such an important time in these players' lives, and I'm looking forward to helping them navigate and grow towards achieving their soccer goals while preparing them to compete for spots in the U-17 World Cup and beyond.”
Katie Schoepfer, who led the USA to a 2025 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup berth earlier this month during the Final Round of the Concacaf Women's U-17 Qualifiers, will continue to head the U-17s until the end of this cycle. At that time, Crinion will then become the head coach for the U-17s for the 2026 U-17 FIFA Women's World Cup, and Schoepfer will transition to the U-16s to prepare that group for the 2027 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup as the tournament has now become an annual event.
Carrie Kveton is the current U.S. Under-19 Women's National Team head coach with full-time head coaching positions for the U.S. U-18 WNT, U.S. U-20 WNT and U.S. U-23 WNT likely being filled in the coming weeks, which will give U.S. Soccer seven full-time Girls' and Women's Youth National Team head coaches.
Mann comes to U.S. Soccer after serving as Director of Coaching for the Reno Apex Youth Soccer Club in Nevada, but she has extensive experience with U.S. Soccer as an assistant coach at the U-15 GNT level since the fall of 2023 and as a U-17 WNT assistant this year. She has also served as a scout for the USA's YNTs since 2018.
She is a U.S. Soccer Coaching Educator for the “A” Senior Course, the Talent Scout course and Grassroots courses Mann has pursued her coaching education with a fervor. She holds a USSF “A” License, and a Talent Scout License. She also holds a United Soccer Coaches Director of Coaching Diploma, a United Soccer Coaches National Diploma and USC Goalkeeper Level 1 & 2 Diplomas.
She has nine years of NCAA Division I coaching experience and also has National Women's Soccer League coaching experience, serving as an assistant for the Utah Royals in 2024.
She played college soccer from 2007-2011 at the University of Nevada, Reno and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Ecology.
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The U. S. Men's National team is two months away from a crucial test in the Gold Cup, a biennial tournament that decides North America's strongest soccer team. The Gold Cup will be the USMNT's last competitive international competition before the United States, Canada and Mexico host the World Cup in 2026, and the pressure is on for it to perform.
So how are USMNT players performing around the world as the Gold Cup draws near?
Chris Richards, Mark McKenzie saw red
It was a rough weekend for American defenders Richards of Crystal Palace and McKenzie of Toulouse, as both earned first-half red card dismissals. Richards' came from accumulated yellows, but McKenzie's —a two-armed wrestle just outside the penalty box — was a clear straight red.
Richards' Palace went on to a 0-0 draw against Bournemouth on Saturday without him, but McKenzie's Toulouse wound up falling 1-0 to Reims on Sunday. Reims' lone goal came from unheralded American striker Jordan Pefok, 28, who made eight appearances for the USMNT under then-coach Gregg Berhalter but hasn't earned a call-up since. He may warrant another look.
Alex Zendejas racked up assists
When considering USMNT stars who excel at creating goals, Christian Pulisic comes to mind instantly. Perhaps Zendejas, should too.
The attacking midfielder set up two goals for Club America on Saturday in a 5-0 win over Mazatlan in Liga MX. USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino hasn't shown Zendejas much love since taking the reins last fall, but Zendejas is proving himself to be a perfect candidate for the team's Gold Cup fixtures if America fails to qualify for the concurrent Club World Cup. It will face off against LAFC in the coming weeks to settle the tournament's final spot.
Gio Reyna sparked new transfer rumors
Reyna, one of the USMNT's more talented (and frustrating) stars, is leaving Germany's Borussia Dortmund this summer, but for where?
Reyna's camp seems to be seriously considering offers from Scotland's Rangers and MLS's LAFC. Rangers, one of Scotland's more storied clubs, could be an interesting destination; it has played second fiddle to its rival Celtic for years and could gamble on a high-risk, high-reward player such as Reyna.
Could LAFC of Major League Soccer be in the mix, too? That's a tougher move to justify. Coach Steve Cherundolo announced he'll leave the club at the end of the 2025 season; it seems foolish to bring in a big-money signing such as Reyna while the head-coaching position remains in flux.
Benja Cremaschi, Quinn Sullivan made their USMNT cases
In MLS play, two young Americans on the USMNT fringe — Inter Miami's Cremaschi and the Philadelphia Union's Sullivan — stood out. Both scored game-changing golazos that lifted their teams over tough Eastern Conference competition. In Saturday matches, unbeaten Inter Miami beat previously unbeaten Columbus while Sullivan had a goal and an assist in a 3-0 win over Atlanta.
Cremaschi has made a few substitute appearances under USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino and took part in his MLS-heavy January camp; Sullivan, meanwhile, has largely gone unrecognized. That should change. He'd be an excellent depth piece for the USMNT's midfield.
From last night: With a goal and an assist in the club's 3-0 victory over Atlanta United, Philadelphia Union midfielder Quinn Sullivan (29 goal contributions) tied Jack McInerney for the most goal contributions in Union history by a player prior to turning 22 years old.[image or embed]
Folarin Balogun eased back into fitness
The USMNT has struggled with its striker position for nearly a decade; dozens of players have cycled in and out without really staking their claim. When English-Nigerian-American triple-international Balogun pledged his future to the USMNT, many thought he'd be the one to step up, but injuries have largely kept Balogun sidelined since his charmed debut in 2023.
That appears to be changing. After suffering a dislocated shoulder in October, Balogun appears to be approaching full fitness. He has made four straight substitute appearances for his club team, AS Monaco, looking dangerous in all of them. If his recovery trajectory holds, he'll be ready to join the USMNT for its Gold Cup run this summer.
Alyssa is a Boston-born Californian with a passion for global sport. She can yell about misplaced soccer passes in five languages and rattle off the turns of Silverstone in her sleep. You can find her dormant Twitter account at @alyssaclang, but honestly, you're probably better off finding her here
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Brazilian wonderkid Estevao Willian will not join Chelsea for this summer's Club World Cup, his agent has confirmed.
Estevao is currently plying his trade for Palmeiras and has been tipped as Brazil's most promising talent since Neymar Jr. He signed to Chelsea in June 2024 for a reported £29million, a fee which could rise to £55m with add-ons.
He is set to join up with his new teammates this summer after turning 18, but it was unclear whether he would move in time to participate in Chelsea's Club World Cup campaign in June.
In a new interview, though, Brazilian agent Andre Cury confirmed the player would join up after the competition's conclusion.
Speaking to AS, he said: “Yes, he's arriving after the Club World Cup.
“He's a world-class player. Very good. A guy who's going to make history here.”
Estevao will instead appear at the Club World Cup for Palmeiras, where he could potentially play against Chelsea, though the two clubs are in different groups.
Cury has masterminded some of the most valuable transfers in football history, including Neymar's moves from Santos to Barcelona and onwards to Paris Saint-Germain.
He added that Estevao, who has already claimed four senior Brazil caps, also received interest from PSG and Bayern Munich, among ‘several' other European clubs.
Estevao's prodigious talent has earned him the nickname ‘Little Messi' in Brazil, and he is expected to link up with Brazil teammate Andrey Santos on arrival at Chelsea. Santos joined the Blues in 2023 and has spent the 2024-25 season on loan at Chelsea's sister club Strasbourg, where he is wearing the captain's armband.
Also joining Chelsea this summer is the similarly prodigious Ecuadorian winger Kendry Paez, who has signed from Independiente del Valle. He was pictured training with Strasbourg earlier this month amid rumours he would spend his first European season on loan with the Ligue 1 outfit.
Enzo Maresca has said he is monitoring the player's progress: “Yes, we are following him. He is doing fantastic - but, unfortunately, he is doing fantastic there and not with us.
“For sure, we are very happy in the way he is doing these things."
The new-look Club World Cup begins in Miami on June 15, with matches taking place across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Manchester City will also contest the tournament.
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Brazilian wonderkid Estevao Willian will not join Chelsea for this summer's Club World Cup, his agent has confirmed.
Estevao is currently plying his trade for Palmeiras and has been tipped as Brazil's most promising talent since Neymar Jr. He signed to Chelsea in June 2024 for a reported £29million, a fee which could rise to £55m with add-ons.
He is set to join up with his new teammates this summer after turning 18, but it was unclear whether he would move in time to participate in Chelsea's Club World Cup campaign in June.
In a new interview, though, Brazilian agent Andre Cury confirmed the player would join up after the competition's conclusion.
Speaking to AS, he said: “Yes, he's arriving after the Club World Cup.
“He's a world-class player. Very good. A guy who's going to make history here.”
Estevao will instead appear at the Club World Cup for Palmeiras, where he could potentially play against Chelsea, though the two clubs are in different groups.
Cury has masterminded some of the most valuable transfers in football history, including Neymar's moves from Santos to Barcelona and onwards to Paris Saint-Germain.
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He added that Estevao, who has already claimed four senior Brazil caps, also received interest from PSG and Bayern Munich, among ‘several' other European clubs.
Estevao's prodigious talent has earned him the nickname ‘Little Messi' in Brazil, and he is expected to link up with Brazil teammate Andrey Santos on arrival at Chelsea. Santos joined the Blues in 2023 and has spent the 2024-25 season on loan at Chelsea's sister club Strasbourg, where he is wearing the captain's armband.
Also joining Chelsea this summer is the similarly prodigious Ecuadorian winger Kendry Paez, who has signed from Independiente del Valle. He was pictured training with Strasbourg earlier this month amid rumours he would spend his first European season on loan with the Ligue 1 outfit.
Enzo Maresca has said he is monitoring the player's progress: “Yes, we are following him. He is doing fantastic - but, unfortunately, he is doing fantastic there and not with us.
“For sure, we are very happy in the way he is doing these things."
The new-look Club World Cup begins in Miami on June 15, with matches taking place across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Manchester City will also contest the tournament.
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Real Madrid's elimination from the UEFA Champions League has amped up the pressure on Carlo Ancelotti, so much so that an imminent sacking is not ruled out.
The Italian coach may well go down in history as one of, if not the greatest Real Madrid manager, but his days at the club are now seriously numbered.
Word has it that losing the final of the Copa del Rey against Barcelona will be the final nail in the coffin for Ancelotti, and it remains to be seen if he remains at the helm beyond next week.
A replacement, thus, becomes the need of the hour but the Merengues have luckily narrowed down and finalised a target a long time ago.
As relayed in a recent report by Rodra, there is consensus in the Real Madrid offices over Xabi Alonso being the team's next manager. They see him as having the ideal profile required to lead a dressing room with multiple heavyweights.
The manager, after all, has left a mark during his ongoing stint at Bayer Leverkusen and has been well known for not only his man management but also his tactics. Further, his ability to handle media pressure with ease arrives as a massive positive.
With Alonso, Real Madrid hope to hit the golden lottery and return to their glory days. Moreover, they hope that the new coach will continue to trust young talents and promote players from the academy, something that has been a rarity in recent years.
The big question that remains, however, is when the manager can arrive in Madrid and get started. The Spanish journalist relays that Alonso will likely land in the Spanish capital only in July, after the end of the FIFA Club World Cup.
If Ancelotti is shown the exit door before that, either Santiago Solari or Raul Gonzalez will take over the reins of the first team as an interim manager and serve as a stand-in. All signs point to the former Real Madrid player being on the sidelines for the beginning of the next season.
Liverpool are ready to throw a Premier League title party, with the Reds squad preparing to get-together for a midweek screening of Arsenal.
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Kai Rooney is very much cut from the same cloth as father Wayne, with a stunning goal recorded for Manchester United's youth team.
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Ex-Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood is closing in on a piece of goal history during his debut campaign at Marseille.
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GOAL provides you with the major takeaways from British stars playing overseas, including the current England captain and Los Blancos' star midfielder
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OK, so the Easter weekend didn't quite bring more twists and turns in the world of European football as it did for the people of Jerusalem when Jesus Christ was said to have returned from the dead, but there was still plenty of drama to be feasted upon.
The title races in Spain and Italy swung to and fro even if those in England and Germany moved one step closer to meeting a finite end, while La Liga gaining an extra Champions League qualification place has added more spice to their mid-table scramble as has been the case in the Premier League.
There's still every chance that Britain's two premier players in Europe, Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, end the season as champions of their respective countries on the continent, while Scott McTominay has been doing all he can to join them in such a pantheon. With the 2024-25 season heading down the home stretch, GOAL fills you in on how the home nations' finest exports are doing...
Rodri's season-ending injury means he won't be defending the trophy he won in 2024 - so who are the main contenders to succeed the Spaniard?
If you thought the days of the Ballon d'Or generating headlines were over after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's era of dominance came to an end, then think again. After one of the most closely-fought races for a number of years, Rodri came out on top in 2024, beating Vinicius Jr into second place as Real Madrid dramatically boycotted the ceremony in Paris in protest at their star player missing out.
Unfortunately for Rodri, he will be unable to defend his crown in 2025, with the Manchester City midfielder having suffered a season-ending knee injury in September. The door, then, is open for a whole host of players to succeed the Spain star, and the race for the Golden Ball is heating up as we enter the final weeks of the European campaign.
The 2024-25 season doesn't have the same international tournaments as its two predecessors, and so the destination of the Ballon d'Or will be decided solely by club performances. That opens it up to all sorts of individuals who might not share the same success with their countries as others, while there is also the prospect of the new-look Club World Cup to consider.
So, who are the favourites for the most prestigious individual prize in world football? As always, GOAL is here every step of the way to track the contenders and the pretenders with our Ballon d'Or Power Rankings - check out who is in contention...
Previous update: April 14. Players removed: Jamal Musiala & Julian Alvarez.
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This alliance has positioned American Airlines at the heart of connecting fans, teams, & stakeholders across Canada, Mexico, and the US for the global football tournament.
American Airlines has officially announced a landmark partnership with FIFA, becoming the official North American airline supplier for the highly anticipated FIFA World Cup 26.
This strategic alliance has positioned the leading U.S. carrier at the heart of connecting fans, teams, and stakeholders across Canada, Mexico, and the United States for the prestigious global football tournament.
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As the designated airline supplier for North America, American Airlines will leverage its extensive network, encompassing over 2,200 daily flights to the 16 host cities of the FIFA World Cup 26. This robust infrastructure will ensure seamless and efficient travel throughout the event, underscoring the airline's commitment to facilitating major international gatherings and fostering community engagement.
The agreement also entails close collaboration with Qatar Airways, the official global airline partner of FIFA through 2030. While Qatar Airways maintains exclusive international flight rights, the synergistic efforts of both Oneworld alliance partners will provide comprehensive travel solutions for both international and domestic journeys related to the World Cup. This coordinated approach promises a streamlined travel experience for the millions of fans expected to attend.
Speaking on the occasion, Caroline Clayton, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of Communications of American Airlines, said, “We are proud to partner with FIFA and look forward to connecting fans to all FIFA World Cup 26 matches. As the home team for this historic event, we look forward to flying fans across North America to experience the passion, energy and diversity of the beautiful game.”
FIFA Chief Business Officer, Romy Gai, added, “Having American Airlines on board as an Official Supplier further enhances our ability to deliver an exceptional FIFA World Cup in 2026. Their unmatched domestic network and deep connection to the American public make them a great fit for a tournament that will captivate millions across North America.”
Qatar Airways Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Thierry Antinori, continued, “As the Official Global Airline Partner of FIFA and the FIFA World Cup 2026, we are proud to play a central role in bringing fans from across the globe to this highly anticipated tournament. With American Airlines joining as the Official North American Airline Supplier and Oneworld partner, we believe that, together, through our expansive networks and world-class loyalty programs, we can offer millions of travellers a seamless and rewarding journey to the FIFA World Cup 2026.”
The FIFA World Cup 26 is poised to be a groundbreaking edition of the tournament, featuring an expanded format of 48 participating nations and co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Adding a local touch for American Airlines, its headquarters city of Dallas-Fort Worth will host nine matches, the highest number among the 16 host cities.
This strategic partnership between American Airlines and FIFA represents a powerful alliance dedicated to delivering an unparalleled and world-class experience for fans and participants of the FIFA World Cup 26 throughout North America.
American Airlines is a global leader in the aviation industry. With a vast network, American Airlines offers customers 6,800 daily flights to more than 350 destinations across over 50 countries. As a founding member of the Oneworld alliance, its partners collectively serve over 900 destinations with 14,250 daily flights to approximately 150 countries.
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is the global governing body for football, futsal, and beach soccer. FIFA comprises 211 member associations, organised into six continental confederations: CAF (Africa), AFC (Asia & Australia), UEFA (Europe), CONCACAF (North & Central America & Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), and OFC (Oceania).
The FIFA World Cup 26 will mark the 23rd edition of the FIFA World Cup, the prestigious quadrennial international men's football championship contested by the national teams of FIFA's member associations. The expanded format will feature 48 teams competing in a total of 104 matches and is anticipated to be the most attended and viewed sporting event in history. The tournament continues to attract significant global brand partnerships, including Lenovo, The Home Depot, Verizon, Lay's, Bank of America, On Location, Aramco, Visa, Qatar Airways and McDonald's, further solidifying its global appeal.
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Real Madrid's determination to make history by winning the inaugural edition of the renewed FIFA Club World Cup has become a focal point for the club and its manager, Carlo Ancelotti.
According to a report from SPORT, the competition, which will be held between the end of this season and the beginning of the next, represents both a prestigious achievement and a significant financial opportunity for Los Blancos.
The desire to be the first club to etch its name into the annals of the revamped tournament is driven by Real Madrid's historical quest for supremacy.
The club has always prided itself on setting benchmarks in world football, and adding the first renewed FIFA Club World Cup to their trophy cabinet would be another statement of their stature.
Beyond the allure of prestige, the economic incentives are also considerable. Estimates suggest that Real Madrid could pocket as much as €145 million if they are crowned champions.
For Ancelotti, the importance of this tournament could extend beyond mere silverware. It could be the key to his future.
With his contract running until the end of next season, his continuity at the helm may well depend on securing major honours this term.
While the club remains alive in the La Liga title race and has reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, the Club World Cup offers a unique opportunity to end the season on a high note.
Ancelotti has already led his team to two titles this season, having lifted the European Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup.
However, their failure in the Spanish Super Cup against Barcelona remains a sore point. As things stand, the Club World Cup could be a make-or-break moment for the Italian tactician.
Should Real Madrid fall short in their pursuit of domestic and European honours, winning the Club World Cup could still serve as a redeeming accomplishment.
For Ancelotti, the stakes are even higher. Failure to secure significant silverware this season could see him pushed towards the exit door, but the Club World Cup may well offer him a lifeline.
Gareth Ainsworth hailed his Gillingham side as “amazing” after they secured a second-successive home win with a 1-0 League Two victory over AFC Wimbledon.
Joe Gbode came off the bench to score the only goal of the game as the Gills put a major dent in the Dons' automatic promotion hopes with a 10th game without defeat.
Ainsworth, who is yet to lose since taking charge of the club, said: “It was an amazing performance. The players were absolutely outstanding.
“They emptied every last bit of energy they had for me out there.
“I was bringing players off who couldn't walk anymore because they had put that much into it.
“The boys came in on Easter Sunday to work on a new bit of shape which I thought would cause them problems and it did.
“Wimbledon are a very big, physical side but I said if we matched them mentally and physically then we had a chance because we've got good footballers who can play.
“We were winning every header, threw ourselves at every ball. There was a block right at the end where there were two bodies flying at it.
“I'm really proud of the boys. We've got that identity now.
“It was a brilliant goal to win it. Hopefully we will have more days like this. It's not going well, but it's going OK at the moment.”
Johnnie Jackson's side are five points off the automatic promotion pace with only two games to go after winning just one of their last seven.
And Jackson said: “I'm disappointed, naturally. I don't think we did enough.
“It's a tough season. It's a tough league. Listen, these players have given everything to put themselves in this position.
“Realistically, getting in the top three looks very difficult. What we have to do is make sure we get into those play-off positions.
“We have to shake this one off and the players need to be open and honest with themselves.
“There is no time to wallow. We need to get back to work ahead of another big game.
“We need to remember the position we're in and go again.
“We were poor in the second half. We stopped doing what got us success. We wasted possession too many times. We've got ourselves to blame for that.
“The only bit of quality in the game was the goal really. It's a good goal. That's a good bit of quality that we just didn't have.
“I don't think there was anything between the teams except that moment.”
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Roger Federer competed on the ATP Tour for 23 years against some of the sport's greatest players.
The Swiss star won a mightily impressive 20 Major titles during his time on the ATP Tour, holding the Grand Slam record for several years.
Federer won 16 of his 20 Slams between 2003 and 2010, dominating men's tennis during the 2000s.
He then won just one Major title over the next six years, at Wimbledon in 2012, as his rivals began to catch up.
Returning to the top of the game, Federer won three more Majors across the 2017 and 2018 seasons, enjoying real success at the Australian Open.
It was in 2017 that Federer was asked whether he was enjoying his time more then than he did during the earlier stages of his career.
Speaking to the Tennis Channel following his remarkable start to the 2017 season, Federer replied when asked if tennis was ‘better now than it's ever been'.
“Possibly, you know?” he said.
“I definitely enjoyed the time when I came up on tour and played against my heroes and the guys I knew from TV, that was generally maybe the most exciting time of my career.
“It was disbelief to share the locker room with the likes of [Pete] Sampras, [Andre] Agassi, [Carlos] Moya, [Tim] Henman, [Gustavo] Kuerten, and [Pat] Rafter, I loved it.
“That was a great time, amazing people, you know, unbelievable characters, [Goran] Ivanisevic and [Marc] Rosset, they were just so much fun, it was really genuinely so cool.”
