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The US has maintained sanctions on Syria for decades, fueling poverty and hunger among the country's population.
President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he is ordering the “cessation” of U.S. sanctions on Syria, seemingly bringing an end to the U.S.'s decades-long economic suppression of the country as he cozies up to Saudi Arabian leaders.
“I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” Trump said in a speech at an investment forum in Riyadh, on the first of his four-day visit to the Middle East. “It's their time to shine. We're taking them all off.”
Trump's announcement was met with applause from the crowd, as he acknowledged the new government formed after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December. He said that he is lifting the sanctions at the urging of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, fondly saying, “oh, what I do for the crown prince.”
The president is also set to meet with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was until recently the leader of the rebel group that overthrew the Assad regime last year.
The announcement came after the White House announced a $600 billion investment deal with Saudi Arabia, following Trump's meeting with MBS. This includes a $142 billion weapons sale to the country — touted by the White House as the “largest defense sales agreement in history.”
The U.S. has long maintained sanctions on Syria, with the U.S. designating the country as a state sponsor of terrorism since 1979. These sanctions were escalated by the Obama administration in 2011.
Human rights experts and advocates have long said that the wide-reaching sanctions on Syria, from the U.S. and other Western countries, have amounted to collective punishment of the people of Syria. They have created numerous humanitarian crises, hitting every sector of Syria's economy; fueling hunger and poverty; and failing at their supposed purpose of overthrowing the Assad regime or otherwise bringing peace for decades on end.
In fact, human rights experts have noted that sanctions are currently serving as a roadblock toward rebuilding after the Assad regime.
However, the Trump administration is not motivated by alleviating human rights concerns. In fact, rights groups have said that his second term has thus far been marked by egregious attacks on human rights both in the U.S. and across the world.
Rather, as he effectively admitted, Trump likely views the lifting of the sanctions as a way to further consolidate his own power and influence during his visit to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia — three countries with a history of dire human rights abuses.
Analysts have noted that Trump's primary interest for this trip is striking business deals, including ones that enrich him personally, like accepting a $400 million luxury jet as a gift from Qatar.
The announcement also comes after Sharaa reportedly pitched Trump's team on creating a Trump Tower in Damascus and giving the U.S. access to Syrian fossil fuels, according to Reuters, in efforts to get a meeting with Trump during his visit.
The Trump administration is cracking down on political dissent. Under pressure from an array of McCarthy-style tactics, academics, activists and nonprofits face significant threats for speaking out or organizing in resistance.
Truthout is appealing for your support to weather this storm of censorship. We've launched a fundraising campaign to find 500 new monthly donors in the next 10 days. Will you be one?
As independent media with no corporate backing or billionaire ownership, Truthout is uniquely able to push back against the right-wing narrative and expose the shocking extent of political repression under the new McCarthyism. We're committed to doing this work, but we're also deeply vulnerable to Trump's attacks.
Your support during our fundraiser (9 days left) will help us continue our nonprofit movement journalism in the face of right-wing authoritarianism. Please make a tax-deductible donation today.
Sharon Zhang is a news writer at Truthout covering politics, climate and labor. Before coming to Truthout, Sharon had written stories for Pacific Standard, The New Republic, and more. She has a master's degree in environmental studies. She can be found on Twitter and Bluesky.
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“It's very obvious they knew exactly who I was,” said Hasan Piker, who has millions of followers on social media.
Hasan Piker, a left-wing political commentator with millions of followers on social media, was detained and interrogated on his political views for hours by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents after he returned from a trip overseas this week.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security claimed that Piker, a U.S.-born citizen who was carrying his passport after returning from a trip to France, was selected as part of a random check at O'Hare airport in Chicago. The spokesperson denied that Piker's politics played any role in his questioning, accusing him of “lying for likes.”
However, Piker's recollection of being singled out for his political views is consistent with other accounts of customs agents detaining citizens reentering the country under the Trump administration.
Detailing the ordeal on his Twitch stream on Monday, Piker said he was led to a private room at the airport and was interrogated by CBP agents for around two hours. He described the interaction as “really interesting” and “very cordial,” but was troubled by agents' line of questioning.
“It's very obvious they knew exactly who the fuck I was,” said Piker, who is a vocal critic of President Donald Trump and of Israel's genocide in Gaza.
Piker said that agents inquired whether he has any connections to Hamas, the Houthis or Hezbollah. They also questioned him regarding his criticism of the Trump administration, he said.
“[An agent was] like, ‘Do you talk about Trump?' And that was the first time where I was like, ‘What is this question?'” Piker recalled. “I literally straight up told him. I was like, ‘Why are you asking me this…what does this have to do with anything?'”
Piker explained to his viewers that he was candid in his responses.
“I don't like Trump. Like, what are you going to do? It's protected by the First Amendment,” he said.
Piker suspects that the CBP agents were trying to “get something out of me that I think they could use to basically detain me permanently,” he said.
He added:
The reason for why they're doing that is, I think, to try to create an environment of fear, to try to get people like myself — or at least like others that would be in my shoes that don't have that same level of security — to shut…up.
In text messages with The Washington Post, Piker elaborated on his release, saying that when he asked if he would be detained again when traveling abroad, agents gave him a piece of paper to contact the DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program.
The agent “basically said, you know, you can figure out what not to do so that this doesn't happen again,” Piker told The Post. “And I suspect the what-not-to-do is just don't be a political commentator that speaks about American foreign policy, which is not something I'm planning on stopping.”
Chip Gibbons, policy director for Defending Rights and Dissent, condemned customs officials for detaining Piker.
“We are deeply disturbed that CBP is stopping political commentators at the border to interrogate them about First Amendment-protected activities. Such an abuse of power is an affront to press freedom,” Gibbons said.
In an email to Truthout, Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), decried the alleged action by CBP officials and the Trump administration.
“If Piker, a U.S. citizen, was detained and questioned solely over his views on the Gaza war, it would mark a troubling escalation of the Trump administration's efforts to punish dissent on the issue,” Terr said, adding that “the First Amendment squarely protects speech on matters of public debate.”
The Trump administration is cracking down on political dissent. Under pressure from an array of McCarthy-style tactics, academics, activists and nonprofits face significant threats for speaking out or organizing in resistance.
Truthout is appealing for your support to weather this storm of censorship. We've launched a fundraising campaign to find 500 new monthly donors in the next 10 days. Will you be one?
As independent media with no corporate backing or billionaire ownership, Truthout is uniquely able to push back against the right-wing narrative and expose the shocking extent of political repression under the new McCarthyism. We're committed to doing this work, but we're also deeply vulnerable to Trump's attacks.
Your support during our fundraiser (9 days left) will help us continue our nonprofit movement journalism in the face of right-wing authoritarianism. Please make a tax-deductible donation today.
Chris Walker is a news writer at Truthout, and is based out of Madison, Wisconsin. Focusing on both national and local topics since the early 2000s, he has produced thousands of articles analyzing the issues of the day and their impact on the American people. He can be found on most social media platforms under the handle @thatchriswalker.
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“Trump's war on science is an attack against anyone who has ever loved someone with cancer,” the Vermont senator said.
U.S. President Donald Trump is conducting an “unprecedented and illegal” broadside against science and scientists that will have devastating consequences for regular Americans, according to a report released Tuesday by Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont.
The report, which casts Trump's actions as a “war on science” that will lead to “preventable suffering” and “needless loss of life,” was compiled by the minority staff with the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, where Sanders is the ranking member.
To compile the report, staff interviewed federal health workers, analyzed National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant funding data, reviewed self-reported data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and more.
The report concludes that Trump's moves against science will yield fewer breakthroughs for combating diseases, a less robust public health response to future infectious disease threats, and even less trust in public institutions.
In a statement on Tuesday, Sanders said that “Trump's war on science is an attack against anyone who has ever loved someone with cancer.”
All told, according to the report, as of April 2025 the Trump administration has terminated at least $13.5 billion in health funding and has dismissed thousands of employees who support America's scientific infrastructure.
In what the report calls the “clearest sign” of the administration's effort to defund science, it states that NIH committed $2.7 billion less to research in the first three months of 2025 compared to the same time period last year, representing an effective 35% cut.
When the researchers behind the report conducted an analysis of National Cancer Institute grants, they found there has been a 31% decline in cancer research grant funding in the first three months of 2025, compared to the first three months of 2024.
The report also relays accounts from federal workers who highlight the Trump administration's efforts to impose control over “scientific speech.”
For example, one HHS official said: “We get requests from the media to provide scientific expertise. Normally, [political appointees] would never get involved in this type of non-high-profile stuff but now they have to approve every single media request.”
Also, “researchers across the federal science agencies report that certain scientific topics now trigger heightened scrutiny or political review before publication, presentation, or grant consideration,” according to the report. The researchers also state that over 100 scientific meetings have been delayed or canceled.
The report also focuses on the impact of firings at HHS. The report states that at least 10,000 workers at HHS agencies have been terminated, on top of some 10,000 who have left voluntarily of been forced out by the Trump administration, citing public reports. This tally aligns with a tracker of federal personnel cuts maintained by The New York Times.
According to the report, federal employees believe that the loss of “public capacity” could mean more power for the private sector. One HHS official quoted in the report anonymously said: “I chose to go into federal service because I care about people. I want to be able to answer to the taxpayer, not the shareholder.”
Speaking of overall cuts to HHS, “the agency in charge of the health and well-being of all Americans including tens of millions of seniors, children, and working families may be cut down to… less than one-sixth the size of UnitedHealth Group,” according to the report.
The report states that these firings have lead to “chaos” across HHS, and that disruptions have been particularly acute at NIH.
“Initially, we had whole labs full of people that were fired. Complete chaos. Nobody had any idea if their tests were being run,” said an anonymously quoted staffer at the NIH Clinical Center — the country's biggest hospital devoted solely to clinical research.
“Trump's war on science is not making America healthy again,” Sanders said. “It is making Americans and people throughout the world sicker.”
The Trump administration is cracking down on political dissent. Under pressure from an array of McCarthy-style tactics, academics, activists and nonprofits face significant threats for speaking out or organizing in resistance.
Truthout is appealing for your support to weather this storm of censorship. We've launched a fundraising campaign to find 500 new monthly donors in the next 10 days. Will you be one?
As independent media with no corporate backing or billionaire ownership, Truthout is uniquely able to push back against the right-wing narrative and expose the shocking extent of political repression under the new McCarthyism. We're committed to doing this work, but we're also deeply vulnerable to Trump's attacks.
Your support during our fundraiser (9 days left) will help us continue our nonprofit movement journalism in the face of right-wing authoritarianism. Please make a tax-deductible donation today.
Eloise Goldsmith is a staff writer for Common Dreams.
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White House touts deal made on first stop of US president's four-day diplomatic tour to Gulf states
The United States and Saudi Arabia have signed a $142bn arms deal touted by the White House as the “largest defence sales agreement in history” in the first stop of Donald Trump's four-day diplomatic tour to the Gulf states aimed at securing big deals and spotlighting the benefits of Trump's transactional foreign policy.
During the trip, the White House also confirmed that Trump would meet with Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former rebel commander whose forces helped overthrow Bashar al-Assad in 2024. The informal meeting will be the first face-to-face meeting between a US president and a Syrian leader since 2000, when Bill Clinton met with the late leader Hafez al-Assad in Geneva.
Speaking at an investment forum on Tuesday, Trump said that he planned to lift sanctions on Syria after holding talks with Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. “I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” Trump said.
Sharaa's pitch to woo the US president offered access to Syrian oil, reconstruction contracts and to build a Trump Tower in Damascus in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions on Syria.
Though the details of the sanctions relief were still unclear, Sharaa's team in Damascus was celebrating.
“This is amazing, it worked,” said Radwan Ziadeh, a Syrian writer and activist who is close to the Syrian president. He shared a picture of an initial mockup of Trump Tower Damascus. “This is how you win his heart and mind,” he said, noting that Sharaa would probably show Trump the design during their meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday.
The visit was heavily focused on business interests and securing quick wins – often with characteristic Trumpian embellishment – for the administration. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed pledged to invest $600bn in the United States during a lunch with Trump, including $20bn in artificial intelligence data centres, purchases of gas turbines and other energy equipment worth $14.2bn, nearly $5bn in Boeing 737-8 jets, and other deals.
But details of the specific commitments remained vague, the numbers put out by the White House did not total $600bn, and some of the programs began under Joe Biden's administration.
The White House called the arms deal the “largest defence sales agreement in history” and said that it included plans for more than a dozen US defense companies to sell weapons, equipment and services in the areas of air force advancement and space capabilities, air and missile defense, as well as border and maritime security.
The US president was feted with a royal guard as he arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday. Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s escorted Trump's Air Force One jet as it arrived in Riyadh and Trump sat with Salman in an ornate hall at the Royal Court at Al Yamamah Palace with members of the US and Saudi and business elite. Among them were Elon Musk, prominent figures in AI like Sam Altman, as well the chief executives of IBM, BlackRock, Citigroup, Palantir and Nvidia, among others.
When Salman pledged that Saudi Arabia would invest $600bn in the US economy, Trump smiled and joked that it should be $1tn.
The trip is part of a reordering of Middle Eastern politics dominated by Trump's America First platform of prioritising domestic US economic and security interests over foreign alliances and international law. Critics have said that the dealmaking empowers Trump and a coterie of businessmen around the president, and the US president's family has business interests in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, giving this administration an unprecedented conflict of interest.
The most glaring example of the new commoditisation of American foreign policy under Trump has been the proposed gift from the ruling family of Qatar of a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet that the White House said could be converted into a presidential plane and then be given to Trump's presidential library after he leaves office.
The gift has provoked anger from congressional Democrats, one of whom described it as an “aerial palace” and said it would constitute “the most valuable gift ever conferred on a president by a foreign government”.
Trump has defended the offer, saying it would “replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction” and called Democrats asking for an ethics investigation “World Class Losers!!!”
The meeting between Trump and Salman was characterised by smiles and friendly backslapping, a sharp contrast to past summits when the Saudi leader was mired in controversy over the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
While his administration touted big deals, Trump also admitted that his geopolitical goals of Saudi Arabia's diplomatic recognition of Israel would take time due in large part to the Israel's prosecution of the war in Gaza.
“It will be a special day in the Middle East, with the whole world watching, when Saudi Arabia joins us” in the Abraham accords, the Trump administration's framework for Arab states to recognise Israel, he said. “And I really think it's going to be something special – but you'll do it in your own time.”
Trump is also due to visit the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday before continuing on to Qatar this week.
His negotiations in the region have been characterised by big ticket investment deals, and those appeared to play a role in his reversal of US policy on Syria as well.
Sharaa, who is keen to normalise relations with the US, has reportedly offered Trump a number of sweeteners including the Trump tower in Damascus, a demilitarised zone by the Golan Heights that would strengthen Israel's claim to the territory it has occupied since 1967, diplomatic recognition of Israel, and a profit-sharing deal on resources similar to the Ukraine minerals deal.
The idea to offer Trump a piece of real estate with his name on it in the heart of Damascus was thought up by a US Republican senator, who passed on the idea to Sharaa's team.
“Sanctions in Syria are very complicated, but with Trump, he can [get] most of them lifted. It is a great opportunity,” Ziadeh said.
The trip is also extraordinary for Trump's decision not to visit Israel, the US's closest ally in the region, due to the war in Gaza and Trump's fraught relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu. Hamas released the last remaining American hostage, Edan Alexander, on the eve of Trump's visit to the Middle East, in an effort to push Trump to pressure Netanyahu to end the war.
Netanyahu doubled down on the war on Tuesday in a show of defiance, saying that any ceasefire would only be “temporary”.
“In the coming days, we will enter with full force to complete the operation to defeat Hamas,” he said. “Our forces are there now.”
“There will be no situation where we stop the war,” he added.
White House touts deal made on first stop of US president's four-day diplomatic tour to Gulf states
The United States and Saudi Arabia have signed a $142bn arms deal touted by the White House as the “largest defence sales agreement in history” in the first stop of Donald Trump's four-day diplomatic tour to the Gulf states aimed at securing big deals and spotlighting the benefits of Trump's transactional foreign policy.
During the trip, the White House also confirmed that Trump would meet with Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former rebel commander whose forces helped overthrow Bashar al-Assad in 2024. The informal meeting will be the first face-to-face meeting between a US president and a Syrian leader since 2000, when Bill Clinton met with the late leader Hafez al-Assad in Geneva.
Speaking at an investment forum on Tuesday, Trump said that he planned to lift sanctions on Syria after holding talks with Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. “I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” Trump said.
Sharaa's pitch to woo the US president offered access to Syrian oil, reconstruction contracts and to build a Trump Tower in Damascus in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions on Syria.
Though the details of the sanctions relief were still unclear, Sharaa's team in Damascus was celebrating.
“This is amazing, it worked,” said Radwan Ziadeh, a Syrian writer and activist who is close to the Syrian president. He shared a picture of an initial mockup of Trump Tower Damascus. “This is how you win his heart and mind,” he said, noting that Sharaa would probably show Trump the design during their meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday.
The visit was heavily focused on business interests and securing quick wins – often with characteristic Trumpian embellishment – for the administration. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed pledged to invest $600bn in the United States during a lunch with Trump, including $20bn in artificial intelligence data centres, purchases of gas turbines and other energy equipment worth $14.2bn, nearly $5bn in Boeing 737-8 jets, and other deals.
But details of the specific commitments remained vague, the numbers put out by the White House did not total $600bn, and some of the programs began under Joe Biden's administration.
The White House called the arms deal the “largest defence sales agreement in history” and said that it included plans for more than a dozen US defense companies to sell weapons, equipment and services in the areas of air force advancement and space capabilities, air and missile defense, as well as border and maritime security.
The US president was feted with a royal guard as he arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday. Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s escorted Trump's Air Force One jet as it arrived in Riyadh and Trump sat with Salman in an ornate hall at the Royal Court at Al Yamamah Palace with members of the US and Saudi and business elite. Among them were Elon Musk, prominent figures in AI such as Sam Altman, as well the chief executives of IBM, BlackRock, Citigroup, Palantir and Nvidia, among others.
When Salman pledged that Saudi Arabia would invest $600bn in the US economy, Trump smiled and joked that it should be $1tn.
The trip is part of a reordering of Middle Eastern politics dominated by Trump's “America first” platform of prioritising domestic US economic and security interests over foreign alliances and international law. Critics have said that the dealmaking empowers Trump and a coterie of businessmen around the president, and the US president's family has business interests in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, giving this administration an unprecedented conflict of interest.
The most glaring example of the new commoditisation of American foreign policy under Trump has been the proposed gift from the ruling family of Qatar of a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet that the White House said could be converted into a presidential plane and then be given to Trump's presidential library after he leaves office.
The gift has provoked anger from congressional Democrats, one of whom described it as an “aerial palace” and said it would constitute “the most valuable gift ever conferred on a president by a foreign government”.
Trump has defended the offer, saying in a post it would “replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction” and called Democrats asking for an ethics investigation “World Class Losers!!!”
The meeting between Trump and Salman was characterised by smiles and friendly backslapping, a sharp contrast to past summits when the Saudi leader was mired in controversy over the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
While his administration touted big deals, Trump also admitted that his geopolitical goals of Saudi Arabia's diplomatic recognition of Israel would take time due in large part to the Israel's prosecution of the war in Gaza.
“It will be a special day in the Middle East, with the whole world watching, when Saudi Arabia joins us” in the Abraham accords, the Trump administration's framework for Arab states to recognise Israel, he said. “And I really think it's going to be something special – but you'll do it in your own time.”
Trump is also due to visit the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday before continuing on to Qatar this week.
His negotiations in the region have been characterised by big-ticket investment deals, and those appeared to play a role in his reversal of US policy on Syria as well.
Sharaa, who is keen to normalise relations with the US, has reportedly offered Trump a number of sweeteners including the Trump tower in Damascus, a demilitarised zone by the Golan Heights that would strengthen Israel's claim to the territory it has occupied since 1967, diplomatic recognition of Israel, and a profit-sharing deal on resources similar to the Ukraine minerals deal.
The idea to offer Trump a piece of real estate with his name on it in the heart of Damascus was thought up by a US Republican senator, who passed on the idea to Sharaa's team.
“Sanctions in Syria are very complicated, but with Trump, he can [get] most of them lifted. It is a great opportunity,” Ziadeh said.
The trip is also extraordinary for Trump's decision not to visit Israel, the US's closest ally in the region, due to the war in Gaza and Trump's fraught relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu. Hamas released the last remaining American hostage, Edan Alexander, on the eve of Trump's visit to the Middle East, in an effort to push Trump to pressure Netanyahu to end the war.
Netanyahu doubled down on the war on Tuesday in a show of defiance, saying that any ceasefire would only be “temporary”.
“In the coming days, we will enter with full force to complete the operation to defeat Hamas,” he said. “Our forces are there now.”
“There will be no situation where we stop the war,” he added.
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Chinese leader Xi Jinping says “bullying” and “hegemonism” will only backfire, in a veiled reference to the United States just a day after a temporary truce was agreed in the trade war between the world's two largest economies.
Xi chose to deliver this message, which paints China as a global leader and defender of free trade, at a summit of Latin American and Caribbean officials — including the presidents of Brazil, Colombia and Chile — in Beijing on Tuesday. The region has become increasingly caught in the middle of a tussle for influence between the US and China.
“There are no winners in tariff wars or trade wars. Bullying or hegemonism only leads to self-isolation,” Xi said, reiterating a warning he has made throughout the trade showdown with US President Donald Trump.
Great changes unseen in a century are accelerating, which have “made unity and cooperation among nations indispensable,” he added.
Xi's speech comes a day after the US and China announced they would drastically roll back tariffs on each other's goods for an initial 90-day period, in a surprise breakthrough that has de-escalated a punishing trade war and buoyed global markets.
While the White House is hailing the tariff pause as a win for the United States and a demonstration of Trump's “unparalleled expertise in securing deals that benefit the American people,” Chinese commentators and state-run media are celebrating the agreement as “a huge victory” for China and a vindication of Beijing's tough stance.
“This shows that China's firm countermeasures and resolute stance have been highly effective,” Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account affiliated with state broadcaster CCTV, wrote on microblog Weibo. “The retaliatory measures clearly had a significant impact on the US, prompting its government to lower tariffs to baseline levels following the talks.”
As countries rushed to make deals with Trump after his April 2 announcement of “reciprocal tariffs,” China took a markedly different approach, standing its ground and retaliating with tariffs on US goods along with a host of other countermeasures.
For over a month, Trump's second-term tariffs on Chinese imports remained at a staggering 145%, while China's retaliatory levies on US goods held at 125%, a tit-for-tat trade war that was already inflicting economic pain on both sides.
Related article
Trump's China trade breakthrough might be enough to avoid self-inflicted recession
The trade agreement reached over the weekend effectively means the US will temporarily lower its overall tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, while China will cut its levies on American imports from 125% to 10%, according to the joint statement.
Trump's 20% fentanyl-related levies on China, imposed in February and March, will stay, so will China's countermeasures against the US for those tariffs. Under the agreement, China will also suspend or cancel its non-tariff countermeasures imposed on the US since April 2.
In addition, the US will cut its “de minimis” tariff on small packages from China from 120% to 54% starting from May 14, while still maintaining the $100 flat-fee option, according to a White House executive order issued Monday.
Chinese state media have cast the reduction in tariffs as being on equal terms, emphasizing that both sides are suspending the 24% “reciprocal tariffs” for 90 days and removing the 91% additional tariffs mutually imposed during the rapid-fire retaliatory escalation in April.
Under the terms of the agreement, Trump's “reciprocal” tariff on China now stands at 10%, the same rate as the levies on the UK, a close American ally, some Chinese users noted on social media.
“This is a huge victory for China's commitment to the principles of equality and mutual respect,” Hu Xijin, the former editor of the state-run Global Times, wrote in a Weibo post.
He called the agreement “a triumph for international trade rules and the rightful global order,” adding that it “sets an example and is bound to inspire other countries to defend their own rights.”
Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University in Beijing, said China's tough stance was a matter of principle in terms of upholding the multilateral and free trade principles of the World Trade Organization.
“This is something China must stand firm on. If even China can't hold the line, wouldn't that mean the whole world has to beg the US for mercy?” he said.
But China also showed flexibility in coming to the negotiation table, Wang said, instead of insisting on its demand that the US must remove all of its unilateral tariffs before any discussion. The agreement bought both sides time, he added.
“Because the economic and trade ties between China and the US are so deeply intertwined, both sides are feeling the pain. So the idea is to ease the tension for now and push the problem down the road a bit to resolve the complex and deep-rooted differences gradually,” he said. “It's like shifting from the original shock therapy to a gradual treatment approach.”
Although the Trump administration is touting the temporary tariff truce with China as a “win,” the trade war has inflected great damage to US credibility, including with its allies, Wang said, and that gives China opportunity to strengthen ties with other countries.
For weeks, China had stood firm against US pressure and launched a diplomatic charm offensive presenting itself as a supporter of global trade, rallying countries to push back against what it calls “US bullying.”
On Tuesday, Xi continued that push despite the trade truce, vowing to strengthen “solidarity” with Latin America and the Caribbean, a region that Trump has sought to pull closer to Washington's orbit. Trade between China and the region exceeded $500 billion for the first time last year, the Chinese leader said.
Xi was speaking at the opening of the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC Forum, a gathering founded in 2014 to strengthen China's influence in Latin America and the Caribbean — and challenge America's traditional dominance in the region. CELAC stands for the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.
“China and Latin American and Caribbean countries are important members of the Global South. Independence and autonomy are our glorious tradition. Development and revitalization are our inherent right. And fairness and justness are our common pursuit,” Xi said.
“In the face of seething undercurrents of geopolitical and bloc confrontation, and the surging tide of unilateralism and protectionism, China stands ready to join hands with our Latin American and Caribbean partners,” he added.
The Chinese leader also vowed to provide 66 billion yuan ($9.2 billion) worth of credit lines to CELAC countries to support their development. The credit lines will be denominated in yuan, a move that is part of larger efforts to popularize the Chinese currency in the region.
Countries in Latin America are among Beijing's top trading partners. Last year, China was the main destination for Brazil's soybeans, accounting for more than 73% of the country's total soybean exports.
This story has been updated with additional reporting and context.
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“Colorado is paving a different path by acting on its own to strengthen our right to vote,” said one advocate.
On Monday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed the Colorado Voting Rights Act (COVRA) into law, significantly bolstering protections against voting discrimination and reinforcing the right to fair and equal access to the ballot.
“Governor Polis and the Colorado legislature have made clear that they are committed to defending voters from discrimination,” Janai S. Nelson, Legal Defense Fund (LDF) president and director-counsel, said in a statement.
COVRA will safeguard the right to vote for more than 150,000 eligible Black Coloradans and other communities of color by going after racial vote dilution and voter suppression, according to the LDF. The legislation will also expand access to multilingual ballots, enhance transparency by creating a publicly accessible statewide database with key demographic and electoral information, and strengthen protections for LGBTQ voters, disabled voters, and eligible voters in county jails.
“Generations of brave activists, women, and people of color have fought for the right to vote — and now, it's our turn,” Democratic State Sen. Julie Gonzales, one of the sponsors of the bill, said in a statement. “This law will ensure that in Colorado, no matter your gender, race, or the language you speak, your sacred right to vote is protected.”
Gonzales has emphasized that a series of legal decisions have weakened voting rights protections, raising concerns that the Trump administration and congressional Republicans may further erode the Voting Rights Act — just as they have with other civil rights protections.
“Those were hard fought protections that the civil rights movement and the Black community particularly fought and led to achieve, and to see the fact that now a generation later, we don't know whether or how long those protections will continue to exist — we're not just going to sit around and see what happens,” Gonzales said.
COVRA empowers the Colorado Attorney General to enforce protections for voting rights both at the state and local levels so that the state can act against violations without relying on federal courts. Voters will also be able to initiate court challenges under the act, either individually or with the support of civil rights organizations.
“The most fundamental right in a democracy is the right to vote. Since 1965, with the passage of the Voting Rights Act, there have been consistent and persistent efforts to protect this fundamental right,” said Deborah Richardson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado.
Colorado has become a model for safe, open, and accessible elections, according to state lawmakers. Legislators have led efforts to expand ballot access for Indigenous voters, incarcerated people, and university students. In 2021, the state also enacted legislation expanding access to minority language ballots beyond federal requirements.
“In this time of uncertainty and national instability, Colorado is paving a different path by acting on its own to strengthen our right to vote,” Aly Belknap, executive director of Colorado Common Cause, said in a statement.
The Trump administration is cracking down on political dissent. Under pressure from an array of McCarthy-style tactics, academics, activists and nonprofits face significant threats for speaking out or organizing in resistance.
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Zane McNeill is a trending news writer at Truthout. They have a master's degree in political science from Central European University and are currently enrolled in law school at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. They can be found on Twitter: @zane_crittheory.
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Accepting a ‘gift' of a luxury jet from Qatar is just the most eye-catching of the president's ethically questionable acts
Fox & Friends, the show beamed into millions of rightwing Americans' homes every morning, is not generally considered to be the place where Donald Trump faces the tough questions. The “& Friends” in the show's title gives that away.
But on Monday morning, the show's co-host Brian Kilmeade put the billion-dollar question to the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. News had just broken that Trump had decided to accept a gift of a $400m luxury jumbo jet from the government of Qatar, a petro-state which the president once denounced as a “funder of terrorism”.
“Do you worry that, if they give us something like this, they want something in return?” Kilmeade asked.
Leavitt swatted the question away, saying that the Qataris knew that Trump “only works with the interests of the American public in mind”. Despite her protestations, the heart of the matter is now out there for all to contemplate: what about the quid pro quo?
The avoidance of quid pro quo – of favours granted in return for something, or to put it colloquially, you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours – has been a bedrock of American governance, especially in foreign policy, for decades. It even informed Trump's first presidency when the Trump Organization, his family business, forewent all foreign deals for the duration.
Now he's back in the Oval Office, all such guardrails separating personal from public gain appear to have been discarded. Since Trump's second presidential victory in November, the Trump Organization, under the management of his third child Eric, has seen an explosion of activity in the Gulf region.
Plans have proliferated for Trump towers and golf resorts in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It would take a bold commentator to suggest that the president's visit beginning on Tuesday to those same fabulously rich oil nations is purely coincidental.
Of all the transactions in the pipeline, the most brazen is the proposed gift of a $400m “palace in the sky” from the Qatari government. It is hard to imagine a clearer violation of the emoluments clause of the constitution which bars federal officials, including the president, from accepting high-value gifts without congressional approval.
The Republican senator from Kentucky Rand Paul summed it up. “It's not like a ride on the plane,” he said. “We are talking about the entire $400m plane.”
Trump's approach in his second term towards such inconveniences as ethical codes and the rule of law has been to dismiss from the leadership of key federal agencies seasoned public servants committed to the US constitution and replace them with loyalists committed to his Make America great again (Maga) mantra. From Trump's perspective, that may look like an easy fix. But for anyone concerned about quid pro quo it has merely compounded the problem.
According to ABC News, Pam Bondi, Trump's US attorney general and the country's top law enforcement officer, carried out a legal analysis of the Qatar plane gift that concluded it would be “legally permissible”. That's all very well. But what about the fact that in the run-up to the 2022 soccer World Cup, Bondi worked as a lobbyist for the Qatari government, receiving from it a handsome $115,000 every month?
Quid pro quo over the gift of the Boeing 747-8 jetliner from that same Qatari government is further complicated by the intricate nexus of business deals that Eric Trump is creating at lightning speed through the Gulf region. The first foreign deal secured by the Trump Organization since Trump's return to the Oval Office in January is in Qatar.
The deal is for the construction of a luxury resort and 18-hole golf course outside the Qatari capital, Doha. It will be known as the Trump International Golf Club & Villas.
The scheme will be developed by a Qatari company, Qatari Diar, which happens to be owned by the Qatari government. The real estate business was set up by Qatar's sovereign wealth fund and has a government minister chairing its board.
That would appear to be a breach of Trump's second-term promise – already so much weaker than the ethical pledges he made in Trump presidency 1.0 – that the family business would pursue no deals involving foreign governments. The Trump Organization insists the partnership was arranged with a Saudi firm, Dar Global, and not the Qatari company. But that only raises a further issue: Dar Global has close ties with the Saudi royal family.
Were that not enough, there's also the crypto factor. Trump's venture into the crypto currency business is another whole can of worms, with so many ethical conundrums attached to it that it would keep a conflict of interest investigator busy for years.
Suffice to say that the Trump family is betting big on cryptocurrency at the same time that the president is using his executive powers to boost the fledging digital payment system as well as remove regulatory restraints standing in its way.
Where are the Trump family's biggest crypto deals located? In the Gulf states.
A fund run by the royal family of UAE recently invested $2bn in a crypto exchange. The fund channeled the money through a new cryptocurrency known as stablecoin that tracks the US dollar.
The stablecoin was issued by a cryptocurrency company, World Liberty Financial. It is owned by the Trump family.
The front page of World Liberty Financial's website invites visitors to “meet our team, the passionate minds shaping the future of finance”. Under a beaming photograph of the 47th president are the words: “Donald J Trump, chief crypto advocate”.
“Harvard University has repeatedly failed to confront the pervasive race discrimination and anti-Semitic harassment plaguing its campus,” the statement said.
“Jewish students were subjected to pervasive insults, physical assault, and intimidation, with no meaningful response from Harvard's leadership.”
In one incident, a protester who faced criminal charges for allegedly assaulting a Jewish student on campus was granted a $65,000 fellowship by the Harvard Law Review, an influential student-run journal, the task force said, adding that the fellowship was meant to “serve the public interest.”
“The decision was reviewed and approved by a faculty committee, demonstrating just how radical Harvard has become,” it said.
“Harvard's campus, once a symbol of academic prestige, has become a breeding ground for virtue signaling and discrimination.”
By “prioritizing appeasement over accountability, institutional leaders have forfeited the school's claim to taxpayer support,” the task force said.
As such, the agencies have decided to terminate $450 million in grants.
The Epoch Times has reached out to Harvard for comment on the latest cut in grant money.
The Trump administration had proposed a series of “common sense” reforms such as ensuring merit-based admissions and hiring, ending programs promoting “crude identity stereotypes,” disciplinary reforms, cooperation with law enforcement, and reporting compliance with federal agencies such as the Education Department and the Department of Homeland Security, McMahon said.
“The Administration's priorities have not changed and today's letter marks the end of new grants for the University,” the May 5 letter said.
“Harvard will not surrender its core, legally-protected principles out of fear of unfounded retaliation by the federal government,” he said.
Garber said he refutes the claim that Harvard is a partisan institution, saying the university “is neither Republican nor Democratic” and that it is not an arm of any political party or movement.
Admission to Harvard is based on “academic excellence and promise,” he said, adding that employment at the university is “similarly based on merit and achievement.”
Garber dismissed accusations that international students may be “collectively more prone” to violence, disruption, and other misconduct compared to other students.
Furthermore, the institution has taken steps to combat anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry, Garber said.
Garber said the university has commenced initiatives to make Harvard a “more pluralistic and welcoming place” where there is greater intellectual diversity on campuses.
In her May 5 letter, McMahon said that “at its best, a university should fulfill the highest ideals of our Nation, and enlighten the thousands of hopeful students who walk through its magnificent gates. But Harvard has betrayed this ideal.”
McMahon accused Harvard of engaging in “ugly racism” in undergraduate and graduate schools, including within the Harvard Law Review itself.
In one alleged instance, the Harvard Law Review's editor reportedly said it was “concerning” that four of the five individuals who wanted to reply to an article about police reform were white men, the Education Department said. In another alleged instance, an editor suggested expediting the review of submissions from minority contributors.
The May 5 letter criticized Harvard Corporation, which manages the university's academic, financial, and physical resources. The corporation is being run by “strongly left-leaning Obama political appointee Penny Pritzker,“ the letter said, accusing her of ”running the institution in a totally chaotic way.”
“It's really an unnecessary and an unfortunate threat to our security,” one judge said.
Federal judges across several states are being delivered unsolicited pizza orders — an act of harassment and attempted intimidation, they say, from people who are unhappy with their rulings involving President Donald Trump.
The U.S. Marshals Service has been tracking such deliveries since February. Although the agency hasn't divulged details on how prevalent they are, The Washington Post reports that the deliveries may number “in the hundreds,” and have occurred in at least seven states.
The deliveries aren't just happening at judges' homes, but also at the homes of their family members, some judges revealed in interviews with the publication.
“It's unsettling because I'd like to go to work every day, even with the hardest case, just feeling like there's no sense of intimidation,” said U.S. Circuit Judge J. Michelle Childs, a Washington-based judge who received pizza deliveries shortly after taking part in a ruling against Trump over his administration's firing of a government watchdog.
Childs added:
It's really an unnecessary and an unfortunate threat to our security when we're trying to be judicial officers in a very neutral position with respect to our cases. You need a strong judiciary for the system to work. This is infringing on democracy generally.
U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, whose son Daniel was killed in 2020 by a person posing as a delivery driver, said the pizza deliveries — some under her son's name — were a clear attempt at intimidation.
“We know what that all means, right?” Salas said. “We know the first is, ‘I know where you live.' Second is, ‘We know where your children live.' And the third now is, ‘Do you want to end up like Judge Salas? Do you want to end up like Daniel?'”
A spokesperson for the White House suggested that Trump is against the intimidation tactics, saying that attacks on judges “have no place in our society.” But despite that assertion, Trump has made a series of online posts and public statements condemning judges who have ruled against him — and attacking judges' credibility, character and loyalty to the country.
Over the weekend, for example, Trump decried a supposed “radicalized and incompetent Court System” and criticized judicial orders relating to his draconian immigration policies, writing on Sunday that the rulings would make the U.S. a “CRIME RIDDEN THIRD WORLD NATION, NEVER TO SEE GREATNESS AGAIN.” (Notably, data shows that migrants living in the U.S. are less likely to commit crimes than U.S. citizens.)
On Monday, Trump continued his attacks on the judiciary, claiming that “Radical Left Judges” didn't care about protecting the country from supposed “murderers and other criminals.”
Trump has also demanded the impeachment of judges who have issued rulings against him. And his attacks extend beyond the rhetorical, as the FBI recently arrested a judge in Wisconsin, alleging that she blocked immigration agents from detaining someone outside of her courtroom earlier this year.
Critics called that action a blatant intimidation tactic against judges in general.
“Milwaukee's Judge Hannah Dugan is accused of helping an undocumented immigrant evade ICE by not turning her courtroom into a trap. This isn't justice. It's a warning shot: obey, or get cuffed,” opined podcaster Brian Allen.
“We do not have kings in this country. … By attacking the judicial system, flouting court orders and arresting a sitting judge,” Trump is “putting basic democratic values…on the line,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin).
The Trump administration is cracking down on political dissent. Under pressure from an array of McCarthy-style tactics, academics, activists and nonprofits face significant threats for speaking out or organizing in resistance.
Truthout is appealing for your support to weather this storm of censorship. We've launched a fundraising campaign to find 500 new monthly donors in the next 10 days. Will you be one?
As independent media with no corporate backing or billionaire ownership, Truthout is uniquely able to push back against the right-wing narrative and expose the shocking extent of political repression under the new McCarthyism. We're committed to doing this work, but we're also deeply vulnerable to Trump's attacks.
Your support during our fundraiser (9 days left) will help us continue our nonprofit movement journalism in the face of right-wing authoritarianism. Please make a tax-deductible donation today.
Chris Walker is a news writer at Truthout, and is based out of Madison, Wisconsin. Focusing on both national and local topics since the early 2000s, he has produced thousands of articles analyzing the issues of the day and their impact on the American people. He can be found on most social media platforms under the handle @thatchriswalker.
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“If approved, the Velvet-Wood mine project in San Juan County, Utah, would produce uranium and vanadium,” said the agency. Uranium is used as fuel in nuclear reactors and for the production of tritium, which is required for nuclear weapons, while vanadium is used in steel production and titanium aerospace alloys.
“The project will undergo an accelerated environmental review by the Bureau of Land Management, with a completion timeline of 14 days. The expedited review is expected to significantly contribute to meeting urgent energy demands and addressing key threats to national energy security,” the DOI said.
The United States is currently “dangerously reliant” on foreign imports to meet the demand for uranium and vanadium, according to the agency.
As for vanadium, almost half of domestic consumption last year was accounted for by imports, the DOI said.
A key security risk posed by the lack of domestic uranium and vanadium production is that America is dependent on its rivals.
The declaration said the current inadequate development of domestic energy sources makes the United States “vulnerable to hostile foreign actors” and poses a national security threat to the country.
“America is facing an alarming energy emergency because of the prior administration's Climate Extremist policies,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said.
“President Trump and his administration are responding with speed and strength to solve this crisis.
Approval times will be reduced to a maximum of 28 days from the months or years it used to take, the department said.
The policy is applicable to a wide range of energy sources such as oil, gas, uranium, geothermal, biofuels, and coal. Solar and wind were not listed.
“The United States cannot afford to wait,” Burgum said. “By reducing a multi-year permitting process down to just 28 days, the Department will lead with urgency, resolve, and a clear focus on strengthening the nation's energy independence.”
“These arbitrary time limits make a complete review of the risks of potentially hazardous projects impossible,” said Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club's Lands Protection Program.
“A shoddy review means the true hazards of a project may only be known when the air or water thousands of people rely on is dangerously polluted.”
“Critical minerals are essential for U.S. military readiness, as they are key components in fighter jets, satellites, submarines, smart bombs, and missile guidance systems,” it said, adding that “financing, loans, and investment support will be provided for new mineral production projects.”
On Monday evening the airport had far fewer than the 14 controllers agreed on between the union and regulators
New Jersey's Newark Liberty airport, one of three major airports serving New York City, had just three air traffic controllers on duty on Monday, which was well short of the 14 called for and forced air regulators to delay arriving flights for up to seven hours.
The air traffic controller shortfall, first reported by the New York Times, comes amid a growing number of problems for the hub. In a little more than a week, Newark has suffered three communications blackouts, rendering the control tower unable to track or communicate with planes for up to 90 seconds.
The most recent failure, on Sunday morning, came as government and airline officials have made multiple efforts to reassure airline passengers that flying into or out of the airport is safe.
But on Monday evening, during the 3pm to 10pm shift, the group that manages Newark air traffic from Philadelphia was operating with one or two fully certified controllers, the outlet reported – far fewer than the 14 controllers agreed on between the controllers union and air traffic control regulators.
The transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, on Monday said a new software update had prevented the previous day's issues from multiplying after aviation officials issued a 45-minute ground stop.
In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it “briefly slowed aircraft in and out of the airport while we ensured redundancies were working as designed.
“Operations have returned to normal.''
That came after Duffy announced plans to reduce the number of flights arriving and departing from Newark for the “next several weeks” and would meet with the airport's major carriers to discuss the issues. Flight reductions, he said, would target the hours when international flights arrive.
Duffy said he wanted to raise the mandatory retirement age for air traffic controllers from 56 to 61, to help offset a shortage of about 3,000 air traffic controllers. After the first Newark failure, on 28 April, the union representing air traffic controllers said several members were placed on trauma leave.
“While we cannot quickly replace them due to this highly specialized profession, we continue to train controllers who will eventually be assigned to this busy airspace,” the FAA said earlier in May.
The problems at Newark appear to be related to copper wiring at Philadelphia Tracon Area C, which guides aircraft in and out of Newark airspace. Tracon is an acronym for Terminal Radar Approach Control Facility.
The FAA has installed new fiber optic lines at Newark airport and New York's Kennedy and LaGuardia airports to replace copper wires. But the plan is to spend the next two weeks testing those new lines out before switching over to them.
Duffy recently laid out an extensive plan to replace the nation's outdated air traffic control system, including installing 4,600 new high-speed data connections and replacing 618 radars.
He has sought to blame the issues on the failures during the Biden administration that oversaw a move of air traffic control for the airspace control from Long Island to Philadelphia that he said was “bungled”.
A spokesperson for Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary during Joe Biden's presidency, said Duffy “needs to spend more time doing what the American people are paying him to do – fix problems – and less time blaming others.”
But the issues are creating anxiety for travelers. Hundreds of flights were delayed on Sunday at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson because of a runway equipment issue. In late January in Washington DC, an American Airlines jet from Wichita collided with a military helicopter, killing 67. The fatal crash has been blamed on the helicopter pilot's failure to heed air traffic controllers' instructions.
Despite Newark's problems, both technical and in terms of the numbers of air traffic controllers available, officials are trying to quell rising airline customer concerns.
“It's problematic, but our commitment is always safety,” Duffy said on Monday. “We're going to make sure that if you fly, you're going to fly safely. And if we reduce the number of flights at Newark, we're not doing it to annoy people. We're not doing it to delay people's travel. What we're doing is guaranteeing safety.”
Separately, Newark's mayor, Ras Baraka, told MSNBC on Sunday that the inconvenience of flight delays and cancellations was offset by an emphasis on safety.
“I would be concerned if they weren't delaying and canceling flights, given the amount of disruption that we're seeing,” Baraka said. He added he was glad that the Trump administration had “moved away” from claiming diversity initiatives were to blame for the problems and “understanding the structural problems that exist there, the fact that we need more air traffic controllers”.
“There's too many planes in our airspace, frankly,” Baraka added. “We need to put a gap between the time planes are leaving and coming in to the airport. We need to fly fewer planes until we get this thing under control. The fact that there are delays and cancellations is because they're doing this day by day.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney added fresh faces to the Liberal cabinet Tuesday with a post-election shuffle that also kept veteran ministers in key economic portfolios like finance, Canada-U.S. relations, internal trade and foreign affairs.
François-Philippe Champagne retains the Finance portfolio and takes on the additional role of Revenue Minister, a portfolio that had its own minister under former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
The three senior ministers who joined Mr. Carney on his recent trip to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House - Melanie Joly, Dominic LeBlanc and David McGuinty - also remain in cabinet, but with adjusted roles.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Governor General Mary Simon pose for a family photo with newly sworn in cabinet members.Blair Gable/Reuters
Prime Minister Mark Carney, centre, arrives for the cabinet swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
François-Philippe Champagne is sworn in as Finance Minister. Mr. Champagne retains his portfolio.Blair Gable/Reuters
Former finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland is sworn in as Minister of Transport and Internal Trade.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Joanne Thompson is sworn in as Minister of Fisheries, retaining the portfolio Mr. Carney gave her in March.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
David McGuinty is sworn-in as Minister of National Defence.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Steven MacKinnon is sworn in as Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. Mr. MacKinnon briefly held this position under Mr. Trudeau.Blair Gable/Reuters
Rechie Valdez is sworn in as Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism).Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
François-Philippe Champagne gives the thumbs up as Dominic LeBlanc, left, and Mélanie Joly look on.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Mélanie Joly is sworn in as Industry Minister. Ms. Joly was formerly the Foreign Affairs minister.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Anita Anand is sworn in as Foreign Affairs minister. MBlair Gable/Reuters
Dominic LeBlanc is sworn as President of the King's Privy Council and Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade.Blair Gable/Reuters
Sean Fraser is sworn as Justice Minister. Mr. Fraser held the role of housing minister for almost a year and a half under Mr. Trudeau.Blair Gable/Reuters
Gov. Gen. Mary Simon, left, and Prime Minister Mark Carney are shown during a cabinet swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives at Rideau Hall for the cabinet swearing-in Ottawa.Ashley Fraser/The Globe and Mail
Randeep Sarai, left to right, Patty Hajdu, Mélanie Joly and Wayne Long arrive for the swearing-in ceremony.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
From left to right: Gregor Robertson, Rebecca Alty, Tim Hodgson, and Marjorie Michel make their way to Rideau Hall for the ceremony.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives for the cabinet swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Ms. Joly moves from Foreign Affairs to Industry, Mr. LeBlanc's responsibilities shift from trade and intergovernmental affairs to President of the King's Privy Council and Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs and One Canadian Economy.
Mr. McGuinty moves from Public Safety to National Defence, replacing Bill Blair, who was dropped from cabinet.
Oakville MP Anita Anand will replace Ms. Joly as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Former Justice Minister Gary Anandasangaree moves over to Mr. McGuinty's former position as Minister of Public Safety.
High-profile rookie MP Tim Hodgson was added to cabinet with an economic portfolio. He was named Minister of Energy and Natural Resources. The Markham-Thornhill MP is a former head of Goldman Sachs's Canadian operations and a former board chair of Hydro One. He also worked as an adviser to Mr. Carney at the Bank of Canada.
The new cabinet comprises a core group of 28 ministers and 10 secretaries of state.
The latter will not manage federal departments or attend all cabinet meetings. Instead, they have been assigned specific policy priorities, such as defence procurement, seniors and combatting crime.
Mr. Carney said in a statement Tuesday that the new cabinet is built to deliver change.
“Everyone is expected and empowered to show leadership – to bring new ideas, a clear focus, and decisive action to their work,” he said.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to speak with journalists Tuesday afternoon.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is also planning to hold a news conference Tuesday.
Former Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson joins the cabinet as Minister of Housing.
Gregor Robertson, left to right, Rebecca Alty, Tim Hodgson, Marjorie Michel arrive for a cabinet swearing-in at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on May 13.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
In Quebec, new MP Mandy Gull-Masty, the former grand chief of the Grand Council of the Crees, takes on the role of Minister of Indigenous Services.
She replaces Patty Hajdu, who becomes Minister of Jobs and Families.
Ms. Gull-Masty will be assisted on the Indigenous file by another rookie MP, Rebecca Alty, who is now the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations.
Ms. Alty represents the Northwest Territories and is a former mayor of Yellowknife.
Two new cabinet job titles suggest a focus on modernizing the federal public service.
Quebec MP Joël Lightbound, first elected in 2015, joins cabinet as Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement, while former television journalist Evan Solomon joins cabinet as Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation.
Marjorie Michel, who replaced Mr. Trudeau as the Liberal candidate in the Montreal riding of Papineau, was named Health Minister. She is a former deputy chief of staff in the Prime Minister's Office.
Steven Guilbeault, who was Mr. Carney's Quebec adviser during the federal election campaign, remains as Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture. He is also responsible for official languages.
Mr. Carney filled the lack of cabinet representation from Alberta and Saskatchewan by naming new Edmonton MP Eleonor Olszewski as Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience and Minister for Prairies Economic Development Canada.
The lone Liberal MP elected in Saskatchewan, Buckley Belanger, is Secretary of State for Rural Development.
In Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia MP Sean Fraser returns to cabinet as Justice Minister after initially planning not to seek re-election. Newfoundland and Labrador MP Joanne Thompson remains as Fisheries Minister.
Some of the other former ministers who have been dropped from cabinet include Rachel Bendayan, Kody Blois, Terry Duguid, Ali Ehsassi, Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Jonathan Wilkinson, Élisabeth Brière and Nathaniel Erskine-Smith.
With a report from Ian Bailey
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Left to right is François-Philippe Champagne, Mélanie Joly and Prime Minister Mark Carney after the new Liberal cabinet was announced in Ottawa.Ashley Fraser/The Globe and Mail
Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks outside Rideau Hall after the new Liberal cabinet announced on May 13.Ashley Fraser/The Globe and Mail
Prime Minister Mark Carney looks on as he leaves a cabinet swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
François-Philippe Champagne is sworn in as Finance Minister. Mr. Champagne retains his portfolio.Blair Gable/Reuters
Former finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland is sworn in as Minister of Transport and Internal Trade.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Governor General Mary Simon pose for a family photo with newly sworn in cabinet members.Blair Gable/Reuters
Joanne Thompson is sworn in as Minister of Fisheries, retaining the portfolio Mr. Carney gave her in March.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
David McGuinty is sworn-in as Minister of National Defence.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Steven MacKinnon is sworn in as Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. Mr. MacKinnon briefly held this position under Mr. Trudeau.Blair Gable/Reuters
Rechie Valdez is sworn in as Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism).Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
François-Philippe Champagne gives the thumbs up as Dominic LeBlanc, left, and Mélanie Joly look on.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Mélanie Joly is sworn in as Industry Minister. Ms. Joly was formerly the Foreign Affairs minister.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Anita Anand is sworn in as Foreign Affairs minister. MBlair Gable/Reuters
Dominic LeBlanc is sworn as President of the King's Privy Council and Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade.Blair Gable/Reuters
Sean Fraser is sworn as Justice Minister. Mr. Fraser held the role of housing minister for almost a year and a half under Mr. Trudeau.Blair Gable/Reuters
Gov. Gen. Mary Simon, left, and Prime Minister Mark Carney are shown during a cabinet swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives at Rideau Hall for the cabinet swearing-in Ottawa.Ashley Fraser/The Globe and Mail
Randeep Sarai, left to right, Patty Hajdu, Mélanie Joly and Wayne Long arrive for the swearing-in ceremony.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
From left to right: Gregor Robertson, Rebecca Alty, Tim Hodgson, and Marjorie Michel make their way to Rideau Hall for the ceremony.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives for the cabinet swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a new cabinet Tuesday that he said will act quickly on Liberal campaign pledges to focus on the Canada-U.S. relationship and boost economic growth at home.
The new cabinet comprises a core group of 28 ministers and 10 secretaries of state. Half of the core cabinet and nine of the 10 secretaries of state are new faces.
However, Mr. Carney is keeping experienced ministers in key economic portfolios like finance, Canada-U.S. relations, internal trade and foreign affairs.
“We will advance the nation-building investments that will support the core mission of this government, which is to create the strongest economy in the G7, an economy that works for everyone,” Mr. Carney said at a news conference after the swearing in of his new cabinet at Rideau Hall.
The Prime Minister said the new government's policy priorities will be outlined in the May 27 Speech from the Throne, but he said the content will be in line with the issues the Liberals proposed during the election campaign.
François-Philippe Champagne retains the Finance file and takes on the additional role of Revenue Minister, a portfolio that had its own minister under former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Governor-General Mary Simon pose for a family photo with newly sworn-in cabinet members, at Rideau Hall on May 13.Blair Gable/Reuters
The three senior ministers who joined Mr. Carney on his recent trip to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House - Mélanie Joly, Dominic LeBlanc and David McGuinty - also remain in cabinet, but with adjusted roles.
Ms. Joly moves from Foreign Affairs to Industry, Mr. LeBlanc's responsibilities shift from trade and intergovernmental affairs to President of the King's Privy Council and Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs and One Canadian Economy.
Mr. McGuinty moves from Public Safety to National Defence, replacing Bill Blair, who was dropped from cabinet.
Oakville MP Anita Anand will replace Ms. Joly as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Former justice minister Gary Anandasangaree moves over to Mr. McGuinty's former position as Minister of Public Safety.
High-profile rookie MP Tim Hodgson was added to cabinet with an economic portfolio. He was named Minister of Energy and Natural Resources. The Markham-Thornhill MP is a former head of Goldman Sachs's Canadian operations and a former board chair of Hydro One. He also worked as an adviser to Mr. Carney at the Bank of Canada.
The secretaries of state will not manage federal departments or attend all cabinet meetings. Instead, they have been assigned specific policy priorities, such as defence procurement, seniors and combatting crime.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said his party will support the government when it proposes good ideas and will oppose bad ideas. He also criticized the size of Mr. Carney's cabinet and the fact that it includes many familiar faces.
Mark Carney's new cabinet: A look at the ministers who are in and out
“Fourteen Trudeau ministers are now in Carney's cabinet. It's more of the same,” he said.
Mr. Poilievre also said he'd like to see the Liberals “steal” Conservative policies in the new Parliament.
Former Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson joins the cabinet as Minister of Housing.
In Quebec, new MP Mandy Gull-Masty, the former grand chief of the Grand Council of the Crees, takes on the role of Minister of Indigenous Services.
She replaces Patty Hajdu, who becomes Minister of Jobs and Families.
Ms. Gull-Masty will be assisted on the Indigenous file by another rookie MP, Rebecca Alty, who is now the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations.
Ms. Alty represents the Northwest Territories and is a former mayor of Yellowknife.
Two new cabinet job titles suggest a focus on modernizing the federal public service.
Quebec MP Joël Lightbound, first elected in 2015, joins cabinet as Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement, while former television journalist Evan Solomon joins cabinet as Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation.
Marjorie Michel, who replaced Mr. Trudeau as the Liberal candidate in the Montreal riding of Papineau, was named Health Minister. She is a former deputy chief of staff in the Prime Minister's Office.
Gregor Robertson, left to right, Rebecca Alty, Tim Hodgson, Marjorie Michel arrive for a cabinet swearing-in at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on May 13.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
Steven Guilbeault, who was Mr. Carney's Quebec adviser during the federal election campaign, remains as Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture. He is also responsible for official languages.
Mr. Carney filled the lack of cabinet representation from Alberta and Saskatchewan by naming new Edmonton MP Eleonor Olszewski as Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience and Minister for Prairies Economic Development Canada.
The lone Liberal MP elected in Saskatchewan, Buckley Belanger, is Secretary of State for Rural Development.
In Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia MP Sean Fraser returns to cabinet as Justice Minister after initially planning not to seek re-election. Newfoundland and Labrador MP Joanne Thompson remains as Fisheries Minister.
Some of the other former ministers who have been dropped from cabinet include Rachel Bendayan, Kody Blois, Terry Duguid, Ali Ehsassi, Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Jonathan Wilkinson, Élisabeth Brière and Nathaniel Erskine-Smith.
Former fighter pilot Stephen Fuhr in charge of overhauling defence contracting in new cabinet
Mr. Carney also opted to keep some former ministers on the back benches, including Terry Beech, Jean-Yves Duclos, Karina Gould, Ahmed Hussen and Jenna Sudds.
The Liberals are currently two MPs short of a majority government, but not all recounts are complete.
The NDP emerged from the election with just seven seats, five short of the 12 required for official party status in the House of Commons.
Mr. Carney did not directly answer when asked if he is trying to court any NDP MPs to join the Liberals. He also responded dismissively when asked if the Liberals would support giving the NDP official party status, which comes with extra funding for staff and research.
“It's a question for Parliament,” he said in French. “I take note that Canadians made a decision. There are not many NDP MPs. Canadians decided that, not me.”
With a report from Ian Bailey
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Olympic wrestling champion Kyle Snyder was one of more than a dozen people arrested as part of a prostitution sting in Ohio.
Police in Columbus conducted an operation aimed at reducing prostitution in the city on Friday, and the 29-year-old Snyder was arrested in a hotel room for engaging in prostitution. He was released from custody at the scene.
Columbus police spokesperson Caitlyn McIntosh said officers had posted online ads last week to “solicit others to engage in sexual activity for hire”. Police said a man later identified as Snyder had replied to one of the postings and arranged to meet at a local hotel. Once there he paid money to an undercover officer and requested sexual services. Police said 15 other men were caught in the sting. Snyder is scheduled to appear in court on 19 May.
Snyder is considered one of the best wrestlers of his generation, and was a college star at Ohio State, located in Columbus. While still at college he won an Olympic gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics. In college, he won three straight NCAA heavyweight titles between 2016 and 2018, and was later inducted into Ohio State's athletics hall of fame. He also won an Olympic silver at the Tokyo Games in 2021 along with three world championship titles.
In 2018, Donald Trump appointed Snyder to the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. This month Snyder signed up to Hulk Hogan's Real American Freestyle wrestling league, which is due to start in August.
Snyder, Ohio State and the Real American Freestyle wrestling league have yet to comment publicly on his arrest.
BELGRADE, May 13. /TASS/. Serbian leader Aleksandar Vucic has rejected European Council President Antonio Costa's call to condemn Russia, citing a duty to do the right thing for his country, not the EC.
"I am not obliged to obey anyone. My duty is to serve the people of Serbia. This is what I will always do. I always speak my mind. I announced plans to visit Moscow, and I never lied. Naturally, we celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Victory over Nazism. We also discussed the gas contract. Serbia continues to pursue a European path but sometimes, its president can rebel. However, even amid this rebelliousness, I have never put Serbia's European path into question," the Serbian leader pointed out following a meeting with Costa.
During the meeting, the European Council chief urged Belgrade to work together with the European Union "to overcome its history" and fully back the EU's foreign policy, condemning Russia and supporting Ukraine, as well as normalizing relations with Kosovo, steps which he said were necessary for Serbia's ongoing EU accession process.
Earlier, Russian Ambassador to Belgrade Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko stated that the European Union's threats against Belgrade over Vucic's visit to Moscow to attend the Victory Day parade were an affront to the country's sovereignty. The Serbian leader, in turn, has repeatedly stressed that his visit to Moscow and talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin would in no way harm Belgrade, while as for himself, he was ready to take any "punishment" from the European Union. Vucic also noted that he knew EU officials would not be happy with him but that he was determined to stand up for himself and answer any potential grievances.
BEIJING, May 13. /TASS/. The proposals of Brazil and China on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict will lay the foundation for a comprehensive dialogue between the parties and the restoration of peace in Europe, Brazil's head of state Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said at a joint press address following his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
"The common agreements between Brazil and China, aimed at a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine, provide the basis for a comprehensive dialogue that will bring peace back to Europe," the Brazilian leader stated.
Lula da Silva reiterated his call for a reform of the United Nations, emphasizing that the current format of the UN Security Council does not allow it to address the planet's major challenges. "The Security Council must reflect the diversity that has emerged in today's realities," he emphasized.
On May 12, CNN Brasil quoted the Brazilian president's foreign policy advisor, Celso Amorim, as saying that Lula da Silva offered to mediate talks on Ukraine with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on May 9. Amorim added that the position of the Brazilian government was close to that of the administration of US President Donald Trump, which is to facilitate the earliest possible start of the negotiation process.
THE HAGUE, May 13. /TASS/. Europe's anti-Russian stance continues to be the key obstacle to peace in Ukraine, as it is unwilling to accept certain geopolitical realities, independent Dutch journalist Joost Niemoller told TASS.
"The Western world simply does not recognize the importance of the Russian sphere [of influence]. As for Ukraine, it is literally a frontier of the Russian and Slavic world. It will remain a source of new wars until Western Europe understands where its influence ends," he pointed out. Against this backdrop, Niemoller argues, Russian President Vladimir Putin's initiative to resume direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul is unlikely to receive genuine support from Kiev's European allies.
However, Niemoller believes that the path to resolving the conflict lies through cooperation between major world powers, including the United States. In his view, the conflict in Ukraine is part of a broader shift toward "a new world order." "I think [US President Donald] Trump knows what the new multipolar world will be like," the journalist stressed. He further emphasized that the US, Russia, China and India would play key roles in the peace process, as well as in the development of global multipolarity.
Speaking to reporters in the Kremlin in the early hours of May 11, Putin urged Kiev to resume direct talks suspended in 2022, without preconditions. The plan is to start dialogue in Istanbul on May 15. Putin also recalled that Russia had declared multiple ceasefires that Kiev consistently broke, including a recent truce during the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic War.
Russian President Vladimir Putin outside Moscow, Russia, on March 14, 2025. (Aleksey Babushkin / Pool / AFP via Getty Images)
With just two days to go before Russian-proposed peace talks might begin in Istanbul, the Kremlin is still refusing to confirm whether or not President Vladimir Putin will attend the event.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has already said he will meet Putin there, a move that puts the ball very much into the Kremlin's court.
Upping the pressure further, U.S. President Donald Trump said on May 12 that he believes that "both leaders" will be there, thrusting Putin into a delicate diplomatic dilemma — how to avoid caving into Zelensky's proposal without upsetting Trump.
"We're quite hesitant about whether or not Putin will arrive in Turkey," Yelyzaveta Yasko, a lawmaker from Zelensky's Servant of the People party, told the Kyiv Independent.
"I wonder if he would send someone else or make up an excuse not to be there — it's very hard to say at this point what will happen."
Russia has consistently demonstrated it has no interest in a full, 30-day ceasefire and has repeatedly refused to agree to U.S., European, and Ukrainian proposals to implement one.
Instead, it has unilaterally announced short-term ceasefires that Ukraine says have all been violated by Moscow.
Putin's proposal to hold direct talks with Ukraine in Turkey came after the latest push for a full, 30-day ceasefire, backed by Ukraine, Europe, and the U.S.
The Kremlin has not responded well, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying that "ultimatum language" in talks with Russia is "unacceptable."
"It's not appropriate. You cannot talk to Russia in this language," Peskov told a pool of Russian journalists on May 12.
The consensus among experts and Ukrainian lawmakers who spoke with the Kyiv Independent is that Russia's counterproposal for talks in Istanbul, and its faux outrage, are simply delaying tactics to avoid doing the one thing Putin doesn't want to do — stop the war and give up his maximalist demands.
"It's an attempt to damage Ukraine's reputation as a responsible international partner and paint us as unwilling to negotiate."
"In my view, Russia's proposal to hold talks in Turkey serves two main objectives," Halyna Yanchenko, a lawmaker from the Servant of the People party, told the Kyiv Independent.
"First, it's an attempt to damage Ukraine's reputation as a responsible international partner and paint us as unwilling to negotiate — Moscow clearly hoped we would reject the offer outright.
"Second, it's a push to revive the so-called 'Istanbul agreements' from 2022 which effectively demanded Ukraine's capitulation. What Russia is trying to do now is normalize those old ultimatums and use them as a starting point for new talks."
Moscow and Kyiv held unsuccessful talks in Belarus and Turkey in the early months of the full-scale war, with no direct negotiations having taken place ever since.
Leaked copies of Russia's demands at this time show Moscow was demanding Ukraine reduce its army to 50,000 people, five times less than the country had before the all-out war, as well as reduce the number of ships, helicopters, and tanks.
Russia also planned to ban Ukraine from developing "any other types of weapons as a result of scientific research, and not to produce, acquire or deploy in Ukraine missile weapons "of any type with a range of more than 250 km."
As well as leaving Ukraine defenseless, Russia now insists that, as a condition for peace negotiations, Ukrainian troops must leave the country's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, recognize Russia's annexation of the regions, and abandon any ambition to join NATO.
What Russia didn't appear to anticipate was Zelensky immediately agreeing to talks and insisting that Putin meet him there.
Ukraine has made very clear that Zelensky will be in Istanbul on May 15, and that he will only talk to Putin, with presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak explaining that talks with lower-level representatives would be pointless.
"Only Putin can make a decision to continue the war or stop the war," Podolyak said on May 15.
The Kremlin has yet to say whether or not Putin will attend in person, and to do so would not be in the Russian president's interests.
Putin does not see himself as Zelensky's equal, and has repeatedly mocked him and called him "illegitimate," so to appear on the same level on the global stage would risk him, in Russian eyes, as gifting Zelensky with the legitimacy he has tried so hard to deny.
"I don't think there's a cat in hell's chance of him turning up," former U.K. Defense Attache in Moscow, John Foreman, told the Kyiv Independent.
"He doesn't regard Zelensky as legitimate, and any talks would be technical. He'll send a functionary," he added.
This view is shared by Jenny Mathers, a Russian political expert and lecturer at the U.K.'s Aberystwyth University, who told the Kyiv Independent that Putin is "very good at finding excuses" and will likely try to engineer one that allows him to save face whilst also keeping Trump on side.
"It seems unlikely that he would grant Zelensky the status of meeting him personally, president to president, after years of claiming that the post-EuroMaidan political order is illegitimate and indeed full of Nazis," she said.
"He could easily engineer another pressing engagement, or give no excuse at all but send a negotiating team," she added.
One possible excuse on hand is a decree approved by Zelensky in the fall of 2022, that "stated the impossibility of holding negotiations with Russian President Putin," as a response to Russia's illegal annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts, parts of which it didn't even control.
"Putin is not ready to stop the military campaign already planned for this summer and autumn."
Moscow has previously cited Zelensky's decree as a ban on talks with Putin and used it as an excuse for avoiding direct talks with Kyiv.
But according to a source in the President's Office, the decree was a "a signal to those in Ukraine who wanted to speak (to Russians) bypassing the central government."
They added that it had been "twisted" by the Kremlin and it was in fact solely up to Zelensky to determine if he could speak directly with Putin.
Among Ukrainian lawmakers who spoke to the Kyiv Independent, it's clear that Putin is simply stalling for time in order to prolong the war.
"Putin is not ready to stop the military campaign already planned for this summer and autumn," Volodymyr Ariev, Ukrainian lawmaker from the opposition European Solidarity party, said.
"He will not change his mind," he added.
As Russia continues to reject a full ceasefire, there are plenty of signs that its military and offensive operations are still in full swing.
Even as the U.S.-led peace talks have been in progress since February, Russia has been amassing troops across the border from Ukraine's Sumy Oblast, Zelensky has said.
And on the front lines in the east, Russia this week reportedly bolstered troops trying to take the city of Chasiv Yar with the elite FSB Presidential Regiment.
Meanwhile, devastating missile and drone attacks against Ukrainian civilians have only escalated during Trump's term in office, and there is no indication they will relent.
Over the weekend, after a warning from the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv of a "significant attack in the coming days, it was reported that Russia could be closing the airspace over the site from which it launches its Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile.
Russia regularly uses close, and short-range ballistic missiles in aerial attacks against Ukraine, but intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) are far larger, can be equipped with nuclear payloads, and are designed to hit targets at far longer ranges.
"Putin does not want any peace talks, because his goal is to seize Ukraine," Ariev said.
News Operations Editor
Chris York is news operations editor at the Kyiv Independent. Before joining the team, he was head of news at the Kyiv Post. Previously, back in Britain, he spent nearly a decade working for HuffPost UK. He holds an MA in Conflict, Development, and Security from the University of Leeds.
The Trump administration on May 12 welcomed dozens of white South Africans it has granted refugee status in the U.S. for being deemed victims of racial discrimination, a move that has drawn criticism from Democrats and stirred confusion in South Africa.
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MOSCOW, May 13. /TASS/. The silence of the German government following the release of the video showing German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer traveling on a train is indicative, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on the Solovyov Live TV channel.
"The most indicative in this situation, of course, is the silence of Berlin, which apparently decided to take no risks and just hide in a tank or in a bunker, as they like to do," the diplomat said.
Zakharova added that the Elysee Palace immediately labeled the news as fake, but did not ask the Kiev regime to stop spreading false information.
Earlier, a video surfaced in the media featuring the French president, German chancellor, and British prime minister aboard a train en route to Kiev. In the footage, the French leader, upon realizing that journalists had begun filming the meeting, hastily removed a small white roll from the table. The Elysee Palace later stated that the item Macron quickly took away was not drugs, but a handkerchief.
A dangerous round of early season extreme heat is on tap for parts of Texas this week in a prelude to what's expected to be an abnormally hot summer across much of the United States.
Long-standing records could fall across central and southwest Texas, including in Austin and San Antonio, as temperatures reach highs that would be unusual for mid-summer, let alone early-to-mid May.
More than 6 million people in Texas are under heat advisories from the National Weather Service Tuesday and Wednesday, with one forecast office calling this early-season heat wave “potentially historic.”
Millions of people in central Texas, including the Austin metro area, will be in the National Weather Service's “major” heat risk Wednesday. Such heat “affects anyone without effective cooling and/or adequate hydration,” the agency warns.
Parts of southern Texas, near the Mexico border, are forecast to be at risk of “extreme” heat—an unusually early appearance in the year for the highest risk level.
San Antonio and parts of the greater Houston area are at risk of “major” heat Thursday.
Where Americans are at the most risk for extreme heat this year
The heat is likely to pose a serious health threat simply because it's the first heat wave of the season, and an early one, coming before people have become accustomed to high temperatures.
“The risk for heat related illness is higher than normal,” the Austin-San Antonio forecast office cautioned, particularly for vulnerable groups including the elderly and young children.
The unseasonably high temperatures could also stress Texas' power grid with record or near-record demand. Texas, with its independent grid, is no stranger to extreme weather-related electricity problems, whether by heat waves or cold snaps. However, the state has added large amounts of solar power and battery storage since its winter power crisis in 2021.
Human-caused climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of extreme heat events in the US and around the globe.
And it's supercharging Texas heat: Climate change has made San Antonio's forecast high temperature on Wednesday about five times more likely than it would have been without fossil fuel pollution, according to the nonprofit research group Climate Central.
Texas needs money to keep the lights on during extreme weather. It's funding more fossil fuel instead
Before 2022, San Antonio had only seen two heat waves during which there were three straight days with highs of 105 degrees or hotter – this week could potentially bring the sixth such stretch in the last three years if temperatures climb just 1 to 2 degrees higher than currently forecast.
Heat is by far the deadliest form of severe weather in the US, killing on average twice as many people a year as tornadoes and hurricanes combined.
While summer heat elbows its way into spring, the actual summer months are shaping up to be warmer than normal for the entire US.
The latest forecast from the Climate Prediction Center paints a very toasty picture from June through August: Above average temperatures are likely over the Lower 48, Alaska and Hawaii this summer.
A sizzling summer is most likely in the West and parts of the South and Northeast — an outlook strikingly similar to last summer's predictions. Last summer was the second-warmest on record for the West and the warmest on record for the Southwest. The Northeast had its fourth-warmest summer.
The summer outlook also includes a concerning precipitation trend for a large portion of the US that goes hand-in-hand with prolonged heat: Drier than normal conditions are expected for portions of the West, Midwest and much of the Plains.
Dryness and heat are cyclical. The hotter an area becomes, the more it dries out, which could be a recipe for new or worsening drought. A dry area will then get even hotter as most of the sun's energy goes into heating the ground, with little energy lost to evaporation of wet soil.
It's the opposite story for the East and Southeast, where wetter than normal conditions are likely — a projection that could be due in part to forecasts for an active hurricane season. Combine that with the anticipated heat, and it could be a humid summer for these areas.
CNN Meteorologist Brandon Miller contributed to this report.
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By Yasuhiro Kobayashi and Azusa Nakanishi / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent
16:17 JST, May 13, 2025
The Dow Jones Industrial Average of the New York Stock Exchange surged 1,160 points Monday, recovering to the level just before U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that tariffs would be imposed.
An optimistic view that U.S.-China trade friction would ease clearly pushed stocks up. Washington and Beijing reached a deal in Geneva on Monday for a 90-day pause and for reciprocal tariffs to be reduced by 115 percentage points.
On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 42,410.10 points, up 1,160.72 points from Friday's finish. A joint statement on the U.S.-China meeting on tariff measures was well received, easing concerns about a slowdown in the U.S. economy. The index recovered to the level of the closing price on April 2 at 42,225.32 points, just before the U.S. government's announcement of reciprocal tariffs on imports.
Shares in major U.S. online retailer Amazon.com Inc., which handles many imports from China, rose 8%. Apple Inc. also increased 6%. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 18,708.34, up 779.42 points.
Major European stock markets also closed higher on Monday. Germany's DAX rose 0.29% from Friday's close, setting a new record closing high. In Paris, the CAC 40 increased 1.37%, while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.59%. The markets saw buy orders swell for firms related to semiconductor, logistics and luxury brands that are expected to benefit from tariff reductions.
In the Tokyo market, buy orders increased from Tuesday morning. The Nikkei average of 225 selected stocks listed on the Prime section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose more than 800 points at one point, recovering to the 38,000 level for the first time in about a month and a half during trading hours. The Nikkei 225 closed up 539 points at 38,183.26.
The yen weakened temporarily to the 148 level against the dollar on the Tokyo foreign exchange market, leading to notable gains in automobile and other export-related stocks.
Market observers generally felt that U.S.-China tariff talks had made progress beyond their expectations. However, an analyst at a major securities firm said there was a sense of overheating in stock markets, stressing the importance of continually monitoring how U.S.-China negotiations develop.
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The move follows Ukraine's ratification of the minerals agreement, deepening U.S.-Ukraine economic ties and signaling expanded U.S. involvement in Ukraine's long-term recovery.
"Ukraine has initiated a coordinated campaign to vilify Hungary in order to undermine our initiative to hold a poll on (Kyiv's) EU membership," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
"Our people are going to be going there," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that further concessions from Ukraine during negotiations would be unreasonable if Russia continues to attack civilian targets.
U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, will travel to Istanbul for possible peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, Reuters reported on May 13, citing three undisclosed sources.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, but said both leaders are ready to fly to Istanbul if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to attend the talks there.
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, a major industrial and logistical hub, remains untouched by ground incursions but is under growing threat.
Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak said Ukraine is "ready to discuss anything," but "only if a ceasefire is achieved."
A captive named Umit allegedly agreed to serve in the Russian army in exchange for Russian citizenship and a monetary reward of 2 million rubles ($25,000).
Russia's Buryatia Republic declared a state of emergency on May 13 over massive forest fires that have engulfed multiple regions in the Russian Far East.
U.S. President Donald Trump "issued an ultimatum" to Moscow and Kyiv to make progress in peace negotiations, otherwise the U.S. will abandon the process, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said in an interview with Breitbart News published on May 12.
"The president has issued an ultimatum to both sides that without those direct talks and if they don't occur quickly, then he believes the United States ought to step back from this conflict whatever that means and just not be involved," Witkoff said in an interview recorded on May 8, before discussions about possible high-level talks in Turkey on May 15.
Witkoff has been a key figure in Trump's efforts to broker a peace between Moscow and Kyiv, personally meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as Ukrainian and European officials.
The real estate investor-turned-negotiator has faced criticism over his poor negotiation record, tendency to adopt Russian talking points on Ukraine, and reported reliance on Kremlin translators during talks with Putin.
Witkoff told Breitbart News last week that a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin is "entirely possible."
Zelensky has proposed meeting Putin in Istanbul on May 15, which would mark their first meeting during the full-scale war, and urged an unconditional ceasefire starting on May 12. Moscow has ignored the proposals for a truce and a meeting of the two leaders but backed starting direct talks this week.
According to Witkoff, the key topics in peace talks are the fate of the five partially or fully occupied Ukrainian regions, the status of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and Ukraine's access to the Dnipro River and the Black Sea.
Russia currently occupies roughly 20% of Ukraine's territory, including the entire Crimean peninsula, almost the entire Luhansk Oblast, and large parts of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts.
The Kremlin has illegally declared these territories as part of the Russian Federation and insisted on Ukraine's full withdrawal from these areas to achieve a peace deal.
"Russia has control — overwhelming control — of two of those regions. The Ukrainians have some degree of control over three other regions, so it's about how we're going to assess — there's a difference between where the battle line are, where the troops are, and the administrative lines," Witkoff said.
"The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is a big part of this discussion because it's a little bit of a crown jewel and it's been closed, but we need to reopen that because it delivers a lot of electricity into some of the cities (like) Kyiv."
The U.S. has reportedly proposed taking control of the Zaporizhzhia power plant while ensuring it provides electricity to both Ukraine and Russia. Washington's peace proposals have also reportedly included the U.S. formally recognizing Russian annexation of Crimea, a step resolutely rejected by Ukraine and its European allies.
During the interview, Witkoff also defended his criticized meetings with Putin, saying: "There is no deal without President Putin's sign off. He is the leader of the Russian Federation, so the notion of not talking to President Putin is somehow something people are against, I don't understand that logic."
Senior News Editor
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
SAN FRANCISCO—Three years after a California teenager died by suicide, four men in West Africa have been arrested on suspicion of participating in “international sextortion scheme,” according to federal investigators.
The 2022 death of Ryan Last, a 17-year-old high school senior, prompted a lengthy international investigation, according to a statement Friday from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Last had corresponded online with someone on a Meta social media platform he believed to be a young woman who sent him explicit photos. The teen reciprocated with similar photos of himself and was immediately hit with a blackmail demand. Terrified the photos would be exposed, Last died by suicide, the statement said.
In April, the blackmailer was arrested in Cote d'Ivoire, officials said. At the time of his arrest, the suspect “still had the sextortion messages he sent to the 17-year-old victim in February 2022 on his phone,” the DOJ said. The teen, from San Jose, had paid him $150. The city is around 42 miles southeast of downtown San Francisco.
Three other men in Cote d'Ivoire were arrested on money laundering charges. The DOJ said the men targeted “thousands of victims” in the U.S., Canada and Europe.
Because Cote d'Ivoire does not extradite citizens, the four men will face cybercrime charges in their own country, officials said. A fifth man arrested in Los Angeles in Dec. 2022 was convicted of extortion and was sentenced to 1 1/2 years in jail.
In the U.S., the case was investigated by the FBI, the San Jose Police Department and the tech company Meta, which the DOJ credited for providing critical information to help identify the suspects.
In a similar case, two brothers from Nigeria were sentenced in 2024 to 17 1/2 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to sexually extorting teenage boys and young men across the U.S., including a 17-year-old from Michigan who took his own life.
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Ian Bremmer
In February 2022, as Russian forces advanced on Kyiv, Ukraine's government faced a critical vulnerability: with its Internet and communication networks under attack, its troops and leaders would soon be in the dark. Elon Musk—the de facto head of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), xAI, the Boring Company, and Neuralink—stepped in. Within days, SpaceX had deployed thousands of Starlink terminals to Ukraine and activated satellite Internet service at no cost. Having kept the country online, Musk was hailed as a hero.
But the centibillionaire's personal intervention—and Kyiv's reliance on it—came with risks. Months later, Ukraine asked SpaceX to extend Starlink's coverage to Russian-occupied Crimea, to enable a submarine drone strike that Kyiv wanted to carry out against Russian naval assets. Musk refused—worried, he said, that this would cause a major escalation in the war. Even the Pentagon's entreaties on behalf of Ukraine failed to convince him. An unelected, unaccountable private citizen had unilaterally thwarted a military operation in an active war zone while exposing the fact that governments had remarkably little control over crucial decisions affecting their citizens and national security.
This was “technopolarity” in action: a technology leader not only driving stock market returns but also controlling aspects of civil society, politics, and international affairs that have been traditionally the exclusive preserve of nation-states. Over the past decade, the rise of such individuals and the firms they control has transformed the global order, which had been defined by states since the Peace of Westphalia enshrined them as the building blocks of geopolitics nearly 400 years ago. For most of this time, the structure of that order could be described as unipolar, bipolar, or multipolar, depending on how power was distributed among countries. The world, however, has since entered a “technopolar moment,” a term I used in Foreign Affairs in 2021 to describe an emerging order in which “a handful of large technology companies rival [states] for geopolitical influence.” Major tech firms have become powerful geopolitical actors, exercising a form of sovereignty over digital space and, increasingly, the physical world that potentially rivals that of states.
In 2021, the power of those companies seemed poised to grow, and over the last three years, it has. I argued that governments would not go down without a fight, and in the time since, their struggle for control over digital space has intensified. But the balance of power between technology firms and states has shifted in some surprising ways. What is emerging as a result of this contest is not quite any of the scenarios I originally envisioned—neither a globalized digital order, in which tech companies wrested control of digital space from the state, nor a U.S.-Chinese tech cold war, in which governments reasserted authority over the digital realm, nor a fully technopolar world, in which Westphalian state dominance gave way to a new order led by tech firms.
Instead of a clean triumph of states over firms or vice versa, the future is taking on a more hybrid form—a bifurcated system pitting a technopolar United States, where private tech actors increasingly shape national policy, against a statist China, where the government has asserted total control over its digital space. Most of the rest of the world is under pressure to reluctantly align with one pole or the other, but with both models offering little in the way of democratic accountability and individual freedom, the choice is less stark than it may seem. As tech power and state power fuse everywhere, the question is no longer whether tech companies will rival states for geopolitical influence; it is whether open societies can survive the challenge.
In late 2021, the tech industry was riding high. Companies that controlled major technology platforms were at the zenith of their power. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg promised to create a fully immersive parallel “metaverse” free from real-world and government constraints, and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum were starting to go mainstream, promising a viable decentralized alternative to governments' authority over financial and payment systems. The COVID-19 pandemic had forced people to spend more time online than ever before, cementing tech's influence as digital platforms became essential for work, education, entertainment, and interpersonal connection.
This period accelerated the adoption of digital tools and made tech companies even more central to private, social, economic, and civic life. As the world grew ever more dependent on digital connectivity, decisions made in corporate boardrooms—about what products to launch, how algorithms worked, and what rules and regulations to enforce—determined much of what billions of people saw and heard, shaped their opportunities, and even rewired their thought patterns.
But Big Tech companies didn't just become more autonomous masters of their virtual walled gardens. They also expanded their influence in the physical realm, with their products and services becoming critical infrastructure. Data centers, cloud computing systems, satellite networks, semiconductors, and cybersecurity tools increasingly underpinned the operation of national economies, militaries, and governments.
This shift was on full display in the early days of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. If American companies such as SpaceX, Microsoft, and Palantir hadn't chosen to leap to Ukraine's defense—enabling communication, repelling cyberattacks, analyzing intelligence, and powering drones—Russia could have knocked the country offline, decapitated its command structure, and seized the capital. Ukraine might have lost the war within days.
But it wasn't long before governments realized that what technologists giveth, they can as easily taketh away. The Starlink-Crimea episode—and the pandemic-era supply shortages before it—exposed the fragility created by reliance on a few dominant companies for key services and supplies. A single point of failure, or a single CEO's decision, could have catastrophic consequences.
Faced with these risks, states struck back. In 2022, a wave of legislation and regulatory action targeted Big Tech on issues such as market power, content moderation, user protection, and data privacy. The EU passed the landmark Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, some of the most ambitious efforts to constrain tech power anywhere. The United States advanced high-profile antitrust cases, congressional oversight efforts, and state-level privacy rules. India, South Africa, and others followed suit, while the EU, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and others took more aggressive enforcement action against big platforms. But these rearguard actions did little to dent Big Tech's control of the digital space, where they—not governments—continued to act as the primary architects, actors, and enforcers.
Big Tech's power deepened further in late 2022 with the debut of large language models and the subsequent explosion of artificial intelligence—a breakthrough technology that has entrenched the tech industry's lead over nation-states. The development and deployment of advanced AI systems demands immense computational power, vast data troves, and specialized engineering talent—resources concentrated in a handful of firms. These entities alone determine and understand (most of) what their models can do, and how, where, and by whom they are used. Even if regulators could design adequate governance regimes to contain the technology as it currently exists, AI's exponential pace of advancement would quickly render them obsolete.
As AI becomes more powerful and more central to economic, military, and geopolitical competition, the tech firms that control it will grow even more geopolitically influential.
But as tech companies expanded their influence, traditional geopolitics came roaring back. Rising protectionism fueled by a populist backlash to globalization, a post-pandemic push for economic security reinforced by the shock of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and, above all, intensifying U.S.-Chinese strategic rivalry converged to shatter the illusion of a global tech ecosystem.
In Washington, an effort to limit China's technological development began with targeted export and investment controls on a narrow set of strategically sensitive advanced technologies—a “small yard, high fence” approach, as the Biden administration framed it. But the campaign soon widened into an ever-expanding domain of restrictions on a vast array of goods that could be considered dual-use. Even mundane data became a national security concern, as did the apps and devices that generate it. Everything from social media to electric vehicles to fitness trackers was pulled into the vortex of “de-risking,” as U.S. policymakers scrambled to limit China's access to anything that could give Beijing an edge in technological competition. Economic and security interests became indistinguishable, and technological fragmentation—if not outright decoupling from China—became the norm.
Meanwhile, industrial policy made a comeback as Western governments poured billions into subsidy programs to build strategic capabilities at home. Those carrots, however, came with sticks: build at home and leave China, or miss out on U.S. government largess. As Washington imposed limits on semiconductors and AI tools and Beijing tightened control over its critical minerals, supply chains balkanized and cross-border data flows slowed.
This unraveling of digital and physical globalization has since undermined the globalist business model adopted by firms such as Apple and Tesla, which relied on open markets and integrated supply chains to maximize their global profits. Even before Trump's return to office, many of these firms had begun “friend shoring” some of their operations, shifting them from China to countries such as India, Mexico, and Vietnam to hedge against rising geopolitical risk. Last month, however, Trump announced massive tariffs that would hit allies and adversaries alike. The move signaled Washington's retreat from globalization and dealt a blow to the globalist paradigm. By contrast, so-called national champions, such as Microsoft and Palantir, now find themselves in a new golden hour, able to leverage their long-standing alignment with the U.S. government to thrive in a fractured, post-globalization environment.
Washington's statist turn has been more surprising but far less complete than Beijing's. Since 2020, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cracked down on the Alibaba CEO Jack Ma, whom officials believed had grown too powerful and independent, Beijing has reasserted total control over its tech sector. Today, even China's largest tech firms—regardless of their formal ownership structure—serve at the pleasure of President Xi Jinping, and the question of who controls China's digital future has been decisively answered: the state.
In the West, the answer to that question is still up for grabs. Complicating matters is the fact that it is not only control of digital space that is unsettled; it is control of the state itself.
A subset of Silicon Valley visionaries such as Musk, Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, and Marc Andreessen once saw technology not just as a business opportunity but as a revolutionary force—one capable of liberating society from the limits of government and ultimately rendering the state obsolete. These “techno-utopians,” as I defined them in 2021, were skeptical of politics and “look[ed] to a future in which the nation-state paradigm that has dominated geopolitics since the seventeenth century has been replaced by something different altogether.”
But in recent years, some of these figures have taken a techno-authoritarian turn. No longer content to transcend the state, they now seek to capture it—repurposing public power to advance private ambitions. Part of this shift has been self-interested, driven by a desire to secure favorable regulations, tax breaks, and public contracts, as the wealthy and special interests in America often try to do. But it also reflects the rising stakes and changing balance of technological power in a geopolitically contested era.
Unlike earlier digital platforms, which blossomed under minimal government intervention, most of today's frontier technologies—such as aerospace, AI, biotech, energy, and quantum computing—actively require implicit or explicit state backing to scale up. As these domains grew central to U.S.-Chinese competition and national security engulfed more of the digital realm itself, alignment with Washington evolved from a nuisance into a strategic necessity, making the techno-utopian vision less viable—and the national champion model more attractive. The incentives for state capture soared along with the spoils of it.
Yet for some, the choice of state capture wasn't only pragmatic—it was also ideological. Several prominent tech figures, most notably Musk and Thiel, have embraced an antidemocratic worldview. They see American governance (and republican governance more generally) as irreparably broken, and its pluralism, checks and balances, and professional civil service as bugs, not features. These figures want the U.S. government to be run like a startup, with an unelected “national CEO” wielding concentrated power in the name of technological progress. In their view, control of the state—and the future—should shift to self-anointed techno-elites who are fit to lead the country through an era of exponential change. Thiel declared as early as 2009 that he no longer believed “freedom and democracy are compatible.” In 2023, Musk called for a “modern day Sulla,” referring to the Roman dictator whose reign was credited with the collapse of the republic.
Although he may have been joking at the time, Musk has in fact spent the past four months attempting to seize the reins of the U.S. government. But this is not a hostile takeover, as some have characterized it. It's a leveraged buyout. Musk alone spent nearly $300 million to help elect Trump and a Republican Congress in 2024—not including the cost of remaking X into a pro-Trump social media platform. In return, the most transactional president in American history rewarded the world's richest man with unparalleled influence over the mightiest state on earth.
Trump was already predisposed toward crony capitalism. But in his second term, tech moguls haven't just been empowered to shape policy—they have been invited to hire (or fire) their own regulators and write (or erase) their own rules. Since he was put in charge of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and granted “root access” to federal government systems, Musk has purged tens of thousands of civil servants, installed loyalists across dozens of agencies, slashed congressionally appropriated funding, and acquired terabytes of confidential data belonging to millions of Americans.
He and many of his techno-authoritarian allies embedded throughout government have retained their private-sector roles despite conflicts of interest. These technologists now hold sway over federal personnel and policy—shaping rulemaking, regulatory enforcement, procurement, taxation, and subsidies, affecting not only their own firms but their rivals' firms, as well. A recent Senate report estimated Musk's financial gains from this arrangement at $2.37 billion, excluding the potential value of public contracts and competitive advantages that his newfound access could unlock.
Already, there are reports that DOGE is collecting and consolidating troves of sensitive government data—tax filings, immigration databases, Social Security records, health information, and more—with the purported aim of uncovering “waste, fraud, and abuse” in federal spending to enhance government efficiency, especially when combined with AI tools. But with no legal firewall between Musk's public role and private interests, there is no way to know whether he has already begun feeding this data into his company xAI's proprietary AI models—and, if he has, whether the outputs will serve the public good or his own. This master dataset could generate significant productivity gains for the U.S. economy, which other countries would soon try to adopt themselves. It could also give him a decisive edge in the race to build superintelligent AI systems that no rival could match, enable new forms of consumer profiling and behavioral targeting, and tighten his grip on markets and platforms.
The implications go beyond self-enrichment. Once in place, the same algorithmic infrastructure that delivers economic advantage could be weaponized for political control. Whistleblowers allege that DOGE is using AI to flag anti-Musk and anti-Trump sentiment among civil servants, and IRS officials have resigned over the Trump administration's plans to mine tax data to track immigrants. The danger isn't exactly an American version of China's CCP-run surveillance regime, which exists primarily to secure the party's hold on power. What Musk might produce is something more diffuse: an algorithmically powered, decentralized surveillance network leveraging captured state power but infused with market incentives, built to advance the commercial and political interests of select technology owners.
To be clear, Big Tech's grip on Washington may not be permanent. Musk has claimed that DOGE is a time-limited initiative, and he has already signaled plans to step back from government amid plummeting public popularity and rising consumer backlash against his companies. Prominent figures in the populist wing of Trump's coalition, such as Steve Bannon, have also denounced Musk and his peers as “technofeudal” globalists bent on turning Americans into “digital serfs.” The tech right's alliance with Trump was always transactional, not ideological. The administration's policies thus far—on trade, immigration, and science funding—have often run counter to the accelerationist ethos that these technologists espouse. The partnership may yet fray.
But for now, the capture is real, inverting the logic of the national champion model: where the state once directed technology firms to serve the public interest, policy is increasingly subordinated to the private objectives of technologists. Even if this doesn't last, the damage will. In just a few months, DOGE has so hollowed out U.S. state capacity that after it is gone, private technology firms may become essential to help fill the void.
In 2021, I posited three possible paths for our digital future: “Will we live in a world where the Internet is increasingly fragmented and technology companies serve the interests and goals of the states in which they reside, or will Big Tech decisively wrest control of digital space from governments, freeing itself from national boundaries and emerging as a truly global force? Or could the era of state dominance finally come to an end, supplanted by a techno-elite that assumes responsibility for offering the public goods once provided by governments?”
Today, the digital realm seems to be heading toward a more hybrid future—a world bifurcated into two digital spheres of influence. One pole is formed by an unmistakably more technopolar United States, where a handful of tech firms and leaders wield digital dominance, control critical infrastructure, and exert direct influence over U.S. foreign and domestic policy. These companies and the individuals who run them can manipulate the global information environment, destabilize foreign governments, and shape geopolitical outcomes. What makes this influence more potent now is that these actors boast the implicit (and sometimes explicit) backing of the American state. Foreign governments are increasingly reluctant to crack down on U.S. tech firms—not just because of their digital leverage and economic clout but also because doing so could provoke official backlash from Washington. In effect, politically endorsed components of Big Tech enjoy geopolitical impunity: shielded by the state but not accountable to it. This fusion of public and private power should allow U.S. firms to push countries to adopt their products, platforms, and standards.
The opposing pole is anchored by China and its state-capitalist model, where technology champions remain fully subordinated to the CCP. Although Beijing's statist approach may sacrifice some long-term innovation potential and economic dynamism at the margins, it ensures that strategic technologies are aligned with national priorities. And recent breakthroughs—from DeepSeek's latest AI reasoning models to Huawei's CloudMatrix 384 chip cluster—demonstrate that China's model, despite these political constraints and U.S. export controls, remains highly competitive.
Caught between these poles is Europe, once seen as a potential counterweight to the power of Big Tech. The EU has few indigenous tech giants of its own and is mired in a structural growth and productivity trap. As a result, its ability to translate regulatory ambitions into digital sovereignty is limited. Brussels faces mounting pressure to soften AI regulations for American firms and may even hesitate to tax U.S. digital service exports in response to Trump's tariffs.
Meanwhile, the few remaining efforts at state-led and global tech governance are under siege—undermined by American Big Tech actors such as Musk and stifled by a vacuum of global leadership. As geopolitical, geoeconomic, and geotechnological fragmentation deepen, the checks on technopolar power are rapidly eroding, leaving technopolarity to grow unchecked.
The result is likely to be not a fully technopolar world but a more technopolar United States mirrored by a tightly state-controlled digital bloc in China. Most advanced industrial economies will have little choice but to align with the U.S. model, while much of the global South will find the Chinese offering more attractive.
Yet beneath their ideological differences, the American and Chinese models are converging in function. One is driven by market logic, the other by political imperatives—but both prioritize efficiency over accountability, control over consent, and scale over individual rights. In a world where authority accrues to those who control the digital space, it may matter less whether power resides in public or private hands than how effectively it can be centralized.
The great paradox of the technopolar age is that, rather than empowering individuals and bolstering democracy as early Internet visionaries once hoped, technology may instead be enabling more effective forms of hypercentralized, unaccountable control. AI and other breakthrough technologies may even render closed political systems more stable than open ones—where transparency, pluralism, checks and balances, and other key democratic features could prove liabilities in an age of exponential change. Whether lodged in governments or corporate actors, concentrated tech power poses risks to democracy and individual freedom. In 2021, I wrote that “Big Tech's eclipse of the nation-state is not inevitable.” But it seems as if Big Tech's eclipse of democracy, at least, has already begun.
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"Our people are going to be going there," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that further concessions from Ukraine during negotiations would be unreasonable if Russia continues to attack civilian targets.
U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, will travel to Istanbul for possible peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, Reuters reported on May 13, citing three undisclosed sources.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, but said both leaders are ready to fly to Istanbul if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to attend the talks there.
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, a major industrial and logistical hub, remains untouched by ground incursions but is under growing threat.
Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak said Ukraine is "ready to discuss anything," but "only if a ceasefire is achieved."
A captive named Umit allegedly agreed to serve in the Russian army in exchange for Russian citizenship and a monetary reward of 2 million rubles ($25,000).
Russia's Buryatia Republic declared a state of emergency on May 13 over massive forest fires that have engulfed multiple regions in the Russian Far East.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko's statement came as Strong Shield 5 exercises involving military personnel from other NATO countries began in Lithuania.
"Amendments to the Budget Code are needed to implement the provisions on funding the U.S.-Ukrainian Reconstruction Investment Fund," lawmaker Roksolana Pidlasa said.
Russia will announce its representative for the expected talks in Istanbul once Putin "deems it necessary," the Kremlin said.
During reconnaissance in an unspecified front-line sector, Special Operations Forces' operators detected Buk-M3 and Uragan-1 on combat duty, the unit said.
Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated
Three were injured in Russia's Kursk Oblast when the town of Rylsk was allegedly struck by a missile attack on May 11, local governor Alexander Khinshtein claimed.
Ukraine regularly strikes military targets within Russia as Moscow continues to wage its war against Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged on April 30 that Ukrainian soldiers remain in Kursk Oblast.
"According to preliminary information, three people were injured. All were taken to the Rylsk Central Regional Hospital," Khinshtein said.
A hotel entrance was damaged as a result of the impact from a missile, the local governor claimed.
"The blast wave also damaged two cars and two private homes: windows were knocked out, the roof and garage were damaged. Three more cars were cut by shrapnel," Khinshtein said.
Ukraine has not officially commented on the reported strikes, and the Kyiv Independent could not independently verify claims made by Russian officials.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will travel to Istanbul for peace talks on May 15 in response to Putin rejecting a ceasefire proposal and instead suggesting peace talks between Ukraine and Russia should continue.
Ukraine has insisted on a full 30-day unconditional ceasefire before peace talks begin.
"We expect a ceasefire from tomorrow — this proposal is on the table. A complete and unconditional ceasefire — long-term, to provide the necessary basis for diplomacy — could bring peace much closer," Zelensky said.
News Editor
Volodymyr Ivanyshyn is a news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He is pursuing an Honors Bachelor of Arts at the University of Toronto, majoring in political science with a minor in anthropology and human geography. Volodymyr holds a Certificate in Business Fundamentals from Rotman Commerce at the University of Toronto. He previously completed an internship with The Kyiv Independent.
Live Updates
• Cassie Ventura on the stand: Cassie Ventura, the former girlfriend of Sean “Diddy” Combs and one of his accusers, is testifying in his federal criminal trial. She described Combs as controlling and said some of their arguments would get violent and result in “physical abuse,” leaving her with injuries and bruises.
• Graphic video: The jury has viewed hotel surveillance footage from an altercation between Combs and Ventura from 2016.
• Federal charges: Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges that include racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted on all counts, he could face up to life in prison.
• Editor's Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with intimate partner violence, there are resources available, including the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
Cassie Ventura testified that she used drugs at every “Freak Off,” and took “all kinds” of drugs — including ecstasy, marijuana, and mushrooms.
“For me, it was dissociative and numbing. I couldn't imagine myself doing any of that without having some sort of buffer or just way to not feel it for what it really was,” she said.
Combs provided the drugs and sometimes his staff would drop them off, she testified.
“Someone would drop off drugs to me, wherever I was,” Ventura said.
Prosecutor Emily Johnson is showing photos of some of the escorts who participated in “Freak Offs.” Some of those pictured participated in “Freak Offs” in multiple states, Cassie Ventura testified.
Ventura said that the escorts' travel was sometimes coordinated by her, sometimes by a travel agent for Sean “Diddy” Combs' company and sometimes by the escort himself.
Ventura testified that she would tell Combs' travel agent that she'd need to arrange travel for a new staff member when she needed to fly an escort in for a “Freak Off.”
Cassie Ventura described how she would vet a new escort if they hadn't used them before.
“Sean would want me to clarify if the person was a cop,” she testified.
“I learned that this whole situation was not legal,” Ventura said.
Her remark prompted Judge Arun Subramanian to tell the jury to disregard the comment about the legality of the “Freak Offs.”
Cassie Ventura said escorts were typically paid between $1,500 and $6,000 after the “Freak Offs.”
She often handed them the money, although it was provided by Sean “Diddy” Combs, she said. Sometimes, the cash was brought to the location by Combs' security.
The escorts were almost always men, with a few exceptions, according to Ventura.
Cassie Ventura testified that Sean “Diddy” Combs tasked her with finding escorts for the “Freak Offs,” and she noted that Combs had very specific physical requirements for the men.
Ventura said she'd find escorts by responding to ads on Craigslist and Backpage at Combs' direction.
The jury is now reviewing a text message conversation between Ventura and a man she said would facilitate escorts. He would send her photos of the men they could hire, she said.
“I'd usually show them to Sean and see if that person was of interest for a ‘Freak Off,'” Ventura said.
Combs had to approve the escorts, she testified: “I definitely had to show him.”
Ventura said she would talk with the escorts before they participated to try and make them more comfortable.
“I would usually say that my husband is into something called voyeurism and he likes to watch me with another man,” she said. “It was just like a basic conversation I had with most of the escorts, and from there I would get a feel if they were willing to do it or not.”
Ventura said Combs would usually be in the other room during these conversations, but he would be able to hear them.
Cassie Ventura is back on the stand and her testimony is continuing.
Cassie Ventura has spent the afternoon testifying, in part, about the power dynamic between her and former boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs as it relates to the sexual performances known as “Freak Offs,” which Ventura testified she felt she could not say no to.
“It got to a point where I just didn't feel like I had much of a choice, didn't really know what ‘no' could be or what ‘no' could turn into,” she said on the stand.
CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson on CNN said the prosecution's focus on the power dynamic during Ventura's testimony is “about consent, whether or not she was on board with it or whether she was coerced.”
“And so I think what the prosecution is attempting to do, is to establish that because of the power dynamic, because she felt that she could not say no, that she ultimately had to say yes,” he added.
As a result of that, Jackson added, “now you have your coercion, now you have your inducement, now you have your compelling her to engage in this even if she did not explicitly say no.”
Prosecutors allege Combs created a criminal enterprise using his business empire where he engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice and is accused of coercing at least three women, including Ventura, to engage in sex acts with him during the so-called “Freak Offs.”
Jackson added that he thinks the defense may argue that Ventura did not “explicitly” indicate that she wouldn't participate and that she also “helped to arrange, orchestrate and organize” the “Freak Offs” for “almost a decade.”
Court is taking a short break and then Cassie Ventura's direct examination will continue in the federal criminal trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Cassie Ventura testified that the “Freak Offs” orchestrated by Sean “Diddy” Combs became “disgusting” and “overwhelming.”
She told the jury how, at times, Combs himself would urinate on her or demand an escort do so. Ventura testified that she didn't want anyone to urinate on her, adding that she felt “humiliated.”
“It was disgusting. It was too much. It was overwhelming,” she said.
Cassie Ventura said the hotel rooms they used for the “Freak Offs” would typically be trashed after the drug-fueled sex performances.
She testified that she would try to clean up a bit, and typically they'd leave a good tip. Many times, one of Sean “Diddy” Combs' staff members would go in and clean up more.
Combs was often charged by hotels for the damages, Ventura said. She recalled hearing Combs' staff members take calls from the hotels about the matter.
One specific time, Ventura recalled the Intercontinental in New York charging Combs “a really high number” for damage to a hotel room.
Cassie Ventura testified that they used “quite a bit” of baby oil in the “Freak Offs” because Sean “Diddy” Combs wanted them to be “glistening.”
Ventura said Combs would instruct her to apply more oil if he felt like she didn't have enough on.
Ventura said they used somewhere around 10 large bottles of baby oil per “Freak Off.” One time, there was a baby pool filled with baby oil, Ventura testified. Combs told her to get into the pool to cover herself in the oil, she said.
She testified she did as she was told because she felt like she couldn't say no.
“If that's something Sean wanted to happen, that's what was going to happen. There wasn't another way around it,” she said.
When they ran out of lubricant during a “Freak Off,” Ventura said they'd call someone on Combs' staff or the hotel desk to bring more. Combs would call an assistant himself or direct Ventura to call them, she said.
Law enforcement seized more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant during searches of Combs' homes in Miami and Los Angeles last year, according to an indictment from that time.
Sean “Diddy” Combs used aliases like “Frank White” or “Frank Black” for hotel rooms where they'd have “Freak Offs,” Cassie Ventura testified. If she booked the rooms or dancers, she said she often used the alias “Jackie Star.”
Ventura said “Freak Offs” were held at both her and Combs' houses, in addition to hotels in New York City, Miami, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Ibiza, and Turks and Caicos. Sometimes she would book the hotel rooms and other times Combs' staff would, she said. His staff would provide materials — such as baby oil, lubricant and condoms, she said.
When Sean “Diddy” Combs would get upset, he could be “a scary person” and could get “violent,” Cassie Ventura testified.
Ventura went on to describe the ways she would alter her appearance for a “Freak Off.”
She said she would regularly get a wax, a tan and her nails done. Her nails had to be painted white or with a white French tip, per Combs' instructions, she said. She also described getting piercings at Combs' suggestion.
Ventura said she would wear see-through, netted outfits and “extremely high heels.”
Early in their relationship, Sean “Diddy” Combs wanted Cassie Ventura to call him by her grandfather's nickname, she said.
“He asked me what I called my grandfather and I said, ‘Pop Pop,'” Ventura testified. “I thought it was weird, at the time. And now I just feel like it was disrespectful.”
He called her CC which she said stood for “Cassie Combs.”
Cassie Ventura broke down in tears when prosecutor Emily Johnson asked what she enjoyed — if anything — about the “Freak Offs.”
“The time spent with him,” she said. She added that she felt like it was the only time she could get with him.
“I felt disgusting. I was humiliated. I didn't have the words to put together at the time how horrible I really felt, and I couldn't talk to anybody about it,” Ventura added.
Ventura said she tried to “gently” bring up not wanting to do “Freak Offs” with Combs.
“I didn't want to upset him or make him angry with me for even sharing it,” she said. “But I would just tread it lightly when I brought it up. Sometimes I would email him about it. I didn't want anything bad to happen.”
Cassie Ventura described how she'd stay awake for days at a time without sleep against her will for the “Freak Offs” that her former boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs organized.
Asked how she could stay awake that long, Ventura said, “The drugs honestly helped.” She testified that she would take ecstasy or cocaine that Combs would give her.
Ventura said Combs would decide when the “Freak Offs” would end. He'd tell her at some point a “session” would be the last one, and she'd think, “hopefully that would be the last one,” she said.
Cassie Ventura is now testifying about the first time she participated in a “Freak Off.”
She was about 22 years old when Combs first asked her to have a “Freak Off.” When asked why she agreed to the “Freak Off” she replied, “Good question. I wanted to make him happy.”
Ventura testified Combs arranged for a male escort to participate and that they “took ecstasy and drank alcohol.” She said she took the narcotics Combs gave her before they started.
Ventura said Combs managed every detail, even what she wore, including masks to disguise their appearances.
“Every ‘Freak Off' was, like, directed by Sean, like he knew specifically where he wanted everyone to be, the lighting and such,” Ventura said. “So over that first session, we just kind of, like, ended up getting closer and closer, then eventually had to put oil on each other.”
Ventura said she felt mixed emotions after the first “Freak Off.”
“I was high, so there wasn't too much feeling,” she said, but recalls feeling “dirty and confusion.” But said she felt like, “okay, he's really happy with me.”
Cassie Ventura testified about how she interacted with several of Sean “Diddy” Combs' assistants and staff during their relationship — an important part of the government's effort to prove that Combs engaged in racketeering, according to a former prosecutor.
Julie Grant, a Court TV anchor and former prosecutor, said Ventura's testimony helps paint a picture for the jury “of the organization” and how people who worked for Diddy might have been involved in the allegations.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges that include racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Grant said Ventura can identify instances where she witnessed other people working “as agents” for Combs and “doing things on his behalf.” Grant said, “That all does to the charge of racketeering.”
According to the US Justice Department, to convict someone of racketeering, prosecutors must prove five different criteria. One of them is that a criminal enterprise existed and that there was a pattern of racketeering activity.
In the indictment, the government alleges Combs was using his business enterprises and “having these people who worked for him in various capacities help him exert that power and control to force women like Cassie to engage in unwanted sexual behaviors,” Grant said.
Here are some of the things she said about Combs' staffers so far:
Prosecutor Emily Johnson turned her questioning back to voyeurism. Cassie Ventura said Sean “Diddy” Combs presented it to her within the first six months or year of them dating as a fantasy he had.
“He would want to see me with another male having sexual interaction,” Ventura testified. He also brought up swinging, she said.
Ventura said she was “shocked” when Combs first told her about voyeurism.
“I didn't know how to react, I didn't want to upset him if I said that it scared me or if I said anything outside of ‘okay, let's try it,'” she said.
Cassie Ventura testified that Sean “Diddy” Combs was “rivals” with former rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight, the former Death Row Records co-founder who was sentenced to prison for the death of a man during a hit-and-run incident on the set of the movie “Straight Outta Compton.”
One time, she and Combs had a “Freak Off” at one of his homes in Los Angeles when one of his security guards came in and mentioned that Knight was at a diner closeby.
“They quickly packed up and drove down there,” she said.
“I was crying, I was screaming, ‘Don't do anything stupid.' I just was really nervous for them, I didn't know what it meant, what they were going to do,” Ventura said.
Cassie Ventura said Sean “Diddy” Combs had a safe in every one of his homes, and she said she would occasionally would access them to get him money or something else.
There was always cash and jewelry and sometimes tapes, SD cards from cameras and guns, depending on the safe, she said.
Ventura testified she saw hand guns in Combs' residences in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Alpine, New Jersey.
Prosecutor Emily Johnson asked Cassie Ventura about several assistants that worked for Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Ventura testified that in the first three years of her relationship with Combs, one of his assistants would regularly help Ventura with her finances.
Ventura said she spoke to another assistant on a daily basis about everything from scheduling to what kind of mood Combs was in. “She knew a lot about my personal things,” Ventura said.
Cassie Ventura testified if Sean “Diddy” Combs disapproved of her, he had his staff take her belongings.
“I would get my car taken away. I got kicked out of the house, my apartment. I had jewelry taken away. It was very random depending how he felt,” she said.
Ventura said there were times when Combs personally took her electronics from her, and other times his security personnel did it.
She'd eventually get the items back. “It depended how long I was being punished for, I guess,” Ventura said. “Sean would give them back to me if I would go to his house.”
Cassie Ventura testified that Sean “Diddy” Combs was “very involved” in her physical appearance, and started making comments about the way she looked almost immediately in their relationship.
“Appearance was very important to him — my appearance,” she said, adding that Combs would make comments about her hair and nails.
“We had tons of conversations about my body at that time,” she testified. That included discussions about breast implants and “keeping my shape a certain way,” she said.
“My self worth took a hit for the entirety of the relationship, just trying to establish who I was, who I wanted to be, who I was allowed to be,” Ventura said
Cassie Ventura said that James Cruz, an employee of Bad Boy Records, managed her career after she started dating Sean “Diddy” Combs, but she added that decisions ultimately went through Combs.
“His role in managing my career was that he was managing me with one hand tied behind his back,” she said of Cruz.
She testified that any decision had to go through Combs.
Cassie Ventura has returned to the stand in the federal criminal trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Ventura testified this morning and described Combs as controlling and said some of their arguments would get violent.
Cassie Ventura, the former girlfriend of Sean “Diddy” Combs who is currently testifying in his federal criminal trial, is the “linchpin” in the government's case against the music mogul, according to CNN anchor and chief legal analyst Laura Coates.
Prosecutors want to use her testimony to “bridge the gap” for the jury between Combs' public persona and who they say he is in this felony indictment, Coates said.
“They claim he is a racketeer, that he is a sexual trafficker and that he is a violent man,” she said.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges that include racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted on all counts, he could face up to life in prison.
Ventura has testified about the beginning of their relationship and how the power dynamic changed as time went on. She also detailed allegations of abuse and said some of their arguments would be violent.
The defense said in its opening statement that the domestic violence is not trafficking. Lawyers for Combs also plan to argue Ventura “made a choice” of staying with him for more than a decade.
Defense lawyers for Sean “Diddy” Combs indicated Tuesday that they may call Cassie Ventura's husband Alex Fine to the stand to testify about allegations that Combs raped Ventura, Combs' former girlfriend and one of his accusers, in 2018.
Fine was allowed by Judge Arun Subramanian to sit in the courtroom to support his wife during her testimony, which began on Tuesday, until the 2018 allegations are brought up.
Ventura and Fine wed in 2019 during a secret ceremony in Malibu, one year after Ventura and Combs' years-long relationship ended. According to an interview with Vogue, Fine, who is a personal trainer, and Ventura first met at a gym.
The couple are parents of two daughters, Frankie and Sunny, and announced in February they are expecting their third child.
After video footage emerged of Combs physically assaulting Ventura in a California hotel lobby in 2016, Fine issued an apparent response to the video in what he wrote was a “letter to women and children” posted to his Instagram page.
“Our daughters, sisters, mothers, and wives should feel protected and loved,” he wrote. “Hold the women in your life with the upmost regard. Men who hurt women hate women.”
CNN's Lisa Respers France contributed to this post.
Cassie Ventura, Sean “Diddy” Combs' former girlfriend, took the stand this morning in the government's sex-trafficking case against the music mogul.
She entered the courtroom with her eyes facing forward, passing by the jury box to the witness stand. Combs, who was seated, turned around in his chair and watched Ventura walk to her seat. She did not appear to make eye contact with him. As she testified, Ventura dabbed her nose and eye at times.
As a reminder before we get into her testimony, some of the details below are graphic. Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges that include racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Here's what we learned from her testimony:
Editor's Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with intimate partner violence, there are resources available, including the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
Cassie Ventura testified that the “Freak Offs” could last 36, 48 or 72 hours, forcing her to spend a “big chunk of her life” recovering from the drug use and dehydration.
“The ‘Freak Offs' became a job, where there was no space to do anything else but to recover and just try to feel normal again,” she said.
Ventura recalled the longest “Freak Off” continued for four or more days with some breaks.
The jury was dismissed for a lunch break.
Cassie Ventura will return to the stand at 1 p.m. ET and continue her testimony.
Cassie Ventura said that she recorded hundreds of songs, and while some of them got released, some “didn't see the light of day.”
She didn't release nine of the albums that were included on her record deal. Asked how not releasing albums affected her financially, Ventura said her career was stifled.
Cassie Ventura testified that she eventually moved to Los Angeles full time from New York to follow Sean “Diddy” Combs. She said he wanted to be near his kids so she went, too.
“I moved because I was in love and I wanted to be near him,” Ventura said.
Combs paid her rent during her time in New York, Ventura confirmed. When Combs paid the rent for places she lived, he had his own keys that he used “whenever he wanted.”
Combs lived “right down the block” from Ventura's apartment in California, she said. She said she could walk or drive about three minutes to his home.
Ventura said she later bought her own house in Studio City because she “wanted that freedom for myself.”
“I wasn't getting it in a lot of other ways and there was no fight,” she said.
Cassie Ventura described her complicated relationship with Sean “Diddy” Combs. She testified that she thought they were in a monogamous relationship, but soon realized they were not.
“I didn't get that he was him — he was Puff Daddy, and Puff Daddy has many women,” Ventura said, describing how she felt jealous about seeing him with other women. “He likes the company of women, and I had to just really learn that over time, despite what he would tell me just between us.”
She continued, “He made me feel like we were in a monogamous relationship more often than not. It was really me figuring out that we were not.”
“He expected that of me, so I guess I assumed it was the same,” Ventura said.
Cassie Ventura said Sean “Diddy” Combs would check in on what music she was working on and he would give her “busy work” on projects that never released.
“I think busy work, just the way I interpreted it, was just control — control over what I was doing over every minute of the day,” she testified.
Ventura said that if she didn't respond to Combs, he would call her constantly and sometimes send someone — usually his security — to her home to check on her.
On a typical day, Cassie Ventura said she talked to Sean “Diddy” Combs “all day, throughout the day.” She said sometimes she wouldn't answer his calls or messages right away, and he would be an “incessant caller” or he would have his staff call until she answered.
There were times Combs' assistants or security personnel would locate her for him in person, she said.
Prosecutor Emily Johnson asked Ventura to give an example of how Combs' moods impacted her. Ventura said Combs' mood “swung different ways quite a bit.”
“The most complicated and the greatest examples are the abuse because I also felt at certain times when I knew it wasn't even about me and you make the wrong face and the next thing I knew, I was getting hit in the face,” Ventura said.
Cassie Ventura said once she started dating Sean “Diddy” Combs, she broke ties with her management company, which also managed her former boyfriend.
After the Miami trip, she said she fell in love with Combs.
“I traveled with him everywhere. I was in studios. I was just like [his] little shadow for a little while,” she testified.
Ventura said that at this point, the relationship was “fun,” describing it as her “first adult, real adult relationship.” She also noted that Combs' lifestyle was “much different” than her own.
“He had assistants at his beck and call. He could get anything done quickly. He had respect from everyone. He traveled quite a bit,” Ventura said.
Ventura testified that early on, she was “just enamored by him.” But later on, she began to “experience a different side of him, which was his abusive side.”
She said Combs was “very controlling over my life and the things that I wanted to do, but there was still love there.”
”Control was everything from the way that I looked to what I was working on that day, who I was speaking to. Control was kind of an all-around thing to a certain point,” she testified.
Cassie Ventura testified that became one of Sean Combs' girlfriends after the Miami trip.
“Sean Combs had many girlfriends,” Ventura said.
At the time, “I knew that we were spending a lot of time together, one-on-one, and I really felt like we were in a monogamous relationship for a period,” she said.
Their relationship wasn't public for years, she said, because she was his artist and because of his family.
Cassie Ventura is detailing the early phase of her relationship with Sean “Diddy” Combs. After he kissed her on her 21st birthday, she said Combs began inviting her to hotel rooms in New York, where he was staying while his home was being renovated.
She said they started to develop a more comfortable relationship with each other.
“I wanted to be around Sean for the same reasons as everyone else at the time — just this exciting, entertaining, fun guy that also happened to have my career in his hands,” Ventura said. “It felt special because not a lot of people got that time with him.”
Ventura described herself as being sexually unexperienced at this time. During one of those New York visits, she said Combs performed oral sex on her and made her “feel crazy” for not reciprocating.
“I was just so young, I didn't even have the vocabulary for some of the things that we talked about,” she testified.
“I was also still in a relationship with someone else,” she added.
Eventually, Combs, Ventura and other friends took a trip to Miami, she said. Ventura said she took ecstasy that Combs gave her while they were drinking and partying on a boat. Ventura said she and Combs had sex for the first time on this trip.
Prosecutor Emily Johnson asked Cassie Ventura how Sean “Diddy” Combs influenced her career at the time.
“He called most of the shots, well all of the shots. I had a new record, I would play it for him. He chose what was next for me basically,” Ventura said.
Cassie Ventura testified that she saw Sean “Diddy” Combs about once a month at social outings in 2006.
In August 2007, while celebrating her 21st birthday in Las Vegas, Combs kissed her in a bathroom, Ventura said.
“I was just really confused at the time,” she said, noting that she was a “young, new artist” who “just didn't really know the lay of the land when it came to things like that.”
She testified that she cried and ran off.
“Did you want to kiss Sean at your 21st birthday?” Prosecutor Emily Johnson asked Ventura.
“No, not at my 21st birthday,” Ventura said.
Cassie Ventura testified that she signed a contract with Bad Boy Records, Sean “Diddy” Combs' company, in early 2006.
She said that before she met Combs, she knew him as a “larger than life” music entrepreneur, and she met him when she was about 19 years old.
Ventura said she had a platonic relationship with Combs in the time just after she signed with his record label. She said he looked out for her when she had a few “rough performances.”
Prosecutor Emily Johnson then showed the jury a photo of Ventura and Combs together in 2006, the same year she signed her record deal.
Cassie Ventura testified that she was also afraid that the “blackmail materials” would become public.
She said she kept broken laptops, iPads and phones because she didn't know what material was on them.
She also said, “Sean is a really polarizing person, also very charming so it's hard to be able to decide in that moment like what you need when he's telling you what he wants.”
Cassie Ventura recalled on the stand when Sean “Diddy” Combs first proposed “Freak Offs” to her. She said she remembers the feeling of her stomach falling.
“I also felt a sense of responsibility. It was him sharing something like that with me. I was confused, nervous but also loved him very much and wanted to make him happy so,” she said.
“I knew it wasn't something I wanted to be doing especially as regularly as it became, but again, I was just in love and wanted to make him happy,” she testified.
Ventura said she didn't know how to refuse “Freak Offs.”
“It got to a point where I just didn't feel like I had much of a choice, didn't really know what ‘no' could be or what ‘no' could turn into,” she said.
She said Combs controlled “a lot” of her life, from her career to the way she dressed.
“And I just didn't feel like I had much say in it at that time, being really super young, naive, total people pleaser,” Ventura said. “I didn't know if he would be upset enough to be violent or if he would write me off and just not want to be with me at all.”
Prosecutor Emily Johnson pulled up a still image of the well-known hotel surveillance footage from the InterContinental in 2016.
Cassie Ventura said the image showed her leaving after “an encounter that we called a ‘Freak Off.'”
Ventura was asked how she and her former boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs started doing “Freak Offs.”
“Within the first year of our relationship, he proposed this idea, this sexual encounter that he called voyeurism where he would watch me be in intercourse with a third party, specifically with another man,” she testified.
Ventura went on to say that a “Freak Off” would entail “hiring an escort and setting up this experience, so that I could perform for Sean.”
She said she couldn't remember where the name “Freak Off” came from, but she said that Combs introduced it to her.
“Eventually it became a job for me, pretty much, so I knew if it was something he wanted me to do, I had the contacts to set it up and get a hotel room and all of that, but in the beginning, Sean set it up. He was in charge,” Ventura testified.
Cassie Ventura said some of their arguments would be violent and result in “some sort of physical abuse.”
“He would smash me in my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me, stomp me in the head if I was down,” Ventura said of her relationship with Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Johnson asked, “How frequently was shear physical with you during your relationship?”
“Too frequently,” Ventura said.
Ventura said she suffered injuries from the abuse, including knots on her forehead, busted lips, and “bruises all over my body.”
Editor's Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with intimate partner violence, there are resources available, including the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
Prosecutor Emily Johnson showed Cassie Ventura a photo of Sean “Diddy” Combs and asked her to identify him.
When asked how she knew Combs, Ventura said, “We were in a relationship for a little over 10 years.”
Cassie Ventura, Sean “Diddy” Combs' former girlfriend, has now taken the stand in the government's sex-trafficking case against the music mogul.
Ventura walked passed the jury box on her way to the witness stand. Prosecutor Emily Johnson will question her.
Earlier today, Ventura's attorney Douglas Wigdor said she was “very ready” to take the stand, and told reporters she is “confident.”
Cassie Ventura's husband, Alex Fine, just walked into the courtroom and sat next to Doug Wigdor, Ventura's attorney.
Fine is staring at Combs, who just re-entered the courtroom and sat down at the defense table. Court is still on a short break, and testimony is expected to resume soon.
Cassie Ventura's husband will be allowed to sit in the courtroom to support her for a portion of her testimony.
Sean “Diddy” Combs' attorney Teny Geragos said the defense may need to call Alex Fine to testify about allegations that Combs raped Ventura in the summer or fall of 2018. Ventura's husband can remain in court for her testimony until the 2018 allegations come up in her testimony, the judge ruled.
Ventura's husband was not on Comb's witness list. Judge Arun Subramanian says going forward, the defense must give the government more notice if they intend to make applications like this.
Assistant US attorney Emily Johnson said those allegations may not come up in her direct examination until tomorrow.
Defense attorney Teny Geragos is making an application that Cassie Ventura's husband be barred from the courtroom for her testimony.
Geragos says that Ventura's husband may be called in Combs' defense case if certain testimony comes up when Ventura takes the stand.
Geragos says the defense will not make an application to bar any other family members of Ventura from the courtroom for her testimony.
She said Ventura's brother and mother are expected to be in the courtroom to support her.
Judge Arun Subramanian just dismissed the jury for a 10-minute break.
The parties are at side bar, the next witness hasn't been called yet.
Daniel Phillip, the male revue manager, has wrapped up his testimony.
On redirect examination, Prosecutor Maurene Comey asked Phillip to recount his recollection of the moments after he watched Sean “Diddy” Combs drag Cassie Ventura into a bedroom and then heard what he believed to be Combs beating Ventura. He said he experienced erectile dysfunction because he was shook by the altercation.
“I was completely shocked and messed up in my head, there was nothing I could do,” he said. “She was afraid I could see she was afraid.”
Defense attorney Xavier Donaldson is done cross-examining Daniel Phillip.
Prosecutor Maurene Comey is now questioning Phillip on redirect examination.
Comey asked Phillip in quick succession to confirm who would direct him and Cassie Ventura to rub baby oil on each other, who would direct him to have sex and who would direct Ventura to give Phillip oral sex.
Each time he answered “Sean Combs.”
Defense attorney Xavier Donaldson is now reviewing parts of Daniel Phillip's testimony from yesterday, when prosecutors questioned him.
We're not hearing any new information, as Donaldson is asking Phillip to confirm details he already said on the stand yesterday.
Defense attorney Xavier Donaldson asked Daniel Phillip again about the time he saw Sean “Diddy” Combs assault Cassie Ventura at her home.
Phillip confirmed that he went to Ventura's apartment after she sent him her address, and they had sex before the assault. He confirmed that she did not appear to be under the influence at the time.
Phillip said Monday that after the assault Combs pushed Phillip and Ventura to continue having sex. Donaldson challenged Phillip's trial testimony with a report from a previous law enforcement interview he gave in 2023, when he told investigators that Combs told him, “Yo man, I'm going to need to deal with this, you need to get the f**k out.”
On the stand, Phillip said he didn't recall telling investigators that.
Defense attorney Xavier Donaldson asked Daniel Phillip again about the first day he had sex with Cassie Ventura in front of Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Not long after he left the hotel room following their first sexual encounter, Ventura called him to ask if he'd come back that same day, Phillip testified.
Phillip said he agreed to return to their hotel room at the Gramercy Park Hotel, where he and Ventura again had sex “for a few hours.” When asked, Phillip testified that Combs did not direct him and Ventura as to how they should have sex that day.
Ventura also appeared sober, Phillip testified. He said he didn't see her drink alcohol or take drugs while he was with the couple. When Donaldson asked if Ventura seemed “in complete control of everything she was doing” during that encounter, Phillip testified, “I cannot say that.”
Daniel Phillip, the male revue manager who testified yesterday that he was paid to have sex with Cassie Ventura on several occasions, is back on the stand. Defense Attorney Xavier Donaldson will continue questioning Phillip soon.
The jury is now entering the courtroom.
Defense attorney Anna Estevao told the court they intend to bring up messages between Sean “Diddy” Combs and Cassie Ventura when she was out of state and he was concerned she was cheating on him, and she told him she hadn't responded because she had gotten into a bar fight.
Estevao said the incident demonstrates that Ventura had substance abuse issues independently of her relationship with Combs.
Judge Arun Subramanian overruled prosecutors' objections and allowed the incident to come into the trial.
Cassie Ventura, the former girlfriend of Sean “Diddy” Combs, could take the stand today as day two of the trial against the embattled music mogul gets underway.
Ventura, who is also one of Combs' accusers, is expected to testify as a central witness for the prosecution about her years-long relationship with Combs, and her testimony could “really be the key” to the government's case, according to CNN legal analyst Jennifer Rogers.
“Sometimes prosecutors put on an FBI agent, for example, to be kind of the narrator of what happened here, but in this case, Cassie Ventura is that narrator here,” Rogers told CNN, adding that the government needs “to show that this was not just sex — this was coercion, this was a concerted plan involving not just him but a lot of other people, including people who worked for him, to bring people across state lines for these big sex parties and that it was not voluntary.”
Rogers said other witnesses will serve the purpose of corroborating and adding to Ventura's story for the prosecution.
Ventura is referred to as “Victim 1” in the indictment but has chosen to testify under her real name. Prosecutors claim Combs coerced her into having sex with male prostitutes during sexual performances called “Freak Offs,” according to the indictment.
Combs' attorneys have said all sex was consensual.
Judge Arun Subramanian said he's inclined to grant the media's motion for public access to sexually explicit footage and images that are expected to be submitted as evidence, but he said he hasn't made a decision yet.
Attorneys for Sean “Diddy” Combs and the prosecutors want sexually explicit videos and images sealed so that only the jury and the parties will view the material at trial.
An attorney representing a media coalition advocating for public access to the exhibits spoke in court to object to the sealing of any evidence.
The judge said he'd wait to rule until the parties file written responses to the coalition's motion on the docket.
Two of the lead lawyers in the Sean “Diddy” Combs trial have recognizable last names, but they stand on their own.
Teny Geragos, Diddy's attorney who delivered his opening statement, is the daughter of celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos, who has been in the courtroom over the past week. He told CNN he was a “helicopter dad” there to support his daughter (he is also a friend of Combs). Teny Geragos has spent most of her career as a defense lawyer and represented Keith Raniere, the founder of Nxivm who was convicted of sex trafficking.
Across the aisle is Maurene Comey, a senior prosecutor on the all-female trial team. Comey is the daughter of Jim Comey, the former FBI director who also served as US attorney for the Southern District of New York (the same office that investigated Combs).
Maurene Comey was a lead member of the team that successfully prosecutor Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell of sex trafficking.
Judge Arun Subramanian is on the bench this morning for the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs.
The prosecution and defense are going to address evidentiary issues before bringing in the jury to continue witness testimony this morning.
Day two of the Sean “Diddy” Combs trial is getting underway, and first up we're expecting to hear from Daniel Phillip.
Phillip is the prosecution's second witness. He testified he was paid to have sex with Cassie Ventura on several occasions on Monday.
Today, he'll be back on the stand to continue testifying under cross-examination. Defense attorney Xavier Donaldson says he still has about an hour of cross-examination for Phillip.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges that include racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted on the most serious counts, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
As a reminder, here are some key takeaways from the first day of the trial.
Cassie Ventura's attorney said she is “very ready” for today's proceedings in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs.
“She's very ready, she's confident,” Ventura's attorney Douglas Wigdor said as he arrived to the courthouse just after 8 a.m. ET. Ventura is expected to testify today.
Marc Agnifilo, one of Combs' lead defense attorneys, was also seen arriving this morning.
Cassie Ventura, the former girlfriend of Sean “Diddy” Combs and one of his accusers, could take the stand today in the government's sex-trafficking case against the music mogul.
Prosecutors indicated in court on Friday that they would call two witnesses before calling “Victim 1,” whose testimony will take up most of the first week. So far, the prosecution has called Los Angeles Police Officer Israel Florez and Daniel Phillip, a male revue manager, who will continue on the stand this morning.
Ventura, who is pregnant with her third child and due to deliver next month, is referred to as “Victim 1” in the indictment but has agreed to testify in her own name.
Prosecutors allege Combs coerced her into having sex with male prostitutes, according to the indictment. Combs' attorneys have said all sex was consensual.
Combs' defense team said in court they plan to argue that Ventura had a propensity for violence toward Combs during their relationship, which lasted approximately 11 years, from 2007 to 2018.
Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs' trial began yesterday in New York, where he faces five counts, including one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
If convicted, he could face life in prison. Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges.
Here's what to know from the opening statements and first witness testimonies:
Prosecution's opening statement: Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson said there was “another side” to Combs, the cultural icon, who “ran a criminal enterprise” with an inner circle of people who “helped him commit crimes and cover them up.” Here's what else she walked through:
Defense's opening argument: Defense attorney Teny Geragos said that while Combs takes full responsibility for his violent behavior, “domestic violence is not sex trafficking.” Here's what else Geragos said:
First witness testimony: Los Angeles Police Officer Israel Florez was a security official at the InterContinental Hotel in March 2016 when he got a call saying there was “a woman in distress.” Here's what he said on the stand:
Second witness testimony came from Daniel Phillip, who described his role as managing male strippers for women. Phillip will be back on the stand today. Here's what he said yesterday:
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Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Tiffany Chen, left, and Robert De Niro pose for photographers during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Daniella Pick, left, and Quentin Tarantino pose for photographers during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Tiffany Chen, left, and Robert De Niro pose for photographers during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Wan QianHui poses for photographers during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Jury president Juliette Binoche, centre, and jury members Payal Kapadia, from left, Alba Rohrwacher, Halle Berry and Leila Slimani pose for photographers at the jury photo call at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Heidi Klum poses for photographers during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Jury members Leila Slimani, left, and Halle Berry, pose with jury president Juliette Binoche at the jury photo call at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
Eva Longoria poses for photographers during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
Jury member Jeremy Strong poses for photographers at the jury photo call at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Jury president Juliette Binoche poses for photographers during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
Alessandra Ambrosio poses for photographers during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
Robert De Niro, left, and Tiffany Chen pose for photographers during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Aliia Roza poses for photographers during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Jury member Juliette Binoche poses for photographers at the jury photo call at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Festival director Thierry Fremaux poses for photographers prior to the Honorary Palme d'Or photo call at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
Honorary Palme d'Or recipient Robert De Niro poses for photographers during a photo call at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
Sean Baker, left, and Samantha Quan pose for photographers during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Honorary Palme d'Or recipient Robert De Niro poses for photographers during a photo call at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Lewis Joly/Invision/AP)
Jury president Juliette Binoche poses for photographers during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
The famous red carpet of Cannes Film Festival is rolled out at the Palais, ready to welcome stars for the 78th edition. (May 13)
CANNES, France (AP) — Much of the cinema world, including Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Quentin Tarantino, descended on the Cannes Film Festival as the French Riviera extravaganza got its 78th edition underway Tuesday.
Expectations are running high for a potentially banner Cannes. All of the ingredients — loads of stars, top-tier filmmakers, political intrigue — seem to be lined up. Over the next 12 days, Cannes will play host to megawatt premieres including those of “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,” Spike Lee's “Highest 2 Lowest” and Ari Aster's “Eddington.”
DiCaprio skirted the red carpet but drew a standing ovation when he presented De Niro with an honorary Palme d'Or. The moment, which brought together two of Martin Scorsese's most regular stars, came 49 years after “Taxi Driver” was crowned with the Palme d'Or.
DiCaprio praised De Niro as “the archetype” actor, while also praising the 81-year-old performer — a fierce critic of U.S. President Donald Trump — for “fighting for our democracy.” When the crowd rose to its feet for a lengthy ovation for De Niro, DiCaprio handed him the Palme. “Thanks, kiddo,” said De Niro.
After thanking the festival, De Niro quickly turned to speaking about Trump, who recently said he wants to enact a tariff on films made outside the country.
“Art is the truth. Art embraces diversity. And that's why art is a threat to the autocrats and the fascists of the world,” said De Niro. “America's philistine president has had himself appointed head of one of America's premier cultural institutions. He has cut funding and support to the arts, humanities and education. And now he announced a 100% tariff on films made outside the United States. You can't put a price on connectivity.”
The opening ceremony, which preceded the premiere of Amélie Bonnin's French romance “Leave One Day,” was attended by Tarantino, who emerged to grandly declare the festival open, and then promptly dropped the mic and walked off stage. On Wednesday, Tarantino will pay tribute to Western filmmaker George Sherman. Also in attendance: Sean Baker, the “Anora” director and last year's Palme d'Or winner.
The ceremony capped a busy day at Cannes that included a three-film salute to Ukraine, the introduction of the jury that will decide the Palme d'Or, headed by Juliette Binoche, and the debut of a restoration of Charlie Chaplin's “The Gold Rush” for its 100th anniversary.
Cannes is coming off a 2024 festival that produced a number of eventual Oscar contenders, including “Emilia Pérez,” “The Substance,” “Flow” and the best picture winner, “Anora. ” Asked Monday if he's feeling the pressure this time around, festival director Thierry Frémaux said the only kind of pressure he believes in is in beer. (Beer on tap in France is “bière à la pression.”)
Cannes launched the same day Gérard Depardieu, one of France's most famous actors, was found guilty of having sexually assaulted two women on a 2021 film set. In one of France's most prominent #MeToo cases, Depardieu was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence. The 76-year-old has long been a regular presence at Cannes.
This year's Cannes Film Festival, the premier international cinematic gathering, is also unspooling following Trump's call for tariffs on movies made overseas. Confusion over the still-unformed plans characterized most responses.
“I don't know what to say, really, about that,” Binoche told reporters Tuesday. “We can see that he's fighting and trying in many different ways to save America and save his ass.”
Along with Binoche, the other eight jurors include Halle Berry and Jeremy Strong, who was unable to attend Cannes last year for the premiere of his Trump film “The Apprentice.” Strong referenced that film, which led to his first Oscar nomination, in his comments on the American president Tuesday.
“Truth is under assault,” said Strong. “Specifically at this temple of film, the role of film is increasingly critical because it can combat those forces in the entropy of truth, and can communicate truths, individual truths, human truths, societal truths, and affirm and celebrate our shared humanity.”
Jake Coyle has covered the Cannes Film Festival since 2012. To prepare for this year, he practiced eating crepes on the run and interviewed filmmakers on three continents who are in competition for Cannes' top honor, the Palme d'Or.
Berry, responding to Cannes' new protocols on attire for the red carpet, said she had “an amazing dress” with a long train for the opening ceremony but wore something else instead. Cannes has outlawed nudity and dresses with long trains for its evening premieres at the Palais.
“I had to make a pivot,” said Berry. “But the nudity part, I do think is probably also a good rule.”
Cannes will follow up Tuesday's festivities with the return Wednesday of Tom Cruise. Three years after he brought “Top Gun: Maverick” to the festival, he's back with the latest “Mission: Impossible” movie.
Twenty-two films will vie for Cannes' top prize, the Palme d'Or, to be presented May 24. Those films include Wes Anderson's “The Phoenician Scheme,” Richard Linklater's “Nouvelle Vague,” Lynne Ramsay's “Die, My Love,” Joachim Trier's “Sentimental Value,” Kelly Reichardt's “The Mastermind,” Oliver Hermanus' “The History of Sound,” Julia Ducournau's “Alpha” and Jafar Panahi's “A Simple Accident.”
In Cannes' Un Certain Regard section, three prominent actors are making their directorial debuts: Harris Dickinson (“Urchin”), Kristen Stewart (“The Chronology of Water”) and Scarlett Johansson (“Eleanor the Great”).
Geopolitics are likely to play a starring role at Cannes, which began by screening three 2025 Ukraine documentaries: “Zelensky,” Bernard-Henri Lévy's “Notre Guerre” and The Associated Press-Frontline coproduction “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” by “20 Days in Mariupol” Oscar winner Mstyslav Chernov.
“This ‘Ukraine Day' is a reminder of the commitment of artists, authors and journalists to tell the story of this conflict in the heart of Europe,” the festival said in a statement.
On Tuesday, more than 350 filmmakers, actors and others in the film industry — including Richard Gere, Pedro Almodovar, Javier Bardem, Viggo Mortensen and Mark Ruffalo, published an open letter in the French newspaper Libération and in Variety calling on cinema institutions to more forcefully respond to what they called “genocide in Gaza.”
ACID, a Cannes parallel section, includes the documentary “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk.” It's about Fatma Hassona, a 25-year-old Palestinian photojournalist who was killed the day after the selection of the documentary was announced in April.
“Why is it that cinema, a breeding ground for socially committed works, seems to be so indifferent to the horror of reality and the oppression suffered by our sisters and brothers?” the letter read.
___
Jake Coyle has covered the Cannes Film Festival since 2012. To prepare for this year, he practiced eating crepes on the run and interviewed filmmakers on three continents who are in competition for Cannes' top honor, the Palme d'Or.
___
For more coverage of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, visit https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Daniella Pick, left, and Quentin Tarantino pose for photographers during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Wan QianHui poses for photographers during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Jury president Juliette Binoche, centre, and jury members Payal Kapadia, from left, Alba Rohrwacher, Halle Berry and Leila Slimani pose for photographers at the jury photo call at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Heidi Klum poses for photographers during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Jury members Leila Slimani, left, and Halle Berry, pose with jury president Juliette Binoche at the jury photo call at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
Jury member Jeremy Strong poses for photographers at the jury photo call at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Eva Longoria poses for photographers during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
Jury president Juliette Binoche poses for photographers during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
Honorary Palme d'Or recipient Robert De Niro poses for photographers during a photo call at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Lewis Joly/Invision/AP)
Alessandra Ambrosio poses for photographers during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
Aliia Roza poses for photographers during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Jury member Juliette Binoche poses for photographers at the jury photo call at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Festival director Thierry Fremaux poses for photographers prior to the Honorary Palme d'Or photo call at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
Honorary Palme d'Or recipient Robert De Niro poses for photographers during a photo call at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
The famous red carpet of Cannes Film Festival is rolled out at the Palais, ready to welcome stars for the 78th edition. (May 13)
CANNES, France (AP) — The 78th Cannes Film Festival opened Tuesday with expectations running high for what could be a banner edition.
All of the ingredients — an absurd number of stars, top-tier filmmakers, political intrigue — seem to be lined up for the French Riviera spectacular. Over the next 12 days, Cannes will play host to megawatt premieres including those of “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,” Spike Lee's “Highest 2 Lowest” and Ari Aster's “Eddington.”
Things get underway Tuesday with an opening ceremony that drew Quentin Tarantino (who'll pay tribute to Western filmmaker George Sherman on Wednesday), Eva Longoria, Heidi Klum and others to Cannes' famous red carpet.
The opening day festivities included an honorary Palme d'Or for Robert De Niro, the opening night film, Amélie Bonnin's French romance “Leave One Day,” a three-film salute to Ukraine and the introduction of the jury that will decide the Palme d'Or, headed by Juliette Binoche.
Cannes is coming off a 2024 festival that produced a number of eventual Oscar contenders, including “Emilia Pérez,” “The Substance,” “Flow” and the best picture winner, “Anora. That film's director, Sean Baker, returned Tuesday for the opening ceremony. (He's a producer on a film in the Cannes parallel section Critics Week.)
Asked if he's feeling the pressure this time around, festival director Thierry Frémaux said the only kind of pressure he believes in is in beer. (Beer on tap in France is “bière à la pression.”)
“Indeed last year was a beautiful year,” Frémaux said Monday. “But at the very time when I was with (journalists) as the festival started, we didn't know if it was going to be a good year or not.”
Cannes is kicking off the same day Gérard Depardieu, one of France's most famous actors, was found guilty of having sexually assaulted two women on a 2021 film set. In one of France's most prominent #MeToo cases, Depardieu was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence. The 76-year-old has long been a regular presence at Cannes.
This year's Cannes Film Festival, the premier international cinematic gathering, is also unspooling following U.S. President Donald Trump's call for tariffs on movies made overseas. While Frémaux expressed sympathy for the cause of strengthening local movie production, he said it was too soon to comment on the still-unformed plans.
“I don't know what to say, really, about that,” Binoche told reporters Tuesday when asked about the tariffs. “We can see that he's fighting and trying in many different ways to save America and save his ass.”
Along with Binoche, the other eight jurors include Halle Berry and Jeremy Strong, who was unable to attend Cannes last year for the premiere of his Trump film “The Apprentice.” Strong referenced that film, which led to his first Oscar nomination, in his comments on the American president Tuesday.
“Truth is under assault,” said Strong. “Specifically at this temple of film, the role of film is increasingly critical because it can combat those forces in the entropy of truth, and can communicate truths, individual truths, human truths, societal truths, and affirm and celebrate our shared humanity.”
Jake Coyle has covered the Cannes Film Festival since 2012. To prepare for this year, he practiced eating crepes on the run and interviewed filmmakers on three continents who are in competition for Cannes' top honor, the Palme d'Or.
Berry, responding to Cannes' new protocols on attire for the red carpet, said she had “an amazing dress” with a long train for the opening ceremony but will wear something else instead. Cannes has outlawed nudity and dresses with long trains for its evening premieres at the Palais.
“I had to make a pivot,” said Berry. “But the nudity part, I do think is probably also a good rule.”
Cannes will follow up Tuesday's festivities with the return Wednesday of Tom Cruise. Three years after he brought “Top Gun: Maverick” to the festival, he's back with the latest “Mission: Impossible” movie.
Twenty-two films will vie for Cannes' top prize, the Palme d'Or, to be presented May 24. Those films include Wes Anderson's “The Phoenician Scheme,” Richard Linklater's “Nouvelle Vague,” Lynne Ramsay's “Die, My Love,” Joachim Trier's “Sentimental Value,” Kelly Reichardt's “The Mastermind,” Oliver Hermanus' “The History of Sound,” Julia Ducournau's “Alpha” and Jafar Panahi's “A Simple Accident.”
In Cannes' Un Certain Regard section, three prominent actors are making their directorial debuts: Harris Dickinson (“Urchin”), Kristen Stewart (“The Chronology of Water”) and Scarlett Johansson (“Eleanor the Great”).
Geopolitics are likely to play a starring role at Cannes, which is beginning by screening three 2025 Ukraine documentaries: “Zelensky,” Bernard-Henri Lévy's “Notre Guerre” and The Associated Press-Frontline coproduction “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” by “20 Days in Mariupol” Oscar winner Mstyslav Chernov.
“This ‘Ukraine Day' is a reminder of the commitment of artists, authors and journalists to tell the story of this conflict in the heart of Europe,” the festival said in a statement.
On Tuesday, more than 350 filmmakers, actors and others in the film industry — including Richard Gere, Pedro Almodovar, Javier Bardem, Viggo Mortensen and Mark Ruffalo, published an open letter in the French newspaper Libération and in Variety calling on cinema institutions to more forcefully respond to what they called “genocide in Gaza.”
ACID, a Cannes parallel section, includes the documentary “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk.” It's about Fatma Hassona, a 25-year-old Palestinian photojournalist who was killed the day after the selection of the documentary was announced in April.
“Why is it that cinema, a breeding ground for socially committed works, seems to be so indifferent to the horror of reality and the oppression suffered by our sisters and brothers?” the letter read.
___
For more coverage of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
At the US-Saudi investment forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, US President Donald Trump took aim at Iran saying "enemies get you motivated," and declared that the country will "never have a nuclear weapon." Trump is traveling through the Middle East on his first major international trip of his second term.
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Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka makes his point at the New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial primary debate at NJ PBS Studios, Monday, May 12, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (Steve Hockstein/NJ Advance Media via AP, Pool)
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Newark Mayor Ras Baraka briefly returned Tuesday to the gates of the federal immigration detention center where he was arrested last week on trespassing charges.
Baraka, a Democrat running for governor in the June 10 primary, was turned away from Delaney Hall, the facility where he was arrested Friday. He departed and stayed about a half hour away from the building, according to NJ.com.
Witnesses said the arrest last week came after Baraka attempted to join three members of New Jersey's congressional delegation, Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman, in attempting to enter the facility.
Baraka, an outspoken opponent of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown and vocal opponent of the facility's opening, faces a court hearing on the trespassing charge on Thursday. He has denied the trespassing charge
It wasn't immediately clear how Baraka's appearance at the gates Tuesday differed from Friday when he was arrested. He denied being on the detention facility's property, which is run by private prison operator Geo Group. Alina Habba, interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, said on the social platform X that Baraka trespassed there again.