Federer then shared some insight into how tennis had changed during his time on the tour.
“It wasn't so professional like it was today I don't feel yet,” he said.
“I was just looking around like ‘Oh my god', like a kid in a candy store.”
The 43-year-old also reflected on his rise to the top of the game, where he quickly began to dominate the players he admired during his younger years.
“Later on when I got into the domination phase sort of in 2004 just going from one thing to the next and trying to cope,” said Federer.
“Trying to get organized and doing a red carpet, to go and win again, back to another interview, win again, pressure, you know managing that was an amazing time in my life.
“I learned so much in such a short period of time.”
In 2017, Federer named eight players he competed against during the ‘most exciting time' of his tennis career, but how did he perform against them?
The 20-time Major champion secured victories against seven of the eight names he listed, but Federer never beat Pat Rafter.
Rafter recently revealed that he was glad to have retired before Federer entered his prime years.
“Once he sorted that part of his game out [mental strength], oh my god, it was such a good time to leave the game,” said Rafter.
“He wanted me to stay so he could start beating me, and I was just trying to get out of the game as quickly as I could.”
Federer also held a losing record against Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten, whom he played three times in total.
The three-time French Open champion won their sole Grand Slam match at Roland Garros in 2004, taking down Federer in three sets to advance to the last 16.
He did, however, enjoy more success against the American duo of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.
Winning nine of his 12 matches against the pair, Federer proved his Grand Slam credentials by dominating two of the sport's greats.
Federer beat Sampras in a thriller at Wimbledon in their one career meeting, battling through in five sets to qualify for his second career Grand Slam quarterfinal.
When the Swiss legend retired from tennis in 2022, he did so having played and beaten players across several different eras, entertaining millions throughout his career.
His legacy within the sport may never be topped, as fans look back fondly on his time in tennis.
Gabriel Diallo, of Canada, reacts during his Davis Cup qualifying tennis match against Fabian Marozsan, of Hungary, in Montreal on Sunday, February 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
MADRID - Montreal's Gabriel Diallo advanced to the second round of qualifying at the Madrid Open tennis tournament with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 win over American Nicolas Moreno De Alboran on Monday.
The 23-year-old Diallo, seeded third in the qualifying tournament for the ATP Masters clay-court event, had nine aces to Moreno de Alboran's one.
The six-foot-eight Canadian saved the only break point he faced by converting three of the seven chances he had, including one in the deciding game.
Diallo will face Croatian veteran Borna Coric on Tuesday for a spot in the main draw. Coric defeated Finland's Otto Virtanen 6-7 (1), 7-5, 6-2 on Monday.
Diallo, ranked 78th in the world, made it into two straight Masters-level main draws last month at Indian Wells, Calif., and Miami, losing to France's Arthur Fils in the second round both times.
Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal (18) and Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., (29) both have byes in the first round of the main draw in Madrid as seeded players.
In the women's draw, 25th-seed Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., has a first-round bye while 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., continues her comeback from injury when she faces American McCartney Kessler in a first-round match on Wednesday,
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2025.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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The big-hitting Latvian took out both Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka en route to the title in Stuttgart this week.ByJohn BerkokPublished Apr 21, 2025 copy_link
Published Apr 21, 2025
It was a special week for Jelena Ostapenko at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix this year, as she powered her way to the ninth WTA title of her career—and her first in more than a year—at the indoor clay-court event.But how she did it was even more special.The big-hitting Latvian took out both of the Top 2 players in the world en route to the title: No. 2-ranked Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, then No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the final, 6-4, 6-1.And with that, Ostapenko has become the first woman to beat both No. 1 and No. 2 at the same event on clay since Serena Williams achieved the feat at Madrid in 2012. That was the year it was held on blue clay.In the Spanish capital that year, Serena routed No. 2-ranked Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 6-3, and then did the exact same thing to No. 1-ranked Victoria Azarenka in the final, 6-1, 6-3.WOMEN TO BEAT WTA TOP 2 AT SAME EVENT ON CLAY:Gabriela Sabatini at 1989 Amelia Island (d. No. 2 Navratilova in SFs and No. 1 Graf in F)Steffi Graf at 1999 Roland Garros (d. No. 2 Davenport in QFs and No. 1 Hingis in F)Serena Williams at 2002 Roland Garros (d. No. 2 Capriati in SFs and No. 1 V.Williams in F)Justine Henin at 2003 Roland Garros (d. No. 1 S.Williams in SFs and No. 2 Clijsters in F)Svetlana Kuznetsova at 2009 Roland Garros (d. No. 2 S.Williams in QFs and No. 1 Safina in F)Serena Williams at 2012 Madrid (d. No. 2 Sharapova in QFs and No. 1 Azarenka in F)Jelena Ostapenko at 2025 Stuttgart (d. No. 2 Swiatek in QFs and No. 1 Sabalenka in F)
But how she did it was even more special.The big-hitting Latvian took out both of the Top 2 players in the world en route to the title: No. 2-ranked Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, then No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the final, 6-4, 6-1.And with that, Ostapenko has become the first woman to beat both No. 1 and No. 2 at the same event on clay since Serena Williams achieved the feat at Madrid in 2012. That was the year it was held on blue clay.In the Spanish capital that year, Serena routed No. 2-ranked Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 6-3, and then did the exact same thing to No. 1-ranked Victoria Azarenka in the final, 6-1, 6-3.WOMEN TO BEAT WTA TOP 2 AT SAME EVENT ON CLAY:Gabriela Sabatini at 1989 Amelia Island (d. No. 2 Navratilova in SFs and No. 1 Graf in F)Steffi Graf at 1999 Roland Garros (d. No. 2 Davenport in QFs and No. 1 Hingis in F)Serena Williams at 2002 Roland Garros (d. No. 2 Capriati in SFs and No. 1 V.Williams in F)Justine Henin at 2003 Roland Garros (d. No. 1 S.Williams in SFs and No. 2 Clijsters in F)Svetlana Kuznetsova at 2009 Roland Garros (d. No. 2 S.Williams in QFs and No. 1 Safina in F)Serena Williams at 2012 Madrid (d. No. 2 Sharapova in QFs and No. 1 Azarenka in F)Jelena Ostapenko at 2025 Stuttgart (d. No. 2 Swiatek in QFs and No. 1 Sabalenka in F)
The big-hitting Latvian took out both of the Top 2 players in the world en route to the title: No. 2-ranked Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, then No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the final, 6-4, 6-1.And with that, Ostapenko has become the first woman to beat both No. 1 and No. 2 at the same event on clay since Serena Williams achieved the feat at Madrid in 2012. That was the year it was held on blue clay.In the Spanish capital that year, Serena routed No. 2-ranked Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 6-3, and then did the exact same thing to No. 1-ranked Victoria Azarenka in the final, 6-1, 6-3.WOMEN TO BEAT WTA TOP 2 AT SAME EVENT ON CLAY:Gabriela Sabatini at 1989 Amelia Island (d. No. 2 Navratilova in SFs and No. 1 Graf in F)Steffi Graf at 1999 Roland Garros (d. No. 2 Davenport in QFs and No. 1 Hingis in F)Serena Williams at 2002 Roland Garros (d. No. 2 Capriati in SFs and No. 1 V.Williams in F)Justine Henin at 2003 Roland Garros (d. No. 1 S.Williams in SFs and No. 2 Clijsters in F)Svetlana Kuznetsova at 2009 Roland Garros (d. No. 2 S.Williams in QFs and No. 1 Safina in F)Serena Williams at 2012 Madrid (d. No. 2 Sharapova in QFs and No. 1 Azarenka in F)Jelena Ostapenko at 2025 Stuttgart (d. No. 2 Swiatek in QFs and No. 1 Sabalenka in F)
And with that, Ostapenko has become the first woman to beat both No. 1 and No. 2 at the same event on clay since Serena Williams achieved the feat at Madrid in 2012. That was the year it was held on blue clay.In the Spanish capital that year, Serena routed No. 2-ranked Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 6-3, and then did the exact same thing to No. 1-ranked Victoria Azarenka in the final, 6-1, 6-3.WOMEN TO BEAT WTA TOP 2 AT SAME EVENT ON CLAY:Gabriela Sabatini at 1989 Amelia Island (d. No. 2 Navratilova in SFs and No. 1 Graf in F)Steffi Graf at 1999 Roland Garros (d. No. 2 Davenport in QFs and No. 1 Hingis in F)Serena Williams at 2002 Roland Garros (d. No. 2 Capriati in SFs and No. 1 V.Williams in F)Justine Henin at 2003 Roland Garros (d. No. 1 S.Williams in SFs and No. 2 Clijsters in F)Svetlana Kuznetsova at 2009 Roland Garros (d. No. 2 S.Williams in QFs and No. 1 Safina in F)Serena Williams at 2012 Madrid (d. No. 2 Sharapova in QFs and No. 1 Azarenka in F)Jelena Ostapenko at 2025 Stuttgart (d. No. 2 Swiatek in QFs and No. 1 Sabalenka in F)
In the Spanish capital that year, Serena routed No. 2-ranked Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 6-3, and then did the exact same thing to No. 1-ranked Victoria Azarenka in the final, 6-1, 6-3.WOMEN TO BEAT WTA TOP 2 AT SAME EVENT ON CLAY:Gabriela Sabatini at 1989 Amelia Island (d. No. 2 Navratilova in SFs and No. 1 Graf in F)Steffi Graf at 1999 Roland Garros (d. No. 2 Davenport in QFs and No. 1 Hingis in F)Serena Williams at 2002 Roland Garros (d. No. 2 Capriati in SFs and No. 1 V.Williams in F)Justine Henin at 2003 Roland Garros (d. No. 1 S.Williams in SFs and No. 2 Clijsters in F)Svetlana Kuznetsova at 2009 Roland Garros (d. No. 2 S.Williams in QFs and No. 1 Safina in F)Serena Williams at 2012 Madrid (d. No. 2 Sharapova in QFs and No. 1 Azarenka in F)Jelena Ostapenko at 2025 Stuttgart (d. No. 2 Swiatek in QFs and No. 1 Sabalenka in F)
WOMEN TO BEAT WTA TOP 2 AT SAME EVENT ON CLAY:Gabriela Sabatini at 1989 Amelia Island (d. No. 2 Navratilova in SFs and No. 1 Graf in F)Steffi Graf at 1999 Roland Garros (d. No. 2 Davenport in QFs and No. 1 Hingis in F)Serena Williams at 2002 Roland Garros (d. No. 2 Capriati in SFs and No. 1 V.Williams in F)Justine Henin at 2003 Roland Garros (d. No. 1 S.Williams in SFs and No. 2 Clijsters in F)Svetlana Kuznetsova at 2009 Roland Garros (d. No. 2 S.Williams in QFs and No. 1 Safina in F)Serena Williams at 2012 Madrid (d. No. 2 Sharapova in QFs and No. 1 Azarenka in F)Jelena Ostapenko at 2025 Stuttgart (d. No. 2 Swiatek in QFs and No. 1 Sabalenka in F)
Stuttgart was Ostapenko's fifth career WTA 500 title. She also has one Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in 2017, as well as three WTA 250s.© 2025 Robert Prange
© 2025 Robert Prange
And there's more.At No. 24, Ostapenko is also the second-lowest-ranked woman ever to beat both the No. 1 and No. 2 at the same event, on any surface, after Barbora Krejcikova, who was No. 30 when she did it in Dubai in 2023.LOWEST-RANKED WOMEN TO BEAT WTA TOP 2 AT SAME EVENT (since WTA rankings began in 1975):No. 30 Barbora Krejcikova at 2023 Dubai (d. No. 2 Sabalenka in QFs and No. 1 Swiatek in F)No. 24 Jelena Ostapenko at 2025 Stuttgart (d. No. 2 Swiatek in QFs and No. 1 Sabalenka in F)No. 18 Serena Williams at 2007 Miami (d. No. 2 Sharapova in 4th Rd and No. 1 Henin in F)No. 17 Steffi Graf at 1998 Philadelphia (d. No. 2 Hingis in QFs and No. 1 Davenport in F)No. 17 Kiki Bertens at 2018 Cincinnati (d. No. 2 Wozniacki in 2nd Rd and No. 1 Halep in F)Ostapenko is projected to bounce back into the Top 20 now after her run to the title in Stuttgart. She reached a career-high of No. 5 back in 2018.
At No. 24, Ostapenko is also the second-lowest-ranked woman ever to beat both the No. 1 and No. 2 at the same event, on any surface, after Barbora Krejcikova, who was No. 30 when she did it in Dubai in 2023.LOWEST-RANKED WOMEN TO BEAT WTA TOP 2 AT SAME EVENT (since WTA rankings began in 1975):No. 30 Barbora Krejcikova at 2023 Dubai (d. No. 2 Sabalenka in QFs and No. 1 Swiatek in F)No. 24 Jelena Ostapenko at 2025 Stuttgart (d. No. 2 Swiatek in QFs and No. 1 Sabalenka in F)No. 18 Serena Williams at 2007 Miami (d. No. 2 Sharapova in 4th Rd and No. 1 Henin in F)No. 17 Steffi Graf at 1998 Philadelphia (d. No. 2 Hingis in QFs and No. 1 Davenport in F)No. 17 Kiki Bertens at 2018 Cincinnati (d. No. 2 Wozniacki in 2nd Rd and No. 1 Halep in F)Ostapenko is projected to bounce back into the Top 20 now after her run to the title in Stuttgart. She reached a career-high of No. 5 back in 2018.
LOWEST-RANKED WOMEN TO BEAT WTA TOP 2 AT SAME EVENT (since WTA rankings began in 1975):No. 30 Barbora Krejcikova at 2023 Dubai (d. No. 2 Sabalenka in QFs and No. 1 Swiatek in F)No. 24 Jelena Ostapenko at 2025 Stuttgart (d. No. 2 Swiatek in QFs and No. 1 Sabalenka in F)No. 18 Serena Williams at 2007 Miami (d. No. 2 Sharapova in 4th Rd and No. 1 Henin in F)No. 17 Steffi Graf at 1998 Philadelphia (d. No. 2 Hingis in QFs and No. 1 Davenport in F)No. 17 Kiki Bertens at 2018 Cincinnati (d. No. 2 Wozniacki in 2nd Rd and No. 1 Halep in F)Ostapenko is projected to bounce back into the Top 20 now after her run to the title in Stuttgart. She reached a career-high of No. 5 back in 2018.
Ostapenko is projected to bounce back into the Top 20 now after her run to the title in Stuttgart. She reached a career-high of No. 5 back in 2018.
Ostapenko in her new whip 🤭🏎️#PorscheTennis pic.twitter.com/XZdJ7NBLQX
The clay-court season continues at the Mutua Madrid Open, where the world's best players will compete for ATP Masters 1000 glory. The top two seeds, Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz, are both in form. Novak Djokovic has won three of his 40 Masters 1000 trophies at the event.
What should you keep an eye on at the Caja Magica? ATPTour.com examines 10 things to watch in Madrid.
View Madrid Draw Report: Djokovic, Alcaraz fall in same half
1) Alcaraz at home: The second seed won back-to-back titles in Madrid in 2022 and 2023 and he also brings good form to the Spanish clay. Alcaraz is fresh off a title victory at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and a trip to the Barcelona final. The 21-year-old has won 29 of his 31 clay-court matches in Spain since the start of the 2022 season. He will face Zizou Bergs or Yoshihito Nishioka in the second round.
2) Zverev carries momentum: The German will bring confidence into Madrid following his victory on home soil in Munich, where he defeated Ben Shelton on Sunday in the final. A two-time champion in Madrid (2018 and 2021), Zverev, the top seed who will open against Roberto Bautista Agut or Jaume Munar, will try to snap a streak of two consecutive fourth-round exits at the Caja Magic
3) Battle for No. 2: Zverev and Alcaraz have swapped World No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings twice in the past two weeks. Alcaraz captured the spot after Monte-Carlo and Zverev took it back by lifting the Munich trophy. However, No. 2 is up for grabs in Madrid and throughout the rest of the clay-court season as the stars battle for the coveted top two seed at Roland Garros.
4) Djokovic returns: The former World No. 1 came within one victory of his 100th tour-level title in Miami. Will the Serbian join Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103) in the 100-titles club by emerging victorious in Spain? Djokovic is returning to the Madrid Masters 1000 event for the first time since 2022, when he fell to Alcaraz in a final-set tie-break in their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. The Serbian is in the same half of the draw as Alcaraz.
Watch Djokovic's extraordinary moments:
5) Rublev's happy hunting ground: Andrey Rublev will feel well upon his return to the Mutua Madrid Open, where last year he earned his second Masters 1000 crown. The 27-year-old owns an 11-3 record in Madrid according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, where he has advanced to at least the Round of 16 in all four of his appearances. The seventh seed is in Zverev's quarter of the draw.
Watch 2024 Madrid final highlights:
6) Draper, Mensik pursue more ATP Masters 1000 glory: There have been two first-time Masters 1000 champions this season. Jack Draper powered to glory at Indian Wells and Jakub Mensik stunned Djokovic for the Miami crown. That victory was also the rising Czech's maiden ATP Tour title.
7) Rune Renaissance: Holger Rune arrived in Barcelona on a three-match losing streak, but got back on track in a big way by lifting the trophy at the Spanish ATP 500. Will he keep it up in Madrid? The Danish star, who reached a Masters 1000 final last month at Indian Wells, is 2-2 at the tournament and will play Flavio Cobolli or Fabian Marozsan in his opener.
Watch Barcelona final highlights:
8) Surging Spaniard Davidovich Fokina: Plenty of attention has been focused on Alcaraz, but he is not the only Spaniard shining this season. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is 10th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin thanks to a consistent season. The Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF alumnus made ATP Tour finals in Acapulco and Delray Beach, and also just advanced to a Masters 1000 semi-final in Monte-Carlo. He could face top-seeded Zverev in the third round.
9) Wild cards to try to repeat Miami success: Among the wild cards are Coleman Wong and Federico Cina, who both made breakthroughs in Miami. Wong defeated Daniel Altmaier and Ben Shelton to reach the third round, and 18-year-old Cina ousted Francisco Comesana in Florida for his first tour-level victory. They will face one another in the Madrid first round. The other wild cards are former Top 10 stars Marin Cilic and Pablo Carreno Busta, and Martin Landaluce.
10) Battle for top doubles team: The top two doubles teams in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings are Harri Heliovaara/Henry Patten and Marcelo Arevalo/Mate Pavic. Will either pair triumph in Madrid for the first time? In third place are Britons Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool, who made the Monte-Carlo final.
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2025 Stuttgart
Jelena Ostapenko completed a dream week at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix by taking down No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-1 in the final to claim her ninth career Hologic WTA Tour title -- and first on clay since winning Roland Garros in 2017.
Stuttgart: Draws | Scores | Order of play
The fourth time would be the charm either way in the Stuttgart final: either Sabalenka would drive off with her much-coveted first Porsche after three previous losses in the title match, or Ostapenko would post her first win over Sabalenka at the fourth attempt. In the event, it was the Latvian who came out on top of a pulsating, hard-hitting battle -- and she will add a second Porsche to the Cayenne Turbo she already drives at home.
No. 24-ranked Ostapenko, who ended Miami champion Sabalenka's eight-match winning streak, improved to 3-1 overall against reigning World No. 1s. She previously defeated Garbiñe Muguruza at Wuhan 2017 and Iga Swiatek at the 2023 US Open.
Having also ousted Swiatek in the quarterfinals this week (improving to 6-0 against the Pole), Ostapenko became the ninth player to defeat both Sabalenka and Swiatek in the same tournament, sixth since Swiatek first rose to No. 1 in 2021 and first to do so on clay.
Ostapenko's 2025 record now stands at 12-9 overall. She is 4-0 against Top 10 players this year (including three wins this week), and 8-9 against players ranked outside the Top 10.
Ostapenko's overall record in finals is now an even nine wins to nine losses, while Sabalenka has 19 wins to 16 losses. The 27-year-old is the only active player to have reached finals on outdoor hard court, indoor hard court, carpet, grass, green clay, outdoor red clay and now indoor red clay. (Among retired players, this feat has also been accomplished by Maria Sharapova, Justine Henin and Dinara Safina.) Excluding the now-defunct carpet surface, Ostapenko is one of just three active players with titles on outdoor hard court, indoor hard court, grass, outdoor clay and indoor clay, joining Petra Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova.
Ostapenko had garnered just one set in three previous encounters with Sabalenka, and the sets she lost were rarely close: Sabalenka had posted three 6-1 scores against her, and two 6-2 sets. In those matches, Sabalenka's superior serve and more reliable accuracy proved decisive.
This time, the tables were turned. Ostapenko dominated behind her first serve, winning 81% of those points, while also having a greater read on Sabalenka's first delivery than in the past: the three-time major champion won just 53% of her first-serve points. Consequently, Ostapenko was able to sustain pressure on the Sabalenka serve throughout the match, bringing up 11 break points (converting six) while facing just three against her (Sabalenka converted twice).
Ostapenko also delivered superb scoreboard management skills. She raced out of the blocks with a flurry of winners from all corners of the court -- on return, at net, even on defense -- to seize an immediate break for 2-0. But Sabalenka clung on to a pair of tight service games to avoid going down a double break, then unleashed on return herself to level at 4-4. Ostapenko responded with controlled aggression to break again for 5-4, and after 57 minutes served out a thrillingly contested set that could have tilted either way.
Ultimately, from 4-4, Ostapenko would take eight of the last nine games of the match. In the second set, Sabalenka won just 10 points -- four of which came in a single break to love -- and just five on serve. By the conclusion of the contest, Ostapenko was in full flow, closing out a 1-hour, 25-minute victory in trademark fashion with consecutive return winners.
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Afterwards, Ostapenko told the press that she had a premonition of victory from the moment she arrived in Stuttgart.
"Honestly, I didn't tell to anyone, I was keeping it to myself, but I felt very confident since the first day," she said. "I had, like, strange -- not strange but in a good way, strange feeling. When I came here, I felt like something is going to happen this week. I pretty much felt that I can win this tournament. Because I think I'm improving day by day and I'm playing better and better. Yeah, I think I deserve it."
That culminated in a spectacular performance against a player she had never previously beaten.
"Obviously I played her a few times, but I analyzed those matches and I knew what I had to do different today," Ostapenko said. "I think I was more confident and more true player today than before."
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
The Madrid Open men's singles draw has been released – and Novak Djokovic is projected to face Carlos Alcaraz in the last four.
Fourth seed Djokovic has been drawn in the same half as second seed Alcaraz at the Masters 1000 event, meaning the two former champions could be set for a semi-final showdown.
The pair famously met in the last four back in 2022, where Alcaraz prevailed in a three-set thriller on his way to the first of two back-to-back titles on home turf.
Second seed Alcaraz comes into the tournament under a slight injury cloud following an apparent issue in his Barcelona Open final loss to Holger Rune.
The 21-year-old is reportedly undergoing a scan on Monday to determine the severity of a lower back problem, though he may be aided by receiving a round-one bye in Madrid.
Assuming Alcaraz plays, he will start his campaign against one of Zizou Bergs or Yoshihito Nishioka in round two, before a projected meeting against 26th seed Jiri Lehecka in round three.
The Spaniard is then expected to face 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov in round four before a quarter-final against sixth seed Alex de Minaur, in what would be a rematch of their last-eight clash in Barcelona.
However, de Minaur's section is an open one, with 17th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and 10th seed Lorenzo Musetti also placed here.
If action in Madrid follows the seedings, Alcaraz would then face fourth seed Djokovic in the semi-final, though the Serbian has been handed an intriguing draw.
Djokovic will face a qualifier or Matteo Arnaldi in round two, before a projected third round against 32nd seed Sebastian Baez.
The Serbian is then expected to face 16th seed Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round before a projected quarter-final against fifth seed Jack Draper.
After an opening-round bye, Draper could face Tallon Griekspoor in round two, before a projected round-three encounter versus former finalist and 30th seed Matteo Berrettini, and a fourth round versus 11th seed Tommy Paul.
Meanwhile, the top half of the draw is headlined by top seed Alexander Zverev, who returned to world No 2 on Monday after his triumph in Munich on Sunday.
Carlos Alcaraz set for crucial medical test that could end Madrid Open hopes
ATP Rankings: Zverev reclaims No 2 spot from Alcaraz, Rune returns to top 10, Ruud & Tsitsipas slide
However, the two-time Madrid champion has not been handed the easiest draw in his quest to capture a third title.
Zverev will face one of Roberto Bautista Agut or Jaume Munar in round two and potentially 28th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in round three.
That could then be followed by a fourth-round clash versus 13th seed Arthur Fils, who beat Zverev in Miami last month, and then a quarter-final against seventh seed and defending champion Andrey Rublev.
The Russian could face Gael Monfils in his first match and then 25th seed Alexei Popyrin, who beat him in the Canadian Open final last summer, in the third round.
Rublev could then face 12th seed Ben Shelton or 22nd seed Jakub Mensik in round four.
The second quarter of the draw is headlined by third seed Taylor Fritz, who will look to find some form after an injury lay-off at the beginning of the clay swing.
Fritz, who is projected to face Zverev in the last four, begins his campaign against Christopher O'Connell or Camilo Ugo Carabelli.
The US star could then take on 27th seed Hubert Hurkacz in round three and 14th seed Casper Ruud in round four, before a projected quarter-final against Barcelona champion Rune.
Eighth seed Rune faces a tough opener against one of Flavio Cobolli or Fabian Marozsan, before projected contests versus 31st seed Brandon Nakashima and ninth seed Daniil Medvedev.
Read Next: WTA Madrid Open draw: Swiatek could face Eala & Ostapenko, Sabalenka's kind draw, Raducanu top half
Carlos Alcaraz is set to undergo a scan that will decide whether he can play in Madrid.
Tennis 365's 'Heroes and Villains' for this week features Iga Swiatek, Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune and Alexander Zverev.
Carlos Alcaraz revealed Rafael Nadal sent him a message after the final.
Carlos Alcaraz's Barcelona loss to Holger Rune was just his sixth final defeat.
© Planet Sport Limited 2025 • All Rights Reserved
Holger Rune surged inside the Top 10 in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time since last April with his victorious run at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.
The 21-year-old Dane snapped Carlos Alcaraz's nine-match winning streak in a gutsy championship-match display at the ATP 500, capping a week in which he rose from No. 13 to No. 9.
In Munich, home favourite Alexander Zverev won his third title at the BMW Open by Bitpanda and with it, reclaimed the No. 2 spot from Alcaraz. ATPTour.com looks at the movers in the PIF ATP Rankings, as of Monday 21 April.
No. 9 Holger Rune, +4
Just by reaching the final in Barcelona, Rune had secured his ascent to No. 9, returning inside the Top 10 for the first time since the second week of April last year. However, in the first tour-level final between two players aged 21-and-under since 2022, the Dane produced a remarkable straight-sets win over recent Monte-Carlo champion Alcaraz to claim his fifth ATP tour trophy.
You May Also Like: Rune upsets Alcaraz for Barcelona title
No. 2 Alexander Zverev, +1 (Career High)
One week after surrendering the No. 2 spot to Alcaraz, Zverev surpassed the Spaniard to reclaim that position. If Alcaraz triumphed in Barcelona, he would have stayed at No. 2, but he was unable to spoil the party for Zverev, who celebrated his 28th birthday on Sunday.
With his title at the newly upgraded ATP 500, Zverev equalled countryman Philipp Kohlschreiber's tournament-record tally of three crowns in Munich. It marked a 24th tour-level trophy for the German, and first of the 2025 season.
No. 13 Ben Shelton, +2
After his championship-match run in Munich, Ben Shelton has risen two spots to No. 13, just one spot shy of his career-high PIF ATP Ranking. The 22-year-old became the first American to reach a clay final above ATP 250 level since Andre Agassi won the 2002 ATP Masters 1000 in Rome, and will aim to build on his form to earn a Top-10 breakthrough.
No. 58 Fabian Marozsan, +19
Fabian Marozsan surged 19 spots to No. 58 following his charge into the semi-finals in Munich. The Hungarian did not drop a set en route to that point, including victory over fourth seed Ugo Humbert in the second round, but was eventually halted by the top-seeded Zverev.
No. 71 Laslo Djere, +9
Laslo Djere continued his ascent in the 2025 PIF ATP Rankings in Barcelona, where he rose nine spots to No. 71. The Serbian, who started the year at No. 114, made it through qualifying before falling to two-time champion Alcaraz in the second round of the main draw.
Other Notable Top 100 Movers
No. 25 Karen Khachanov, +2
No. 34 Tallon Griekspoor, +3
No. 49 David Goffin, +3
No. 61 Hamad Medjedovic, +11 (Career High)
No. 92 Alexander Shevchenko, +12
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No. 2 Alexander Zverev, +1 (Career High)
One week after surrendering the No. 2 spot to Alcaraz, Zverev surpassed the Spaniard to reclaim that position. If Alcaraz triumphed in Barcelona, he would have stayed at No. 2, but he was unable to spoil the party for Zverev, who celebrated his 28th birthday on Sunday.
With his title at the newly upgraded ATP 500, Zverev equalled countryman Philipp Kohlschreiber's tournament-record tally of three crowns in Munich. It marked a 24th tour-level trophy for the German, and first of the 2025 season.
No. 13 Ben Shelton, +2
After his championship-match run in Munich, Ben Shelton has risen two spots to No. 13, just one spot shy of his career-high PIF ATP Ranking. The 22-year-old became the first American to reach a clay final above ATP 250 level since Andre Agassi won the 2002 ATP Masters 1000 in Rome, and will aim to build on his form to earn a Top-10 breakthrough.
No. 58 Fabian Marozsan, +19
Fabian Marozsan surged 19 spots to No. 58 following his charge into the semi-finals in Munich. The Hungarian did not drop a set en route to that point, including victory over fourth seed Ugo Humbert in the second round, but was eventually halted by the top-seeded Zverev.
No. 71 Laslo Djere, +9
Laslo Djere continued his ascent in the 2025 PIF ATP Rankings in Barcelona, where he rose nine spots to No. 71. The Serbian, who started the year at No. 114, made it through qualifying before falling to two-time champion Alcaraz in the second round of the main draw.
Other Notable Top 100 Movers
No. 25 Karen Khachanov, +2
No. 34 Tallon Griekspoor, +3
No. 49 David Goffin, +3
No. 61 Hamad Medjedovic, +11 (Career High)
No. 92 Alexander Shevchenko, +12
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Lewis Hamilton finished seventh for Ferrari in Jeddah, but said afterwards he'd been struggling with the car all evening.
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By Justin Kroll
Film Editor
EXCLUSIVE: With A Minecraft Movie owning the box office over the past month and HBO' The Last of Us returning with a bang, Universal is looking to add its own video game adaptation to the mix with the help of two big superstars. Sources tell Deadline that the studio is developing a feature adaptation of Sega's iconic arcade video game OutRun, with Michael Bay attached to direct and Sydney Sweeney aboard to produce. Jayson Rothwell will pen the script.
Bay will also produce alongside partner Brad Fuller through their Platinum Dunes banner, which has a first-look deal with the studio. The project is in development; as of right now, Sweeney is only on board to produce. Toru Nakahara (Sonic the Hedgehog 1-3, Knuckles, Golden Axe) will also produce for Sega and Shuji Utsumi (president/COO of Sega Corp.) will oversee the project on behalf of Sega.
Plot details are vague. Sega's OutRun series is a franchise that originated from some of the most successful arcade games in the world during the 1980s. The game pioneered a new genre of driving games and spawned an electronic music subgenre aptly called “OutRun.” The unique combo made it a worldwide hit. Since then, numerous installments have been released, including home console versions, and it continues to be one of Sega's flagship franchises.
Watch on Deadline
While the industry is having a moment with video game adaptations, Universal is no stranger to adapting them into hit movies. OutRun is slated to follow The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Five Nights at Freddy's, which grossed $1.4 billion and $290 million, respectively, in global box office.
Sweeney may be one of the town's busier stars in front of the camera but over the past year has become active on the producing front as well. She recently produced and starred in her Neon horror pic Immaculate and is also a producer on the Christy Martin biopic in which she also stars.
Bay, Fuller and Platinum Dunes have also been busy, recently producing A Quiet Place: Day One. They also produced the thriller Drop alongside Blumhouse.
Rothwell's recent credits include Polar and Arachnid.
Bay is represented by Range Media Partners. Sweeney is represented by Paradigm and Stewart Brookman at Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, et al. Rothwell is represented by Cliff Roberts at Syndicate Entertainment, and Austin Williams at Sloan Offer Weber & Dern.
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Kelly Clarkson's recent absence from her daytime talk show has left fans puzzled and concerned. While guest hosts like Andy Cohen have temporarily taken over, viewers are eager for updates on Clarkson's return. The show's lineup for the week suggests she may be back soon, but no official explanation has been provided.
A post shared by The Kelly Clarkson Show (@kellyclarksonshow)
Clarkson fans are no strangers to surprises, but her latest absence from “The Kelly Clarkson Show” has once again stirred up speculation. For the April 21 episode, viewers tuning in were greeted by guest host Cohen instead of the show's beloved namesake.
The show's official Instagram announced the week's lineup, featuring celebrity guests like Idina Menzel, Mae Martin, and JohnnySwim, with Cohen stepping in to save the day. Fans quickly flooded the comments, voicing both excitement for the guests and concern over Clarkson's whereabouts.
“But is Kelly there? What's going on? No make up, wearing jeans everyday, never there? What's up?” one fan asked, echoing the sentiment of many others who were hoping for some clarity. Another chimed in with a firm stance, “I will not be watching Monday's episode, I only watch when Miss Clarkson is hosting, so you lost a viewer for Monday's show.”
This isn't the first time Clarkson has taken a brief step back from her hosting duties. In March and early April, she missed nearly ten episodes, a string of absences that went unexplained at the time. Although she returned to her iconic purple couch soon after, fans were left wondering what prompted the break.
A post shared by The Kelly Clarkson Show (@kellyclarksonshow)
While there has been no official statement from Clarkson herself, a new report from NewsNation may shed light on the recent mystery. According to an unnamed source, Clarkson took time off to be with her children as they visited her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock, who is reportedly ill.
“Her ex-husband is sick and she took the kids to see him,” the source revealed. Clarkson and Blackstock officially finalized their divorce in 2022, and share two children: River Rose and Remington Alexander. Since the split, Clarkson has relocated from California to New York City, citing the move as a healthier choice for her and her kids. Though the former couple endured a highly publicized and lengthy divorce, the source did emphasize that they are both very present in their life.
As of now, Clarkson's official show site indicates that she is scheduled to film new episodes throughout the week, suggesting that Monday's guest-hosted show may be a one-off. Other guests this week include Kesha, Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Coco Jones, Sadie Sink, Rosie O'Donnell, and more.
While fans may be missing their daily dose of the “Since U Been Gone ” singer's charm and powerhouse vocals, it's clear she's taking time to prioritize her family—a move that, while mysterious to some, ultimately speaks to her values. For now, we'll stay tuned and keep a hopeful eye out for Clarkson from the couch.
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[Editor's Note: The following review contains spoilers for “The Last of Us” Season 2, Episode 2, “Through the Valley.”]
In movies and TV, zombies are scary due to their numbers. It doesn't matter how fast you run, it doesn't matter where you go, they'll find you. They exist on such a massive scale that they become inevitable.
In archetypical zombie movies like George A. Romero's “Dawn of the Dead,” the protagonists are trapped in an enclosed location surrounded by hordes of zombies whose only goal is to maul them to death. Yet those zombie hordes are just waiting outside. At most, they run like a mindless herd once they find a way in. These undead don't plan, don't strategize, and don't even think. “The Last of Us” season two does something different in its second episode, and the result is a very different take on the walking dead than what we've seen both in the first season and even the game.
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Well, an important distinction first. The zombies of “The Last of Us” are technically infected (with the fungus Cordyceps) rather than being reanimated corpses. This is important because they are not undead ghouls that rise from the grave, they're not decomposing corpses that slowly fall apart. Instead, the Cordyceps keeps its victims very much alive, just slowly mutating until they become part of a great fungal network of big mushroom people. The first season of the HBO show took advantage of this distinction between undead zombies and infected by showcasing the different stages of the fungal infection and the different types of danger the creatures provide, from the clickers' echolocation and hard-to-crack skulls to a hulking bloater's massive size and strength.
In the second episode of the sophomore season, the show kicks things up a notch, taking the thrills of the fifth episode of the previous season and dialing the zombie action up to 11. First, a shot at the end of the premiere episode shows that a network of Cordyceps tendrils have wound themselves around the pipes of the safe haven of Jackson, Wyoming, signaling to all the infected nearby that it's time to spread the good fungal word all around town.
From the first moment that we see the mass of infected through the blurry binoculars of the watchers on the walls of Jackson, the show takes a lot of care to establish the dynamic that we expect. Both director Mark Mylod and editor Timothy A. Good create a tense building rhythm of the defenders of Jackson getting ready — stocking flamethrowers and weapons, deploying rams on the production designer's Don Macauley's high walls, getting into position for an ambush — with the simple fury of infected running. Mindless zombies, right?
Not quite. Rather than just throw wave after wave of infected at the walls, the zombies quickly change tactics once they hit resistance and start reacting to their enemy. It is clear they were testing the town's defenses, and when a section of the wall doesn't break, they run away toward another part of the town. They are not retreating, but rather moving over to plan B — where the “B” stands for “Bloater.”
The Bloater acts like a living battering ram, smashing the gate until it bursts open and the horde can get inside the town. Sure, the infected don't have siege weapons or a commander issuing orders, but it is clear this is different to what we've seen before. The editing bait-and-switch forces us as viewers to grapple with an entirely different kind of tension than we were expecting. The shock and dread that stunt coordinator Marny Eng is able to build simply by having his infected team (both actors and the actual army of infected) move with purpose, adjusting speed to terrain while still maintaining a zombified fury, makes every single infected dangerous, not just the horde of them.
The danger of the battle is further stressed by the framing choices that Mylod and veteran “House of the Dragon” cinematographer Catherine Goldschmidt make. For all his careful planning, Tommy (Gabriel Luna) is the one who ends up boxed into an alley looking up at a Bloater. Goldschmidt's camera moves to follow him as he runs for a vantage point, with a slight shake to match Tommy's frenzy, but stays pretty wide. At all times, we can see exactly the limits of the buildings and supplies, the too-few points of egress.
When Goldschmidt goes close, on the Bloater's feet pushing through the fire and the pressure gauge of Tommy's flamethrower fading, it's as Tommy is backing into a corner physically, getting lower to the ground and closer, we intuitively understand, to death. “The Last of Us” is perfectly clear, visually, just how impossible it is to escape.
Remember the much meme-d scene from “World War Z” of the zombies clustering together like ants to form a ladder and climb up walls in that movie? That was the movie's attempt at smart zombies, or at least a formidable force that could destroy the world, yet it fell short. The sack of Jackson in “The Last of Us” is, among many other things, the proper “World War Z” adaptation fans of that book wanted.
If “The Last of Us” team can be counted on for anything, it's to give us what we want in both the best and the worst way. Eng and his stunt team build on the grim choreography of the Kansas City battle in Episode 5 of Season 1 to show just how much writhing, terrifying danger there is when a group of infected gets in among a human population. The wide shots of Tommy stepping onto the main street of Jackson, burning in the snow, are a riot of gore and desperate hand-to-hand action that neither our focus character nor any but the most dedicated rewatch viewers will fully catch. But the clever compositions and the intricate fightwork give us the same visceral sense of being in the middle of that maelstrom, and of what it means when all those German Shepherds come running to Tommy's rescue.
As an episode of TV, the battle of Jackson is one of the most impressive displays of cinematography and stunt work in recent years, up there with the best moments of “Game of Thrones.” It is something fresh in the genre, a large-scale siege battle featuring an army of speechless ghouls that are very clearly not mindless monsters.
It's the best thing “The Last of Us” has ever done, and one hell of a zombie attack.
“The Last of Us” is streaming on Max.
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By
Alan Sepinwall
This post contains spoilers for this week's episode of The Last of Us, which is now streaming on Max.Ellie and Joel. Joel and Ellie. That was the pairing that made the first season of The Last of Us so special. The combination of these two damaged souls — her needing a parental figure, him needing a surrogate daughter, both afraid to acknowledge this fact to themselves or each other — coupled with spectacular performances by Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal, elevated the HBO drama above the usual tropes of a post-apocalyptic survival story. It didn't exactly make the series into a beacon of hopefulness — the first season, after all, ended with Joel massacring a hospital full of people who were trying to synthesize a cure for the plague that had infected most of humanity, all because he couldn't abide the fact that Ellie would have to die in the process — but there was enough in their bond, and in the interplay between the two actors, to make it a show beloved even by people who generally don't have patience for zombies (or zombie-like creatures) running amok in a ruined world. So long as there were Ellie and Joel, some part of it all would be OK, it seemed.
So now what?
Last night's episode ended in horrifying fashion. Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), whose doctor father was the first person Joel killed on his rampage in the Season One finale, tracked Joel down with the help of her militia friends, and savagely beat him with a golf club. Then, after Ellie showed up in a futile attempt to save him, Abby fatally stabbed Joel in the neck with the shaft of the club she had broken against his body.
It is a plot development well known — for good and for ill — to the many people who played The Last of Us Part II game, and who have spent the past few years waiting to see when, how, or even if the TV show dealt with it. Showrunners Neil Druckmann (who co-created the game) and Craig Mazin could have put this off until much later in this batch of seven episodes, perhaps by spending more time in the long gap between seasons, or simply by dealing more with life in Jackson, and various non-Abby threats facing the insulated city. Or Mazin, the veteran screenwriter who was not involved in the game, and thus isn't as invested in it, could have looked at how well Pascal and Ramsey worked together in the first season — and how much audiences responded to them — and tried to convince Druckmann to take the show in a different direction.
Instead, they stuck with the source material, having Joel's death happen at roughly the same point in this season where it happens in the game. (Though the attack on Jackson by a horde of infected is an invention of the show's.) No delaying, no denying — just cold, cruel, death.
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And at least some non-gamer members of the audience are saying that Joel's death has made it their last episode of The Last of Us.
It will be quite a while until we see whether this twist has any impact on the series' ratings, whether on HBO or on Max. The Last of Us Part II has to date sold less well than the original game, but it's also only been available for five years, whereas the original came out in 2013. Many gamers were upset with this development, some because they felt the core of the game was Joel's relationship with Ellie, some because they didn't appreciate the straight male hero being killed off while the queer female antiheroine stuck around. Take a guess which group was responsible for besieging Laura Bailey, who played Abby in the game, with death threats. On Sunday night, Pedro Pascal went out of his way to try to shield Kaitlyn Dever from a similar fate, by putting this affectionate post on his Instagram:
A post shared by Pedro Pascal he/him (@pascalispunk)
Anecdotally, my social media mentions since last night have primarily been a mix of two responses: 1) gamers impressed that the show not only went through with it, but didn't stall in order to maximize the amount of Pedro Pascal time it had; and 2) non-gamers who either aren't sure they want to continue watching, or have outright said that they're done. Some were watching primarily for that relationship, despite not being crazy about the genre in general. Others suggested that the world feels so dark these days that losing Joel — and having him die in such sadistic fashion (even if the majority of the torture occurred off-camera) — is more than they want out of their fiction right now.