In video of the Friday altercation shared with The Associated Press, a federal official in a jacket with the logo of the Homeland Security Investigations can be heard telling Baraka he could not enter the facility because “you are not a Congress member.”
Baraka then left the secure area, rejoining protesters on the public side of the gate. Video showed him speaking through the gate to a man in a suit, who said: “They're talking about coming back to arrest you.”
“I'm not on their property. They can't come out on the street and arrest me,” Baraka replied.
Minutes later several ICE agents, some wearing face coverings, surrounded him and others on the public side. As protesters cried out, “Shame,” Baraka was dragged back through the gate in handcuffs.
Delaney Hall is a two-story building next to a county prison and formerly operated as a halfway house. In February, ICE awarded a 15-year contract to The Geo Group Inc. to run the detention center. Geo valued the contract at $1 billion, in an unusually long and large agreement for ICE.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Sun filters through the stadium as cheerleaders line up before an NFL football game between Tennessee Titans and Los Angeles Chargers at Wembley stadium in London, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)
A view from inside Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Ken Maguire, File)
The Minnesota Vikings get a double dip of international play in 2025 with trips to both Ireland and Britain as the NFL features a record seven overseas kickoffs this season, including forays into Germany and Spain.
The Vikings will play the Pittsburgh Steelers at Croke Park in Dublin on Sept. 28 in Ireland's first NFL regular season game, and then they'll fly over to London to face the Cleveland Browns at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a week later on Oct. 5.
“Our experiences in London have always been memorable, so to return in 2025 as the first team to play in back-to-back international games in different countries was something we could not pass up,” Vikings owner Mark Wilf said.
The Vikings are 8-0 in international games, including 4-0 in the regular season. The Vikings and Browns also played in London in 2017, the last time the Vikings were scheduled to visit Cleveland. That means they're going to go 24 years between trips to Cleveland, with the next on in 2033.
The matchups were revealed on Tuesday by the NFL, the second in a series of announcements of notable games on each of the league's broadcasters ahead of the full schedule release on Wednesday night.
That's also when the league will announce the Los Angeles Chargers' opponent and broadcast carrier for its first international game of the season in Brazil, on Sept. 5 at Corinthians Stadium in Sao Paulo. That's where the Philadelphia Eagles began their Super Bowl quest last year with a game against the Green Bay Packers on opening weekend.
In other international games, the Denver Broncos visit the New York Jets on Oct. 12 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London; the Los Angeles Rams visit the Jacksonville Jaguars a week later at Wembley Stadium in London; the Atlanta Falcons visit the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 9 at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin; and the Washington Commanders visit the Miami Dolphins on Nov. 16 at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid.
This marks the 14th game in London for the Jaguars, as part of the team's multi-year commitment to playing games in Britain. Overall, the NFL has played 39 regular season games in London.
The six international matchups that were announced will all be on NFL Network and streamed on NFL+.
The Colts-Falcons game in Berlin is the fifth regular season NFL game in Germany. Previous games have been played in Munich and Frankfurt.
Peter O'Reilly, NFL executive vice president of club business and league events, said the largest-ever slate of international games “underscores our collective commitment to global growth as we continue our journey to becoming a truly global sport.”
Also Tuesday, the NFL revealed on “Good Morning America” that the Super Bowl champion Eagles will play the Packers in Green Bay on Monday Night Football on Nov. 10. The rest of the MNF lineup will be announced Wednesday.
The Week 10 game at Lambeau Field pits the teams at the center of the tush push debate this offseason. Green Bay has proposed a ban on the Eagles' short-yardage tactic, calling for the NFL to outlaw the quarterback sneak where teammates push him from behind. The issue is expected to be debated at the league's spring meeting next week.
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AP Pro Football Writer Dave Campbell contributed to this report.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Tuesday he is placing a blanket hold on all Justice Department political nominees, as he seeks answers related to the Trump administration's plans to accept a luxury jet from the Qatari royal family to use as Air Force One.
“News of the Qatari government gifting Donald Trump a $400 million private jet to use as Air Force One is so corrupt that even Putin would give a double take,” Schumer said on the Senate floor, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “This is not just naked corruption, it is also a grave national security threat.”
“So, in light of the deeply troubling news of a possible Qatari-funded Air Force One, and the reports that the attorney general personally signed off on this clearly unethical deal, I am announcing a hold on all DOJ political nominees, until we get more answers,” he added.
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Trump meets with Saudi crown prince as Middle East trip gets underway
A blanket hold does not mean the Senate is unable to confirm these nominees, but it does force the chamber's Republican majority to burn valuable floor time to overcome the hold. Only a simple majority vote is needed to overcome the hold.
Schumer demanded the Justice Department's Foreign Agents Registration Act Unit “disclose all activities by Qatari foreign agents inside the US that could benefit President Trump or the Trump Organization,” and read a detailed list of questions probing the details of this jet offer. He also called on Attorney General Pam Bondi testify before the House and Senate “to explain why gifting Donald Trump a private jet does not violate the Emoluments Clause — which requires congressional approval — or any other ethics laws.”
The Democratic leader focused his questions on the national security risks of trusting a key piece of government equipment, like Air Force One, to a foreign country, and pressed on whether the Qataris could be trusted to outfit the plane.
“President Trump has told the American people that this is a ‘free jet.' Does that mean the Qataris are delivering a ready-on-day-one plane with all the security measures already built in? If so, who installed those security measures and how do we know they were properly installed? Why would we take the risk of trusting any foreign country to do this sensitive work? If not, what security modifications would be needed to ensure a foreign-sourced Air Force One is safe to use?” he asked
Schumer also pressed for other details, including how much it would cost taxpayers to make the necessary security adjustments for the plane, who in the administration was involved in arranging the offer, and whether there is any quid pro quo attached to what the president has called a “gift.”
“What are the parameters of this deal, and which country brought it up first — us or them? What is Qatar being offered in return?” he asked.
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Some GOP senators express misgivings over Trump plan to accept Qatari jet
Schumer's announcement come as ethics experts have raised concerns about the Trump administration's potential move and questioned whether accepting the plane will violate the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, which prohibits a president from receiving an “emolument” or profit from any “King, Prince, or foreign state” unless Congress consents.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that the legal details on accepting the jet, which would be retrofitted and used as Air Force One, are “still being worked out.”
“Any donation to this government is always done in full compliance with the law,” she added.
Democrats have slammed the plan, with Schumer posting on social media Sunday: “It's not just bribery, it's premium foreign influence with legroom.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters in the Capitol that “there are lots of issues associated with that offer, which I think need to be further talked about.” The South Dakota Republican did not elaborate on what he sees as issues.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, for his part, declined to weigh in on the administration's plan, telling CNN earlier in the day: “I haven't had a chance to even look at that yet.”
While some in the president's party have defended the move, several Republican senators on Monday expressed misgivings about Trump's plans, noting the potential for security and legal risks.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a member of the Senate GOP leadership team, said Monday evening that Trump and the White House “need to look at the constitutionality” of the issue.
“I'd be checking for bugs is what I'd be checking for,” Capito said.
Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri argued that it “would be better if Air Force One were a big, beautiful jet made in the United States of America.”
This headline and story have been updated with additional developments.
CNN's Manu Raju, Ted Barrett and Alison Main contributed to this report.
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Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
A container ship is moored at the port of the port of New York & New Jersey in Elizabeth, N.J., Monday May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
President Donald Trump attends a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Royal Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is waging a trade war without getting approval from Congress: He declared a national emergency to slap import taxes — tariffs — on almost every country on earth.
The president is now facing at least seven lawsuits that argue he's gone too far and asserted power he does not have.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade, which deals specifically with civil lawsuits involving international trade law, held the first hearing on the challenges Tuesday morning in New York. Five small businesses are asking the court to block the sweeping import taxes that Trump announced April 2 – “Liberation Day,'' he called it.
Declaring that the United States' huge and long-running trade deficits add up to a national emergency, Trump invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEPPA) and rolled out 10% tariffs on many countries. He imposed higher– up to 50% -- “reciprocal'' tariffs on countries that sold more goods to the United States than the U.S. sold them. (Trump later suspended those higher tariffs for 90 days.)
Trump's tariffs rattled global markets and raised fears that they would disrupt commerce and slow U.S. and global economic growth.
Jeffrey Schwab, senior counsel and director of litigation at the nonprofit Liberty Justice Center, said the president is exceeding the act's authority. “That statute doesn't actually say anything about giving the president the power to tariff,'' said Schwab, who is representing the small businesses. “It doesn't say the word tariff.''
In their complaint, the businesses also call Trump's emergency “a figment of his own imagination: trade deficits, which have persisted for decades without causing economic harm, are not an emergency.'' The U.S. has, in fact, run a trade deficit – the gap between exports and imports – with the rest of the world for 49 straight years, through good times and bad.
But the Trump administration argues that courts approved President Richard Nixon's emergency use of tariffs in a 1971 economic crisis. The Nixon administration successfully cited its authority under the 1917 Trading With Enemy Act, which preceded and supplied some of the legal language used in IEPPA.
The legal battle against Trump's tariffs has created unusual bedfellows, uniting states led by Democratic governors with libertarian groups – including the Liberty Justice Center – that often seek to overturn government regulation of businesses. A dozen states have filed suit against Trump's tariffs in the New York trade court. A hearing in that case is scheduled for May 21.
Kathleen Claussen, a professor and trade-law expert at Georgetown Law, said Tuesday's hearing and another scheduled for the states' lawsuit in the coming weeks will likely set the tone for legal battles over tariffs to come. If the court agrees to block the tariffs under the emergency economic-powers act, the Trump administration will certainly appeal. “It strikes me probably this probably is something that has to be decided by the Supreme Court,” she said.
And if the cases do go to the Supreme Court, legal experts say, it's possible the justices will use conservative legal doctrines they cited to rein in government powers claimed by Democratic President Joe Biden administration to strike down or limit tariffs imposed by Trump, a Republican.
The U.S. Constitution gives the power to impose taxes — including tariffs — to Congress. But over the years lawmakers ceded power over trade policy to the White House, clearing the way for Trump's expansive use of tariffs.
Some lawmakers now want to reclaim some of the authority they've given up.
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, for instance, have introduced legislation that would require presidents to justify new tariffs to Congress. Lawmakers would then have 60 days to approve the tariffs. Otherwise, they would expire.
But their proposal appears to stand little chance of becoming law, given most Republican lawmakers' deference to Trump and the president's veto power. “That train has left the station,'' said trade lawyer Warren Maruyama, who was general counsel for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in the administration of President George W. Bush.
For now, many American businesses are struggling to cope with Trump's tariffs, which have lifted America's average tariff to the highest level since 1934 — even after a trade truce with China was announced Monday, according to Yale University's Budget Lab.
Victor Schwartz of New York City has spent the last 39 years building a business importing wine and spirits from small producers across the world. The tariffs are hitting his business hard. His customers want regional wines from around the world, so he can't just shift to American vintages. And the state requires him to post prices a month in advance so it's tough to keep up with Trump's ever-changing tariffs.
His business — V.O.S. Selections — is one of the five plaintiffs in Tuesday's hearing. “It's a race against time,” he said. “Will we get through it? I'm not sure exactly.”
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
A first printing of the United States Constitution is displayed at Sotheby's auction house during a press preview on Nov. 5, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson, left, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, right, look on as Chicago billionaire Ken Griffin discusses a $10 million donation to reduce gun violence in the city during a press conference in Chicago, April 12, 2018. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, File), File)
Citadel CEO Ken Griffin believes American prosperity is a testament to the power of the Constitution. And as the country gets ready to celebrate its 250th anniversary next year, the hedge fund billionaire wants to expand public access to the 1787 document.
Griffin announced Tuesday that he will lend his first-edition copy of the Constitution to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia for a public exhibit dedicated to the founding document of the U.S. government. He will also loan the center his copy of the Bill of Rights, which he has not previously acknowledged owning publicly, and has made a $15 million donation for the exhibit – the largest in the center's history.
Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson, left, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, right, look on as Chicago billionaire Ken Griffin discusses a $10 million donation to reduce gun violence in the city during a press conference in Chicago, April 12, 2018. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, File), File)
“The authors of the Constitution had incredible foresight in designing a system of government that has withstood the test of time and now, more than ever, protects the American Dream,” Griffin said in a statement.
Jeffrey Rosen, CEO of the National Constitution Center, called Griffin's loan of the documents and the donation a “transformative opportunity.”
“Ken Griffin's generosity is going to allow us to create a new Founding Principles gallery that will tell the story of the American idea from the revolution through the Constitutional Convention through ratification and all the way up to the adoption of the Bill of Rights,” said Rosen, adding that the new exhibit will also mark the center's largest renovation since it opened in 2003.
The support comes as the Constitution is increasingly cited, as all three branches of government navigate questions about who should be controlling what.
“The Constitution Center's mission has never been more relevant,” said Rosen, adding that the nonpartisan nonprofit center tries to reduce polarization by offering a platform for both conservative and liberal Constitutional scholars. “It's an honor to convene people of different perspectives for these Constitutional debates and conversations. And we are very much looking forward to continuing these conversations.”
A longtime Republican megadonor, Griffin has recently drawn attention for his criticisms of President Donald Trump.
“The United States was more than just a nation. It's a brand,” Griffin said at the Semafor World Economy Summit last month. “It was like an aspiration for most the world. And we're eroding that brand right now.”
But Griffin's representatives said the donation and loan to the NCC have been planned for years.
“The National Constitution Center is a powerful platform for celebrating our country's founding principles,” said Julia Quinn, Citadel director of philanthropy. “The work it has done to increase awareness and understanding of the Constitution, at both the center itself and through its widely available educational programming, is best in class and we're thrilled about this partnership.”
Griffin purchased the rare first printing of the Constitution at auction at Sotheby's in New York for $43.2 million in 2021, with plans to make the document available for public viewing. He declined to say when he acquired the rare first printing of 17 proposed constitutional amendments passed in 1789 by the House of Representatives for consideration by the Senate — which, after further debate, became the Bill of Rights.
Caroline Klibanoff, executive director of Made By Us, a nonprofit that helps museums and history institutions better connect with those under 30, said next year's 250th anniversary of the United States is an “incredible opportunity” to help members of the largest youth generation link their futures to their histories.
And at a time when younger generations show an increased distrust of institutions, the National Constitution Center can address that issue by showcasing such important documents, Kilbanoff said.
“They are the fact-checking generation. They want to see the original source material and not take your interpretation for it,” she said. “Having the documents be at the forefront will be really desirable.”
Griffin's team said he wanted to celebrate the essential American values of individual freedom, democracy, and opportunity with his philanthropy – including his support of the recently opened National Medal of Honor Museum and his donation to the National Constitution Center.
“Ken loves America and has shown an extraordinary commitment to our founding principles,” said Cason Carter, Citadel head of public affairs. “He cares deeply about expanding access to the American Dream, which is underpinned by these historical documents, and he believes that America is well worth celebrating, particularly on its 250th anniversary.”
______
Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
People stand in line to vote inside Brookside Engine Company 1 firehouse, June 7, 2016, in Mendham Township, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File)
Alex Berrios, left, and Devon Murphy-Anderson, right, co-founders of the nonprofit Mi Vecino, coach newly hired staff members on how best to approach people and convince them to register to vote on June 24, 2021, in Kissimmee, Fla. (AP Photo/Will Weissert, File)
Supporters hold a sign before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak during a campaign event, Sept.12, 2024, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Newark mayor and gubernatorial candidate Ras Baraka speaks to reporters after a protest in front of of Delaney Hall, the proposed site of an immigrant detention center, in Newark, N.J., March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Democrats have long focused on immigration when courting Latino voters in states like Arizona, Nevada, New Jersey, and Florida, where generations of Mexican, Cuban and other Latin American immigrants have settled and gained permanent legal status.
But Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election and the rightward shift of Latino voters have some liberals reconsidering traditional wisdom.
“People do care about it, but they don't vote on it. They vote on the economy,” said Patricia Campos-Medina, a labor activist who ran for the U.S. Senate last year in New Jersey and is now advising U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, one of the Democrats running for governor in next month's primary.
Liberal strategists, organizers and some politicians are urging Democrats to focus on the economy in this year's elections rather than on immigration. Some argue a broad economic message would be more effective with the wide range of nationalities and experiences in the Latino community rather than customized efforts based on perceived cultural or political interests.
Last year, Trump, a Republican, made inroads in heavily Puerto Rican areas of eastern Pennsylvania and turned South Texas' Rio Grande Valley while improving his numbers along Florida's Interstate 4 corridor. His message to Latinos focused heavily on the economy and border security.
“Latino operatives have been saying, ‘Don't treat us all as a monolith,'” said Tory Gavito, who co-founded Way to Win, a progressive group formed after Trump's 2016 win that recently conducted focus groups with Latinos who skipped the 2024 election. “They were pretty monolithic.”
Inflation was top of mind for nearly half of Latinos who voted last fall, according to AP VoteCast, a wide-ranging survey of the 2024 electorate. About three-quarters of Latino Trump voters were very concerned about housing costs in their community, compared with about 6 in 10 white Trump voters.
“Where we fell short was failing to fully appreciate the bread-and-butter economic issues that were driving them,” said Tom Perez, a former Democratic National Committee chair who advised President Joe Biden. He is now co-chair of the American Bridge 21st Century, a group that does opposition research on Republicans. “Many folks felt like we were too focused on identity politics and not focused enough on the cost of eggs, the cost of gas, the cost of living.”
Alex Berrios, co-founder of the organizing group Mi Vecino, which mobilizes Latino voters in Florida, Arizona and Maine, said Democrats focused too much on using buzzwords and trying to micro-target specific nationalities. The result, he argues, left voters feeling as though the party's message was staged.
“It's like they were saying, ‘Let me get my Venezuelan script out,'” Berrios said. “No. The first thing is just be relatable.”
Chuck Rocha is a Democratic strategist who mobilized Latinos for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential bid in 2020 and for U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego last year and started a super political action committee, or PAC, to reach out to Latinos in key races. He argued that Democrats “mess up by bringing a policy book to a boxing match.”
“It's about three things: affordability, affordability, affordability,” he said. “Affordability is the only thing that they care about because that's what's hitting them in the face every day.”
New Jersey's primary for governor is an early test of the different Democratic points of view. Last year, Trump flipped two Hispanic-majority towns that he had lost by more than 30 and 50 percentage points in 2016. Democrat Kamala Harris won a traditionally blue state by just 6 percentage points, the closest presidential contest there since 2004.
Sherrill, who flipped a longtime Republican district in winning her House seat in 2018, has focused on her biography and her military service while also arguing she will stand up to Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk. One of her ads promises she will “drive down costs from health care to housing.”
Her campaign manager, Alex Ball, outlined during the weekend in a memo that one of its goals is meeting in person Hispanic voters from two suburban counties who have voted in three of the four past Democratic primaries.
“There is a real risk of a Republican winning in November, but Mikie is the candidate who can win just like she has won tough elections before, even driving out a long-time Republican incumbent in a Trump district — something no one thought was possible,” Ball wrote.
Meanwhile, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has frequently campaigned against U.S. immigration authorities' plans to open a detention facility in his city. The mayor was arrested by immigration authorities on Friday while demonstrating outside, with video of his detention and release spreading widely and leading to his competitors in the Democratic primary rallying to his side.
A May AP-NORC poll found that 38% of Hispanic adults approve of Trump's handling of the economy, which is roughly in line with U.S. adults overall.
But there's growing unease as Trump's plans to revive manufacturing and reshape the global economy have been rolled out with constant changes, creating uncertainty and sparking concerns of prices rising and products disappearing from shelves. From January through March, the economy shrank for the first time in three years as businesses were disrupted by Trump's trade wars. Trump fired thousands of federal workers, with impacts felt outside of Washington.
The Libre Initiative, a Koch Network-affiliated conservative group, is running ads targeting Latinos in support of tax breaks approved during Trump's first term that may expire at year's end.
Daniel Garza, president of the group, acknowledged “nervousness” among Latino voters, with some wondering if maybe Trump took on too much and too fast. But Garza said that it's too soon to make a fair assessment of his second term, which began in January.
He argues voters should wait and see how Trump negotiates trade and whether the Republican Party can pass his “big, beautiful bill” with both tax breaks and spending cuts and promises he made such as exempting tips, overtime and Social Security from taxation.
“My sense is that Latinos are a very patient lot,” he said. “Aguantamos mucho.”
That is Spanish for “We put up with a lot.”
___
Associated Press Polling Editor Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux in Washington contributed to this report.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Former President Joe Biden's advisers privately discussed Biden using a wheelchair if he won reelection in 2024.
According to the book Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios's Alex Thompson, scheduled for release on May 20, advisers were fully aware by 2023 of Biden's deteriorating health, which was even worse than believed by outsiders. Biden's physician, Kevin O'Connor, reportedly suggested he use a wheelchair if conditions worsen, something Biden's advisers believed would be political suicide if done before the election.
“Biden's physical deterioration — most apparent in his halting walk — had become so severe that there were internal discussions about putting the president in a wheelchair, but they couldn't do so until after the election,” the authors wrote, according to an excerpt obtained by Axios.
“Given Biden's age, [his physician Kevin O'Connor] also privately said that if he had another bad fall, a wheelchair might be necessary for what could be a difficult recovery,” they wrote.
The book is based on interviews with over 200 people, mainly Democratic insiders with knowledge of events. Nearly all took place after the 2024 election.
The book also alleged that Biden aides lied about the reason for the president's awkward gait when they claimed throughout 2024 it was a result of him fracturing his foot in November 2020 and refusing to wear his walking boot past a certain point. The claim contradicted O'Connor's assessment in 2021 that “both small fractures of his foot are completely healed” and that “this injury has healed as expected.”
The primary reason for Biden's labored stride was “significant spinal arthritis,” a problem that led to aides changing his schedule.
The book revealed that Biden's infamous fall in June 2023 at the Air Force Academy, a fall mocked by President Donald Trump and his allies, was more severe than previously thought.
The authors wrote that Biden's aides constantly argued with O'Connor, who was demanding more time for Biden to rest. He often quipped that the then-president's aides were trying to kill him.
On physical deterioration, a Biden spokesperson who declined to be identified told Axios in a statement that Biden didn't require any special treatment for his gait and that it hadn't worsened.
“He was transparent about this, and it was far from ‘severe,'” according to the statement. “Yes, there were physical changes as he got older, but evidence of aging is not evidence of mental incapacity.”
“And so far,” it continued, “we are still waiting for someone, anyone, to point out where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or make a presidential address where he was unable to do his job because of mental decline. In fact, the evidence points to the opposite — he was a very effective president.”
However, other sections of the book allege that severe mental decline had been observed by aides since at least 2022. One senior aide who quit the White House over the belief that Biden shouldn't run for reelection told Tapper and Thompson, “We attempted to shield him from his own staff, so many people didn't realize the extent of the decline beginning in 2023,” according to the Guardian.
“I love Joe Biden. When it comes to decency, there are few in politics like him. Still, it was a disservice to the country and to the party for his family and advisers to allow him to run again,” the aide added.
Other Democrats were less charitable.
BIDEN COMEBACK TOUR ISN'T HELPING THE DEMOCRATS
“It was an abomination. He stole an election from the Democratic Party; he stole it from the American people,” a prominent Democratic strategist said of the former president's drive to seek reelection.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was also heavily critical of Biden, warning him in a July visit to his Delaware home that if he lost to Trump, 50 years of “amazing, beautiful work goes out the window. But it's worse than that — you will go down in American history as one of the darkest figures.”
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Independent Women's Forum economic policy director Patrice Onwuka on the GOP's hopes to pass the 'big, beautiful bill' and what to expect from upcoming inflation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
House Republicans are moving to put stricter work requirements on food stamps in a bid to cut government waste and find taxpayer savings for President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill."
Cobbling the vast piece of legislation together takes coordination by 11 different House committees, each working on a portion of it under their panel's jurisdiction.
The portion released on Monday night would raise the upper age limit for work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), from certain able-bodied adults up to age 54 to those up to age 64.
Whereas the current rules exempt people with dependents under age 18, the new provision would now include SNAP recipients with children above age 7 who otherwise qualify for work requirements.
BROWN UNIVERSITY IN GOP CROSSHAIRS AFTER STUDENT'S DOGE-LIKE EMAIL KICKS OFF FRENZY
Republicans are working on President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill." (Getty)
The House Agriculture Committee, which oversees federal food programs in addition to America's farmers, was tasked with finding $230 billion in spending cuts out of a sum total of $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion dollars – cuts that conservatives had demanded to offset the cost of Trump's other priorities.
"For far too long, the SNAP program has drifted from a bridge to support American households in need to a permanent destination riddled with bureaucratic inefficiencies, misplaced initiatives, and limited accountability," Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., said in a statement.
"This portion of the One Big, Beautiful Bill restores the program's original intent, offering a temporary helping hand while encouraging work, cracking down on loopholes exploited by states, and protecting taxpayer dollars while supporting the hardworking men and women of American agriculture."
The legislation also would eventually have the states cover some SNAP costs. Currently, the federal government fully covers SNAP costs for all 50 states and half the states' administrative costs to run it.
ANTI-ABORTION PROVIDER MEASURE IN TRUMP'S 'BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL' COULD SPARK HOUSE GOP REBELLION
The bill would hike work requirements for food stamps. (Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The new bill would impose a 5% baseline benefit cost share for all states, beginning in 2028. States with higher rates of erroneous payments would pay more as well.
It would also lower the "match rate" for which the government reimburses states for those administrative costs, from 50% to 25%.
Fox News Digital first reported in late February that Republicans were looking to heighten work requirements for food stamps via reconciliation, when similar legislation was introduced by Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., a member of the Agriculture panel.
House and Senate Republicans are working on advancing Trump's agenda via the budget reconciliation process this year.
Reconciliation allows the party controlling both houses of Congress and the White House to move a massive piece of legislation, provided it addresses budgetary matters like spending, taxes or the national debt.
It makes that possible by lowering the Senate's passage threshold from 60 votes to 51, lining up with the House's own simple majority threshold – meaning Democrats are completely sidelined in the process.
Trump wanted Republicans to craft a bill advancing his priorities on the border, immigration, taxes, energy, defense and raising the debt limit.
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The House Agriculture Committee, along with two other top committees, are advancing their own portions of the bill on Tuesday.
When that is done, all 11 House committees that have crafted individual reconciliation pieces will put them together into a massive bill, identical versions of which must pass the House and Senate before reaching Trump's desk.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he wants the House to finish its portion of the effort by Memorial Day.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
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One company dominated the competition: Impossible Foods.
by Kenny Torrella
Over the last decade, plant-based meat has gotten a lot more meaty.
Dozens of startups have launched in recent years to develop more realistic-tasting burgers, nuggets, and sausages as an alternative to factory farmed meat, which causes billions of animals to suffer terribly, pollutes our air and water, and accelerates climate change.
For a time, the plant-based meat sector was on a major upswing: Retail sales doubled from 2017 to 2020. But since then, sales have continually declined. Recently published data found a seven percent drop in plant-based meat retail dollar sales from 2023 to 2024 and an 11 percent drop in the number of products sold.
To better understand what consumers really think about plant-based meat, a few months ago one organization conducted a huge blind taste test, which I recently covered:
In December and January, Nectar — a nonprofit that conducts research on “alternative protein,” such as plant-based meat — brought together nearly 2,700 people in a first- and largest-of-its-kind blind taste test. Without knowing which version they were tasting, the participants tried 122 plant-based meat products across 14 categories, like burgers, hot dogs, and bacon, alongside one animal meat “benchmark” product per category. Each product was tested by at least 100 participants, who then rated them on texture, flavor, appearance, and overall enjoyment on a 7-point scale from “dislike very much” to “like very much.”
Twenty of the plant-based products won Nectar's “Tasty award” — meaning that half or more of the participants rated them better than or equal to the animal-based counterpart (six of the 20 came from just one company: Impossible Foods). This suggests that some of consumers' preference for animal meat — or dislike of plant-based meat — is just in their head, an idea I explored in depth in April.
The products were all served as part of a dish, like they'd be eaten in regular life — vegan meatballs were served with spaghetti, for example, and deli slices in a sandwich with fixings. While some of these products don't taste identical to meat when eaten on their own, when prepared in a meal, differences in taste become much less important.
If you want to give the top-performing products a try, continue on to learn where to find the 14 that are available in the US, what I think of them (at least, the ones I've tried), and a bit about the companies behind these standout plant-based meats. (The six award-winning plant-based meat products that are only available in Europe can be found at the end of the article.)
US plant-based meat companies have reliably churned out meat-free burgers for decades, in part because they're a beloved American staple, but also because ground beef is easier for food scientists to replicate than, say, a steak's complex fibrous structure. You can now find plant-based burgers at the vast majority of US grocery stores, and even at a lot of restaurants. Here are the companies that made the best burgers in Nectar's blind taste test:
I'll be honest: I've tried a lot of plant-based chicken nuggets, and I can't tell much of a difference between them (they all taste like, well, chicken). They're among the easiest foods to make plant-based because chicken nuggets are already highly processed and bear little resemblance to whole chicken meat.
You can't go wrong with meat-free nuggs from the two Tasty award winners — Impossible Foods and MorningStar Farms — but I also recommend chicken nuggets from Beyond Meat and chicken tenders from Gardein.
A newsletter analyzing how the meat and dairy industries impact everything around us.
Plant-based breakfast sausage patties, like plant-based nuggets, all kind of taste the same to me. But blind taste testers have a preference for two companies' products: Impossible Foods and Gardein, a Canadian company that's launched a number of delicious plant-based meat products over the years, which are widely available in the US.
I also like Impossible's ground sausage, which comes in a roll, giving you flexibility in how to use it.
The only plant-based meatballs and hot dogs to win a Tasty award are made by — you guessed it — Impossible Foods. Its hot dogs are even good enough for Joey Chestnut, the world's top-ranking competitive eater, who signed an endorsement deal with the company in 2024.
The list above only includes products available in the US, but a number of Nectar's winners appear to only be available in Europe:
While a blind taste test is the best measurement of a plant-based meat's quality, I also want to share some of my personal favorites — and those from friends and fellow Vox colleagues — that didn't win a Tasty award but deserve the limelight just as much:
If you can't find a product near you, or want to try something not widely available in the US, there are a number of online food retailers, like Vegan Essentials and Thrive Market, that carry specialty plant-based products.
Nectar's blind taste test demonstrated that, overall, plant-based meat still has a long way to go to compete with animal meat on flavor, texture, price, and other attributes. But that so many of the plant-based products were rated just as good or better than their animal meat equivalents shows how far the industry has come in recent decades.
In the years ahead, as the problems of our food system — animal cruelty, climate emissions, water pollution, and more — grow and worsen, its alternatives will improve. If we're lucky, they'll come to be seen less as substitutes and more as ethical, and tasty, options to satisfy humanity's desire for meat.
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Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier reflects on shifting relations in the Middle East since President Donald Trump's first visit to the region on 'Special Report.'
President Donald Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for his first major overseas trip since retaking office, hoping to secure major deals on trade and diplomatic breakthroughs across the Middle East.
The president is now expected to meet with Syria's interim president on Wednesday, with some analysts predicting the meeting could result in a big diplomatic win for Trump.
"This is a historic opportunity, and it would be a shame if the U.S. lost it," Natasha Hall, senior fellow with the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told Fox News Digital.
President Trump seems open to renewed relations with Syria, including the possibility of lifting crippling sanctions imposed under the previous regime of Bashar al-Assad.
ISLAMIST GROUP RUNNING SYRIA HAS MIXED RECORD OVER GOVERNANCE IN PROVINCE, RULED WITH 'IRON FIST'
President Donald Trump, left, walks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a welcoming ceremony in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 13, 2025. (Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS)
"We may take them off of Syria, because we want to give them a fresh start," President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday.
The president added that "we want to see if we can help them out" and that a determination on Syria sanctions will be made at some point.
"Syria now, for the first time, has a government in power that is not only no longer reliant on Iran to survive but is quite hostile to Iran, and so that would be a big opportunity lost if the U.S. didn't step up," Hall added.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syrian interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, pictured here, hold a press conference after their meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkiye, on Feb. 4, 2025. (Mehmet Ali Ozcan/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a non-profit helping to bring democracy to Syria, recently met with Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus.
Moustafa exclusively told Fox News Digital that the two spoke for over three hours about a potential breakthrough in U.S.-Syrian relations, which have been severed since 2011 following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, which led to the deaths of over 500,000 people.
Moustafa and others are pushing for a meeting between al-Sharaa and President Trump during his visit to the Gulf this week. For Syria's new government, this will be their opportunity to persuade the new administration to do business with a country coming out of a devastating 14-year civil war and mend ties with a leader who was once aligned with the Islamic State and al Qaeda.
"Syria's objectives are quite clear on why they would want to meet President Trump in Saudi Arabia, to make headway on some of these core issues of cooperation and to alleviate any of the concerns the White House may have. And some of the things they've been trying to do is to show that they can be cooperative on intelligence issues, on business, and talking about companies seeking to do business in Syria," CSIS' Hall said.
SYRIA'S NEW REGIME HITS HEZBOLLAH TARGETS IN LEBANON OVER CLAIMS ITS FIGHTERS WERE EXECUTED
Yet others urge caution. "Right now, Sharaa is not restricting political and civil liberties, but he's an authoritarian by nature." former U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford told Fox News Digital.
Ford, who was the last U.S. ambassador in Damascus, was pulled from the embassy in October 2011 after the Syrian uprising turned violent. Ford led the effort to put al-Sharaa on the terrorist list in 2012 and said, although he is pragmatic, he is leading an extremely weak government.
"He doesn't control all of Syria yet. The government in Damascus that he leads is not very strong, and it will take time to reassert all of its authority over Syria," Ford said.
Ford does not believe al-Sharaa will pursue terrorism as he did in the past, but while there have been some promising developments since taking power, the U.S. must keep its expectations relatively low.
"Syria is so weak, militarily and economically, with lots of internal political divisions. Therefore, it's not going to be in a position to sign huge arrangements with the U.S.," Ford cautioned.
A senior official in the Syrian Foreign Ministry told Fox News Digital that President al-Sharaa emphasizes "that the new Free Syria seeks to establish a strong strategic relationship with the United States, one grounded in mutual interests and shared partnership."
People wave guns in the air as they gather to celebrate the fall of the Syrian regime in Umayyad Square on Dec. 8 in Damascus, Syria. (Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images)
The senior official added that "Damascus sees U.S. President Donald Trump as the leader most capable of achieving peace in the Middle East," noting that Syria hopes to become an active and influential ally to Washington on regional issues.
Moustafa also met with members of the National Security Council and conveyed the Syrian president's desire for a new partnership.
The National Security Council did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
The new Syrian leader has already shown a willingness to cooperate on some key issues important to the U.S. The new Syrian government has cooperated with U.S. intelligence agencies and foiled several ISIS plots to attack Damascus. Syrian intelligence services also arrested ISIS commander Abu al-Harith al-Iraqi in February.
TRUMP TARGETS MASSIVE INVESTMENTS IN FIRST MIDDLE EAST TRIP
President Donald Trump speaks as he welcomes the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles NFL football team to the South Lawn of the White House on Monday, April 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Moustafa also said that al-Sharaa was worried about the massive buildup of Iranian-backed militias along the Iraqi side of the Syrian border. This is a worry for the U.S. as well as the Trump administration, he said, as it has been looking to reengage with Iran to curb its nuclear program.
In al-Sharaa's eyes, the deal of the century would bring peace to Syria and its neighbors, including Israel. Moustafa added the deal would keep China, Russia and Iran out and allow U.S. troops to go home in the right way.
Yet critics warn a potential deal with the United States is not without its obstacles.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, then jihadist group's chief Abu Mohamed al-Jolani, checks the damage following an earthquake in the village of Besnaya in Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province at the border with Turkey, on February 7, 2023. Since becoming the country's leader, Jolani is now known as Ahmad al-Sharaa. (OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images)
Al-Sharaa led the Islamist rebel group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to victory over the Assad dictatorship in December. He had a $10 million bounty for his capture that was lifted in February amidst the administration's efforts to talk to the new Syrian government.
CHRISTIAN WATCH GROUP RISES UP TO PROTECT COMMUNITY AMID GROWING VIOLENCE IN SYRIA
HTS is still a designated foreign terrorist organization, which complicates doing business in Syria.
"The question at hand is whether to believe that a change in behavior, following the fall of the regime, translates into a more permanent change in character, ideology, and governance," Caroline Rose, director of The New Lines Institute, told Fox News Digital.
A protester holds a placard with a photo of Ahmed al-Shara (Colani) and the words "It doesn't matter if he wears a turban or a tie, a murderer is a murderer" during the demonstration. (Murat Kocabas/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Rose, who recently traveled to Syria, noted that while HTS has been incrementally breaking away from affiliations with terrorist organizations and has adopted some moderate elements over time, there are still doubts that this will "stick," particularly with recent sectarian tensions.
"Skeptics of lifting restrictions on Syria immediately fear that any move could be too premature and could risk the U.S.' credibility among its regional counterparts," Rose added.
Since becoming president, al-Sharaa has formed a transitional government composed of close allies from the HTS rebel group and a mix of technocrats, former opposition leaders, civil society activists and even some former members of the Assad government.
The temporary constitution signed by al-Sharaa in March guarantees basic freedoms such as freedoms of opinion, expression and the press. It also protects women's rights and promises equal rights for all Syrians regardless of ethnicity, religious sect or gender, yet it still leaves the country under Islamist rule during the transitional process.
There remain some concerns over the power concentrated in the hands of the president. The president can unilaterally declare a state of emergency and suspend basic rights if national security is threatened.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, greets the then-Syrian President Bashar Assad in Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 25, 2019. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP, File)
The vast powers granted to the executive in the new constitution is a reminder for many Syrians of the authoritarian past many suffered at the hands of the Assad regime for over 50 years.
Although there is a new sense of optimism within Syrian society about its future, civil peace and security remain elusive.
Deadly sectarian clashes in March launched by remnants of the former Assad regime in Syria's coastal region led to the deaths of 200 members of the security forces. Forces allied with the government and armed civilians responded with brute force. The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported that these groups were responsible for the deaths of at least 396 people.
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Tensions have also escalated with Syria's Druze population as well, highlighting the delicate balance of Syria's complex ethnic divides and the new authority's ability to control various armed factions.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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President Donald Trump promised to declassify and release thousands of pages of documents related to the hottest topics in the Make America Great Again online world: Jeffrey Epstein files, President John F. Kennedy assassination secrets, Russiagate smoking guns, and more.
Months later, most of the records remain snarled in layers of bureaucracy, and the few that have been released have notably underwhelmed.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has repeatedly pledged to release the full trove of Epstein-related materials, has come under scrutiny after months of delays and mixed signals. On Feb. 21, Bondi declared on Fox News that the Epstein client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review,” sparking hopes for an imminent release.
More speculation began around the time Bondi was caught on a hidden camera on April 28 by James O'Keefe's media group casually discussing “tens of thousands” of Epstein videos at a restaurant. The viral clip, released publicly after Bondi made a similar comment to the press on May 7, further fueled MAGA-aligned skepticism, especially after Bondi's February document drop turned out to contain largely public or redacted information.
AG Pam Bondi Was Covertly Recorded on April 28, Revealing Previously Undisclosed Information About Epstein Regarding 'Tens of Thousands of Videos of Little Kids' to a Complete Stranger in a D.C. RestaurantYesterday, the AG Made an Almost Identical Statement Publicly After… pic.twitter.com/l1U89U9eji
At the same time, congressional Republicans on multiple committees are still waiting on correspondence with the Department of Justice tied to politically charged investigations during the Biden administration — including records related to Trump-focused prosecutions, communications involving the FBI's handling of school board protests, and internal DOJ discussions about controversial memos from the previous administration targeting religious conservatives. The delays have added to the perception that the DOJ is moving too slowly to fulfill the administration's sweeping transparency pledge.
While rumors and allegations about Epstein's troves of illicit recordings have circulated online for years, no court records or investigations have ever confirmed the existence of Bondi's vaguely specified “tens of thousands” of abuse videos. Law enforcement has acknowledged seizing extensive troves of CDs, hard drives, and nude photographs from Epstein's properties, but no legal filings or case evidence to date have detailed the scale or contents of these materials beyond general references.
Around the time the undercover video was released last week, House Republicans, led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), began publicly pressing Bondi for answers.
In a May 8 letter co-signed by Reps. Tim Burchett (R-TN), Eric Burlison (R-MO), and Eli Crane (R-AZ), Luna demanded the DOJ release the complete Epstein files by May 16, with only minimal redactions to protect survivors. The letter also questioned whether internal or external actors are deliberately blocking the release and accused Bondi's office of stonewalling congressional oversight.
“The survivors of Jeffrey Epstein as well as the American people deserve to know who among the elite protected, enabled, or participated in Jeffrey Epstein's disgusting racket,” Luna said in a statement. “Our task force is demanding the full release of these files or a briefing on the status of the investigation. We work alongside the DOJ — not for it.”
Burchett told the Washington Examiner on Monday that he is so far “not very confident” the DOJ will meet the May 16 deadline set under Luna's letter.
“I think it goes much deeper than anybody really realizes,” he said. “I hope I'm pleasantly surprised, but I just think this thing is — there's a lot more to this than we know.”
Burchett also addressed Bondi's comments about the broad scope of child abuse material the government is sifting through. “These bastards, they generally do have tens of thousands [of files],” he said, citing his prior legislative work going after child predators in Tennessee and suggesting that he was not surprised by the high volume of videos Bondi claimed were in the government's possession.
The Tennessee lawmaker said he has more confidence in FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino's leadership but raised concerns about a lack of cohesion with DOJ leadership.
“I have full confidence in Dan Bongino. I really do. I just, my confidence in Ms. Bondi is waning,” he said. While Burchett said, “Bongino and [FBI Director] Kash [Patel] are together,” he noted the connection between the FBI and the attorney general has not been as “seamless” as he had hoped.
In response to an inquiry about the Republicans who cosigned the letter about the Epstein files, the White House told the Washington Examiner it stands firmly behind Bondi.
“President Trump has full confidence in Attorney General Pam Bondi,” White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said.
Huston noted that Bondi has “swiftly restored fair, equal, and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law,” contrasting her leadership with what she described as Biden's “corrupt DOJ” that “focused on weaponizing law enforcement against their political opponents and appeasing violent criminals.”
Huston added that Bondi is fulfilling her mandate by “expelling rogue actors and rooting corruption out of our system.”
Bongino, in a lengthy post on May 10, defended the bureau's work and addressed criticism about the DOJ's transparency. His statement came one day after Luna's letter and the Washington Examiner‘s inquiry to the DOJ.
I'd like to update you on some things that I think are going well, and some things that we can, and will, do better. The workforce has been working overtime on task force operations to remove dangerous illegal aliens from the country. The work continues. The message is clear.…
“We're clearing information to Congress, and the public, as quickly as possible,” Bongino wrote. “In just the couple of months since we've sworn in we've responded to requests for information on the attack on Rep. [Steve Scalise (R-LA)] and members of Congress, the Nashville attack, Crossfire Hurricane, the COVID cover-up and more. We are working with the DOJ on the Epstein case and, as the AG stated, there are voluminous amounts of downloaded child sexual abuse material that we are dealing with.”
“There are also victim's statements that are entitled to specific protections,” Bongino added. “We need to do this correctly, but I do understand the public's desire to get the information out there.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has been closely monitoring the FBI's compliance with document requests. On Monday, he told the Washington Examiner he has maintained regular contact with the bureau to ensure full productions are made “without unnecessary redactions.”
Grassley expressed appreciation for Patel's efforts to “enhance the Bureau's transparency” and emphasized that the FBI “has a constitutional obligation to respond to congressional oversight,” calling transparency a key driver of accountability.
Meanwhile, House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) recently appeared on a popular right-wing podcast to air out his theories about the handling of the promised Epstein document release.
Speaking on Benny Johnson's show last week, Comer bluntly suggested the DOJ might not even have the files. “The attorney general does not have them or she would've turned them over,” Comer said, floating the possibility that “deep state actors” may have destroyed critical records before Trump returned to office.
Beyond Epstein, Republicans on multiple committees still await key Biden-era documents. These include records related to the DOJ's handling of Trump-focused prosecutions, FBI memos targeting religious conservatives, and communications tied to school board investigations that predate Trump's second term.
Burchett said those other investigations also deserve prompt responses. “All of the above,” he said when asked where he believes the DOJ is dragging its feet.
“It just takes so much time. And that's part of the problem the Trump administration's having — you've got two years to do all this stuff before the midterms,” Burchett said. “If Congress is slow to act, then it will never, will, never. We stand a chance of never seeing it pass.”
A separate Republican-backed congressional inquiry is seeking documents from the DOJ, FBI, and the National Archives and Records Administration related to the Biden administration's alleged political animus in bringing a pair of criminal cases against Trump ahead of the 2024 race.
A spokesperson for NARA, which is operated by acting Archivist and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, confirmed to the Washington Examiner last week it is working “as quickly as possible” to comply with a request in a letter from Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) concerning what the senators describe as the Arctic Frost investigation over alleged collusion between the Biden White House and the Biden DOJ over Trump's indictments. The letter included a May 14 deadline for a response.
“We are committed to full transparency as the Senate pursues this inquiry, and will make every effort to meet the Senators' requests,” the NARA spokesperson added.
With other congressional inquiries, such as the House Judiciary Committee's requests for documents related to the DOJ's communications with Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis, the FBI's anti-Catholic memo, and school board monitoring policies, began months ago and still have not yielded anything from the DOJ.
While some Republicans, such as Comer, have raised concerns that Biden-era holdovers might still influence document release delays, the DOJ has notably fired nearly a dozen prosecutors who worked under former special counsel Jack Smith. Those prosecutors were dismissed within weeks of Trump taking office, and key communications staff tied to Smith were replaced in recent weeks. The DOJ has also moved quickly to install political appointees across senior roles, consistent with standard departmental transitions.
GOLDMAN ACCUSES BONDI OF PREVENTING RELEASE OF EPSTEIN FILES, DEMANDS DOCUMENTS
Amid the slow progress of its transparency plans, the DOJ has sought to demonstrate aggressive action on other priorities aligned with the administration's law-and-order agenda. Last week, the DOJ announced one of the largest fentanyl trafficking busts in recent history, a nationwide sweep of child predator arrests under Operation Restoring Justice, and a new civil rights investigation into an anti-Catholic state law in Washington.
However, with key deadlines looming and Republican pressure mounting, the Trump DOJ faces a pivotal test of whether it can make good on its document release promises or whether internal inertia will erode one of the administration's signature political pledges.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2025 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.
Fox News host Greg Gutfeld and the ‘Gutfeld!' panel break down what's behind Democrats poor polling.
A Democratic National Committee panel voted to void its election of David Hogg as vice chair of the Democratic Party on Monday.
The initial vote comes after mounting internal criticism of Hogg, though party officials say the vote was based on a procedural challenge made in February claiming Hogg and another official were improperly elected. The DNC will vote later this year on whether to remove Hogg.
"Today, the DNC took its first steps to remove me from my position as Vice Chair At-Large. While this vote was based on how the DNC conducted its officers' elections, which I had nothing to do with, it is also impossible to ignore the broader context of my work to reform the party which loomed large over this vote," Hogg said in a statement reacting to the vote.
"I ran to be DNC Vice Chair to help make the Democratic Party better, not to defend an indefensible status quo that has caused voters in almost every demographic group to move away from us," he added.
DEMOCRATS' VICE CHAIR GETS ULTIMATUM: STAY NEUTRAL IN PRIMARIES OR STEP DOWN FROM PARTY LEADERSHIP
David Hogg, gun control advocate and survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School tragedy, had his election to DNC vice chair voided on Monday. (Dominic Gwinn/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
Monday's vote also ousted Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta as DNC vice chair. Christine Pelosi, a member of the credentials committee and daughter of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., argued the vote was not in reaction to their performance.
"First, I want to say clearly and explicitly that this decision has nothing to do with the service of any DNC officer, especially [Hogg] or [Kenyatta]. This is about a violation of parliamentary procedure that was raised in a challenge filed back in February by another candidate for Vice Chair."
"I think I speak for all of us on the Committee when I say I hope both of these talented individuals put their names on the ballot again," she said. "We'll move fast to get this resolved. I have total faith in our DNC members to review this issue and vote their conscience."
DEMOCRATS' VICE CHAIR IGNITES CIVIL WAR, TARGETING 'ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL' INCUMBENTS IN PRIMARIES
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her daughter Christine Pelosi hold "We Love Joe" signs as he speaks on the first day of the Democratic National Convention in 2024. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)
Hogg's potential removal comes after he announced plans to spend $20 million to primary older Democratic lawmakers in blue districts to make room for new Democratic leaders.
Hogg clashed with veteran Democratic strategist James Carville over the plan during a joint appearance on journalist Tara Palmeri's podcast.
Carville criticized it as "abominable" and "jacka--ery of the highest level" for prioritizing pushing out Democrats over beating Republicans. Hogg shot back that the party is capable of both. Carville demanded Hogg focus on winning elections against the GOP.
Hogg insisted that the point of his strategy is to "win elections."
James Carville and David Hogg sparred on a political podcast. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SCAD; Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
"It's not to win an election in Queens which you don't ever run against a Republican. It's to help Democrats win elections."
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The two ended up burying the hatchet, with Carville posting to X that the DNC "needs him," as he "fights" for the party.
Fox News' Gabriel Hays contributed to this report
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.
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The Senate's loudest Republican defender of Medicaid is keeping his powder dry on the House GOP's “big, beautiful bill.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), whose support is crucial for Trump's legislative agenda but is contingent on preserving Medicaid, wants to see what House Republicans can muster with their thin majority first.
“Let's see what they actually pass,” Hawley told the Washington Examiner on Monday evening. “Let's see what it actually comes out to, what the details are. I'm against anything that's a cut.”
The proposal, which the House Energy and Commerce Committee will debate and possibly alter on Tuesday, includes $715 billion in cuts over the next decade to Medicaid and Obamacare. It's a significantly pared-back version of initial proposals to slash Medicaid benefits alone by more than $800 billion. The current version amounts to a compromise between swing-district centrists opposed to steep reductions and conservative fiscal hawks wanting to use reductions to help offset Trump's economic policies and tax cuts.
Still, the text includes de facto cuts that, if passed, would be sent to the Senate, where Hawley and other Senate Republicans are seeking to safeguard the government-subsidized health insurance program that covers some 80 million poor adults and children. The legislation is packaged in a so-called budget reconciliation bill that would only require a simple majority to pass the Senate.
Hawley described the “move away” from more drastic cuts previously floated by fiscal hawks as a positive sign. And he suggested stricter work requirements were acceptable. But the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office's early analysis that 8.6 million people could lose coverage because of the various changes appeared to give Hawley pause.
“My position on that is, I'm against cutting Medicaid benefits, and specifically Medicaid benefits in the state of Missouri. So let's see where the House gets to on that,” he said.
The proposal includes work, education, or volunteer requirements of at least 80 hours per month for able-bodied beneficiaries; more frequent verification of income and residency eligibility; a freeze on an arrangement that allows states to boost federal Medicaid funding by taxing healthcare providers; and increasing co-payments by up to $35 for those above the federal poverty line.
Federal Medicaid spending has skyrocketed since the expansion of eligibility under former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. Total Medicaid spending was $333 billion in fiscal 2008, before Obama became president, and jumped to $860 billion by 2023. The federal share of the costs also increased from 60% to 72% in that time frame, according to analysis from the Paragon Health Institute.
Democrats lambasted policies that they said would “eviscerate” the program.
“Republicans promised for months that they would protect Medicaid,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said. “But now Americans know the truth: Republicans never intended to keep that promise, and this confirms it.”
In a New York Times op-ed published Monday morning that appeared to be written in the days prior to the House GOP's bill release, Hawley penned a scathing rebuke warning his party that Medicaid cuts would be “morally wrong and politically suicidal.”
“Republicans need to open their eyes: Our voters support social insurance programs. More than that, our voters depend on those programs,” Hawley wrote. “And there's a reason for this that Republicans would do well to ponder. Our economy is increasingly unfriendly to working people and their families.”
With only three defectors to spare, Senate Republicans can't afford to lose Hawley. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is opposed because he said the bill, which also deals with border security, taxes, and energy, failed to go far enough on spending cuts. Libertarian Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a deficit hawk, is an expected opponent. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) also conveyed hesitation.
HOUSE GOP ROLLS OUT MEDICAID PLAN COMPROMISE WITH STRICTER REQUIREMENTS
Centrist Republicans like Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) are also vital to win over, both having offered similar cautions as Hawley not to gut Medicaid.
Collins told the Washington Examiner on Monday evening she'd yet to examine the legislation. Murkowski was optimistic about the changes involving how states tax healthcare providers because she said Alaska likely wouldn't be affected.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday will hold its markup of the proposal, the first step to cementing the Medicaid changes into the “big beautiful bill” Congress seeks to complete by the Fourth of July.
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A movement fueled by conspiracy theories is starting conspiracy theories about its latest nominee.
by Dylan Scott
The Make America Healthy Again movement's infiltration of federal health policy took another step forward last week when President Donald Trump nominated Dr. Casey Means, a “metabolic health evangelist” and an ally of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to be his surgeon general.
If confirmed by the Senate in the coming weeks, Means will hold one of the most visible public health roles in the country, and would be set to boost Kennedy's vision for remaking the nation's approach to health and wellness.
But who is Means? And where does she fit in the broader MAHA space?
Like Kennedy, she is an insider turned outsider: She graduated from Stanford Medical School but dropped out of her residency program in 2019 shortly before completing it because she came to view the health care system as “exploitative.” She's since pivoted to focus on personal wellness, challenging the health care establishment along the way. In doing so, she's found an eager audience, attracting hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
In 2019, she started a health tech company called Levels that marketed at-home glucose monitors. Means herself has pitched the devices as a general health tool not only for people with diabetes, for whom they were originally developed, but for everyone — even though research studies have found no benefit for those without the condition. Perhaps coincidentally, last month, Kennedy floated having the federal government cover the costs of such devices for some patients, rather than cover new weight-loss drugs, as one way to arrest the country's obesity crisis.
Last year, Means published a bestselling book called Good Energy, co-authored with her brother Calley Means, that cemented her place as a MAHA champion who would take on the health care industrial complex.
In their book, the Meanses advance a theory of “metabolic dysfunction” — that Americans' bodies are bad at producing energy because of our poor diets and sedentary lifestyles, and which is the root cause of chronic diseases, including not only obesity and diabetes but even schizophrenia and depression. (Scientists have found that metabolism is central to the development of obesity and its associated diseases, but the underlying causes remain the subject of active research.)
Good Energy paints a grand conspiracy that the food and medical industries have little motivation to prevent diseases from occurring because once a person becomes ill, they start using medical services and making money for health care providers.
Experts say Means's commentary on metabolism is often overly simplistic. She can also stray into sounding more like a spiritual guru than a medical doctor, prone to talking about “dark energy” and speculating that our brains may be more like receivers that tap into the divine. She appears to view people's ill health as a matter of spiritual disorder as much as a physical phenomenon.
“Humans are out of alignment with the Earth and depleting its life force,” she wrote last year. “And human bodies are now exhibiting signs of blocking the flow of energy through them. This is insulin resistance. We are the Earth.”
To Means's public health critics, she is both anti-science — she frequently criticizes vaccines in her weekly newsletter — and fundamentally unqualified to be, as the surgeon general is often known, America's doctor. (Her medical license actually lapsed in 2019.)
“Appointing Casey Means, a non-practicing doctor who has spent years peddling unproven ‘health interventions,' means a surgeon general that will put a fringe practitioner of unproven functional medicine in charge of educating the American people about their health and disease challenges,” Arthur Caplan, a medical ethicist at New York University, told the New York Times.
But Kennedy says Means is “the perfect choice” for surgeon general — her unorthodoxy a feature, not a bug.
“Casey articulates better than any American the North Star of a country where we have eliminated diabetes, heart disease, and obesity through prioritizing metabolic health,” Kennedy wrote on X. “Casey will help me ensure American children will be less medicated and better fed — and significantly healthier — during the next four years. She will be the best Surgeon General in American history.”
The surgeon general, though not a policy-making role, has the influence to drive the national conversation on health and can draw attention to important changes in the nation's health. Vivek Murthy, President Joe Biden's surgeon general, released a widely covered report on the loneliness epidemic and called for cancer warnings on alcohol packaging during his tenure. Already Means has outlined what she'd like to see: less corporate influence in health and food, less ultraprocessed foods in the American diet, a reformed meatpacking industry, and more.
Means's priorities are consistent with Kennedy's agenda, which is why it was so surprising when Means's nomination sparked outrage among some in the MAHA universe.
Not in the least. But before we get into why not, here's what's going on: Means's critics have gotten a lot of attention recently by portraying her as insufficiently committed to MAHA's various goals — particularly in her opposition to vaccines — and suggested that nebulous dark forces may be at work against the movement.
As journalist Helena Bottemiller Evich wrote in her newsletter Food Fix, some anti-vaccine activists have come to believe an emphasis on food wellness has overtaken vaccine safety as Kennedy's primary focus, and Means's nomination exacerbated those tensions. According to the Washington Post, one anti-vax influencer said Means's appointment showed Kennedy was actually “powerless” within the Trump circle.
“I don't know if RFK very clearly lied to me, or what is going on,” Nicole Shanahan, who was Kennedy's vice presidential candidate during his presidential run, posted on X. “It has been clear in recent conversations that he is reporting to someone regularly who is controlling his decisions (and it isn't President Trump).”
Shanahan, after speculating that Kennedy had come under somebody else's influence, called the Means siblings “aggressive and artificial.” Far-right commentator and internet personality Laura Loomer called Means “a Witch Doctor” and insisted Trump could not have selected her of his own accord.
But according to Trump, he picked Means because Kennedy recommended her for the position.
So while the rift is eye-catching, it is probably better understood as interpersonal rivalries spilling into the open rather than any meaningful change in direction for Kennedy or the MAHA agenda he is implementing at HHS. Kennedy has nurtured a movement in which conspiracy theories are commonplace and now that he's disappointed some of his supporters by endorsing Means, they are seeing more conspiracies.
The MAHA movement encompasses everything from vaccine skepticism and elaborate theories of chronic disease to eliminating environmental toxins and eradicating corruption in the health system. Means may bring a particular focus on food and wellness to the surgeon general position, but if you look at his record so far, Kennedy has begun working aggressively across a wide range of issues.
In his first few months as health secretary, Kennedy has downplayed the efficacy of the measles shot in favor of alternative treatments amid the worst outbreak in decades. He has also ridiculed vaccine mRNA technology, calling into question a future Covid-19 vaccine for children. And he has launched a vaccine safety investigation and ordered a probe into autism's causes.
At the same time, Kennedy has already sought voluntary commitments from food manufacturers to remove artificial dyes from their products and tried to crack down on more additives in ultraprocessed foods. Last week, the FDA and NIH launched yet another research initiative, this one on diet-related chronic disease, that aims to understand how certain foods affect metabolism, the cornerstone of Means's theory of our modern health problems.
All of this drama over Means's nomination does clarify some things about the MAHA movement: The coalition is reactive and conspiratorial, but its key figures are moving at stunning speed to remake the country's approach to health care. Tapping Means is another step in that direction; her nomination isn't a sign of MAHA fracturing — it's a sign of Kennedy doubling down.
MAHA's political potency, much like Trump's MAGA movement, is aided by its malleability: Make America Healthy Again could mean a lot of different things to different people, from hardcore anti-vaxxers to the kind of crunchy conservative wellness influencer that Means typifies.
But while that ambiguity can be an asset in a campaign, it presents a challenge when governing. You have different constituencies who, while happy to be unified to win an election, are now pushing you to pick different personnel, to prioritize different issues, to frame issues in different terms.
Even if you largely stick to the agenda you laid out in a campaign — as Kennedy has done so far — some members of your coalition are bound to feel alienated and start airing grievances in public.
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‘The Big Weekend Show' panel discusses the mainstream media's series of pieces on Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa.
On border security, support for Israel and diplomacy with President Donald Trump, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has bucked the Democratic Party on key issues since assuming office in 2022.
A string of media reports emerged this month detailing Fetterman's alleged cognitive decline and waning support within the Democratic Party. A New York Magazine report sparked questions about Fetterman's mental stability. Subsequent reports by the Associated Press, detailing an outburst during a union meeting, and by Politico, which indicated he is losing traction among Pennsylvania Democrats, were slammed by several of his Capitol Hill colleagues as a coordinated smear campaign.
In an era of partisan politics, Fetterman has embraced bipartisanship with newly elected Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa. When McComrick was elected in November, the Pennsylvanians traded jabs for joint dinners as Fetterman built his reputation for being willing to reach across the aisle. Fetterman also met with Trump's controversial Cabinet picks and worked with Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., to pass the Laken Riley Act this year.
While Fetterman, who suffered a stroke during his 2022 Senate campaign, shut down questions about his mental fitness amid the relentless reports, it's not the first time a Democrat has been targeted after falling out of line with the party.
LEAKS TO MEDIA ABOUT FETTERMAN ARE A COORDINATED SMEAR CAMPAIGN, HILL COLLEAGUES SAY
Former Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, left, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have all faced the ire of the Democratic Party. (Reuters | Getty Images)
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., faced the ire of the Democratic Party earlier this year when he joined Fetterman in voting to pass the Republicans' spending bill and avoid a government shutdown. Schumer, currently Senate minority leader, was slammed by progressive Democrats while the future of party leadership hangs in the balance.
DEMOCRATIC SENATOR SAYS THERE ‘NEEDS TO BE SPACE' FOR FETTERMAN IN PARTY AS REPUBLICANS COME TO HIS DEFENSE
Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., was once a Democrat but later registered as an independent. While she continued to caucus with her party, Sinema ruffled liberal feathers by opposing efforts to eliminate the filibuster rule and opposed former President Joe Biden's "Build Back Better" plan.
In 2022, Sinema said she was leaving the party, adding that "nothing will change about my values or my behavior."
Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Sinema became the first senator to switch parties since the late Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter – then Republican – famously announced that "my change in party will enable me to be re-elected" in 2009.
Soon after Sinema came now-former West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin. Long seen as a moderate thorn in the side of the increasingly liberal Democrats, Manchin often clashed with his former party on environmental issues, given the Mountain State's reliance on the fossil fuel industry.
Things came to a head in Charleston when then-Gov. Jim Justice held up his bulldog Babydog backward in the legislative chamber and told actress Bette Midler – who had trashed the state over one of Manchin's such votes – to "kiss her heinie."
Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who ran for president as a Democrat in 2020, is now President Donald Trump's director of national intelligence. (Getty Images)
Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard was once considered a rising star in the Democratic Party until her comments and behavior drew the ire of party elders like Hillary Clinton. The anti-interventionist Gabbard, who had appeared in the Moscow media, was anonymously slammed by Clinton in 2019 when she said that "somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary" was a "favorite of the Russians." An advisor later said Gabbard was the figure in question.
Since then, Gabbard has gone on to make a full partisan 180, becoming a member of President Donald Trump's Cabinet.
During Rep. Nancy Pelosi's, D-Calif., historic speakership, another Democrat famously bucked the party and ultimately retired soon after trying to proverbially oust the queen.
North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler became disaffected by the liberal progression of the party and mounted an unsuccessful challenge to Pelosi's leadership role after Democrats suffered massive losses in the 2010 midterms.
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Shuler, a former then-Washington Redskins quarterback, had been the leader of the moderate Blue Dog Democrat caucus when he took aim at the speakership.
Fetterman's office did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Deirdre Heavey is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
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Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (Stephanie Lecocq/Pool via AP)
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa will not attend an Arab League summit in Iraq this week and the country's delegation will be headed by the foreign minister, the president's office said Tuesday.
A short statement released by the office of President Ahmad al-Sharaa did not give a reason why he will not attend the summit but an invitation by the Iraqi government last month trigged sharp political divisions in Iraq. The summit is scheduled to be held in Baghdad on Saturday.
Al-Sharaa and his interim government in Syria have been scrambling to establish ties with countries across the Middle East in a bid to ease skepticism about his former ties to al-Qaida and to convince Washington to lift crippling economic sanctions on the battered country.
Attending the Arab Summit would have been a major symbolic diplomatic victory for Damascus as well, as Al-Sharaa struggles to deal with opponents in the countries, largely from non-Sunni Muslim minority groups, as he tries to exert state authority across Syria.
Al-Sharaa took power after leading a lightning rebel offensive that unseated his predecessor, Bashar Assad, in December. Since then, he has positioned himself as a statesman aiming to unite and rebuild his country after nearly 14 years of civil war, but his past as a Sunni Islamist militant has left many — including Shiite groups in Iraq — wary.
Formerly known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, al-Sharaa joined the ranks of al-Qaida insurgents battling U.S. forces in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 and still faces a warrant for his arrest on terrorism charges in Iraq.
During Syria's conflict that began in March 2011, several Iraqi Shiite militias fought alongside Assad's forces, making al-Sharaa a particularly sensitive figure for them.
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FDNY Boxing Club head trainer Mike Reno and FDNY boxer James Gennari join ‘Fox & Friends' to discuss the second annual ‘Battle of the Badges,' a non-profit amateur boxing event where firefighters and police officers go head-to-head in the ring.
President Donald Trump criticized former President Joe Biden's administration on Monday for allowing "lawlessness to permeate our country" while announcing Peace Officers Memorial Day and police week.
Trump proclaimed Thursday as Peace Officers Memorial Day, continuing a 63-year tradition of honoring fallen officers on May 15. He also declared this week as National Police Week, beginning this past Sunday and going through Saturday.
"This week and always, we honor the courageous men and women serving in law enforcement and memorialize those who sacrificed their lives defending the thin blue line," he wrote in the proclamation.
In the presidential action, Trump also called out the Biden administration for its "reckless, soft-on-crime policies," which he said made it harder for police officers to do their jobs.
CELEBRATE LAW ENFORCEMENT DURING NATIONAL POLICE WEEK
President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on Monday declaring May 11 through May 17 as National Police Week and Peace Officers Memorial Day as its typical date of May 15. (REUTERS/Leah Millis)
"A nation in chaos ceases to be a citadel of liberty. Tragically, the previous administration allowed lawlessness to permeate our country, making it harder for our law enforcement officers to do their jobs," the president wrote in the order. "Their reckless, soft-on-crime policies emboldened criminals and thugs; wreaked havoc on the sanctity of our homes, businesses, and public spaces; instilled fear; and jeopardized public trust."
Trump continued by saying he is fulfilling the promises that he campaigned on to make America safe again, including taking authority at the border and "restoring the rule of law in communities nationwide."
President Trump said former President Joe Biden's policies made it difficult for police officers to do their jobs. (JOHN RUDOFF/AFP via Getty Images)
He also said that under his administration, all available resources will be utilized to ensure that officers will be equipped and trained to be the best they can be, qualified officers will be retained and recruiting will focus "on the basis of meritocracy."
NATIONAL POLICE WEEK IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW COPS WE HAVE THEIR BACKS
Trump also called on Congress to codify his executive order mandating the death penalty for those who murder a police officer and to pass a bill enhancing protections for police officers.
President Trump called on Congress to codify his executive order mandating the death penalty for convicted police killers. (Action News Service)
"I stand in steadfast solidarity with those who defend our freedoms and the families who love and support them," Trump said. "We pray for those who grieve the fallen and pledge that their lives, legacies, and sacrifices will forever be remembered by our grateful Nation."
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Governors have been asked to direct that the American flag be flown at half-staff on Thursday, and Trump has called on all Americans to observe National Police Week with "appropriate ceremonies and activities."
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Dallas Mavericks fans have spent the last few months in something akin to open rebellion against the team's front office after franchise icon Luka Dončić was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.
On Monday, that all might have just become incredibly turbulent water under the bridge.
The Mavs won the NBA lottery, getting the first pick in the draft and the chance to replace Dončić with Duke phenom Cooper Flagg. Going into the night with just a 1.8% shot of getting the No. 1 pick, the Mavericks might have just lucked into one of the all-time great draft shocks in sports history.
Consider this: in the period after the deal, the Mavericks went 14-21, lost Anthony Davis – the main player they received in return for Dončić – for weeks due to injury in his first game with the team, lost talisman Kyrie Irving to a season-ending ACL injury and watched a slew of other players go down hurt. Davis returned as the Mavs tried to win a spot in the NBA playoffs through the play-in round but ultimately fell short.
During that entire time, the fans demanded the dismissal of general manager Nico Harrison, the architect of the deal to send Dončić to the City of Angels, and pundits declared that the Mavericks had just made a potentially franchise killing move. Dončić is just 26 years old, led the team to the NBA Finals a season earlier, had been named All-NBA each year he had been in the league and was entering his prime. All reporting around the deal indicated that Dončić never planned to leave Dallas, and his emotional return to Texas indicated that the pain of the surprise move still lingers with him.
All in all, it was shaping up to be a disaster of historic proportions. How far would the franchise sink after placing its hopes on the shoulders of an aging core of players who are frequently injured and watching the anticipated cornerstone of the franchise link up with LeBron James and the Lakers?
Related article
How trading Luka Dončić led to one of the bleakest stretches for any fanbase in modern sports history
Guess we'll never know.
The impending arrival of Flagg – the widely-anticipated top pick in the draft unless Dallas and Harrison decide to shock the basketball world once again – means the Mavericks will replace Dončić with one of the game's brightest young talents.
At Duke, Flagg sometimes looked like he was playing a different game than the opposition. There were few things he couldn't do, even though he was among the youngest players in the country; he didn't turn 18 until the season had already started. He averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals in 37 games for the Blue Devils, who lost in the men's Final Four to the University of Houston in the final minutes.
His trophy case from his one year in the college game is staggering. He won the Naismith Award as college basketball's top player and won national player of the year by five of the six organizations that hand out the honor. He was the ACC player of the year, the ACC's rookie of the year, a consensus first-team all-American and was the East Region Outstanding Player as the Blue Devils steam rolled their way to the Final Four.
“It's been a rough year as you all know,” Rolando Blackman, Mavericks ambassador and four-time NBA All-Star, said in an ESPN interview after the lottery. “We'll get a chance to move our franchise forward … It's really, really a great honor, and it's an important piece of the puzzle because we want to hoop down in Dallas.”
Blackman said that Flagg “can hoop, he can play,” adding, “There's a lot of great players in that draft class … We will see how the guys get together and being able to make our team better which is exactly what we want to do.”
An outstanding two-way player, Flagg will hope to fulfill Harrison's oft-repeated pledge in the wake of the Dončić trade: that defense wins championships. Dončić's relative lack of defensive prowess was the main reason that Harrison justified the trade publicly, although reports after the deal indicated there were questions about his fitness, commitment and disagreements with team personnel that helped drive a wedge between the Slovenian star and the Mavs.
Related article
Mavs GM Nico Harrison admits he was surprised by Luka Dončić's level of popularity with fans following shock trade to Lakers
Dončić was absolutely beloved by the Mavericks fanbase – “He was ours,” Dallas fan John Tarrant told CNN Sports earlier this year. It's hard to imagine that Flagg will completely replace the 6-foot-6-inch, 230-pound, Dončić-shaped gap in the hearts of Mavs fans – at least right away.
But his anticipated arrival in the Metroplex is likely to begin to quell one of the most tumultuous periods for any team in recent memory. It's enough to give a whole city a collective case of whiplash.
And for Harrison – the source of the city's ire, the man who bears responsibility for the Dončić trade and became one of the most ridiculed executives in sports – it suddenly looks like an insane gamble might have paid off. If the Mavericks find themselves making a deep playoff run in a year or two, the embattled GM will likely be telling anyone within earshot: “I told you so!”
Whether he'd deserve to do so is a fair question. He and his team entered Monday with a 1.8% chance of getting the top pick and got a lucky bounce which was so unlikely that online conspiracy theories were immediately created to explain it.
There's no evidence of a conspiracy. Instead, it's just cemented something we already knew: the Dallas Mavericks' 2025 is going down as one of the most unlikely rollercoaster rides in sports history.
Surely, Harrison is going to make the easy choice and take Flagg with the top pick. But after the last few months, it'd be hard to blame any Mavs fans for being on the edge of their seats until the teenage star's name is called by commissioner Adam Silver in Brooklyn next month.
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President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on his way to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
The group representing White House journalists said Monday it was disturbed that the Trump administration barred any wire service news reporters from traveling with the president on Air Force One to the Middle East.
No reporters from The Associated Press, Bloomberg or Reuters were on the plane, where presidents often take questions from traveling members of the press.
“Their reports are distributed quickly to thousands of news outlets and millions of readers throughout the world every day, so all have equal access to coverage of the presidency,” the White House Correspondents' Association said in a statement. “This change is a disservice to every American who deserves to know what their highest elected leader is up to, as quickly as possible.”
The White House has been fighting in court with the AP, after the news service was blocked from covering smaller “pool” events when it decided not to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America, as Trump had called for in an executive order.
In response to a ruling in that case, the White House instituted a new media policy that lumped the wire services in with print reporters in a rotation for space on Air Force One or Oval Office events. A Reuters reporter accompanied the president when he traveled to Pope Francis' funeral.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not return messages seeking comment.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
The sheriff in New Mexico's most populous county is crediting his department's drone program for helping disarm two children and prevent what could have been a worse outcome. The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office recently released drone footage showing a tense standoff in February with two young brothers — ages 7 and 9.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The sheriff in New Mexico's most populous county is crediting his department's drone program for helping disarm two children and prevent what could have been a worse outcome.
The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office recently released drone and body camera footage showing a tense standoff in February with two young brothers — ages 7 and 9. The deputies are heard repeatedly urging the boys to drop the gun.
“Put it down, baby,” one of them says as other deputies say they need to keep talking to the boys.
Deputies used a non-lethal round to distract the boys before moving in. At one point, Sheriff John Allen said one of the boys raised the gun and pulled the trigger, but it malfunctioned.
Allen said the drone provided a critical vantage point to help deputies assess the situation in real time, allowing them to safely and swiftly secure the area.
No charges have been filed. Authorities have instead been working since the standoff to get the family access to trauma therapy, medical services, behavioral support and even prepaid grocery cards.
Prior to responding that day to a report of children playing with a loaded handgun, deputies had been called to the home at least 50 times for issues with the boys and their family.
Allen used the Feb. 16 incident as an example of the ongoing challenges law enforcement is facing.