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I've seen the entire season, and in my review, I did my best to write around Joel's death while talking about my own relative dissatisfaction with what the show becomes without him. There's a lot of excellent material on the way. Bella Ramsey is a superb actor. Ellie's relationships with characters like Dina (Isabela Merced), Tommy (Gabriel Luna), and Jesse (Young Mazino) are compelling in different ways, particularly whenever she's paired with Dina. Still, they're not Joel, and when there are later flashbacks featuring Joel, the chemistry between Ramsey and Pascal blows every other relationship off the screen. But this season only covers half of the story of the second game, so I can only speak to how well the show plays without Joel in the short term, rather than whether the ultimate payoff is worth his loss.
This is also an unusual circumstance, in that it's rare to have a show write out its clear lead or co-lead character this early in the run, especially by choice. David Caruso infamously quit NYPD Blue after the first season to pursue movie stardom that never came; that show did fine without him, in part because replacement Jimmy Smits was so good, but mainly because Caruso had by that point already been usurped in fans' hearts by co-star Dennis Franz. Game of Thrones killed off Ned Stark late in its first season — even earlier than Joel — which was also a case of following the source material. But even though Sean Bean was the cast's biggest star at the time(*), and even though Ned was our initial point of view character, by the time he lost his head, the narrative had become so sprawling that killing him wasn't as fundamental a change to that show as killing off one half of what had largely been a two-character piece until now.
(*) Pascal is at the moment perhaps the most famous GoT alum, after playing a character who, like Ned, was introduced and killed off in the same season.
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In general, when hit shows have had to replace a lead or co-lead — whether because the actor wanted to leave or because the creative team decided to do it — they've remained hits, unless it's so many years into their runs that some audience attrition was inevitable anyway. (See The Office without Steve Carell, or The X-Files without David Duchovny.) Maybe the most obvious instance of a character death triggering a mass fan exodus was The O.C., whose viewership plummeted after the producers (in a decision they later regretted) decided to kill off Mischa Barton's Marissa Cooper after the third season. And even there, the ratings had already dipped substantially from their first-season peak.
So believe The Last of Us will scare away most of its audience when you see it happen. But you also can't blame fans from not only feeling shock at Joel's death, but wondering whether the show they loved is still that show without him.
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By Matt Grobar
Senior Film Reporter
Ernie Hudson is taking over the late Carl Weathers‘ voice role of action figure Combat Carl in Toy Story 5, Deadline has confirmed.
Prior to his passing due to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, pro football player turned actor Weathers voiced Combat Carl in two projects: the 2013 TV special Toy Story of Terror! and 2019's Toy Story 4, which grossed over $1 billion worldwide. He died in February 2024, aged 76.
While official plot details for Toy Story 5 remain under wraps, ahead of the film's June 19, 2026 unveiling, star Tim Allen said in an interview with WIVB that the film is “a lot about Jessie,” the cowgirl doll voiced by Joan Cusack. “Tom [Hanks] and I do — Woody and I — do realign,” added the actor, who voices Buzz Lightyear. “And there's an unbelievable opening scene with Buzz Lightyears. I can give you that, but I can't give you much more.”
In a separate interview with Collider after completing his first voiceover session on the new film, Allen called the sequel “a very, very clever story” with “a brilliant script,” adding, “It's a really good story, guys. It's really good.”
Watch on Deadline
The Disney/Pixar title hails from writer-director Andrew Stanton, the two-time Oscar winner behind WALL-E and Finding Nemo. Jessica Choi is producing, with Pete Docter exec producing. Also in the voice cast in an undisclosed role, as previously reported, is Anna Faris of Mom and Scary Movie fame.
Known for roles in the Ghostbusters franchise, Netflix's Grace and Frankie and more, Hudson is coming off appearances in films like Champions, The Retirement Plan, and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. As a voice actor, his resume includes such projects as Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Transformers Prime, and Puppy Dog Pals.
TMZ was first to today's Toy Story news.
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By Katie Campione
TV Reporter
EXCLUSIVE: Hollywood workers have committed to a show of force ahead of key hearings this week for the California legislation aimed at expanding and amending the state's Film and Television Tax Credit Program.
Deadline understands that more than 100,000 letters have been sent to Sacramento in support of SB630 and AB1138, which would not only allocate $750M annually in tax incentives for production in the state but also redefine and broaden eligibility for the program.
“The letters are really the indication of the depth and commitment to moving this forward, to letting our elected officials know how important this is to our state and to the working people in this industry,” Rebecca Rhine, Entertainment Union Coalition President and Directors Guild of America Western Executive Director, told Deadline. “We're at a tipping point here…This funding and this legislation to make the program more competitive is so critical to working families in California.”
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The initiative was led by the Entertainment Union Coalition as part of its Keep California Rolling campaign, which has been lobbying for the passage of SB630 and AB1138. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the sister bills will go before their respective committees for a vote that could send them to the larger legislature for approval.
Watch on Deadline
The letters urge key members of the Senate's Revenue & Taxation Committee as well as the Assembly Arts, Entertainment, Sports, and Tourism Committee to vote the bills out of committee this week in order to put workers one step closer to being able to “continue to contribute and work where I live.”
“I don't want to change careers, and I don't want to leave the state,” the sample text for the letter, which is embedded in full below, reads. “What I want is the opportunity to work where I live and to continue to be a part of the most vibrant creative community in the world. This iconic industry that has made California home for 100 years. It has been good for my family and good for our state. When our Industry thrives, California thrives.”
The letter also attempts to illustrate the hardship that many production workers have endured over the last several years, made even worse by the exodus of production to other territories. As their financial incentives have expanded, California's has remained stagnant.
“I feel like we have done everything we can to make elected leaders understand what this bill does, which is retain jobs for Californians, and why it's so important what our industry brings to the state,” Rhine added.
This is a positive sign for the active legislation, which California lawmakers began weighing last month. Governor Gavin Newsom first announced his proposed plans to up the program's funding from $330M annually to $750M annually in October and, if passed, it will be second in the country only to Georgia, which does not have a cap on its production incentives.
Some state lawmakers hope the program's revamp will breathe some much-needed life into California's once-bustling film and TV industry, while others expressed some skepticism over whether more than doubling the incentive cap is the most productive use of those funds within the state budget.
However, sources tell Deadline that this is an incredibly high priority for Newsom and, while passing these bills may ultimately require some wrangling given the current political realities in the United States, he is very determined that this will happen.
The Assembly Arts, Entertainment, Sports, and Tourism Committee will vote on AB1138 during a hearing Tuesday at 9 a.m. The Senate Revenue & Taxation Committee are scheduled for a vote on SB630 Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.
The full letter is below.
Dear Chairs Ward, McNerney, Gipson, and Committee Members,My name is **NAME** and I am one of the 165,000 union members of the Entertainment Union Coalition who works in California's motion picture and television industry. I am not just a statistic; I am a Californian who needs your support.I have worked in this industry for **NUMBER** years. I pay taxes, support local businesses, raise my family, engage in my community, and have always been proud of my work and my contribution to making this great State. That's why I am a supporter of the modernization of the California Film and Television Jobs Program in AB 1138 and SB 630. I want to continue to contribute and work where I live.Over the past several years, we have hit very hard times. Jobs are scarce for those of us who have spent decades building our careers and for those of us who are just trying to “ break in.” Industry vendors, large and small, are shutting down across California and once that infrastructure is gone it can't be rebuilt. Those lucky enough to find work in some instances must leave home for months at a time to support themselves and their families. All because production work is leaving California, lured away by other states and countries that understand how valuable our industry is to their economies.Our industry has drastically changed over the 11 years since the original California Film and Television Jobs Act was passed. But both the funding and the program structure have not changed enough to remain competitive.But we have the opportunity to do that right now.I don't want to change careers, and I don't want to leave the state. What I want is the opportunity to work where I live and to continue to be a part of the most vibrant creative community in the world. This iconic industry that has made California home for 100 years. It has been good for my family and good for our state. When our Industry thrives, California thrives.Please vote Yes for AB 1138 and SB 630.We need your support.Sincerely,**NAME**
Dominic Patten contributed to this report.
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Former “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Lisa Vanderpump is sharing her support for Garcelle Beauvais following her recent decision to exit the Bravo series.
While speaking to TMZ in April 2025, Vanderpump, who exited RHOBH following the show's 9th season, said Beauvais is “a wonderful woman.”
“I'm sure she's kind of moving on to other things. It kind of served her well, and I wish her lots of luck,” said Vanderpump to the publication.
Vanderpump made similar comments about Beauvais' exit during an April 2025 interview with Us Weekly. She said she would continue to not watch RHOBH, especially now that Beauvais has left the Bravo series.
“There's no upside for me watching it. The only one I really liked was Garcelle [Beauvais] — I have a good relationship with her. Now it's time for her to move on. She was somebody before and she'll be somebody after. Not everybody's like that. A lot of people are defined by Housewives,” said Vanderpump during the Us Weekly interview.
A post shared by Lisa Vanderpump (@lisavanderpump)
During the April 2025 interview with TMZ, Vanderpump said she would not come back to RHOBH.
“That's a hard no,” said Vanderpump to TMZ.
Vanderpump made similar comments about possibly returning to RHOBH while speaking to Us Weekly in April 2025. She said she would not come back to the Bravo franchise unless there were changes made to its cast.
“That's a hard no, unless it was a group of different women I really liked,” said Vanderpump in the Us Weekly interview.
Vanderpump also gave her opinion about RHOBH during a December 2024 interview with Access Hollywood. She said she would not consider coming back to the series. In addition, she gave an update on her dynamic with her former friend and castmate, Kyle Richards. According to Vanderpump, she would not mend her friendship with Richards unless she received an apology.
A post shared by Garcelle Beauvais (@garcelle)
According to BravoTV.com, Beauvais revealed she would no longer film for RHOBH in a March 2025 Instagram video.
“I have some news: I've decided to leave Beverly Hills. It's been a wild ride — I mean, some amazing things have happened, and some hard things have also happened — but it's been a ride nevertheless,” said Beauvais while filming the video.
She said one of the reasons she left RHOBH following season 14 was because she wanted to spend time with her younger sons, Jaid and Jax.
“Their last year of high school is next year and I want to be a part of that. And Jaid is starting a new [modeling] career and I want to be a part of that too,” said Beauvais.
She also said she has been busy working as an actress and producer.
“Secondly, I have the most exciting projects that I am developing, producing, and acting in. I can't tell you anything right now, but you'll know soon,” said Beauvais in her Instagram video.
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Seven years after former “Flip or Flop” stars Christina Haack and Tarek El Moussa's marriage ended with a contentious divorce, their relationship is in such a good place that the HGTV fan-favorites are enjoying their 2025 spring break as a blended family with their kids, parents, and partners.
In an Instagram post on April 20, Christina called it “the best spring break I could ever ask for.” That declaration came after multiple posts in her Instagram Stories about the trip.
“Home for a week,” Haack captioned a pic of a private pool photo and hot tub in her April 18 Instagram Stories, tagging her new beau, Chris Larocca. She also posted a pic of them snuggling on a lounge chair in their bathing suits, with her wearing a backwards baseball cap that said “put it on my boyfriend's tab.”
Soon after, Tarek and his wife (and fellow HGTV star) Heather Rae El Moussa arrived. They also began sharing photos and videos in their Instagram Stories, revealing that they're all vacationing as one big happy family in California's Coachella Valley.
A post shared by Tarek El Moussa (@therealtarekelmoussa)
Based on photos and videos shared in the trio of HGTV stars' Instagram Stories, the family-friendly vacation has included lots of pool time, golf cart rides in the community of vacation homes where they're staying, and an Easter egg hunt.
On April 19, the El Moussas, Christina, and Larocca posed for a photo by the pool — the women in bikinis and the guys in t-shirts and swim trunks. Tarek shared the photo in his Stories and wrote, “Kicking off Easter Weekend by the pool 👏☀️.” The two couples were also seen riding in a golf cart together, with Larocca raising his beer to the camera.
The trip isn't just about couples' fun, though — they have a big group along for the ride, including their kids — Tarek and Christina's 14-year-old daughter Taylor and nine-year-old son Brayden, the El Moussas' two-year-old son Tristan, and Christina's five-year-old son Hudson, whom she shares with ex-husband Ant Anstead.
The boys have been seen in photos having fun together at the pool, sitting at a table together, lounging in a big bed as Hudson adorably said he was “tired” after “babysitting” Tristan, and happily searching for Easter eggs.
Though it doesn't appear that Christina's parents are on the trip, the El Moussas' parents have been seen partaking in the fun. On April 19, Tarek's mom, Dominque El Moussa–Arnould, posted Instagram photos of her and her husband zipping around in “state of the art” Skye Performance golf carts with Heather's parents, Teresa and Dan Young.
Dominique captioned her post, “Wow! The golf carts are just state of the art with technology galore, fun disco lights, first ones with power steering and just all around gorgeous. Having fun with Teresa and Dan! Waiting for the family chaos to arrive 😎”
Meanwhile, Christina also brought her friend Kristin on the trip. On April 19, Haack posted a photo of them by the pool in her Stories and wrote, “What's the best dating site now for my girl @kristinbicoastal?”
A post shared by HGTV (@hgtv)
Though things were rocky for Christina and Tarek when they first split in 2017, they made huge inroads as co-parents over the years. In early 2024, Tarek told EntertainmentNOW that their relationship was the best it had ever been since their divorce. But things further improved as they filmed their hit competition show “The Flip Off” later that year, when the former couple buried the hatchet for good.
In the premiere episode, which first aired in late January, Christina informed Tarek on-camera that she'd just broken up with her third husband, Josh Hall. The two sat down for a tearful heart-to-heart, apologizing for any past hurts.
After some highly-publicized bumps in the road, Christina and Heather's friendship also grew through the process of filming.
In February, Heather told EntertainmentNOW, “We've known each other for six years now; that's a long time. And you know, we're very involved with each other every day because we're raising children together.”
“But filming ‘The Flip Off' brought us even closer together,” she continued, “because we saw each other in a different way. Not just as co-parents, but we got to know each other on a deeper level, where we created more of a friendship.”
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By Anthony D'Alessandro
Editorial Director/Box Office Editor
Sarah Michelle Gellar knows more than what you did last summer, she knows she's joining Searchlight's Radio Silence sequel Ready Or Not: Here I Come with genre vet Elijah Wood, Shawn Hatosy, Néstor Carbonell, Kevin Durand, and David Cronenberg rounding out the cast. Cameras are rolling in Toronto today.
All of them join previously announced Samara Weaving and Kathryn Newton in the Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy penned script.
“We're thrilled to be returning to the world of Ready or Not with Samara, Brett, Avery and Andrew,” said filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett aka Radio Silence, “and so excited to work with this immensely talented cast and the incredible artists across every department joining the Ready or Not family.”
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Added Matthew Greenfield, President of Searchlight Pictures, “We're beyond excited to make another film with the phenomenal Radio Silence. With Ready or Not: Here I Come, we get to go on another ride with the amazing Samara Weaving, mix in awesome new voices, and bring audiences a fresh take that's every bit as twisted and fun as the first one. This is for those who've been waiting, and those who didn't see it coming.”
Watch on Deadline
VP of Production Richard Ruiz and Creative Executive Cornelia Burleigh are overseeing the project for Searchlight Pictures, reporting to Heads of Production and Development DanTram Nguyen and Katie Goodson-Thomas.
Producers are Tripp Vinson (Fountain of Youth, Murder Mystery), James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, Fountain of Youth), Bradley J. Fischer (Transformers), and William Sherak (Abigail, Scream). EPs are Chad Villella, Tara Farney, Greg Denny, Busick, Murphy, Weaving, and Paul Neinstein.
Geller is renowned for playing Buffy the Vampire Slayer as well as a slew of roles in genre movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream 2, the box office hit The Grudge, as well as the thriller Cruel Intentions and the live-action whodunnit Scooby-Doo films.
Wood recently starred in Oz Perkins' The Monkey. He's known his iconic portrayal of Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Wood's other credits include Yellowjackets and I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore.
Hatosy stars on the widely watched Max Original drama series, The Pitt alongside Noah Wyle. Previously, Hatosy starred in two John Wells Productions series, Animal Kingdom and the Peabody Award winning Southland for which he was nominated for a Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor. Hatosy's film credits include Robert Rodriguez's cult favorite The Faculty, Michael Mann's Public Enemies, and Nick Cassavetes' films Alpha Dog and John Q.
Carbonell starred in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. He also headlined Lost, Bates Motel and The Morning Show. Most recently, he won the 2024 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role in FX's Shōgun.
Durand stars in the upcoming Paramount Pictures action comedy The Naked Gun and the IFC Films horror comedy Clown in a Cornfield, and recently starred in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Abigail. His other film credits include Ballers, Resident Evil: Retribution, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and 3:10 to Yuma.
Cronenberg, of course, is known for his filmography as a quintessential horror filmmaker, his titles include The Fly, The Shrouds, Crimes of the Future, Maps to the Stars, and Cosmopolis to name a few.
Ready or Not was a notable cash cow for Searchlight, made for $6M and minting over $57M at the global box office.
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By Anthony D'Alessandro
Editorial Director/Box Office Editor
Sarah Michelle Gellar knows more than what you did last summer, she knows she's joining Searchlight's Radio Silence sequel Ready Or Not: Here I Come with genre vet Elijah Wood, Shawn Hatosy, Néstor Carbonell, Kevin Durand, and David Cronenberg rounding out the cast. Cameras are rolling in Toronto today.
All of them join previously announced Samara Weaving and Kathryn Newton in the Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy penned script.
“We're thrilled to be returning to the world of Ready or Not with Samara, Brett, Avery and Andrew,” said filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett aka Radio Silence, “and so excited to work with this immensely talented cast and the incredible artists across every department joining the Ready or Not family.”
Related Stories
Casting
Kathryn Newton Reteaming With Radio Silence For Searchlight's 'Ready Or Not' Sequel
Casting
'Robin Hood' Adds 6 To Cast In Recurring Roles; Production Underway In Serbia
Added Matthew Greenfield, President of Searchlight Pictures, “We're beyond excited to make another film with the phenomenal Radio Silence. With Ready or Not: Here I Come, we get to go on another ride with the amazing Samara Weaving, mix in awesome new voices, and bring audiences a fresh take that's every bit as twisted and fun as the first one. This is for those who've been waiting, and those who didn't see it coming.”
Watch on Deadline
VP of Production Richard Ruiz and Creative Executive Cornelia Burleigh are overseeing the project for Searchlight Pictures, reporting to Heads of Production and Development DanTram Nguyen and Katie Goodson-Thomas.
Producers are Tripp Vinson (Fountain of Youth, Murder Mystery), James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, Fountain of Youth), Bradley J. Fischer (Transformers), and William Sherak (Abigail, Scream). EPs are Chad Villella, Tara Farney, Greg Denny, Busick, Murphy, Weaving, and Paul Neinstein.
Geller is renowned for playing Buffy the Vampire Slayer as well as a slew of roles in genre movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream 2, the box office hit The Grudge, as well as the thriller Cruel Intentions and the live-action whodunnit Scooby-Doo films.
Wood recently starred in Oz Perkins' The Monkey. He's known his iconic portrayal of Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Wood's other credits include Yellowjackets and I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore.
Hatosy stars on the widely watched Max Original drama series, The Pitt alongside Noah Wyle. Previously, Hatosy starred in two John Wells Productions series, Animal Kingdom and the Peabody Award winning Southland for which he was nominated for a Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor. Hatosy's film credits include Robert Rodriguez's cult favorite The Faculty, Michael Mann's Public Enemies, and Nick Cassavetes' films Alpha Dog and John Q.
Carbonell starred in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. He also headlined Lost, Bates Motel and The Morning Show. Most recently, he won the 2024 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role in FX's Shōgun.
Durand stars in the upcoming Paramount Pictures action comedy The Naked Gun and the IFC Films horror comedy Clown in a Cornfield, and recently starred in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Abigail. His other film credits include Ballers, Resident Evil: Retribution, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and 3:10 to Yuma.
Cronenberg, of course, is known for his filmography as a quintessential horror filmmaker, his titles include The Fly, The Shrouds, Crimes of the Future, Maps to the Stars, and Cosmopolis to name a few.
Ready or Not was a notable cash cow for Searchlight, made for $6M and minting over $57M at the global box office.
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By Pete Hammond
Awards Columnist/Chief Film Critic
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Monday announced rules and campaign regulations for the upcoming 98th Oscars, which will be held March 15, 2026. Chief among the changes is a new procedural demand that voters must now watch all nominated films in each category in order to be eligible to vote in the final round. How they expect members to prove they have watched is not spelled out in the AMPAS release today, but this is a key change in rules that never laid it out quite like this before.
Another — and welcome — key change is that all designated nominees will have their names included on the final ballot. Previously. in many categories. it was just the name of the nominated movie, not the person nominated.
Meanwhile, category rules for eligibility and voting for the inaugural Academy Award for Achievement in Casting have been codified. There will be a preliminary round of voting to determine a shortlist of 10 films, and prior to nominations voting Casting Directors Branch members will be invited to view a “bake-off” presentation of the shortlisted achievements including a Q&A with the designated nominees. There still is no mention about where the inaugural Casting Oscar would be presented, whether on the Oscar show itself, during the Governors Awards, or at some other place.
Watch on Deadline
Other substantive rules changes
In the rules for film eligibility, the following language regarding Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been introduced, as recommended by the Academy's Science and Technology Council:With regard to Generative Artificial Intelligence and other digital tools used in the making of the film, the tools neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination. The Academy and each branch will judge the achievement, taking into account the degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship when choosing which movie to award.For consideration in the Best Picture category, films released from January 1, 2025, through June 30, 2025, must have shown proof of submission for Producers Guild of America (PGA) mark certification or awards-only determination no later than September 10, 2025. Films released from July 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025, must have shown proof of submission to the PGA no later than November 13, 2025.In the Animated Short Film category, voting privileges in the nominations round will be extended to all Academy members who opt in to participate. Members must view all 15 shortlisted films to be eligible to vote in the category.In the Cinematography category, there will now be a preliminary round of voting for the Cinematography award to determine a shortlist of between 10 and 20 films.In the International Feature Film category, the eligibility requirement regarding creative control has been updated to be inclusive of filmmakers with refugee or asylum status.The submitting country must confirm that creative control of the film was largely in the hands of citizens, residents, or individuals with refugee or asylum status in the submitting country.
Academy key dates, including submission deadlines and voting periods, for the 2025 Oscars season are as follows:
The Academy also updated and clarified formatting and language in the campaign promotional regulations for the 98th Oscars. The regulations specify how motion picture companies and individuals directly associated with Oscars-eligible motion pictures may promote such motion pictures, achievements and performances to Academy members and how Academy members may promote Oscars-eligible motion pictures, achievements and performances.Substantive changes to the campaign promotional regulations include: Oscar-qualifying film festivals may now have access to approved mailing houses to share information about festival programming with Academy members. Public communications (including any social media posts, reposts, shares and comments) may not disparage the techniques used in or subject matter of any motion picture. Any Academy member, motion picture company or individual directly associated with an eligible motion picture found to be in violation will be subject to penalization The latter could be referring to most recently social media chatter about the use of AI for vocal tweaking in The Brutalist and other films during the past Oscar season.
For the complete 98th Academy Awards rules and campaign promotional regulations, visit oscars.org/rules.
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On Monday, April 21, The Academy's Board of Governors released a sweeping list of their newly approved awards rules and campaign promotional regulations for the 98th Academy Awards set for Sunday, March 15, 2026.
One of the more fascinating aspects of the new rules is how many directly address the several scandals swirling around last year's Oscar campaign. For instance, in response to all the claims of Best Picture nominees from “The Brutalist” to “A Complete Unknown” using some form generative artificial intelligence, the Academy's Science and Technology Council has approved new eligibility language that reads: “With regard to Generative Artificial Intelligence and other digital tools used in the making of the film, the tools neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination. The Academy and each branch will judge the achievement, taking into account the degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship when choosing which movie to award.”
Related Stories ‘A Normal Family' Review: The Kids Aren't Alright in This Deliciously Cruel Korean Drama Inside the Other Big Box Office Draw of the Weekend: The Swoon-Worthy Anniversary of ‘Pride & Prejudice'
Similarly, in what seems like an allusion to the Best Picture nominees announcement having so many “Nominees to be determined” that the Academy made a t-shirt to tout it, there is now a rule for films released from January 1, 2025, through June 30, 2025, to have to show proof of submission for Producers Guild of America (PGA) mark certification or awards-only determination no later than September 10, 2025. For films released from July 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025, producers must show proof of submission to the PGA no later than November 13, 2025.
Finally, in consideration of how recent contenders like “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” were submitted by the same country their dissident filmmakers took asylum in, the Best International Feature Film category has updated the eligibility requirement regarding creative control in order to be inclusive of filmmakers with refugee or asylum status. The new wording is as follows: “The submitting country must confirm that creative control of the film was largely in the hands of citizens, residents, or individuals with refugee or asylum status in the submitting country.”
On the side of campaign promotional regulations changes, a new rule that public communications (including any social media posts, reposts, shares, and comments) may not disparage the techniques used in or subject matter of any motion picture, goes hand in hand with the aforementioned AI techniques conversation that sprouted up this past awards season.
Meanwhile, the “subject matter” part of the rule is more evergreen, and not likely a direct response to some of the flack a film like “Emilia Pérez” received. The last line of the rule says any Academy member, motion picture company, or individual directly associated with an eligible motion picture found to be in violation will be subject to penalization.
As for the less referential rules and regulations, the Best Animated Short Film is now available for all Academy members to opt into voting for, as long as they see all 15 films on the shortlist. Speaking of shortlists, there will now be one for Best Cinematography featuring 10 to 20 films determined in the preliminary round of voting.
The new Achievement in Casting category will also be part of the preliminary round of voting, where a shortlist of 10 films will be determined. The category will also have a bake-off, similar to the Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound, and Visual Effects nominees, where Casting Directors Branch members will be invited to view a presentation of the shortlisted achievements, including a Q&A with the designated nominees.
Lastly, the Music categories submission deadlines have also been split now, with Best Original Song having a deadline of Wednesday, October 15, 2025, 5 p.m. PT, and Best Original Score having a deadline of Monday, November 3, 2025, at 5 p.m. PT. And on the campaign regulations side, Oscar-qualifying film festivals can now have access to approved mailing houses to share information about festival programming with Academy members.
And if it wasn't clear to members before, the Academy has made a definitive procedural change, telling them that they must now watch all nominated films in each category to be eligible to vote in the final round for the Oscars. All designated nominees will also be included on the final ballot.
The 98th Oscars will air live on ABC on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.
See the latest submission deadlines and additional key dates, including voting periods, for the 98th Academy Awards below:
Thursday, August 14, 2025: First submission deadline for Animated Short Film, Documentary Feature Film, Documentary Short Film, and Live Action Short Film categories
Wednesday, September 10, 2025: First submission deadline for General Entry categories, Animated Feature Film, Best Picture, and RAISE form
Wednesday, October 1, 2025: Submission deadline for International Feature Film
Monday, October 6, 2025: Student Academy Awards
Thursday, October 9, 2025: Final submission deadline for Animated Short Film, Documentary Short Film, and Live Action Short Film categories
Wednesday, October 15, 2025: Submission deadline for Music (Original Song) categories
Thursday, October 16, 2025: Final submission deadline for Documentary Feature Film
Monday, November 3, 2025: Submission deadline for Music (Original Score) categories
Thursday, November 13, 2025: Final submission deadline for General Entry categories, Animated Feature Film, Best Picture, and RAISE form
Sunday, November 16, 2025: Governors Awards
Monday, December 8, 2025: Preliminary voting begins 9 a.m. PT
Friday, December 12, 2025: Preliminary voting ends 5 p.m. PT
Tuesday, December 16, 2025: Oscars Shortlists Announcement
Saturday, January 10 and Sunday, January 11, 2026: Casting, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound, and Visual Effects nominating screenings (bake-offs)
Monday, January 12, 2026: Nominations voting begins 9 a.m. PT
Friday, January 16, 2026: Nominations voting ends 5 p.m. PT
Thursday, January 22, 2026: Oscars Nominations Announcement
Tuesday, February 10, 2026: Oscars Nominees Event
Thursday, February 26, 2026: Finals voting begins 9 a.m. PT
Thursday, March 5, 2026: Finals voting ends 5 p.m. PT
Sunday, March 15, 2026: 98th Oscars
Tuesday, April 28, 2026: Scientific and Technical Awards
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The “Ready or Not” sequel starts production Monday, April 21 — that's today — and Searchlight Pictures shares new details about the follow-up to the 2019 box office hit.
The sequel, titled “Ready or Not: Here I Come,” will film in Toronto this spring, with Radio Silence directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett returning for a second helping of the social survival horror comedy starring Samara Weaving.
Weaving reprises her role as Grace, who in the original film found herself being hunted by her new in-laws at her family's posh estate. Joining Weaving and the previously announced Kathryn Newton are horror movie icons Sarah Michelle Gellar and Elijah Wood in undisclosed roles. But there's more: Shawn Hatosy (“The Pitt”), Néstor Carbonell (“The Dark Knight”), Kevin Durand (“Abigail,” also from the Radio Silence team), and David Cronenberg also join the ensemble.
Related Stories The Academy Releases Extensive Rule Changes for the Next Oscars, Including Guidance on AI and Public Disparagement ‘A Normal Family' Review: The Kids Aren't Alright in This Deliciously Cruel Korean Drama
Horror director Cronenberg recently wondered in conversation with the Los Angeles Times whether “The Shrouds,” his new film out now, could be his last directorial effort. Is he moving more seriously into acting? He's starred as United Federation of Planets official Kovich in only a business suit and glasses on three seasons of “Star Trek: Discovery.” He also had a regular role on the Netflix limited series “Alias Grace” and stars in a number of his own films. (The Vincent Cassel character in “The Shrouds,” not to mention, is a spitting image of the director.)
IndieWire praised the original “Ready or Not” as a mash-up of “Clue” and “The Purge.” The thriller, which opened in August 2019, grossed $57 million worldwide off an estimated budget of $6 million.
For the sequel, returning writers Guy Busick (“Abigail,” “Scream”) and R. Christopher Murphy (“Castle Rock”) penned the script, with producers Tripp Vinson (“Fountain of Youth,” “Murder Mystery”), James Vanderbilt (“Zodiac,” “Fountain of Youth”), Bradley J. Fischer (“Transformers”), and William Sherak (“Abigail,” “Scream”) also returning.
“Ready or Not” below-the-line craftspeople returning include production designer Andrew Stearn (“The Umbrella Academy”), director of photography Brett Jutkiewicz (“Scream”), costume designer Avery Plewes (“Scream VI”), and makeup head of department Colin Penman (“The Apprentice”). New crew include editor Jay Prychidny (“Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice”), hair department head Ryan Reed (“It Chapter Two”), and sound mixer Thomas Hayek (“Thanksgiving,” “The Boys”).
Following the success of “Ready or Not,” Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett directed 2022's “Scream” reboot and the sequel “Scream VI” (2023) as well as the vampire horror comedy “Abigail” (2024). Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett were slated to take on “Scream VII” before departing the project and handing it to their friend Christopher Landon, who also exited over creative tussles. Kevin Williamson will now direct that installment.
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By Pete Hammond
Awards Columnist/Chief Film Critic
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Monday announced rules and campaign regulations for the upcoming 98th Oscars, which will be held March 15, 2026. Chief among the changes is a new procedural demand that voters must now watch all nominated films in each category in order to be eligible to vote in the final round. How they expect members to prove they have watched is not spelled out in the AMPAS release today, but this is a key change in rules that never laid it out quite like this before.
Another — and welcome — key change is that all designated nominees will have their names included on the final ballot. Previously. in many categories. it was just the name of the nominated movie, not the person nominated.
Meanwhile, category rules for eligibility and voting for the inaugural Academy Award for Achievement in Casting have been codified. There will be a preliminary round of voting to determine a shortlist of 10 films, and prior to nominations voting Casting Directors Branch members will be invited to view a “bake-off” presentation of the shortlisted achievements including a Q&A with the designated nominees. There still is no mention about where the inaugural Casting Oscar would be presented, whether on the Oscar show itself, during the Governors Awards, or at some other place.
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Other substantive rules changes
In the rules for film eligibility, the following language regarding Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been introduced, as recommended by the Academy's Science and Technology Council:With regard to Generative Artificial Intelligence and other digital tools used in the making of the film, the tools neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination. The Academy and each branch will judge the achievement, taking into account the degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship when choosing which movie to award.For consideration in the Best Picture category, films released from January 1, 2025, through June 30, 2025, must have shown proof of submission for Producers Guild of America (PGA) mark certification or awards-only determination no later than September 10, 2025. Films released from July 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025, must have shown proof of submission to the PGA no later than November 13, 2025.In the Animated Short Film category, voting privileges in the nominations round will be extended to all Academy members who opt in to participate. Members must view all 15 shortlisted films to be eligible to vote in the category.In the Cinematography category, there will now be a preliminary round of voting for the Cinematography award to determine a shortlist of between 10 and 20 films.In the International Feature Film category, the eligibility requirement regarding creative control has been updated to be inclusive of filmmakers with refugee or asylum status.The submitting country must confirm that creative control of the film was largely in the hands of citizens, residents, or individuals with refugee or asylum status in the submitting country.
Academy key dates, including submission deadlines and voting periods, for the 2025 Oscars season are as follows:
The Academy also updated and clarified formatting and language in the campaign promotional regulations for the 98th Oscars. The regulations specify how motion picture companies and individuals directly associated with Oscars-eligible motion pictures may promote such motion pictures, achievements and performances to Academy members and how Academy members may promote Oscars-eligible motion pictures, achievements and performances.Substantive changes to the campaign promotional regulations include: Oscar-qualifying film festivals may now have access to approved mailing houses to share information about festival programming with Academy members. Public communications (including any social media posts, reposts, shares and comments) may not disparage the techniques used in or subject matter of any motion picture. Any Academy member, motion picture company or individual directly associated with an eligible motion picture found to be in violation will be subject to penalization The latter could be referring to most recently social media chatter about the use of AI for vocal tweaking in The Brutalist and other films during the past Oscar season.
For the complete 98th Academy Awards rules and campaign promotional regulations, visit oscars.org/rules.
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“A Normal Family” begins with the death of a family, but not the one you might expect. Before his film turns its attention to the family alluded to by its title, director Hur Jin-ho revs out the gate with a case of road rage that ends in murder. Or maybe not, if the lawyer defending the driver in question has his way.
A man is dead and his eight-year-old daughter is critically injured in the hospital, but self-interested criminal lawyer Jae-wan (“Kill Boksoon‘s” Sol Kyung-gu) is more concerned with saving the wealthy executive's son who's responsible for the killing. Meanwhile, the attorney's younger brother, doctor Jae-gyu (“Arthdal Chronicles'” Jang Dong-gun), is working tirelessly to save the victim's daughter at a nearby hospital.
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The pair couldn't be more different at first, a contrast that becomes sharper during meals they share with their wives and each other in a fancy restaurant each month. It's at one of these somewhat stilted affairs that the brothers realize they're actually both involved in each other's cases, with one imploring the other to do “the right thing.” But as Hur Jin-ho‘s script (which he worked on with “Monster” co-writer Park Eun-kyo) expertly untangles, what might be considered “right” can change in an instant when personal feelings are concerned.
Because while the adults (pretend to) enjoy a fine dining experience together, their teenage kids — Jae-wan's daughter, Hye-yoon (Hong Ye-ji), and Jae-gyu's younger son, Yang Si-ho (Kim Jung-chul) — reveal themselves to be the kind of people who will soon need to rely on the expertise of a criminal attorney (and perhaps an ER doctor too).
The seeds are sown early on when Si-ho squashes a bug with his finger and again soon after when he and his cousin secretly watch footage of that opening accident, cheering on the driver like they're watching a livestream of “GTA V.” They practically break out the popcorn, overjoyed at the sight of a man losing control at the expense of another losing his life. Yet not even that can quite prepare you for what they do next.
While their parents bicker over the value of life, Si-ho and Hye-yoon prove that it means nothing to them when they brutally assault a homeless man for kicks on their way home from a party. It's an unforgivable act, one they almost get away with if not for a hidden CCTV camera that brings to mind the work of Austrian auteur Michael Haneke. Like him, Hur Jin-ho is concerned with the fragility of moral standing and how mercurial these not-so-concrete notions of right and wrong can be when evil sleeps just down the hall.
In that light, “A Normal Family” is a far cry from the director's previous work, often characterized as sweetly romantic in the likes of “One Fine Spring Day” (2001), “Happiness” (2007) and “A Good Rain Knows” (2009). Here, Hur Jin-ho strips romanticism away entirely in favor of something far bleaker, a worldview that's as depressing as it is realistic. Every frame is slickly shot and constructed with the camera often held back at a distance from his protagonists, emphasizing the stark coldness that they come to embody, yet there's nothing black-and-white about the moral space they occupy.
It's in this messiness where “A Normal Family” thrives, even if the family itself does not, especially in the three dinners that form the centerpiece through which every thread of tension is tightly wound. Said tension simmers at first, and not just between the siblings.
Sol Kyung-gu and Jang Dong-gun are both spectacular, bringing to life decades of brotherly resentment with just a clipped tone or glance. But it's the wives, played by Kim Hee-ae and Claudia Kim, who impress most with the delicate games they play. Kim's Ji-su is the lawyer's much younger trophy wife who Hee-ae's Yeon-kyung takes great delight in cruelly teasing — “Why is this woman present during our family meeting?” — as layers of resentment and jealousy dance between the two.
Every expression and subtle shift in body language is mesmerizing to watch, and the same is true of the dinners themselves where stereotypes crack and then crumble before our eyes when four parents are faced with an impossible choice (“You claim innocence for criminals but you'll report your own kid?”). The pace occasionally lags in between these foundational highlights, but the scenes that connect them remain a necessity, not just because they enrich the dinners with much-needed context, but also because they help differentiate the film from its source material to create something new and culturally specific.
Herman Koch's original Dutch novel, titled “The Dinner” in English, took place over the course of just one tumultuous meal. Hur Jin-ho could have easily adopted that same route, but instead, he expands the idea across multiple days and locations to interrogate societal principles from a distinctly Korean perspective where the hardships of cram school directly play into the violence.
With more space to work with, his and Park Eun-kyo's script forges a rhythmic push-and-pull between all parties concerned, dissecting the lives of the rich with a sharp precision. It's impossible to escape the insidious way privilege twists culpability and brokers guilt within the framework of high society and those who profit from it. Can lives be bought? Can good deeds tip the scale? And how responsible are we as parents for the actions of those we raise?
It's commendable that a story adapted three times already by various American and European filmmakers can remain as unpredictable as it does here, and the same is true of its refusal to give easy answers. The threat of violence hangs over even the most quiet of moments, and — some shoddy CGI animals aside — the film's grip on that disturbing undercurrent is convincing throughout. That's why the ending works so well, an abrupt climax that's darkly poetic and anything but normal.
Room 8 Films will release “A Normal Family” in NYC & LA on Friday, April 25.
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The Cure have announced a new Songs of a Lost World remix album. The new album, Mixes of a Lost World, is out June 13 and features remixes by Deftones frontman Chino Moreno, Trentemøller, Mogwai, Orbital, the Twilight Sad, Daniel Avery, Mura Masa, Âme, Shanti Celeste, and more. Below, hear two new remixes from the album, Four Tet's take on “Alone” and Paul Oakenfold's “cinematic” remix of “I Can Never Say Goodbye.”
Proceeds from Mixes of a Lost World will benefit War Child UK. In a statement, the Cure's Robert Smith said, “Just after Christmas I was sent a couple of unsolicited remixes of Songs of a Lost World tracks and I really loved them. The Cure has a colourful history with all kinds of dance music, and I was curious as to how the whole album would sound entirely reinterpreted by others. This curiosity resulted in a fabulous trip through all eight songs by 24 wonderful artists and remixers and is way beyond anything I could have hoped for. Giving our recording royalties from the project to War Child helps make Mixes of a Lost World an even more special release.”
Songs of a Lost World was released in November. It marked the Cure's first studio album since October 2008's 4:13 Dream.
All products featured on Pitchfork are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Mixes of a Lost World:
01 I Can Never Say Goodbye (Paul Oakenfold “Cinematic” Remix)02 Endsong (Orbital Remix)03 Drone:Nodrone (Daniel Avery Remix)04 All I Ever Am (Meera Remix)05 A Fragile Thing (Âme Remix)06 And Nothing Is Forever (Danny Briottet & Rico Conning Remix)07 Warsong (Daybreakers Remix)08 Alone (Four Tet Remix)09 I Can Never Say Goodbye (Mental Overdrive Remix)10 And Nothing Is Forever (Cosmodelica Electric Eden Remix)11 A Fragile Thing (Sally C Remix)12 Endsong (Gregor Tresher Remix)13 Warsong (Omid 16B Remix)14 Drone:Nodrone (Anja Schneider Remix)15 Alone (Shanti Celeste “February Blues” Remix)16 All I Ever Am (Mura Masa Remix)17 I Can Never Say Goodbye (Craven Faults Rework)18 Drone:Nodrone (Joycut “Anti-Gravitational” Remix)19 And Nothing Is Forever (Trentemøller Rework)20 Warsong (Chino Moreno Remix)21 Alone (Ex-Easter Island Head Remix)22 All I Ever Am (65daysofstatic Remix)23 A Fragile Thing (Twilight Sad Remix)24 Endsong (Mogwai Remix)
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"Luther" extends its domination, while "Lose Control" loges a record-breaking 58th week in the top 10.
By
Gary Trust
Kendrick Lamar and SZA's “Luther” rules the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart for a ninth total and consecutive week. The single, whose title honors late R&B legend Luther Vandross, who is sampled on the track, became Lamar's sixth No. 1 and SZA's third. Lamar and SZA each extend their longest career Hot 100 reigns with the song, whose official video premiered April 11.
Meanwhile, “Luther” passes 24kGoldn's “Mood” (featuring iann dior), which led for eight weeks in 2020-21, for the sole second-longest Hot 100 command among rap hits this decade, after only Roddy Ricch's “The Box,” which dominated for 11 weeks in 2020. (Rap titles are defined as those that have hit or are eligible for Billboard's Hot Rap Songs chart.)