“This case illustrates the complex intersection of juvenile crime, mental health and public safety,” Allen said in a statement issued Thursday. “We are taking important steps to close service gaps and expand our ability to work with juveniles involved in firearms or violent crimes.”
New Mexico has had several cases of violence involving young suspects, including a fatal hit-and-run in Albuquerque and a shooting in Las Cruces in March that killed three and wounded 15 others. Prosecutors, law enforcement and Republican lawmakers have been asking Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to call a special legislative session to address the state's crime problem.
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Canada's Election:
Tim Hodgson in May 2014.
The first time Timothy Hodgson was asked by Mark Carney to come to Ottawa, he left behind an investment banking career at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. that had seen him climb the ranks to lead its Canadian business.
That assignment — an 18-month stint as a special adviser to Carney at the Bank of Canada — ended in 2012, shortly before Carney was recruited to lead the Bank of England. Hodgson went back to corporate life, though not back to Goldman.
President Donald Trump may soon be receiving a luxury jet from Qatar, and even some of MAGA's most faithful are against it.
Multiple outlets on Sunday reported that the Qatari royal family is preparing to give the Trump administration a Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet, to be used as Air Force One in Trump's second term before being donated to his presidential library. Though the exact value of the specific jet in question — which is 13 years old, ABC News reported — isn't clear, a new 747-8 jumbo jet fetches a whopping $400 million.
Frequent Trump critics such as Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont have criticized the gift, but in a notable break, some of Trump's most ardent MAGA loyalists have also criticized the potential plane deal.
"I love President Trump. I would take a bullet for him," Laura Loomer, a conservative activist and longtime Trump ally, wrote on X on Sunday. "But, I have to call a spade a spade. We cannot accept a $400 million 'gift' from jihadists in suits."
"This is really going to be such a stain on the admin if this is true. I'm so disappointed," she added.
Trump all but confirmed the news in a Truth Social post on Sunday.
"So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane. Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!! MAGA," Trump wrote.
Meanwhile, Qatar's media attaché to the US, Ali Al-Ansari, told BI in a statement that the transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is "currently under consideration." The matter "remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made," Al-Ansari said.
Some other Trump supporters echoed Loomer's concerns.
Mark Levin, a radio host and Trump backer, took to X to accuse Qatar of spreading "anti-American" propaganda.
"Their jet and all the other things they are buying in our country does not provide them with the cover they seek," he wrote on the social media platform.
He later wrote "Ditto" in response to Loomer's post.
Conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro also weighed in on the controversy during a Monday episode of his self-titled podcast.
"Taking sacks of goodies from people who support Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood, al-Jazeera, all the rest, that's not America first. Like, please define America first in a way that says you should take sacks of cash from the Qatari royals who are behind al-Jazeera," he said, adding, "If you want President Trump to succeed, this kind of skeezy stuff needs to stop."
There's been little pushback among GOP lawmakers — for now at least.
But Rep. Warren Davidson, a conservative Republican from Ohio, seemingly alluded to the situation on X without specifically naming Trump.
"I recall trying to rally support for a thorough investigation of the Clinton Foundation," he wrote. "It seemed odd that a Secretary of State / Senator / First Lady / Presidential candidate could collect hundreds of millions of dollars from foreign governments with no corruption. The appearance of corruption alone screams, 'Bad idea!'"
He continued: "My views have not changed. At a minimum, 'Bad idea!'"
And on Fox News, Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky questioned the legality of the Trump administration accepting the Qatari plane, saying it's "not worth the appearance of impropriety."
Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott, a fervent Trump supporter, also voiced his concern about the safety of Trump flying on a plane from a country that has helped fund the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The news of the plane came ahead of Trump's planned visit to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates this week.
Legal experts told Business Insider the reported gift raises both ethical and constitutional concerns.
"Outside of the legal context, it is fair to ask whether the acceptance of this gift could give rise to an apparent conflict of interest or corruption," Jessica Levinson, a law professor and the director of the Public Service Institute at Loyola Law School, told BI.
The gift could also be a potential violation of the Constitution's foreign emoluments clause, which prohibits government officials from accepting gifts or benefits from foreign parties without consent from Congress.
Trump again defended the move on Monday, telling reporters the jet wouldn't be a gift to him personally, but to the Department of Defense.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House counsel David Warrington determined that gifting the jet would be "legally permissible" if it is transferred to Trump's presidential library before the end of his second term, ABC News said.
In 2019, during Trump's first term, Bondi lobbied on behalf of the Qatari government.
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said in a statement to BI: "Any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws. President Trump's Administration is committed to full transparency."
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Global political and business leaders gathered in Riyadh on Tuesday for the Saudi Arabia Investment Forum, discussing the artificial intelligence boom and global trade.
President Donald Trump met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as several deals were announced between the two countries.
Saudi Arabia is investing $600 billion in the U.S., a package the White House said would boost "energy security, defense industry, technology leadership, and access to global infrastructure and critical minerals."
The White House also touted a nearly $142 billion deal to provide Saudi Arabia with weapons and services from U.S. defense firms.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced a deal to provide the kingdom its high-end AI Blackwell chips.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy were among the attendees, as well as other high-profile executives and power players such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Alphabet President Ruth Porat, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, Palantir CEO Alex Karp and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon.
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Microsoft plans to cut less than 3% of its global workforce, or about 6,000 employees, with notifications beginning Tuesday, the company confirmed.
A person familiar with the cuts said some affected employees would stay on the payroll for 60 days and still be eligible for rewards and bonuses. Microsoft's spokesperson did not comment on or confirm these terms.
As Business Insider reported last month, these cuts are intended to reduce the number of middle managers and increase the ratio of coders versus noncoders on projects. Microsoft organizations want to increase their "span of control," or the number of employees who report to each manager. A spokesperson said these latest cuts were not performance-driven.
Across the tech industry, a culling of middle managers is already underway. Amazon has been trying to increase the ratio of individual contributors to managers. And in December, Google CEO Sundar Pichai told staff that the company cut vice president and manager roles by 10% as part of an efficiency drive.
Microsoft is also trying to decrease the "PM ratio" on some teams, which is the ratio of product managers or program managers to engineers.
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Microsoft plans to cut less than 3% of its global workforce, or about 6,000 employees, with notifications beginning Tuesday, the company confirmed.
A person familiar with the cuts said some affected employees would stay on the payroll for 60 days and still be eligible for rewards and bonuses. Microsoft's spokesperson did not comment on or confirm these terms.
As Business Insider reported last month, these cuts are intended to reduce the number of middle managers and increase the ratio of coders versus noncoders on projects. Microsoft organizations want to increase their "span of control," or the number of employees who report to each manager. A spokesperson said these latest cuts were not performance-driven.
Across the tech industry, a culling of middle managers is already underway. Amazon has been trying to increase the ratio of individual contributors to managers. And in December, Google CEO Sundar Pichai told staff that the company cut vice president and manager roles by 10% as part of an efficiency drive.
Microsoft is also trying to decrease the "PM ratio" on some teams, which is the ratio of product managers or program managers to engineers.
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The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it is cutting an additional $450 million in grants to Harvard University through eight federal agencies, on top of the $2.2 billion already frozen last week.
"Harvard University has repeatedly failed to confront the pervasive race discrimination and anti-Semitic harassment plaguing its campus," the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism said in a statement.
The task force went on to call Harvard a "breeding ground for virtue signaling and discrimination."
It's the latest funding hit for the elite university, which has been a target of the Trump administration over the last several weeks. The Trump administration and Harvard have been engaged in a high-profile legal battle.
Harvard did not immediately respond to the latest funding cuts. University President Alan Garber previously issued a statement defending its constitutional rights after filing a lawsuit against the administration to halt the funding freeze.
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These aren't your older sibling's streaming wars.
The battle for audiences has evolved in recent months, as once-fierce rivals turn to frenemies and even team up on bundles. One key reason is that Hollywood titans like Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have stopped following Netflix and are instead carving out distinct strategies.
Netflix is all in on "engagement" — how much people are watching and interacting with its platform — and no longer regularly shares its subscriber count, which was once its north star. It also just revamped its homepage with vertical video as it takes cues from social media giants like YouTube and TikTok.
Disney, meanwhile, is locked in on subscriber growth. Two Disney streaming employees told Business Insider that attracting new users remains a top priority, especially if they're in its bundles.
And Warner Bros. Discovery is prioritizing profitability with Max. Its quality-over-quantity strategy hinges on preventing cancellations instead of reaching everyone or maximizing engagement.
Disney, WBD, Comcast, and Apple didn't respond to requests for comment.
For years, Netflix focused on subscriber growth, which Wall Street was obsessed with. But as it approached and cleared the 300 million subscriber milestone, Netflix zeroed in on another goal (besides growing revenue and profit): engagement.
A Netflix spokesman said engagement is its "best proxy for customer satisfaction" and that highly active viewers are less likely to cancel.
Netflix drove about 8% of watch time on connected TVs in the US in March, the most recent data provided by Nielsen. Though Netflix was the highest among its paid streaming rivals, it trailed YouTube, which got 12%.
That's why Netflix's co-CEO Greg Peters said on the company's first quarter earnings call that there was "plenty of room to grow" engagement.
Boosting watch time helps Netflix achieve another top goal: building out its nascent ad business. The company is playing catch-up here. It will generate $2.2 billion in US ad revenue this year, according to EMARKETER, which is well below Hulu's $2.7 billion figure and in line with Peacock. However, those two streamers have had ad businesses for years.
John Conca, a media analyst at Third Bridge, said Netflix's ad business will blossom as it builds out its own ad tech.
Amazon is also focused on its streaming ad business, which burst out of the gate in early 2024 thanks to an unconventional opt-out strategy. The e-commerce giant turned on ads for all Prime Video users who don't pay $3 a month to remove them, instantly scaling its ad business. Nearly 34 million of Amazon's 166 million US-based Prime Video users see ads, EMARKETER estimates.
Amazon has a treasure trove of shopping data, which Conca said can help boost the effectiveness of its ads.
An employee at a rival streamer who recently interviewed at Amazon told BI the company seemed aggressively focused on growing its ad business.
Not all streamers have shifted their focus to engagement. Disney still sees plenty of room for subscriber growth, as do midsize players like Paramount+ and Comcast's Peacock.
"Disney is still not focused on engagement, as Netflix is right now," one Disney streaming employee said, adding that subscriber count is the main focus. They said engagement should improve as Hulu and ESPN fold into Disney+ through the bundle, though.
Engagement still matters to Disney. A second streaming employee said hours watched largely determine if shows or movies are considered hits, though content can also be deemed successful if it drives signups.
Disney won't go back to growth at any cost, however.
"Management's made it absolutely crystal clear that yes, they want growth — but it's got to be profitable growth," said media analyst Joe Bonner of Argus Research.
Growth rarely comes cheap in streaming, as Paramount+ and Peacock have learned.
Paramount+ has been a consistent leader in new streaming signups, data firm Antenna found. The company said this month that its global subscriber base had risen 11% in the last year to 79 million.
And while Peacock plateaued for a time after the Olympics, the US-only service added 5 million subscribers last quarter, taking its total to 41 million.
Despite those gains, neither service is profitable, though both are getting closer. Still, Bonner expects to see the two eventually join forces through a merger or bundle, reasoning that "it's hard to see them surviving on their own."
Some on Wall Street are also perplexed by Apple's streaming strategy. Apple TV+ has high-quality shows, but a shallow library means it's plagued by an industry-leading churn rate, per Antenna.
"I'm not sure what the play with Apple TV is," Conca said.
Apple's services chief, Eddy Cue, has acknowledged the challenge of building a streaming library from scratch.
"We're betting everything on the shows that we're doing," Cue said in March. "The ones that we do, they all need to stick. Otherwise, we have nothing else."
While all of these streamers are looking to make money, some are more focused on profitability than others.
WBD once hoped Max would challenge Netflix. In 2023, it dropped HBO from its streamer's brand so the service could have "truly something for everyone," as CEO David Zaslav once said.
But after a slow start, executives pared content spending and doubled down on its strengths.
"We're not going to flood the zone," Zaslav said on the company's first quarter earnings call. "We want to be telling the best stories, and we want to also be taking advantage of all the great quality content over the years."
Max no longer aspires to be a Netflix killer, but it may not have to be.
WBD successfully bundled its streamer with Disney+ and Hulu. Max is smaller than streaming titans but is steadily growing, though that's mainly due to international expansion.
While Max now has a lower ceiling, it's profitable. That's crucial for WBD, considering its hefty debt load. Max might not win the streaming wars, but it can still be a winner.
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WARREN, Mich. — General Motors expects to pioneer a new "groundbreaking" EV battery technology that the automaker says will reduce costs and boost profitability of its largest electric SUVs and trucks.
GM is targeting the new batteries and chemistry inside them — called lithium manganese-rich (LMR) prismatic battery cells — to be used in full-size electric vehicles such as its Chevrolet Silverado and Escalade IQ beginning in 2028.
The new batteries use more-prevalent, less-expensive minerals like manganese instead of larger amounts of cobalt and nickel that are currently used in EV batteries from GM and other automakers.
Different EV battery chemistries impact everything from the range and safety of EVs to energy efficiency and charging capabilities, among other needs.
"LMR unlocks the premium range and performance at an affordable cost," said Kurt Kelty, GM vice president of battery, propulsion and sustainability, during a media event at the automaker's tech and design campus in suburban Detroit. "It's a game-changing battery for electric trucks."
GM's first-to-market expectations come after crosstown rival Ford Motor earlier this month announced its intention to launch what it similarly called "game-changing" LMR batteries before 2030.
LMR batteries have been around for decades, but they've historically offered a far shorter lifespan, according to Sam Abuelsamid, vice president of market research at auto advisory firm Telemetry.
It's a problem GM believes it has solved with its LMR batteries, which are being developed in partnership with LG Energy Solution.
Ultium Cells, a GM and LG Energy Solution joint venture, plans to start commercial production of LMR prismatic cells in the U.S. by 2028, with preproduction expected to begin at an LG Energy Solution facility by late 2027.
Prismatic cells references the form, or shape, of the square battery cells. They've historically been used in hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius, followed more recently by EVs.
GM, for several years, has been using rectangular "pouch" cells in the U.S., while also also utilizing cylindric cells in China. GM says it first started researching manganese-rich lithium-ion battery cells in 2015, accelerating the technology development in recent years.
GM expects the new prismatic LMR batteries and supporting technologies to cut hundreds of pounds from its large EVs. The new battery packs will have 50% fewer parts as well as a significant reduction in the number of modules, or cell cases, inside the vehicles' battery packs, GM said.
For EVs, battery cells are typically combined into battery modules, which are then installed in battery packs that get integrated into a vehicle.
Kelty said the LMR batteries will be supplemental to GM's current pouch cell batteries, formerly known as Ultium, as well as upcoming LFP — lithium iron phosphate — prismatic battery cells that are expected to be used in smaller, entry-level EVs.
"We're going through a massive growth phase in our EV side of the business," Kelty said, noting that GM has surpassed Tesla as the top EV battery manufacturer in North America. "We're really building a electrification powerhouse."
GM expects the LMR prismatic battery cells to have 33% higher energy density, providing addition miles of range, compared with the best-performing LFP cells, but at a comparable cost.
Kelty declined to discuss the specific cost of the batteries, commonly measured in dollars per kilowatt-hour, or kWh, but confirmed the company achieved a cost reduction of $60 per kilowatt-hour last year.
The average cost of battery packs for EVs dropped 20% to $115 per kilowatt-hour in 2024, according to a BloombergNEF battery price survey released in December.
Abuelsamid, a former engineer turned analyst, estimates GM's packs with LMR prismatic batteries are likely around a cost of $80 to $90 per kWh. That compares with at least $125 per kWh for GM's current batteries, he said.
GM declined to disclose whether vehicles with LMR batteries will be profitable upon launch. The Detroit automaker said nearly 50% of its current EVs in the first quarter were variable profit positive, meaning they generated enough revenue to cover their production costs.
Kelty described LMR as the "next step" in GM's EV plans. The automaker has sunk billions of dollars into electrification as part of an ongoing, yet scaled back, plan under GM CEO Mary Barra.
In 2021, Barra said GM would exclusively offer EVs by 2035, investing $35 billion between 2020 and 2025. The company has since said customer demand — which has been slower than expected — will dictate its EV plans. It also has not disclosed its total EV investment thus far.
GM believes the LMR batteries will assist in lowering barriers for consumer adoption of EVs. Most notably, concerns around cost and range. Other hurdles, such as charging infrastructure and consumer education, remain.
GM aims to offer more than 400 miles of range in an electric truck while achieving significant battery pack cost savings compared with today's EVs.
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$6 billion healthcare startup Commure has been ordered to stop making one of its most historically successful products in a legal face-off with the tech's creators.
Commure, the startup cofounded by General Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja and incubated by the VC firm, has been embroiled in legal turmoil for over a year with the makers of its former workplace safety tech, Strongline.
Canopy Works created the technology behind Strongline, a wearable panic button for hospital staff that was once Commure's best-selling product. Canopy severed its ties with Commure in 2023, after which Commure released an "upgrade" to Strongline called Strongline Pro.
Canopy alleged in a lawsuit against Commure in the Northern District of California that Commure's Strongline Pro was a derivative of Canopy's Strongline, which violated the companies' contract. Now, a federal district court has sided with Canopy and ordered Commure to stop selling Strongline Pro.
The court's preliminary injunction, filed on April 25 in the Northern District of California and made public Friday afternoon, prohibits Commure from distributing or marketing Strongline Pro to new customers, at least while the underlying breach of contract case proceeds.
It's a big win for Canopy, which says it's lost business as hospital customers "upgrade" from Canopy's Strongline to Commure's Strongline Pro. Strongline's business was Commure's sole growing revenue source at the time of its $6 billion merger with fellow General Catalyst portfolio company Athelas, as Business Insider reported in September. It's unclear how much revenue Strongline Pro now contributes to Commure or how much that revenue could be affected by the court order.
"This injunction validates the years of dedicated R&D and significant investment Canopy has poured into its unique healthcare safety platform," A Canopy spokesperson said in a statement to BI. "This ruling provides certainty for our customers, confirming they are partnered with the creator of this technology and can trust the integrity and performance of the Canopy system safeguarding their employees."
Commure has asked the court to delay the injunction's enforcement. In a statement to BI, Commure SVP and General Manager Dan Warner said he expects the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the injunction, adding that "the law and facts are firmly on Commure's side," and that Commure developed Strongline Pro entirely in-house.
For its part, Commure has expanded well beyond its workplace safety product in the past year. The startup has signaled its intentions to dig deeper into healthcare AI following its acquisition of revenue cycle management company Athelas, buying ambient scribing company Augmedix in July 2024 for $139 million in cash, and scooping up another General Catalyst portfolio company, AI-powered care coordination platform Memora Health, in December.
General Catalyst is also closing a deal to buy Akron, Ohio-based health system Summa Health. The firm has said it plans to integrate healthcare technology into the hospitals' operations, an endeavor that would likely include Commure's tech.
Commure and Canopy created their first agreement to make Commure a reseller of Canopy's technology in 2019.
In 2022, Commure bought the rights to white-label and sell Strongline's wearable panic buttons for hospital staff. Canopy Works, then known as SMP Labs, remained a separate company and retained ownership of the intellectual property.
Tensions quickly escalated after the acquisition. In late 2022, Commure sued Canopy when the company tried to terminate its partnership with Commure. Canopy had cited delayed payments as a reason for breaking away from the startup.
That lawsuit was dismissed and later settled, but the damage was done. By December 2023, Canopy spun out for good as a new company to sell its safety technology directly to health systems.
Commure moved quickly to rebuild its workplace safety business, launching Strongline Pro just days after Canopy's debut. Commure positioned Strongline Pro as a successor to the original Strongline product, although filings with federal regulators showed substantial similarities between the two devices, per BI's September reporting.
Commure holds that "Strongline Pro was developed independently by Commure without using any information from Canopy," per the Friday injunction.
After Canopy's exodus, Commure filed a lawsuit against Canopy in April 2024, alleging that Commure had contributed to the development of Strongline's original concept and that Canopy had violated its contractual obligations to provide its tech to Commure through the end of the year. Commure also raised concerns about alleged security vulnerabilities in Canopy's technology.
As ordered in the injunction, existing Strongline Pro customers can continue to use Strongline Pro, but Commure cannot upgrade those systems or contract with new Strongline Pro customers.
In his statement to BI, Commure's Warner also referenced a prior civil decision in which he said a judge ruled that a Canopy employee, who previously worked at Commure, had misappropriated Commure's confidential information for Canopy's benefit. Warner said the ruling "confirms that Commure, not Canopy, is the party harmed in this dispute." BI could not independently review the filing as it has not been made public.
A Canopy spokesperson said in response that the arbitration was a separate issue with one of Commure's former employees that is "completely unrelated to the ongoing litigation with Canopy."
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Prices have eased amid a slowing economy, but that might not last as new tariffs take effect.
Inflation rose 0.2% in April, for a year-over-year rate of 2.3%, which is slightly less than forecasted and coming in just below March's 2.4% pace, per Consumer Price Index data released Tuesday. The CPI tracks average monthly price changes for the goods and services Americans commonly buy.
Core inflation, a measure that strips out volatile food and energy prices and is viewed as a better gauge of underlying inflation trends, remained at 2.8%.
Both inflation rates are above the Federal Reserve's overall target of 2% — a sign that inflation is cooling but not fully under control.
Even so, costs have seemingly leveled out as the economy shows signs of slowing. Airfare prices have dipped, gas prices are easing, and used car prices continue to fall, per April's CPI data. While slowing prices is a relief for consumers, the trend may not last.
A new round of tariffs on most imports began raising costs for businesses in April. While some measures have been paused — including a Monday hold on additional tariffs for Chinese goods — many are now in effect, including a 10% baseline tariff on most countries.
For now, the full impact on consumer prices appears to be delayed. Many companies stocked up on goods earlier this year in anticipation of tariffs, hoping to avoid price hikes and supply disruptions. That buildup is helping cushion near-term price increases, according to recent guidance by RBC.
"Not all inventories will turn over immediately, so April is not capturing all of the price changes that may already be working their way through the system," says Stephen Kates, a financial analyst at Bankrate. "May and June data will be better reflections of the decisions businesses have made in light of both their higher costs and the most recently rolled out trade policies."
Because of the lag in how tariffs affect prices, April's lower inflation reading is "the calm before the storm," says Christopher Naghibi, chief operating officer at First Foundation Bank.
While many analysts expect inflation to rise in the months ahead, frequent changes in trade policy have added uncertainty to the forecasts. That said, businesses are expecting 3.9% inflation over the next year, according to a recent survey from the Cleveland Fed.
Accelerating inflation would create new uncertainty for the Federal Reserve, which has kept interest rates elevated in an effort to curb price growth by discouraging borrowing and spending. But if prices rise again, rate cuts could be delayed. That means borrowing costs would stay higher for longer.
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LONDON — European countries are preparing new sanctions on Russia despite a potential direct meeting for peace talks between Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday, three sources told CNBC.
Ambassadors from the 27 EU member states are due to meet Wednesday to discuss what is likely to become the 17th package of measures against the Russian economy since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the sources said.
The package includes sanctions on a wider list of vessels that make up Russia's shadow fleet transporting Moscow's oil barrels — historically the backbone of Russia's revenues — as well as on individuals and companies that are deemed to be supporting the Kremlin's war in Ukraine. The measures could still be altered over the coming days.
European foreign affairs ministers are expected to greenlight the new sanctions next week, the sources noted.
One EU official, who did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of discussions, told CNBC that, as of Monday, four member states still had "study reserves" on the list of measures — meaning they are still discussing the sanctions with their respective domestic administrations.
The same EU official said: "Though Hungary is always a wildcard, it seems pretty much a done deal."
CNBC has reached out to the Kremlin for comment.
Speaking to CNBC on Tuesday, Hungary's spokesperson Zoltán Kovács reiterated the general view in Budapest that "sanctions do not work."
However, he signaled that, as long as the 17th package of sanctions does not include measures that would impact Hungary's energy sources, Budapest would likely have no issue approving it.
"We have always been sticking together with European colleagues," he said.
Hungary has often criticized EU measures against Russia, but has so far approved all of the sanctions.
EU sanctions must be endorsed unanimously, according to the bloc's policies. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has close ties with Moscow, in contrast to the majority of EU heads of state.
Separately, the Financial Times on Tuesday reported that the EU is preparing ways to overcome a potential veto, now or later, from Hungary on new measures toward Russia. One of the potential steps would be to move large portions of the sanctions, including 200 billion euros ($222 billion) in frozen Russian state assets, to a different legal basis.
The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, told CNBC on Tuesday that it would not comment on this report.
The EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, who leads conversations within the EU on new sanctions on Russia, reportedly told reporters last week that the bloc has alternatives if Hungary decides to use its veto power, according to the Kyiv Independent.
A second EU official, who also did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the topic, confirmed to CNBC on Tuesday that discussions have taken place among member states "for a while" on how to protect the frozen Russian assets as part of the broader measures against Moscow. The EU has been using the proceeds from these assets to support Ukraine financially.
A third source, who also chose to remain anonymous, told CNBC that the European Commission has been considering how to overcome potential vetoes from Hungary. The same official said it seems unlikely that Hungary would oppose the 17th package of sanctions.
The first EU official quoted above confirmed to CNBC that the work on the 17th package of sanctions takes place regardless of potential talks between Putin and Zelenskyy later this week.
The Ukrainian president challenged his Russian counterpart to meet in person in Istanbul on Thursday, with White House leader Donald Trump, who has been attempting to broker peace between the warring nations, on Monday saying he might also attend.
Paula Pinho, spokesperson for the European Commission, said at a briefing Tuesday that the EU is looking into further possible sanctions beyond the latest package in case Russia does not agree and hold a ceasefire.
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TEGERNSEE, Germany — Top German business leaders, economists and politicians descended onto a small, picturesque Bavarian town situated next to the iconic Tegernsee lake last week to share their hopes and discuss what's at stake for the new government.
Buoyed by recent positive market sentiment for Europe's largest economy, attendees at the summit were united in their call for the new administration to step up and honour campaign promises. Any missteps would likely not be tolerated, with some business leaders warning the government cannot allow itself a "lazy summer."
Despite rain and low hanging clouds providing a somewhat dreary backdrop to the event, which has been dubbed the "Davos of Germany," the promise of new beginnings enveloped the summit and the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement for potential changes the newly-appointed Chancellor Friedrich Merz could initiate.
Big expectations for the government were commonplace, with concerns about Germany's struggling economy and recent political turmoil seemingly having faded into the background.
The German DAX index is currently up over 18% since the beginning of this year, frequently hitting record highs in recent months. The German economy has however been in stagnation territory for over two years now, with tensions over economic, fiscal and budget policy in the previous ruling coalition and its eventual breakup continuing to weigh on expectations.
"There are very high hopes now on the new government," Patrick Trutwein, chief risk officer and chief operating officer at the IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG, said during a panel moderated by CNBC's Annette Weisbach.
He said he was feeling positive about Germany's future considering the announcement of the major fiscal package enshrined in Germany's constitution, as well as further potential reforms ahead and "an economy that's pretty robust and can build on its own ... productivity and competencies."
Matthias Voelkel, CEO of Boerse Stuttgart Group, was among those feeling hopeful.
"If we look ahead and if they [the new government] do the right thing, I'm optimistic," he told CNBC.
Audi CEO Gernot Döllner meanwhile said in a fireside chat that he was hopeful that the new government would "send an impulse into the German economy."
The mood was also upbeat in Germany's auto sector, which has long been struggling with competition from China, pressures from the transition to electric vehicles and has recently been hit by U.S. tariffs.
"The Germans are back," Hildegard Müller, president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry, told CNBC's Weisbach Friday. "We are competitive," she added.
But amid the positive buzz, it was clear that observers are keeping a close eye on the governments every move.
"This new government in Germany cannot allow itself a political lazy summer, I'm sorry, they've got to work and they've got to work hard," said Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, chairman of Spitzberg Partners and former German politician.
Or as Veronika Grimm, member of the German Council of Economic Experts, told CNBC: "A lot lies ahead for the government."
Overal the message was clear: Germany needs to get its act together.
Alexander Horn, general manager of Eli Lilly's Germany arm — Lilly Germany — said the business strongly welcomes the new government's goals, but won't tolerate any caveats.
"Specifically we expect that the declarations of intent that are in the coalition agreement will be implemented quickly, speed plays an enormously big role," he said during a panel, according to a CNBC translation.
Boerse Stuttgart Group's Voelkel indicated his optimism relied on action from the government, saying he was looking for moves towards "less bureaucracy, less anti-growth regulation, more innovation and particularly strengthening investment."
The newly minted German government has set itself many of these points as policy goals, making promises to boost the country's economy, reduce bureaucracy and boost innovation and investment during the election campaign and in its coalition agreement.
"This country needs an economic turnaround. After two years of recessions the previous government had to announce again [a] zero growth year for 2025 and we really have to work on this," German economy minister Katherina Reiche told CNBC on the sidelines of the summit.
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What the spat between Elon Musk and Bill Gates reveals about "efficiency."
In one corner is the bespectacled tortoise, Bill Gates. In the other, the chainsaw-wielding hare, Elon Musk. Each has a very different idea about what it means to give back.
Gates plans to ramp up his foundation's charitable giving to causes like public health and education over the next two decades, whereas Musk has used the White House DOGE office to nearly halt the flow of US foreign aid spending in a blink and dismantle the US Agency for International Development, which he has called a "criminal organization."
To be sure, these billionaires have very different mandates — Musk to cut government spending, and Gates to eradicate preventable diseases and spend down his vast fortune. But as Gates opens up his wallet even more, he's also squaring off with Musk. Gates is using a prolonged road map compared with Musk's move-fast-and-break-things tech ethos that had him vowing to cut $2 trillion in government spending by employing methods from a startup playbook.
"Tech innovation works when a new widget disrupts the market for the old one," Michael Morris, a professor at the Columbia Business School, tells me in an email. "Development programs work best when there is continuity, steadiness, predictability, assurance." He says Gates' approach shows "maturity in thinking through the problem." That's a shift from when Gates was considered a sometimes combative and arrogant leader at Microsoft, even if he was heralded as a brilliant innovator. The Gates Foundation has been criticized, too, for lacking transparency and for some of its spending priorities. "These days Gates looks like a sage compared to Musk and compared to the administration," Morris says.
Gates last week announced plans to unwind the Gates Foundation in the next 20 years, bringing the philanthropic effort to a close sooner than expected. But instead of cutting spending, he's increasing it: The foundation plans to distribute $9 billion in 2026, and Gates hopes the foundation will double the $100 billion it has given away since its founding in 2000 and donate another $200 billion to public health and education causes by December 31, 2045.
Meanwhile, in a matter of days DOGE pulled the rug out from under the USAID earlier this year. Funding was first disrupted, leading to confusion and chaos, and now more than 80% of USAID's tens of billions of dollars in contractual commitments have been cut. Organizations across the world that depended on money from the US have been scrambling to try to carry out their missions, which include providing emergency food to malnourished kids and medication for HIV prevention and treatment.
President Donald Trump set Musk loose to curtail the federal government's spending and waste via DOGE. In a move that many constitutional scholars say went beyond the administration's authority by circumventing Congress, the administration focused on slashing costs now, regardless of the long-term impact on the world's most vulnerable people. Gates' plan is different: It shortens the initial foundation's closure timeline with the intent of solving problems more quickly and rendering itself obsolete.
Part of the stark contrast between Musk and Gates stems from their different approaches to "efficiency." With DOGE, Musk has embodied the chainsaw approach that tech startups worship — focusing on being lean and doing more with less under a founder-mode-style leader. That doesn't necessarily translate well in government: Management experts previously told me they viewed DOGE's rollout as "clumsy," "wrongheaded," and full of "political recklessness."
The Gates Foundation's idea of efficiency is to provide humanitarian aid by using the data-driven mentality of the tech industry alongside expertise from organizations that work directly with people in need. When it comes to giving back, Fatema Sumar, an adjunct lecturer in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School, says Gates' effort "is a replicable model of data-driven, country-aligned long-term philanthropy that others could follow, and so far, few do."
It's no coincidence that the influx of funding comes as governments pull back, and Gates paired his announcement with jabs at Musk. "He's the one who cut the USAID budget," Gates told The New York Times, saying Musk had put it "in the wood chipper." When the interviewer noted that Musk had attached himself to the Giving Pledge, a concept initiated by Gates and Warren Buffett 15 years ago to encourage wealthy people to donate the majority of their assets to charity, Gates said: "The Giving Pledge — an unusual aspect of it that you can wait until you die and still fulfill it. So who knows? He could go on to be a great philanthropist. In the meantime, the world's richest man has been involved in the deaths of the world's poorest children."
The two have been feuding over philanthropy for years. Walter Isaacson wrote in his biography of Musk that Gates visited Musk in 2022 and tried to convince him to give away more of his money. Musk told Gates that most philanthropy was "bullshit," and that Gates could do more for the climate if he invested in Tesla stock, which Gates had shorted. Musk later told Isaacson that Gates was "categorically insane."
Over the past 25 years, money from the Gates Foundation has helped reduce the spread of preventable diseases, including HIV and tuberculosis, worldwide. The foundation estimates it has saved 82 million lives. DOGE's vision is one in which the problems of other countries don't fall on the shoulders of the US. Researchers from Boston University estimated that tens of thousands of people may have already died from tuberculosis or AIDS since USAID funding was disrupted. Gates' fortune allows him to fill gaps left behind by the US government. "Much like Harvard's endowment empowers them to fight back on the attack on universities, Gates' endowment enables him to step in and provide some needed services that USAID had been providing," Morris says.
More money now rather than later is a more ambitious approach. Gates described to the Times how AI tools will bolster the foundation's goals to improve healthcare, education, and agriculture. "Given that I have these resources, what can we achieve? It makes a big difference to take the money and spend it now versus later," he said.
A century ago, the world's richest men gave birth to modern philanthropy by setting up charitable foundations that still exist, including the Rockefeller Foundation and two dozen organizations that bear Andrew Carnegie's name. Today's tech billionaires, the modern equivalent of the industrialist titans, have the opportunity to make an even bigger impact, thanks to rapid advances in medicine and technology — but few have. Gates himself has said that his foundation can't assume the philanthropic responsibilities of governments alone.
"Gates, like Carnegie and Rockefeller a century ago, defines an era," Sumar says. "But today's tech giants haven't matched yet his global ambition, and the world can't afford more people on the sidelines right now."
Amanda Hoover is a senior correspondent at Business Insider covering the tech industry. She writes about the biggest tech companies and trends.
Business Insider's Discourse stories provide perspectives on the day's most pressing issues, informed by analysis, reporting, and expertise.
Jump to
Samsung is bringing out the big guns to promote the launch of its slimmest phone to date.
The South Korean electronics company released the latest Galaxy S25 Edge on Monday — a $1,099 phone that is 5.8 millimeters thick and weighs 163 grams.
Samsung tapped Felix Lee, one of K-pop's biggest faces of the moment, to promote the phone.
Lee, an Australian-born singer from the South Korean boy band Stray Kids, made a joint Instagram post with Samsung Korea on Tuesday. The cinematic video shows Lee dressed in a black suit, his trademark blond hair slicked back.
A post shared by Samsung Korea 삼성전자 (@samsungkorea)
Samsung's new phone is set to kick off a new era of skinny phones, with the iPhone 17 "Air" rumored to drop later this year. The Galaxy S25 Edge — advertised with the slogan "Beyond Slim" — is set to go on sale in the US on May 30. It has a 200-megapixel, wide-angle camera and is integrated with Samsung's AI suite, Galaxy AI.
Lee's fan base was quick to express excitement about the partnership. Reactions to the post included the comment "Who's getting this phone bcuz of Felix?" — which had been liked more than 1,500 times at press time.
Samsung first teased the partnership last week with a post showing the silhouette of Lee's face. It asked people to guess who the person might be and promised Starbucks gift cards to 25 people who guessed correctly.
A post shared by Samsung Korea 삼성전자 (@samsungkorea)
The Samsung partnership comes in an exciting year for Lee, who walked the runway for Louis Vuitton's Fall-Winter 2025 show in Paris in March.
Lee was named the house's ambassador in 2023 and has become a personal muse of LV's artistic director, Nicolas Ghesquière.
Lee said in interviews with Vogue that Ghesquière personally invited him to walk the LV Fall-Winter 2024 show in Paris. Before the March show, the designer said it was a "big honor" to have Lee there.
This is not the first time Samsung has tapped K-pop talent to promote its products. In 2020, the brand released a special BTS Galaxy phone in collaboration with the Grammy-nominated band, and has featured members of the group in its ads too.
And in 2019, Samsung also released limited-edition black and pink products in collaboration with K-Pop girl group Blackpink.
Representatives for Samsung and Lee did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
Jump to
Japanese auto giant Honda missed fiscal fourth-quarter earnings estimates as operating profit plunged 76%, with the company bracing for the full impact of U.S. tariffs.
Here are Honda's results compared with mean estimates from LSEG:
Honda's fourth quarter ends March 31.
For its financial year ended in March, revenue came in at 21.69 trillion yen, compared with the average estimate of 21.63 trillion yen from LSEG and marking a 6.2% rise year on year.
Operating profit fell 12.2% to 1.21 trillion yen, against the average LSEG estimate of 1.41 trillion yen.
Net profit for its full year declined 24.5% to 835.84 billion.
While its motorcycle business achieved record high sales volume and operating profit, Honda's automobile business saw a drop in sales, mainly in China and Southeast Asia.
Hybrid electric vehicle sales in North America, however, expanded due to higher EV incentives in the region.
Honda's results come amid trade tensions with the U.S., which has slapped a 25% tariff on foreign automobile imports.
In March, Honda had reportedly decided to produce its next-generation Civic hybrid in the U.S. state of Indiana, instead of Mexico, to avoid potential tariffs on one of its top-selling car models, Reuters reported.
According to U.S. car marketplace CarPro, Asian automakers made up six of the top eight automakers in the U.S. by sales volume in 2024, with Honda in fourth place.
In its earnings release, Honda had downgraded almost every financial metric for its current fiscal year ending in March 2026, compared with its latest full-year results. Its full-year operating profit is projected to fall almost 59% to 500 billion yen. Honda's projected net profit saw an even deeper cut at 70.1% lower, plunging to 250 billion yen, while revenue is expected to slip 6.4% to 20.3 trillion yen.
Japan's second-biggest automaker explained that the impact of tariff policies worldwide would be very significant on its business, with the frequent revisions making it difficult to formulate an outlook.
"Moving forward, we will carefully assess the impact of tariff policies and expand recovery measures while aiming for further growth in operating profit," the company said in its presentation.
Honda also changed its dividend policy from a dividend payout ratio to a "dividend on equity," forecasting an increase of 2 yen per share to 70 yen per share for its current fiscal year.
Back in February, Honda and rival Nissan terminated talks over a $60 billion merger, which would have created the world's third-largest automaker by sales volume.
Nissan also reported its fourth-quarter results, with operating profit plunging by nearly 94% to 5.8 billion yen, while revenue remained flat.
The company swung to a net loss of 676 billion yen ($4.5 billion) in the fourth quarter, compared with a 101.3 billion profit in the same period the year before.
For the full year, operating profit plummeted by almost 88% year on year to 69.8 billion yen, with the company attributing it to a decrease in sales volume, an increase in sales incentives and inflation. Revenue for the full year came in nearly flat.
Nissan also announced a plan to save 500 billion yen over the next few years. Among the measures undertaken would be a headcount reduction of 20,000 workers and consolidating its production plants to 10 from 17 by March 2028.
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Falling Bitcoin and USDT dominance and the recent triple-digit returns from altcoins could be a sign that altseason has started.
Key Takeaways:
Declining Bitcoin dominance and rising strength in altcoins and memecoins could be a sign that it's altseason.
USDT dominance could drop to 2022 lows, indicating an accelerating capital rotation into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
The cryptocurrency market shows signs that an altseason, a period where altcoins significantly outperform Bitcoin (BTC), could be on the horizon. Technical charts and market sentiment align to suggest that May 2025 might start a broader altcoin rally, driven by key indicators and shifting capital flows.
The TOTAL2 chart, representing the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies, excluding Bitcoin, has broken above a downtrend line in place since January 2025. This breakout is accompanied by a bullish break of structure (BOS) on the daily chart, forming higher-low patterns.
A decisive move above the $1.25 trillion resistance level could support a decisive uptrend comprised of higher lows and higher highs. This shift signals capital rotation from Bitcoin into altcoins.
Similarly, the Bitcoin Dominance (BTC.D) chart is signaling a potential market peak, having declined 4% over the past six days—the steepest drop since November 2024. A falling BTC.D typically indicates capital flowing from Bitcoin to altcoins, enabling altcoins to gain market share and drive collective price surges.
Michael Van Poppe, founder of MN Capital, highlighted this trend, noting a bearish divergence accompanied by declining volume. The analyst said,
Related: History rhymes? XRP price gained 400% the last time whale flows flipped
The tether (USDT) dominance chart has dropped to its lowest level since early February, at 4.59% on May 13. As illustrated below, the USDT.D chart may find support around 3.90%, as it exhibits a descending triangle pattern. A bearish breakout could lead to new lows since 2021, matching previous altseason levels.
USDT dominance declines imply capital rotation occurs in other assets like Bitcoin and altcoins. Over the past seven days, Ether (ETH), XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) have gained 44.3%, 20.6% and 22% respectively, compared to BTC's 10% rise.
Complementing the recovery with a deeper analysis, crypto trader ZERO IKA observed that many altcoins have formed a higher time frame break of structure above their February and March highs.
The analyst noted that despite recent upside, most altcoins remain 70% to 90% below their all-time highs, indicating a "relatively early" opportunity for a recovery.
The weakening stablecoin and Bitcoin dominance, coupled with a rise in altcoin market cap, opens the door for an altseason, as long as the above key trends remain intact.
Related: Dogecoin traders predict 180% DOGE price rally if Bitcoin gains continue
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
Bitcoin fails to claw its way back to $104,000 and higher despite a would-be inflation tailwind and multiple liquidity grabs over the past 24 hours.
Key points:
Bitcoin fails to capitalize on lower-than-expected US CPI data, seeing a Wall Street sell-off for a second day.
Traders see BTC/USD buying time before its next move, and a trip below $100,000 is on the cards.
Bitcoin is showing “undeniable” momentum against gold and stocks, Binance's Richard Teng says.
Bitcoin (BTC) saw a repeat sell-off at the May 13 Wall Street open as bears ignored positive US inflation data.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD again heading lower after failing to reclaim $104,000 as support.
The downside came despite the April print of the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) coming in below expectations in what should be good news for risk assets.
“The all items index rose 2.3 percent for the 12 months ending April, after rising 2.4 percent over the 12 months ending March,” an official release from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) confirmed.
US stocks opened higher, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index up 0.7% and 1.4%, respectively, at the time of writing.
Reacting, trading resource The Kobeissi Letter noted that the S&P 500 had now delivered net upside year-to-date.
“The S&P 500 has technically entered a new bull market, up 20% since April. We are seeing historic moves to both directions in both stocks and commodities,” it wrote in part of a thread on X.
BTC/USD meanwhile surfed nearby order book liquidity around spot price. For popular trader Daan Crypto Trades, the stage was now being set for fresh volatility.
“That's all the big clusters above and below taken out now. Good liquidity grab on both sides,” he summarized alongside data from monitoring resource CoinGlass.
The day prior, Daan Crypto Trades had forecast a retest of $102,000 based on liquidity clusters, a move which subsequently played out.
“Bitcoin is stalling here for a little bit, which is completely fine,” crypto analyst and entrepreneur Michaël van de Poppe continued.
Assessing the ongoing macro implications for BTC price action, trading firm QCP Capital considered the chances of the market trending sideways in the short term.
Related: Bitcoin illiquid supply hits 14M BTC as hodlers set bull market record
“BTC remains caught in a tug-of-war between its identity as ‘digital gold' and its function as a risk-on proxy. This tension continues to obscure its directional conviction,” it wrote in its latest bulletin to Telegram channel subscribers on the day.
Others remained strong in their conviction over the general market trajectory, including Richard Teng, CEO of crypto exchange Binance.
“While traditional markets recover, Bitcoin's already leading the pack,” he told X followers while comparing returns since the April 2 “Liberation Day” enacted by US President Donald Trump as he unveiled reciprocal trade tariffs.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
By Isabella Flores
Key Takeaways:
According to the fact sheet released today from the White House, the historic investment commitment between Saudi Arabia and the United States is making waves across multiple sectors, including cryptocurrency. While the spotlight falls on traditional infrastructure and defense, blockchain and crypto-related technologies are quietly positioned to ride the wave of AI, data infrastructure, and digital transformation funded by this deal.
As Saudi Arabia's DataVolt moves forward with its $20 billion U.S. investment in AI data centers and energy infrastructure, crypto analysts are closely watching the implications. AI and blockchain integration is already a growing trend—seen in decentralized AI protocols like Fetch.ai and SingularityNET—so this capital injection could lead to exponential development in edge computing, real-time data processing, and blockchain-based data verification.
The interaction between blockchain systems and artificial intelligence research is changing quickly. Projects like Ocean Protocol and Render Network—which tokenize AI services and GPU compute resources—could benefit from the increased capacity and capital flow generated by DataVolt and its U.S.-based facilities.
Another eye-popping figure is the $80 billion co-investment by companies like Google, Oracle, Salesforce, AMD, and Uber. While most associate these brands with Web2 infrastructure, several are making strategic moves into blockchain and digital assets:
This $80 billion in technology investment will likely strengthen the infrastructure layer supporting crypto adoption and developer tooling. With these corporations increasingly interacting with decentralized protocols, the border between Web2 and Web3 continues to blur.
Saudi Arabia's pivot toward advanced technology investment mirrors broader regional support for blockchain. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), for instance, has already positioned itself as a global crypto hub with pro-blockchain regulations, free zones for Web3 startups, and a digital dirham under development.
Saudi Arabia itself is a participant in Project Aber, a joint central bank digital currency (CBDC) initiative with the UAE. The project successfully demonstrated cross-border payments using distributed ledger technology, suggesting that crypto rails are not only under consideration—they're in active development.
With its new $600 billion commitment, Riyadh is doubling down on digital transformation. While much of the current focus remains on AI and infrastructure, the strategic overlap with blockchain cannot be ignored.
Real assets—energy, transportation, aerospace, and healthcare—are the focus of much of the investment package. At the forefront of tokenization trends, these industries are where real-world assets (RWAs) like real estate, commodities, and even carbon credits are being represented as digital tokens on-chain.
Read More: SEC Unites Wall Street Heavyweights for Pivotal Tokenization Summit
Blockchain-backed logistics and supply chain systems could all be seen in GE Vernova's energy solutions of $14.2 billion and U.S. enterprises' infrastructure services of $2 billion. Tokenization platforms such as Chainlink, Centrifuge, and RealT could find new institutional interest as more capital enters these traditionally non-digital sectors.
Though the $142 billion defense contract is mostly about conventional military hardware and services, information technology and cybersecurity are quite important. Modern defense operations increasingly depend on secure communications, encrypted data exchange, and real-time coordination—all areas where blockchain can improve resilience and transparency.
In the past, American defense companies looked at blockchain-based systems for safe digital identity and supply chain traceability. With such a massive influx of capital and emphasis on modernization, it is likely these technologies will be scaled or piloted further.
Saudi Arabia's $600 billion injection into the American economy doesn't just benefit Fortune 500 firms. It creates downstream liquidity, venture interest, and potential partnerships for crypto startups based in the U.S.
The presence of sector-specific funds—such as the $5 billion Energy Investment Fund and the $5 billion Aerospace and Defense Fund—could intersect with crypto projects working on:
Read More: SOL Strategies Launches $500M Tokenized Note to Increase Solana Staking Yields
While the headlines highlight energy, defense, and infrastructure, the crypto industry stands to gain significantly from the underlying technological transformation fueled by this record-breaking investment. The convergence of AI, cloud infrastructure, and Web3 services is accelerating—and Saudi Arabia's $600 billion commitment just put more fuel in the tank.
Isabella Flores
Blockchain Adoption Reporter
Isabella specializes in tracking how blockchain technology is transforming industries worldwide. She previously worked as a business analyst for a fintech startup before pivoting to journalism. Her pieces explore the real-world applications of blockchain, from supply chain to healthcare. Isabella is passionate about highlighting underrepresented use cases in the crypto space.
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CryptoPunks Have New Home as Nonprofit Acquires Ethereum NFT IP From Yuga Labs
digital art
The Infinite Node Foundation, a newly established nonprofit endowment, announced Tuesday that it has acquired the IP of influential Ethereum NFT collection CryptoPunks from previous owner and Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs.
The Foundation, which announced a $25 million grant in April “to build the future of digital art,” will now steward the 10,000-piece Punks collection first created by Larva Labs in 2017, while Yuga Labs shifts back to its “apeish roots.”
CryptoPunks General Manager Natalie Stone told Decrypt that financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed. Stone will shift over from Yuga Labs to the Infinite Node Foundation, aka NODE, to serve as an advisor.
We are excited to announce CryptoPunks have found a permanent home at The Infinite Node Foundation. @nodefnd is a non-profit committed to the preservation and expansion of contemporary digital art.@larvalabs founders & artists Matt Hall & John Watkinson are returning to join… pic.twitter.com/0E2gk0RuyD
— CryptoPunks (@cryptopunksnfts) May 13, 2025
“CryptoPunks sparked a cultural movement that blended code, community, and commerce,” said Node Foundation Chair Micky Malka in a statement. “By pairing museum-grade conservation with an evergreen endowment, we intend to future-proof this landmark work and make it easier than ever for scholars, curators, and collectors to engage with it.”
The nonprofit's stewardship will focus on three core components: preservation, community, and expansion—aiming to maintain the collection's longevity, while developing new ways in which the pixel profile picture collection can be “studied, exhibited, and understood.”
The collection first changed hands in 2022 when Yuga Labs acquired the IP from original creator Larva Labs, alongside its Meebits companion collection (Yuga sold off the Meebits IP this February to a new startup).
“When Yuga acquired CryptoPunks' IP, it wasn't just about ownership—it was about honoring a cultural icon we believed in,” said Yuga Labs CEO and co-founder Wylie Aronow in a statement. “We've worked to elevate and protect their legacy, but we always knew Punks needed a permanent home built for preservation. Seeing that vision come to life with the NODE Foundation feels like a full-circle moment. They are best positioned to protect the Punks legacy.”
Aronow will join Art Blocks founder Erick Calderon and original CryptoPunks creators creators Matt Hall and John Watkinson of Larva Labs on an advisory board helping the Infinite Node Foundation to achieve its goals.
“The Punks were created to be truly decentralized, and have become a defining example of digital permanence and online network effects," Hall and Watkinson said in a statement. “The NODE Foundation was created to explain and promote these ideas as a new art medium, and are the perfect long-term home for the Punks.”
In collaboration with Hall and Watkinson, the Foundation's first move will be to host a major exhibition of the entire collection at its exhibition space in Palo Alto, California.
The CryptoPunks price floor, or the lowest listed value of an asset on the marketplace, is up more than 19% on the week. It has jumped 74% in U.S. dollar denominations to $123,086 as the price of Ethereum has climbed nearly 45% over the same timeframe.
Arguably the most prominent NFT collection of all time, and an inspiration to many collections that followed (including the Bored Apes), CryptoPunks trading volume has eclipsed more than $3 billion lifetime since its creation in 2017, according to data from Punks.wtf. The NFTs were originally given away via a free claim.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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This week brought a wave of momentum across the altcoin market, fueled by Bitcoin's strength and growing optimism around macro developments like the recent U.S.-U.K. trade deal. The total altcoin market cap—including Ethereum—briefly surged more than 17% before cooling off late Friday, now sitting at $1.16 trillion. Here's a look at the five top-performing altcoins that led the charge.
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Ethereum Name Service, or ENS, simplifies blockchain interactions by allowing users to register human-readable domain names for Ethereum wallet addresses.
Current price: $22.50
Gained 22% on the week but gave back 6% of daily gains Friday.
Rejecting from March 2 highs, a significant resistance level.
Bullish structure remains intact if it holds above $21.
Pi Network aims to make cryptocurrency more inclusive by enabling users to mine coins directly from their mobile phones without advanced hardware.
Current price: $0.7389
Up 24% this week, now retesting April 14 highs.
Traders are watching closely to see if it can break through this zone or get rejected.
Ethereum is the leading smart contract platform that powers decentralized applications, DeFi protocols, and NFT ecosystems.
Current price: $2,339
Hit a high of $2,490 before giving back around 5% from Friday's gains.
Currently rejecting from March 2 resistance, a key supply area.
Trending: New to crypto? Get up to $400 in rewards for successfully completing short educational courses and making your first qualifying trade on Coinbase.
Pyth Network provides decentralized real-time market data to smart contracts by aggregating price feeds from major exchanges and institutions.
Current price: $0.197
Gained 31% in just two days but still down 82% from all-time highs.
Approaching key resistance at the $0.20 mark; breakout or rejection could determine short-term direction.
Pepe is a meme-based cryptocurrency inspired by the internet character "Pepe the Frog," thriving on viral culture and speculative trading.
Current price: $0.000012285
Biggest gainer this week, rising 43% with a midweek peak over 70%.
Pulled back like most altcoins late Friday but still ended strong.
Highly speculative with extreme volatility—traders should tread carefully.
The strong performances from altcoins this week highlight renewed confidence in the broader crypto market, but that excitement should be balanced with caution. Many of these assets remain well below their all-time highs—some still down over 70%.
Rather than reacting to short-term percentage spikes, investors would be wise to evaluate real-world utility, tokenomics, and long-term viability. Timing and patience remain key. Stick to your plan, manage your exposure, and remember: solid entries often come after the hype fades.
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This article Top Altcoins of the Week: Altcoin Market Pops As ETH, PI, And PEPE Post Double-Digit Gains originally appeared on Benzinga.com
Highlights
Institutional adoption of digital assets is rising, but mainstream financial players are hesitant due to unresolved issues around risk exposure, accountability and lack of control within decentralized systems.
Traditional finance demands robust risk management, yet public blockchains and smart contracts often lack the safeguards, recourse and regulatory clarity needed for institutions to operate at scale with confidence.
Infrastructure providers are embedding risk frameworks, and regulatory efforts are advancing, but until risk becomes transparent, manageable and assignable, digital assets will struggle to move beyond their current limitations.
For digital assets to fulfill their promise of providing real-time, borderless, programmable finance, the blockchains powering them must become mature enough for institutional use.
Institutional adoption of digital assets like cryptocurrencies and tokenized securities is increasingly seen as inevitable. Yet, despite growing interest, risk remains an obstacle.
Unlike the early days of crypto, where anonymity and privacy reigned supreme, the new wave of adoption is being led by highly regulated institutions. Banks, asset managers and payment processors must know who bears the liability when things go wrong.
Cracking that code could help unlock the future of payments.
Read also: 5 Blockchain Projects the World's Biggest Banks Are Behind
As the traditional financial sector grapples with the core question of risk across the blockchain, crypto is continuing its linear journey toward mainstream adoption.
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins said Monday (May 12) that the commission must consider regulatory changes to accommodate on-chain securities and other crypto assets. The same day, Deutsche Bank analysts claimed in a statement to PYMNTS that regulation in the United States “could cement stablecoin legitimacy in 2025.”
It was also reported Monday that Citi predicted that new regulatory efforts promoting the integration of dollar-pegged coins into the mainstream economy might soon make the stablecoin market surpass the larger cryptocurrency ecosystem.
These are not blockchain businesses harbored in the Bahamas or tied to another offshore haven; they're some of the world's largest and most regulated financial institutions.
Still, at the core of crypto's institutional future remains the risk of exposure without control. In traditional finance, firms have well-established risk management frameworks. They understand their counterparty risks, leverage positions and operational vulnerabilities. But digital assets — especially those on public chains — break that model.
“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 in April.
“Without a federal framework, it is incredibly difficult for financial services firms and international enterprises to really get comfortable in using stablecoins at scale,” he added.
Transactions may settle instantly across blockchains, but recourse is minimal. Smart contracts execute automatically, regardless of intent or context. While blockchain forensics have come a long way, they are still retroactive tools that are frequently more reactive than they are preventative. There's often no clear path to indemnity when a smart contract fails or when money is stolen via a protocol exploit, which means that traditional players are being asked to take on new risks without any of the traditional controls.
See also: Crypto Firms Chase Bank Charters as Circle Launches Stablecoin Orchestration Layer
Infrastructure providers are working to embed risk management into the fabric of digital asset platforms. Custodians are improving insurance coverage. Chain analytics firms are helping institutions monitor wallet activity and flag suspicious transactions in real time.
“This isn't about replacing existing systems,” FV Bank CEO Miles Paschini told PYMNTS in January. “It's about providing an additional option. Where stablecoins offer superior benefits, customers will naturally gravitate toward them.”
“As more banks integrate blockchain capabilities, customers will have greater choice in transferring value,” he added.
The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Blockchain's Benefits for Regulated Industries” found that blockchain technology has numerous potential benefits to serve the unique needs of regulated industries, including finance.
However, the sector's maturation could ultimately mean embracing risk not as a deterrent, but as a design challenge. It may mean developing systems where transparency is matched by accountability, and where innovation is underpinned by trust.
Even so, risk is not just a matter of auditability or reserve backing. It's about systemic accountability. To do that, the industry must make risk visible, manageable and assignable.
Until then, the digital asset revolution could remain stuck in a holding pattern.
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Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson explores the possibility of developing a privacy-enabled stablecoin on the Cardano network.
Speaking in a recent interview on the Conversations with Leaders podcast, Hoskinson hinted at plans to develop a privacy stablecoin on Cardano. According to him, traditional stablecoins have the inherent flaw of publicizing every transaction on the blockchain, making them traceable.
He asserted that some users may not be comfortable with traditional stablecoins due to their lack of privacy. Therefore, he suggested that users might want a privacy-enabled stablecoin that keeps their purchases discreet.
Notably, the Cardano founder proposed an initiative he termed ‘selective disclosure and season freeze regime' for stablecoins. He suggested that these solutions would enable users to shield their stablecoin-related transactions, including counterparties and amounts, from the public.
Despite this, regulators can still access these transactions through a regulatory directive or court order. However, it will not sabotage the privacy model of the stablecoins.
Further, Hoskinson echoed his support for privacy stablecoins with selective disclosure, adding that Cardano might be the first blockchain to roll out one.
Thanks to its privacy-focused sidechain, Midnight, Cardano could become one of the first blockchains to launch a stablecoin that keeps users' transactions private.
The stablecoin market has grown tremendously over the years, boasting a valuation of $245.61 billion. Most of the leading stablecoins, such as USDT and USDC, are currently available on blockchains like Ethereum, Tron, and Solana.
Cardano also supports a handful of stablecoins, like DJED, USDA, and USDM. According to data from DeFiLlama, stablecoins on the Cardano network have a combined market cap of $31.69 million.
At the moment, transactions involving these stablecoins, including those on Cardano and Ethereum, are visible on the blockchain.
Hoskinson believes some users might not be comfortable with this lack of privacy, so he is considering introducing a privacy-enabled stablecoin with selective disclosure functionality.
Meanwhile, regulators have remained cautious about privacy-focused projects like Monero and Zcash. Although these projects have tried to balance regulatory demands with user privacy, multiple crypto exchanges, including Binance and OKX, have delisted them from their platforms.
The EU recently prohibited exchanges and custodial platforms from engaging with privacy-focused tokens and anonymous wallets starting July 1, 2027.
In the United States, lawmakers failed to pass the highly anticipated stablecoin regulation, the GENIUS Act, due to financial stability concerns. Despite this regulatory bottleneck, Hoskinson believes a privacy-enabled stablecoin on Cardano is possible.
DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.
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The top crypto has seen gains of 23.3% during this period and its yearly performance swung to positive territory as a result.
Trading volumes have been quite high lately with $76 billion worth of BTC exchanging hands on May 7 along with $60+ billion flowing through the system on both May 8 and yesterday.
Open interest (OI) for BTC futures has now increased to its highest level since January 21. Interestingly, this was the date when Bitcoin reached its all-time high this year and then started a strong descent to a yearly low of $76,000 just a few months later.
When OI is at such high levels, a strong pullback typically occurs as market participants prompt a long squeeze to flush out excess leverage and gather enough liquidity to push the price higher.
Back in January, macroeconomic conditions were actually not unfavorable. However, the market was also taking a breather after a strong post-election rally that pushed BTC to its current all-time high.
Can a strong downtrend begin in the next few days? Let's look at Bitcoin's price action and historical patterns.
We have been keeping track of Bitcoin's price action in relation to its 21-day and 200-day EMAs, as a bullish crossover between the two indicators has resulted in big gains for the top crypto just a few months later.
The first time it happened in the time period covered by the chart, the price rose from around $27,000 to $72,000.
Meanwhile, the next instance that a ‘golden cross' occurred, the price rallied from $60,000 to $106,000, which is BTC's current all-time high.
However, it is worth noting that there have been some false positives along the way. These are bullish crossovers that don't end up propelling BTC to higher highs.
In a previous article, we shared a bullish price target of $140,000 if this turns out to be one of those crossovers that push BTC to new all-time highs. However, two other scenarios can still unfold where the outcome will be different.
The first is a weak crossover. This is a scenario where the rally does not manage to gain enough strength to push BTC to higher highs.
Interestingly, every time this happened, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) failed to reach overbought levels.
In contrast, the ‘golden crosses' that ended up propelling BTC to higher highs were followed by a strong push in the RSI to overbought territory.
In the case of our latest rally, this has already been the case as the RSI currently sits at 71 – meaning that the uptrend has gained strong momentum.
The second scenario that may result in a failed push to new ATHs is a post-overbought pullback. However, this is not necessarily bearish. In fact, it is often the necessary move that the market needs to make to raise enough liquidity to keep the rally going.
The most relevant support in all of these bullish scenarios has been the 200-day EMA. The price has only dropped below this marker one time in the instances that have pushed BTC to new all-time highs.
Hence, as long as the price stays above that threshold – or the price action pulls a bear trap, as it happened once – BTC will remain on track to reach this long-term target of $140,000 per token.
Alejandro Arrieche specializes in drafting news articles that incorporate technical analysis for traders and possesses in-depth knowledge of value investing and fundamental analysis
Yuga Labs says a digital art foundation is a better steward for CryptoPunks
Yuga Labs says a digital art foundation is a better steward for CryptoPunks
by Jess Weatherbed
It would seem that the money-making days for CryptoPunks, one of the oldest and most valuable NFT brands, are well and truly over. After acquiring the non-fungible token collection from Larva Labs in 2022, Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs is now selling CryptoPunks to Infinite Node Foundation — a non-profit focused on preserving digital art.
CryptoPunks, alongside brands like Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoKitties, is frequently credited for kicking off the NFT craze in 2021. Several tokens have been sold for millions, including one in 2022 that was purchased for more than $23 million worth of Ethereum cryptocurrency, but the sales charts have largely stagnated since.
Details for the purchase are slim. CryptoPunks general manager Natalie Stone told The Verge that the terms of the deal won't be disclosed, and that the brand will be stewarded by the Node Foundation, with no plans to integrate the CryptoPunks token collection into the gamified Otherside metaverse that Yuga Labs is developing. “Yuga is still one of the biggest holders of Punks, and like all other CryptoPunks NFT holders, will retain the right to its CryptoPunks characters under the IP license,” said Stone.
It was also never clear how much Yuga Labs spent to acquire CryptoPunks in its heyday, but being sold to a non-profit is probably not a good sign for, well, profitability. Now that NFT's are a shambling shadow of their former glory, the focus is turning to making CryptoPunks relevant in the mainstream art industry.
“We've worked to elevate and protect their legacy, but we always knew Punks needed a permanent home built for preservation,” Yuga Labs co-founder Wylie Aronow said in the announcement release. “Seeing that vision come to life with the Node Foundation feels like a full-circle moment. They are best positioned to protect the Punks legacy.”
Node Foundation chair Micky Malka said that “CryptoPunks sparked a cultural movement,” and that the non-profit intends to “future-proof this landmark work” and make it more accessible for scholars, curators, and collectors to engage with. Node is planning to showcase all 10,000 CryptoPunks tokens at the foundation's permanent exhibition space in Palo Alto, and in the “Infinite Images: The Art of Algorithms” exhibit at the Toledo Museum of Art.
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Robinhood Markets Inc. agreed to acquire WonderFi Technologies Inc., the operator of two Canadian cryptocurrency platforms, for about C$250 million ($179 million) in cash.
The fintech will purchase all of WonderFi's issued and outstanding common shares for 36 Canadian cents apiece, 41% higher than the closing price Monday, according to a statementBloomberg Terminal Tuesday. WonderFi has more than C$2.1 billion in assets under custody.
Robinhood Markets (HOOD), the California-based financial services company, said it agreed to buy Canadian crypto firm WonderFi (WNDR) for $178.98 million.
The all-cash acquisition values WonderFi at 36 Canadian cents per share, a 41% premium over its closing price prior to the Tuesday announcement.
“WonderFi has built a formidable family of brands serving beginner and advanced crypto users alike, making them an ideal partner to accelerate Robinhood's mission in Canada,” said Johann Kerbrat, head of Robinhood Crypto, in the official announcement. Kerbrat will be speaking at Consensus Toronto on Friday.
Robinhood, a popular commission-free brokerage platform, has been looking to expand its international footprint for some time and struck a deal to acquire cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp last year.
The latest acquisition will help it win over Canada-based customers. Toronto-listed WonderFi owns and operates Bitbuy and Coinsquare, two leading crypto platforms in the country. Trading volume on WonderFi, whose CEO Dean Skurka will speak at Consensus on Thursday, increased 28% to C$3.57 billion in fiscal 2024.
The deal will bring Robinhood into Canada, ramping up competition for exchanges such as Coinbase and Wealthsimple Crypto.
Crypto merger and acquisition activity has picked up the pace with the U.S. President Donald Trump adopting a crypto-friendly approach. Last Week, Nasdaq-listed Coinbase made a bold bet on digital assets derivatives segment, acquiring crypto options giant Deribit in a landmark $2.9 billion deal.
UPDATE (May 13, 14:43 UTC): Adds executives' appearances at Consensus Toronto.
Omkar Godbole is a Co-Managing Editor on CoinDesk's Markets team based in Mumbai, holds a masters degree in Finance and a Chartered Market Technician (CMT) member. Omkar previously worked at FXStreet, writing research on currency markets and as fundamental analyst at currency and commodities desk at Mumbai-based brokerage houses. Omkar holds small amounts of bitcoin, ether, BitTorrent, tron and dot.
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A bitcoin mining venture with ties to US President Donald Trump's family announced on Monday, May 12, that it is all set to become a publicly traded company.
American Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency firm backed by President Trump's sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, is expected to be listed on the Nasdaq after its all-stock merger with Gryphon Digital Mining that is set to close by the third quarter of 2025, according to an investor presentation posted on its website.
The merged entity will trade under the symbol ‘ABTC'. The US president's two eldest sons will own about 98 per cent of the new entity along with existing shareholders of American Bitcoin. The other 2 per cent will belong to existing shareholders of Gryphon. Eric Trump is also listed as a co-founder and member of the management team at American Bitcoin.
Taking American Bitcoin public is the latest move by the Trump family to expand its growing crypto empire. Experts have warned that these crypto ventures could lead to overt conflicts of interest within the Trump administration.
For instance, American Bitcoin could become a vehicle for investors looking to curry favour from President Trump. However, the company has said that existing shareholders of American Bitcoin will own a majority stake. Trump is also facing backlash for planning to accept a $400 million luxury jumbo jet as a gift from Qatar's ruling family to be used as the official US presidential plane, Air Force One.
Meanwhile, the American Bitcoin announcement did not elicit much of a reaction in the crypto market as bitcoin continued to trade flat at around $104,000, according to CoinMarketCap.
In February this year, investment firm Dominari Holdings announced the creation of a new venture called American Data Centers to develop computing infrastructure for the AI industry. Both Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr are investors of American Data Centers, while Eric Trump is a member of the advisory board of Dominari Holdings.
Then, the two Trumps partnered with an energy infrastructure company called Hut 8 to establish a new venture called American Bitcoin, with the more immediate objective of creating a large stockpile of cryptocurrency by mining bitcoins.
“Every single sophisticated country is using their excess power to mine bitcoin […] We won the space race. We better win the crypto race,” Eric Trump was quoted as saying by CNBC.
“From the start, we've backed our conviction in Bitcoin, personally and through our businesses. But simply buying Bitcoin is only half the story. Mining it on favorable economics opens an even bigger opportunity,” Donald Trump Jr was quoted as saying by The New York Times.
The terms of the deal dictated that Hut 8 would control 80 per cent of American Bitcoin while the 20 per cent stake would belong to Trump-backed American Data Centers. The initial announcement also named Eric Trump as a co-founder of American Bitcoin and said he would serve as the chief strategy officer of the new crypto mining venture.
Gryphon Digital Mining is now acquiring American Bitcoin via a reverse triangular merger in a 100 per cent stock-for-stock transaction, according to an investor presentation posted on its website. Gryphon is a US-based venture that aims to establish a presence in bitcoin mining as well as AI by investing in data centres and low-cost energy assets, as per its website.
The proposed merger with Gryphon carves out American Bitcoin from Hut 8′s broader energy and AI infrastructure platform in order to separate the bitcoin mining operations and potentially unlock new capital.
“The Gryphon team is pleased to offer our stockholders the opportunity to participate in what we believe will be the next era of public Bitcoin mining through this combination. American Bitcoin brings together an outstanding leadership team and a clear strategy to build a premier institution in this fast-evolving industry,” Steve Gutterman, Chief Executive Officer of Gryphon, said.
“Taking American Bitcoin public is a critical step toward scaling the business at the pace and magnitude we envision. Time-to-market was a critical factor, and this transaction enables an efficient path to public markets by combining with an entity that is structurally aligned with American Bitcoin's mining-focused launch strategy,” Asher Genoot, CEO of Hut, said.
While fiat currency is printed by a central bank, new bitcoins are generated by verifying transactions on the blockchain. This process is known as bitcoin mining. It is a branch of the crypto industry and requires large amounts of energy that are consumed by mining machines to process bitcoin transactions.
Bitcoin mining is also one of the most criticised features of the crypto industry as it is energy-intensive. In the early days of cryptocurrency, bitcoin transactions could be processed and verified by anyone capable of running a computer programme. In return, they earned new bitcoins as a reward.
However, when there was a boom in the crypto industry, the amount of computing power required for mining bitcoins also surged. Today, the process of mining bitcoins is carried out by publicly traded companies like Hut 8 which owns several data centres packed with servers.
These operations are considered to be harmful for the environment as each bitcoin transaction is said to generate carbon emissions equivalent to driving a gasoline-powered car between 1,600 and 2,600 kilometres, according to a report by the London School of Economics. Bitcoin mining farms have also been linked to an increase in noise pollution.
During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump and his sons launched a crypto company called World Liberty Financial that offers two types of digital currencies. It has launched so-called governance tokens with the symbol WLFI.
Governance tokens cannot be traded. Instead, they give token holders the right to vote on changes to the project's underlying code and to signal their opinion on its direction and plans. The largest holder of WLFI is Abu Dhabi-based crypto firm DWF which bought $25 million worth of the tokens issued by the Trump family-controlled venture, according to a report by Reuters.
World Liberty Financial also unveiled its own stablecoin last week. Besides this, President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump launched their own sets of memecoins on the eve of the presidential swearing-in ceremony in January this year.
More recently, Trump announced that top holders of the $TRUMP memecoin would have the opportunity to attend a private dinner with him.
CoinDesk Indices presents its daily market update, highlighting the performance of leaders and laggards in the CoinDesk 20 Index.
The CoinDesk 20 is currently trading at 3258.85, up 1.8% (+58.26) since 4 p.m. ET on Monday.
Twelve of 20 assets are trading higher.
Leaders: ETH (+2.6%) and XRP (+2.0%).Laggards: BCH (-1.2%) and HBAR (-1.2%).
The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally.
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Meta is about to redefine the rules of the game with stablecoins, but will it succeed where Diem failed? Will social networks soon awaken to a new digital era?
Have you ever dreamed of a world where your likes on social networks could be transformed into stable digital currency? Well, Meta seems to want to turn this dream into reality. After the tumultuous adventure of Diem, the company is taking on a new challenge with stablecoins. So, are we on the eve of a revolution in the world of social networks or is it simply another digital mirage? Let's dive together into this fascinating adventure that could reshape the contours of our online life.
After the noticeable failure of Diem, its cryptocurrency project abandoned in 2022, Meta is not giving up. The social media giant is now targeting the stablecoin market. The goal? Integrating these digital currencies into its flagship applications: Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. So, a simple announcement or a genuine revolution to come?
This is not the first time Meta dives into the world of cryptocurrencies. In 2019, Libra (later renamed Diem) promised a global digital currency. The idea? Facilitate payments and democratize access to the global financial system. But criticism, strict regulations, and the disengagement of actors like Visa and Mastercard buried this ambitious project.
At the time, Mark Zuckerberg encountered much greater resistance than anticipated. Indeed, regulators feared that this currency would escape all control, creating risks for the global economy.
Today, Meta is focusing on another approach: stablecoins. Unlike cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, stablecoins are backed by solid assets (such as the dollar or the euro), thus offering valuable stability. This characteristic makes them particularly attractive for digital transactions.
Meta plans to integrate them directly into its platforms to allow its users to make fast and fee-free transactions. Imagine paying for an NFT artwork on Instagram or sending money via WhatsApp!
To successfully carry out this new project, Meta seems to be playing the card of strategic alliances. Discussions are underway with major players in the sector such as Circle or Tether, famous for their popular stablecoins, USDC and USDT. The recent recruitment of Ginger Baker, a recognized crypto expert, also shows that Meta is taking this turn very seriously.
These initiatives are part of a broader trend in the digital market. Giants such as Standard Chartered and Fidelity are also exploring the uses of stablecoins, confirming their potential.
If Meta manages to overcome the technical and regulatory challenges, the synergy between stablecoins and social networks could be a real game changer. These cryptos would offer:
But the bet is risky. Regulators, still wary of the Diem adventure, will closely monitor this new attempt. Furthermore, market volatility in the crypto market could play an important role in the adoption (or not) of these stable currencies on such popular platforms.
With this relaunch, Meta hopes to restore its reputation in the crypto field while transforming its social applications into even richer ecosystems. It remains to be seen whether this attempt will bear fruit or if the tumultuous history of Diem will come back to haunt this new chapter.
An insatiable curiosity and lover of audiovisual culture, Clément Pessaux explores the world of cinema, animation and video games, with controller in hand and a sharp critical eye. On 3DVF, he shares his discoveries, visual favorites and digital obsessions, always with passion and a well-measured touch of irony.
As the benchmark media for the entertainment and digital image industries, 3DVF keeps you up to date with all the latest news and industry secrets.
Home | Brit | GB News failed to comply with data request from Narinder Kaur, says ICO
GB News have been told to conduct an internal review after the UK's data watchdog ruled the channel broke the law, by failing to hand over personal information to broadcaster and social commentator Narinder Kaur.
52-year-old Kaur, a former regular commentator on GB News, submitted a Subject Access Request (SAR) in March 2024, a legal process where organisations have to disclose the personal data they hold on an individual. Under UK data protection law, GB News had one month to respond. Instead, the channel stalled for months. Despite acknowledging receipt of the request, it failed to provide a full response altogether.
Following an official complaint, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has now ruled that GB News “failed to comply with its data protection obligations.”
The ICO has given the broadcaster 14 calendar days to issue a full response to Kaur and told GB News to carry out a full internal review into how and why the failure happened.
Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), organisations that breach data protection laws can face enforcement action from the ICO. This can include mandatory audits, enforcement notices and risk financial penalties of up to £17.5 million or 4% of a company's annual global turnover, whichever is greater.
Speaking after the ruling, Narinder Kaur said: “GB News thought they could shout me down and ignore me. It seems they thought the rules didn't apply to them. Everybody has the right to their information.
I exercised my rights and I am pleased to see the ICO has confirmed GB News were in the wrong. For a broadcaster that claims to care about free speech, their internal culture says otherwise.”
Kaur, who first rose to fame on ‘Big Brother' in 2001 and now regularly appears on ITV's ‘Good Morning Britain' and Channel 5's ‘Jeremy Vine', was a familiar face across GB News programmes, including ‘Farage', ‘Jacob Rees-Mogg's State of the Nation' and ‘The Camilla Tominey Show'.
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FXStreet
The altcoin market has become difficult to navigate during Bitcoin's (BTC) bull cycle, with fragmented narratives, isolated rallies, liquidity crunches and colossal token unlocks. However, in recent weeks, the altcoin market has signalled the potential for a major turnaround, accentuated by a sharp drop in the Bitcoin dominance.
A recent K33 Research report states, "a broad-based altseason is unlikely for now, as capital is concentrating into selective winners rather than lifting all tokens indiscriminately." In other words, select crypto projects could rally extensively. At the same time, altcoins that do not exemplify real-world utility and market fit products or even those that fail to attract users could miss the altcoin season.
Altcoin season refers to a period in the crypto market when alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) outperform Bitcoin, supported by prominent rallies across the board. The altcoin season begins when 75% of the top 50 coins, excluding stablecoins and asset-backed tokens, outperform Bitcoin over 90 days. According to Blockchaincenter.net, just 10 of the top 50 cryptocurrencies have outperformed Bitcoin over the past 90 days. This indicates that while early signs of an altcoin season are emerging, a full-fledged rally is likely still some way off.
Top 50 coins performance over 90 days | Source: blockchaincenter.net
Based on the altcoin market capitalization chart, a golden cross pattern is coming into play, exacerbating the dream for a full-fledged altcoin season. This pattern occurs when a short-term moving average, for example, 50-day, crosses above a long-term moving average, such as the 200-day, thus signaling a high probability of the market moving into a substantial uptrend.
As observed on the chart below shared by crypto analyst and investor OxNobler on X, a golden cross is coming into play for the first time since 2021. Following the pattern, altcoins experienced broad-based rallies, with the altcoin market capitalization springing up to $1.67 trillion from slightly below $150 billion. If history repeats, the golden cross could usher in a major rally across the altcoin market for the first time in four years.
Altcoins market cap | Source: OxNobler
Bitcoin's price has sustained strong bullish momentum since the April 7 tariff-triggered crash low of $74,508 to $105,819 on Monday, demonstrating renewed strength driven by macro tailwinds, including easing trade and tariff tensions, and the dovish Federal Reserve's (Fed) stance on the policy informing decisions on interest rates. The bounce back aligns with broader risk-on sentiment that has seen Bitcoin outperform equities.
"Capital rotation into Bitcoin appears sustained, as reflected in the realised cap, reaching a new all-time high and ETF inflows exceeding $920 million over the past two weeks. On-chain data also confirms a significant drop in coins held at a loss, with over 3 million BTC returning to profit," the latest Bitfinex Alpha report stated.
Bitcoin upholds a solid technical structure, reinforced by surging spot Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) inflows and institutional interest. Short-term drawbacks will likely be absorbed quickly as investors buy the dip, potentially resulting in a sustained leg up to fresh highs.
BTC/USDT daily chart
Meanwhile, Bitcoin dominance (BTC.D), representing BTC's market capitalization as a percentage of the total crypto market cap, sharply dropped to 62.2% from the May 7 peak of 65.37%. The decline occurred following a market-wide rally on risk-on sentiment due to progressive trade talks between the United States (US) and China.
A decline in Bitcoin dominance often signals an altcoin season because capital flows from BTC into altcoins. The capital rotation, in turn, drives altcoin rallies. In 2021, Bitcoin dominance peaked at 73.62% before correcting, boosting altcoin rallies. As BTC.D expands, the buzz across the market is that a reversal could be imminent, with the altcoin season likely to start thereafter.
BTC.D weekly chart
The ETH/BTC ratio has persistently plummeted from the December 2022 peak of 0.0881, reflecting a heavy altcoin market compared to the strong tailwinds on Bitcoin. Historically, this trading pair has been viewed as a bellwether indicator for altcoins' performance, with a persistent downtrend suggesting that widespread rallies in altcoins are a pipe dream, at least in the short term.
ETH/BTC weekly chart
However, a massive rally in Ethereum (ETH) from the April 7 low of $1,385 to highs around $2,621 triggered a reversal in the ETH/BTC trading pair after testing 0.0176, a level last tested in December 2019. The ratio currently stands at 0.0239, reflecting a 26.4% increase, portraying Ethereum's growing strength relative to Bitcoin.
Meanwhile, ETH/USD exchanges hands at $2,460 at the time of writing, reflecting changing dynamics in the market and the need for traders to respond to price movements and developments in the broader market with speed and accuracy.
Token launches influence demand and adoption among market participants. Listings on crypto exchanges deepen the liquidity for an asset and add new participants to an asset's network. This is typically bullish for a digital asset.
A hack is an event in which an attacker captures a large volume of the asset from a DeFi bridge or hot wallet of an exchange or any other crypto platform via exploits, bugs or other methods. The exploiter then transfers these tokens out of the exchange platforms to ultimately sell or swap the assets for other cryptocurrencies or stablecoins. Such events often involve an en masse panic triggering a sell-off in the affected assets.
Macroeconomic events like the US Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates influence crypto assets mainly through the direct impact they have on the US Dollar. An increase in interest rate typically negatively influences Bitcoin and altcoin prices, and vice versa. If the US Dollar index declines, risk assets and associated leverage for trading gets cheaper, in turn driving crypto prices higher.
Halvings are typically considered bullish events as they slash the block reward in half for miners, constricting the supply of the asset. At consistent demand if the supply reduces, the asset's price climbs.
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Uniswap price falls for a third consecutive day after hitting its highest level in over two months. Open Interest also retreats but remains close to levels last seen in January.
The altcoin market has become difficult to navigate during Bitcoin's (BTC) bull cycle, with fragmented narratives, isolated rallies, liquidity crunches and colossal token unlocks.
XRP hits $2.65, but pares gains amid a crypto rally fuelled by a US-China trade deal. Under Paul Atkins's leadership, the SEC will develop a rational regulatory framework for crypto asset markets.
The cryptocurrency market has experienced a sharp downturn in the past 24 hours, with total liquidations surpassing $730 million, according to Coinglass data, as Bitcoin dipped below the $102,000 mark.
Bitcoin price stabilizes around $103,000 on Friday after rallying nearly 10% this week. Risk-on sentiment prevails as Trump announced a trade deal with the UK and ahead of the meeting with China this weekend.
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LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - FOX5 learned new information about a kidnapping and crypto-robbery in November last year.
Three teenagers are accused of kidnapping a man at gunpoint after he returned home from hosting a crypto event in downtown Las Vegas. They were identified as Belaf Mohamed Ashraf, Austin Jay Fletcher and Hassan Elsama Hassan by Las Vegas Metro Police.
The teens are accused of forcing the victim to hand over his passwords and abandoning him in the desert. Police say they stole $4 million in cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens.
The teens then took the victim to a remote desert area in Arizona, about 26 miles away from the state border where he was released.
The victim told police he walked five miles to the nearest gas station and called police. The suspects were arrested and are now being tried as adults.
Copyright 2025 KVVU. All rights reserved.
Ethereum Price Rally Tests Staying Power as Analysts Eye Fundamentals Over Hype
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Ethereum rallied nearly 40% last week, climbing from around $1,800 to $2,500, as risk appetite returned to digital assets amid easing trade tensions and a major network upgrade.
The rally has drawn renewed interest in Ethereum, though analysts say further gains may depend on stronger fundamentals.
U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of constructive talks with China, alongside a limited trade agreement with the U.K., helped drive macro optimism, lifting traditional equities on Monday.
The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq posted their largest one-day gains in months, led by strength in tech and industrial stocks.
Digital assets, however, failed to sustain recent momentum. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana all declined on the day, with analysts pointing to profit-taking after last week's sharp rebound.
“There can be no doubt that the recent rebound in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana reflects renewed market optimism,” James Toledano, Chief Operating Officer at Unity Wallet, told Decrypt.
“However, I do believe this could be a hollow rebound, as it is based on sentiment and the political moves of a single man,” he added. “Anyone who is serious about crypto would prefer that fundamentals are the driving force.”
That skepticism is being echoed in ETF flows. While Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded $600 million in net inflows last week, Ethereum ETFs saw $55 million in outflows.
“The scale and strength of the price recovery, combined with modest outflows from Ethereum ETFs, suggest that crypto-native investors, rather than institutional inflows, have primarily driven the surge,” Matteo Greco, research analyst at Fineqia International, told Decrypt.
Ethereum's Pectra upgrade, which went live on May 7, has been a significant catalyst driving renewed interest in the world's second-largest crypto, analysts say.
The upgrade, among many other quality of life updates, improved staking limits and wallet usability.
“The ETH Pectra upgrade went live without issues, increasing confidence in Ethereum's ability to scale and paving the way for further institutional adoption,” Sean Dawson, Head of Research at Derive.xyz, told Decrypt.
Derive's models now assign a 20% probability that Ethereum will surpass $4,000 by Christmas, up from 9% last week. Volatility metrics also suggest the asset could remain more reactive than Bitcoin in the months ahead.
Still, Toledano noted: “Without sustained institutional momentum and further clarity on regulation, we may see consolidation before any new all-time highs are tested.”
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May 12, 2025 / 8:04 PM EDT
/ CBS News
A bitcoin mining firm backed by President Trump's son Eric will go public this year, the company announced Monday, deepening the Trump family's interest in cryptocurrency.
American Bitcoin — which lists Eric Trump as its co-founder and has its roots in a company backed by Donald Trump Jr. — is merging with the publicly-traded Gryphon Digital Mining. The all-stock transaction will allow the firm backed by the Trump brothers to be listed on the Nasdaq exchange. The merger is expected to close as early as the third quarter of this year.
The company's goals, according to an overview posted Monday, are to mine new bitcoin "below market cost" and to build up a reserve of the cryptocurrency.
"Our vision for American Bitcoin is to create the most investable Bitcoin accumulation platform in the market," Eric Trump said in a statement.
American Bitcoin was launched in March, with crypto mining firm Hut 8 owning a majority stake. At the time, the company said it "aims to become the world's largest, most efficient pure-play Bitcoin miner." It's the successor to American Data Centers, a venture backed by Eric Trump, his older brother Donald Trump Jr. and publicly traded Dominari Holdings.
Crypto mining also has a stamp of approval from Eric and Donald Trump Jr.'s father. The president pledged to make the United States a "bitcoin mining powerhouse" last year.
Mining is an essential part of how bitcoin operates. The currency isn't centralized, and instead relies on independent actors — known as miners — who carry out complicated math problems to verify bitcoin transactions and list them on a public ledger known as a blockchain. As a reward for this work, miners earn units of bitcoin for crunching the numbers successfully.
The value of a bitcoin stands at around $102,000, and the reward for mining decreases over time as the number of bitcoin in circulation increases, making mining a lucrative endeavor.
But mining is controversial because it's extremely energy-intensive, with miners operating gigantic data centers filled with server racks that carry out the mathematical operations necessary to mine. A team from Cambridge University estimates bitcoin uses about 187.9 terawatt-hours of electricity per year, more than the entire country of Egypt.
The Trump brothers' foray into bitcoin mining marks the family's latest crypto venture. The president and his two eldest sons are backing the crypto exchange World Liberty Financial, which got a multi-billion dollar boost earlier this month from an Abu Dhabi-based firm, and Mr. Trump launched a highly volatile "meme coin" called $TRUMP in January.
Crypto investments make up about $2.9 billion of the family's net worth, one report estimates.
The Trump family's interest in cryptocurrency has drawn criticism for conflicts of interest. Last week, Senate Democrats blocked a crypto regulation bill from moving forward and pushed for it to include new limits on elected officials participating in some types of crypto ventures, with Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts accusing Mr. Trump of "crypto corruption."
The White House has pushed back on the criticism. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said last week Mr. Trump's "assets are in a trust managed by his children, and there are no conflicts of interest."
Joe Walsh is a senior editor for digital politics at CBS News. Joe previously covered breaking news for Forbes and local news in Boston.
© 2025 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright ©2025 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved.
Watch CBS News
May 12, 2025 / 8:04 PM EDT
/ CBS News
A bitcoin mining firm backed by President Trump's son Eric will go public this year, the company announced Monday, deepening the Trump family's interest in cryptocurrency.
American Bitcoin — which lists Eric Trump as its co-founder and has its roots in a company backed by Donald Trump Jr. — is merging with the publicly-traded Gryphon Digital Mining. The all-stock transaction will allow the firm backed by the Trump brothers to be listed on the Nasdaq exchange. The merger is expected to close as early as the third quarter of this year.
The company's goals, according to an overview posted Monday, are to mine new bitcoin "below market cost" and to build up a reserve of the cryptocurrency.
"Our vision for American Bitcoin is to create the most investable Bitcoin accumulation platform in the market," Eric Trump said in a statement.
American Bitcoin was launched in March, with crypto mining firm Hut 8 owning a majority stake. At the time, the company said it "aims to become the world's largest, most efficient pure-play Bitcoin miner." It's the successor to American Data Centers, a venture backed by Eric Trump, his older brother Donald Trump Jr. and publicly traded Dominari Holdings.
Crypto mining also has a stamp of approval from Eric and Donald Trump Jr.'s father. The president pledged to make the United States a "bitcoin mining powerhouse" last year.
Mining is an essential part of how bitcoin operates. The currency isn't centralized, and instead relies on independent actors — known as miners — who carry out complicated math problems to verify bitcoin transactions and list them on a public ledger known as a blockchain. As a reward for this work, miners earn units of bitcoin for crunching the numbers successfully.
The value of a bitcoin stands at around $102,000, and the reward for mining decreases over time as the number of bitcoin in circulation increases, making mining a lucrative endeavor.
But mining is controversial because it's extremely energy-intensive, with miners operating gigantic data centers filled with server racks that carry out the mathematical operations necessary to mine. A team from Cambridge University estimates bitcoin uses about 187.9 terawatt-hours of electricity per year, more than the entire country of Egypt.
The Trump brothers' foray into bitcoin mining marks the family's latest crypto venture. The president and his two eldest sons are backing the crypto exchange World Liberty Financial, which got a multi-billion dollar boost earlier this month from an Abu Dhabi-based firm, and Mr. Trump launched a highly volatile "meme coin" called $TRUMP in January.
Crypto investments make up about $2.9 billion of the family's net worth, one report estimates.
The Trump family's interest in cryptocurrency has drawn criticism for conflicts of interest. Last week, Senate Democrats blocked a crypto regulation bill from moving forward and pushed for it to include new limits on elected officials participating in some types of crypto ventures, with Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts accusing Mr. Trump of "crypto corruption."
The White House has pushed back on the criticism. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said last week Mr. Trump's "assets are in a trust managed by his children, and there are no conflicts of interest."
Joe Walsh is a senior editor for digital politics at CBS News. Joe previously covered breaking news for Forbes and local news in Boston.
© 2025 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright ©2025 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved.
In order for trees to grow, they need to control their water balance meticulously. A study by the University of Basel shows how trees react to drought -- and revises previous perceptions.
Plants have small pores on the underside of their leaves, known as stomata. When the sun rises, these pores open and the plants absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, which they need, in addition to sunlight and water, for photosynthesis. At the same time, water evaporates through the open stomata; for a tree, this may be several hundred liters per day.
When water is scarce, plants can close their stomata and thus prevent it from evaporating too much water. The fact that plants have this protective mechanism at their disposal is nothing new. Until now, however, it has not been clear when this closure occurs and what the trigger was.Researchers at the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Basel have provided new findings in the scientific journal Nature Plants. Most of the measurement data comes from the University of Basel's forest laboratory in Hölstein, in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, where a crane makes it possible to study processes in the crowns of mature trees.
A balancing act within the canopy
The evaporation of water through the stomata is a passive process during CO2 absorption. Water loss is therefore the price a plant pays for photosynthesis. By closing the stomata, it can stop evaporation, but then it cannot photosynthesize.
"When it comes to plants, researchers have traditionally focused on photosynthesis. So it was previously assumed that trees treated this process as a priority and therefore kept the stomata open for as long as possible to absorb CO2, only closing them when there was no other option," explains study leader Professor Ansgar Kahmen.
When water evaporates through the stomata, negative pressure is created within the cells and the xylem (i.e. the woody tissue that transports water up from the roots). This suction pulls water up from the roots, via the xylem, into the growth layer of the trunk and into the tree crown. There it replaces the water that has been released into the atmosphere.
Preventing the system from collapsing
It usually takes trees all night to replace the water lost during the day. During this time, the stomata are closed and the plant cells fill up with water. This creates the turgor pressure on the cell walls that is necessary for the elongation growth of the cells. Trees therefore grow at night.
If the soil is dry, there is no water to fully replenish their water reserves. As a result, the water saturation in the cells is too low and the turgor pressure remains low. This inhibits tree growth even in intermediately dry conditions. With increasing levels of drought, the suction in the cells and vascular pathways becomes stronger and stronger until at some point the water columns in the woody tissue break. This results in air bubbles, known as embolisms. "When this happens, irreparable damage occurs, the water transport system collapses and the plant eventually dies," says Ansgar Kahmen.
Water supply in the tree is key
It used to be assumed that, in order to maintain photosynthesis for as long as possible, trees would close their stomata only shortly before the onset of these embolisms. The new study now shows that the stomata remain closed at an earlier point in time, namely when water absorption at night has become difficult. "For the first time, we were able to show that a tree does not even open its stomata in the morning if it cannot absorb enough water overnight," says Kahmen. This means that the tree forgoes photosynthesis in favor of growth.
According to Kahmen, this prioritization makes sense: If the plant stops growing due to a shortage of water, then, no matter how much photosynthesis it carries out, it will not be able to use the resulting products. "So the aim is not to optimize photosynthesis and maintain it for as long as possible, but to use the products of photosynthesis as efficiently as possible for growth," says the plant physiologist.
Carbon cycle and climate models
The findings could also influence calculations relating to carbon sequestration by forests. When the stomata are open for shorter periods during drought than previously expected, the trees absorb less carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. "Climate models that assume a certain growth in carbon storage volume would therefore have to be adapted," says lead author Richard L. Peters, a former postdoc at the University of Basel and now professor at the Technical University of Munich. Particularly in the context of climate change, which is leading to warmer and, above all, drier summers in countries including Switzerland, carbon uptake could change more dramatically than previously assumed.
"What is remarkable is that our early stomatal closure observations apply to all tree species, whether deciduous or coniferous. How well a tree species copes with drought therefore cannot be solely determined by the process of stomata closure" says Peters.
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People with multiple long-term physical health conditions are at a significantly greater risk of developing depression, a study shows.
Researchers found that some combinations of illnesses -- particularly cardiometabolic ones like diabetes and heart disease -- could more than double the likelihood of a future depression diagnosis.
With multimorbidity -- when patients live with two or more chronic conditions -- continuing to put pressure on an already stretched healthcare system, experts say the findings highlight the need for integrated care models that address both mental and physical health.
Researchers from the University of Edinburgh used data from more than 142,000 people in the UK Biobank study to examine how physical illnesses interact to influence the risk of depression -- a condition that often goes underdiagnosed in people managing long-term physical diseases.
Participants were aged 37-73 years and had at least one chronic physical condition but no history of depression.
Scientists used statistical clustering techniques to group individuals by their physical illness profiles and tracked how these clusters related to later diagnoses of depression.
One group, which included people experiencing the highest rates of physical illness also showed the highest risk of developing depression. This group had no single dominant illness, but rather a complex mix of issues.
People with both heart disease and diabetes were also found to be at high risk, as were those with chronic lung conditions like asthma or COPD -- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Liver and bowel conditions also showed a noticeable link to depression in both men and women.
Women with joint and bone problems, such as arthritis, were particularly affected, but this pattern was not as prominent for men.
In the highest-risk groups, about one in 12 people developed depression over the next 10 years, compared with about one in 25 people without physical conditions.
While the biological burden of illness may play a role, researchers say social and systemic factors could also help explain why physical multimorbidity leads to worse mental health outcomes.
Lauren DeLong, lead author and PhD student at the University of Edinburgh's School of Informatics, said: "We saw clear associations between physical health conditions and the development of depression, but this study is only the beginning. We hope our findings inspire other researchers to investigate and untangle the links between physical and mental health conditions."
Bruce Guthrie, Professor of General Practice at the University of Edinburgh's Advanced Care Research Centre, said: "Healthcare often treats physical and mental health as completely different things, but this study shows that we need to get better at anticipating and managing depression in people with physical illness."
Professor Mike Lewis, NIHR's Scientific Director of Innovation, said: "Harnessing the power of data to understand the impact of chronic conditions is going to transform the way we treat patients in the future. NIHR's research in this area is helping to paint a full picture of what patients are dealing with, rather than just focusing on one health condition at a time."
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Without 8 or 9 hours of sleep, most of us end up staggering around like zombies. But according to a new study, some people have a genetic mutation that makes them feel perfectly alive after sleeping only half as much. Lucky.
Sleeping gives the body a chance to detox and clear out junk from the brain. While the human body typically takes about 8 or 9 hours to do this, having what's called the “short sleep” mutation makes this possible within just 3 to 6 hours. Neuroscientist Ying-Hui Fu, who researches gene mutations related to sleep, has now discovered another mutation that contributes to natural short sleep (NSS), adding to the five already known mutations that she and her team previously discovered. The new mutation affects the gene SIK3, which is involved in regulating metabolism, energy, and circadian rhythm. A study describing the finding appears now in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Our bodies continue to work when we go to bed, detoxifying themselves and repairing damage,” Fu said in a recent press release. “These people, all these functions our bodies are doing while we are sleeping, they can just perform at a higher level than we can.”
Fu began investigating genetic reasons for needing so little sleep after she and her team were approached by a mother and daughter who felt refreshed after sleeping six hours or less. They would go to bed with the rest of us—around 11 p.m. to midnight—but wake up far earlier without an alarm. Analyzing their genome led to finding a rare mutation in the gene DEC2, which regulates circadian rhythm by binding to the gene MyoD1, which in turn switches on expression of the neuropeptide known as orexin. Orexin is secreted by the hypothalamus and keeps you awake, so when DEC2 inhibits MyoD1, lower levels of orexin promote sleep.
The DEC2 mutation results in increased levels of orexin, which explains why short sleepers can wake up after only a few hours and have no issue with feeling as if they are about to pass out during the day. In contrast, narcolepsy (characterized by excessive sleepiness during the day and disrupted sleep at night) is caused by an orexin deficit.
SIK3 has a part in regulating both the need for sleep and the amount of NREM (non-rapid-eye-movement) sleep we get each night. This gene is active in synapses—spaces between neurons where messages are sent from one neuron to another—and is expressed most in the cerebellum and adrenal glands. When Fu genetically modified mice (which usually need about 12 hours of sleep) to have the SIK3 mutation, she found that they needed half an hour less of sleep to function. That probably means that SIK3 is not the dominant factor in NSS. However, the mutated gene was also most active in synapses, which could mean that it helps reset the brain to decrease the need for sleep.
Another SIK3 mutation was previously found to trigger hypersomnia, or the need for more sleep. This study found that one amino acid in this gene, known as S551, is especially important when it comes to sleep regulation. Future studies might be able to use knowledge about such genetic mutations to help with sleep conditions like narcolepsy or insomnia.
“These findings advance our understanding of the genetic underpinnings of sleep,” Fu and her team said in the study. “[They] highlight the broader implications of kinase activity in sleep regulation across species, and provide further support for potential therapeutic strategies to enhance sleep efficiency.”
Someday, we may never feel undead in the morning again.
Elizabeth Rayne is a creature who writes. Her work has appeared in Popular Mechanics, Ars Technica, SYFY WIRE, Space.com, Live Science, Den of Geek, Forbidden Futures and Collective Tales. She lurks right outside New York City with her parrot, Lestat. When not writing, she can be found drawing, playing the piano or shapeshifting.
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Transcription of genes is regulated by DNA elements such as promoters and enhancers, the activity of which are in turn controlled by many transcription factors. Owing to the highly complex combinatorial logic involved, it has been difficult to construct computational models that predict gene activity from DNA sequence. Recent advances in deep learning techniques applied to data from epigenome mapping and high-throughput reporter assays have made substantial progress towards addressing this complexity. Such models can capture the regulatory grammar with remarkable accuracy and show great promise in predicting the effects of non-coding variants, uncovering detailed molecular mechanisms of gene regulation and designing synthetic regulatory elements for biotechnology. Here, we discuss the principles of these approaches, the types of training data sets that are available and the strengths and limitations of different approaches.
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Regulation of gene expression underlies the enormous diversity of cell types and the responses of cells to a myriad of signals. Gene expression patterns are predominantly driven by regulatory sequences that surround the genes and control their transcriptional activity. These regulatory elements are themselves bound by a diverse array of transcription factors (TFs), each recognizing specific short DNA sequence motifs. In many cases, the precise positioning of these motifs relative to each other is critical. Because most genes are regulated by multiple regulatory elements and TFs acting in combination, the complexity of the regulatory network is daunting. Yet, the importance of accurate predictive models of gene expression cannot be understated. In the fields of basic biology, gene regulation controls all aspects of development and cell signalling. In biotechnology, enhanced control of gene expression can improve the quality and yield of products and crops. In the clinic, better understanding of the impact of non-coding sequence variants on gene expression can lead to new diagnostics and treatments.
Traditional machine-learning approaches have been widely used to model gene expression1, as have algorithms that incorporate 3D folding of the genome2,3. However, the predictive power of these models has remained limited. Recent advances in deep learning (DL) offer exciting opportunities to overcome this hurdle and to revolutionize the study of the regulatory genome. In particular, the so-called sequence-to-expression (S2E) models, which enable predictions of gene expression levels from DNA sequence alone, greatly aid in uncovering the sequence grammar of gene regulation. A key advantage of S2E models over previous machine-learning methods is their ability to extrapolate to previously unseen sequences, enabling them to predict the effect of sequence variants or to generate entirely synthetic regulatory elements not present in the genome.
Here, we provide an overview of the main DL models that have been recently developed and applied to build S2E models. Compared with recent broad reviews4,5, we focus mainly on S2E models, with an emphasis on transcriptional regulation; modelling of other aspects of RNA metabolism such as splicing and decay is reviewed elsewhere (for example, refs. 6,7). We discuss the basic principles of DL modelling, the diversity of data types that are used to train gene expression models, how the models may be validated and the strengths and limitations of each approach. Furthermore, we illustrate that DL-based S2E models are no longer ‘black boxes' but can be queried to uncover the sequence grammar that underlies gene regulation. Finally, we discuss the opportunities that S2E models offer in the fields of genetics and synthetic biology.
Traditional machine-learning methods typically rely on pre-extracted features of DNA sequences (such as k-mer counts8), which lack crucial positional information (such as the distance between TF binding sites (TFBs)). By contrast, DL uses multiple layers of operations (‘deep' layers) to process long genome sequences directly. This end-to-end approach enables DL models to capture complex, potentially hierarchical and nonlinear patterns in the genome sequence data, leading to its breakthrough capabilities in S2E modelling9.
Using only DNA sequences as input, S2E models can predict one or more transcriptional activity measurements associated with the provided sequence. This can include direct measurements of RNA levels (for example, predicting RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) or cap analysis of gene expression sequencing data) or proxies of gene expression such as epigenome mapping data (for example, predicting chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP–seq) or assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with sequencing (ATAC-seq) data). However, for the model to make accurate predictions, it must first undergo training. During training, the model is provided with both the DNA sequences and their corresponding experimentally determined activity measurements. The model's parameters are adjusted to minimize the difference between its predictions and the experimental measurements (Box 1). This modelling involves the fitting of thousands or even millions of parameters, and very large input data sets are required to train the models9.
It should be noted that current S2E models have a fundamental limitation: there currently is no evidence to suggest that they can make reliable predictions beyond the cell types and conditions for which training data were provided. For example, they cannot predict gene expression in a particular cell type treated with a certain hormone unless the training data were generated from the same cell type treated with this hormone.
Training a deep learning model involves optimizing parameters (or weights) to predict outputs that closely match the target data. This optimization is guided by a loss function, which quantifies the difference between the model's predictions and the experimentally measured data. Minimization of the loss function during the training process is achieved by a process called ‘backpropagation', whereby the gradient of the loss function with respect to the weights of the network is calculated, allowing for adjustments to the parameters to minimize the error.
A common challenge in model training is the risk of overfitting, whereby the model memorizes the training data rather than learning the predictive motifs and patterns, resulting in poor performance on unseen data. To avoid overfitting, the original data set is typically divided into at least three folds with non-overlapping sequences: training, validation and test sets. The training set is used to learn the parameters of the model. After training, the validation set is used to evaluate the performance of the model and detect possible overfitting (that is, when the model performs better on the training data than on the validation data). This validation process avoids overfitting or underfitting (that is, poor performance on both data sets) by selecting appropriate hyperparameters, such as the model architecture or the model size (that is, the number of parameters). Once the parameters and hyperparameters of the model are set, the test set provides an unbiased estimate of the performance of the final model on unseen data.
In practice, especially when training data are limited, cross-validation is often used. In this case, the training and validation sets are merged and split into k folds (see the figure, represented as four folds). This approach involves training k models, each time using a different fold as the validation set while the remaining fold serves as the training set (not shown in the figure). Cross-validation provides a more reliable estimate of the performance of the model and improves the stability of predictions and interpretations when all the models trained in the different folds are used simultaneously (ensemble of models)21,27,58,138. By contrast, training multiple models can be challenging for large models that require substantial computational resources and time.
When creating data folds, it is important to ensure that sequences in different folds do not overlap the same genomic regions, which is referred to as ‘data leakage', as this could artificially inflate the perceived performance of the model (that is, similar performance on training and validation data), whereas in reality, it is overfitting. In sequence-to-expression models, the common practice is to group all sequences from the same chromosomes into the same fold to prevent any potential data leakage among training, validation or test folds. Other models take into account homology, whereby homologous sequences are used in the same fold18,109. However, some researchers advocate the use of random sequences as an alternative, as the extensive homology within the genome may prevent a proper estimate of overfitting76.
To achieve accurate predictions, the design of the model's architecture is crucial. The architecture refers to the structure of the layered network, including the types of operations performed in each layer, the number of layers and how they are connected. In DL, the architecture is typically chosen based on prior knowledge of the data structure and the patterns that should be recognized. S2E models should identify patterns in the DNA sequence corresponding to TFBSs, DNA structural flexibility and the interaction between these patterns. Given the sequential nature of DNA sequences, the most common architectures are convolutional neural networks (CNNs)10 and transformers11. Other architectures have also been explored; for a detailed overview, see ref. 12. A neural network architecture can be regarded as a series of arithmetic operations applied to its input. For this reason, the DNA sequence must be represented in a numerical format. Most commonly, the so-called one-hot encoding is used in which each DNA base is converted to a unique binary vector: for example A = [1, 0, 0, 0], C = [0, 1, 0, 0], G = [0, 0, 1, 0] and T = [0, 0, 0, 1] (Fig. 1a).
a, A convolutional neural network architecture consists of a stack of convolutional layers: initial layers learn simple patterns (such as transcription factor (TF) motifs), whereas subsequent or deeper layers learn more complex patterns. The DNA sequence is first transformed into a one-hot encoded matrix. In the first convolution layer, a dot product is performed between a subregion of the sequence (highlighted in yellow) and a kernel. The kernel acts as a motif detector. The resulting scores are stored in a vector: higher values indicate stronger matches between the motif and the subsequence at a given position. Multiple kernels can be applied in a single layer, each learning different (partial) motifs. The second layer learns relationships between the motifs identified in the previous layer. Several convolutional layers can be stacked, ultimately combining their output with a dense layer to produce the final output. The number of convolutional layers, the size of the kernels or the number of kernels applied in each layer are hyperparameters that can be tuned. However, some of these hyperparameters align with known biological priors (for example, the size of kernels tends to be in the length range of TF binding sites). b, Sequence-to-expression models that use a transformer architecture usually start by using convolutional layers. The convolutional layers initially learn local patterns, compressing the sequence, and the self-attention layers learn more distal patterns. The output of the convolutional layers feeds into the attention layer. The attention mechanism can be thought of as a similarity matrix, whereby each element computes how relevant it is for the other elements. In this example, the interaction of the promoter and its closest enhancers is highly important for the prediction, whereas the furthest enhancer does not interact with the promoter owing to the presence of an insulator.
CNNs have a hierarchical architecture that is well suited to detect and combine features at multiple hierarchical scales. For the S2E challenge, this is important because the regulatory grammar manifests at different spatial resolutions: the initial layers capture local and relatively simple features, such as motifs representing TFBSs, whereas the deeper layers identify more complex patterns such as interactions between potentially more distal TFBSs.
The convolution layer is the core component of these models9,10,12. This layer performs a dot product between a kernel (or filter) and a subset of the sequence matching the kernel size (Fig. 1a). The matrix multiplication is executed in a sliding window along the length of the input sequence, producing a vector where each entry represents the similarity between positions in the raw sequence and the applied kernel. The convolutional kernels, which are a result of fitting the model to the data, can be conceptualized as position weight matrices that scan the input sequence for motif matches (for extensive review, see ref. 13). After the convolution step, an activation function is applied to the matrix multiplication output. Typically, this is a nonlinear function, allowing the network to fit to complex nonlinear data and uncover complex patterns. The number and size of kernels are hyperparameters that can be optimized during the hyperparameter tuning process. Several convolution layers are repeated until the last fully connected layer produces the output. The output can vary based on the task: it might be a single value representing the overall prediction for the entire input sequence, or a vector representing higher resolutions, potentially down to individual nucleotides.
Nearly a decade ago, pioneering studies demonstrated that CNNs trained on epigenomic data outperformed the then gold-standard algorithms based on shallow machine-learning algorithms14,15,16. Although these models did not directly predict gene expression, they successfully predicted TF binding and histone marks based solely on genomic sequences. These initial models could learn from sequences of up to 1,000 nt, limiting their ability to capture long-range interaction effects between promoters and distal elements, such as enhancers, which can act over distances of hundreds of thousands of base pairs. To address this limitation, Basenji17 introduced a type of convolution layer that increased the input size of the model to sequences of 131 kb. Compared with previous models such as Basset, Basenji achieved greater precision in peak calling of DNA accessibility measurements obtained using DNase I hypersensitive sites sequencing (DNase-seq) experiments, increasing the area under the precision-recall curve average from 0.435 to 0.577.
As the demand for larger receptive fields grew, CNNs reached their limits: the substantially deeper layers reduce resolution and make them less efficient for detecting long-range dependencies. By contrast, transformer architectures can handle large receptive fields and study long-range interactions. Transformers use self-attention, a mechanism by which each element in a sequence can be used to weigh the importance of other elements in the same sequence when processing information, capturing relationships and dependencies without regard to their distance (Fig. 1b). Positional encoding is also used along with the self-attention mechanism, as it preserves the relative positions of elements within the DNA sequence. In practice, hybrid architectures are often used, with initial CNN layers that learn local interactions (such as motifs) followed by self-attention layers that focus on long-range dependencies18.
Enformer18 was one of the first S2E models to successfully implement transformers. It could handle sequences up to 196 kb and was shown to outperform all previous gene expression predictors. This improvement was attributed to a wider receptive field, which allowed the model to learn promoter–enhancer interactions. As an example, Enformer correctly predicted several distal enhancers (more than 20 kb away) that control the HNRNPA1 gene, in accordance with experimental evidence. However, subsequent analyses19,20 indicated that most of the predictive signal was derived from proximal regions and promoters rather than distal enhancers. A plausible explanation for this is that long-range regulatory interactions are relatively rare, thus providing fewer examples for the model to learn from.
A recent successor of Enformer, named Borzoi21, took an even bigger input size of 524 kb and successfully modelled RNA-seq coverage profiles, thereby simultaneously incorporating transcription initiation, termination and splicing. Borzoi's improved performance over Enformer in all downstream tasks related to gene expression levels might also be attributed to its holistic approach to modelling multiple regulatory layers, rather than solely relying on a larger receptive field.
Despite their advantages, transformers have quadratic computational and memory complexity, which require large computational power to make training and prediction feasible. As a result, constructing and interpreting these models and identifying their failure points become more challenging22. Additionally, in settings in which training occurs based on the experimentally observed activity of short sequences (such as in massively parallel reporter assays (MPRAs), discussed subsequently), CNN models can outperform transformer-based models23,24. Consequently, recently published and preprint studies that use genome-wide measurements still prefer simpler models such as CNNs25,26,27,28.
Various data types have been used to train DL models in the context of gene regulation. These include not only direct measurements of transcriptional activity and mRNA abundance but also epigenome mapping data that provide estimates of TF binding, the activity of putative regulatory elements and local chromatin states that are linked to gene activity (Fig. 2). Often these data types are combined to improve predictive power. MPRAs, which directly test the regulatory activity of large numbers of short DNA fragments, provide a fundamentally different class of training data. Subsequently, we discuss the utility of these diverse data types as input for DL models.
Binding of transcription factors (TFs) influences gene expression and can be measured with chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP–seq)129. Regulatory elements often reside in open chromatin, which can be measured with DNase I hypersensitive sites sequencing (DNase-seq) or assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with sequencing (ATAC-seq)130. Histone modifications that correlate with gene expression patterns can also be measured with ChIP–seq131. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) or 5′mRNA sequencing (5′mRNA-seq) provides measurements of gene expression. 5′mRNA-seq techniques include cap analysis of gene expression132, global run-on with cap capture133 or transcription start site sequencing134, which measure the 5′-capped ends of nascent RNAs (reviewed elsewhere135). Unlike RNA-seq, these techniques do not measure transcription termination, transcript stability or splicing events. All of these different data types can be used to train sequence-to-expression models There are extensive mutual causality links between these features (indicated by arrows): DNA sequence and chromatin accessibility dictate TF binding; some TFs can open up chromatin or recruit histone-modifying enzymes, and transcription is controlled by all of these features but conversely also affects chromatin states36,45,46.
Early efforts explored whether genome-wide measurements of gene expression may suffice as training data for S2E models. This was explored in Saccharomyces cerevisiae using mRNA expression data from about 4,000 different experimental conditions29. A CNN model could predict the median mRNA levels across these conditions from DNA sequence alone with substantial accuracy. The sequences of promoters, terminators, untranslated regions and even coding regions collectively contributed to this predictive power. However, this study did not address whether condition-specific patterns of gene expression could be predicted. A similar CNN approach could predict the median mRNA levels taken from a broad range of human and mouse cell types with reasonable accuracy, using 10 kb of DNA sequence surrounding the transcription start sites30. Most of this predictive power was driven by sequences within 1 kb from the transcription start sites. However, it remained difficult to predict cell-type-specific expression patterns30. Methods that measure expression of the 5′ regions of mRNA, such as the global nuclear run-on sequencing variant GRO-cap, have also been used extensively in both preprint and peer-reviewed studies to train S2E models and explain the regulatory logic of promoters and enhancers25,26,27. These findings highlight that although gene activity measurements have limitations when used as the sole training data, they remain an important source of information for S2E models.
As an alternative to direct modelling of gene activity, several research groups have used genome-wide maps of regulatory elements, such as enhancers and promoters, as a basis for DL modelling. A diversity of mapping data is available to infer the activity of regulatory elements throughout the genome and across cell types, in particular maps of TF binding that are mostly generated by ChIP–seq and related methods31. Although these mapping data are valuable by themselves, for example, to measure effects of variants on TF binding32, here we will focus on their use as training data for S2E models. Several CNN models, when trained on ChIP–seq data, could accurately predict patterns of TF binding from sequence at base resolution and uncover underlying sequence patterns15,33,34,35, providing useful insights into the biology of TFs and the regulatory elements that they bind to.
Active promoters and enhancers are often in a relatively open chromatin state, which can be mapped using either DNase-seq or ATAC-seq36,37. CNN models trained on sets of DNaseI hypersensitive sites could predict cell-type-specific open chromatin sites with good reliability16,38. A DL model based on ATAC-seq data was able to classify multiple classes of putative regulatory elements in human melanoma cell lines39. This model could also predict similar elements in melanoma cell lines from other mammals, even when these elements were not evolutionarily conserved. This implies that the model has learned at least some of the sequence grammar that dictates open chromatin regions in multiple species. Another study compared CNN models of both TF binding and ATAC-seq to identify TFs that are likely to be responsible for chromatin opening (the so-called pioneer factors)35.
Enhancers are typically marked by specific histone modifications such as H3K27ac and H3K4me1 (ref. 40) and by the production of short unstable RNAs named enhancer RNAs41. Lists of genomic regions that are marked by such features have been extensively used as a basis to optimize DL models designed to predict regulatory elements (for example, refs. 42,43,44). We note, however, that the vast majority of elements in these lists have so far not been experimentally validated, and it is highly likely that only a subset actually has a role in gene regulation36. Predictive DL models based on these epigenome features, while useful, should thus be interpreted with caution.
Although tens of thousands of genes in a genome seem a lot, this number of data points might not be enough for robust training of S2E models. Multitask learning may help to tackle this problem. This strategy aims to improve performance by training several related tasks — such as gene activity in multiple cell types, or multiple types of epigenome data — together, within a single model. The rationale is that the partial similarities between multiple enable more effective learning. For example, several histone modifications and open chromatin are known to mark active genes (albeit with somewhat different patterns), and hence their maps jointly provide more robust estimates of gene activity. Additionally, there are extensive mutual causality links between these features: DNA sequence and chromatin accessibility dictate TF binding; some TFs can open up chromatin or recruit histone-modifying enzymes, and transcription is controlled by all of these features but conversely also affects chromatin states36,45,46 (Fig. 2). Likewise, diverse cell types share a substantial part of their gene expression patterns, and hence joint learning on data from multiple cell types may be more effective. For these reasons, multitask learning has been widely explored. Several studies have combined multiple types of experimental data as well as data from a diversity of tissues and cell types to build predictive integrated models of the epigenome and transcriptional activity (for example, refs. 14,17,18,47,48,49). Often, thousands of input data sets are combined and, together with optimized model architectures, this has yielded very impressive predictive power.
Although multitask models offer advantages over single-task models in terms of their predictive power and their potential for knowledge transfer between data sources50,51, the practice of multitasking is a subject of debate. Multitask models are typically larger than their single-task counterparts. As a result, their high predictive power may be due to the large number of parameters that can be fit, rather than capturing the underlying biological mechanisms more accurately. One study found that multitask models such as Enformer18 and Sei48 underperformed on cell-type-specific accessibility data compared with single-task models52. Enformer also poorly captured distal regulatory elements19 and made errors in predicting the effects of sequence variants53. This suggests that cell-type-specific features might be under-represented in multitask models52,54. Two possible solutions have been proposed in preprint studies: one is to balance the importance for each task54; and the other is to account for expression variation across cell types for each locus20,55,56. As the advantages of multitask training are still debated, training of smaller, single-task models may result in equal or better performance, faster training, quicker predictions and facilitate interpretability, provided that high-quality training data are available.
Another solution to overcome data scarcity is to use transfer learning. These models are first trained on large, related data sets, after which the pretrained models are fine-tuned to specific tasks. Published and preprint studies have shown that these methods increase model accuracy and training speeds20,28,57,58,59,60,61,62,63. For example, a CNN trained on ATAC-seq data could be refined on a much smaller set of enhancer assay data to yield a predictive model of enhancer activity across multiple tissues in Drosophila melanogaster58.
Although epigenome maps have proven to be extremely valuable as input for DL models, these data types have inherent limitations. Maps of open chromatin and histone modifications are intrinsically correlative and do not offer direct measurements of causal regulatory activity36. This may be confounded further by the fact that the genome is partitioned into large domains of autocorrelated histone modifications64, which poses a challenge to pinpoint causally relevant DNA sequences. In fact, ~15–50% of regions marked by open chromatin are not detectably active as enhancers (for example, refs. 65,66,67,68).
MPRAs provide an independent source of training data by directly measuring the ability of thousands up to billions of short DNA sequences (up to ~2 kb), to act as either enhancers or as promoters69,70,71 (Fig. 3). Thus, MPRAs assign regulatory activity directly to short DNA fragments. Moreover, deep MPRAs will contain many partially overlapping fragments that aid in pinpointing which locus contains the actual regulatory signal. For these reasons, using MPRA data as input for DL modelling facilitates inferences of the local regulatory grammar of these elements. By contrast, the short sizes of the measured DNA fragments preclude the modelling of long-range regulatory interactions between regulatory elements, and large-scale MPRAs have so far been limited to cultured cells.
A massively parallel reporter assay (MPRA) is established from DNA query fragments, which can be either fragmented genomic DNA or synthetically designed sequences. These sequences are cloned into an MPRA vector. There are many variations on MPRA designs, but we show a few of the most frequently used designs. The top design is the survey of regulatory elements (SuRE) design, in which there is no (minimal) promoter in the vector, allowing measurements of autonomous promoter activity136. The middle design is the self-transcribing active regulatory region sequencing (STARR-seq) design, in which enhancer activities are measured by self-transcription of the queried sequence instead of barcodes137. In the bottom design, queried enhancer fragments are measured by barcode expression (for extensive review, see ref. 71). Transfection of these MPRA libraries will result in activity measurements for all fragments present in the library. CRE, cis-regulatory element; ORF, open reading frame; PAS, poly-adenylation site.
Following a first proof-of-concept CNN model of a relatively small MPRA data set72, several teams have expanded and refined this approach. Of note is the model named DeepSTARR, developed to unravel the regulatory grammar in D. melanogaster cells73. Trained on activity measurements of thousands of enhancer fragments in combination with either housekeeping or developmental promoters, this model could uncover some of the regulatory logic that underlies the difference between these two fundamentally different regulatory programmes73. A preprint reports that another CNN model trained on promoter MPRA data from five different human cell lines identified cell-type-specific activities of TFs and uncovered a striking positional logic of TFs74, which was experimentally confirmed74,75. DeepLiver, a transfer-learning CNN incorporating MPRA data, was used to dissect the regulatory grammar of enhancers in multiple mouse liver cell types59.
One MPRA strategy is to include completely random DNA query fragments. Interestingly, one study using four different MPRA designs to probe both enhancer and promoter activity found that models trained on billions of random sequences were somewhat more predictive of known transcription start site positions than the models trained on actual genomic sequences67. It has been argued that this higher predictive power of random sequences can be attributed to limited sequence diversity within the human genome76. However, this approach requires MPRA libraries of extremely high complexity77,78, which are technically challenging to construct and introduce with sufficient coverage into mammalian cells.
MPRAs with transiently transfected reporters, which typically remain episomal, do not interrogate reporter activity in native chromatin context and may therefore fail to capture chromatin dependencies. To overcome this concern, lentivirus or transposable element vectors can be used to integrate reporters into the genome. However, the activity of an integrated reporter can vary up to ~1,000-fold depending on the genomic location79. To average out such context effects, each reporter must be integrated into tens of random sites, which limits the throughput of the MPRA. With this condition met, one study found good but imperfect correlations between integrated and episomal MPRAs80. Another study trained on lentiviral MPRA data in three different cell types resulted in a high-quality model that could partially model the effects of genetic variants65. Similarly, an S2E model trained on only ~100k fragments measured in a lentiviral MPRA in primary human cortical cells and cerebral organoids was able to dissect neurodevelopmental regulatory grammar68. Whether integrated reporters truly yield better S2E models than episomal reporters remains to be established.
Taken together, these studies indicate that MPRA data can be valuable in explaining gene regulatory logic and can be seen as complementary to epigenome maps.
Once a well-performing S2E model is available, it becomes reasonable to ask how the model reaches its predictions and whether new biological insights can be gained from it. Broadly speaking, this relies on identifying (combinations of) sequence features learnt by the model to predict its output. This is generally referred to as model interpretation or explainable artificial intelligence. Interpreting S2E models can thus yield a treasure trove of information on regulatory sequence, such as identifying key TFBS motifs and the specific sequence context in which they can be functional. However, S2E model interpretation poses substantial challenges owing to the complexity of these models. In recent years, S2E model interpretability has received much attention in the field (extensively reviewed elsewhere5). Here, we describe the most common techniques specific to the S2E task.
Attribution methods aim to evaluate the importance (or contribution) of individual nucleotides in a sequence to the predicted output. This can be visualized in an attribution map. One frequently used approach is in silico saturated mutagenesis (ISM)14,15. Here, the input sequence is mutated exhaustively, one nucleotide at a time, and the model is queried for the predicted effect of each mutation on the transcriptional activity (Fig. 4a). Attribution maps are sometimes represented as the average effect of the three possible mutations at a given position. These maps often highlight consecutive nucleotides with high impact on the predictions, and such nucleotide stretches frequently overlap with known TF motifs. It is important to note that this method goes beyond simply identifying TF motifs in a sequence, which could be achieved with a standard position weight matrix scan. Instead, it uncovers a new layer of complexity by detecting motifs that are functional specifically within their sequence context. This distinction is critical, as the presence of a motif in a sequence does not necessarily imply that the TF will bind at that location81; or that the TF, even if bound, will be functionally active. Moreover, the attribution of a given motif can be used to infer motif affinity35,82.
In recent years, progress has been made in understanding what models are learning, both to better understand regulatory grammar and to gain insights that can improve the models. Several methods are used. a, In silico mutagenesis. For each position in a given sequence, the reference sequence and its three possible mutations are generated. The model predicts scores for all versions, and the score difference between each mutated sequence and the reference sequence is calculated to determine the variant effect. This process is repeated across all positions, resulting in a matrix that indicates the effect of each mutation on the prediction. b, Attribution methods with backpropagation. Alternative methods to in silico mutagenesis leverage the backpropagation process (Box 1) to optimize the internal neural network parameters. In backpropagation, the gradient vector measures how slight changes in the input sequence impact the output of the model. As a result, each gradient indicates how a change of any of the nucleotides of the input sequence influences the prediction85. c, Algorithms such as transcription factor (TF)-Modisco89 cluster similar motifs in the attribution maps into a consensus motif. This approach enables the recognition of shared patterns across different sequences18,21,25,27,28,33,59,73,90,91. d, Dissecting sequence context rules. To unravel the regulatory logic learned by the model, it is possible to apply it to synthetic sequences designed for this purpose. For example, synthetic sequences may be designed in which two TF binding sites are inserted in a random background sequence at various distances from each other. The relation between the predicted expression and distance between the in silico inserted TF binding sites can inform about a potential interaction between the factors binding these motifs. e, Surrogate models. Predictions from an existing sequence-to-expression model on a subset of sequences are used to fit a linear model, called a surrogate model. This simpler model includes convolutional filters that represent TF motifs, with their output combined in a linear fashion. The coefficients indicate the contribution of TFs to gene expression.
One drawback of ISM is its computational expense, as it requires the model to make predictions for all possible single substitutions in the sequence of interest. Some approaches aim to reduce prediction time by performing only a subset of the model's operations83,84 Moreover, despite being intuitive, ISM struggles with the redundancy problem (sometimes referred to as the saturation problem5,12); motifs that are robust to single mutations (such as redundant motifs that regulate the same gene) might not be detected.
An alternative approach to obtain attribution maps is backpropagation method (Fig. 4b). In backpropagation, the partial derivative of the model's output with respect to the input is computed to indicate how slight variations in any of the nucleotides of the sequence influence the prediction. Unlike ISM, these methods require just a single computation to obtain an attribution map for a single sequence, and preprints suggest this makes them more computationally efficient, although their attribution maps tend to be noisier85,86,87,88. Some of these tools86,87,88 also solve the redundancy problem.
Attribution maps uncover the relevant motifs within single sequences (Fig. 4a). Algorithms such as TF-MoDISco, which was reported in a preprint, can aggregate these motifs across multiple sequences (for example, sets of candidate enhancers) to yield commonly used regulatory sequences89 (Fig. 4c). This can help to identify not only known TFs but also novel motifs involved in gene regulation18,21,25,27,28,33,59,73,90,91.
Although attribution maps are extremely useful to find systematic patterns such as motifs, other approaches are needed if the goal is to determine how a specific sequence context influences the predictions. To address this, the activity of sequences designed to test specific hypotheses can be predicted computationally, effectively mimicking in vivo assays on a scale that would not be experimentally feasible22,33,73,74. By generating tailored sequences, it is possible to test feature combinations to uncover general rules (Fig. 4d). For example, inserting two motifs into a set of background sequences and progressively varying their distance can reveal the optimal spacing for motif cooperativity. In this way, pairs of motifs that cooperate preferentially when closely spaced have been found33,73, such as binding motifs for Sox2 and Nanog in mouse embryonic stem cell when placed in a random genetic background33. Conversely, examples of motifs that exhibit stronger cooperativity across longer distances can also be uncovered, such as two GATA motifs in D. melanogaster in a plasmid setting73. Similarly, a recent preprint reports that computational insertion of specific TF motifs throughout human promoters revealed position-dependent activating and repressive effects of these TFs74.
Several recent efforts have aimed to combine the predictive power of DL models and the interpretability of linear models26,92,93,94. Linear models are easier to interpret because their coefficients indicate the contribution of input variables, such as a TF binding motif, to gene expression. Explainable models are a class of models that do not rely on post hoc algorithms for interpretation. An example is ExplaiNN93, which uses a linear combination of independent convolutional layers to predict TF binding and enhancer activity. The coefficient of the linear model, which combines the outputs of the convolution layers capturing the TF binding motifs, can then directly be interpreted as the influence of the TF on the prediction of the model. Unlike attribution methods that focus on local sequences, ExplaiNN can identify global patterns intuitively and computationally efficiently. However, because explainable models are simpler, they learn less fine-grained cis-regulatory rules.
An emerging alternative approach to reaching model explanations is to approximate a trained DL model with a simpler model called a surrogate model26,82,94 (Fig. 4e). For example, a recent study developed the SQUID framework, which uses complex S2E models such as Enformer to predict the activity of sequences of interest that are subsequently used as training data to fit a simpler model, the coefficients of which are easier to interpret94. A preliminary study also suggests that principles of thermodynamics may also be incorporated to understand the biophysical properties of TF binding learned by the S2E models82.
The design of explainable and surrogate models still heavily depends on existing biological knowledge, limiting their potential to discover novel insights. Therefore, methods that directly interrogate S2E models, such as attribution methods and applying S2E models to synthetic sequences, remain more powerful tools to uncover new biology. Surrogate and explainable methods are likely to become more popular in the future as our understanding of the regulatory grammar improves.
As with any prediction model, thorough validation of performance and robustness under various conditions is essential. Individual S2E predictions (for example, the effect of a particular mutation) may be experimentally verified by standard molecular genetics approaches such as reporter assays or CRISPR editing. However, testing the overall accuracy of the model is more challenging, because it requires large-scale genome perturbations and functional data.
Databases of expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) are often used to obtain an indication of the predictive power of S2E models. However, the resolution of eQTL maps is generally limited by linkage disequilibrium, making it hard to pinpoint individual causal variants. Although fine-mapping techniques such as SuSiE95 can partially overcome this problem, most studies report modest correlations between S2E model predictions and eQTL data (for example, refs. 18,47,48). Nevertheless, eQTL benchmarking may be useful for side-by-side comparisons and to identify shortcomings of models53.
Published and preprint studies suggest that among the most scalable experimental tools available to verify predictions are MPRAs, which can probe up to hundreds of thousands of sequences20,96,97. The ability to synthesize these sequences de novo offers extensive opportunities for rigorous validation, both by testing variants of natural sequences and by testing completely novel sequences. However, the length of these synthetic sequences has so far been limited to a few hundred base pairs.
Mutating sequences within the natural genomic context at a large scale is much more challenging. A promising approach is helicase-assisted mutagenesis, which can distribute random point mutations throughout a single genomic region of about 1,000 bp. These mutations can then be linked to the expression level of a gene of interest98. CRISPR interference (CRISPRi), a multiplexable tool that represses targeted sets of candidate enhancers99, can be used to verify that an S2E model has correctly predicted activating elements, but not to test individual sequence variants within these elements. A complementary approach is Targeted Perturb-seq, which can mutagenize >1,000 candidate regulatory elements in parallel and monitor the effects on the expression of dozens of nearby genes100. However, the mutations generated in Perturb-seq are a mix of short insertions and deletions that cannot be easily determined within the experimental setup. Finally, methods to relocate regulatory elements to thousands of alternative positions79,101 may in the future be applied to test S2E predictions of the interplay between regulatory elements and their broader genomic environment.
The successful training of S2E models, combined with robust and stable interpretation techniques, has allowed researchers to interrogate the syntax learned by these DL models (Fig. 5a). This has already resulted in tangible new insights into regulatory processes. An early approach, BPNet33, investigated the impact of motif spacing on TF cooperativity, revealed how Nanog binds with helical periodicity and demonstrated how Sox2 and Nanog motifs cooperate in a directional-specific manner. Later efforts built on BPNet's architecture102 showed that short tandem repeats can facilitate TF binding. Similarly, several published26 and emerging25,27 efforts have focused on modelling transcription initiation. Taken together, these studies reveal that local sequences alone can largely explain initiation activity and the positioning of transcription initiation depends on just a few key motifs, whereas additional TFs modulate its strength. Furthermore, by leveraging chromatin accessibility CNN models, an orthogonal study showed how TF perturbation affects chromatin accessibility28 and demonstrated that low-affinity motifs are crucial for controlling regulatory elements and for increasing sensitive responses to perturbation.
Sequence-to-expression (S2E) models can be trained on transcription or epigenomic maps, massively parallel reporter assay (MPRA) data or a combination of these data types. These models have a number of applications. a, S2E models allow the regulatory logic of regulatory elements such as promoters and enhancers to be dissected. For example, S2E models can be used to identify cooperativity between transcription factors. b, These models can be used to identify the effects of non-coding sequence variants that occur within the human population. Genome-wide association studies often lack the resolution to directly identify the causal variant of the associated phenotype. S2E models could help in fine mapping, that is, in determining the genetic variant responsible for the trait under study. c, S2E models can be used to create synthetic regulatory elements either by iterative optimization, such as through evolutionary algorithms, or simply by evaluating millions of predictions and selecting the one with the desired predicted activity. This can aid with the design of regulatory elements with a desired activity or cell-type specificity or for use in biotechnology applications or for gene therapy purposes.
S2E models have also been extensively applied to enhancer regions to broaden our understanding of their DNA sequence rules35,48,73,90,103. These models have facilitated the study of motif-flanking sequences and the effect of motif distance on cooperativity73,103. Furthermore, they have helped distinguish between pioneer TF motifs that initiate DNA accessibility and the TF motif combinations that activate enhancers while increasing their accessibility during embryogenesis35.
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) aim to link genetic variation to specific phenotypes or diseases by comparing allele frequencies. One of the applications of S2E modelling is the ability to predict the effect of any sequence variant, even those not seen during training (Fig. 5b). Several S2E models have been tested on SNPs used in GWAS14,16,17,47,48 and have typically assigned higher scores to SNPs found to be significant in GWAS compared with negative-control SNPs. However, GWAS are often limited by sample size and linkage disequilibrium, which make it challenging to pinpoint the actual causal SNP and the gene affected. S2E models may be an effective way to address these challenges and provide a means of prioritizing and fine-mapping GWAS variants, while also providing a way to shed light on the underlying mechanisms104,105,106.
S2E models have also been used to help elucidate gene expression variance in human individuals. Although two studies53,107 identified a subset of genes in which S2E model predictions performed poorly across individuals, the models accurately predicted the magnitude of single-nucleotide variant effects but struggled to predict their direction. Moreover, incorrect predictions across models were not always observed for the same genes, which might imply that the underlying cause of the inaccurate predictions is not due to an intrinsic regulatory mechanism. To tackle this challenge, both studies suggest training on personalized genomes, which would increase the sequence variation for training28.
Changes in gene expression are key drivers of speciation and adaptation, and shifts in gene activity across species are primarily linked to sequence variation in cis-regulatory elements rather than differences in transcriptional machinery108. To support this idea, many studies have shown that S2E models, especially enhancer activity predictors, can be trained in one mammalian species and accurately generalize to predict across related tissues in other mammalian species26,39,108,109,110,111,112. Therefore, S2E models have been used to explore functional conservation in enhancer evolution108, link putative enhancers to phenotype evolution111 and uncover unexpected regulatory grammar similarities between species112.
As S2E models offer the opportunity to evaluate the functional activity of any sequence of interest, at a massive scale, they are also used to design synthetic sequences de novo (Fig. 5c). One approach is to use in silico evolution to iteratively ‘evolve' a sequence to possess a desirable function, whereby the S2E model is used as the evolutionary objective function78,113,114. This has yielded a diversity of synthetic sequences that exhibit higher activity than any genomic sequence present in naturally occurring genomes114. Similarly, this approach can be adapted to yield sequences that are active only in specific cell types or are condensed into shorter sequences while retaining functionality58,73,74,78,113,114,115,116. Such synthetic sequences are particularly interesting for biotechnology and gene therapy purposes.
DL seems to be a very fruitful way to tackle the S2E challenge. Recent studies have demonstrated its potential to study the intricate mechanisms of gene regulation, predict the pathogenicity of non-coding variants and design synthetic DNA with tailored functionalities. Despite this substantial progress, several challenges remain in developing truly comprehensive and robust DL models for gene expression. Addressing these challenges will be crucial for realizing the full potential of DL in genome biology.
S2E models have evolved to use increasingly larger model architectures and are trained on bigger data sets and multiple tasks simultaneously. Nevertheless, models still struggle to capture long-range regulatory interactions. Incorporating genomic principles and biological constraints into model architectures can substantially enhance their performance. This approach has been successfully demonstrated in AlphaFold, a DL model that achieved unprecedented accuracy in protein structure prediction by integrating biophysical properties into its architecture117.
In recent years, genomic language models (gLMs), the genome equivalent of the large language models that have disrupted the language processing field, have gained attention. These models learn motif conservation and co-occurrence patterns by processing genome sequences, either across individuals or species118,119,120,121. Trained gLMs can be used as a basis for training S2E models, theoretically boosting their performance or enabling the use of smaller training data sets. However, according to recent preprints122,123, despite their success with making predictions for coding sequences, the utility of gLMs for tasks involving the regulatory genome remains limited, likely owing to differences in levels of conservation and grammar complexity. Future generations of gLMs may demonstrate potential for the S2E task.
With ‘only' tens of thousands of coding genes and upstream regulatory sequences in a typical mammalian genome, some argue that the genome itself may lack sufficient examples to learn all possible TF interactions, in particular for TF motifs that are rare76. Randomizing genomic sequences or generating fully random sequences could address this issue by expanding the variety of training sequences. Fully random sequences will, however, lack any evolutionary selection and may drown the model in negative examples. Instead, cleverly designing partially randomized DNA sequences that remain functional, experimentally feasible and address model blind spots is likely to yield better results. Early attempts to use ‘active learning', where the model is presented with MPRA-based training data on sequences it is most uncertain about, are promising124. Alternatively, increasing the training data in silico by using evolutionarily related sequences may be fruitful125,126. Consequently, training models on a combination of genomic sequences and strategically generated synthetic sequences may substantially improve model performance, especially when studying the effect of TFs whose binding sites might be under-represented in the genome.
A major promise of S2E models is to aid in prioritizing likely pathogenic non-coding variants. However, current models can be inconsistent in their predictions and often struggle to predict the effects, or even the direction of effects, of non-coding variants across individuals53,107. This limitation has been partially attributed to the fact that most models are trained on a single reference genome. Emerging preprint studies report improved performance when expression variability across individuals is taken into account20,61,127, suggesting that training models on measurements paired with personalized genomes may be a promising path forward. Nevertheless, further progress is required to deliver on the promise of non-coding variant effect prediction before it is ready for clinical use.
Current S2E models are still far from capable of reliably extrapolating to unknown cell types or experimental conditions not represented in the training data. Of note, some very recent progress utilizing foundation models to obtain prediction for unseen cell types is promising128. To reach this goal, an ideal S2E model should not only rely on DNA sequence data but also be able to incorporate data on the abundance and post-translational modifications of all TFs. With sufficient training across diverse cell types, such a model could learn which combinations of TFs and modifications are required for gene regulation in each context. To reach this comprehensive model, it will be important to massively scale up data acquisition efforts to generate training data that cover more diverse cell types and cellular contexts, such as cells with specific perturbations. For the near future, it is likely more fruitful to make it easy to train specific models for a cell type and perturbation of interest: a ‘lean and mean' model. To keep such an endeavour economical, it would be essential to know the minimal amount and type of training data needed to achieve a model capable of: accurately predicting the activity of every gene and correctly identifying the underlying molecular mechanisms, such as which TF binds and controls which regulatory element.
Finally, despite their power, it is well known that DL models can ‘hallucinate', that is, make certain predictions that do not match the real world. It will therefore remain essential to rigorously validate predictions by independent methodology. This will be particularly important when predictions are to be used for practical applications such as personalized medicine and biotechnology.
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The authors acknowledge V. Franceschini-Santos for extensive discussion and help with the generation of figures. Research at the Netherlands Cancer Institute is supported by an institutional grant of the Dutch Cancer Society and of the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. The Oncode Institute is partially funded by the Dutch Cancer Society.
Oncode Institute, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Lucía Barbadilla-Martínez, Noud Klaassen, Bas van Steensel & Jeroen de Ridder
Center for Molecular Medicine, UMC Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Lucía Barbadilla-Martínez & Jeroen de Ridder
Division of Molecular Genetics, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Noud Klaassen & Bas van Steensel
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Interpretation technique that visualizes the importance of each nucleotide in a sequence to the prediction of the model.
(CNNs). A neural network architecture using convolutional layers that extract local patterns at different spatial hierarchies.
(DL). A class of machine-learning approaches capable of identifying highly complex patterns in large data sets. Unlike classical machine learning, DL methods can automatically learn the best representation through stacking artificial neural networks in multiple layers, thereby minimizing the need for manual feature engineering.
A basic linear algebra computation to multiply matrices.
(eQTL). Genomic loci that regulate expression levels of mRNA or proteins.
A neural network layer in which every input contributes to the computation of every output. These are typically the last layers in a model.
Configuration settings that control how the model learns, such as model size and learning rate, which are set before training and may be optimized during validation.
Also referred to as a filter, a kernel is a small matrix that can detect specific patterns in the input sequence through the process of convolution. Which features each kernel recognizes is determined by the parameters in the matrix, which are learned during training.
A short substring of length ‘k' found within a larger biological sequence (such as DNA or RNA).
Describes a wide range of algorithms that can learn from data to make predictions on new and unseen data. Examples include random forest, support vector machines and gradient boosting. Machine-learning methods often require manual feature engineering.
Also referred to as weights, parameters are values in the model that are learned during training to optimize performance.
Representation of motifs in a DNA sequence as matrices that indicate the frequency or importance of each nucleotide at each position.
Region of DNA sequence that influences the prediction of the model at a given position.
A mechanism used in transformer deep learning models that allows the model to weigh the importance of different parts of an input sequence when processing it, effectively allowing the model to ‘focus' on the most relevant part of the input DNA sequence.
A technique whereby a model trained on one task is used as a starting point for a model on a different but related task, leveraging previously learned knowledge to improve performance.
A neural network architecture based on the concept of self-attention that weights the importance of different parts of the input, allowing long-range dependencies to be captured.
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Ultraweak biophotons largely caused by metabolic processes could play a key role in noninvasive health testing.
“You're glowing” is a well-known complimentary phrase meant to convey a perceived level of health, happiness, or other biological condition—pregnancies often inspire the platitude, for example. But in reality, humans (along with all other living things) truly do emit a glow largely caused by an organism's metabolic and cellular processes.
This glow, in scientific parlance, is created by what are known as biophotons (or ultraweak photons). Scientists have studied them for decades, probing their changes due to age, gender, health, and many other factors. Now, scientists from the University of Calgary have analyzed the emissions of these photons in mice before and after death, showing how they quickly dim as a result of an organism's passing. The results of the study were published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.
“The fact that ultraweak photon emission is a real thing is undeniable at this point,” University of Calgary's Dan Oblak, the senior author of the study, told New Scientist. “This really shows that this is not just an imperfection or caused by other biological processes. It's really something that comes from all living things.”
To capture this process in real time, Oblak and his team captured two one-hour exposures using advanced digital cameras capable of capturing individual photons emitted from four mice. Before both sessions of observation, the live and dead mice were given a 30-minute dark acclimation period before imaging. The results show a clear distinction between ultraweak photon emissions (UPEs) between the live and dead mice, with lingering emissions corresponding to areas of high metabolic activity in the mouse before death.
“While the live mice emit robust UPE, likely indicative of ongoing biological processes and cellular activity, the dead mice's UPE emission is nearly extinguished, with only a few remaining ‘bright spots', which correspond to ‘brighter spots' in living mice, reflecting the cessation of metabolic and energy variation,” the authors wrote.
Of course, these photon emissions are not exclusive to the animal kingdom, so Oblak and his team used a similar process to analyze UPEs in a plant—specifically, an umbrella tree (Heptapleurum arboricola). They tested the emission of biophotons due to plant injury, as well as the application of certain chemicals like alcohol (isopropanol), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and benzocaine. In both instances, the plant appeared to increase its biophoton emission, which could have a particularly profound application for observing the health of the world's forests.
“The intensity of UPE from plants is influenced by temperature, where higher temperature causes higher UPE […]. Moreover, UPE may be used as an indicator of injury effects in plants, where the injured parts emit more photons,” the authors wrote. “The investigation of UPE from plants may be used as a simple method for non-invasive monitoring of health abnormality and plant growth under different environmental conditions for plant biology and agricultural practices.”
As New Scientist notes, previous studies have similarly captured the disparate “glowing” effect in living cells (and even individual body parts), but never an entire animal organism as examined in this study. Further refinement of these analytical tools could help scientists use biophotons as a non-invasive means of monitoring human health and determining if your “glow” is really as healthy as it looks.
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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May 13, 2025
8 min read
How Trump's National Weather Service Cuts Could Cost Lives
Weather experts warn that staff cuts at the National Weather Service that have been made by the Trump administration are a danger to public safety as tornadoes, hurricanes and heat loom this spring and summer
By Andrea Thompson edited by Dean Visser
A house submerged in floodwaters, inPointe-Aux-Chenes, Terrebonne Parish, La.
Mark Felix/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Just more than 100 years ago, on March 18, 1925, a tornado slashed across the U.S. Midwest with no warning at all and killed 695 people—a massive number for a single outbreak. Today those in a twister's path get a take-cover notice eight to 18 minutes before a strike on average. And as recently as 1992, what looked like a minor tropical disturbance intensified with shocking speed into Hurricane Andrew. There was little time to prepare for the storm, and much of the resulting property damage in South Florida was massive. But by last year, forecasters could give several days' warning that the then approaching storms Helene and Milton were likely to abruptly morph into monsters.
Such improvements have cumulatively saved thousands of lives and likely hundreds of billions of dollars across the U.S. And they happened only through concerted federal government investment in studying weather events, improving computer forecast models, and making continent- and ocean-spanning efforts to collect the data that make those forecasts possible. Now meteorology experts are urgently warning that the Trump administration's staff firings and funding cuts at the National Weather Service (and its parent, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) threaten to disrupt these crucial operations and turn back the clock on forecasting.
“Our worst nightmare is that weather forecast offices will be so understaffed that there will be needless loss of life,” wrote five former NWS directors from both Democratic and Republican administrations in an open letter on May 2.
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Ultimately, storm experts say, disruption caused by existing and proposed cuts will hit multiple fronts. An understaffed and underfunded NWS could mean that a tornado warning doesn't come in time, that a hurricane forecast is off just enough so that the wrong coastal areas are evacuated or that flights are less likely to be routed around turbulence. “The net result is going to be massive economic harm,” said climate scientist Daniel Swain during one of his regular talks hosted on YouTube. “As we break these things, eventually it will become painfully and unignorably obvious what we've broken and how important it was. And it's going to be unbelievably expensive in the scramble to try and get it back—and we might not be able to get it back.”
For the past 20 years, a little more than 4,000 NWS staff members have put together 24-7 forecasts for the country's approximately 300 million people every day of the year. “We have [a more] efficient level of [staff compared] to the number of people we're serving than any other country in the world by two orders of magnitude,” says Louis Uccellini, who was NWS director from 2013 to 2022 and signed the open letter.