Plus, Chappell Roan ties her best Hot 100 rank, as “Pink Pony Club” rises 5-4; Alex Warren's first top 10, “Ordinary,” reaches the top five (7-5), and hits No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales chart; and Teddy Swims' “Lose Control,” at No. 7, breaks the record for the most weeks ever spent in the Hot 100's top 10, as it adds a 58th week in the region, one-upping the run of The Weeknd's “Blinding Lights.”
Browse the full rundown of this week's top 10 below.
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated April 26, 2025) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, April 22. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
Following the April 11 premiere of its official video, “Luther,” on pgLang/Interscope/ICLG, totaled 67.5 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 7% week-over-week), 25 million official streams (up 10%) and 2,000 sold (up 7%) in the U.S. April 11-17.
“Luther” rebounds two spots for a seventh week atop the Streaming Songs chart; leads Radio Songs for a third week and rises three places to No. 20, after reaching No. 4, on Digital Song Sales.
“Luther” concurrently claims a 17th week at No. 1 on both the multimetric Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts.
Chappell Roan's “Pink Pony Club” clip-clops a spot to No. 4 on the Hot 100, led by 2% gain to 45.2 million in audience. It tops the Pop Airplay chart for a third week.
The singer-songwriter matches her best Hot 100 rank, first set by “Good Luck Babe!,” which hit No. 4 last September. Her three top 10s have all reached the top five; “The Giver” debuted at its No. 5 peak in March.
A week after “Ordinary” became Alex Warren's first Hot 100 top 10, the song becomes his first top five hit, lifting 7-5. It surged by 60% to 13.2 million in airplay audience in the tracking week.
The single also lifts 3-1 to become Warren's first leader on Digital Song Sales (6,000 sold, up 3%).
Teddy Swims' “Lose Control,” which led the Hot 100 for a week in March 2024, and became the year's No. 1 song, rebounds 8-7, as it tallies a record-breaking 58th week in the top 10, surpassing the run in the region of The Weeknd's “Blinding Lights” for the most such frames in the chart's 66-year history. “Lose Control” first set up shop in the top 10 on the list dated Jan. 20, 2024, and has been absent from the tier for only eight weeks since.
Most Weeks in the Hot 100's Top 10:
Notably, longevity in the weekly top 10 translates to success on the annual year-end Hot 100. Along with “Lose Control” leading for 2024, “Last Night” (2023), “Heat Waves” (2022), “Levitating” (2021) and “Blinding Lights” (2020) also each finished first on its respective year-end ranking this decade.
“Lose Control” notches an 87th week on the Hot 100 overall, tying Imagine Dragons' “Radioactive,” in 2012-14, for the third-longest stay in the chart's history. They trail only “Heat Waves” (91 weeks, in 2021-22) and “Blinding Lights” (90, in 2019-22).
Elsewhere in the Hot 100's top 10, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars' “Die With a Smile” ascends 3-2, following five nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 beginning in January. The song swaps spots with Drake's “Nokia,” down a spot from its No. 2 high.
Shaboozey's “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” drops 4-6 on the Hot 100, following its record-tying 19 weeks at No. 1 beginning last July. It posts a 41st week atop the multimetric Hot Country Songs chart.
BigXthaPlug's “All the Way,” featuring Bailey Zimmerman, dips to No. 8 on the Hot 100, a week after it launched at No. 4; Benson Boone's “Beautiful Things” rises 10-9, after it hit No. 2 in March 2024; and, rounding out the top 10, Morgan Wallen “I'm the Problem” slips 9-10, after it debuted at its No. 2 high in February.
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By
Larisha Paul
Former athlete and current host of the Club Shay Shay podcast, Shannon Sharpe, has been sued for alleged sexual assault and sexual battery in a new lawsuit filed in Nevada.
The civil complaint filed by Jane Doe alleges that Sharpe, 56, assaulted a woman with whom he allegedly had a “rocky consensual relationship that lasted nearly two years” and began in 2023 when she was 19 years old. The lawsuit claims that Sharpe “violently sexually assaulted and anally raped Plaintiff two different times in Las Vegas, Nev., blatantly ignoring her requests for him to stop” in October 2024, per Variety.
The complaint also alleges that Sharpe would record and share videos of his sexual encounters with Doe without her consent or knowledge. A September 2024 incident in which Sharpe launched an Instagram Live broadcast while engaging in sexual activity with an unknown person is also mentioned in the suit, though it is clarified that the woman heard on the broadcast is not the woman behind this particular case, per NBC.
In January 2025, the lawsuit details that Sharpe allegedly dismissed requests from Doe to wear a condom or stop having sex with her entirely. “After many months of manipulating and controlling Plaintiff — a woman more than thirty years younger than he — and repeatedly threatening to brutally choke and violently slap her, Sharpe refused to accept the answer no and raped Plaintiff, despite her sobbing and repeated screams of ‘no,'” the complaint states.
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Sharpe did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.
Doe is being represented by Micah Nash and Tony Buzbee, the prominent Houston attorney who is currently representing more than two dozen accusers in lawsuits filed against Sean “Diddy” Combs. She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages in the amount of $50 million.
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Zach Cregger is building out his “Barbarian” cinematic universe with the highly-anticipated “Weapons.” While little is known about Cregger's latest horror/thriller, New Line Cinema chief Richard Brenner described the film as being “batshit insane.”
Julia Garner stars as a teacher whose entire classroom of kids goes missing in the middle of the night. Josh Brolin is one of the many parents demanding answers. Did Garner's character lure them away? Is this supernatural? And who is orchestrating a slew of murders in town…could it be the children?
The logline reads: “Weapons” is a “horror film that follows an entire classroom of children who get out of their beds and disappear one night without a trace. When all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.”
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Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan also star. Cregger directs from his own screenplay, and produces alongside Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, J.D. Lifshitz, and Raphael Margules. Brolin and Michelle Morrissey are executive producing.
The filmmaker's creative team behind the camera includes director of photography Larkin Seiple, production designer Tom Hammock, editor Joe Murphy, and costume designer Trish Sommerville. The music is by Ryan Holladay, Hays Holladay, and Cregger. “Weapons” is a Subconscious, Vertigo Entertainment, and Boulderlight Pictures production. It will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, and released in theaters and IMAX nationwide.
Cregger's feature debut “Barbarian” was an indie hit grossing $45 million worldwide. He later landed a deal with studio New Line Cinema, and will be rebooting the “Resident Evil” franchise. Cregger previously revealed that A24 and Neon both passed on “Barbarian” before he connected with BoulderLight to produce; New Regency, Vertigo, and Disney later boarded the horror thriller. “Weapons” is said to exist within the same universe as “Barbarian.”
The “Weapons” cast is also part another cinematic universe: Garner, Brolin, and Wong are all MCU staples, with Garner making her Marvel debut with “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” film.
“Weapons” premieres August 8 in theaters. Check out the teaser below.
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By
Jon Blistein
Neil Gaiman has filed an arbitration claim against one of the women who has accused him of sexual assault, Vulture reports. The author is reportedly seeking over $500,000 from Caroline Wallner for allegedly violating a nondisclosure agreement.
Wallner, a divorced mother of three, lived and worked as a caretaker at Gaiman's property in Woodstock, New York, from 2014 to 2021. She claims the author began to abuse her in 2018, after Wallner's marriage had fallen apart and her ex-husband left the property. Wallner, who had no income at the time, alleged that Gaiman pressured her into sex in exchange for staying on the property.
“There were little hints of, ‘we're going to need the house.' And I remember saying, let's talk about it. Let's figure it out. That's when he would just come to my studio and make me give him a blowjob,” Wallner said on the 2024 podcast, Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman.
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Wallner also claimed that when she tried to resist the author's advances, Gaiman would suggest that his former wife, Amanda Palmer, wanted to reclaim the home Wallner and her family were living in. “But you take care of me and I'll take care of you,” Wallner said Gaiman told her.
Gaiman has denied Wallner's allegations and claimed she initiated their sexual encounters. (He's denied all other allegations against him, as well.) In 2021, Gaiman paid Wallner $275,000 for signing a nondisclosure agreement, stopping her from filing a lawsuit or speaking about her allegations publicly. The NDA was reported on when Wallner first spoke on the Master podcast; she has since also discussed her allegations against Gaiman in New York magazine.
Gaiman's new claim for arbitration alleges that Wallner violated the confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses of the NDA. He's asking a full repayment of the original settlement, attorneys' fees, and $50,000 for each interview she's given. Wallner's ex-husband is also named in the claim.
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Vincent White, an attorney for Wallner, shared a statement with Rolling Stone: “Mr. Gaiman must feel he has nothing left to lose, I suspect he can feel us closing in on him. The idea that he would try to silence a woman he has already done so much to is disgusting. If we read a similar plot point in one of his stories we would think he was being too heavy handed in fleshing out his villain. Yet here he is, showing us that he was the real monster all along.”
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Representatives for Gaiman did not immediately return a request for comment, though a rep did tell Vulture: “Caroline Wallner's purported claims are completely meritless. We have no doubt that we will prevail in arbitration — and that Ms. Wallner's actions will result in her having to pay Neil's legal fees.”
While Wallner has been looking for legal remedies to void the NDA, she also filed an arbitration claim of her own against Gaiman last winter. She alleged that Gaiman's lawyers held onto videos, photos, and text messages she'd sent Gaiman during the time of the alleged abuse in violation of a clause in the NDA requiring all parties to destroy such material.
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[Editor's note: The following interview contains spoilers for “The Last of Us” Season 2, Episode 2.]
Still reeling from the latest developments on “Severance,” “The White Lotus,” and “Yellowjackets”? Spring TV is already a doozy in 2025, but “The Last of Us” isn't letting up. For Season 2, Episode 2, “Through the Valley,” HBO's wildly inventive mushroom/zombie apocalypse pulled a classic watercooler move and stunned audiences with an unforgettable loss.
“He dies believing he deserves to die, and that's a truly wretched way to go,” writes IndieWire's Ben Travers. Reviewing the episode, Travers described the attack at its center as “astonishing” — with a slew of TV fans agreeing that the sudden demise of Pedro Pascal‘s hero is among TV's most shocking deaths to date.
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Yes, Joel — the beloved hunky loner, who drove much of Season 1, and became a father-figure to Ellie (Bella Ramsey), who must now lead Season 2 — is gone. It's a scene so horrifying you might forget it adapts a video game released in 2020. Speaking with IndieWire, knowing this particular character loss has brought rage to the internet before, series co-creator Craig Mazin had already anticipated the fans' grief.
“That's OK,” Mazin said. “I think they might think they're angry with me. That's fine. I think they might just be angry, which is also OK. I mean, this show is designed to provoke some pretty intense feelings, and wherever those feelings go is fine. The most important thing is that they feel something. The worst thing would be if they went, ‘Eh!‘ Then, I would've really failed.”
But making viewers feel “angry,” “sad,” or even “confused”? That's an artistic win for the showrunner. Mazin stressed the importance of processing Season 2, Episode 2's horrific clincher with patience. He also offered hope that “The Last of Us” could surprise even the most outraged in the end. HBO has already renewed the show for Season 3, expanding the narrative beyond the two-part source material.
“Give yourself time to see how you feel about it a week later, two weeks later,” Mazin said. “And I will say, give the show time. You may think it's going this way, and it ends up going that way.”
Watch the interview in the video at the top of this story.
“The Last of Us” Season 2 airs new episodes on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.
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The conclusion of what was supposed to by Bluesfest's final edition has brought with it the official word that it will indeed continue into next year.
By
Tyler Jenke
The sun hadn't even set on what was planned to be Bluesfest's final day before the official confirmation was given that the event would live on.
The long-running festival has become an institution on the Australian festivals calendar across its 36-year history. Names such as Bob Dylan, BB King, Paul Simon, John Mayer, Mary J Blige, and Kendrick Lamar, plus homegrown stars Cold Chisel, Midnight Oil and Tash Sultana, have all performed over the years, with the dizzying lineups also offering chances for rising stars to receive a vital platform.
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However, this year's event – which ran from April 17-20 on Australia's east coast – was initially set to be the final outing for the long-running festival.
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“To my Dear Bluesfest Family, and after more than 50 years in the music business, Bluesfest has been a labour of love, a celebration of music, community, and the resilient spirit of our fans,” festival director Peter Noble wrote in a statement last year.
“But after the 2025 festival, as much as it pains me to say this, it's time to close this chapter,” he continued. “As I said earlier this year at Bluesfest 2024, next year's festival will be happening and it definitely is, but it will be our last.”
However, in December, Noble had changed his tune, explaining that the decision to call time on the event was an attempt to regain the support of the New South Wales state government, and noted that organizers were already booking acts for their 2026 edition.
On Sunday, April 20, Bluesfest officially confirmed that the festival would live on, revealing that it would be taking place across the Easter long weekend of 2026, from April 2-5. Additionally, attendees were also given the chance to purchase “pre-early bird tickets,” with the offer expiring at the conclusion of the festival.
“Please support our festival and guarantee our future by the simple act of buying your ticket at the best possible price at the festival today,” organizers wrote on social media. Traditionally, standard early bird tickets for the next festival are put on sale shortly after the previous event, with organizers expected to do so in the near future.
The announcement of Bluesfest's 2026 return also took place one day after Noble stood with Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and Mandy Nolan as the Australian Greens party launched their Festivals Support Package on the grounds of the festival.
The Greens' proposed package to revitalize Australian festivals includes $20 million AUD per year in direct festival grants, $2 million AUD for a comprehensive review of the failures relating to the insurance market that is affecting the live music sector, and a national festival strategy, alongside tax offsets for artists and venues.
“Our festivals are in crisis,” Hanson-Young said. “Over the past few years we've seen the cancellation after cancellation of loved and iconic festivals. It's clear that the government needs to step in to help the industry.”
“With rising costs, insurance issues, and festival cancellations across the country, this plan brings hope and much-needed support to keep Australia's festival scene alive and thriving,” Bluesfest organizers added.
The 2025 edition of Bluesfest featured Crowded House, Chaka Khan and Toto in the headline positions, with a wide variety of Australian and international acts completing the vast bill. Artist details for the 2026 revival of Bluesfest are yet to be announced, though will ostensibly be revealed around August/September, as is traditional for the festival's first lineup announcement
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Scooter Braun has also taken to social media to defend Goldenvoice CEO Paul Tollett in the wake of the messaging.
By
Tyler Jenke
One week after they claimed Coachella censored the pro-Palestinian messaging during their debut at the event, Northern Irish hip-hop group Kneecap ended their second festival date with strong anti-Israel sentiments.
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The Belfast trio performed at the festival's second weekend on Friday (April 18), closing their set by projecting strong messaging in support of Palestinians. “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” the projected messages read. “It is being enabled by the U.S. government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. F–k Israel; free Palestine.”
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Reportedly, Kneecap's first weekend performance on April 11 was also set to feature the messages, though their sentiments did not appear. The absent messages were brought to the band's attention after word that their chant celebrating the 2013 death of former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was not broadcast during the festival's livestream.
“Not the only thing that was cut – our messaging on the US-backed genocide in Gaza somehow never appeared on screens either,” Kneecap wrote on socials in response to the incident. “Back next Friday Coachella and it'll be sorted.” According to Variety, the Sonora tent's performances were not broadcast for the second weekend of the festival.
Alongside the promised return of the messages, the trio also increased their sentiments for the second weekend. While their pro-Palestine and anti-Israel chants remained, the group also used their latest performance to tell the crowd “the Irish are not so longer persecuted under the Brits, but we were never bombed under the f–king skies with nowhere to go.”
This year's edition of Coachella has not been lacking in terms of artists protesting Israel and sharing their support of Palestine. While Green Day have altered lyrics to reflect the plight of Palestinian children, names such as Bob Vylan and Blonde Redhead have also displayed Palestinian flags during their sets. In the case of the latter, the onstage event was soundtracked by audio of Mahmoud Khalil – the detained Columbia University graduate student currently being held in an immigration detention center following his role in on-campus protests.
Kneecap's messaging has generated the most notoriety, however, with many artists and fans calling on Coachella organizers Goldenvoice and parent company AEG Presents to comment on the situation. The Hollywood Reporter notes that insiders have claimed Goldenvoice CEO Paul Tollett was “blindsided” by Kneecap's actions.
In a post shared on social media, HYBE America CEO and former talent manager Scooter Braun – who previously staged exhibits in Los Angeles and Israel about the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel – defended Tollett.
“This is my friend Paul Tollett, the founder of @coachella,” Braun wrote. “He is someone who lives and breathes the festival community. He fights for artists and he fights for all people. When I invited him to the opening of the Nova music exhibit in Los Angeles, he was the first person from the industry to accept.
“He came on his own time and spent five hours in the exhibit and then met with survivors of nova and invited them to the festival this year as his guest. He cried with them, he laughed with them, and he continues to advocate for them.
“Let's not lose sight of who this man is, and let us stand with him in this moment when a group, without his knowing, took advantage of his festival and created hate in a place that's filled with love,” Braun added.
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A great way to display your favorite album or cover art, the light-up stand also adds a touch of retro appeal to your space.
By
Tim Chan
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
So you've already picked up a turntable and found some clever ways to store your records too. To take your vinyl experience up another notch, you'll want to add this new Amazon find to your at-home listening setup.
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Amazon is selling a $35 light-up vinyl record stand, which lets you (and your guests) know exactly what album you're playing at the moment. A great way to display your favorite album cover art, the light-up stand also adds a touch of retro appeal to your space, with the “Now Playing” sign reminiscent of neon signs seen at radio stations, on jukeboxes and at vinyl cafes.
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This LP stand is made from solid wood and keeps your album sleeves upright for easy displaying. The illuminated LED sign, meantime, lights up in 16 different colors. An included remote control lets you easily change the colors from afar, and lets you adjust settings to take it from a solid color to a cool gradient effect (you can also use touch controls directly on the stand).
We like this original version above, which lets the stand sit easily on table or shelf, but Amazon also sells wall-mounted versions and other stand shapes as well.
This light-up display is an ideal way to add a touch of class and whimsy to your vinyl setup, and it makes a great gift for music lovers too. It's a fun way to store and organize your records too, especially if you don't want to hide them in bulky boxes or bookshelves (the stand can holder up to five records).
The YuanDian light-up LP holder has a solid 4.4-star rating (out of five) from thousands of verified reviewers online, with many praising it for being a “conversation piece” and for adding “warm” ambience to their space.
Regularly $40+, get the light-up vinyl record stand on sale for 10% off right now at Amazon. The deal includes one wooden base, one LED light, two acrylic sheets, a USB cable and a remote control. See full details here.
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Craig Mazin breaks down that heartbreaking episode two twist, what happened behind the scenes and what it means for the show's future: "If the emotional response is not intense, then we f***ed up."
By
James Hibberd
Writer-at-Large
This interview contains major spoilers for HBO‘s The Last of Us season two, episode two, “Through the Valley.”
So do not read further until you have watched…
Joel, arguably, had it coming.
But that didn't make his brutal murder at the hands of Abby any less horrifying and heartbreaking to witness.
HBO's The Last of Us wasted no time staging the most notorious scene from the PlayStation game series upon which its based. Showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann put one of their tale's biggest twists into season two's second episode (where viewers might least expect it, as most TV dramas tend to put their “big” episodes near the end of a season).
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In the sequence, Joel (Pedro Pascal) is beaten to death by Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) for having killed her father — the surgeon who wanted to operate on Ellie (Bella Ramsey) at the end of season one (a procedure which would have killed her, but might have also resulted in a cure to the parasitic Cordyceps plague). Ellie, held hostage, is forced to watch her surrogate father figure's gruesome demise, while her friend Dina (Isabela Merced) lays sedated on the floor.
Below, Mazin discusses the game-changing move which shakes up the entire dynamic of the series. He also reveals what it was like behind the scenes, why a major change was made from the game, how Pascal and Ramsey reacted to the scene, and what this means for the future of the series.
So what was your personal reaction to Joel being killed in the PlayStation game version?
We were planning the show and Naughty Dog was putting the finishing touches on the second game. I got to play an early release. So I experienced that as I was still building season one, and it made [the first season] harder and more beautiful to me, in a way. What [The Last of Us Part II game writers Druckmann and Halley Gross] did I think was the most confident thing — which is to begin to end a story by breaking the things they have built.
This is how things end. We break all relationships, all the great loves of our life. The connections we have with our parents, our children — they break. And how we deal with that is the most specific of human suffering. I just thought it was so profound to take this girl — who had been literally born in blood, who had been an orphan — who was then handed off to this guy and give her a chance at this [experience]. It takes what's maybe the most beautiful connection — the great bond between a parent and a child — and then breaks it. What does that do to her? And that is, to me, why it was important to do. It's not because it's going to upset people. It's important to do it because that's why we make these stories. In a somewhat safe environment, we explore the things we are all going to feel and experience, and then question how we deal with those things.
One thing that frustrated was how Joel — not that it would have necessarily mattered — doesn't even try to defend or explain himself to Abby. As the audience, as we're watching, we so want him to at least try.
When Abby tells him, “I'm going to kill you, because there are some things we all agree are just fucking wrong,” there is this slight moment of agreement. Joel know what he did is capital-W Wrong. But he also had no choice [but the kill the Fireflies last season], as far as he saw it. He did what he needed to do. So we already know that he has some guilt about it from the therapy scene in episode one.
It's also one of the reasons we made a change from the game to have Joel in that room with Dina, as opposed to Tommy (Gabriel Luna), who's a big, tough guy. Abby is basically saying, “Make one mistake and we're going to kill her.” And if there's one thing we know about Joel, it's that he's sort of the ultimate dad. We know he cares very much about Dina and that he would never let her suffer in any way, shape or form, to defend himself.
It wasn't as brutal as I feared, but it was also, I suspect, more brutal than many viewers would have liked.
Well, that's something that [director Mark Mylod] and I talked about. We had to do quite a bit of planning about how graphic we wanted things to be, because we have a lot of prosthetics [on Pascal's face]. We felt that the point we needed to get across was that Abby was not in control of herself. That despite her reasoned, carefully articulated point to Joel, that this is not rational. She's going too far. There is a rage in her that I think we should understand is not the kind of anger that goes away simply because you killed someone. That's the irony, or, I guess, the tragedy really of being consumed by something like this — there is no way to fix it except to somehow make your peace with it and let it go. Killing Joel isn't going to fix this for her. She's doing something wrong. And we needed to show how lost she was and we needed to show that other people in the room are horrified by this.
But if those things that pushed us towards showing more brutality, the thing that restrained us is a concern that we would be somehow glorifying or celebrating this violence against somebody that we love. We care deeply about Joel and if you dwell on [the violence] too much, then it is gratuitous. Still, we needed Ellie to see him like that for several reasons.
I remember playing the game, there's a moment when the gates outside closed behind Joel, not knowing what was going to happen, and feeling this tightness in my stomach. It reminded me a bit of the feeling of dread at the start of The Red Wedding, which has since loomed over all as probably the most traumatic death sequence ever put to TV. As a Game of Thrones fan, and friend of that production, did that comparison come to mind as well?
Weirdly, I never thought about The Red Wedding because what was so incredible about that was how much of a shock that it was to everybody. The conspiracy happened away from the audience and away from the [main characters]. Everybody got surprised — like, “Wait, what the fuck is happening?” This is not that. From the first scene of our season — which is different than in the game — we know exactly what the story is.
That was my next question, or rather, my next observation. I marveled at how you literally tell the audience what Abby is going to do in the season's first scene. But the audience who didn't play the game, I assume, doesn't actually believe that's what's going to happen.
The audience should question everything. Just because somebody says “I'm going to do something,” doesn't mean they are. A lot of times people say, “I'm going to kill that person,” and then they end up going, “I'm not going to kill that person.” And if that is the right choice, that can be amazing. But what was important here was that when Joel ends up in that room with Abby and her friends, that we are not shocked. We are, in fact, in a state of dread because it's happening. We keep thinking there's got to be a way out of this until the very end.
And it was important, that beautiful moment where Ellie says, “Joel, please get up” — that's us. And he tried that finger movement. It's just heartbreaking. Mark and I spent so much time just talking about where everybody would be. We spent the day on the floor, trying different positions, finding that perfect place of connection and where everybody else would be. It was so much about making sure that Bella and Pedro and Kaitlyn were able to do this maximally upsetting thing. And Kaitlyn, let me just talk about her for a second…
I read somewhere that Kaitlyn received death threats from crazed Pedro fans when she was cast, was that true?
No. That was bullshit. Thankfully. Everyone's been awesome. Well, most everybody's been awesome. But no. The tragedy was that Kaitlyn lost her mom very shortly before the start of shooting. And it was very upsetting. And Mark and I were just like, “How are we going to do this to her?” Because when she came back, that was the next sequence and the nature of our schedule was such that we couldn't really move pieces around. Pedro had other obligations. Isabella was working on [James Gunn's upcoming] Superman. So we were stuck. I spoke with Kaitlyn and she was like, “It's okay, it's okay, I'll be fine, I won't be fine, but…”
So I have to say the professionalism and dedication that Kaitlyn showed was, honestly, I don't know how she did it. I would never say anything so vulgar as to say she was using these emotions that she had. This is different. But she showed up and went right into it and did it. There's this moment — and I don't know how this happens — when Kaitlyn is looking at Joel. She turns her head, sees the golf clubs across the room, turns back to him, and a tear just drips out of her eye. “How did you time this?” But they're in the moment, they're feeling something, and that's a choice in that moment. And just the way Mark kept them all safe and connected to create what I think is the most upsetting … well, I take it back. There's another moment in this season. It's more upsetting.
More upsetting than this?
It's up there. I don't want people to think, “Oh, we love this. We love making you cry, making you miserable, sad.” But there is this price we pay for the connection.
How did Pedro react during all this?
He had been looking forward to the moment because it had been hanging over everything for so long. But I know that also for him and for Bella, it was hard because they have become so beautifully entwined with each other. They have the most lovely, wholesome, supportive relationship, and they both felt a sense like they were saying goodbye. There are emotions there, I think, that transcend the acting. They love each other.
Also, there's quite a bit of stuff that goes on [in the sequence] and I think we were in there for, I want to say, four days. I talked about how I love showing two people talking to each other. One of the beautiful things about two people talking to each other is that it's easy to shoot. So for the therapy scene, I've got my wide profile, and my closer profile over the shoulder. It's not complicated. You have eight people standing in a room with all those eye-lines, it's like calculus just to make sure it all connects and cuts together.
Pedro's a hugely popular part of the show and a big part of the marketing campaign. On a pragmatic level, is there a part of you that worries if the show will still be as big after this? I mean, character deaths often get the online reaction of “I'm done, I'm never watching again” — which people said about Thrones all the time, and its ratings kept going up. But this is a little different as the show has been billed as a two-hander and you just lost one of those hands.
No. People quit shows and I have gone through it myself. I'm an audience member too. I watched Ned Stark's head get lopped off and I'm like, “What the fuck is this shit? Why would you do that to me? What am I doing now?” Then you go, “Well, what about all the characters who are dealing with the same emotions I have? I need to find out what they do.” And, sure enough, there I was, two seasons later and I'm like, “What the fuck is this Red Wedding?”
Look, if the emotional response is not intense, then we fucked up. This is not to say, “Great job us.” It's important that people be upset but also that they now connect to the characters in the show who are just as upset, if not more so, than they are. What do they do? Also, characters that we think are gone are not always gone. But I'm not concerned that ratings will fall off the edge of a cliff, I don't think that's how it works. I also know how powerful the rest of this story is and also how invested we are in these other relationships. But Joel will always be there. I remember saying to Nico Parker (who plays Joel's daughter Sarah in the series premiere): “Nico, you are in the show for about 25 minutes, but you never go away.” And Joel will never go away.
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If aliens are looking for signs of intelligent life, they may want to look elsewhere.
An apparent UFO was caught hovering above Capitol Hill this week — sparking concerns that extraterrestrials could soon plan a coup.
The viral snapshot shows four bright lights eerily stationed just several feet above the Statue of Freedom atop the Capitol dome and was reportedly taken by US Air Force veteran and licensed tour guide Dennis Diggins.
Another video taken from further away seemingly confirmed the phenomena — the same four twinkling lights maneuvered from a square to a single line, but remained above the government building.
The picture soon sparked panic on social media — which was further whipped up considering the sighting came just weeks after Congress held a hearing detailing alleged secret government programs that described “alien” spacecraft.
“It is already happening,” wrote one user.
“This is insane!” wrote another.
Although many were worried, others rushed to debunk the purported UFO sighting — with at least one expert theorizing the phenomenon was nothing more than reflections in the night sky.
“The lights at the U.S. Capitol building have been causing ‘UFO sightings' in the camera lens for decades & decades,” John Greenewald, Jr., a researcher and Ufologist, said on X.
“(Just lens flares, but interesting someone is passing them around, again, and more so interesting people are buying it. New photo, same lens flare ‘phenomenon'.)”
The alleged UFO sighting comes on the heels of the US Senate and House of Representatives hearing from witnesses about an alleged secret catch of retrieval programs, communication with non-human intelligence and government intimidation of whistleblowers.
The hearing came after the Pentagon issued a report in March saying that it had found no evidence of extraterrestrial spacecraft.
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By Steve Benen
Shortly after Donald Trump grudgingly left the White House following his 2020 defeat, he was effectively banned from most major social media platforms and made few television appearances. With this in mind, The New York Times described Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson as Trump's successor as the Republican Party's “foremost amplifier of conspiracy theories and disinformation.”
The senator has seemed a little too eager to prove his critics right, peddling bizarre and easily discredited nonsense about Covid-19. And the Jan. 6 attack. And vaccines. And climate change. And the 2020 presidential election. And the 2024 presidential election.
It's apparently time to add the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to the list. Mediaite noted:
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) suggested Monday that the US government may have played a role in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks during an interview with MAGA influencer Benny Johnson on The Benny Show.
Though it seemed difficult to believe, after the far-right host asked the Wisconsin Republican what he wants to know about 9/11, Johnson said, "Well, start with Building 7,” adding that he believes there was “a controlled demolition” at the World Trade Center.
He went on to say, “Who ordered the removal and the destruction of all that evidence, totally contrary to any other firefighting investigation procedures? I mean, who ordered that? Who was in charge? I think there's some basic information. Where's all the documentation from this investigation? There are a host of questions that I want — and I will be asking, quite honestly, now that my eyes have been opened up.”
He did not appear to be kidding.
Johnson claimed he's been in touch with former Rep. Curt Weldon about this (the Pennsylvania Republican talked to Tucker Carlson last week about his theories), and when the host asked whether the public might see hearings on the subject, Johnson replied, “I think so,” adding, “Hopefully, now with this administration, we can find out what is being covered up.”
At this point, it's probably worth reminding readers that, in the recent past, Senate Republicans thought it'd be a good idea to put Johnson in charge of the Senate Homeland Security Committee for six years.
Larry Glickman, a historian at Cornell University, noted that it's "incredible" that a sitting senator "can say something like this with every expectation that such comments will not be grounds for bipartisan calls for his immediate resignation or removal from office."
Ahead of his 2022 re-election campaign, the editorial board of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said Johnson was “unfit” for office and called him “the most irresponsible representative of Wisconsin citizens since the infamous Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy in the 1950s.”
Four years later, he's vastly worse. There was a time in the recent past when being a 9/11 truther would've been seen as disqualifying for a U.S. senator. Johnson appears to know that this time is apparently over.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
© 2025 MSNBC Cable, L.L.C.
By
Karen Longwell
Published April 21, 2025 at 3:26 pm
Psychic medium Elena Balm got the first hint that she was different when she was about eight years old.
Balm, who now offers readings and life coaching in Georgetown, said she knew things that other people didn't.
“When I look back, I had this psychic gift around when I was about eight years old,” she told INsauga.com. “I just knew things. But you're a kid, you don't know how to process this information.”
She said she knew her mom would die before her dad and it turned out to be true. Her first encounter with a spirit came a few years later.
“It was the night my grandmother died, and….she visited me the day she died, and she scared the hell out of me so much, so I actually told her to go away, and she did,” Balm said.
For the last 20 years, she has given tarot readings for family and friends but became more serious just recently.
She saw one of her mentors, who's a psychic comedian, and he told her she should work full-time as a psychic medium. The psychic comedian told her this is her calling and purpose.
“So actually, I brought it out to the public for the first time last year, and it's been fantastic,” she said.
When she does a reading now, she starts by communicating with her spirit guides about the person. Balm said there are four ways spirits speak to you —clairessence, you feel things; clairvoyance, you see them or you see things; or clairaudience, you hear them, and then claircognizance is you have a sense of knowing something. Balm said clairessence and clairaudience are strongest for her.
As a psychic, Balm can see into a person's future, and with mediumship, she connects with past loved ones.
“So with a psychic, I'm just connecting with your energy and talking to your spirit guides, and they're telling me what's coming down. Mediumship, I'm connecting with your past loved ones directly,” she said.
Balm has worked on her connection with spirits but she said everyone has intuition.
“It's just whether you want to pay attention to it and develop it,” Balm said.
For example, people often have a “gut feeling” about a person they meet for the first time.
“Always listen to your gut feeling,” Balm said. “That's your intuition. We all have it. It's just whether you want to listen to it or not.”
At times, Bahm said a spirit talks to her because she's open and tuned in. It has even happened while she is at a grocery store or in a restaurant. Occasionally, the spirit pushes her to speak to the stranger in this public place.
“I always start off with, ‘you're going to think I'm crazy, but I'm a psychic medium, and just let you know your father's standing beside you, and he has this message,'” she said.
Balm understands that many people are skeptics. She once had a reading where the man immediately said he was a skeptic. He didn't provide information, which Balm said is fine.
“I remember his father came in through first I gave him some messages,” she said. “And then I took a deep breath, and I said, ‘your son's here,' and he lost it.”
The son had died by suicide and wanted to let the father know he is happy. The son also said he moved his father's tools around because he was a jokester.
“The dad started laughing. He goes, ‘That was my son's personality,'” she said. “‘Yes, I'm missing tools. Tell him to bring them back.'”
She hopes to bring these messages to people who need them.
“My whole goal is, if I can bring you peace and clarity, I've done my job,” she said.
Some things Balm would like people to know about psychic mediums include the fact that they can't read your mind, they can't see their own future and it's not devil's work.
“But the biggest message I want people to know is when your loved ones pass, they're always around you, and they have got nothing but love and light around you,” she said. “They don't hate you or have regrets or they're not mad at you. It's just us humans. We carry that guilt, but your loved ones are always around you. You're never alone. And the greatest gift you can give to your loved ones, live your life. Do what you want to do, stop playing it small.”
Stop worrying about what other people think about you, she said.
“I talk to dead people,” Balm laughed. “How do you think people react to me?”
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Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) suggested in an interview released Monday that Congress could hold additional hearings on the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and indicated he's been listening to long-festering and debunked conspiracy theories about the government's alleged involvement.
“There are a host of questions that I will be asking, quite honestly, now that my eyes have been opened up,” Johnson told conservative influencer Benny Johnson on his podcast Monday.
Ron Johnson chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
He lauded the 2020 film “Calling out Bravo 7” that questions the official story behind the collapse of World Trade Center Building 7, a 47-story office building that fell hours after terrorists flew planes into the Twin Towers. Ron Johnson also called the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)'s investigation “corrupt.”
“I don't know if you can find structural engineers other than the ones that had the corrupt investigation inside NIST that would say that thing didn't come down in any other way than a controlled demolition,” Ron Johnson said.
“There's an awful lot of questions,” he continued. “Who ordered the removal and the destruction of all that evidence totally contrary to any other firefighting investigation procedures? I mean, who ordered that, who was in charge? I think there's some basic information. Where's all the documentation from this investigation?”
NIST's investigation found that Building 7 progressively collapsed from a prolonged fire that couldn't be extinguished because of water pressure issues after the building sustained extensive damage. Experts have repeatedly debunked efforts to link Building 7's fall to a controlled demolition.
The senator said he has spoken to former Rep. Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican who left the House in 2007 after an unsuccessful reelection bid, about Weldon's claims that President George W. Bush's administration covered up the government's role and ultimately worked to oust him from Congress. Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson interviewed Weldon about his theories last week.
“Now I will work with (Weldon) to expose what he's willing to expose as well,” Ron Johnson said.
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Everyone dreams of wealth and success and psychic Deborah Graham joined The WiLD Bunch to discuss her six psychic secrets to manifest both.
When it comes to being successful there are a lot of things that can play into it. You can talk to some people who grinded it out for years before anything happened, some that say it was a matter of luck, and some people are still waiting for it. But psychic Deborah Graham, host of TLC's The Psychic Matchmaker, and host of the podcast The Psychic Connection with Deborah Graham, shared her six secrets to manifest wealth and success.
April is Financial Literacy Month, so we thought it would be perfect to have psychic Deborah Graham on the show to talk about her six psychic secrets to manifest wealth and success. I love that idea that you can make it happen with a few tips and tricks.
#1 is to pay it forward whether it be a drive-thru or being there for someone who needs it, because it opens up the law of attraction. #2 is to manifest what you want in your career and your finances and you'll be amazed at what will start to happen. #3 is to add a money tree to your home or workplace to attract positive financial energy. #4 is to break free from your old financial trouble and the "poor me" attitude and visualize new patterns of wealth and prosperity. #5 is to avoid making any big decisions while Mercury is in retrograde. And finally #6 is to align yourself with positive thinkers and successful people.
Last year around Valentine's Day we had psychic Deborah Graham on the show and based on just someone's name and birthday, she was able to tell them what was in store for their love life. This time, based on just that information, she did a few readings, even helping one caller named Luke decide to start a new business.
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Tax Relief Advocates stages record-breaking aerial display to raise awareness ahead of the April 15 filing deadline
NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 21, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- What began as two silent lights hovering in the sky over Nissan Stadium quickly turned into the largest drone show ever recorded in Nashville—and an unexpected message to taxpayers.
The Saturday night spectacle, orchestrated by Tax Relief Advocates (TRA), featured synchronized drones forming UFOs, alien figures, and humorous messages aimed at easing tax season anxiety. The light show drew hundreds of spectators and concluded with a message many didn't expect to see: "Humans, don't get probed by the IRS."
Tax season can feel overwhelming—especially for those who are already in debt or facing IRS pressure. This event was our way of saying: it's not too late, and you don't have to do it alone.
The high-tech performance was part of TRA's public awareness campaign ahead of the April 15 federal tax deadline. Designed to catch attention and encourage action, the drone show delivered a lighthearted yet timely reminder: individuals behind on taxes or unsure about how to proceed still have options.
"We knew we had to do something bold to break through the noise," said Jeff Nickel, Managing Partner of Tax Relief Advocates. "Tax season can feel overwhelming—especially for those who are already in debt or facing IRS pressure. This event was our way of saying: it's not too late, and you don't have to do it alone."
The show included a series of tongue-in-cheek displays such as, "We come from a galaxy far, far away;" "Hi Nashville, sorry we got lost in Jersey;" and "Dolly, time to come back home."
TRA, a national firm specializing in resolving tax issues, says its goal is to help individuals navigate audits, wage garnishments, and back taxes with professional support. The company has assisted thousands of Americans in negotiating with the IRS and reaching financial settlements.
For those still unfiled or unsure of their status, TRA encourages contacting a tax professional before the deadline passes.
Those who have back tax debt or need help with their taxes can call 800-511-2153 or visit www.tra.com.
Media Contact
Julia Rose, Tax Relief Advocates, 1 7142356678, [email protected], https://tra.com/
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A new study finds that fragments of tumor DNA in a patient's bloodstream could show that they are at high risk of a melanoma recurrence.
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A simple blood test could reveal who is at high risk of skin cancer recurrence after tumor-removal surgery.
The test can detect fragments of tumor DNA with a simple blood draw to reveal the lingering presence of Stage III melanoma — a metastatic form of the deadliest form of skin cancer — that can't be seen with CT scans. Although the test isn't perfect, it could help flag patients who need aggressive treatment because their cancer is likely to come back.
"We're envisioning the test being used to monitor patients over time (perhaps every month or couple of months in the first 1-3 years after surgery) for an early indication that the melanoma is recurring," study senior author Dr. David Polsky, a dermatologic oncologist at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine, told Live Science in an email.
If the test showed signs of tumor DNA, Polsky continued, the doctor might choose to use more advanced imaging techniques to search for small, easy-to-miss tumors, or they might move to a more aggressive treatment regimen that uses a combination of cancer drugs instead of just one, for example.
Related: Simple blood tests could be the future of cancer diagnosis
Melanoma is a cancer of melanocytes, a type of pigmented skin cell. It accounts for only 1% of skin cancers, but it causes the most skin cancer deaths because it can quickly spread to other organs, or metastasize. Early detection is one of the best ways to boost the likelihood of survival.
Polsky and his colleagues focused on Stage III melanoma, which is melanoma that has spread to nearby lymph nodes, where immune cells are made and stored. Doctors perform surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possible before starting medications to kill any remaining tumor cells.
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Patients then get CT scans to look for any signs of recurrence, but some patients have tiny deposits of melanoma that are too small to be detected by CT. To catch those deposits earlier, Polsky and his team turned to circulating tumor DNA, or ctDNA. These are DNA fragments released from tumor cells during their normal life cycle. The fragments circulate in the plasma — the liquid portion of the blood — and can be detected by telltale mutations that are unique to cancer.
As part of a larger clinical trial of a combination of cancer drugs, the research team studied blood samples from 597 patients who had recently undergone surgery. The participants also had follow-up blood samples taken three months, six months, nine months and 12 months after either starting a treatment or receiving a placebo.
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Immediately after surgery, 13% of the patients had detectable ctDNA in their blood plasma. Every single one of these patients experienced a cancer recurrence, the researchers found. Patients were also more likely to see their melanoma return when their ctDNA rose during the follow-up tests or if the ctDNA remained persistently high over the course of the testing.
The presence of the ctDNA predicted the return of the cancer 100% of the time; no one with a positive test escaped melanoma relapse. But the absence of ctDNA did not mean the patients were out of the woods. A negative test was correct 71% of the time in predicting that the person's cancer would not return. But some patients with no detectable ctDNA still saw recurrence.
"[T]he tests are highly accurate when they are positive, but not as accurate when they are negative," Polsky said.
The study's results were published April 15 in the journal The Lancet Oncology. The next step, Polsky said, is to make the test available to a clinical molecular pathology laboratory, where it can be used to make decisions about treatment. A clinical trial can then show whether using the blood test leads to better outcomes than not using them — a measure called "clinical utility."
"Demonstrating clinical utility of the test would be a major advance for the management of melanoma patients whose disease has spread beyond the skin," Polsky said.
Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
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Astronomers at the University of Cambridge in England announced on April 17 that they had found the strongest evidence yet that life may exist somewhere besides Earth.
Using data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, the researchers detected atmospheric clues hinting that microbial organisms could be living on the surface of K2-18b, visible in the constellation Leo.