The NWS punches above its economic weight, too: it costs the average American about $4 per year. “It's a cup of coffee,” says JoAnn Becker, president of the National Weather Service Employees Organization, a union that represents the NWS and several NOAA offices. With one third of the U.S. economy—from farming to trucking to tourism—being sensitive to weather and climate, the NWS provides an overall benefit of $100 billion to the economy. This is roughly 10 times what the service costs to run, according to an American Meteorological Society white paper. Recent improvements to hurricane forecasts alone have saved up to $5 billion for each hurricane that hit the U.S. since 2007, according to a report by the National Bureau of Economic Research—a nonpartisan, nonprofit economic research organization. In comparison, the NWS's entire budget for 2024 was less than $1.4 billion.
NOAA Hurricane Hunters (L-R) Lt. Cmdr. Chris Wood, Flight Engineer Rusty Dittoe, and Hurricane Aircraft Commander Adam Arbitbol flies towards Tropical Storm Debby on Aug. 3, 2024.
Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press Wire/Alamy Stock Photo
With the growing number of disasters that cost the country $1 billion or more in damages, weather experts have advocated for increasing the agency's staff and budget. “NOAA is a $12-billion agency trapped in a $5-and-a-half-billion budget,” said Craig McLean, then acting chief scientist of NOAA, in testimony to Congress three years ago.
Even before President Donald Trump took office, the NWS was already about 5 percent below the staffing level the service has considered adequate as it scrambled to catch up to a spate of retirements. After the NWS's first wave of firings and early retirements under the Trump administration, staffing at the service's 122 field offices across the country has dropped to a 19 percent vacancy rate. Fifty-two offices are now considered “critically understaffed,” meaning a shortage of more than 20 percent. Some branches are down by more than 40 percent. “We're small offices,” Becker says. Each weather forecast office has about 25 to 30 people. “When you're down four people, it starts to hurt,” she adds. “There comes a point where you don't have enough people to cover everything.”
The lack of noticeable degradations in forecast quality so far is “because of the valiant efforts of the people who remain in these now critically understaffed roles in field offices,” Swain said in his recent video. “But the cracks are really now starting to show.”
One of the most noticeable effects of the staffing shortage has been the sharp reductions—and even cancellations—of the weather balloon launches that are supposed to happen twice a day at every forecast office across the country. These launches all happen at the same time to give forecasters a three-dimensional snapshot of the atmosphere. Those data are then fed into weather models and are crucial to making sure the models start with the most accurate possible information. This is particularly true during tornado outbreaks or prior to a hurricane landfall. For the former, forecasters need to understand the atmospheric patterns that influence an outbreak to better pinpoint where tornadoes might spin up. And understanding atmospheric patterns over the country is critical to forecasting where a hurricane will make landfall. The lack of balloon launches “is going to degrade weather forecasts to some extent,” Swain said in his video. “And the effects may not be obvious until there's a major tornado outbreak or hurricane landfall downwind that doesn't go so well.”
The suspensions and cancellations might be somewhat less worrisome if they were evenly spread out, but they are largely clustered in the center of the country—right upwind from Tornado Alley. The fact that a function as essential as balloon launches is being cut is a clear sign of how much staff are feeling the crunch, Swain said.
The map shows where weather balloon launches continued as normal (black), have been curtailed (orange) or have been suspended entirely (red).
Chris Vagasky, created with OpenStreetMap data (CC BY 2.0)
Another concern regards forecasting equipment, such as the nation's Doppler radar system, which is the only tool that forecasters can use to spot tornadoes inside storms systems, allowing for better warnings. Staffing cuts and spending freezes mean that if any radars or other equipment go down, offices may not have the staff or money to repair them, Becker and others say.
Experts are also concerned about the firings of two of NOAA's Hurricane Hunters—members of the crew that flies aircraft, crammed with state-of-the-art equipment, into the middle of tropical storms and hurricanes to gather data. Research has shown that including these data clearly makes hurricane forecasts more accurate and reliable. Diminished crews mean some flights could be cancelled, leaving coastal communities more vulnerable to approaching storms.
The NWS also issues specific aviation, shipping and space weather forecasts—all under threat from the current and proposed cuts.
Some of the NWS offices will become so short-staffed that they may have to operate part-time, the agency's former directors warned in their open letter. This could include making fewer highly tailored forecasts, as well as performing less outreach on social media and to local officials and emergency managers. Such outreach has been a major goal of the NWS to make sure communities are better prepared before extreme weather hits. The forecasters in the NWS offices are “community experts” who have close working relationships with emergency managers, school districts and other local decision-makers, Becker says. Without those proactive efforts, “you're basically watching the storm,” Uccellini says.
Being down so many people means “you have to cut corners—and cutting corners is dangerous with lives and property at stake,” says Jeff Masters, a writer at Yale Climate Connections and a former Hurricane Hunter at NOAA. Uccellini likens what is happening to stretching a rubber band: “You can stretch and stretch it, and then it breaks,” he says. “And when it breaks, you can't put it back together again.”
Neither artificial intelligence forecasts nor private weather companies will be able to fill in the gap; both rely on the data NOAA collects. Without robust NOAA data collection, “the Weather Channel, Accuweather ... will be unable to function as they have,” says Rick Spinrad, who served as NOAA administrator from 2021 to 2025.
People across the vast weather community, from individual meteorologists to professional societies such as the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association, have all expressed alarm about the cuts to NOAA and the NWS and have urged the Trump administration to reverse course. Industries that depend on weather and climate data, such as the insurance industry, have also spoken out. The Union of Concerned Scientists has also sent congressional leaders an open letter to urge them to reinstate NOAA's staffing and funding that has been signed by more than 3,300 scientists and other experts.
Morale is extremely low in offices across the NWS, according to Swain's video and to Uccellini and many others who know current employees at the agency. Funding cuts are forcing many employees to bring in their own toilet paper and soap. There is also “an extreme culture of fear” Swain said in his video, with “threatening and demeaning communications” from agency leaders that have called employees “lazy” and “low productivity.”
“Our worst nightmare is that weather forecast offices will be so understaffed that there will be needless loss of life." —Five former NWS directors in a May 2 open letter
In their open letter, the former NWS directors contradicted this characterization, speaking of the dedication of the agency's employees: “They will often sleep in weather forecast offices to make sure poor weather conditions don't stop them from being on time for their shifts to do their critical work. They stay at their stations during hurricanes, tornadoes and other severe storms, even when extreme weather affects their own families.”
The implemented and proposed cuts indicate that those making them have little understanding of how the service works and have not taken time to look for actual inefficiencies, Spinrad and Masters say. Swain and others have concurred. Instead, Spinrad says, the Trump administration has made “easy” cuts such as firing “probationary” employees (those who were newly hired or recently promoted, making them easier to fire). This approach “is trying to use a chainsaw instead of a scalpel to fix the patient” in terms of addressing bureaucratic inefficiencies, Masters says.
In response to a detailed list of questions regarding the cuts, the concerns others have expressed about their ramifications and the Trump administration's willingness to abide by any budget set by Congress from Scientific American, the NWS's press office wrote, “The National Weather Service is adjusting some services due to temporary staffing changes at our local forecast offices throughout the country in order to best meet the needs of the public, our partners and stakeholders in each office's local area. These adjustments are also temporary and we will continue to fulfill our core mission of providing life-saving forecasts, warnings, and decision support services.”
“In an era of climate change causing increased extreme weather, we should be spending more on NOAA and the National Weather Service, not less,” Masters says. “This is a very poor way to spend our tax dollars.”
Andrea Thompson is an associate editor covering the environment, energy and earth sciences. She has been covering these issues for 16 years. Prior to joining Scientific American, she was a senior writer covering climate science at Climate Central and a reporter and editor at Live Science, where she primarily covered earth science and the environment. She has moderated panels, including as part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Media Zone, and appeared in radio and television interviews on major networks. She holds a graduate degree in science, health and environmental reporting from New York University, as well as a B.S. and an M.S. in atmospheric chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Follow Thompson on Bluesky @andreatweather.bsky.social
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May 13, 2025
2 min read
California Told Companies to Label Toxic Chemicals. Instead They're Quietly Dropping Them
Businesses are making moves to avoid consumer warning labels, and the effects reach far beyond California
By Ripley Cleghorn edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier
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Requiring warning labels on products with potentially toxic ingredients can obviously help keep them out of a careful consumer's shopping cart. But a recent study shows that these “right-to-know” laws may also halt such formulations long before they hit the shelves or are released into the air—and can even protect people outside a law's geographic range.
One of the most significant such laws ever passed in the U.S., California's Proposition 65, requires businesses to post a warning when chemical exposures, whether through product ingredients or air emissions, exceed a safe standard. For the recent study, published in Environmental Science & Technology, researchers interviewed business leaders and found that California's rule has caused many companies to reformulate their products by reducing amounts of flagged ingredients to safer levels—or by dropping them entirely.
The interviews covered dozens of industries such as cleaning products, electronics and home improvement. They included top-earning brands across all sectors as well as leading green cleaning brands—although the companies remain anonymous in the study, says lead author Jennifer Ohayon, a scientist at the nonprofit research organization Silent Spring Institute.
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Ohayon and her colleagues found that companies commonly replaced the warning-requiring ingredients altogether, in part to avoid possible litigation. Michael Freund is a lawyer who spent decades representing groups aiming to stop toxic chemical emissions; he says the California proposition's incentives can help fill a key gap. In the cases he worked on, “every one of those companies had permits that allowed them to do what they were doing,” he says. “And that's where Prop 65 comes into play.”
Ripley Cleghorn; Source: “Trends in NHANES Biomonitored Exposures in California and the United States following Enactment of California's Proposition 65,” by Kristin E. Knox et al., in Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 132, No. 10; October 2024 (data)
Although the 1986 law is specific to California, the study results suggest its effects cross state borders as manufacturers reformulate their products nationally. A parallel study published last year by the Silent Spring Institute backs this idea up with data. That study looked at levels of 37 chemicals in blood and urine samples among both Californians and non-Californians. Of the chemicals, 26 were listed in Prop 65, and samples from before and after listing were available for 11 of those, which allowed for a comparison. For most of the chemicals, levels in people's bodies decreased after listing—both in California residents and across the nation.
Megan Schwarzman, a researcher involved in both studies, says sample data exist for only a tiny fraction of the 900 Prop 65 chemicals. In a metaphorical game of Twister, the researchers had to figure out what publicly available data could be matched to Prop 65 chemicals because “the data weren't collected for that purpose,” Schwarzman says. Monitoring all listed chemicals over time in future work would show any patterns much more clearly.
The new study notes that Prop 65 is sometimes criticized for leaving Californians “over-warned” and “under-informed.” But the research so far suggests that regardless of consumer effects, the policy has guided at least some businesses' choices—raising the bar for everyone.
Ripley Cleghorn is a science communicator and data visualization designer. She is Scientific American's current graphics intern.
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Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at www.springernature.com/us). Scientific American maintains a strict policy of editorial independence in reporting developments in science to our readers.
© 2025 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, A DIVISION OF SPRINGER NATURE AMERICA, INC.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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The authors acknowledge the Battery Pilot Hub (proposal MA-4929) and the European Battery Hub (proposal MA-6230) at ESRF. T. Jousseaume and S. Tardif contributed to the figures.
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Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) affects ~1% of children and adults and is partly caused by genetic factors. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis combining 53,660 OCD cases and 2,044,417 controls and identified 30 independent genome-wide significant loci. Gene-based approaches identified 249 potential effector genes for OCD, with 25 of these classified as the most likely causal candidates, including WDR6, DALRD3 and CTNND1 and multiple genes in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region. We estimated that ~11,500 genetic variants explained 90% of OCD genetic heritability. OCD genetic risk was associated with excitatory neurons in the hippocampus and the cortex, along with D1 and D2 type dopamine receptor-containing medium spiny neurons. OCD genetic risk was shared with 65 of 112 additional phenotypes, including all the psychiatric disorders we examined. In particular, OCD shared genetic risk with anxiety, depression, anorexia nervosa and Tourette syndrome and was negatively associated with inflammatory bowel diseases, educational attainment and body mass index.
OCD is a chronic psychiatric disorder that affects 1–3% of the population1 and is characterized by obsessions and compulsions that vary in type and severity and over time. OCD is responsible for profound personal and societal costs2, including increased risk of suicide3 and overall mortality4. OCD is moderately heritable; twin-based heritability estimates range between 27% and 47% in adults and between 45% and 65% in children5,6,7,8, with SNP-based heritability estimates between 28% and 37%9,10,11.
Two earlier OCD GWAS meta-analyses, both containing a subset of the data included in this analysis12,13, showed SNP-based heritabilities of 8.5% (assuming a 3% population prevalence) and 16% (assuming a 2% population prevalence). The first GWAS (ncases = 14,140, ncontrols = 562,117)12 found one genome-wide significant locus associated with OCD, while the second (ncases = 37,015, ncontrols = 948,616)13 identified 15 independent genome-wide significant loci. As with other complex traits, increased sample sizes are needed for a more comprehensive understanding of the underlying genetic etiology of OCD and its genetic relationships with related disorders.
The current study combines data from the two unpublished OCD GWASs described above and includes additional cohorts (~9,000 cases). This results in one of the largest and most well-powered GWAS of OCD so far, with a ~20-fold increase of OCD cases compared to the previously published OCD GWASs10. Based on the results from the meta-analysis, we conducted secondary analyses, including positional and functional fine-mapping of SNPs and genes, structural equation modeling to examine possible genetic differences in sample ascertainment across cohorts, protein and transcriptome-wide association analyses, single-cell enrichment and genetic correlations with other traits (Supplementary Fig. 1). Our results provide more detailed insight into the genetic underpinnings and biology of OCD.
We conducted a GWAS meta-analysis of 28 OCD case–control cohorts of European ancestry, comprising 53,660 cases and 2,044,417 controls (effective sample size, ~210,000 individuals). Ascertainment of cases varied across cohorts: OCD diagnosis was determined (1) by a healthcare professional in a clinical setting (18 cohorts, n = 9,089 cases), (2) from health records or biobanks (seven cohorts, n = 9,138 cases), (3) in a clinical setting or from health records with the additional characteristic that all OCD cases were primarily collected for another psychiatric disorder (three cohorts, n = 5,266 cases) or (4) by self-reported diagnosis in a consumer-based setting (23andMe, Inc., n = 30,167 cases). Cohort details, including phenotypic assessment, quality control and individual cohort GWAS analyses, are described in Supplementary Note 2 and Supplementary Table 1. We identified 30 independent (defined in Supplementary Note 3) loci among the 1,672 SNPs that exceeded the genome-wide threshold for significance (\(P < 5{\times 10}^{-8}\); Manhattan plot in Fig. 1, regional association plots and forest plots in Supplementary Figs. 2–31 and a list of all independent genome-wide significant SNPs in Table 1 with additional details in Supplementary Tables 2 and 3). The independence of the 30 lead SNPs was subsequently validated using conditional and joint analysis (GCTA-COJO)14 (Supplementary Table 4). Analysis of the X chromosome, conducted in a subset of the data for which this information was available (23andMe), yielded no significant associations (Supplementary Note 4 and Supplementary Fig. 37e). Of the 15 genome-wide significant loci previously reported in preprints12,13, 13 were genome-wide significant in the current GWAS, with the remaining two showing suggestive significance (\(P=5.23{\times 10}^{-8}\,{\rm{and}}\,{P}=2.2{\times 10}^{-7}\); Supplementary Table 5). Using MiXeR15, we estimated that approximately 11,500 (standard error of the effect estimate (s.e.) = 607) causal variants account for 90% of the OCD SNP-based heritability.
The y axis represents −log10 (P values) (two sided, not adjusted for multiple testing) for the association of variants with OCD using an inverse-variance-weighted fixed-effects model (ncases = 53,660 and ncontrols = 2,044,417). The x axis shows chromosomes 1–22. The horizontal red line represents the threshold for genome-wide significance (\(P=5\times {10}^{-8})\). Index variants of genome-wide significant loci are highlighted as green diamonds.
No statistically significant heterogeneity was observed across individual cohorts for the 30 genome-wide significant loci, as assessed with Cochran's Q-test (Supplementary Fig. 32), the I2 statistic and the genomic structural equation modeling (GenomicSEM) \({Q}_{{\rm{SNP}}}\) statistic16 (Supplementary Table 2). Genome-wide analyses of samples grouped by clinical, comorbid, biobank and 23andMe information (Supplementary Table 3 and Supplementary Figs. 33–37) showed evidence that sample ascertainment impacted results at a genome-wide scale, although not beyond what is observed with closely related psychiatric disorders17,18. We observed moderate to high genetic correlations across the subgroups (between 0.63, s.e. = 0.11 for biobanks and comorbid information and 0.92, s.e. = 0.07 for 23andMe and comorbid information; Supplementary Table 7) and a satisfactory fit for a one-factor GenomicSEM model (Supplementary Table 8 and Supplementary Fig. 39). A common factor GWAS based on the one-factor GenomicSEM model resulted in 20 significant loci, all of which were also significant in the primary GWAS (Supplementary Table 8 and Supplementary Fig. 40; analysis details in Supplementary Note 5). SNP heritability (assuming a 1% population prevalence) was 6.7% (s.e. = 0.3%), with slightly higher estimates for the clinical (\({h}_{{\rm{SNP}}}^{2}\) = 16.4%, s.e. = 1.5%) and comorbid (\({h}_{{\rm{SNP}}}^{2}\) = 13.3%, s.e. = 1.7%) subgroups (Supplementary Table 1).
We prioritized putative risk genes for OCD using six positional and functional QTL gene-based mapping approaches. Positional mapping was performed with mBAT-combo19. Functional expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) mapping was performed with transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS)20, using PsychENCODE gene expression weights21, and summary-based Mendelian randomization (SMR)22 using the whole-blood eQTLGen23 and MetaBrain24 datasets. Functional protein QTL mapping was done using a protein-wide association study (PWAS) of human brain protein expression panels25. Finally, we used the psychiatric omnilocus prioritization score (PsyOPS)26, which combines positional mapping with biological annotations, to further prioritize risk genes within genome-wide significant loci. We identified 207 significant genes (Bonferroni correction, P < 2.67 × 10−6) with mBAT-combo and 24 genes using TWAS (P < 4.76 × 10−6), 14 of which were conditionally independent. The SMR–eQTLGen analysis identified 39 significant risk genes (P < 4.28 × 10−6), and the SMR–MetaBrain analysis identified 14 risk genes (P < 9.23 × 10−6). The PWAS identified three significant genes (P < 3.39 × 10−5), while PsyOPS prioritized 29 genes. In total, 251 genes were significantly associated with OCD through at least one gene-based approach, and 48 were implicated by at least two methods (Methods, Supplementary Note 7 and Supplementary Tables 9–14).
From the 48 genes implicated by at least two approaches, we prioritized likely causal genes for OCD using colocalization (TWAS-COLOC)27,28 and SMR–heterogeneity in dependent instruments (SMR-HEIDI)22 tests. Colocalization was used to identify significant TWAS associations for which the underlying GWAS and eQTL summary statistics are likely to share a single causal variant. Similarly, HEIDI was used to select SMR associations for which the same causal variant affects gene expression and trait variation. Of the 48 genes implicated by at least two gene-based tests, 25 were also significant in either the TWAS-COLOC or the SMR-HEIDI tests, suggesting causality (Fig. 2a). Only 2 of these 25 genes were prioritized by both TWAS-COLOC and SMR-HEIDI: WDR6 (WD repeat domain 6) and DALRD3 (DALR anticodon binding domain-containing 3). Another gene of interest, CTNND1 (catenin δ1), was implicated by three of our five approaches (multivariate set-based association test (mBAT-combo), TWAS, PWAS) and showed evidence for colocalization. Only three genes were implicated in the PWAS; of these, CTNND1 was the only gene also implicated in the TWAS. In the PWAS, downregulation of CTNND1 protein expression in the human dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) was significantly associated with OCD risk (\(Z=-4.49,P=7.11\times {10}^{-6}\); Supplementary Table 13), consistent with the downregulation of CTNND1 gene expression in the prefrontal cortex seen in the TWAS (\(Z=-6.86,P=6.90\times {10}^{-12};\) Supplementary Table 10). For a discussion of the overlap between the gene findings with rare coding variants in OCD, see Supplementary Table 6 and Supplementary Note 7.
a, List of 25 genes that were implicated in at least two of the five different gene-based tests (significance indicated by gray dots) and passed the TWAS colocalization and/or SMR-HEIDI filters (significance indicated by orange dots). Conditionally independent (cond. ind.) genes within each locus are indicated by blue dots. b, Enrichment of OCD GWAS signal in human brain-related tissues from GTEx (version 8). No significant enrichment was observed in the peripheral tissues (not included in the figure). The horizontal bar size represents the significance of the enrichment measured using the MAGMA gene set enrichment test or partitioned LDSC. c, Top 20 groups of brain cell types (n = 35 total tested) enriched with OCD GWAS signal using MAGMA. Dots represent −log10(P values) from MAGMA gene set enrichment tests of individual neuronal cell types from Zeisel et al.30. Vertical crosses represent the mean −log10(P value) observed for each brain cell type group. Blue crosses represent a significant enrichment of OCD GWAS signals (FDR across 35 groups, FDR < 0.05), while pink crosses indicate nonsignificant enrichment. Gray points represent the association (−log10(P value)) for each single cell cluster (‘level 5' analysis defined by Zeisel et al.30) in a given cell type (for example, excitatory neurons, cerebral cortex). CCK, cholecystokinin-expressing; R-LM, stratum radiatum-stratum lacunosum-moleculare.
After mapping significantly associated SNPs from the GWAS meta-analysis to likely causal genes, we explored which tissues or cell types showed enriched gene expression of OCD-associated genetic signals using a previously described approach29 on published human gene expression datasets from bulk tissue RNA-seq data from the Genotype–Tissue Expression (GTEx) project and single-cell RNA-sequencing data from the adult mouse central and peripheral nervous systems30. We found enrichment of OCD GWAS signals in six of 13 human brain tissue types in GTEx but no enrichment in human peripheral tissues (Fig. 2b and Supplementary Table 15). In the adult mouse central and peripheral nervous systems, we found enrichment of OCD GWAS signals in 41 of 166 tested specific single cell types using the MAGMA gene set enrichment test (Supplementary Table 16). When summarizing results of individual single cell types into groups of cell types defined by the same region or tissue and cell type, nine of 35 were enriched for OCD GWAS signals (top 20 shown in Fig. 2c). Strong enrichment of OCD GWAS signal was especially observed in excitatory neurons of the hippocampus and the cerebral cortex as well as in D1 and D2 medium spiny neurons (MSNs).
Using phenome-wide association analysis, we examined whether the 30 independent OCD-associated loci identified by our GWAS meta-analysis have previously been associated with other phenotypes (see Supplementary Tables 17a–d for lookups in four, partially overlapping GWAS databanks and Table 1 for highlighted associations). We found that 22 of the 30 loci were associated with other phenotypes, including schizophrenia (seven loci), depression and major depressive disorder (two loci), bipolar disorder (one locus), neuroticism (seven loci), educational attainment (seven loci) and body fat mass or body mass index (eight loci).
We further used bivariate linkage disequilibrium score regression (LDSC)31 to investigate the extent of genetic correlations between OCD and 112 previously published GWASs encompassing psychiatric, substance use and neurological phenotypes, among others (Fig. 3). We found that 65 phenotypes were significantly correlated with OCD after correcting for multiple testing using the Benjamini–Hochberg32 procedure to control the false discovery rate (FDR) at a threshold of 0.05. OCD was significantly positively correlated with all tested psychiatric phenotypes; the highest correlations were with anxiety (\({r}_{\rm{G}}=0.70\)), depression (\({r}_{\rm{G}}=0.60\)), anorexia nervosa (\({r}_{\rm{G}}=0.52\)), Tourette syndrome (\({r}_{\rm{G}}=0.47\)) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD; \({r}_{\rm{G}}=0.48\)). Significant positive genetic correlations were also obtained for neuroticism (\({r}_{\rm{G}}=0.53\)), in particular for the worry subcluster (\({r}_{\rm{G}}=0.64\)), and all individual items in the worry subcluster, with slightly lower estimates for the depressive subcluster (\({r}_{\rm{G}}=0.35\)). Suicide attempt (\({r}_{\rm{G}}=0.40\)), history of childhood maltreatment (\({r}_{\rm{G}}=0.37\)) and tiredness (\({r}_{\rm{G}}=0.36\)) were also notable for strong positive associations with OCD. Of the assessed neurological disorders, OCD was only significantly correlated with migraine (\({r}_{\rm{G}}=0.15\)). Some autoimmune disorders, such as Crohn's disease (\({r}_{\rm{G}}=-0.13\)), ulcerative colitis (\({r}_{\rm{G}}=-0.14\)) and inflammatory bowel disease (\({r}_{\rm{G}}=-0.14\)), showed negative correlations with OCD (see Fig. 3 and Supplementary Table 18 for all genetic correlation estimates, 95% confidence intervals and P values, Supplementary Note 6 for a more in-depth discussion of all significant genetic correlations and Supplementary Table 19 and Supplementary Figs. 41 and 42 for subgroup-specific genetic correlation estimates).
This includes psychiatric, substance use, cognition–socioeconomic status (SES), personality, psychological, neurological, autoimmune, cardiovascular (cardiovasc.), anthropomorphic–diet, fertility and other phenotypes. References and sample sizes of the corresponding summary statistics of the GWAS studies can be found in Supplementary Table 18. The OCD summary statistics are of the main meta-analysis (ncases = 53,660 and ncontrols = 2,044,417). Error bars represent the 95% confidence intervals for the genetic correlation estimates (rG). Red circles indicate significant associations with a P value adjusted for multiple testing with the Benjamini–Hochberg procedure to control the FDR (<0.05). Black circles indicate associations that are not significant. a., after; ADHD, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; BMI, body mass index; embarras., embarrassment; freq, frequency; fr., from; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; IQ, intelligence quotient; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; neurot., neuroticism; nr., number; PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder; sat., satisfaction; VN, verbal-numerical.
The OCD GWAS reported here, comprising over 53,000 cases, identified 30 independent genome-wide significant loci. Common SNPs explained 6.7% of the variation in OCD risk in our meta-analysis (LDSC with an assumed population prevalence of 1%), a significant reduction from the 28% reported previously10. However, differences in the assumed population prevalence (where a lower assumed prevalence for LDSC heritability calculation results in a lower heritability estimate) and an increase in sample heterogeneity likely contributed to this discrepancy. The reduction in SNP heritability is in line with previous observations for closely related psychiatric disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)33,34 or depression17,35,36,37, where expanding the phenotype definition increased genetic heterogeneity, potentially accounting for the observed decrease in SNP heritability. This aligns with the fact that heritability estimates for more homogeneous OCD subgroups were higher: 16.4% for the clinically ascertained subgroup and 13.3% for the comorbid subgroup (Supplementary Note 10). The current estimates are comparable to those of other psychiatric and substance use disorders, with SNP heritability estimates ranging between 9% and 28%38.
The most significant SNP (rs78587207 (\(P=5.28\times 1{0}^{-12}\))) identified in the GWAS is located on chr11q12.1 and has been previously associated with several traits, including neuropsychiatric phenotypes39 such as depressive symptoms40 and neuroticism40. Gene-based analyses identified four putative causal genes within this locus. The closest gene to rs78587207 is CTNND1, which encodes the cell adhesion molecule p120 catenin. This gene was associated with OCD using three gene-based tests (mBAT-combo, TWAS and PWAS), and we found strong evidence for colocalization of the TWAS signal for CTNND1 in the dlPFC. The dlPFC has been consistently implicated in the neural circuitry of OCD as well as in compulsivity more broadly as part of the cortico–striatal–thalamo–cortical circuitry41,42. The protein product of CTNND1 is a regulator of cell–cell adhesion43 and has a crucial role in gene transcription, Rho GTPase activity and cytoskeletal organization44,45,46. Other credible causal genes in the locus include CLP1 (cleavage factor polyribonucleotide kinase subunit 1), TMX2 (thioredoxin-related transmembrane protein 2) and ZDHHC5 (zinc finger DHHC type palmitoyltransferase 5). Rare genetic mutations in CLP1 are associated with pontocerebellar hypoplasia type 10, a very rare autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease characterized by brain atrophy and delayed myelination resulting in intellectual disability47. TMX2 is associated with increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders with microcephaly, cortical malformations, spasticity and congenital nervous system abnormalities48. ZDHHC5 is broadly expressed in the brain, including the frontal cortex. ZDHHC5 has not been implicated in brain development but has been linked to lung acinar adenocarcinoma and lung papillary adenocarcinoma in prior studies49.
Our finding that approximately 11,500 (s.e. = 607) causal variants account for 90% of the SNP-based heritability of OCD suggests that OCD is more polygenic than other complex traits such as height (ncausal = 4,000), schizophrenia (ncausal = 9,600) and ADHD (ncausal = 5,600) but less polygenic than major depression (ncausal = 14,500) and educational attainment (ncausal = 13,200)50.
We identified a total of 25 credible causal genes based on robust evidence using multiple positional and functionally informed gene-based approaches. Notably, DLGAP1, which has been previously implicated in OCD pathogenesis10,51, was not identified in either the GWAS or in the gene-based analyses. Of the 25 genes that were implicated, 15 were within 6.5 kb of a SNP that surpassed genome-wide significance in the meta-analysis. In addition to the four genes discussed above, several others are of particular interest, including WDR6 and DALRD3, which had the strongest evidence from the gene-based analyses. These genes lie in a gene-rich region on chr3p21.31, which, in addition to harboring multiple genome-wide significant SNPs, has been previously associated with a broad range of psychiatric disorders and related traits, including schizophrenia39, well-being52 and the worry subcluster of neuroticism53.
WDR6 is broadly expressed in the brain, particularly the hypothalamus. Its protein product is involved in cell growth arrest54, and recent studies have implicated it in anorexia nervosa55 and Parkinson's disease56. DALRD3 is located on chromosome 3 in the same region as WDR6. DALRD3, when fully disrupted, is implicated in a form of epileptic encephalopathy with associated developmental delay57. Finally, a third gene in the 3p21 locus, CELSR3 (cadherin EGF LAG seven-pass G type receptor 3), encodes a protocadherin that is highly expressed in the developing basal ganglia58. Multiple loss-of-function mutations in CELSR3 have been associated with Tourette syndrome59,60, which co-occurs with OCD in 10–20% of patients.
Four other genes identified through these analyses are located in the MHC locus, a region on chromosome 6 that has a major role in the adaptive immune system and has been repeatedly linked to major psychiatric disorders61. The newly identified MHC association for OCD is noteworthy given evidence linking OCD with autoimmune disorders62,63,64. Genetic pleiotropy may underlie this connection, with variants predisposing individuals to both autoimmune conditions and OCD65. Furthermore, some OCD subtypes, such as pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric disorders associated with Streptococcus and pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome, may have autoimmune origins66,67. Nevertheless, we were surprised to discover several negative genetic correlations between OCD and autoimmune disorders such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and inflammatory bowel disease in our analyses, suggesting that there is heterogeneity (and perhaps pleiotropy) in the genetic relationships between autoimmune disorders and OCD.
Tissue and cell type enrichment analysis revealed significant enrichment of OCD SNP heritability in several tissues and cell types, with the strongest enrichment in excitatory neurons of the hippocampus and the cerebral cortex and in dopamine D1 receptor (D1R)-positive and dopamine D2 receptor (D2R)-positive MSNs in the striatum. These findings are in line with traditional neural circuitry models of OCD, which focus on frontal cortical–striatal pathways68,69. These findings are consistent with and build on previous work linking various neuronal cell types to psychiatric and cognitive phenotypes70.
Interestingly, the frontal and anterior cingulate cortices, which were enriched in our tissue-based analyses, as well as the hippocampus and the striatum, which were implicated in our cell type-based analyses, are among the regions that are consistently implicated in neuroimaging studies of OCD41,71,72,73. Enrichment in MSNs in the striatum is consistent with their role in the observed aberrant circuitry in OCD, where the D1 MSNs project to the globus pallidus interna and the substantia nigra in the direct pathway and the D2 type MSNs project to the globus pallidus externa in the indirect pathway74. However, MSNs are also enriched in major depressive disorder75, schizophrenia76 and intelligence77, suggesting that the observed enrichment is not specific for OCD.
Our analyses of the shared genetic risk between OCD and other psychiatric disorders provides further insights into the etiology of OCD. In line with previous observations38,78, OCD was significantly genetically correlated with multiple psychiatric disorders and traits. The strongest genetic correlations were observed for anxiety disorders, depression and anorexia nervosa, all of which are highly comorbid with OCD79. This aligns with previous findings from cross-disorder analyses suggesting a shared genetic susceptibility among most psychiatric disorders38,80,81. A notable exception is our finding that risk variants for OCD are protective for alcohol dependence82, which is at odds with epidemiological evidence strongly linking OCD and alcohol-related disorders83 but in line with a recent paper79 reporting a lower-than-expected lifetime comorbidity of substance use disorders in OCD. The observed pattern of correlations with other phenotypes can be thought of as falling into two categories: compulsivity–impulsivity and rumination–worry–neuroticism. In both categories, the patterns of genetic correlations appear to follow a gradient across disorders and traits. For example, in the compulsivity–impulsivity category, strong positive correlations are seen with anorexia nervosa and Tourette syndrome, which are disorders with strong compulsive features, with less positive associations seen with ADHD and negative correlations with alcohol dependence and risk-taking behaviors, which are all phenotypes characterized by impulsivity. A similar gradient is observed for the rumination–worry–neuroticism-related phenotypes, with strong positive correlations with anxiety and other ruminative phenotypes such as worry, transitioning to less strong correlations with individual depression-related items.
This study marks the transition from the flat (sample-building) phase of SNP discovery described for GWAS84 (Supplementary Fig. 20), where few to no genome-wide significant loci are identified10,12,51,85, to the linear phase of SNP discovery, where even relatively small increases in sample size identify additional genome-wide significant loci18. The strengths of the current study therefore include the marked increase in the number of OCD cases and the rigorous analytic methods, including two multivariate approaches (multi-trait analysis of GWAS (MTAG) and GenomicSEM) to control for potential overlapping study participants and to examine potential heterogeneity between the multiple ascertainment approaches. Potential weaknesses include the inability to document comorbid psychiatric disorders in the majority of cases that were not ascertained from clinical collections or electronic registries, the lack of inclusion of non-European ancestries and the limited availability of sex chromosome data. Owing to the nature of our study, imputation references used in the different cohorts were heterogeneous and did not allow for confident analysis of rare variant associations. Future larger-scale sequencing studies that are currently underway will be needed to identify associations in this allele frequency spectrum. We also note that the genetic correlation analyses are impacted by residual heterogeneity in genetic signals owing to the employment of heterogeneous ascertainment strategies.
In summary, this work substantially advances the field of OCD genetics by identifying new OCD genetic risk loci and multiple credible candidate causal genes, including those expressed in brain regions and cell types previously implicated in OCD86. We have also shown that OCD is highly polygenic in nature, with many variants implicated not only in OCD but also in commonly comorbid disorders or traits, in particular, anxiety, neuroticism, anorexia nervosa and depression. The observation that common variants explain only a modest amount of the phenotypic variation in OCD suggests that other types of genetic variation may also contribute to the etiology of OCD. Notably, whole-exome-sequencing studies have suggested that a substantial proportion of OCD cases (22%) may be influenced by rare de novo coding variants87, especially in genes that are intolerant to loss of function88. Similarly, rare potentially damaging copy number variations represent part of the risk architecture for OCD9. These findings emphasize the need for a comprehensive exploration of the contribution of both common and rare genetic factors as well as their interplay to OCD risk. Finally, with the implication of the MHC complex, we provide additional evidence for potential shared genetic influences underlying both OCD and increased liability to autoimmune processes, although the directionality of those relationships remains to be definitively elucidated. In addition to continuing to increase sample sizes, future studies will require ancestrally diverse samples to further facilitate the discovery of additional OCD risk variants. Similarly, sex-specific analyses and additional clinical phenotyping will allow for the further elucidation of genetic and clinical relationships between OCD and co-occurring disorders. Finally, with the emergence of drug databases describing the relations between drugs and molecular phenotypes89, our results may be useful for drug repurposing (that is, identifying existing drugs targeting OCD risk genes), leading to new opportunities to find more effective treatments.
All relevant ethics approvals have been obtained by the respective cohort's institutions, and a list of all respective approvals can be found in Supplementary Note 2.
We analyzed genomic data from 28 OCD case–control cohorts including 53,660 OCD cases and 2,044,417 controls of European ancestry. Supplementary Table 1 provides an overview of the individual cohorts. A subset of the cases and controls have been included in previous studies10,51,85 and preprints12,13, as described in Supplementary Note 2. Among all included individuals, 323 cases were part of a parent–proband trio; in these cases, parents were used as pseudocontrols. A total of 20,427 cases met DSM-5 (ref. 93) or ICD-10 (https://icd.who.int/) criteria for OCD as assessed by a healthcare professional or derived from (electronic) health records, while the remaining 32,233 cases were based on self-reported OCD diagnosis (23andMe, AGDS and parts of UKBB). Cohort-specific sample and analytic details can be found in Supplementary Note 2. Data collections were approved by the relevant institutional review boards at all participating sites, and all participants provided written informed consent.
First, the data of each participating cohort were analyzed individually (see Supplementary Note 2 for details). Genetic data were imputed using either the Haplotype Reference Consortium (HRC)94 or 1000 Genomes Project Phase 3 reference panels95. The resulting GWAS summary statistics were then harmonized before a conjoint meta-analysis of all autosomes was conducted. Each summary statistic dataset was transformed to the ‘daner' file format following RICOPILI96 specifications. All variants had to meet the following criteria for inclusion: minor allele frequency (MAF) > 1% in cases and controls, INFO score > 0.8 and <1.2. If the effect measure, P value or s.e. was missing or was out of bounds (infinite), the SNP was removed. Once cleaned summary statistics were produced, all datasets were aligned to the HRC reference panel. If variants were reported on different strands, they were flipped to the orientation in the HRC reference. Furthermore, strand-ambiguous A/T and C/G SNPs were removed if their MAF was >0.4. In the case that A/T and C/G SNPs showed a MAF < 0.4, allele frequencies were compared to frequencies in the HRC reference. If an allele frequency match was found, that is, minor alleles were the same in the summary statistics and the HRC reference, the same strand orientation was assumed. If an allele mismatch was found, that is, the allele had a frequency > 0.5 in the HRC reference, it was assumed that alleles were reported on different strands, and alleles were flipped subsequently. Marker names were uniformly switched to those present in the HRC reference. If a variant did not overlap with the variants in the HRC reference, it was removed.
Inverse-variance-weighted meta-analysis was conducted on 28 European cohorts using METAL97. Weighting was based on standard error primarily to account for the large case–control imbalances in cohorts that used linear mixed model approaches in their primary GWAS. Heterogeneity was assessed with Cochran's Q statistic and the I2 statistic98,99 (see Supplementary Note 5 for details). The genomic control factor lambda (λ) was calculated for each individual GWAS and for the overall meta-analysis to identify residual population stratification or systematic technical artifacts. GWAS summary statistics were subjected to LDSC analyses on high-quality common SNPs (INFO score > 0.9) to examine the LDSC intercept to distinguish polygenicity from other types of inflation and to estimate the genetic heritability from the meta-analysis and genetic correlations between cohorts. The genomic inflation factor λ was estimated at 1.330 with a λ1000 of 1.033, while the LDSC intercept was 1.0155 (s.e. = 0.0085), indicating that the inflation was mostly due to polygenic signal and unlikely to be substantially confounded by population structure. The genome-wide significance threshold for the GWAS was set at a P value of \(5.0\times 1{0}^{-8}\). The 23andMe data included information on the X chromosome; as this information was not present for all other cohorts, analysis of the X chromosome was only conducted in this subcohort (see Supplementary Note 4 for details).
We further conducted GWAS meta-analyses on the following four subgroups, defined by differences in their sample ascertainment: (1) clinical OCD cases diagnosed by a healthcare professional in a clinical setting (ncases = 9,089, ncontrols = 21,077; including IOCDF, IOCDF_trio, EPOC, NORDiC-nor, NORDiC-swe, EGOS, OCGAS, OCGAS-ab, OCGAS-gh, OCGAS-nes, Psych_Broad, WWF, MVP, Michigan/Toronto IGS, YalePenn, Chop, CoGa), (2) comorbid individuals who were primarily ascertained for another comorbid psychiatric disorder (ncases = 5,266, ncontrols = 43,760; AGDS, iPSYCH), (3) biobank data from large-scale biobanks or registries with ICD or DSM codes (ncases = 9,138, ncontrols = 1,049,776; BioVU, EstBB, FinnGen, HUNT, MoBa, UKBB) or (4) 23andMe data (ncases = 30,167, ncontrols = 929,804). While these groups are not exclusive (for example, diagnoses in health records were originally given in a clinical setting or comorbid cases were also assessed in a clinical setting or derived from health records), we defined these groups by the cohort's primary characteristic. We also conducted one meta-analysis including all clinical, comorbid and biobank subgroups, while excluding the 23andMe data, resulting in 23,493 cases and 1,114,613 controls. As 23andMe is the only consumer-based dataset, we intended to compare this dataset to all others.
We applied MiXeR version 1.3 (ref. 15) to quantify the polygenicity of OCD (that is, estimate the total number of trait-influencing genetic variants). MiXeR fits a Gaussian mixture model assuming that common genetic effects on a trait are a mixture of causal variants and noncausal variants. Polygenicity is reported as the number of causal variants that explain 90% of SNP heritability of OCD (to avoid extrapolating model parameters into the area of infinitesimally small effects).
We performed a conditional and joint analysis (GCTA-COJO)14 to identify independent signals within significant OCD loci. This approach performs a conditional and joint analysis on the basis of conditional P values before calculating the joint effects of all selected SNPs. We used the stepwise model selection procedure to select independently associated SNPs. The linkage disequilibrium reference sample was created from 73,005 individuals from the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute genetic epidemiology cohort. The distance assumed for complete linkage disequilibrium was 10 Mb, and we used the default P-value threshold of \(5\times {10}^{-8}\) to define a genome-wide significant hit.
We used MTAG100 to conduct multivariable GWAS analyses, reporting GWAS results for each of the ascertainment-specific subgroups. Through this approach, we aimed to address potential concerns about heterogeneity in genetic liability for individual subgroups following different ascertainment strategies. MTAG is a multi-trait analysis that is usually used to combine different but related traits into one meta-analysis by leveraging the shared heritability among the different traits and thereby gaining power. In this case, our aim was to generate ascertainment-specific estimates, while boosting power by leveraging the high shared heritability between the subgroups. The MTAG analysis resulted in four different GWAS summary statistics, one for each subgroup (clinical, comorbid, biobanks, 23andMe). We performed maxFDR analyses to approximate the upper bound on the FDR of MTAG results.
Similarly, we used GenomicSEM16 to model the joint genetic architecture of the four subgroups. First, we ran a common factor model without individual SNP effects, following the tutorial ‘Models without individual SNP effects' on the GenomicSEM GitHub website (Code availability). Second, we ran a multivariate GWAS of the common factor (see Supplementary Note 5 for details). We specified the model using unit variance identification, for which the latent factor variance is fixed to 1 and the loadings of the traits are estimated freely. This ensures that we capture how much of each subgroup contributes to the latent factor. GenomicSEM also generates \({Q}_{{\rm{SNP}}}\) values, which indicate possible heterogeneous effects across the subgroups. The \({Q}_{{\rm{SNP}}}\) statistic is mathematically similar to the Q statistic from standard meta-analysis and is a \({ X}^{2}\)-distributed test statistic, with larger values indexing a violation of the null hypothesis that the SNP acts entirely through the common factor.
The proportion of the phenotypic variance that could be explained by the aggregated effect of all included SNPs (SNP-based heritability, \({h}_{{\rm{SNP}}}^{2}\)) was estimated using LDSC31. The analysis was performed using precomputed linkage disequilibrium scores from samples restricted to European ancestry in the 1000 Genomes Project95, filtered for SNPs included in the HapMap 3 reference panel101. SNP heritability was estimated based on the slope of the LDSC, with heritability on the liability scale calculated assuming a 1% population prevalence of OCD1. To omit a downward bias in our estimates of liability-scale heritability, following Grotzinger et al.102, we accounted for varying levels of ascertainment across cohorts in our meta-analysis by summing the effective sample sizes across the contributing cohorts and using that as the input sample size for LDSC. For conversion to the liability scale (1%), the sample prevalence was then specified as 0.5. The SNP heritability was calculated for the whole OCD sample as well as for ascertainment-specific subgroups.
We used cross-trait LDSC31, a method that computes genetic correlations between GWASs without bias from ancestry differences or sample overlap to calculate genetic correlations between the primary OCD meta-analysis and other phenotypes of interest. The selection of traits was based on phenotypic relevance and/or prior report of a genetic relationship with OCD. The genetic correlation between traits was based on the estimated slope from the regression of the product of Z scores from two GWASs on the linkage disequilibrium score and represents the genetic covariation between two traits based on all polygenic effects captured by the included SNPs. The genome-wide linkage disequilibrium information used by these methods was based on European populations from the HapMap 3 reference panel101, and GWAS summary statistics were filtered to only include SNPs that were part of the 1,290,028 HapMap 3 SNPs.
To ensure the internal consistency of the datasets included in our meta-analysis, we calculated genetic correlations between all cohorts we considered to have a sample size large enough for LDSC (effective sample size of ≥1,000) and between the four ascertainment-specific subgroups.
We further calculated genetic correlations between OCD and 112 other disorders and traits. The source studies of the GWAS summary statistics can be found in Supplementary Table 18. As a follow-up, we also calculated genetic correlations between the 112 phenotypes and each ascertainment-specific subcohort and compared the genetic correlation patterns between the four groups. For all cross-phenotype genetic correlation analyses, we adjusted P values for multiple testing using the Benjamini–Hochberg procedure to control for the FDR (<0.05).
To match the significant SNPs to the genes for which they likely influence function, we conducted a series of positional and functional gene-mapping analyses. The positional mapping employed MBAT-combo19, while the functional mapping tested whether genetic variants associated with OCD were also associated with differential expression of nearby genes (within a 1-Mb window) using (1) TWAS20 using PsychENCODE data and included colocalization with COLOC27,28, and (2) SMR22 using whole-blood eQTL information and brain tissues from MetaBrain, alongside the HEIDI test, which tests for heterogeneity in GWAS signal and eQTL association. Furthermore, a PWAS was conducted. As a final step, genes within each locus were prioritized using PsyOPS26, which integrates both positional and functional information. The details of each method are described below.
A gene-based analysis was conducted using mBAT-combo19 within GCTA version 1.94.1 (ref. 14). The European subsample (n = 503 individuals) from phase 3 of the 1000 Genomes Project95 was used as the linkage disequilibrium reference panel with the fastBAT default linkage disequilibrium cutoff of 0.9 applied. After filtering SNPs with MAF > 0.01, there were 6,629,124 SNPs for analysis in our sample. A gene list consisting of 19,899 protein-coding genes was used to map the base pair position of genes using genome build hg19 (see Supplementary Note 7 for details).
We used TWAS FUSION20 to perform a TWAS of OCD. We used brain gene expression weights from the PsychENCODE103 and linkage disequilibrium information from the 1000 Genomes Project Phase 3 (ref. 95). TWAS FUSION uses reference linkage disequilibrium and reference gene expression panels with GWAS summary statistics to estimate the association between gene expression and OCD risk. These data were processed with the test statistics from the OCD GWAS to estimate the expression–GWAS association statistic. We corrected for multiple testing using Bonferroni correction.
We performed colocalization analyses using the COLOC R function27,28 implemented in TWAS FUSION. Colocalization is a Bayesian method used to calculate the posterior probabilities (PP) that individual lead SNPs within a significant TWAS locus are (1) independent (for example, two causal SNPs in linkage disequilibrium, one affecting transcription and one affecting OCD; PP3) or (2) share the same associated variant (for example, a single causal SNP affects both transcription and OCD (PP4)). We also performed a conditional analysis to determine whether identified associations represented independent associations. This was performed using the FUSION software, which jointly estimates the effect of all significant features within each locus by using residual SNP associations with OCD after accounting for the predicted expression of other features.
SMR22 was performed using default settings and eQTL meta-analysis summary statistics from European populations for whole blood from eQTLGen23 and all five nervous system tissues from MetaBrain (basal ganglia, cerebellum, cortex, hippocampus and spinal cord)104. The HEIDI test was performed alongside SMR to test for effect size heterogeneity between the GWAS and eQTL summary statistics. Both SMR and TWAS have a number of important assumptions and limitations, which we discuss in Supplementary Note 9.
We used the gene prioritization method PsyOPS26 to rank genes within genome-wide significant loci. This supervised approach integrates biological annotations on mutational intolerance, brain-specific expression and involvement in neurodevelopmental disorder for genes within significant loci. Genes with the top PsyOPS score within each locus were used for further gene prioritization (Gene prioritization). In the instance where two genes in the same locus had the same PsyOPS score, the gene nearest the index SNP was prioritized.
We performed a PWAS using protein expression data from human brain samples. Human brain proteome reference weight data were obtained using the Religious Orders Study and Rush Memory and Aging Project (ROS/MAP) and the Banner Sun Health Research Institute (Banner) study. The ROS/MAP proteomes were generated from the dlPFC of 376 participants of European ancestry and included 1,476 proteins with significant SNP-based heritability (P < 0.01). The Banner PWAS weights were generated from 152 individuals of European ancestry and included 1,147 proteins with significant SNP-based heritability. The PWAS was performed using the TWAS FUSION software20 with linkage disequilibrium reference information from the 1000 Genomes Project Phase 3 (ref. 95). We corrected for multiple testing using Bonferroni correction.
We created a list of prioritized genes using both gene-based tests and colocalization–HEIDI filters. Results from each gene-based test were first restricted to protein-coding genes with unique gene identifiers based on the release from GENCODE (version 40) for hg19. The following criteria were then used to prioritize genes: (1) a significant (Bonferroni-corrected) association from at least two gene-based tests (mBAT-combo, TWAS FUSION, SMR or PsyOPS) and (2) evidence of colocalization (COLOC PP4 > 0.8) and/or significant SMR association with HEIDI P > 0.05. Joint–conditional tests of association and significant PWAS associations were used as ancillary approaches to further annotate the prioritized gene list.
An analysis of tissue and cell type enrichment of OCD GWAS association signals was conducted using MAGMA (version 1.08)105 and partitioned LDSC106. We used the previously described approach29 to determine gene expression specificity in bulk tissue RNA-seq data from 37 tissues in GTEx (version 8) and single-cell RNA-sequencing data from 19 regions in the mouse central and peripheral nervous systems30. The analysis was limited to protein-coding genes with 1:1 orthologs between mice and humans. Gene expression in each tissue or cell type was calculated relative to total expression across all tissues or cell types. Enrichment analysis was performed on genes with the top 10% specificity values in each tissue or cell type, as previously defined29.
To evaluate the enrichment of tissue- and cell type-specific genes in OCD genetic association signals, we applied MAGMA and partitioned LDSC. We restricted the analysis to summary statistics for SNPs with a high INFO score (>0.6) and frequency in the entire cohort (MAF > 0.01). Using MAGMA (version 1.08), we tested whether genes with the top 10% specificity in a tissue or cell type showed enrichment in gene-level genetic associations for OCD, with the 1000 Genomes Phase 3 European sample genotypes serving as the linkage disequilibrium reference panel. We used standard gene boundaries (35 kb upstream of the transcription start site to 10 kb downstream of the transcription stop site). Partitioned LDSC was used to examine whether SNPs within 100-kb regions of the top 10% specifically expressed genes were enriched for SNP-based heritability for OCD. All results were corrected for multiple testing with an FDR threshold of 0.05.
Multiple resources were used to identify previously reported associations of our 30 significant SNPs with other phenotypes. We used the IEU Open GWAS project92, PheWAS analysis of GWAS ATLAS52 and the NHGRI-EBI GWAS Catalog91 and identified credible SNPs through CAUSALdb90. CAUSALdb estimates causal probabilities of all genetic variants in GWAS significant loci using three state-of-the-art fine-mapping tools including PAINTOR, CAVIARBF and FINEMAP107,108,109,110. We used default settings for our CAUSALdb queries.
We performed a lookup of SNPs identified to be significantly associated with OCD-related phenotypes in previous GWASs. Note that this is not an independent replication, as previous studies partially overlap with the cohorts included in this GWAS.
We performed a bidirectional lookup, assessing (1) whether gene findings from our GWAS showed evidence for rare variant involvement and (2) vice versa, whether findings from rare variant testing showed evidence of common variant association in our GWAS.
First, we comprehensively assessed the overlap between 251 genes that we highlighted in our study as carrying common risk variation for OCD (Supplementary Table 14) and current gene-based summary statistics from OCD exome-sequencing data. We used data from Halvorsen et al.88 because it is the largest published exome-sequencing study of OCD presently. The supplementary materials from that paper include de novo variant calls from 771 case trios and 1,911 controls (supplementary table 14 in ref. 88). We compared the burden of de novo variants, partitioned by variant annotation (synonymous, missense, loss of function) in trio cases versus trio controls within these 251 GWAS-prioritized genes. As described previously88, we only included de novo variants that were in loci well covered in both case and control data (In_Jointly_Covered_Loci==TRUE). We also excluded all calls from quartet samples in ref. 88 (Cohort!=“OCD_JHU_quartets”). For each of the four variant annotation classes, we compared the proportion of cases that had at least one qualifying de novo variant to the proportion of controls using a two-sided Fisher's exact test.
Second, as Halvorsen et al.88 describe an overall excess of loss-of-function variants in OCD cases relative to controls specifically within loss-of-function intolerant genes (supplementary table 13 in ref. 88), we analyzed the overlap between those genes and our GWAS-derived genes. We looked up 200 genes with a probability of loss-of-function intolerance > 0.995 (derived from ref. 111) and effect size estimate > 1. We further tested for a difference in the proportion of these pLI > 0.995 genes with effect size estimate > 1 versus ≤1 within the set of genes highlighted in the OCD GWAS (n = 251) versus outside this set using a two-sided Fisher's exact test.
Further information on research design is available in the Nature Portfolio Reporting Summary linked to this article.
The meta-analyzed summary statistics (not including 23andMe data) are available from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Download page (https://www.med.unc.edu/pgc/download-results/). In line with 23andMe regulations, 10,000 SNPs from the full GWAS including 23andMe are also being made available at https://www.med.unc.edu/pgc/download-results/. The full GWAS summary statistics for the 23andMe discovery dataset will be made available through 23andMe to qualified researchers under an agreement with 23andMe that protects the privacy of the 23andMe participants. Datasets will be made available at no cost for academic use. Please visit https://research.23andme.com/collaborate/#dataset-access/ for more information and to apply to access the data. MVP summary statistics are made available through dbGAP request under accession https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/gap/cgi-bin/study.cgi?study_id=phs001672.v12.p1 phs001672.v12.p1.
Core analysis code for RICOPILI can be found at https://sites.google.com/a/broadinstitute.org/ricopili/. This includes PLINK (https://www.cog-genomics.org/plink2/), EIGENSOFT (https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/alkes-price/software/), Eagle2 (https://alkesgroup.broadinstitute.org/Eagle/), Minimac3 (https://genome.sph.umich.edu/wiki/Minimac3), SHAPEIT3 (https://mathgen.stats.ox.ac.uk/genetics_software/shapeit/shapeit.html), METAL (https://genome.sph.umich.edu/wiki/METAL_Documentation) and LDSR (https://github.com/bulik/ldsc). MAGMA can be found at https://ctg.cncr.nl/software/magma. GenomicSEM, specifically the tutorial ‘Models without Individual SNP effects' can be found here: https://github.com/GenomicSEM/GenomicSEM/wiki/3.-Models-without-Individual-SNP-effects. TWAS FUSION can be found at http://gusevlab.org/projects/fusion/. PWAS: for access to the protein weights, see https://www.synapse.org/#!Synapse:syn24872746. GCTA (mBAT-combo and COJO) can be found at https://yanglab.westlake.edu.cn/software/gcta/#Overview. LDSC and partitioned heritability can be found at https://github.com/bulik/ldsc. Additional code for data processing (for example, harmonization of summary statistics) can be found at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.28451894 (ref. 112).
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We thank the research participants and employees of all cohorts included in this study for making this work possible. A list of members of the 23andMe Research Team, HUNT, CoGa and the MVP who contributed to this study can be found in Supplementary Note 1. We thank the research participants and employees of 23andMe for making this work possible. The Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) is a collaboration between the HUNT Research Centre (Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, NTNU), Trøndelag County Council, Central Norway Regional Health Authority and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Genotype quality control and imputation were conducted by the K.G. Jebsen Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, NTNU. HUNT analyses were performed in digital laboratories at HUNT Cloud, HUNT Research Centre Department of Public Health and Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway. NORDiC is funded by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01 MH110427 (PI J.J.C.), NIMH R01 MH105500 (PI J.J.C.) and the Swedish Research Council grant 2015–02271 (PI D.M.-C.). NORDiC was further supported by the Swedish Research Council (grants 2012-07111 and 2018-02487), Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare 2018-00221 and the Center for Innovative Medicine (CIMED). We are deeply grateful for the study participants contributing to the NORDiC research. We thank the collection team that worked to recruit them: A. Juréus, J. Pege, M. Rådström, R. Satgunanthan-Dawoud, M. Krestelica and B. Ohlander, as well as the data manager B. Iliadou. We also thank the National Quality Registry for Eating Disorders (RIKSÄT) for help with recruiting patients. We finally thank the BBMRI.se and KI Biobank at Karolinska Institutet for professional biobank services. Grant support for the MoBa team was also provided from RCN (273291, 262656, 248778, 223273) and the KG Jebsen Stiftelsen. MoBa is supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services and the Ministry of Education and Research. We are grateful to all the participating families in Norway who take part in this ongoing cohort study. The AGDS was primarily funded by National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia grant 1086683. This work was further supported by NHMRC grants 1145645, 1078901 and 1087889. We thank all the people who helped in the conception, implementation, beta testing, media campaign and data cleaning of the AGDS data. We specifically acknowledge D. Nyholt for advice on using the PBS for research; K. Kendler, P. Sullivan, A. McIntosh and C. Lewis for input on the questionnaire; L. Nunn, M. Ferguson, L. Winkler and N. Garden for data and sample collection; N. Zmicerevska, A. Nichles and C. Brennan for participant recruitment support; J. Davies, L. Lowrey and V. Antonini for support with IT aspects; and V. Morgan and K. Kirkby for help with the media campaign. We thank VIVA! Communications for their effort in promoting the study. We also acknowledge D. Whiteman and C. Olsen from QSkin. The work done by the EstBB team has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement 847776 (CoMorMent). Data analysis for EstBB was carried out in part at the High-Performance Computing Center of the University of Tartu. We thank participants, families and staff of primary and secondary schools who kindly contribute to this research (M.R., Metal-Cat and INSchool). EGOS was supported by a grant from the Beatrice and Samuel A. Seaver Foundation to D.E.G. The genotyping of HUNT was financed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the University of Michigan, the Norwegian Research Council and Central Norway Regional Health Authority and the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, NTNU. This research is based in part on data from the MVP, Office of Research and Development, Veterans Health Administration and was supported by awards CSP575b, I01CX001849-01 and 1P1HX002375 and the National Center for PTSD Research. The MVP was supported by funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development, USVA, grants CSP575B and I01CX001849, MVP-025 and the VA Cooperative Studies Program study no. 575B, the VA National Center for PTSD Research and the West Haven VA Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center and by NIH grant R01 AA026364 (J. Gelernter). This publication does not represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States government. The EPOC study was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; KA815/6-1 and WA731/10-1). LifeGene was supported by the Swedish Research Council, Karolinska Institutet–Stockholm County Council research grants, AFA Insurance and the Torsten and Ragnar Söderbergs Foundation. GENOS was supported by the German Research Foundation (GR 1912/1-1). The OCD Collaborative Genetics Association Study (OCGAS) is a collaborative research study and was funded by the following NIMH grant numbers: MH071507, MH079489, MH079487, MH079488 and MH079494. This work (OCGAS and IOCDF) is supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research—Gravitation project ‘BRAINSCAPES: a Roadmap from Neurogenetics to Neurobiology' (024.004.012) and the European Research Council advanced grant ‘From GWAS to Function' (2018-ADG 834057). The OCGAS and IOCDF samples are supported through NIMH grant numbers MH071507 (G.N.), MH079489 (D.A.G.), MH079487 (J.T.M.), MH079488 (A.J.F.) and MH079494 (J.A.K.). The iPSYCH team was supported by grants from the Lundbeck Foundation (R102-A9118, R155-2014-1724 and R248-2017-2003), the NIH/NIMH (1R01MH124851-01 to A.D.B.) and the universities and university hospitals of Aarhus and Copenhagen. The Danish National Biobank resource was supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. High-performance computer capacity for handling and statistical analysis of iPSYCH data in the GenomeDK HPC facility was provided by the Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine and the Centre for Integrative Sequencing, iSEQ, Aarhus University, Denmark (grant to A.D.B.). A.D.B. was also supported by the EU's HORIZON-HLTH-2021-STAYHLTH-01 program, project number 101057385: Risk and Resilience in Developmental Diversity and Mental Health (R2D2-MH). Mental-Cat and INSchool were supported by the Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (2017SGR-1461, 2021SGR-00840), the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI20/00041, PI23/00404 and PI23/00026), the European Regional Development Fund and the ECNP Network (‘ADHD across the Lifespan' and ‘la Marató de TV3', 202228-30 and 202228-31). BioVU: CTSA (S.D., Vanderbilt Resources) was supported by the National Center for Research Resources, grant UL1 RR024975-01 and is now at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (grant 2 UL1 TR000445-06). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. The dataset(s) used for the analyses (BioVU) described were obtained from Vanderbilt University Medical Center's BioVU, which is supported by numerous sources: institutional funding, private agencies and federal grants. These include the NIH-funded Shared Instrumentation Grant S10RR025141 and CTSA grants UL1 TR002243, UL1 TR000445 and UL1 RR024975. Genomic data are also supported by investigator-led projects that include U01HG004798, R01NS032830, RC2GM092618, P50GM115305, U01HG006378, U19HL065962 and R01HD074711 and additional funding sources listed at https://victr.vumc.org/biovu-funding/. S.A. acknowledges a Miguel Servet contract (CP22/00026) awarded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III and cofunded by the European Union Fund: Fondo Social Europeo Plus, FSE+. HYPERGENES and InterOmics cohorts provided controls of Italian origin for the present study. J.C.-D. acknowledges her contract from the Network Center for Biomedical Research (CIBER). R.D. acknowledges the Clinical Investigation Centre, Robert Debré Hospital. INSERM at APHP granted the study. B.T.F. acknowledges the Anorexia Nervosa Genetics Initiative, an initiative of the Klarman Family Foundation. J.H. acknowledges the Trond Mohn Foundation, Bergen, Norway. C. Lochner acknowledges the South African Medical Research Council and the National Research Foundation for their support. T.V.F: research reported in this publication was supported by the NIMH of the NIH under award number R01MH114927. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. N.G.M. has received funding from a project grant from the Australian NHMRC. The Research Council of Norway supported H.A., A.H. and T.R.-K. (274611). A. Havdahl was also supported by South East Norway Health Authority (2020022). Z.F.G. is supported by an Australian NHMRC EL1 Investigator Grant (2034743) and NIH/NIA grant AG068026. M.G. received support from the following grants (J. Gelernter): CSP575b, I01CX001849-01, 1P1HX002375, the National Center for PTSD Research, 5R01DA054869-01. A. Abdellaoui was supported by the Foundation Volksbond Rotterdam. T.B. is supported by NIMH grant 7R01MH103657 (GPC-OCD). J.R.C.: this study represents independent research partly funded by the National Institute for Health Research Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research or the Department of Health and Social Care. C.B. was supported by grant EU FP7-HEALTH-2007-A-201550 and grant MIUR-CNR PB05. E.M.B. was supported by NHMRC project grant 1145645 and the University of Queensland Health Research Accelerator Program. C.C. was supported by grant K99MH128540-01A1. V.C. was supported by the Italian Ministry of Health grant RC18-19-20-21/A. M.A.G. was supported by NIMH K23 MH066284. J.H. was supported by Stiftelsen KG Jebsen (SKGJ MED-02). K. Hagen was supported by the Trond Mohn Foundation. E.K.K. was supported by NIH R21 MH109938. P.S.N. was supported by R01MH071507. Fabrizio and Federica Piras are supported by the Italian Ministry of Health RC18-19-20-21/A grant. This work was in part supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) grants RA1971/8-1 and RA1971/7-1 and by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung grant 01ED2007A to A. Ramirez. S. Ripke was supported by research grant 1R01MH124873-01. M.S.A. was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (P19/01224, PI22/00464 and CP22/00128) and the European Regional Development Fund. A. Agrawal was supported by grant U10AA008401. P.A. was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (ISCIII PI22/00752) and Fundació La Marató 202201-30. C.M.B. was supported by R01 MH124871 (Sullivan and Bulik) PGC4. H.E. was supported by grant U10AA008401. D.A.G. was supported by the NIMH (OCGAS and OCGS). G.L.H. was supported by the NIMH (R01 MH58376, K20 MH01065, R01 MH101493, R01 MH085321). N.K. has received funding from DFG KA815/6-1. S.E.M. is supported by an Australian NHMRC Investigator Grant (APP1172917). B.M.N. is funded by grant R01MH124851. M.P. and C. Pato have received support from R01MH103657 and R01MH079494 from the NIMH and the Della Martin Foundation, Los Angeles, CA. J.P. has received support through the NIMH (R01MH50214: Collaborative OCD Genetics Study (G.N., PI; J.T.M., UCLA PI)). M.A. Richter was supported by funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the Ontario Mental Health Foundation. D.R.R. was supported by NIMH R01MH059299. J.F.S. was supported by NIMH grant number MH071507. G.S. is supported by the Italian Ministry of Health RC18-19-20-21/A grant. E.A.S. collected data as part of the NIH grant 1R01MH093381. O.A.A. (MoBa) has received grant support from RCN (324499, 273291, 262656, 248778, 223273), KG Jebsen Stiftelsen and NordForsk 164218. J. Kaprio has been supported by the Academy of Finland (grant 336823). P.D.A. is supported by the Alberta Innovates Translational Health Chair in Child and Youth Mental Health. D.E.G. is supported by grant MH124679-01. J.A.K. is supported by the grants R01MH103657 and R01MH079494 from the NIMH and the Della Martin Foundation, Los Angeles, CA. K.J.V. is supported by the Foundation Volksbond Rotterdam. L.K.D. was supported by grants from the NIH including R01NS102371, R01MH113362, R01MH118223, R01NS105746 and R56MH120736. J.S. was supported by an NIH Training Grant in Human Genetics (2T32GM080178). J.J.C. was supported by NIH grants R01 MH105500 and R01 MH110427. M.B.S. has been funded by the US Veterans Affairs Administration.
Open access funding provided by Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
These authors contributed equally: Nora I. Strom, Zachary F. Gerring, Marco Galimberti, Dongmei Yu.
These authors jointly supervised this work: Jeremiah M. Scharf, Murray B. Stein, Joel Gelernter, Carol A. Mathews, Eske M. Derks, Manuel Mattheisen.
Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Nora I. Strom, Julia Klawohn & Norbert Kathmann
Department of Psychiatric Phenomics and Genomics (IPPG), Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, Munich, Germany
Nora I. Strom & Manuel Mattheisen
Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm Health Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
Nora I. Strom, Julia Bäckman, Elles J. De Schipper, Christian Rück, David Mataix-Cols & James J. Crowley
Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Nora I. Strom, Jakob Grove, Anders D. Børglum & Manuel Mattheisen
University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Nora I. Strom
Department of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Translational Neurogenomics, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Zachary F. Gerring
Department of Population Health and Immunity, Healthy Development and Ageing, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Zachary F. Gerring
Department of Psychiatry, Human Genetics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
Marco Galimberti
VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA
Marco Galimberti
Department of Center for Genomic Medicine, Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Dongmei Yu
Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
Dongmei Yu
Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Matthew W. Halvorsen & James J. Crowley
Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Abdel Abdellaoui
Center for Research in Molecular Medicine and Chronic Diseases (CiMUS), Genomics and Bioinformatics, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Cristina Rodriguez-Fontenla
Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Genetics, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela (FIDIS), Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Cristina Rodriguez-Fontenla
Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
Julia M. Sealock
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Tim Bigdeli
VA NY Harbor Healthcare System, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Tim Bigdeli
Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
Jonathan R. Coleman
National Institute for Health and Care Research Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, London, UK
Jonathan R. Coleman
Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
Behrang Mahjani, Michael Breen, Joseph D. Buxbaum, Magdalena Janecka, Laura G. Sloofman, Sven Sandin & Dorothy E. Grice
Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Behrang Mahjani, Christina Hultman, Nancy L. Pedersen, Cynthia M. Bulik, Mikael Landén & Sven Sandin
Mental Health and Neuroscience Program, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Jackson G. Thorp
Faculty of Medicine, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Jackson G. Thorp
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Katharina Bey, Maureen Mulhern & Michael Wagner
Department of Neurosciences and Mental Health, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Christie L. Burton
Department of Psychiatry, Brain University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Jurjen J. Luykx
Second Opinion Outpatient Clinic, GGNet, Warnsveld, the Netherlands
Jurjen J. Luykx
Molecular Brain Science Department, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Gwyneth Zai
Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Gwyneth Zai, James Kennedy, Margaret A. Richter & Paul Sandor
Psychiatric Genetics Unit, Group of Psychiatry, Mental Health and Addiction, Vall d'Hebron Research Institute, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Silvia Alemany, Judit Cabana-Dominguez, María Soler Artigas & Marta Ribasés
Department of Mental Health, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain
Silvia Alemany, Judit Cabana-Dominguez, María Soler Artigas & Marta Ribasés
Biomedical Network Research Centre on Mental Health (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain
Silvia Alemany, Judit Cabana-Dominguez, María Soler Artigas & Marta Ribasés
Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder Institute, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
Christine Andre, Brian P. Brennan, Jesse Crosby, Martha J. Falkenstein, Lauryn Garner, Christina Gironda, Eric Jenike, Kara Kelley, Brittany Mathes, Sriramya Potluri & Eric Tifft
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Kathleen D. Askland
Laboratory of Neuropsychiatry, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
Nerisa Banaj, Valentina Ciullo, Fabrizio Piras & Gianfranco Spalletta
Department of Health Sciences, University of Milano, Milano, Italy
Cristina Barlassina
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Aarhus University Hospital, Psychiatry, Aarhus, Denmark
Judith Becker Nissen
Institute of Clinical Medicine, Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Judith Becker Nissen
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, General Hospital Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
O. Joseph Bienvenu
Departments of Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
Donald Black
Department of Child Study Center and Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
Michael H. Bloch
Department of Research and Innovation, Division of Clinical Neuroscience, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Sigrid Børte & Bendik S. Winsvold
Department of Public Health and Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, HUNT Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
Sigrid Børte
Department of Medical Genetics, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Sigrid Børte & Srdjan Djurovic
Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain
Rosa Bosch
Instituto de Salut Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salut Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain
Rosa Bosch
Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
Michael Breen
The Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
Michael Breen
Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Brian P. Brennan, Jesse Crosby, Martha J. Falkenstein, Dan A. Geller & David L. Pauls
Department of Psychiatry, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Helena Brentani & Homero Vallada
Department for Congenital Disorders, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
Jonas Bybjerg-Grauholm & David M. Hougaard
Child Health Research Centre, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Enda M. Byrne
Pharmacogenetics Department, Investigaciones Clínicas, Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramon de la Fuente Muñiz, Mexico City, México
Beatriz Camarena
Department of Surgery, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
Adrian Camarena
Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, USA
Carolina Cappi
Department of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Carolina Cappi & Ana G. Hounie
CiMUS, Genomics and Bioinformatics Group, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Angel Carracedo
Galician Foundation of Genomic Medicine, Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago (IDIS), Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Angel Carracedo
Medicina Genómica, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red, Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Angel Carracedo
Programa MIND Escoles, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain
Miguel Casas
Departamento de Psiquiatría y Medicina Legal, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain
Miguel Casas
Department of Psychiatry, Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
Maria Cristina Cavallini
Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Edwin H. Cook
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA
Bernadette A. Cullen
Department of Mental Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
Bernadette A. Cullen
Child and Adolesccent Psychiatry Department, APHP, Paris, France
Richard Delorme
Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Srdjan Djurovic, Kira D. Höffler & Stéphanie Le Hellard
Psychiatry, McLean Hospital OCDI, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA, USA
Jason A. Elias
Adult Psychological Services, CBTeam LLC, Lexington, MA, USA
Jason A. Elias
qGenomics (Quantitative Genomics Laboratories), Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain
Xavier Estivill
Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Center for Eating Disorders Innovation, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Bengt T. Fundin
Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
Fernando S. Goes
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
Marco A. Grados
The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Aarhus, Denmark
Jakob Grove
Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine, Aarhus, Denmark
Jakob Grove, David M. Hougaard & Preben B. Mortensen
Bioinformatics Research Centre, Aarhus, Denmark
Jakob Grove
Genetic Epidemiology Research Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
Wei Guo
Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Jan Haavik & Olga Therese Ousdal
Bergen Center for Brain Plasticity, Division of Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
Jan Haavik & Stéphanie Le Hellard
Department of Psychiatry, Møre og Romsdal Hospital Trust, Molde, Norway
Kristen Hagen
Bergen Center for Brain Plasticity, Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
Kristen Hagen & Bjarne K. Hansen
Department of Mental Health, Norwegian University for Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
Kristen Hagen & Gerd Kvale
Million Veteran Program (MVP) Coordinating Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA
Kelly Harrington
Department of Psychiatry, Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
Kelly Harrington
PsychGen Centre for Genetic Epidemiology and Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
Alexandra Havdahl
Nic Waals Institute, Lovisenberg Diaconal Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Alexandra Havdahl
Bergen Center for Brain Plasticity, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
Kira D. Höffler
Department of Medical Genetics, Dr. Einar Martens Research Group for Biological Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
Kira D. Höffler
Department of Medicine, Genetic Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
Donald Hucks
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
Magdalena Janecka
Department of Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
Elinor K. Karlsson
Department of Vertebrate Genomics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
Elinor K. Karlsson & Kerstin Lindblad-Toh
Department of Medicine, MSB Medical School Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Julia Klawohn
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
Janice E. Krasnow
Estonian Genome Centre, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
Kristi Krebs, Andres Metspalu, Tõnu Esko, Reedik Mägi, Mari Nelis, Georgi Hudjashov & Lili Milani
Department of Biostatistics, T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
Christoph Lange
Department of Medicine, Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Christoph Lange
Research Department, Grupo Medico Carracci, Mexico City, Mexico
Nuria Lanzagorta
Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, West Haven, CT, USA
Daniel Levey
Office of Research and Development, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, West Haven, CT, USA
Daniel Levey
Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Kerstin Lindblad-Toh
SciLifeLab, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Kerstin Lindblad-Toh
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
Fabio Macciardi
Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
Brion Maher
Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
Evonne McArthur
COBRE Center for Neuromodulation, Butler Hospital, Providence, RI, USA
Nathaniel McGregor
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
Nicole C. McLaughlin & Steven A. Rasmussen
Butler Hospital, Providence, RI, USA
Nicole C. McLaughlin
Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Sandra Meier
Department of Psychiatry, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Euripedes C. Miguel
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
Paul S. Nestadt & Gerald Nestadt
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Erika L. Nurmi & James T. McCracken
Department of Clinical Medicine, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Kevin S. O'Connell
NORMENT, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Kevin S. O'Connell
Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Lisa Osiecki & Jeremiah M. Scharf
Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Lisa Osiecki
Department of Biomedicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
Olga Therese Ousdal
Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Teemu Palviainen
Department of Clinical Neuroscience and Neurorehabilitation, Neuropsychiatry Laboratory, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
Federica Piras
Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics, IBUB, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Raquel Rabionet
CIBERER, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red, Madrid, Spain
Raquel Rabionet
Department of Human Molecular Genetics, Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
Raquel Rabionet
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Division of Neurogenetics and Molecular Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Alfredo Ramirez
Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases and Geriatric Psychiatry, Medical Faculty, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Alfredo Ramirez
DZNE Bonn, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
Alfredo Ramirez
Department of Psychiatry and Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
Alfredo Ramirez
Cologne Excellence Cluster for Stress Responses in Ageing-associated Diseases (CECAD), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Alfredo Ramirez
Department of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA, USA
Scott Rauch
Department of Mental Disorders, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, New York, NY, USA
Abraham Reichenberg
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Child and Adolescent, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
Mark A. Riddle
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité—Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany
Stephan Ripke
Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
Stephan Ripke, Benjamin M. Neale & Jeremiah M. Scharf
Site Berlin–Potsdam, German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Berlin, Germany
Stephan Ripke
Department of Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit (UPIA), Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil
Maria C. Rosário
Department of Neurosciences and Mental Health, Medical School, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil
Aline S. Sampaio
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Medical Center—University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
Miriam A. Schiele & Katharina Domschke
Department of Public Health and Nursing, HUNT Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology, Trondheim, Norway
Anne Heidi Skogholt
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Locaion VUmc, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Jan Smit
Department of Genetics, Microbiology, and Statistics, Faculty of Biology, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
María Soler Artigas & Marta Ribasés
Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
Laurent F. Thomas
Department of Public Health and Nursing, K.G. Jebsen Center for Genetic Epidemiology, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
Laurent F. Thomas
BioCore, Bioinformatics Core Facility, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
Laurent F. Thomas
Clinic of Laboratory Medicine, St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway
Laurent F. Thomas
Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, CMM, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Homero Vallada
OCD Institute, Division of Depression and Anxiety, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
Nathanial van Kirk
Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA, USA
Nathanial van Kirk
Department of Psychiatry, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele
Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Nienke N. Vulink & Karin J. Verweij
Human Genetics Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
Christopher P. Walker
Department of Neurology, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
Ying Wang
Laboratory of Clinical Science, NIMH Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, MD, USA
Jens R. Wendland
Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Bendik S. Winsvold
HUNT Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
Bendik S. Winsvold, Kristian Hveem & John-Anker Zwart
Department of Computional Biology, Institute of Life Science, Fudan University, Fudan, China
Yin Yao
Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
Hang Zhou
Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA
Hang Zhou
Section of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
Hang Zhou
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA
Arpana Agrawal
Department of Psychiatry, OCD Clinical and Research Unit, Bellvitge Hospital, Barcelona, Spain
Pino Alonso
Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Pino Alonso
Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute IDIBELLL, Barcelona, Spain
Pino Alonso
CIBERSAM, Mental Health Network Biomedical Research Center, Madrid, Spain
Pino Alonso
Psychosomatic Department, Windach Hospital of Neurobehavioural Research and Therapy, Windach, Germany
Götz Berberich
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA
Kathleen K. Bucholz
Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Cynthia M. Bulik & James J. Crowley
Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Cynthia M. Bulik
Departments of Rijksuniversiteit Groningen and Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
Danielle Cath
Department of Specialized Training, Drenthe Mental Health Care Institute, Groningen, the Netherlands
Danielle Cath
Department of Psychiatry, Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (NIN-KNAW), Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Damiaan Denys
Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, UNSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Valsamma Eapen
Academic Unit of Child Psychiatry South-West Sydney, South-West Sydney Clinical School, SWSLHD and Ingham Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Valsamma Eapen
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Howard Edenberg
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital LMU, Munich, Germany
Peter Falkai
Department of Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute, Munich, Germany
Peter Falkai
Child Study Center and Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
Thomas V. Fernandez
Department of Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
Abby J. Fyer
Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
Abby J. Fyer
Department of Medicine, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA
J. M. Gaziano
Department of Medicine, Mass General Brigham, Boston, MA, USA
J. M. Gaziano
Department of Psychiatry, Child Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Dan A. Geller
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
Hans J. Grabe
COBRE Center on Neuromodulation, Butler Hospital, Providence, RI, USA
Benjamin D. Greenberg
Center for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology, VA Providence Healthcare System, Providence, RI, USA
Benjamin D. Greenberg
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
Benjamin D. Greenberg
Department of Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Gregory L. Hanna
Brain and Mind Centre, the University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Ian B. Hickie
Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Dongbing Lai
Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
Mikael Landén
Department of Addictology and Psychiatry, Université Paris-Est Créteil, AP-HP, Inserm, Paris, France
Marion Leboyer
Department of Psychiatry, SA MRC Unit on Risk and Resilience in Mental Disorders, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Christine Lochner
Department of Mental Health, Psychiatric Genetics, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Sarah E. Medland
National Centre for Register-based Research, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Preben B. Mortensen
Centre for Integrated Register-based Research, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Preben B. Mortensen
Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Benjamin M. Neale
Department of Psychiatry, Psychiatry, Carracci Medical Group, Mexico City, México
Humberto Nicolini
Psiquiatría, Instituto Nacional de Medicina Genómica, Mexico City, México
Humberto Nicolini
Mental Health Center Copenhagen, Copenhagen Research Center for Mental Health, Mental Health Services in the Capital Region of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
Merete Nordentoft
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Merete Nordentoft
Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
Michele Pato & Carlos Pato
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA, USA
John Piacentini
Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
Christopher Pittenger
Department of Complex Trait Genetics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Danielle Posthuma
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric, Section Complex Trait Genetics, VU Medical Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Danielle Posthuma
Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain
Josep Antoni Ramos-Quiroga
Group of Psychiatry, Mental Health and Addictions, Psychiatric Genetics Unit, Vall d'Hebron Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain
Josep Antoni Ramos-Quiroga
CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain
Josep Antoni Ramos-Quiroga
Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Josep Antoni Ramos-Quiroga
Department of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Margaret A. Richter
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA
David R. Rosenberg
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Stephan Ruhrmann
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
Jack F. Samuels
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Division of Neuropsychiatry, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
Gianfranco Spalletta
Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience Institute, SAMRC Unit on Risk and Resilience in Mental Disorders, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
Dan J. Stein
Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
S. Evelyn Stewart
British Columbia Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
S. Evelyn Stewart
British Columbia Mental Health and Substance Use Services Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
S. Evelyn Stewart
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
Eric A. Storch
Department of Pharmacology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
Barbara E. Stranger
Center for Genetic Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
Barbara E. Stranger
Department of Cardiology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
Maurizio Turiel
Institute of Biological Psychiatry, Mental Health Center Sct. Hans, Copenhagen University Hospital, Mental Health Services (RHP), Copenhagen, Denmark
Thomas Werge
Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Thomas Werge
Institute of Clinical Medicine, NORMENT Centre, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Ole A. Andreassen
Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Center for Precision Psychiatry, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Ole A. Andreassen
The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Anders D. Børglum
Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Anders D. Børglum
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich (PUK), University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
Susanne Walitza & Edna Grünblatt
Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and the ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
Susanne Walitza & Edna Grünblatt
Zurich Center for Integrative Human Physiology, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
Susanne Walitza & Edna Grünblatt
HUNT Research Center, Department of Public Health and Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
Kristian Hveem
Department of Research, Innovation and Education, St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway
Kristian Hveem
Centre for Crisis Psychology, Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Bjarne K. Hansen
Department of Genetic Epidemiology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Nicholas G. Martin
Psychosis Research Unit, Psychiatry, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
Ole Mors
Department of Mental Disorders, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
Ted Reichborn-Kjennerud
Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Ted Reichborn-Kjennerud
Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Gerd Kvale
Partner Site Berlin, DZPG, Berlin, Germany
Katharina Domschke
Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases and Geriatric Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Michael Wagner
DZNE, Bonn, Germany
Michael Wagner
Department of Research and Innovation, Clinical Neuroscience, Oslo University Hospital and University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
John-Anker Zwart
Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatric Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
Gerome Breen
FIMM, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Jaakko Kaprio
Department of Psychiatry, the Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Paul D. Arnold
Program in Genetics and Genome Biology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Paul D. Arnold
Department of Genetics, Human Genetics Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
James A. Knowles
PsychGen Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
Helga Ask
PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Helga Ask
Department of Medicine, Division of Genetic Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
Lea K. Davis
Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC location AMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Dirk J. Smit
Psychiatry Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA
Murray B. Stein
Department of Psychiatry and School of Public Health, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
Murray B. Stein
Department of Psychiatry, Human Genetics (Psychiatry), Yale University School of Medicine, West Haven, CT, USA
Joel Gelernter
Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare Center, West Haven, CT, USA
Joel Gelernter
Psychiatry and Genetics Institute, Evelyn F. and William L. Mc Knight Brain Institute, Center for OCD, Anxiety and Related Disorders, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
Carol A. Mathews
Department of Mental Health and Neuroscience, QIMR Berghofer, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Eske M. Derks
Department of Community Health and Epidemiology and Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Manuel Mattheisen
23andMe, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, USA
Chris German
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J.M. Scharf, M.B.S., J. Gelernter, C.A.M., E.M.D. and M. Mattheisen designed the study. N.I.S., Z.F.G., M.G., D.Y. and M.W.H. conducted data analysis. N.I.S., Z.F.G., M.G., D.Y., M.W.H., A. Abdellaoui, C.R.-F., J.M. Sealock, T.B., J.R.C., B. Mahjani, J.G.T., K.B., C.L.B., J.J.L., G.Z., S.A., C.A., K.D.A., J.B., N.B., C.B., J.B.N., O.J.B., D.B., M.H.B., S.B., R.B., M.B., B.P.B., H.B., J.D.B., J.B.-G., E.M.B., J.C.-D., B.C., A. Camarena, C.C., A. Carracedo, M.C., M.C.C., V.C., E.H.C., J.C., B.A.C., E.J.D.S., R.D., S.D., J.A.E., X.E., M.J.F., B.T.F., L.G., C. Gironda, F.S.G., M.A.G., J. Grove, W.G., J.H., K. Hagen, K. Harrington, A.H., K.D.H., A.G.H., D.H., C.H., M.J., E.J., E.K.K., K. Kelley, J. Klawohn, J.E.K., K. Krebs, C. Lange, N.L., D. Levey, K.L.-T., F.M., B. Maher, B. Mathes, E.M., N.M., N.C.M., S.M., E.C.M., M. Mulhem, P.S.N., E.L.N., K.S.O'C., L.O., O.T.O., T.P., N.L.P., Fabrizio Piras, Federica Piras, S.P., R.R., A. Ramirez, S. Rauch, A. Reichenberg, M.A. Riddle, S. Ripke, M.C.R., A.S.S., M.A.S., A.H.S., L.G.S., J.S., M.S.A., L.F.T., E.T., H.V., N.v.K., J.V.-V., N.N.V., C.P.W., Y.W., J.R.W., B.S.W., Y.Y., H.Z., A. Agrawal, P.A., G. Berberich, K.K.B., C.M.B., D.C., D.D., V.E., H.E., P.F., T.V.F., A.J.F., J.M.G., D.A.G., H.J.G., B.D.G., G.L.H., I.B.H., D.M.H., N.K., J. Kennedy, D. Lai, M. Landén, S.L.H., M. Leboyer, C. Lochner, J.T.M., S.E.M., P.B.M., B.M.N., H.N., M. Nordentoft, M.P., C. Pato, D.L.P., J.P., C. Pittenger, D.P., J.A.R.-Q., S.A.R., M.A. Richter, D.R.R., S. Ruhrmann, J.F.S., S.S., P.S., G.S., D.J. Stein, S.E.S., E.A.S., B.E.S., M.T., T.W., O.A.A., A.D.B., S.W., K. Hveem, B.K.H., C.R., N.G.M., L.M., O.M., T.R.-K., M.R., G.K., D.M.-C., K.D., E.G., M.W., J.-A.Z., G. Breen, G.N., J. Kaprio, P.D.A., D.E.G., J.A.K., H.A., K.J.V., L.K.D., D.J. Smit, J.J.C., J.M. Scharf, M.B.S., J. Gelernter, C.A.M., E.M.D. and M. Mattheisen provided samples and/or processed individual cohort data. N.I.S., Z.F.G., M.G., D.Y., M.W.H., J.M. Scharf, M.B.S., J. Gelernter, C.A.M., E.M.D. and M. Mattheisen wrote the paper and formed the core revision group. J.M. Scharf, M.B.S., J. Gelernter, C.A.M., E.M.D. and M. Mattheisen supervised and directed the study. All authors discussed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Correspondence to
Nora I. Strom or Manuel Mattheisen.
C. German is employed by and holds stock or stock options in 23andMe. E.L.N. is on the scientific advisory board for Myriad Genetics and the medical advisory board for the Tourette Association of America and received clinical trial funding from Emalex and Octapharma Pharmaceuticals. J.V.-V. has served on advisory boards or consulted with Roche, Novartis and SynapDx; received research funding from Roche, Novartis, SynapDx, Seaside Therapeutics, Forest, Janssen, Acadia, Yamo and MapLight; and received stipends for editorial work from Wiley and Springer. J.R.W. is a current employee and shareholder of Takeda Pharmaceuticals and a past employee and shareholder of F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Pfizer and Nestle Health Science. C.M.B. reports Pearson (author, royalty recipient). P.F. reports no conflict of interest regarding this study and reports having received financial support and served on the advisory board for Richter, Recordati, Boehringer Ingelheim, Otsuka, Janssen and Lundbeck. H.J.G. has received travel grants and speaker's honoraria from Fresenius Medical Care, Neuraxpharm, Servier and Janssen-Cilag as well as research funding from Fresenius Medical Care. I.B.H. is the co-director of health and policy at the Brain and Mind Centre of the University of Sydney, Australia. The Brain and Mind Centre operates early-intervention youth services at Camperdown under contract to headspace. I.B.H. has previously led community-based and pharmaceutical industry-supported (Wyeth, Eli Lily, Servier, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Janssen-Cilag) projects focused on the identification and better management of anxiety and depression. He is the chief scientific advisor to and a 3.2% equity shareholder in InnoWell, which aims to transform mental health services through the use of innovative technologies. B.M.N. is a member of the scientific advisory board at Deep Genomics and Neumora. C. Pittenger consults and/or receives research support from Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Freedom Biosciences, Ceruvia Lifesciences, Transcend Therapeutics, UCB BioPharma and F-Prime Capital Partners. He owns equity in Alco Therapeutics. These relationships are not related to the current work. D.J. Stein has received consultancy honoraria from Discovery Vitality, Johnson & Johnson, Kanna, L'Oreal, Lundbeck, Orion, Sanofi, Servier, Takeda and Vistagen. E.A.S. reports receiving research funding to his institution from the Ream Foundation, the International OCD Foundation and the NIH. He was formerly a consultant for Brainsway and Biohaven Pharmaceuticals in the past 12 months. He owns stock less than $5,000 in nView–Proem for distribution related to the YBOCS scales. He receives book royalties from Elsevier, Wiley, Oxford, the American Psychological Association, Guildford, Springer, Routledge and Jessica Kingsley. O.A.A. reports being a consultant to Cortechs.ai and Precision Health and speaker honoraria from Otsuka, Lundbeck, Sunovion and Janssen. A.D.B. has received a speaker fee from Lundbeck. D.M.-C. receives royalties for contributing articles to UpToDate and Wolters Kluwer Health and personal fees for editorial work from Elsevier, all unrelated to the current work. M.B.S. has in the past 3 years received consulting income from Acadia Pharmaceuticals, Big Health, Biogen, Bionomics, Boehringer Ingelheim, Clexio, Eisai, EmpowerPharm, Engrail Therapeutics, Janssen, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, NeuroTrauma Sciences, Otsuka, PureTech Health, Sage Therapeutics, Sumitomo Pharma and Roche–Genentech. M.B.S. has stock options in Oxeia Biopharmaceuticals and EpiVario. He has been paid for his editorial work on Depression and Anxiety (editor in chief), Biological Psychiatry (deputy editor) and UpToDate (co-editor in chief for psychiatry). J. Gelernter is paid for editorial work by the journal Complex Psychiatry. P.A. has received funding from Biohaven, Boston Scientific and Medtronic. All other authors report no conflicts of interest.
Nature Genetics thanks Sarah Gagliano Taliun and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
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As part of a broader app update, Airbnb on Tuesday introduced a new feature that allows travelers to book services and experiences, like getting a massage, haircut, or chef-prepared meal, or taking part in some activity. These new offerings can be added to your stay, but they can also be booked independently, Airbnb says.
For instance, you can book a tour in a city you've traveled to, but where you've chosen to stay elsewhere, the company suggests.
This is not the first time Airbnb has tried such a feature — it paused an earlier version of experiences in 2023 to improve its core offering of stays. Now the company once again wants customers to go beyond planning a trip.
The move is meant to capitalize on the traffic Airbnb's site already receives. During Airbnb's Q1 2025 call, CEO Brian Chesky said that its service was accessed by over 1.5 billion devices in the last year, but pointed out that many people come to the site and don't book a home.
It also brings Airbnb more directly in competition with other travel companies such as Tripadvisor, Booking.com, Viator, and GetYourGuide, and service providers like Yelp.
Initially, Airbnb allows you to book services across 10 categories, including chefs, catering, prepared meals, photography, massages, spa treatment, personal training, hair, nails, and makeup. The services will be offered in 100 cities worldwide across eight countries.
While users can take advantage of services where they're staying, they will typically have to travel to a venue for the experiences.
Initially, experiences will include cultural and museum tours; outdoor, watersport, and wildlife experiences; food tours and cooking classes; art workshops and shopping experiences; and workout, wellness, and beauty experiences. The company is launching experiences in 19 categories across 1,000 cities in the world.
Airbnb is also launching exclusive experiences on its platform called Airbnb Originals, which involve celebrity partnerships. These include things like pastry making at French Bastards bakery with chef Raphaelle Elbaz, or playing beach volleyball with Olympian Carolina Solberg on Rio's Leblon Beach.
“These experiences and services are a way to experience a city like a local. We think that these are natural extensions to home [stays]. What's great about Airbnb is that you get unique accommodations that you can't find anywhere else. We think about our new offerings the same way,” Judson Coplan, VP of Product Marketing at Airbnb, told TechCrunch over a call.
Coplan believes that Airbnb Experiences may inspire people to travel and take a trip they might not have thought about. Plus, he thinks the new offerings can lead to people discovering new things to do in their own town.
Airbnb will take a 15% cut from services and a 20% cut from experiences. However, users will just see one price when searching for or booking either category. The company says hosts in these categories will go through verification and quality checks that include their experience, online presence, education, and required licenses.
The addition of services and experiences is part of a larger app update where both the apps for guests and hosts will be revamped to accommodate the new categories, among other changes.
Guests will be able to explore and book from the Stay, Services, and Experiences categories. And, if travelers already have an upcoming trip booked, the app will suggest related experiences or services. On the other end, hosts will have a calendar and listings functions that help them manage bookings and offerings.
Airbnb is also preparing to roll out social features later this year.
The app today has a group messaging feature for trip planning, but it plans to add a group chat feature for people who have been to an experience together. That way, they can talk about the experience, share photos and videos, or make recommendations for another trip.
In turn, Airbnb hopes this could lead people to want to travel more and use its platform to do so.
The company says it's developing privacy features around these social connections to create a safe experience for users.
The social features follow last year's launch of an updated profile page, which allowed users to describe more about themselves, including where they live, languages they speak, and other facts about themselves.
Coplan said that after that release, the number of completed profiles on the platform increased by 15x.
“There was a huge increase in a number of people who wanted to share more about themselves. For us, that was a clue that travel is something about connections,” he explained. “Whether it's your host, people you travel with, or people you meet along the way. There is especially, in this moment of time, a desire to connect with other people.”
Mirroring comments made by Chesky, Coplan noted how Airbnb is using AI to provide customer service, and how, over time, its AI assistant will become a concierge that can handle trip planning and inspiration.
Earlier this month, Chesky introduced Airbnb's AI-powered customer service agent. Unlike the previous version of the bot, which redirected users to a support article, the assistant now provides an answer within the chat.
The bot is initially available to English-speaking users in the U.S. and will be fully rolled out by month's end to this market. Later this year, the feature will become available to more countries and languages, Coplan told TechCrunch.
Over time, he says Airbnb will add more features to its AI assistant, including personalized answers tailored to your trip and booking, and in-line action buttons for taking quick actions, such as canceling a booking.
The updated Airbnb website and iOS and Android apps are rolling out to all users globally starting today.
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As Brian Chesky tells it, the reinvention of Airbnb started with the coup at OpenAI. On November 17, 2023, the board of OpenAI fired company CEO Sam Altman. His friend Chesky leapt into action—publicly defending his pal on X, getting on the phone with Microsoft's CEO, and throwing himself into the thick of Altman's battle to retake OpenAI. Five days later Altman prevailed, and Chesky—“I was so jacked up,” he says—turned his buzzing mind to his own company, Airbnb.
Thanksgiving weekend was beginning. The Chesky extended family had already held their turkey get-together a week earlier, and the Airbnb CEO had no holiday plan. He was completely alone in his sprawling San Francisco apartment except for Sophie, his golden retriever.
Still wired out of his mind from the cathartic corporate rescue, Chesky began to write. He wanted to bust the company he'd cofounded out of its pigeonhole of short-term home rentals. Amazon, he was fond of pointing out, was first an online bookstore before it became the everything store. Chesky had long believed that Airbnb should expand in a similar way. But things kept getting in the way—dealing with safety issues, fighting regulation, coping with the existential crisis of a global pandemic. The company was in danger of being tagged with the word that ambitious entrepreneurs dread like the plague: mature.
Now Chesky was emboldened to lay out his vision. Home rentals are simply a service, so why stop there? Airbnb could be the platform for booking all sorts of services. While other apps cover specific sectors—food delivery, home maintenance, car rides—Chesky figured that Airbnb's experience in attractively displaying homes, vetting hosts, and responding to crises could make it more trustworthy than competitors and therefore the go-to option for virtually anything.
In a frantic typing spree at the dining room table, on the couch, the bed, and at times in his office, Chesky specced out how he would redesign the Airbnb app. Its users—now at 2 billion—would open up the app not only at vacation time but whenever they needed to find a portrait photographer, a personal trainer, or someone to cook their meals. Chesky reasoned that Airbnb would need to significantly strengthen its identity verification. He even thought he could get people to use the app as a credential, something as respected as a government-issued ID. If he could transform Airbnb into a storefront for real-world services, Chesky thought, he'd catapult his company from a nearly $10-billion-a-year business into one that boasted membership in tech's pantheon.
Over the next few days, Chesky spilled these thoughts into an Evernote document. “I was basically going from room to room just pouring out this stream-of-consciousness manifesto, like Jack Kerouac writing On the Road,” he says, referring to the frenetically produced single roll of teletype paper that catalyzed the beat movement. “I dusted off all my ideas from 2012 to 2016,” Chesky tells me. “I basically said, ‘We're not just a vacation app—we're going to be a platform, a community.'” By Friday he had around 10,000 words, “incomprehensible to anyone but me.” He began to refine it, and by the time the weekend was over, Chesky had distilled his document down to 1,500 words.
After the holiday, Chesky gathered his leadership team into a conference room. He handed the team copies of his memo à la Jeff Bezos and waited as his direct reports took it in. “Usually when I share ideas, people aren't bought in,” he says. “But this time, there wasn't a lot of feedback. People were really excited. And two years later, that document will now be executed with an exacting detail to what I wrote.”
This month, Airbnb will launch the first stage of its more than $200 million reinvention: a panoply of more than 10,000 vendors peddling a swath of services in 260 cities in 30 countries. It is also revitalizing an unsuccessful experiment the company began in 2016: offering bespoke local activities, or what it calls “experiences.” The next stage, launch date unspecified, involves making your profile on Airbnb so robust that it's “almost like a passport,” as Chesky puts it. After that comes a deep immersion into AI: Inspired by his relationship with Altman, Chesky hopes to build the ultimate agent, a super-concierge who starts off handling customer service and eventually knows you well enough to plan your travel and maybe the rest of your life.
“Brian's been badly underrated as a tech CEO,” Altman says of his friend. “He's not usually mentioned in the same breath as Larry Page or Bill Gates, but I think he is on a path to build as big of a company.”
That's a stretch—Airbnb is nowhere near the size of those oligarchic powers. But Chesky was feeling the need for big changes; While impressive, Airbnb's growth rate doesn't suggest that the company will soon reach the trillion-dollar heights of Google and Microsoft. “I'm 43 and at a crossroads, where I can either be almost done or just getting started,” he tells me. “There's a scenario where I'm basically done. Airbnb is very profitable. We've kind of, mostly, nailed vacation rentals. But we can do more.”
In early April, I visited Chesky at the company's lavish San Francisco headquarters. The relaunch was five weeks away. The second floor—where signs warn employees not to bring visitors—had become a sprawling eyes-only command center. The walls were covered with dozens of large poster boards, each one featuring a city, that read as if a group of McKinsey consultants had tackled a fourth-grade geography assignment. Austin, Texas, was written up as “a funky come-as-you-are kind of place” with a handful of “first principles,” one of which was “Outlaw of Texas,” with pointers to food trucks and vintage markets. Another so-called principle was “Live and Alive,” referring to music venues and bat watching; a third was “Dam Lakes,” referring to various water sports. Other blindingly obvious notations included barbeque, tacos, and the two-step. The Paris poster painted a “revolutionary” city marked by slow living and enduring culture.
Chesky strode up and greeted me enthusiastically. Dressed in a slim T-shirt that exposed his swole physique, he bounced on his heels with a jittery energy that reminded me of the first time I met him, in January 2009. He had just joined Y Combinator's famous program for startups, and he and his classmates were at a party at the home of YC cofounder Paul Graham. (Graham told me then that he thought Airbnb's business plan was crazy but was impressed by their determination.) I mentioned to Chesky that I was headed to Washington, DC, for Barack Obama's inauguration, and he and his cofounders immediately tried to convince me to use their service to sleep on someone's couch. I declined, but somehow over the next 15 years they managed to sell the idea to 2 billion people, including me, and now the company has a market cap worth more than Marriott.
Chesky ushers me into a conference room to get a preview of the new Airbnb app. His engineers and designers have rebuilt the app from scratch, and he waves around a stick of lip balm as a talisman as he talks me through the redesign. Also in the room is his product marketing head, Jud Coplan, while his vice president of design, Teo Connor, Zooms in from London. While customers likely think of Airbnb as a travel company, its leaders view the operation as an achievement in design. Which makes sense; both Chesky and his cofounder Joe Gebbia were students at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Chesky explains that historically, people used Airbnb only once or twice a year, so its design had to be exceptionally simple. Now the company is retooling for more frequent access. Open the app, and you see a trio of icons that act as gateways to the expanded functions. Within minutes Chesky and his lieutenants are applauding the cheery, retro style of the icons—a house for traditional rentals, a hotel bell for services, and a Jules Verne-ish hot-air balloon representing activities. “We really thought deeply about the metaphor—what was the right visual to express an experience?” says Connor. Once they decided on the balloon, they drilled into how much fire should belch from the basket. The icons were drawn by a former Apple designer whose name Chesky would not divulge. “He's a bit of a secret weapon,” he says.
A less-secret weapon is Chesky's collaboration with the iconic, also ex-Apple, industrial designer Jony Ive. Chesky's north star, it should be said, is Apple. “Steve Jobs, to me, is like Michelangelo or da Vinci,” he says. Despite never meeting Jobs, “I feel like I know him deeply, professionally, in a way that few people ever did, in a way that you only possibly could by starting a tech company as a creative person and going on a rocket ship,” Chesky says. By hiring Ive's LoveFrom company and working with Jobs' key collaborator, Chesky gets a taste of the famous Jobs/Ive dynamic. Ive himself doesn't make that comparison, but he does praise Chesky's design chops. “There are certain tactical things where I hope that sometimes I'm of use to Brian, just as as a fellow designer,” Ive says. “But the majority of our work has been around ideas and the way we frame problems and understand opportunities.”
Another key part of the app is the profile page. “You need trust,” Chesky says—meaning a verifiable identity. Airbnb has been vetting the new vendors, which it calls “service hosts.” For months, Chesky says, an army of background researchers has been scrutinizing the résumés, licenses, and recommendations of chefs, photographers, manicurists, masseuses, hair stylists, makeup artists, personal trainers, and aestheticians who provide spa treatments such as facials and microdermabrasions. They're all being professionally photographed.
For the next phase—turning Airbnb's user profiles into a primary internet ID—Connor and her team have engaged in some far-out experimentation. She rattles off a list of technologies they've been exploring, including biometrics, holograms, and the reactive inks used to deter counterfeiting on official ID cards. But it's far from easy to become a private identity utility (hello, Facebook), and even Chesky notes that getting governments to accept an Airbnb credential to verify identity is “a stretch goal.”
Now that a whole slew of people will have new reasons to chat with each other and coordinate plans, Airbnb has also enhanced its messaging functions. Fellow travelers who share experiences can form communities, stay in touch, even share videos and photos. “I don't know if I want to call it a social network, because of the stigma associated with it,” says Ari Balogh, Airbnb's CTO. So they employ a fuzzier term. “We think of it as a connection platform,” he says. “You're going to see us build a lot more stuff on top of it, although we're not an advertising system, thank goodness.” (My own observation is that any for-profit company that can host advertising will, but whatever.)
This brings us to the services—the heart and soul of this reinvention. Those now on offer seem designed to augment an Airbnb stay with all the stuff that drives up your bill at a luxury resort, like a DIY White Lotus. It will be interesting to see how the company handles the inevitable cases of food poisoning or bad haircuts (and skeezy customers), but Airbnb can draw on its 17 years of experience with dirty sheets, all-night discos on the ground floor, or a host who is literally terrorizing you. Eventually, Chesky says, Airbnb will offer “hundreds” of services, perhaps as far-ranging as plumbing, cleaning, car repair, guitar lessons, and tutoring, and then take its 15 percent fee.
The other key feature of the company's reinvention, of course, is Experiences. If the idea sounds familiar, that's because Airbnb launched a service by that name almost a decade ago, with pretty much the same pitch: special activities for travelers, like architects leading tours of buildings or chefs showing people how to fold dumplings.
It flopped, although Airbnb never formally pulled the plug. Chesky's excuses include tactical errors: After a big initial splash, the company didn't follow up with more marketing, and it didn't establish a strong flow of new experiences. But the big reason, he says, was that it was too early. Now the company has five times as many customers and an ecosystem to support the effort. “It was like our Newton,” says Chesky, referring to Apple's handheld device that predated the iPhone. (Another Apple reference, for those keeping score.)
Chesky's crew has arranged for more than 22,000 experiences in 650 cities, including a smattering of so-called “originals,” with people at the top of their field—star athletes, Michelin chefs, famous celebrities. In the pipeline is Conan O'Brien selling a perch behind a mic in his podcast studio. (Don't expect it to air.) Taking a lesson from his earlier flop, Chesky has planned a steady cadence of these short-term promotional stunts, which, of course, is what the Conan experience ultimately is. “We're going to have thousands of originals and maybe one day hundreds of thousands—a regular drumbeat of some of the biggest iconic celebrities,” Chesky says.
He shows me how someone could take a trip to, say, Mexico City and book experiences instantly. “Fun fact—I've always dreamed of being a professional wrestler in Mexico. I want to be a luchador!” he tells me, then immediately regrets it. Regardless: In an Airbnb experience, he says, you can meet a real luchador, get in the ring with him, and learn some moves. Can you keep the mask?
“Probably,” says Chesky. In any case, you'd share the photos with others in your group. (But don't call it a social network.)
Airbnb's planned transformation tracks with another reinvention: that of its leader.
Chesky had originally taken the title of CEO over his two pretty-much equal cofounders because his personality was more forward facing—it wasn't even formalized until 2010. But then, in 2011, the company had its first real crisis when a host publicly shared a horror story about how an Airbnb guest from deep, deep hell pillaged and trashed her home. What wasn't stolen—the customer broke into a locked closet to grab a passport, cash, and heirloom jewelry—was ravaged and burned in the fireplace. “The death-like smell from the bathroom was frightening,” wrote the host. The story threatened to destroy the cheerful person-to-person vibe the company had cultivated. It didn't help that Airbnb's initial response was clueless and weak.
Chesky stepped up to become the face of the company and instituted overdue safety protocols. Over the next few years, Chesky cemented his alpha status. In 2018 his cofounder Joe Gebbia stepped down from daily duties, though he still sits on the board. (Recently Gebbia has been in the news for his very public participation in DOGE's remaking of the US government. When asked about it at a Q and A session with employees, Chesky said that Gebbia was free to have his own opinions, but they are not the company's. Chesky did not attend Trump's inauguration.) The third cofounder, Nathan Blecharczyk, is still with the company, though it's notable that as I sat in meetings with over a dozen executives, the only time his name came up was when I mentioned it.
Chesky was totally in charge during the pandemic, when Airbnb lost 80 percent of its business in eight weeks. He laid off a quarter of the staff. Now that bookings surpass pre-2020 levels, he thinks the company is stronger. And he learned a big lesson: “The pandemic was the turning point of the company,” he says. “My first principle became ‘Don't apologize for how you want to run your company.' Most of all you should not apologize for being in the details. The number one thing people want to do is keep you out of the details.”
When Chesky shared some of these views at a Y Combinator event in 2024, Paul Graham was inspired to write an essay called “Founder Mode.” Graham used Chesky's story to argue that only the person who created a company knows what is best, and the worst mistake is to listen to management types who haven't built their own. The essay struck a nerve; people were stopping Chesky on the street and yelling “Founder mode!” Someone dropped off a baseball hat for him with those words; it now sits on a shelf in his conference room.
Chesky, meanwhile, has been deep in the details, especially on this reinvention, itself kind of a classic founder move. “I did review work before the pandemic, but people kind of hated it. There were negative associations to a CEO reviewing everything; it's considered micromanaging.” Also, his idol Steve Jobs was famous—infamous?—for his unsparing criticism. Chesky contends that once he went all-in on dishing out criticism, with no sheepishness, people seemed happier. But even if they weren't, he'd do it anyway. Curious to see how this worked, I arranged to attend a Chesky review.
Gathered in a conference room, the design and engineering teams presented near-final app tweaks affecting how hosts set up their services. Chesky seemed fairly pleased with what he was seeing—so much so that he apologized to me afterward that I didn't get to see him go animal with his underlings. Nonetheless, even during this lovefest of a product review, Chesky babbled a constant stream of minor corrections. The cursor is oddly centered … Those visual cues are a little confusing … We need a subtle drop shadow here … The next line doesn't seem centered vertically … That address input is pretty awkward … That button looks oddly short, is it supposed to be that short? … That shimmer, do we think we need it? Get rid of it … That top module doesn't make sense … We need to rewrite all the copy on this page … I think we need a better empty state … That title's not clear …
The group shuffles out satisfied and a bit stunned that they got away so easy. But when I meet Chesky a day later to sum things up, he tells me that I'd just missed a spicier product review. Then he gets serious, explaining what the reinvention means to him. “I felt a little bit like the vacation rental guy,” he says. “Like we as a company are a little underestimated.” He brings up Apple again, saying that both companies embody the idea that a business relationship can generate emotion. “My ambition is kind of like the ambition of an artist and designer,” he says.
At that point Chesky gets a little woo. “Magic, in hindsight, is not technology,” he says as he reflects on Apple's wizardry. What he's realized is that magic lies in forging connections with those who offer you a bed, a microdermabrasion, a sparring match in a lucha libre ring. “The magic that is timeless is, like, the stuff you remember at the end of your life.”
He lets that sit for a minute. Then he puts a cap on that insight, sounding less like a CEO than a life coach. “I've never had a dream with a device in it,” he says. Leave it to the subconscious to highlight what matters. That said, his day dreams certainly involve a new kind of device. In his off hours he's helping with a secret project headed by his friends Altman and Ive to create a device that Altman says is the next step beyond computers. (“This is not theoretical memo-swapping,” Altman tells me. “We're hard at work on it, prototyping.”)
But that's somewhere off in the future. In the realm of products that actually exist in the world, Chesky will have to face competition from dozens of domain leaders including Yelp, Instacart, DoorDash, Ticketmaster, Hotels.com, Tinder, OpenTable, and Craigslist, to name but a few. You can probably add Apple, Meta, and Microsoft, since Chesky wants Airbnb to be a universal credential and what certainly looks like a social network. Even Steve Jobs might have blinked at taking on that crowd all at once.
Images styled by Jillian Knox.Featuring: Liv Skinner, Liv Well and Francesca Lopez, Zinnia Wildflower Bakehouse
Let us know what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor at mail@wired.com or comment below.
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The Phison E28 may be the king of PCIe 5.0 SSD controllers.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's how it works.
Earlier this year, Phison announced the PS5028-E28, the company's next-generation PCIe 5.0 SSD controller. While PCIe 5.0 drives utilizing this high-performance controller are expected to be available later this year, Tom's Hardware has obtained an exclusive preview of the E28's capabilities.
The Phison E28 SSD faced three formidable competitors: the Samsung 9100 Pro, Micron 4600, and Acer Predator GM9000. The benchmark utilized for the comparison was PCMark 10, specifically the Full System Drive test, which offers a realistic representation of each SSD's real-world performance. The tests evaluate everyday tasks, such as opening specific applications or games, and copying files of different formats from one destination to another.
Although the results originate from a thoroughly vetted and trustworthy source, we advise exercising caution when interpreting them. The PCMark 10 scores indicated that the Phison E28 significantly outperformed its competitors. It was approximately 18% quicker than the Samsung 9100 Pro and Micron 4600. Furthermore, the Phison E28 surpassed the Predator GM9000 by as much as 32%.
SSD
Phison E28
Samsung 9100
Micron 4600
Acer Predator GM9000
PCMark 10 Score
7,978
6,767
6,748
6,040
Bandwidth (B/s)
1,214.13
1,048.13
1,042.42
939.56
Average Access Time (μs)
20
24
24
27
The PCMark 10 storage benchmark also yielded two additional metrics worth examining. The software assessed each SSD's bandwidth and average access times. A higher score indicates better bandwidth performance, whereas a lower score is preferred for access times.
The Phison E28 exhibited 16% higher bandwidth than the Samsung 9100 Pro and Micron 4600. Compared to the Predator GM9000, the Phison E28 stretched the margin to 29%. Meanwhile, the Phison E28 demonstrated 17% lower average access times than the Samsung 9100 Pro and Micron 4600. As expected, the gap between the Phison E28 and Predator GM9000 was more significant, up to 26% lower for the former.
The sequential performance difference between the Samsung Presto and Phison E28 controllers appears minimal on paper. The former has a 2% faster sequential read, and the latter has an 8% faster sequential write. The random performance, however, significantly inclines to the Phison E28 with 36% better random reads and 15% better random writes.
The PCMark 10 results show that the Phison E28 is faster than the Samsung Presto and the Silicon Motion SM2508, which seem to share comparable performance. However, as the results corroborate, not all SM2508-based drives offer the same level of performance. The type of NAND is a huge differentiator.
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Despite featuring the same SM2508 controller, the Micron 4600 and Predator GM9000 have a huge performance delta. The former leverages Micron 276-layer B68S FortisFlash NAND clocked at 3,600 MT/s, whereas the latter utilizes Micron 232-layer B58R FortisFlash at 2,400 MT/s.
SSD
Phison E28
Samsung 9100 Pro
Micron 4600
Acer Predator GM9000
Controller
PS5028-E28
Presto
SMI SM2508
SMI SM2508
Capacity
2TB
4TB
2TB
2TB
Sequential Read (MB/s)
14,500
14,800
14,500
14,000
Sequential Write (MB/s)
14,500
13.,400
12,000
13,000
Random Read (IOPS)
3,000,000
2,200,000
2,100,000
2,000,000
Random Write (IOPS)
3,000,000
2,600,000
2,100,000
1,600,000
We cannot definitively declare a winner based solely on a single benchmark, and it would be wrong to do so. SSD controllers or SSDs in general may exhibit strong performance on specific workloads while demonstrating underperformance in others. Reviews hold significant value as they evaluate across a variety of workloads. As far as PCMark 10 is concerned, the Phison E28 appears superior to the Samsung Presto and Silicon Motion SM2508.
Other manufacturers of SSD controllers, such as InnoGrit (commonly referred to as Yingren Technology in China), Marvell, and Maxio, are also present. Nonetheless, the competition for the leading PCIe 5.0 SSD controller primarily lies among the big three (Phison, Samsung, and Silicon Motion) unless InnoGrit presents a more competitive offering. Currently, Phison, with its E28 model, seems to possess a competitive advantage over the competition.
Zhiye Liu is a news editor and memory reviewer at Tom's Hardware. Although he loves everything that's hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.
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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Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street,
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NY 10036.
Google I/O is on May 20, but the annual developer conference will be so jam-packed with announcements that Google is opening the valve to release some news early. Today, during a virtual event dubbed The Android Show, the company showed off several features coming to the Android 16, starting with a fresh redesign.
Here's everything new coming to Google's mobile operating system. Some of these features will arrive first on Pixel phones later this summer—presumably Google's Pixel 10 series—but most will be a part of the big annual Android update, which is expected to arrive earlier than usual this year, in June.
Also be sure to read our overview of the use of on-device artificial intelligence to power Android's new scam detection features.
Android is getting a facelift with a new design language called Material 3 Expressive, and the emphasis this time is on personalization.
The last major redesign was four years ago when Material 3 debuted. That said, Google says this isn't “Material 4," and Material 3 Expressive isn't a new version of the system. Expressive is the “most researched update," through 46 studies with more than 18,000 participants.
Google claims the expressive language sprinkled throughout the operating system is preferred by people of all ages, scoring high on attributes like playfulness, energy, creativity, and friendliness. Crucially, Google claims that “users are more likely to switch to products that use M3 Expressive components and techniques.” That's important when recent surveys have shown that 87 percent of teens own iPhones with no plans to switch.
There are fresh animations that will feel more responsive, like how swiping a notification away from the notification drawer will feel springy with haptic feedback, and the notifications above and below will react to that action. You can expect subtle animation changes when you dismiss an app in the Recents menu, play around with the volume slider, or even when you bring down the quick settings shade—you'll see a blur effect over your home screen.
Fonts and typography are more emphasized, and Android 16 has more dynamic color themes, giving you more control over the operating system's look, even in supported apps. Much of it is functional too—Google's letting you squeeze more settings into the Quick Settings drawer, so you can quickly access tools like the Flashlight or Do Not Disturb mode.
Android 16 also takes a cue from Apple's Live Activities features, pinning ongoing notifications from apps like DoorDash, Uber, or Google Maps on the lock screen so you don't have to keep hopping into the app to check. They'll stay on the screen even when the phone goes into standby mode.
These design updates extend to Wear OS 6 as well, catering to round smartwatch displays like those on the Pixel Watch 3. Dynamic color theming lets you customize the watch's operating system to match your outfit, not just the watch face. Google says the animations are fluid while offering more depth, and buttons hug the display to make them more space-efficient and easily tappable. It's not just design changes in the wearable operating system update—power and performance optimizations mean existing devices that get the update will see a 10 percent battery boost.
Apple is also expected to introduce a major redesign to its phone, tablet, and Mac operating systems during its WWDC developer conference on June 9.
Google Assistant is officially going away, replaced by Google's souped-up Gemini chatbot. The main news ahead of Google I/O is that Gemini will replace Assistant on more platforms beyond just Android phones. In the coming months, Gemini will be the default voice assistant in Wear OS 6, Android Auto, cars with Google Built-in, Google TV, and Android XR.
In the car is where Gemini might shine the most. You won't have to be as precise with requests—important when you should be focused on driving—and those requests can be more open-ended than ever. “Gemini can find you a charging station on the way to the post office that's also near a park, so that you can go for a walk before your errands while your car is charging.” It also supports Gemini Live, so you can have a free-flowing back-and-forth conversation with the assistant in the car.
On Wear OS, you'll be able to ask Gemini to remember things on your behalf, and since Gemini can connect directly to apps, you can ask specific details about an email a friend sent and get the answer on the watch. Gemini on platforms like Wear OS and Android Auto uses the same models as what's on Android phones and will require an internet connection. There will be limited offline capabilities, but the company says it's still “exploring the best way to bring an offline experience.”
Google has made a name for itself with its call protection features that help fend off robocalls and scams on its Pixel phones. That blocking prowess is making its way further into native Android. For example, if you're on a call on any phone running Android 16 with somebody who isn't in your contacts list, the phone will now block specific actions like disabling Google Play Protect, app sideloading, and granting accessibility permissions—actions that can help scammers access sensitive data stored on your phone.
There are some screen-sharing security upgrades as well. If you're on the phone with someone and sharing your screen with them, Android will prompt you to stop sharing when the call ends. Google's also piloting in-call protections for banking apps starting in the UK—you'll get a warning when you open a banking app while screen sharing and on the phone.
Google says its on-device Scam Detection tech in the Google Messages texting app can now spot more text scams, from crypto to toll road scams. The company says it is using on-device AI to accomplish this. Within Google Messages, there's also a new Key Verifier tool so you and the other party can verify each other using public encryption keys, by scanning a QR code or number comparison in the Google Contacts app.
Android 16 will have stronger factory reset protections, restricting all functions for devices reset without the owner's authorization. And one-time passcodes will be hidden from your lock screen in high-risk environments, like when you're not connected to Wi-Fi and haven't recently unlocked your phone.
The last big new change is for Google's Find My Devices app—it's getting a rebrand to “Find Hub.” Google has been slow to catch up to the capabilities of Apple's expansive Find My network, which not only allows hardware owners to find lost devices, but also allows family and friends to share their location with each other.
In 2024, Google added some major updates that allowed offline devices and select phones with dead batteries to be tracked, and widened support to third-party trackers. More importantly, every Android phone can now help anonymously search for other people's missing gadgets, much like how Apple's system works.
So the Find Hub name change makes sense—the app is no longer just for your devices, as loved ones can share their location so you can make sure they got home fine. Google says more third-party tracker support is on the way, from an integration with Peak to find lost skis, to upcoming ultra-wideband support with the Moto Tag from Motorola. Later this year, Find Hub will integrate satellite connectivity on compatible devices, and you'll be able to share your Bluetooth tracker's location with select airlines in 2026, a feature available with AirTags and iPhones.
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Google on Tuesday unveiled its new Android design language, Material 3 Expressive, at the Android Show ahead of Google I/O. The update is designed to make your phone more customizable and fluid, the tech giant says.
Material 3 Expressive brings new springy animations that Google says will make your phone feel more fluid. For example, when you dismiss a notification, you will see a detach transition and feel a haptic rumble. You will see similar sorts of animation and feel haptics when you're doing things like dismissing an app in your recent apps screen, fidgeting with the volume slider, or flinging down the shade.
The update also subtly blurs the background to provide a sense of depth so you can stay in context when navigating your phone.
“In 2021 we launched Material You as a big leap in design that focused around a user's identity with experiences like dynamic color theming,” said Mindy Brooks, VP, Product and UX, Android Platform, in a briefing with reporters. “Now we're building off the principles of Material You to bring our latest design update called Material 3 Expressive. Material 3 Expressive is an expansion of new components and capabilities designed to add emotion to product UIs, providing a more premium and engaging experience that is easier to use and creates a little more joy in key moments.”
Android is also getting updated dynamic color themes and emphasized typography to allow users to customize their phone to their style and preferences. Plus, these visual customizations will be applied across Google apps, such as Google Photos and Gmail.
In addition, you can now customize Quick Settings to add more of your favorite actions, such as Flashlight and Do Not Disturb.
Android's new Live Updates feature will also help you easily track progress notifications from select apps. For example, if you place an Uber Eats order, you will start to see a glanceable Live Update to see the real-time progress of your order. The feature is similar to iOS's Live Activities feature.
“We're introducing Live Updates as a new feature that will highlight what you need to know so you can stay focused on what you care about,” Brooks said. “We've all been there. You've placed an order, and you're trying to pay attention to conversations around the table. With glanceable live updates, you can easily track your order and get back to real life. These real time updates from your favorite delivery, rideshare, and navigation apps are coming as part of the redesign later this year.”
All of these new design improvements will first come to Pixel devices later this year with Android 16.
As for Wear OS watches, Material 3 Expressive's design is more fluid with scrolling animations that trace the circular display. Just like on phones, the new design language will bring a sense of depth.
Plus, Google is updating daily experiences like using the pin pad and controlling media with motion and responsive feedback. There will also be smoother transitions, along with dynamic color-theming to the watch so that the theme you choose for your watch face applies to the device.
“We are excited to announce that we are bringing color theming to the watch,” Brooks said. “Now, the theme you choose for your watch face can theme the entire system in Google Apps so you can make it your own. And when it comes to getting things done, glanceability is one of the most important considerations for watch we've created a system of buttons that truly hug the display, making them that much more tappable and space efficient using an underlying polar grid.”
Tiles are also going to be more engaging, making it easier to get quick access to information or actions, such as texting your favorite contacts or starting a workout.
These changes will be rolling out to the Pixel Watch first later this year with Wear OS 6.
Check out how to watch the livestream and more from Google I/O.
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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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Digital scammers have never been so successful. Last year Americans lost $16.6 billion to online crimes, with almost 200,000 people reporting scams like phishing and spoofing to the FBI. More than $470 million was stolen in scams that started with a text message last year, according to the Federal Trade Commission. And as the biggest mobile operating system maker in the world, Google has been scrambling to do something, building out tools to warn consumers about potential scams.
Ahead of Google's Android 16 launch next week, the company said on Tuesday that it is expanding its recently launched AI flagging feature for the Google Messages app, known as Scam Detection, to provide alerts on potentially nefarious messages like possible crypto scams, financial impersonation, gift card and prize scams, technical support scams, and more. Combined with other AI security features for Google Messages—all of which run locally on users' devices and do not share data or message content with the company—Android is now detecting roughly 2 billion suspicious messages a month.
“The fraud is truly heartbreaking,” says Dave Kleidermacher, vice president of engineering at Android's security and privacy division. “There's really a very huge amount—almost epidemic and a scourge to humanity—of financial scams that are all across the world.”
Scammers operate all over the world, but Chinese scam groups particularly are behind millions of fraudulent messages, demanding things like “toll” payments or information for alleged postal service deliveries. When people click the links and enter their details, including payment information, scammers steal their data. In some cases, the scams are designed as a sort of smash-and-grab, where attackers quickly trick users into giving up some crumbs of information, like a pair of login credentials or a credit card number. These scams tend to be more formulaic and are potentially easier to detect. The more complex challenge is in detecting highly involved investment or romance scams—often called pig butchering scams—that build and evolve over months of messaging while scammers build a rapport with their targets before tricking them into handing over their life savings or even going into debt to send more money.
“It takes time for them to get to the scam—it's not just click on the link,” Kleidermacher says. “By having the AI on-device, you can actually watch and observe these more sophisticated conversations and then detect their scams.”
In a screenshot of the Scam Detection feature provided by Google, an encrypted RSC chat shows a typical scam message saying an EZ Pass toll payment is outstanding. The message adds that the “legal ability” to drive may be revoked if the payment is not made. The message includes a link that directs someone toward a malicious payment website. The Scam Detection overlay at the bottom of the screen says that “suspicious activity” has been detected in the message and offers a way to report and block the sender, alongside an option that allows people to flag that it is not a scam.
Google is far from the only company using AI to try to combat scammers and stop them from reaching people's inboxes. Some have turned to using AI to directly fight back against scammers. The British telecom company O2, for example, created an “AI Granny” that is set up to keep scammers on the phone and waste their time. And the online scam baiter Kitboga has created a series of bots to make simultaneous calls to call centers that run scams.
Meanwhile, in recent months, Meta, which owns WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, has started to introduce pop-up warnings when people are asked to make payments in chat messages. Elsewhere, cybersecurity company F-Secure has created a beta tool to help people identify if a message and sender are likely scammers and block messages. Putting a layer of friction in place that nudges people away from messaging accounts they don't know or replying to messages asking for details can reduce the chances that scammers are successful.
Google's Kleidermacher says that the company is seeing “really positive impact” from using its machine learning systems to detect potential scam messages in real time. As the protections continue to mature, he notes that the underlying system could eventually proliferate beyond just the Google Messages app into third-party communication platforms.
For now, some of that expansion is starting within Google's own products. The company also said on Tuesday that it is in the early phases of testing ways to incorporate scam detection for phone calls, but the capability has not been widely deployed.
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Apple Music is introducing a new “audio wellness” collection of songs called Sound Therapy. Designed in partnership with Universal Music Group (UMG), the feature combines songs that subscribers already know with other sound waves that promote focusing, relaxing, and sleeping.
Songs may include auditory beats or colored noise, sound waves where the intensity varies at different frequencies that are categorized by colors. For instance, pink noise — a variation akin to rain or wind — can be combined with delta waves to promote sleep.
The Focus category in Sound Therapy, meanwhile, leverages gamma auditory beats combined with white noise. And songs in the Relax group use theta auditory beats to promote winding down and letting go.
The collection features songs that listeners already know, like those from artists such as Imagine Dragons, Katy Perry, Kacey Musgraves, Ludovico Einaudi, AURORA, Jhené Aiko, Chelsea Cutler, and Jeremy Zucker. These tracks were turned into extended, instrumental versions by producers and audio engineers at UMG's music wellness venture called Sollos, based in London.
The addition joins the recently launched Apple Music Chill radio station, offering sounds that are also interspersed with mindful moments and calming stories.
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Hasan Piker, one of the most popular left-wing political creators in the U.S., says he was detained and questioned at the Chicago O'Hare Airport upon returning to the U.S. after a trip to France.
In a stream in which he addressed the experience, Piker claims that he was questioned about his views on Trump, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
Piker has been outwardly critical of President Donald Trump and the U.S.'s ongoing support of the Israeli military, and he said it was clear to him that the Customs and Border Protection agent knew who he was.
“He kept saying stuff like, ‘Do you like Hamas?'” Piker said in a video. “I kept repeating the same statement over and over again… I am on the side of civilians. I want the endless bloodshed to end. I am a pacifist.”
Piker said he felt that the agent who interviewed him was trying to get him to say something incriminating, and that the agent was aware of his online presence. Though Piker is a U.S. citizen, he was concerned about being jailed at the border for his political speech, since some U.S. citizens have been wrongfully detained amid Trump's crackdown on immigration.
According to NBC News, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official said that, in recounting his story online, Piker is “lying for likes.”
“Claims that his political beliefs triggered the inspection are baseless,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement. “Our officers are following the law, not agendas. Upon entering the country, this individual was referred for further inspection — a routine, lawful process that occurs daily, and can apply for any traveler. Once his inspection was complete, he was promptly released.”
Piker has pushed back against DHS's response.
On X, Piker wrote: “the dhs response is so funny cus they're not even disputing that it happened, they're omitting the insane questions that were asked, & instead claiming that i wasn't targeted for my political beliefs. why'd y'all ask me about trump, israel, houthis, hamas and my twitch bans then?”
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Former SpaceX employee Douglas Altshuler is taking aim at the Musk-owned company in a new federal discrimination lawsuit.
The 58-year-old Washington resident and his lawyers filed the lawsuit last month. The suit alleges that Altshuler's employers threatened to fire him for taking frequent bathroom breaks, even after he told them that he had Crohn's disease. Altshuler also alleges that he was exposed to chemicals, was often denied meal breaks, and was denied proper overtime pay during his 18-month employment there.
According to the lawsuit, first obtained by The Independent last week, Altshuler was hired to handle customer support calls at SpaceX's Redmond, Washington, facility in June 2023. He appeared to have no issues with the job until early 2024, when his direct supervisor “began tracking Mr. Altshuler's bathroom breaks and repeatedly criticized [him] for using the bathroom,” the lawsuit claims. Altshuler reportedly provided his supervisor with a doctor's letter explaining that he has Crohn's disease, a form of chronic inflammatory bowel disease that often forces people to use the bathroom frequently, particularly during active flare-ups.
Scientists Uncover Potential Major Cause of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Altshuler claims that he asked and was given assurance by two supervisors for a reasonable accommodation to use the bathroom as needed. But soon enough, his direct supervisor allegedly began to needle him again over his toilet habits, tracking his bathroom breaks and writing him up whenever he was away from his desk for more than 10 minutes. Altshuler says he then pleaded his case to higher-ups at SpaceX, which reportedly led to retaliation from his supervisor during his next performance review; the lawsuit claims that the supervisor “alleged performance deficiencies which were never brought to [Altshuler's] attention before.”
Though Altshuler was assigned to a new supervisor in October 2024, his issues reportedly continued. Altshuler alleges that he was potentially exposed to chemicals in November from “industrial parts being dried in the kitchen oven where employees cook their food.” He reported the incident to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and filed a worker's compensation claim over it as well. Afterward, he claims that he was further retaliated against, with his new supervisor reportedly threatening to fire him for using the bathroom “too often.” In early January, Altshuler was allegedly told by Human Resources at SpaceX that his “concerns of retaliation were unsubstantiated.” Soon after, on January 9, 2025, he was fired, reportedly for “alleged deficient performance.”
This isn't the first time that former employees at SpaceX have alleged mistreatment and retaliation from the company's management. In January 2024, the National Labor Relations Board accused SpaceX of illegally firing eight employees after they began to circulate a letter in 2022 calling for SpaceX to distance itself from Elon Musk's behavior and comments at the time, which included allegedly sexually harassing employees at the company. These employees have since filed their own lawsuit in California State Court against Musk. Musk has also fired employees at X, formerly Twitter, since taking over ownership of the social media company.
In speaking with The Independent, Altshuler's lawyers argue that his firing is a clear-cut case of discrimination against him for his disability, as well as an example of retaliation against him for trying to speak up about it. Altshuler has further claimed that he was often required to skip his meal breaks and work long hours without added pay. “The company's actions are egregious and in clear violation of the law. Mr. Altshuler intends to seek all legal remedies that are available to him,” Clive Pontusson, a former trial attorney for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, told The Independent.
Gizmodo reached out to SpaceX for comment regarding the lawsuit but did not hear back by the time of publication.
DiscriminationElon MuskSPACEX
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Galaxy S25 Edge is Samsung's latest addition to its flagship line, and it is the thinnest and lightest flagship smartphone the company has ever produced.
To celebrate its launch on May 12, 2025, Samsung is offering an exclusive pre-order deal that makes the S25 Edge even more desirable: Its 512GB version can be purchased at the cost of the 256GB model: $1,099 rather than the usual $1,219. That “double the storage” offer is a Samsung hallmark launch discount, and it saves early adopters big money from day one. On top of that, you get a further $50 knocked off (“instant credit” which drops the price to $1,049.
The savings don't stop there: If you take advantage of Samsung's trade-in offer, you can save up to $630 more which drops the net price of the Galaxy S25 Edge to just $419. Cumulatively, these launch offers together equate to a total of $800 in savings which is over 65% below the standard price. This is a great opportunity, and you won't find any better deals on this phone until probably Black Friday.
See at Samsung.com
Purchasing a Galaxy S25 Edge during the pre-order time can make you save a lot on Samsung accessories too. For example, the Galaxy Watch Ultra would cost you just $357 when it would cost $649 elsewhere, which is a discount of $300. Galaxy Buds3 Pro can be had at $109 versus $249. These accessory bargains are so good that if you actually resell them, you can reasonably expect to earn back most of the cost of your new S25 Edge.
See at Samsung.com
Technically, the Galaxy S25 Edge does not really compromise on performance despite its incredibly thin build. It boasts a 200MP camera sensor borrowed from the S25 Ultra that provides excellent photo and video quality (especially in dark environments) thanks to advanced AI enhancements. The display is similar to that of the Galaxy S25+ with vivid colors, deep blacks and a high refresh rate for ultra-smooth scrolling and gaming. The gadget runs on the current generation Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 – Elite chip which is the most advanced processor from Qualcomm.
Some compromises in design are made by Samsung in the S25 Edge: In the interest of going as slim as possible, the battery is also not as big as in the S25+ or the S25 Ultra, and the camera module is smaller. But these concessions are compensated for by the unique form factor of the phone and by the high-end materials used, which lead to the most comfortable and stylish S25 available. The S25 Edge is IP68 water- and dust-resistant, so functionality is not sacrificed for style.
Galaxy S25 Edge's intro deal is probably one of the best we've ever seen in history: double storage space for same dollars, savings up to $800 total, and deep reductions on accessories. With its really thin profile, the Galaxy S25 Edge is the perfect choice for anyone interested in a stylish phone – especially if you're not into foldable phones like the stylish Galaxy Z Flip 6.
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An email notification system used by U.S. federal and state government departments to alert residents to important information has been used to send scam emails, TechCrunch has learned.
The U.S. state of Indiana said Tuesday that it is “aware of fraudulent messages purportedly sent by state agencies” to residents about unpaid tolls. TechCrunch has seen one email message sent from an Indiana government department that claimed the recipient had an outstanding toll balance, and contained a disguised link that redirected to a malicious site.
A statement from the Indiana Office of Technology said it was “working with the company that was used to deliver those messages to stop any further communication.”
Indiana said a contractor's account was hacked and used to send the scam messages. The state said it was not aware of “any current state systems” being compromised, but did not rule out an earlier breach.
The statement said that the contract with the unspecified company, which TechCrunch has learned is govtech giant Granicus, ended in December 2024, but the state claimed that the company “did not remove the state's account.”
When reached for comment, Granicus spokesperson Sharon Rushen told TechCrunch: “We are aware of the recent malicious emails sent via GovDelivery from Indiana's government domain.” The company confirmed the breach was caused by a compromised user account, but did not comment on Indiana's claims.
“Granicus systems themselves were not breached,” said Rushen. When asked, the company said it does have the technical means to determine how many individuals received the malicious emails, but did not immediately provide a figure of those affected.
Fake toll messages are an increasingly common scam, as the Federal Trade Commission warned in January. The scam involves sending text messages and emails that claim the recipients owe money to tolling agencies across the United States. By targeting email systems used by governments to notify the public, scammers are hoping victims will be more likely to open official-looking emails.
A person who received the scam message shared the email with TechCrunch. The scam email was sent from an official Indiana government email address associated with the state's Emergency Operations Center, which coordinates responses and alerts in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency events. The email claimed the recipient had unpaid tolls in Texas, and that “failure to pay may result in penalties or vehicle registration holds.”
The scam email contained a link, which appears as an official govdelivery.com web address, but when clicked redirects to a malicious site impersonating the website of Texas' Department of Transport's road toll collection service, TxTag.
The scam website attempted to trick users into turning over their personal information, such as their name, phone number, home address, and their credit card details. The site (and another clone site hosted on a similar domain) appeared to be offline as of Tuesday morning on the U.S. east coast.
A spokesperson for the Indiana government did not immediately comment.
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Potentially the worst CPU bottleneck in computing history.
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Nvidia's newest drivers no longer require the system CPU to support the POPCNT instruction. We don't know why this change has been made, however, there are some fascinating implications regarding what you might call mismatched hardware. For example, tech enthusiast Bob Pony observed that due to this driver change, "you could possibly pair an [Nvidia GeForce] RTX 5090 with [an Intel] Core 2 Duo." We'd like to see it, and surely we will see this exact scenario tested by a TechTuber, shortly.
UPDATE: Recent NVIDIA drivers no longer require the POPCNT CPU instruction, this means old CPUs such as the Intel Core 2 Duo will be able to install the latest NVIDIA drivers without any issues.And yes, that also means you could possibly pair an RTX 5090 with Core 2 Duo now. 😏 https://t.co/6GwpG9RrMP pic.twitter.com/v8h4eduVH5May 12, 2025
In Pony's screenshot (unfurl the post embedded above) you can see what appears to be an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 processor powered system running a version of Windows 11 Pro. That alone might need some system hacking shenanigans. However, Pony asserts that the latest Nvidia driver, version 576.40 which was released just yesterday, now plays nicely with systems packing old Core 2 Duo CPUs (introduced 2006) which lack POPCNT support.
The tech enthusiast included a post later in the thread to show that Nvidia didn't support system CPUs lacking the POPCNT instruction when he checked last August. In fact, unfortunate users trying such an installation might face a 'soft brick' and have to wait through a number of boot loops before being able to recover Windows startup.
POPCNT is a CPU instruction and a short form derived from Population Count. Processors use it to determine how many bits are actively set in a given binary number. Notably, it is part of the SSE4.2 instruction set. Given that you have to go back more than a decade and a half to find processors without native POPCNT support, it doesn't really concern anyone who wants a practical workmanlike PC for typical 2025 workloads.
POPCNT may seem like an obscure processor instruction, but it has been in the news previously, with popular software insisting upon it being supported by the system CPU. Case in point - Microsoft's Windows 11 24H2 introduced a requirement for POPCNT hardware support. That change came to light around a year ago, and alongside other requirements such as tech as secure boot and TPM support, it ruled out a host of older CPU generations from official Windows 11 OS compatibility.
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Apple on Tuesday announced a range of accessibility features coming to its devices later this year.
New Accessibility Nutrition Labels will provide more detailed information for apps and games on the App Store, while a new Braille Access tool will turn the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro into a braille notetaker.
Additional enhancements include Accessibility Reader, a system-wide reading mode designed with accessibility in mind; a new Apple TV accessibility app, Assistive Access; shareable accessibility settings; and updates to Live Listen, Background Sounds, Personal Voice, and Vehicle Motion Cues.
The upgrades arrive as Apple partners with the startup Synchron to help disabled users navigate its software. The Wall Street Journal reports that the company is also developing a new protocol, Switch Control, to enable people to control their iPhones as well as other devices with neural signals captured by brain implants.
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Zen 5 family expands to new markets.
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AMD on Tuesday introduced its Zen 5-based EPYC 4005-series processors aimed at entry-level uniprocessor servers for small businesses, edge deployments, and hosting providers. AMD's EPYC 4005-series 'Grado' CPUs come in an AM5 form factor and feature up to 16 cores and 32 threads in a bid to offer maximum performance within the framework of the default Windows Server 2025 license, which base price covers CPUs with up to 16 cores.
AMD's EPYC 4005-series processors resemble the company's Ryzen 9000 processors and therefore carry two eight-core Zen 5 core complex dies (CCDs) with 8 MB of L2 cache (1 MB per core) and 32 MB of unified L3 cache as well as one I/O die. In addition, the flagship EPYC 4585PX model features 64 MB of 3D V-Cache. All processors feature a dual-channel DDR5 memory controller that supports up to 192 GB of DDR5-5600 memory with ECC using two modules. As for power consumption, the CPUs are rated for 65W – 170W thermal design power, depending on the model.
When it comes to security, the new EPYC 'Grado' platform offers a dedicated processor with TrustZone compatibility and support for secure boot, TPM 2.0, and memory encryption capabilities.
Just like AMD's Ryzen 9000-series processors, EPYC 9005 processors feature 28 PCIe 5.0 lanes (four are used to connect to the chipset), software RAID 0, 1, 5, 10; DisplayPort 2.0; HDMI 2.1; USB 20G Type-C; and optional USB4.
"Growing businesses and dedicated hosters often face significant constraints around budget, complexity, and deployment timelines," said Derek Dicker, corporate vice president, Enterprise and HPC Business Group, AMD. "With the latest AMD EPYC 4005 series CPUs, we are delivering the right balance of performance, simplicity, and affordability, giving our customers and system partners the ability to deploy enterprise-class solutions that solve everyday business challenges."
AMD aims its EPYC 4005 CPUs at diverse workloads, from small businesses, branch, and storage servers to dedicated systems for tasks like video editing, code compilation, cloud gaming, and e-commerce. Essentially, EPYC 4005-series processors can be used for all performance-demanding tasks that also require robust security and extended availability.
AMD itself compares its EPYC 4005-series 'Grado' processors to Intel's Xeon E-2400 and Xeon 6300P-series CPUs that only offer up to eight cores. As a result, AMD's offerings provide tangibly higher performance across the board. Performance benchmarks conducted by AMD using the Phoronix test suite show that AMD's 16-core EPYC 4565P outperforms Intel's eight-core Xeon 6369P by a factor of 1.83. Despite the performance gap, the 4565P is priced lower at $589 compared to $606 for the Intel CPU. Other advantages include DDR5-5600 support and larger L3 cache.
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In addition to Windows Server, the new CPUs are also supported by popular Linux versions, such as Ubuntu, RHEL, and SLES.
AMD says that its EPYC 4005-series processors will be available from leading server OEMs, cloud service providers, and retailers, including Altos, ASRock Rack, Gigabyte, Lenovo, MiTAC, MSI, Newegg, OVHcloud, Supermicro, and Vultr. Systems with AMD's Grado CPUs will be available in a variety of form factors to meet the requirements of diverse clientele. Pricing of the new CPUs varies from $289 to $699.
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8/10
Of all Sony's Bravia home theater gear for 2025, the new Theater System 6 (not to be confused with the new Theater Bar 6) is the strangest. Part soundbar, part home theater in a box (HTB), the System 6 eschews the status quo of single-bar solutions with fancy Dolby Atmos speakers and networking features for a callback to budget home theaters of yesteryear.
The system's collection of 5.1 surround components includes a beefy subwoofer, two tall and musical surround speakers, and a small center soundbar that performs much better than you'd expect based on its thin frame and mundane design. The whole setup runs through the tubby sub, including all inputs and an amplifier box that acts as a bridge for the wired surround speakers.
The mostly wired configuration feels more Vizio than Sony, while its layout evokes '90s A/V vibes. Without Wi-Fi, the System 6 is a pain to update and misses out on modern extras like smart assistants and Apple AirPlay, but features like Sony's virtual 3D surround engine and controller app give you more to work with than vintage plug-and-play solutions. Most importantly, the System 6's cinematic oomph is a blast for movies, gaming, and everything in between.
The System 6 may be all-in-one, but it's still something of a bear to set up, starting with lugging the massive L-shaped box into your TV room. Flipping open the side reveals a sprawling collection of components, including five main pieces, dual power cables, and flat-wire cables for connecting the surrounds and main bar. It's all pretty intuitive, but you'll want to block out some solid setup time. Props to Sony for including the same attachable soundbar feet found in its flagship Bravia Theater 9 to help it sit above TV stands
Sony Bravia Theater System 6
Rating: 8/10
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Running everything through the 25-pound subwoofer is one of the System 6's big quirks, but it makes sense in the grander scheme. The sub is the system's anchor in more ways than one, offering serious thunder from its 15-inch tall cabinet, the lone LED display, and an input hub for optical, 3.5-mm analog (a rarity these days), and HDMI eARC. Unfortunately, there's no spare HDMI input to connect a game console or other video sources directly.
The Bravia Connect app walks you through the main setup, including ensuring the system properly reads your TV over HDMI eARC to control power and volume with your TV remote. Newer Bravia TV owners can also control some settings from the TV directly. The System 6 has its own remote, but the twix-like wand is only good for basic adjustments, with the app offering deeper settings like adjusting the velocity and distance of each component based on your sitting position.
Sony Bravia Theater System 6
Rating: 8/10
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The surround speakers are agnostic until plugged into the little amp box (which connects to the sub wirelessly), and they've plenty of wire for most rooms. While running cables seems less convenient than wireless surrounds, the need for only one power input for the amp box made things simpler for my room, which doesn't have ideal plug placement for powered surrounds. The app makes it easy to balance the well-matched components, adjust settings, or swap to Bluetooth streaming once you've paired your phone.
I wish I could say the same for updating the firmware, but Sony makes it oddly difficult. Not long after setup, the app notified me of an update to fix a short audio delay when starting a show or movie and minor lip sync issues (which I didn't notice). Instead of an app-based update, Sony continues the old-school theme, making you download a zip file onto a USB drive and follow multiple steps. After three unsuccessful tries, I gave up. Newer units will ship with the latest software, but this doesn't exactly bode well for future updates.
Setting aside the frustrations of firmware failure, the System 6 was mostly a joy. It has taut detail, foundational bass, and surprisingly adept surround speakers. Even as 3D audio formats like Dolby Atmos increasingly monopolize the home theater conversation, the System 6 affirms the importance of real surround speakers over virtual ones. While upfiring speakers can be very effective with the right content, most effects remain at the front, sides, and back of the theater, or home theater, as the case may be.
The System 6 does a bang-up job immersing you in sound with fluid handoff between the bar and surrounds, and burly power from the sub that brings every explosion, gunshot, roaring engine, or rhythmic soundtrack home. The sub is the de facto leader and most impressive puzzle piece. It's not as musical or articulate as the fancy Sonos Sub 4, sometimes getting too boomy, but turning it down a few notches worked wonders in my room.
Sony Bravia Theater System 6
Rating: 8/10
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The sub blends well with the bar, which takes on the upper register with notable panache for its size. You'll hear some excellent touch to dialog and subtler effects, especially in the middle of the sound. The bar isn't particularly lyrical or precise toward the top of the frequency spectrum, but it's well tuned and serves its job admirably at the system's center.
The System 6 doesn't fully eschew 3D audio. It supports virtually every major sound format, including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, and clicking the Soundfield button on the remote or app with supported content notably changes the vibe. The surround speakers push the sound forward to virtually mimic “sound objects” for a more spherical sound. You won't hear pointed overhead effects like with true upfiring speakers, but it's a nice option. You can even see the format change from 5.1 or 7.1 to Dolby Atmos or DTS:X with Soundfield engaged.