And although the first sign of possible extraterrestrials detected in the cosmos didn't come in the form of little green aliens flying around in saucer-shaped spacecrafts, it doesn't make the recent discovery any less exciting.
In fact, the life that could be — thriving on a distant ocean-covered planet named K2-18b is likely not intelligent at all.
Here's everything to know about the discovery, the exoplanet and the search for life in the cosmos.
A strong possibility exists that extraterrestrial life can be found on a distant exoplanet known as K2-18b.
Using observations from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, the researchers were able to find possible hints of molecules and gases that, on Earth, are signs of life.
If anything is indeed living on the planet, it likely would be microorganisms akin to Earth's phytoplankton.
Exoplanets are planets that orbit stars outside of Earth's own solar system. For that reason, the celestial bodies are sometimes also referred to as extrasolar planets.
Some, called rogue planets, don't even orbit a star, but are floating through the cosmos untethered.
Astronomers have confirmed the existence of more than 5,800 exoplanets, but billions are thought to exist, according to NASA.
K2-18b is considered a Hycean exoplanet — as opposed to a rocky planet — due to its potential to possess a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and surface covered in ocean water.
Since it was discovered in 2015, K2-18b, which orbits a red dwarf star more than 120 light-years from Earth, has captivated scientists who have considered it among the best potential life-harboring ocean worlds.
The first observations in 2019 confirming the possible presence of water were made with the Hubble Space Telescope.
In September 2023, another investigation with Webb — an advanced telescope launched in 2021 outfitted with powerful infrared instruments — revealed something more: traces of carbon-bearing molecules in K2-18b's atmosphere, including methane and carbon dioxide.
These conditions classify the exoplanet as being in what astronomers refer to as the habitable zone — where planets have the right conditions for water, providing a key ingredient for life to flourish.
Astronomers even refer to planets with such conditions as "Goldilocks" zones because conditions have to be just right — neither too hot nor too cold — for water to remain in liquid form and pool on surfaces.
K2-18b is 8.6 times bigger than Earth.
The planet's large size — with a radius 2.6 times that of Earth — means the planet's interior likely contains a large mantle of high-pressure ice, like Neptune, according to astronomers.
K2-18b is also smaller than Neptune, making it what astronomers refers to as a "sub-Neptune" planet that, while not present in our solar system, is what NASA says is among "the most common type of planet known so far in the galaxy.”
For the most recent discovery, a team of researchers used a different instrument outfitted to Webb to study the light from K2-18b's parent star as the planet passed in front of it from Earth's vantage.
As starlight passed through the planet's atmosphere, the clues left behind allowed for astronomers to piece together the gases in the atmosphere and detect a possible biosignature. On Earth, the sulfur-based gases they detected are only produced by life, primarily microbial life.
The observations could have occurred by chance or could be the result of previously unknown chemical processes at work on K2-18b, according to the researchers. The team hopes to make follow-up analysis with Webb to reach a more definitive conclusion.
In our solar system, Earth is one of only three planets, along with Mars and Venus, that fall within the habitable zone.
On Mars, two of NASA's robotic rovers are in the process of searching the now-barren planet for clues that life could have existed on its surface.
As of October, NASA has also sent its uncrewed Europa Clipper spacecraft on a far-reaching journey to one of Jupiter's many moons where water is believed to exist beneath an icy surface. Once the orbiter reaches the icy moon Europa in 2030, it will begin scouring the surface from above to look for signs that life could thrive.
Otherwise, NASA, the world's space agencies and other astronomers believe the best opportunity to discover life beyond Earth may exist outside our solar system.
Organizations like the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute are dedicated to exploring the cosmos for extraterrestrial neighbors. SETI even harnessed technology to expand its search beyond our own galaxy.
The Institute conducts activities in three arenas: (1) astrobiology, the efforts to find and understand the prevalence of life in general (for example, microbial life under the parched landscapes of Mars or the icy crust of the jovian moon Europa); (2) SETI, experiments designed to detect radio or light signals that would reveal the presence of technically sophisticated beings; and (3) education and outreach projects that inform the public about our research, encourage young people to become more proficient in science, engage the general public in science research, and train teachers in STEM subject areas.
There's no proof any alien civilization has visited Earth. That hasn't stopped thousands of people from reporting UFOs, UAPs and other unusual phenomena.
Historically, Michigan ranks 10th in the U.S. for reports of "unidentified aerial phenomena" (UAP) to NUFORC with 3,794 since an incident in 1936. That's just 24 behind North Carolina for ninth place. California ranks first, with 16,735. That is almost twice as many as the second-place state, Florida, which has 8,624 reported sightings.
A modeling study looked at how anticipated cuts to international HIV funding would affect the rate of new cases and HIV-related deaths in low- and middle-income countries.
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Editor's note: This story was first published on March 26, 2025.
We could see up to 10.8 million more HIV cases than anticipated in the next five years if planned cuts to international HIV funding take place.
This surge in infections in low- and middle-income countries would contribute up to 2.9 million more HIV-related deaths by 2030.
These disturbing figures come from a new modeling study published March 26 in the journal The Lancet HIV. The researchers wanted to analyze the potential impact of cuts to international funding for HIV/AIDS programs, which work to prevent both transmission and deaths related to the infection.
As of February 2025, the five top donors of this funding — the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Netherlands — have all announced significant cuts to foreign aid that threaten HIV programs worldwide. The study predicts how these cuts would impact low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), which since 2015 have relied on international sources for 40% of their HIV program funding.
"These findings are a sobering reminder that progress in the fight against HIV is not guaranteed — it is the result of sustained political will and investment," said Dr. Ali Zumla, a professor of infectious diseases and international health at University College London who was not involved in the research.
But equally, "the projected surge in new infections and deaths is not an inevitability; it is a consequence of choices being made today," Zumla told Live Science in an email. "If these funding cuts move forward, we risk unraveling decades of hard-won progress, leaving millions vulnerable and pushing global HIV goals further out of reach."
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Related: We could end the AIDS epidemic in less than a decade. Here's how.
As of 2023, five donors have supplied more than 90% of the international funding for HIV programs, with the United States providing over 72% of the total. Specific populations at high risk of HIV — including people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, female sex workers and their clients, and transgender and gender diverse people — particularly rely on these international funding sources for access to HIV prevention and testing.
Much of the U.S. funding comes from the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which is largely implemented by the Agency for International Development (USAID). However, PEPFAR and USAID were hit by an unprecedented funding pause and staffing reduction in January, following an executive order from President Donald Trump.
PEPFAR later received a temporary waiver to continue some services, including those for antiretroviral therapy (ART), the drugs that keep HIV from progressing to AIDS. These treatments must be taken consistently or the virus will rebound.
"The widespread rollout and uptake of antiretroviral therapy funded by international sources has been one of the most important factors reducing AIDS related deaths in lower income settings," said Justin Parkhurst, an associate professor of global health policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science who was not involved in the study. ART also cuts the number of new infections by suppressing the virus in people living with HIV, thus preventing transmission, he told Live Science in an email.
"In the worst-case scenario, if PEPFAR funding were ceased entirely and no equivalent mechanism replaced it, surges in HIV incidence could potentially undo nearly all progress achieved since 2000."
However, despite the waiver, PEPFAR's services still haven't resumed as normal, given the waiver didn't trigger immediate funding to eligible programs and many clinics had already shuttered by the time it was issued. Even now, PEPFAR's future after the waiver's expiration remains uncertain.
Following the U.S., the next top four donors for international HIV funding are the U.K., France, Germany and the Netherlands. However, as of February 2025, each of these donors has also announced major cuts in foreign aid spending — "and more might follow," the study authors wrote.
Based on the projected cuts being made by the top five donors, the researchers used a mathematical model to predict the rates of new HIV cases and deaths. They focused their model on 26 LMICs, which together receive 49% of international HIV aid, overall, and 54% of PEPFAR aid. They then used the data from these 26 countries to extrapolate to all LMICs worldwide.
The researchers considered several scenarios in their model. The first — the "status quo" — served as a baseline, projecting the rates of cases and deaths if recent levels of HIV spending were maintained between 2025 and 2030, rather than cut. In this scenario, more than 1.8 million new infections and over 720,000 HIV-related deaths occurred in LMICs.
In the worst-case scenario the team considered, all PEPFAR funding was indefinitely stopped on Jan. 20, 2025, and no alternative funding sources emerged to fill that gap. Simultaneously, other, non-PEPFAR sources of international funding were also reduced. That scenario led to an estimated 10.8 million more cases and 2.9 million more deaths than the status quo.
Related: Single-shot HIV treatment suppresses virus 10,000-fold for months, animal study finds
This suggests that "the number of new infections in 2026 could return to 2010 levels, and by 2030 the number of new infections could surpass historical estimates," the study authors wrote. "In the worst-case scenario, if PEPFAR funding were ceased entirely and no equivalent mechanism replaced it, surges in HIV incidence could potentially undo nearly all progress achieved since 2000."
This worst-case scenario would hit sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) particularly hard — out of eight SSA countries included in the analysis, six receive over 40% of their HIV funding through PEPFAR. Children in the region could see a nearly three-fold increase in HIV infections, the authors predicted.
And outside of SSA, other vulnerable populations, such as sex workers, would be much harder hit by such cuts than the general population, showing up to a six-fold higher increase in cases than other demographics, the data suggested.
The team also looked at a less extreme scenario, modeling what would happen if new funding sources filled the gap left by PEPFAR. In this scenario, they assumed that the gap could be partially filled by 2026 and then fully filled by 2027. If that mitigation were to happen, the number of extra cases drops to 4.4 million and the extra deaths to 770,000 over the course of five years.
So while filling the gap left by PEPFAR would help substantially, that sudden loss of funding would still have devastating impacts, the study suggests.
"Modelling reveals the potential for severe consequences following abrupt stopping, with no notice, of international support aimed at stopping AIDS as a global public health threat," Dr. Catherine Hankins, a professor of global and public health at McGill University in Canada who was not involved in the study, told Live Science in an email.
According to the study authors, even if the PEPFAR gap could be filled within two years, the ripple effects would be felt for decades to come. They estimated that it would take 20 to 30 extra years of 2024-level funding to end AIDS as a public health threat.
Ambitious goals set by UNAIDS have aimed to end the threat by 2030. And historic HIV trends suggested that many of the LMICs featured in the new paper could have hit their targets by about 2036, if funding continued at past levels, the authors wrote.
"This study indicates that an abrupt termination of programmes has serious risks to human life," Parkhurst said. "Even for those who believe the US or other governments should reduce foreign aid spending in this area, there can be planning around how to do so without producing serious harm to millions of people around the world who have come to rely on the treatment."
The study suggests that, if that abrupt stop could be avoided, many lives could be spared.
The researchers looked at what would happen if PEPFAR was reinstated or "equivalently recovered" and estimated that there could be 70,000 to 1.73 million extra cases and 5,000 to 61,000 extra deaths, compared to status quo. Those estimates assume that other international funding will still be reduced, but that countries will be able to make up for some of the lost funds domestically.
—'It is a dangerous strategy, and one for which we all may pay dearly': Dismantling USAID leaves the US more exposed to pandemics than ever
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The new study has some limitations, as "there is inherent uncertainty in global modelling," said study co-first author Rowan Martin-Hughes, a senior research officer at the Burnet Institute in Australia.
The "most important" limitation is that there is uncertainty in the HIV fiscal space, although the authors covered some of that unpredictability by looking at a range of possible outcomes, Martin-Hughes told Live Science in an email. There are also gaps in the global reporting of financial data that could affect their model, and the 26 featured countries might not be fully representative of the overall impacts of funding cuts, he added.
However, "overall, we think most sources of uncertainty are likely to result in underestimating rather than overestimating the real effects of immediate and severe funding cuts to HIV programmes globally, especially in the sub-Saharan African region," he said.
In light of the impending cuts, "it is paramount now to track AIDS mortality and HIV incidence while urgently reversing the cuts, mitigating the effects, and creating new funding strategies to prevent further suffering," Hankins said.
Martin-Hughes agreed.
"Governments, donors, and stakeholders must collaborate on feasible mitigation strategies to preserve HIV prevention, testing, and treatment services to avoid a resurgence in the HIV epidemic," he said. "In doing so, the global community can secure both the immediate and long-term stability of resilient health systems so integral to saving lives through HIV epidemic control."
Global investment, especially from the U.S., has put targets for the elimination of HIV transmission within reach, he said. "But all of that progress is vulnerable, and could be wiped out within a few years if there are dramatic and unmanaged cuts to HIV services."
Nicoletta Lanese is the health channel editor at Live Science and was previously a news editor and staff writer at the site. She holds a graduate certificate in science communication from UC Santa Cruz and degrees in neuroscience and dance from the University of Florida. Her work has appeared in The Scientist, Science News, the Mercury News, Mongabay and Stanford Medicine Magazine, among other outlets. Based in NYC, she also remains heavily involved in dance and performs in local choreographers' work.
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JD Vance paid tribute to Pope Francis, who died at the age of 88 on Monday. The demise of the Argentine pontiff comes a day after he met the US Vice President on Easter Sunday at Vatican.
Taking to X, Vance said that he just learned of the passing of Pope Francis, adding that his “heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him.”
“I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill. But I'll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID. It was really quite beautiful. May God rest his soul,” the US VP added.
Vatican announced the death of Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, through a video statement on Monday. His reign was characterized by conflict and division as he worked to reform the embattled institution. He had survived a severe case of double pneumonia.
Vance and Pope Francis' brief meeting occurred on Sunday following a lengthy dispute over the US President Donald Trump administration's plans to deport migrants.
Vance was welcomed in one of the reception rooms of the Vatican hotel. In addition to a Vatican tie and rosaries, the 88-year-old pope presented Vance three giant chocolate Easter eggs for his three young kids, who were not present in the meeting.
Meanwhile, several netizens reacted to Vance's tribute to Pope Francis, with some expressing massive outrage over his meeting with the late pontiff.
“Why the outrage over JD meeting the Pope? I've seen countless comments cursing him, not just for the meeting, but for all sorts of things,” one person asked while responding to hatred comments for the US VP.
Also Read: Photos show Pope Francis' Easter celebrations as he meets JD Vance at Vatican, offers chocolate Easter eggs for his kids
Vance's meeting with Pope give birth to bizarre theoriesSeveral Vance-critics asked him, “what did you do bro, what did you do?” “JD, please visit George Soros next,” another said. “Can you meet with Putin next?” a third user asked. “He desperately tried to ghost you. Unfortunately, Pope Francis had met the Antichrist before passing,” the fourth critic mentioned. Some people even went to blast Vance, saying that “You're not fit to even mention his name.” “Did you feel a bit of guilt for insisting to meet him while he was so fragile?” one more reacted.
Several Vance-critics asked him, “what did you do bro, what did you do?”
“JD, please visit George Soros next,” another said.
“Can you meet with Putin next?” a third user asked.
“He desperately tried to ghost you. Unfortunately, Pope Francis had met the Antichrist before passing,” the fourth critic mentioned.
Some people even went to blast Vance, saying that “You're not fit to even mention his name.”
“Did you feel a bit of guilt for insisting to meet him while he was so fragile?” one more reacted.
Supernatural may end up returning for season 16, and if it does, there are a few Winchesters that deserve a comeback. Sam and Dean Winchester are the tip of the iceberg in the renowned Winchester family, which viewers were introduced to gradually over fifteen seasons of Eric Kripke's influential show. Running from 2005 to 2020, Supernatural is America's longest-running live-action fantasy show, so the return of the Winchesters would be a grand tradition, and one welcomed by many, many fans. One, in particular, should get some more screen time.
As of the Supernatural season 15 finale, Sam and Dean were both safely ensconced in the afterlife. In a mundane but strangely suitable twist, Dean died in a run-of-the-mill vampire hunt, while Sam survived to live till a ripe old age. Finally passing away and joining Dean and Bobby in heaven, Sam followed his parents, who had also gone to heaven. It's not clear if Supernatural will return for season 16, and if it does, which characters would return to lead it. But if Sam and Dean did, their mother would also have earned another season.
Mary Winchester deserved a better death in Supernatural season 14. Mary is a critical Supernatural character, with the whole first season essentially revolving around her death, in many ways. With season 1's opening episode demonstrating her violent death, Eric Kripke and Sera Gamble spent the whole season exploring the deep scar that this incident had left on her family. Mary's (first) death triggered John Winchester to begin a life of hunting as he searched for the monster that killed her. This, in turn, meant that his sons had to grow up fast, the hunting lifestyle driving a wedge between Sam and Dean.
Mary's return, courtesy of Amara, was a thrilling plot twist and a logical development, thematically.
However, some of the best Mary Winchester episodes were, unexpectedly, later on in the show. No one would have thought, while watching Supernatural season 1 or 2, that Mary would end up coming back. Mary's return, courtesy of Amara, was a thrilling plot twist and a logical development, thematically. It allowed Dean to finally come to terms with her death. That was why it was quite disappointing for her to be obliterated so suddenly at Jack's hands in season 14. Another season of Supernatural may be able to make up for this.
Mary Winchester was one of the best hunters of Supernatural, and this alone is enough reason to bring her back for another season of the show. Although it is totally unconfirmed if a season 16 is on the cards, it would undoubtedly need some strong hunting talent to make it work if it did transpire. Supernatural is based, fundamentally, on "saving people, hunting things" — the Winchester family business. So any kind of revival, even if it were a reboot or movie rather than season 16, would need a hunter like Mary.
Eric Kripke's brilliant Supernatural TV series is one of the best dark fantasy shows on screens, but it was full of sad and traumatic moments.
Sam and Dean may have also died too peacefully to be worth a resuscitation. While some may argue that Sam and Dean died in Supernatural anticlimactically in season 15, others believe their deaths were perfect for the show. Sam and Dean were truly epic heroes worthy of any superhero franchise or classic novel, and fans built up a strong attachment to them over the fifteen years they were on air. It would be quite a shame to disrupt their tranquil ending. She, however, had no such tranquil ending. Rather, Mary's death required a closer examination than season 14 offered.
While bothering Sam and Dean in heaven in a hypothetical Supernatural season 16 would risk disturbing their well-deserved peace and a tidy end to their arc, there are ways to bring Mary back that seem logical. Mary Winchester could come back from the dead if Supernatural wanted her back for season 16 in a few ways. Mary made it to heaven in the end with John, the love of her life and the father of Sam and Dean. But Supernatural made it abundantly clear that there are ways back from heaven, even if souls would rather stay there.
Sam and Dean were explored more in Supernatural: The Animation, a Japanese anime produced by Madhouse.
Eric Kripke had a 5-season plan for Supernatural, so it is fitting that Dean died in this season. In episode 16, "The Dark Side of the Moon," Dean was shot by Roy and Walt, and it was later revealed that Dean had died many times before. Angels had resurrected him and wiped his memories of heaven. It is possible for an angel to resurrect Mary. If a new threat arose in the world of Supernatural, an angel with good intentions could send Mary Winchester back to earth to fight it.
Mary Winchester was played by Amy Gumenick and Samantha Smith in Supernatural.
Many characters returned from the dead in Supernatural, and if Mary did it already, she could do it again. Amara, the Darkness, resurrected Mary in season 14. Amara was absorbed into God by the end of Supernatural, and God remained on earth. Although his divine powers had been removed, Chuck Shurley could certainly pose some kind of threat if Supernatural returned. He was proven to be egotistical and could potentially end up embodying some of his older sister's powers of necromancy in a potential season 16, enabling Mary's comeback.
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Created by Eric Kripke, Supernatural is a fantasy/drama series that premiered in 2005. The series follows the adventures of Dean and Sam Winchester - two men wronged by supernatural beings as children who now spend their days investigating and hunting demons, ghosts, and monsters across the United States.
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SCEPTICS are encouraged to join an upcoming paranormal investigation to experience the strange and unusual for themselves.
Paranormal INC is heading to Carlisle's Masonic Hall in May to help city residents to discover the secrets of this historic building which dates back to the Victorian era.
The group of five have been involved in paranormal investigations for a while now, having previously worked with another business over in the north-east before deciding to set-up their own company.
Their visit to the hall on May 3 will be the group's second time there but their first visit left quite a strong impression on the investigators who experienced a kettle turning on by itself and heard footsteps and banging.
Jack Bell, a member of Paranormal INC, said: "I saw my first ever figure of something in the building, it was weird.
"There were only five of us in the building at that point and we're all just sat around talking.
"We're in a bar area where we all got together and have a few drinks. I turned around and towards the bar area, there was just a figure stood there. I had to do a double take. I thought 'oh my God, I've just seen a figure'."
They make use of a number of different techniques to try and make a connection with the paranormal.
This includes spirit boxes which scan local radio waves which helps spirits to communicate, dowsing rods, EVPs, touch activated balls, and temperature monitors.
But, before they begin using all of that, they encourage people who have joined them on the ghost hunt to make use of their own senses first to see what they might discover.
"One of the things which we try and do first is to not throw equipment at everybody," Jack added.
"Try and use your senses because it's probably the best way of doing things."
Paranormal INC say they will always try and debunk the evidence as it arises to explore what else might have caused a strange noise or something to move.
But, if they can't explain it, the answer could be something more paranormal.
Those attending the event will be able to try out their own investigation making use of the group's equipment but they're also encouraged to bring their own.
And, sceptics are definitely welcome too.
"If you're a sceptic, come along and make the judgement yourself.
"Come along, give it a go, and be open minded with it because if you're not open minded and you're shut off, generally you're going to have a really rubbish night, but stuff can happen."
Tickets for the event at the Carlisle Masonic Hall can be purchased on the Paranormal INC website for £20 or two for £35.