I don't recommend using it for regular surround or stereo content, especially music, which is the System 6's weak point. Streaming from your phone sounds good for most genres, but like a lot of surround configurations, the system is at its best when fed cinematic content, even if it's just the laugh track in a sitcom or a well-mixed sporting event.
While watching a golf tournament in 5.1, I was almost shocked at the near visceral recreation of the course's atmospheric din, especially the singing bird near the production microphones that seemed to take up residency behind my couch. I had a similarly transportative experience playing the new co-op game Split Fiction, which served up a feast of potent effects, immersive environments, and traceable enemies to help my wife and me navigate the landscape.
Sony's System 6 is more of a hassle than many of the best soundbars, and I'm still annoyed by my firmware failures. Conversely, for its nearly $800 cost, you could get a more traditional home theater setup, like this one from Klipsch. Still, the System 6 is more convenient and compact than multi-speaker setups, filling its own niche with thrilling cinematics in a fun and approachable package. Sometimes it pays to zig when everybody else zags. If you are after an aesthetic and great-sounding system for your living room, it's worth considering.
Sony Bravia Theater System 6
Rating: 8/10
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The AOC Q27G4ZD has a few flaws in its HDR component but it leaves nothing under the table when it comes to performance. It's smooth and fast, and costs less than its competitors while providing the same high-quality gameplay and feel.
Premium OLED black levels and contrast deliver a crisp image
Accurate color without calibration
Excellent video processing for smooth motion and quick response
Excellent build quality and slick styling
Side USB ports
Terrific value
No variable brightness option
Slightly undersaturated HDR color-
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In many OLED gaming monitor reviews, I've spoken about their consistent performance and image quality. It's hard to find a bad one; nearly all deliver a premium game experience with a gorgeous, colorful picture. Unfortunately, they are also consistently expensive. In the 27-inch QHD 240 Hz category, you can expect to pay at least $550 to 600, with the best OLED gaming monitors approaching $800.
I'm not here to tell you that AOC has smashed price barriers, but its newest QD-OLED, the Q27G4ZD, is a bit less damaging to one's wallet, selling for $469 at this writing. You won't find many OLED prices that start with a four, so that is progress. Let's take a look.
Panel Type / Backlight
Quantum Dot Organic Light Emitting Diode (QD-OLED)
Screen Size / Aspect Ratio
27 inches / 16:9
Max Resolution and Refresh Rate
2560x1440 @ 240 Hz
FreeSync and G-Sync Compatible
Native Color Depth and Gamut
10-bit / DCI-P3+
Response Time (GTG)
0.03ms
Brightness
250 nits
Contrast
Unmeasurable
Speakers
None
Video Inputs
1x DisplayPort 1.4
2x HDMI 2.0
Audio
3.5mm headphone output
USB 3.2
1x up, 4x down
Power Consumption
31.4w, brightness @ 200 nits
Panel Dimensions
WxHxD w/base
24 x 16.1-21.2 x 9.5 inches
(609 x 408-538 x 240mm)
Panel Thickness
2.17 inches (55mm)
Bezel Width
Top: 0.3 inch (8mm)
Sides: 0.4 inch (11mm)
Bottom: 0.7 inch (18mm)
Weight
14.5 pounds (6.6kg)
Warranty
3 years
Despite only being slightly less expensive than its competitors, the Q27G4ZD is a value bomb. The panel is QHD 2560x1440 resolution running at a native (not overclocked) 240 Hz. It also has Quantum Dot technology, and my tests show that it covers over 108% of the DCI-P3 color gamut thanks to some bonus red and green. It is colorful, to say the least. It also includes G-Sync and FreeSync, with seamless operation observed in my tests. It also has USB ports, something rarely seen on budget displays.
So, what are the sacrifices? Nothing is missing here unless LED lighting and internal speakers are essential to you. The Q27G4ZD is full featured with DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0, a headphone jack, a solid and adjustable stand, premium build quality and styling; gaming aids like reticles, sniper mode, timers, and frame counters.
One thing I did not find here was variable brightness. Is that a big deal? That depends on your environment and expectations. When an OLED has variable brightness, output levels change based on content. This makes for bright highlights, but black levels do not change. Since it's an OLED, contrast is the same whether you have variable brightness or not. For SDR content, it doesn't matter. But when you want the most from HDR content, variable brightness lends some extra pop.
The Q27G4ZD renders the same brightness peak regardless of signal format or content type. But it still looks amazing since its black levels are infinite and color is highly saturated. And like all OLEDs, its gaming feel is at the next level. 240 Hz is well above the threshold needed for blur-free motion. And QHD resolution presents a lighter load for video cards, so you'll have less trouble maintaining 240fps in your favorite games. There is no black frame insertion or anti-flicker feature, but in my time with the Q27G4ZD, I saw no need for either option.
On paper, the price/performance ratio here is exceptionally high. The Q27G4ZD doesn't represent a massive price drop, but its cost of $469 at this writing is around $100 less than its closest competitors. You can buy a nice gaming mouse with that.
The Q27G4ZD comes in a clamshell box that opens to reveal its contents packed securely in molded pulp rather than crumbly foam. Up first is a nice cable bundle with HDMI, DisplayPort, USB and IEC for the internal power supply. There's a small base, then you'll find the upright and panel underneath. Everything unites without tools. The panel snaps on, or you can use the 100mm VESA mount for an aftermarket arm or bracket with the included fasteners.
I rarely see a new styling element on a computer monitor, but AOC has managed one with its offset cable hole. It's a tiny thing, but it's cool, nonetheless. I saw the same thing in my review of the CQ27G4ZH a few weeks ago. I like it because you can't see behind it when sitting in front of the Q27G4ZD. It's trimmed in red like the mounting point in back, which features a large red ring.
The back features angular styling, and you won't find a curve or taper anywhere. It's a great gaming monitor look that whispers rather than screams for attention. A small “AOC Gaming” logo is the only other indicator of the Q27G4ZD's purpose.
The side view in the above photo doesn't show the Q27G4ZD's surprise attribute, USB ports. There are two version 3.2 ports on the right side, two more on the bottom, and an upstream port as well for full hub functionality. However, there's no KVM in the OSD.
The stand is solid and fully adjustable with 5.1 inches of height, 30 degrees swivel, 5/23 degrees tilt, and a 90-degree portrait mode. Movements are very firm with no play or wobble. This is a quality piece for sure, with a rugged build and premium fit and finish.
The bottom input panel features one DisplayPort 1.4 and two HDMI 2.0 ports. You also get one upstream and two downstream USBs to complement the two on the right side of the panel. A 3.5mm jack accommodates headphones or powered speakers with volume and mute in the OSD. There are no internal speakers.
The Q27G4ZD's OSD is loaded with features for gaming and convenience. It departs from AOC's traditional ribbon menu and presents a more familiar tree with three columns. Signal info is always displayed up top and button functions are at the bottom. I missed having a joystick, but the four control buttons get the job done.
The Q27G4ZD has seven picture modes, which you won't need to change if you stick with the default, Standard. It's nearly perfect out of the box, as the included calibration data sheet, and my measurements, attest. Additional options in the Game Setting menu include Shadow Control to brighten dark areas, Adaptive-Sync toggle, Dial Point (aiming point), Sniper Scope with three magnification levels and a Frame Counter that can live in any corner of the screen. The aiming point can be of fixed color or dynamic to shift in contrast with the background.
The Picture menu contains full calibration controls with five gamma presets, three color temps, and a user mode with RGB sliders. You can also select between Native, sRGB, and DCI-P3 color spaces. Native covers 108% of DCI-P3 and is the only way to keep other picture adjustments available. sRGB and DCI-P3 are very accurate, but only allow brightness changes.
There's also Eco Adjustment, which is another set of picture modes. Combined with the Gaming Mode, it can yield dozens of possibilities. Stick with Standard and Standard for best results.
The Q27G4ZD includes three HDR emulation modes that can alter SDR content to look like HDR. It's reasonably effective but does depart from industry standards for gamma. They enhance some content, but should be used with personal preference in mind rather than accuracy. When an HDR10 signal appears, you get two additional modes, Display HDR and Peak HDR. Despite their names, they both render the same peak output, around 250 nits. Peak HDR alters the luminance curve to give the picture more verve but crushes some shadow detail in the process. Display HDR tracks very well, and I'll tell you more about it on page five.
AOC takes the Q27G4ZD's OLED panel care very seriously with eight different settings that can be used altogether, all turned off, or in any combination desired. I only use pixel orbiting for my OLED screens, which have never shown signs of burn-in. Pixel Refresh is useful when run every few days to ensure even wear of the panel's pixel structure.
The Q27G4ZD comes out of the box in Standard mode with no serious need for calibration. It can be enjoyed as is, though neutral tones are a tad warm. A few tweaks of the RGB sliders bring the numbers to reference level. Gamma measured a tad light, but the presets are too far apart to get it right on 2.2. I settled for 2.15, which still looks awesome. In all cases, color is spot on with a little extra red and green that makes the picture vibrant and lively. If you need sRGB or a more exact DCI-P3, those modes are provided but without calibration control. HDR color and luminance track very close to standard in the default Display HDR mode. My SDR settings are below.
Picture Mode
Standard
Brightness 200 nits
85
Brightness 120 nits
49
Brightness 100 nits
40
Brightness 80 nits
29
Brightness 50 nits
15 (min. 18 nits)
Contrast
50
Gamma
2.2
Color Temp User
Red 46, Green 49, Blue 50
The Q27G4ZD delivers the saturated and contrasty picture you'd expect from a premium QD-OLED. Reds and greens are particularly vivid, and you can tell the difference right away when comparing them to a non-QD OLED or a wide gamut LCD. The image is super crisp, even though it's QHD. 109ppi pixel density is plenty for a 27-inch screen and I had little trouble making out the finest details in text and graphics alike.
Video processing is also on par with other OLEDs. I often talk about their consistency and that means you won't get better motion resolution or faster response just because you spend more money. The Q27G4ZD is a little less expensive than the competition but gives nothing away regarding performance and gaming feel.
QHD resolution makes high frame rates easy to achieve and I never saw anything but 240fps in the games I played. The Q27G4ZD lacks extra features like anti-flicker and black frame insertion, but they were not missed. Control response is perceptually free of lag, and I expect there will be no gamer who doesn't like this monitor. Like any OLED, it's capable of next-level gameplay.
I noted that HDR content was slightly undersaturated in red. This was confirmed in my tests, which you can check out on page five. Even though the Q27G4ZD is fully capable of going beyond 100% red in the DCI-P3 color space, it doesn't quite get there in HDR mode. It would be good for AOC to address this with a firmware update. It didn't reduce my enjoyment, however. The picture was stunning no matter what I put on the screen, from the icy cold worlds of Doom Eternal to the lush jungles of Tomb Raider, everything was rendered beautifully.
I've already mentioned the Q27G4ZD's lack of a variable brightness option. This didn't impact my use experience at all. It isn't a super bright example of the category, but it has more than enough light output. For daily use and gaming, I didn't need to max the brightness slider to see a vivid picture. HDR had plenty of impact but there, it would be nice to have the extra pop in highlights afforded by variable brightness.
Physically, the Q27G4ZD gives nothing away to its more expensive competition. Styling is game forward but not look-at-me. The bits of red trim are just enough to make it work aesthetically. Even though it's a budget screen, AOC didn't skimp on the stand, it's solid and fully adjustable. And the extra side USB ports are a nice bonus that few monitors include today.
Takeaway: The Q27G4ZD represents one of the best values in the OLED monitor category. It has enough brightness, pixel density and color saturation to match image quality with the very best and, in some cases, for half the price. Gaming is a blast, and daily use is a pleasure. It truly doesn't get much better in the 27-inch category.
MORE: Best Gaming Monitors
MORE: How We Test PC Monitors
MORE: How to Buy a PC Monitor
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Features and Specifications
Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.
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In a bid to make its AI DJ feel more interactive, Spotify is updating the feature to allow users to request music or change the mood of a playlist using voice commands. The company is rolling out this feature, initially only supported in English, in over 60 markets for its Premium subscribers.
Previously, users could only listen to the AI DJ play songs with added commentary in between certain tracks. Now, the feature is becoming interactive.
Users can tell the AI DJ to change the mood or genre, or have it play tracks from specific artists.
To use the AI DJ, you can type in “DJ” in the search bar, then hold the DJ button on the bottom right to make requests through voice commands. If you want to change the feel of the playlist without making a specific request, you can quickly press the DJ button.
Spotify first launched the AI DJ feature in February 2023 in the U.S. and Canada. The company later rolled it out globally in August 2023. Last year, the music streaming company added support for a Spanish-speaking AI DJ.
The company's other big AI feature lets users create playlists using text prompts.
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Sandisk's newest NVMe promises unparalleled performance
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Sandisk has just unveiled its brand new WD Black NVMe SSD, which it says is the world's fastest PCIe Gen 5.0 NVMe SSD on the market. The Sandisk WD Black SN8100 NVMe SSD promises speeds of up to 14,900MB/s and capacities of up to 8TB for gaming, content creation, and, of course, AI.
The company says the PCIe Gen 5.0 SSD is built for hardcore gamers. Not only is it rapid, but Sandisk says the Gen 5.0 model is 100% more power efficient than its PCIe Gen 4.0 SSD.
The new SN8100 also features Sandisk BiCS8 TLC 3D CBA NAND technology, which brings a lower profile and should improve thermal performance.
The spec listed sequential speeds for read and write are 14,900MB/s and 14,000MB/s, respectively, which would give our current best SSD for speed, the Crucial T705, a run for its money. Sandisk also promises 2,300,000 IOPS of random performance on the 2TB and 4TB models, all while averaging just 7W of power draw.
Name
WD SN8100
Kingston Renegade G5
Samsung 9100 Pro
Crucial T705
Flash Memory
BiCS8 TLC 3D CBA NAND (Likely 218-layer flash from Sandisk/Kioxia)
TLC (Likely 232-Layer NAND flash from Micron)
236-Layer Samsung TLC NAND
232-Layer Micron TLC NAND
Form Factor
M.2 2280
M.2 2280
M.2 2280
M.2 2280
Controller
N/A
SM2508
Samsung Proprietary (Presto)
Phison E26
DRAM
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
TBW (for 4TB variant)
2,400TBW
4,000TB
2,400TB
2,400TB
Sequential Reads
14.9 GB/s
14.8 GB/s
14.8 GB/s
14.5 GB/s
Sequential Writes
14.0 GB/s
14.0 GB/s
13.4 GB/s
12.7 GB/s
Random Reads
2,300K
2,200K
2,200K
1,550K
Random Writes
2,300K
2,200K
2,600K
1,800K
Available from Sandisk.com and the usual suite of retailers and online vendors, the SN8100 comes in 1TB ($179.99 U.S. MSRP), 2TB ($279.99 U.S. MSRP) and 4TB ($549.99 U.S. MSRP) capacities, and it's worth noting the 1TB version only gets you 11,000MB/s write speeds compared to the larger capacities.
Coming later this fall will be a heatsink version for each capacity costing $20 more, and the 8TB versions are expected to be available later this year. The heatsink version offers a new integrated, low-profile passive cooling design built from anodized aluminum and also features customizable RGB LED.
Naturally, whether the SN8100 stacks up to its touted performance figure remains to be seen, but we'll be sure to bring you our performance results in our full review.
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Tell me if this is you. You've got all your fancy gadgets, but only one measly outlet available. Deciding whether to juice up your phone or your laptop first—what a conundrum. Sure, you could plug one in and then trudge over to the next outlet across the room for the other, but that's just sheer madness. Who's got time for that nonsense? Save yourself the hassle and get a proper desktop that can handle all your devices at once. The Anker USB-C charging station is your knight in shining armor, boasting seven ports and a fast-charging capability for your phone, tablet, and laptop. Normally priced at $66, but guess what? You can snag it for a sweet $30 right now, thanks to a 55% discount. That's a cool $36 that gets to stay in your wallet.
See at Amazon
This charging block doesn't discriminate—it's compatible with a wide array of devices. Samsung phone? Check. JBL earbuds? Check. Apple watch? Check. The Anker desktop charging station flaunts seven charging ports: two USB-C, two USB-A, and three standard AC outlets. Using one USB-C port solo, it pumps out up to 65W of power. To put that more practically, a 2022 MacBook Pro will be able to charge about 17% faster using the Anker charging station versus using its original charger.
All the USB ports used together, you're looking at 90W max. When all are in use, the USB-A ports will produce 15W each while the two of the USB-C ports will output 20W for one and 30W for the other. And your devices are protected in real time with ActiveShield 2.0. It monitors the temperature over three million times per day to ensure your stuff isn't overheating.
This charging station is made for folks working at a desk with just too many different peripherals daisy chained together to stay charged. That's impractical. The Anker desktop charger has all four of its USB ports right in a row so you can manage your cables from your phone, laptop, and more all in one direction. Larger stuff you have that needs AC power is on the back so those cables can be seen behind your desk out of sight. No more tangled wires and no more cluttered desk.
For a limited time, you can secure yourself one of these Anker desktop chargers for $36 off. It's discounted at Amazon right now by 55%, which brings the price down from $66 to just $30.
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RTX 5090, who?
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An AIB is reportedly preparing a dual-GPU variant of Intel's rumored Arc B580 24GB, totalling 48GB of VRAM on a single board, via VideoCardz. According to the source, this model is slated to be revealed at Computex 2025, which is just days away at this point. Specific details like the AIB, interconnect technology, and price are in the dark, but we can expect more details at the trade show, if the rumors are true.
This is the third leak that references a 24GB edition of the Arc B580, following EEC filings from Maxsun and an earlier slip-up from Sparkle. It's quite surprising that a GPU that's supposed to rival the RTX 4060 is getting a 24GB memory configuration. Many PCs don't even possess that much system memory. These cards are intended as a cost-effective solution for AI/ML developers, where similar capacity cards from AMD and Nvidia carry a steeper price tag. The most affordable Blackwell GPU with 24GB of memory is the RTX Pro 4000, costing over $1,500 based on preliminary listings.
An AIB is apparently doubling down on this approach by building a dual-GPU solution, housing two of these rumored 24GB B580 GPUs on a single PCB. Keep in mind, this product is reportedly a one-time design from the AIB, not a standard reference model from Intel.
Traditionally, multi-GPU setups nowadays, like Nvidia's B200 and Apple's M1 Ultra, rely on their own advanced interconnect solutions like NVLink and UltraFusion. While Intel does have Xe Link, it likely isn't compatible with the B580 and would be too costly for a one-off project. The most probable contender is a PCIe bridge linking the GPU's interfaces, allowing them to communicate through one slot.
Even so, the system will likely recognize the card as two separate GPUs. Some simulation programs where latency isn't a concern could potentially utilize all 48GB as one large resource. However, as the memory isn't pooled, using both GPUs for AI may require some optimizations on your end, including techniques like model parallelism and data parallelism.
With that in mind, don't expect this GPU to be cheap. My estimate puts it around $700-$800, which should still be significantly lower than the rumored $4,500 figure for Nvidia's RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell 48GB. However, you'd be sacrificing compute power and the convenience of a shared VRAM pool. Alternatively, you may consider mini-PCs or laptops powered by AMD's Strix Halo, with up to 128GB of unified memory.
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Hassam Nasir is a die-hard hardware enthusiast with years of experience as a tech editor and writer, focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news. When he's not working, you'll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun.
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On May 12, Samsung officially unveiled its latest innovation: the Galaxy S25 Edge, an ultra-slim smartphone that (once again) pushes the boundaries of mobile tech and design. Thin as 5.8mm and made from feather-light titanium, the S25 Edge is Samsung's thinnest phone yet but also among the most state-of-the-art in its field. For this launch, Samsung has an excellent pre-order offer where you can acquire the 512GB version for as low as $419 rather than the usual $1,219 – if you know how to stack up the existing deals.
Here's how you save. The Galaxy S25 Edge 512GB model retails at a normal price of $1,219 but during the pre-order window (until May 30, 2025), Samsung is running its popular “double the storage” offer: This is equivalent to being able to buy the 512GB model for the price of the 256GB one, instantly bringing the price down to $1,099. Samsung is also offering a $50 instant rebate which brings the price down to $1,049. The biggest savings come from Samsung's trade-in scheme: trade in a qualifying phone, and you can receive up to $630 credit toward your next S25 Edge. In the end, you can get a full $800 discount from the usual price, or well over 65% off.
See Galaxy S25 Edge at Samsung.com
First off, its ultra-slim build differentiates it from a sea of clunky flagships: it measures only 5.8mm thick and weighs a paltry 163 grams, the S25 Edge feels almost ridiculously light and thin in hand but its titanium construction gives it toughness and an air of high-endness. Samsung's design team has managed to achieve this without compromising on key features, and the S25 Edge is the most portable and stylish Galaxy S phone yet.
Second, the S25 Edge boasts a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate which unleashes vibrant colors deep blacks, and ultra-smooth scrolling. The near bezel-less design provides maximum screen real estate and Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 offers industry-leading scratch protection.
Third, the S25 Edge has the Snapdragon 8 Gen Elite chip paired with 12GB of RAM, which is the same elite configuration as found in the S25 Ultra. This delivers scorching-fast performance for gaming, and AI-driven features like improved photo editing and real-time translation.
Fourth, the camera hardware remains breathtaking: The 200MP main sensor produces crisp, sharp images, and Samsung's Galaxy AI brings new artistic potential with AI-powered scene awareness and photo editing capabilities. While less forgiving of alternative configurations than the Ultra's camera hardware, it still produces pro-level results for all but a few users.
Finally, the S25 Edge offers the latest connectivity and software: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, and Android 15 with One UI 7 give you a future-proof phone that's as fast and fluid as it is attractive. The battery, smaller than on the Ultra but still benefiting from Samsung's efficiency gains, should comfortably last you through a whole day with most users.
Thanks to Samsung's pre-order deal, this fantastic Galaxy S25 Edge is now an affordable option for hundreds of dollars less. If you want a phone that stops people in their tracks (and slips into any pocket with ease), there's never been a more desirable time to switch.
See Galaxy S25 Edge at Samsung.com
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Even though AMD's AM5 platform is designed to support all features of DDR5 memory modules, including CUDIMMs, the company's existing Ryzen 7000 cannot work with CUDIMMs at all, whereas Ryzen 8000, and Ryzen 9000-series CPUs do not fully support such modules. Nonetheless, AMD's AMD's AM5 infrastructure has everything to support clock unbuffered memory modules, according to Sourabh Dhir, product management lead for gaming and workstations, who spoke to Digital Trends.
As memory technology evolves, innovations include not only memory chips with a higher data transfer rate but also new DIMM technologies, such as CUDIMMs. In fact, JEDEC's standards presume that all memory modules featuring memory speeds of 6400 MT/s and higher are CUDIMMs (i.e., have a clock driver onboard to ensure cleaner signaling and stability at high transfer rates).
According to AMD, CUDIMM support does not require a platform overhaul: AM5 is already equipped with everything needed to support all kinds of DDR5 enhancements. However, it may take AMD another generation of CPUs to fully support CUDIMMs, as Sourabh Dhir did not explicitly say that AMD's existing or upcoming processors will officially support CUDIMMs at some point.
For now, Ryzen 7000-series processors are completely incompatible with CUDIMM memory modules: if installed, the system will fail to boot. By contrast, Ryzen 8000 and 9000 series CPUs can technically work with CUDIMMs, but only in a limited fallback configuration known as 'bypass mode', which ignores the clock driver chip on the module and, therefore, offers no advantage. This means that the system will start in DDR5-3200 mode and will require manual adjustment of the memory transfer rate, and therefore, there will be no performance guarantees.
It is noteworthy that MSI confirmed that AMD's Ryzen 8000 and 9000 series processors will support CUDIMM memory modules on X870 and X870E motherboards. MSI's overclocker Toppc explained that MSI's latest X870 mainboards feature enhanced signaling capabilities, which improve compatibility with high-frequency memory modules. While Ryzen 8000 and 9000 CPUs could operate with CUDIMMs, the full extent of supported memory speeds is still unannounced, and it is unclear whether AMD's implementation will match the performance levels seen on Intel's Arrow Lake-S, which already supports speeds of 9,200 MT/s and higher.
Achieving transfer rates around 10,000 MT/s still relies on heavily optimized setups with cherry-picked memory chips and increased voltages, which limits near-term mainstream use. CUDIMM modules are designed for officially rated speeds starting at 6,400 MT/s, but most high-end CUDIMM kits are intended for Intel's platform.
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Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom's Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.
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I've been reviewing smartphones for a decade, and it's rare for a new device to wow me. But that was the only word that came out of my mouth after I picked up Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge. This is the company's ultra-thin smartphone, and it's shockingly lean and lightweight.
Samsung unraveled the full details about the Edge today through a virtual Galaxy Unpacked event, after first teasing the device during the launch of the Galaxy S25 series in January. Preorders are also live, starting at $1,100, with official sales kicking off on May 30. That puts the Galaxy S25 Edge at $100 more than the Galaxy S25+ and $200 less than the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Samsung says this pricing includes the uncertainty on tariffs, so there may be a realm where the phone could have come in under $1,000 before the exorbitant China tariffs.
Here's everything you need to know.
The Galaxy S25 Edge is on the left, and the Galaxy S25 is on the right.
Samsung says it's been wanting to make an ultrathin phone for some time, but it's only now able to achieve this feat without compromising on core features. Various phone makers over the years have dabbled in this space to earn the title of “World's Thinnest Phone”—even earlier this year, we saw a concept device from Tecno that claimed to be a mere 5.75 mm thick.
The Galaxy S25 Edge comes very close, measuring 5.8 mm and weighing just 163 grams. For context, the iPhone 16 is 7.8 mm thick and weighs 170 grams—the difference might not sound like much, but remember that the iPhone 16 has a 6.1-inch screen; the Edge has a 6.7-inch display, so you're getting far more screen. Compared to the same-sized Galaxy S25+, the Edge is 1.5 mm thinner and 27 grams lighter.
It's hard to convey how impressively lightweight and thin it feels without trying it yourself. And you can—Samsung says the Edge will be paired with a new, lighter security bracket at retailers like Best Buy and carrier stores, so interested buyers can get a better sense of the phone without a bulky thing in the way.
The phone's edges are so thin that it might affect how you hold it for a long period, because there's just not much for your fingers to grab. Time will tell. But once the wonder of the thinness fades away, you'll start wondering about battery life. The S25 Edge has a 3,900-mAh battery capacity, 100 mAh less than what's in the smaller Galaxy S25. It's a laughably small capacity compared to similar-sized phones these days.
Still, Samsung says it's done a lot of work to optimize the display's power, and with the efficiency of the 3-nanometer Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset inside, you should get “all-day” battery life. This run time supposedly outlasted the Galaxy S24 but fell short of the S25 in Samsung's tests. With average use, you can probably eke out a day, but power users may have to tote along a battery pack. Nothing like slimming a phone down, then forcing you to carry around a portable charger.
It's worth noting that Samsung isn't using silicon-carbon battery technology, which offers denser batteries in a thinner design found in new devices like the OnePlus 13.
This is the big question: Do you want a thin phone? Or a slightly thicker phone with a beefier battery that could last two days? I'd bet most people will say the latter. Samsung says its research found that people who bought its Ultra phones found the phone too big and heavy, but didn't want to downsize to the Galaxy S25+ or S25, as they didn't want to lose out on some features. Opting for the Edge means they'll have a feature-rich phone, but with the worst battery life in the entire Galaxy S25 lineup. It's a little perplexing. The Edge doesn't even support the fast charging speeds of the S25 Ultra, tapping out at 25 watts wired and 15 watts wireless.
The S25 Edge has a titanium frame, just like the Ultra, to keep it lightweight. It also employs Corning's new Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2, which is similar to what's on the Ultra, minus the anti-reflective coating used to reduce glare. That allows the glass to be a little thinner on the Edge.
The Galaxy S25 Edge is on the bottom, and the Galaxy S25 is on top.
The other area where things are different is the cameras. Instead of the usual triple-camera setup on most Samsung flagship phones of the last few years, you get a dual-camera system. It's led by a 200-megapixel primary camera and a 12-megapixel ultrawide, with a 12-megapixel selfie camera. There's no telephoto zoom camera, but you can get “optical-like” image quality at 2X zoom, going up to 10X with AI-enhanced zoom.
All the cameras have autofocus, so you can use macro mode for close-up shots with the ultrawide, and even the selfie camera has a wider field of view, so more people can fit in the frame. Samsung is quick to point out that you're getting many of the features available on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, from 4K 120 frames-per-second video recording—unavailable on the S25+ and S25—to the ability to shoot in Log format for greater control in the editing room.
Much of the other specs match up with the Galaxy S25 series, including 256 GB of starting storage, 12 GB of RAM, and the Qi2 Ready wireless charging system. This phone can also take advantage of all the same Galaxy AI features and will receive seven years of software updates.
As much as Samsung says it's not compromising with the Galaxy S25 Edge, it still is. There's no third or fourth zoom camera here, and battery life likely won't match up to similar-sized peers. Still, if you prefer big phones but hate the associated weight and heft, you now have a new option from Samsung's lineup.
It'll be interesting to see how the Galaxy S25 Edge fares ahead of Apple's iPhone September event, where the iPhone maker is rumored to unveil a new kind of iPhone: the iPhone 17 Air. Leaks suggest it'll be 5.5 mm thick, one-upping Samsung. Holding the iPhone 17 Air will likely be just as astonishing, but get ready to be disappointed with its battery stats.
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A pioneering research study published today in Cell Metabolism details how the hormone FGF21 (fibroblast growth factor 21) can reverse the effects of fatty liver disease in mice. The hormone works primarily by signaling the brain to improve liver function.
University of Oklahoma researcher Matthew Potthoff, Ph.D., is the lead author of the study, which provides valuable insight about the mechanism of action of the hormone, which is a target for a new class of highly anticipated drugs that are in Phase 3 clinical trials.
"Fatty liver disease, or MASLD (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease), is a buildup of fat in the liver. It can progress to MASH (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis) during which fibrosis and, ultimately, cirrhosis can occur. MASLD is becoming a very big problem in the United States, affecting 40% of people worldwide, and there is currently only one treatment approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat MASH. A new class of drugs, based on FGF21 signaling, is showing good therapeutic benefits in clinical trials, but until now, the mechanism for how they work has been unclear," said Potthoff, a professor of biochemistry and physiology at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and deputy director of OU Health Harold Hamm Diabetes Center.
The study's results demonstrated that FGF21 was effective at causing signaling in the model species that changed the liver's metabolism. In doing so, the liver's fat was lowered and the fibrosis was reversed. The hormone also sent a separate signal directly to the liver, specifically to lower cholesterol.
"It's a feedback loop where the hormone sends a signal to the brain, and the brain changes nerve activity to the liver to protect it," Potthoff said. "The majority of the effect comes from the signal to the brain as opposed to signaling the liver directly, but together, the two signals are powerful in their ability to regulate the different types of lipids in the liver."
Similar to the family of weight loss drugs known as GLP-1s (glucagon-like peptide 1), which help regulate blood sugar levels and appetite, FGF21 acts on the brain to regulate metabolism. In addition, both are hormones produced from peripheral tissues – GLP-1 from the intestine and FGF21 from the liver – and both work by sending a signal to the brain.
It is interesting that this metabolic hormone/drug works primarily by signaling to the brain instead of to the liver directly, in this case. FGF21 is quite powerful because it not only led to a reduction of fat, but it also mediated the reversal of fibrosis, which is the pathological part of the disease, and it did so while the mice were still eating a diet that would cause the disease. Now, we not only understand how the hormone works, but it may guide us in creating even more targeted therapies in the future."
Matthew Potthoff, Ph.D., researcher, University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
Rose, J. P., et al. (2025). FGF21 reverses MASH through coordinated actions on the CNS and liver. Cell Metabolism. doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2025.04.014.
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Detecting atrial fibrillation (AF) from brain scans using AI could support future stroke care, according to a recent study published in the Karger journal Cerebrovascular Diseases.
A new study recently published in the journal Cerebrovascular Diseases shows that artificial intelligence (AI) may help physicians detect a common, but often hidden, cause of stroke by analyzing brain scans. The technology could make stroke care faster, more accurate, and more personalized.
The condition in focus is atrial fibrillation (AF) - a type of irregular heartbeat that increases stroke risk by five times. Because AF may not initially present symptoms, it often goes undiagnosed until a stroke has already occurred. Traditional detection methods, such as prolonged heart monitoring, can be expensive, invasive, and time-consuming.
This new research from the Melbourne Brain Centre and the University of Melbourne takes a different approach. By training a machine learning model on MRI images from patients who have already had strokes, the team taught the algorithm to recognize patterns linked to AF.
The researchers found that their AI model had "reasonable classification power" in telling apart strokes caused by AF from those caused by blocked arteries. In testing, the model achieved a strong performance score (AUC 0.81), suggesting that AI could become a valuable tool in helping doctors identify patients who might need further heart testing or treatment.
As the study notes, "machine learning is gaining greater traction for clinical decision-making and may help facilitate the detection of undiagnosed AF when applied to magnetic resonance imaging." Because MRIs are already a routine part of stroke care, this method doesn't require extra scans or procedures for patients - making it a low-cost, non-invasive way to support more targeted care.
The authors of the study emphasize the need for larger follow-up studies, but the potential is promising: Earlier detection of AF could lead to more timely treatment and fewer strokes.
"Early detection of atrial fibrillation (AF) is important to offer patients the best chance of preventing a serious cardioembolic stroke. However, many patients first present with an acute ischemic stroke for which the underlying cause of AF is silent because it is asymptomatic and intermittent," says Craig Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of the journal Cerebrovascular Diseases. "The work by Sharobeam et al. presents a novel approach to use AI-based algorithm to inform the diagnosis of AF according to the pattern of cerebral ischemia on MRI."
Karger Publishers
Sharobeam, A., et al. (2025). Detecting atrial fibrillation by artificial intelligence enabled neuroimaging examination. Cerebrovascular Diseases. doi.org/10.1159/000543042.
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Each year, millions of women undergo mammography to screen for breast cancer, yet tiny calcium specks—known as microcalcifications—often evade detection or are misread, leading to delayed diagnoses or unnecessary biopsies. Conventional computer-aided tools rely on hand-crafted rules and struggle with the sheer variety of imaging devices and lesion patterns.
In a recent study led by Dr. Ke-Da Yu from Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, a novel deep-learning approach that automatically finds and classifies microcalcifications across different machines and patient populations was developed—bringing both accuracy and consistency to breast-cancer screening.
"Microcalcifications can be just a few pixels wide. Hence, spotting them amid normal tissue is like finding a needle in a haystack," explains Dr. Yu. "We wanted a system that adapts to any mammogram and never overlooks early warning signs."
The team's innovation rests on two key advances:
In blind testing, the pipeline processed each mammogram, achieving approximately 75% overall accuracy at the microcalcification-lesion level with 76% sensitivity for malignant lesions and about 72% accuracy at the breast level.
"This solution can be deployed directly on standard radiology workstations," adds Dr. Yu. "By pre-marking suspicious regions on each mammogram, it enables radiologists to quickly focus on areas of concern, significantly reducing both missed diagnoses and unnecessary biopsies—thereby easing patient discomfort and lowering healthcare costs."
The research team has open-sourced the code, and their next steps will focus on integrating the system into clinical workflows, with the aim of offering a reliable AI-driven tool for more widespread breast-cancer screening.
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Lin, Q., et al. (2023). Artificial intelligence-based diagnosis of breast cancer by mammography microcalcification. Fundamental Research. doi.org/10.1016/j.fmre.2023.04.018.
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Researchers at the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI) have developed a technique that could help advance treatments in tissue engineering. The study, published in the scientific journal Small, introduces a technique for producing tissues with precise cellular organization designed to mimic the natural structure of human tissue.
Using a simple light-based 3D printing method, the team created microgels with controlled internal architectures. These structures helped guide how cells behave and grow, mimicking the way cells naturally behave in the body. By adjusting properties of light as it interacts with hydrogels, they modified the internal structure of these microgels, enabling precise control of cell organization in 3D space. This breakthrough addresses a major challenge in creating realistic, functional tissue environments critical for tissue repair and regeneration.
Our technique enables the production of microtissue with precise structural control, which is essential for engineering tissues such as muscle, and retina. We're enabling a new class of modular biomaterials that can actively guide tissue formation and engineering organ through the bottom-up approach."
Dr. Johnson John, study's principal investigator
The study showed that these microgels could be used in a variety of ways. In one example, the team placed muscle cells inside rod-shaped gels, which helped the cells align and form muscle fibers, a promising step towards injectable treatments for muscle injuries. In another case, they used the gels to hold photoreceptor cells, which naturally organized themselves into layers similar to the outer retina, offering potential for future retinal therapies. The researchers also added angiogenic peptides to the gels which encouraged new blood vessel growth, both in vitro and in vivo. The microgels maintain their shape during injection and are designed to support cell growth, new blood vessel formation, and tissue growth. Their flexible design supports customization for various medical uses, making them a promising tool for wound care, organ repair, and studying diseases.
"This work represents a significant step toward creating structures that can form functional tissues" said Dr. Ali Khademhosseini, CEO of TIBI. "By merging light-based fabrication with smart biomaterials, we are getting closer to making personalized, minimally invasive therapies."
This study is supported by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and TIBI.
Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation
Joshi, A., et al. (2025) Filamented Light (FLight) Biofabrication of Aligned Fibrillar Structures to Direct 3D Cell Organization Within Microgels. Small. doi.org/10.1002/smll.202500261.
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The results of an international study led by researchers from Queen Mary University of London's Precision Healthcare University Research Institute (PHURI) shed new light the underlying biological mechanisms which cause differences in health risks, symptoms and outcomes between males and females.
The study, carried out in collaboration with the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, and the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, was published today in Nature Communications. Using data from UK Biobank and the Fenland study, the team carried an in-depth analysis of the genetic links between ~6,000 proteins and hundreds of diseases in 56,000 males and females.
The team found that for two-thirds of these proteins, their levels differed between males and females. Further examination revealed that only a very small fraction, around 100 proteins out of the 6,000 studied, had differences in the genetic 'switches' which control their levels, when compared between males and females.
These findings, which may have implications for drug development, indicate that while there are differences between the sexes in relation to how much they express certain proteins, what's causing these differences isn't solely down to differences in their genetics.
Instead, the authors highlight the importance of looking beyond genetics – and other medical factors such as hormones – when comparing health risks and outcomes between males and females. Their findings indicate that non-medical factors such as where people work and live, their education, financial situation, access to resources, as well as their lifestyle also contribute to the health differences experiences between the sexes and so should be explored further and considered more when exploring sex differences in health.
Mine Koprulu, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher at Queen Mary's PHURI, said: "For the first time in history, we are able to study human biology at this level of detail-across genes, proteins, and more. This is the largest study to date exploring the similarities and differences in how our genetic code regulates blood protein levels between sexes. Our findings highlight the need to better understand the factors that impact health differences - at the genetic level and beyond- to create more tailored and equitable healthcare for everyone."
Professor Claudia Langenberg, Director of the PHURI at Queen Mary and Professor of Computational Medicine at the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité, Germany, said: "Drug development pipelines increasingly incorporate information on genetic differences in protein levels and function and this has led to large investment in human cohorts, such as UK Biobank. From this perspective, better understanding of population differences in the regulation of proteins, such as those between males and females, is essential to guide precision medicine approaches and identify where one size may not fit all. Our results clearly show that with very few exceptions, protein regulating genetic variants identified so far behave in a very similar way in males and females. This provides evidence for an important implicit assumption – that insights arising from studying these variants apply to both sexes."
In this study, data was categorised as male or female based on chromosomal information (XX or XY). The authors acknowledge that chromosomal information does not always align with an individual's gender identity. However, for the purposes of this study (genetic and protein-level scientific analyses), this categorisation was necessary, and data on gender identity was not reliably recoded meaning it could not be consistently used across all data.
Queen Mary University of London
Koprulu, M., et al. (2025). Sex differences in the genetic regulation of the human plasma proteome. Nature Communications. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59034-4.
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The use of semaglutide, a medication from the class of GLP-1 receptor agonists, has become increasingly popular. The brands Rybelsus and Ozempic are currently FDA-approved for diabetes management, and Wegovy is used to assist with weight loss.
Experts are also interested in other uses of semaglutide. A recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine furthered research on semaglutide, exploring how the drug affected outcomes for people with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, a type of liver disease.
The results suggest that semaglutide may help resolve steatohepatitis and decrease fibrosis.
This research was a phase 3 clinical trial involving people with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). As described in this study, MASH is a severe type of what used to be called nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
The study also notes that MASH involves damage to liver cells, inflammation, and steatosis or fat buildup in the liver. Steatohepatitis, which involves fat buildup and inflammation in the liver, can then contribute to tissue scarring or fibrosis.
This study involved participants from hundreds of clinical sites in thirty-seven countries. The current published results report the end of the first part of the trial.
Among the participants, 534 received semaglutide, and 266 received a placebo. The research reported in this study lasted 72 weeks. Participants received 2.4mg injections of semaglutide each week, and they followed a 16-week dose escalation schedule.
All participants were at least 18 years old and had steatohepatitis and fibrosis. Researchers excluded participants who had other chronic liver problems besides nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Other exclusion criteria included components like alcohol consumption over a certain amount and use of GLP-1 receptor agonists in the three months leading up to screening. All participants also received standard care for MASH. Participants got two liver biopsies to help evaluate the effects of semaglutide.
About 56% of participants had type 2 diabetes, and about 73% had obesity.
The researchers evaluated participants for two main outcomes: resolution of steatohepatitis, where liver fibrosis didn't get worse, and improved fibrosis, where steatohepatitis did not get any worse. Researchers also evaluated participants for weight changes, pain, adverse events, and labs.
Semaglutide appeared to benefit participants more than the placebo. Almost 63% of participants who received semaglutide had steatohepatitis resolution without their fibrosis getting worse. Only 34.3% of participants in the placebo group experienced this outcome.
Additionally, 36.8% of participants who received semaglutide experienced decreases in liver fibrosis without their steatohepatitis getting worse, compared to 22.4% in the placebo group. Results were similar in sensitivity analyses that considered components like age, diabetes, and how bad fibrosis was.
Additionally, some participants experienced steatohepatitis resolution and decreased fibrosis. About 33% of the semaglutide group experienced this compared to about 16% in the placebo group.
The semaglutide group also experienced an average 10.5% decrease in body weight compared to only an average 2% decrease in the placebo group. While it did not reach statistical significance, participants taking semaglutide also appeared to experience pain decreases more than the placebo group.
Participants in the semaglutide group had better outcomes from non-invasive testing as well. For example, more participants taking semaglutide experienced decreased enhanced liver fibrosis scores and decreased liver stiffness than participants on the placebo.
Other outcomes were better in the semaglutide group, too, such as greater decreases in systemic inflammation and cholesterol, as well as better insulin sensitivity.
Around 86% of participants in the semaglutide group reported an adverse event, compared to about 80% in the placebo group. The semaglutide group also experienced more gastrointestinal events, like nausea and constipation, than the placebo group. However, researchers found that “no new or liver-related safety signals emerged.”
Overall, the results of this study indicate that semaglutide may help improve liver outcomes for people with MASH. However, it does have limitations.
First, the research only included a small number of Black participants, as well as a low number of lean participants. There may be a need for more diversity in future research, and it's unclear how the use of semaglutide benefits lean individuals with MASH. Researchers did not have data on biomarkers for alcohol consumption. They also acknowledge that genetic variations are part of what determines how someone responds to treatment.
This particular trial is ongoing and will have additional follow-up that will focus on cirrhosis-free survival. Thus, researchers did not share some information about clinical outcomes in this paper for reasons of study integrity. This part of the study included 800 randomized participants, and this did not have to do with how well participants were following taking semaglutide or the placebo or certain medication changes. Additionally, there was some missing data.
Researchers acknowledge that semaglutide helped to address problems of metabolic dysfunction that drive liver problems and holistically helped address “liver disease and associated cardiometabolic illness.”
It's possible that the findings of this research are the result of weight loss. Mir Ali, MD, board certified general surgeon, bariatric surgeon, and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA, who was not involved in the study, noted the following to Medical News Today:
“This study showed a reduction of MASH with semaglutide use; however, because the greatest contributor to MASH is obesity, I believe this is more a function of weight loss than a direct effect of the medication. We see significant improvement in MASH in our surgical weight loss patients, and it seems to be directly related to the amount of weight lost. The clinical implications are that this shows another benefit to weight loss associated with use of semaglutide.”
This research holds promise for helping people with MASH and suggests another potential benefit of semaglutide.
Ian Storch, DO, an osteopathic physician specializing in gastroenterology and internal medicine and an American Osteopathic Association member, who was also not involved in the study, explained to MNT:
“MASH (Metabolic Associated Hepatitis) is such an important disease, which didn't get much attention in the past for two reasons, one being our deficiency in cost-effective noninvasive imaging modalities to assess fibrosis and the second being our lack of treatment modalities. The study in the NEJM showing possible benefits of semaglutide in MASH patients with advanced inflammation and fibrosis is another exciting advance in our efforts to conquer this indolent, but deadly disease.”
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Unprecedented progress in reducing the number of women smoking during pregnancy in England could be put at risk by NHS funding cuts, according to a UEA addiction expert.
A new BMJ article, co-authored by Prof Caitlin Notley from UEA's Norwich Medical School, reveals that the proportion of women smoking during pregnancy in England has almost halved in the last decade.
Most of the decline happened in the last five years thanks to the introduction of dedicated stop smoking advisers in NHS maternity services since 2020.
But the team fear that the reduction could be threatened by cost-cutting exercises.
And they are calling for continued investment to give every child a smokefree start in life.
The article has been written by members of the Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group - a coalition of organisations committed to reducing rates of smoking in pregnancy.
It shows how the amount of women smoking during pregnancy dropped from 11.7 per cent in 2014/15 to 5.9 per cent as of Q3 2024/25.
The progress on reducing rates of smoking in pregnancy has accelerated in recent years, thanks to the focused efforts of all healthcare professionals involved in the pregnancy care pathway.
However, there remain significant inequalities, as rates of smoking remain higher in deprived areas - suggesting that we need innovative targeted approaches for those who really struggle to quit."
Prof. Caitlin Notley, Professor of Addiction Sciences at UEA
The authors say that cuts to integrated care boards (ICB) budgets and the loss of ringfenced funding for NHS tobacco treatment services could threaten the success.
Stop smoking support in some hospitals and mental health services has already been cut, according to the group, with further cuts expected.
The Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group is a partnership between the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the voluntary sector and academia.
Prof Linda Bauld, director of the SPECTRUM Research Consortium, co-chair of the Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group and co-author of the BMJ article said: "The evidence is clear that stop smoking support for pregnant women has played a vital role in reducing rates of maternal smoking and saving babies' lives. Without continued investment in these services there is a real risk that this decline could stall, or even start to reverse, with tragic consequences for parents and families."
Dr Clea Harmer, chief executive of Sands and co-chair of the Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group, said: "As the government sets its sights on a smokefree generation, now is not the time to be cutting investment in these services. Instead, they should be going further and faster to ensure every child has a smokefree start in life."
John Waldron, policy and public affairs manager at Action on Smoking and Health and co-author of the BMJ article said: "The 2024 Labour manifesto committed to ensuring that all hospitals integrate smoking cessation support into routine care. The government must deliver on this commitment by protecting funding for these lifesaving services."
'NHS Cuts Could Spark Surge in Smoking During Pregnancy, Experts Warn' is published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
University of East Anglia
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A study of U.S. adults finds that excess central fat, measured by LAP, is linked to lower spinal bone density, only after reaching a certain tipping point, suggesting a new early warning sign for osteoporosis.
Study: The association between lipid accumulation products and bone mineral density in U.S. Adults, a nationally representative cross-sectional study. Image Credit: Crevis / Shutterstock
In a recent study in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers evaluated the association between a new indicator of lipid accumulation, 'lipid accumulation products (LAP)', and bone mineral density (BMD). The study dataset comprised 3,883 (mean age = 39.33 yrs; 45.48% women) NHANES participants with analyses including subgroup, interaction, and threshold analyses, adjusted for covariates.
Study findings revealed a non-linear negative relationship between LAP and lumbar BMD, with the negative association observed only above a specific LAP threshold (ln-LAP ≈ 2.85); below this value, no significant association was found. Interaction analysis indicated no influence of subgroups, suggesting that the observed pattern held across demographic and health characteristics. These findings suggest the clinical utility of LAP as a bioindicator and predictor of osteoporosis, providing valuable insights that may lead to earlier intervention strategies in treating these chronic diseases.
Osteoporosis is a bone condition characterized by severe weakening of bones (reduced bone mass), significantly increasing the likelihood of fracture, especially in adults over the age of 50. The chronic condition is a growing public health concern, with an estimated 158 million adults (>50 yrs) living with the condition. Alarmingly, prediction models suggest that this number will only double by 2040, highlighting the need for prevention, early detection, and intervention against this societal burden.
Previous research has established an association between osteoporosis and obesity, with the latter significantly exacerbating the former's risk. Interestingly, validated studies have revealed that body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) – obesity's most common metrics – are insufficient predictors of osteoporosis due to the latter's nuanced relationship with adipose tissue and lean tissue.
Lipid accumulation products (LAP) is a relatively novel lipid accumulation scoring system that combines serum triglyceride (TG) levels with WC to compute an estimate of central obesity. The measure has been at the center of recent scientific discussion and research due to growing evidence that it can potentially predict the risks of several health conditions, including diabetes and other metabolic syndromes, insulin resistance, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and even osteoarthritis. Unfortunately, the association between LAP and osteoporosis (bone mineral density [BMD]) has never been formally established.
The present study aims to address this knowledge gap and inform future research on interventions against osteoporosis by evaluating the relationship between LAP and BMD on a nationally representative United States (U.S.) cohort. The study hopes to facilitate improved recognition, early detection, and enhanced prevention of future osteoporosis incidence.
Study data were obtained from participants of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) program conducted by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Data from four NHANES survey periods (2011–2018) were enrolled, comprising demographic, medical examination, dietary records, and questionnaire data. Participants younger than 20 and those with missing lumbar BMD, LAP, or covariate data were excluded from subsequent analyses.
The exposure variable (LAP) was computed using the following formula: Men – WC (cm)–65 × TG (mmol/l), Women – WC (cm)–58 × TG (mmol/l). Data for these computations were obtained from serum sample triglyceride measurements. The outcome variable (lumbar BMD) was measured using a fan-beam densitometer conforming to International Society for Clinical Bone Densitometry (ISCD) guidelines.
Covariates of interest included age, race, gender, BMI, education, poverty income ratio (PIR), laboratory blood assays, smoking and alcohol status, and chronic disease status. Statistical analyses were carried out using linear regression models, weighted chi-squared tests, multivariate linear regression models, threshold effect analyses, and interaction analyses.
Of the 39,156 NHANES records initially enrolled in the study, 16,539 and 18,374 were excluded based on age and missing data, respectively, leaving a final dataset of 3,883 participants (mean age = 39.33 yrs; 45.48% female). Regression models revealed a negative association between LAP and lumbar BMD, confirmed via threshold analyses that identified a threshold value for LAP (ln-LAP ≈ 2.85).
Importantly, the negative association between LAP and BMD was only observed when LAP values were above this threshold; below this point, no significant association was found. Surprisingly, subgroup and interaction analyses failed to highlight the significant impacts of any covariates on the study findings. This indicates that the negative association above the threshold is consistent across different demographic and health groups. Notably, associations between LAP and BMD were observed to be non-linear. Together, these findings suggest the untapped potential of leveraging LAP in the early detection of osteoporosis and the routine monitoring of overall bone health.
The study authors note that, while the analysis used a large, nationally representative dataset and adjusted for many potential confounders, it is cross-sectional in nature and therefore cannot establish causality. Additionally, the analysis was limited to lumbar spine BMD, as relevant data for femur BMD were unavailable in the used NHANES cycles. Further research is needed to clarify the biological mechanisms linking LAP and bone density and to verify these findings in prospective studies.
The present study uses a large, nationally representative U.S. dataset to establish and describe the relationship between LAP and BMD. Study findings indicate a non-linear negative correlation between the variables, with a significant association only above a defined LAP threshold, supporting LAP's clinical and research utility in future osteoporosis interventions.
Posted in: Men's Health News | Medical Science News | Medical Research News | Medical Condition News | Women's Health News
Written by
Hugo Francisco de Souza is a scientific writer based in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. His academic passions lie in biogeography, evolutionary biology, and herpetology. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. from the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, where he studies the origins, dispersal, and speciation of wetland-associated snakes. Hugo has received, amongst others, the DST-INSPIRE fellowship for his doctoral research and the Gold Medal from Pondicherry University for academic excellence during his Masters. His research has been published in high-impact peer-reviewed journals, including PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases and Systematic Biology. When not working or writing, Hugo can be found consuming copious amounts of anime and manga, composing and making music with his bass guitar, shredding trails on his MTB, playing video games (he prefers the term ‘gaming'), or tinkering with all things tech.
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Francisco de Souza, Hugo. "Lipid buildup predicts weaker bones once it passes a critical threshold". News-Medical. 13 May 2025.
A new review in Genes and Diseases explores the central role of MYC, a master regulatory protein, in the development and progression of cancer, spotlighting its potential as a multidimensional therapeutic target. MYC is dysregulated in nearly 70% of human cancers, where it influences a vast network of biological processes including cell cycle control, metabolism, apoptosis, angiogenesis, and immune evasion. The article underscores how MYC not only drives aggressive tumor behavior but also contributes significantly to drug resistance, making it one of the most compelling yet complex targets in oncology.
Historically considered undruggable due to its disordered protein structure, recent advances have begun to shift this paradigm. Researchers are now devising strategies to target MYC directly by interfering with the MYC-MAX protein complex, which activates numerous cancer-related genes. Promising compounds, such as OMO-103, have demonstrated early clinical potential by disrupting this interaction and halting tumor proliferation.
Beyond direct approaches, the review also emphasizes indirect targeting strategies, including inhibition of MYC transcription or translation, promotion of protein degradation, and synthetic lethality-wherein pathways essential to MYC-overexpressing cells are selectively disrupted. These methods aim to exploit the vulnerabilities of cancer cells that depend heavily on MYC for survival, while sparing healthy tissues.
The therapeutic potential of MYC targeting is further enhanced by innovations in small molecule inhibitors, protein degradation technologies like PROTACs, and combination therapies that integrate MYC inhibition with existing treatments. These approaches are being designed with an eye toward precision medicine, tailoring interventions based on tumor-specific MYC activity and associated molecular pathways.
However, the article cautions against oversimplification. Because MYC interacts with a wide array of partners and affects diverse signaling cascades, context-dependent effects must be carefully considered. Targeting MYC too broadly might risk unintended consequences, such as impairing normal regenerative processes or inducing premature cellular aging.
Still, with improved molecular understanding and refined drug design, the tide is turning in favor of MYC-directed interventions. This review calls attention to MYC as not just a notorious oncogene, but a gateway to novel, more effective cancer treatments-redefining what is therapeutically possible for one of the most elusive yet consequential drivers of malignancy.
Compuscript Ltd
Duan, Y., et al. (2024). Targeting MYC: Multidimensional regulation and therapeutic strategies in oncology. Genes & Diseases. doi.org/10.1016/j.gendis.2024.101435.
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Health professionals will have access to national clinical practice guidelines to help assess and diagnose fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), following a 4-year research project led by The University of Queensland.
The Australian Guidelines for Assessment and Diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder are the first guidelines in this area to be approved by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
Dr. Natasha Reid from UQ's Child Health Research Centre, who led the collaborative project involving more than 40 organizations, said it is a groundbreaking development in the assessment and diagnosis of FASD, which is the leading cause of non-genetic disability in Australia.
"FASD is a lifelong disability arising from prenatal exposure to alcohol, but every individual is unique with areas of both strength and challenges," Dr. Reid said.
"The challenges can include difficulties with, attention, learning and memory, communication, behavioral and emotional regulation."
Dr. Reid said having access to assessment and diagnosis will help people understand their unique challenges and strengths, enabling them to better access individualized support.
"We hope these new guidelines will enhance assessment and diagnostic practices, improve service accessibility, reduce stigma, and ultimately improve the quality of life for all people living with FASD in Australia," Dr. Reid said.
"FASD has typically been diagnosed in specialist clinics, but these guidelines encourage all practitioners, regardless of setting or discipline, to contribute where they can to the assessment.
In developing the guidelines, researchers completed a comprehensive review that included understanding people's lived experiences of the assessment process and examined more than 300 research papers to understand the link between prenatal alcohol exposure and diagnostic outcomes.
Associate Dean (Research) Professor Karen Moritz, from UQ's Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioral Sciences, said a key feature in the development of the guidelines was extensive consultation involving more than 120 health professionals, researchers, cultural experts, along with families and carers of people living with FASD.
Through collaborative networks and extensive stakeholder engagement, these new national guidelines for assessment and diagnosis of FASD have the potential to change the life-course for individuals living with FASD."
Professor Karen Moritz, Associate Dean (Research) from UQ's Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioral Sciences
Funding was provided by the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care to a consortium involving The University of Queensland, The University of Sydney, The Kids Research Institute Australia, La Trobe University, Griffith University, Gold Coast Health's Child Development Service, National Organisation for FASD (NOFASD), Patches Paediatrics, Monash Children's Hospital, West Moreton Health, FASD C.A.R.E and The Russell Family Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Association.
Many other organizations were also involved as part of the Guidelines Development Group and Project Advisory Groups.
The University of Queensland
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A pilot study suggests that adding gravitational load via a weighted vest during dieting may help older adults maintain weight loss by preserving metabolism, hinting at a novel biological pathway for long-term weight control.
Study: Does weighted vest use during weight loss influence long-term weight loss maintenance? A pilot study in older adults living with obesity and osteoarthritis. Image Credit: Martin Criminale / Flickr
In a recent article published in the International Journal of Obesity, researchers investigated whether wearing a weighted vest over six months during a calorie restriction intervention to promote weight loss could influence longer-term weight regain among older adults with obesity. They found that participants wearing weighted vests lost similar amounts of weight over the six months but regained only half of the lost weight over 24 months, while those who did not wear the vests regained all of it.
Obesity is a considerable public health concern, particularly among older adults. Weight loss through lifestyle-based interventions, which typically result in 8–10% weight loss in a year, is the standard treatment but often fails to maintain long-term results. This failure is mainly due to biological changes following weight loss, such as reduced energy expenditure and increased hunger due to hormonal shifts.
Recently, researchers have considered gravitational loading, or how body weight exerts force on the skeleton, as a factor in weight regulation. This idea is the basis of the “gravitostat” hypothesis, which suggests that bone cells in the lower body detect body weight changes and send signals to the brain to regulate appetite and fat storage. While most evidence comes from animal studies, one human study showed that increasing gravitational load can lead to small but statistically significant losses in fat mass and body weight over a short period, although the magnitude of weight loss in that study was less than what would be considered clinically meaningful.
This study analyzed data collected during follow-ups of a randomized controlled trial that assessed whether wearing a weighted vest during a six-month weight loss intervention is feasible and beneficial for older adults with obesity and arthritis.
The original trial randomized participants to either a calorie-restricted diet with weighted vest use (20 participants) or a diet alone (17 participants). For this pilot analysis, 18 participants (two groups of nine people), who had finished the six-month program, returned voluntarily for a follow-up over 24 months.
All participants followed the dietary plan that was delivered between 1100 and 1300 kcal daily, as well as weekly nutrition and behavioral counseling. The treatment group wore an adjustable weighted vest for at most 10 hours daily during active periods. The vest's weight increased weekly to replace lost body weight, not exceeding 15% of baseline weight. Participants' compliance was self-reported weekly. After the six-month intervention, participants were not contacted or monitored during the follow-up period, except for being invited to return for the 24-month assessment. They did not receive further study protocol or support after the intervention period.
Baseline demographics and anthropometric measures, including body weight, resting metabolic rate (RMR), and body composition, were collected by blinded staff and assessed at baseline, after 6 months, and after 24 months. RMR was assessed using indirect calorimetry after 12 hours of fasting and no recent exercise.
Data analyses included mixed models and Pearson correlations to assess changes over time and associations between RMR changes and weight regain.
This pilot study involved older adults with an average age of 70.4 years, 83.3% of whom were female, with obesity, who underwent a six-month weight loss intervention, followed by an 18-month follow-up.
Both groups achieved similar and significant weight loss during the initial six months; those who wore the vest lost an average of 11.2 kg, while those who did not lost 10.3 kg on average. Approximately one-quarter of this weight loss comprised lean mass.
After 24 months, the group wearing vests regained only about half the lost weight, with a net loss of 4.8 kg from baseline, while the group not wearing vests reverted to baseline weight. Lean mass remained lower in the group wearing vests at 24 months, whereas it returned to baseline in those who did not.
Notably, RMR decreased less in the group wearing vests at six months, by 16.3 kcal per day, compared to the control group, which showed a decrease of 237.5 kcal per day. Both groups' RMR reverted to baseline by 24 months.
A modest inverse correlation was observed between RMR reduction during active weight loss and weight regain during follow-up, suggesting that preserved RMR may support sustained weight loss. However, this association did not reach statistical significance (r = −0.39, p = 0.11).
This study suggests that wearing a weighted vest during intentional weight loss may help reduce long-term weight regain, possibly by preserving resting metabolic rate. While both groups initially lost similar amounts of weight, the group wearing vests maintained more weight loss at 24 months. The findings support emerging research on gravitational loading as a factor in weight regulation.
Key strengths include the novel intervention, randomized controlled design, and extended follow-up period. However, the study's small sample size and reliance on a convenience sample for the 24-month follow-up limit generalizability. Additionally, the study lacked detailed data on posture (such as standing vs. sitting) and dietary intake during vest wear, which may have affected outcomes.
Overall, the pilot findings are promising and suggest that gravitational loading may help sustain weight loss in older adults. Larger, more comprehensive trials are needed to confirm these results and further explore mechanisms such as osteocyte signaling and appetite regulation.
Posted in: Men's Health News | Medical Science News | Medical Research News | Medical Condition News | Women's Health News
Written by
Priyanjana Pramanik is a writer based in Kolkata, India, with an academic background in Wildlife Biology and economics. She has experience in teaching, science writing, and mangrove ecology. Priyanjana holds Masters in Wildlife Biology and Conservation (National Centre of Biological Sciences, 2022) and Economics (Tufts University, 2018). In between master's degrees, she was a researcher in the field of public health policy, focusing on improving maternal and child health outcomes in South Asia. She is passionate about science communication and enabling biodiversity to thrive alongside people. The fieldwork for her second master's was in the mangrove forests of Eastern India, where she studied the complex relationships between humans, mangrove fauna, and seedling growth.
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MLA
Pramanik, Priyanjana. "Simple vest could help older adults maintain weight loss long term". News-Medical. 13 May 2025.
A new publication shines a spotlight on HER3, a long-overlooked member of the ErbB receptor family, revealing its critical role in cancer progression and resistance to therapy. Once considered a passive player due to its weak kinase activity, HER3 is now recognized as a major contributor to the survival and spread of various solid tumors, including breast, lung, colorectal, pancreatic, and gynecologic cancers.
HER3 functions through its interaction with other ErbB receptors, particularly HER2, forming potent signaling pairs that drive cell survival, proliferation, and metastasis. These dimerized complexes activate key downstream pathways, such as MAPK and PI3K/Akt, both essential in cancer cell growth and evasion of apoptosis. Overexpression or mutation of HER3 in tumor cells correlates with poor patient outcomes and therapeutic resistance, positioning it as a high-value therapeutic target.
Despite the development of multiple HER3-targeted therapies, most clinical applications have yielded modest results. The limited success is now attributed to the failure to match treatments to patients with active HER3 signaling. Crucially, only a subset of tumors—such as those with NRG1 gene fusions or high HER3 expression—appear to respond well, highlighting the need for predictive biomarkers to guide treatment selection. Without precise patient stratification, many promising therapies fall short of their potential.
The tumor microenvironment plays a decisive role in regulating HER3 activity. Stromal components, particularly fibroblasts and liver endothelial cells, secrete factors that activate HER3 independently of its known ligands, contributing to therapy resistance and disease recurrence. This underscores the importance of considering non-genetic activation mechanisms in future treatment strategies.
Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have emerged as a powerful approach to overcome resistance. By combining HER3-targeting antibodies with cytotoxic payloads, ADCs selectively eliminate HER3-positive cancer cells while minimizing systemic toxicity. Encouraging early results in HER3-expressing breast and lung cancers demonstrate their potential to reshape HER3-directed therapies.
The review also calls for integrating HER3 expression profiling into clinical trial design and patient care. Accurate detection methods and biomarker-driven therapies could transform HER3 from a failed target to a cornerstone of precision oncology.
With a better understanding of its biology, interaction with the microenvironment, and the emergence of next-generation therapies, HER3 is being redefined as a central player in cancer therapeutics—one that may finally deliver on its long-overdue promise.
Compuscript Ltd
Desai, O., et al. (2025). HER3: Unmasking a twist in the tale of a previously unsuccessful therapeutic pursuit targeting a key cancer survival pathway. Genes & Diseases. doi.org/10.1016/j.gendis.2024.101354.
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Conditions such as Tourette syndrome (TS), schizophrenia, and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have sex differences with unknown mechanisms. These sex-specific mechanisms may inform the development of more effective treatments. In a new JNeurosci paper, Meghan Van Zandt and Christopher Pittenger used mice to shed light on the mechanisms underlying sex differences in these psychiatric conditions.
Prior to this study, the researchers knew that these neurological disorders are characterized by altered dopamine signaling in the same brain network. Additionally, human genetic studies implicate a natural compound called histamine in dysregulating dopamine signaling to potentially underlie at least TS. Thus, Van Zandt and Pittenger examined sex differences in how histamine interacts with dopamine signaling in this brain network.
By manipulating histamine signaling in mice, the researchers discovered that histamine had opposite effects on dopamine levels in males and females: Histamine decreased dopamine in males and increased dopamine in females. In females, this effect was influenced by the estrous cycle. The researchers also found sex differences in the mechanisms through which histamine regulated dopamine levels.
According to the authors, this study may inform treatment development, suggesting that sex-specific treatments targeting different histamine receptors may effectively correct dopamine signaling in TS, schizophrenia, and ADHD.
Society for Neuroscience
Zandt, M. V., & Pittenger, C. (2025). Sex differences in histamine regulation of striatal dopamine. Journal of Neuroscience. doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2182-24.2025.
Posted in: Medical Science News | Medical Research News | Medical Condition News
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New research links close residential proximity to golf courses with higher odds of Parkinson's disease, especially when water is drawn from vulnerable groundwater sources. The findings spotlight potential health risks from pesticide exposure in everyday environments.
Study: Proximity to Golf Courses and Risk of Parkinson Disease. Image Credit: Trong Nguyen / Shutterstock
In a recent study published in JAMA Network Open, researchers in the United States assessed whether proximity to a golf course increases the risk of Parkinson's disease (PD).
Pesticide exposure has been associated with a heightened risk of PD. Pesticides are often used on golf courses to maintain aesthetic standards. In the United States (US), the application of pesticides to golf courses is up to 15 times greater than in European countries. Besides, pesticides can leach into the groundwater, contaminating potable water. Notwithstanding the risks, research on PD and golf course pesticide exposure is scarce.
In the present study, researchers explored the associations between proximity to golf courses and incident PD. First, PD patients in Olmsted County were identified from 1991 to 2015 within the Rochester Epidemiology Project (REP) medical records-linkage system. A movement disorder specialist reviewed medical records of identified patients to confirm diagnosis and ascertain the motor symptom onset date.
The team identified controls from the REP study region in Wisconsin and Minnesota who were age—and sex-matched to PD cases. Information on golf course locations was acquired. The residential address two or three years before PD symptom onset was used to calculate the distance from the golf course. Data on water service areas in the REP study region were obtained and categorized into areas where tap water sources are private wells, groundwater resources, and surface water resources.
Besides, water service areas were stratified as having a golf course or not. Additionally, high-resolution groundwater vulnerability data were acquired for Minnesota, and water service areas were classified as being within a vulnerable or non-vulnerable region. Groundwater vulnerable regions were those with karst geology, coarse-textured soils, or shallow bedrock.
Further, data on municipal wells in southeastern Minnesota were obtained. Water service areas were assigned as having one or zero municipal wells on golf courses and as containing shallow or deep municipal wells. Piecewise linear splines were used to assess the associations between proximity to the golf course and PD risk. Logistic regression was applied with the distance to the nearest golf course as the exposure and PD as the outcome.
The study also accounted for several demographic and socioeconomic variables, including age, sex, race, ethnicity, median household income, rural or urban classification, and health care utilization, in their statistical models.
Importantly, the study used both linear and spline models to assess the relationship between distance to the nearest golf course and PD risk. The spline model, with a knot at three miles, allowed the researchers to capture non-linear associations. Within three miles of a golf course, the risk of PD did not significantly vary by distance, but beyond three miles, each additional mile farther from a golf course was associated with a 13% decrease in the odds of PD. The spline model provided a better fit than a simple linear model, as shown by a likelihood ratio test.
From 1991 to 2015, 450 incident PD cases were recorded in Olmstead County, with 9,000 controls matched by sex and age. After exclusions, 419 PD cases and 5,113 controls were included for analysis. The nearest golf course was at a median distance of 1.72 and 1.98 miles for PD cases and controls, respectively.
The odds of PD decreased by 9% for every one-mile increment in distance from the golf course up to 18 miles. People living farther from a golf course had lower odds of PD. Furthermore, living within one mile of a golf course increased the odds of PD by 126% compared to those living over six miles away.
Besides, a substantial dose response was observed, wherein the odds of PD increased by 198% at one to two miles, 121% at two to three miles, and 92% at three to six miles compared to living over six miles away. Further, the odds of PD were almost double that of people receiving tap water from groundwater service areas with a golf course compared to those receiving it from service areas without a golf course.
Further, people receiving tap water from water service areas with a golf course in a groundwater vulnerable region had 82% higher odds of PD than those in non-vulnerable service areas with a golf course and 92% increased odds of PD relative to those living in water service areas without a golf course. Notably, there was no association between PD risk and living in service areas with a shallow municipal well.
The study also found that the association between proximity to golf courses and PD risk was stronger in urban areas. Additionally, the authors note that exposure may occur through both contaminated groundwater used for drinking and through airborne pesticide drift, particularly in higher-density areas surrounding golf courses.
Importantly, the researchers observed that within three miles of a golf course, the risk of PD did not increase further with closer proximity, suggesting a possible "ceiling effect" at higher levels of exposure.
Close proximity to a golf course was associated with a higher PD risk, especially within one to three miles of a golf course. People receiving tap water from water service areas with a golf course had almost double the odds of PD compared to those receiving it from service areas without a golf course. Living in a water service area with a golf course in a groundwater vulnerable region also increased the odds of PD.
However, the authors caution that while this study shows an association, it does not prove that living near a golf course causes Parkinson's disease. The study has several limitations, including lack of information on occupational exposures, not accounting for all other potential PD risk factors, and the use of residential address as a proxy for pesticide exposure. The study population was predominantly White, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other demographic groups. Additionally, the study relied on golf course location data from 2013 as a proxy for historical exposure, which may not fully capture long-term environmental risk.
Further research is needed to clarify the mechanisms of how pesticide exposure from golf courses may contribute to PD risk and to confirm these findings in more diverse populations.
Posted in: Men's Health News | Medical Science News | Medical Research News | Medical Condition News | Women's Health News
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Tarun is a writer based in Hyderabad, India. He has a Master's degree in Biotechnology from the University of Hyderabad and is enthusiastic about scientific research. He enjoys reading research papers and literature reviews and is passionate about writing.
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With just over a month to go until kickoff at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, U.S. Men's National Team head coach Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly hinted at some impending changes to his roster for the competition.
Following the USMNT's disastrous defense of their Nations League title in March, which saw them lose back-to-back games to Panama and Canada to secure a fourth-place finish, the pressure is on for Pochettino to spark some life in his previously listless team.
Add in the fact that several players won't be available for selection due to the FIFA Club World Cup, which is also set to be held in the U.S. concurrently with the Gold Cup, and changes to the roster aren't only recommended but a requirement for the Argentine coach.
Speaking to CNN ahead of the Gold Cup, which will be preceded by friendlies against Turkey and Switzerland, Pochettino explained that the Gold Cup is a major opportunity for his players.
“For them, maybe it's a good opportunity for one year before the World Cup to give [them] some rest, because I'm trying not to be involved in these friendly games or in the Gold Cup,” he explained, seemingly referring to his stars.
“Or maybe a great opportunity to see players that we are following and we believe that they can add some quality.
“I think we are very open. I think we need to, yes, to try to build our team, the players that want to fight for the team, for the country. And yes, I think our knowledge now is much better than a few months ago.
“And I think for sure that we love to try to find different ways to approach. And for sure, we are going to do some changes for the future.”
Exactly what changes lie ahead for the USMNT remains to be seen, although the wait won't last a great deal longer, with Turkey coming to Rentschler Field in Connecticut on June 7.
That being said, assuming their clubs decide to keep hold of them for the Club World Cup, that would rule out Juventus' Weston McKennie and Tim Weah, Borussia Dortmund's Gio Reyna, Inter Miami's Benjamin Cremaschi, and the Seattle Sounders' Jesus Ferreira among others. What's more, with LAFC and Club America set to battle it out for the final spot in the competition, following Club Leon's expulsion, this list of unavailable players could yet grow.
Some players who may well have played their way into a more prominent role with the USMNT could include Real Salt Lake's winger Diego Luna, who has scored seven goals in 11 MLS games this season, Vancouver Whitecaps forward Brian White, whose eight goals are a league best, and his teammate Sebastian Berhalter, who has excelled in Vancouver's midfield this season, scoring four goals and prodiving five assists.
Looking ahead, Pochettino was also asked what his message to the fans would be, with many having heavily criticized him in recent weeks and months.
“The fans need to help us. I think in the next two friendly games and then in the World Cup, I think we need their support,” he said. “I think they need to feel that they are an important part of this project. And I think to arrive at the World Cup without the guarantees to be competitive, I think we need them to be with us.”
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Including those launched for England, Nike unveiled new home and away kits for eight different women's national soccer teams this week.
The kits were revealed en masse on Wednesday, May 13. According to Nike, the jerseys “bring forward the brand's pinnacle standard of performance apparel in striking uniform designs that speak to the tradition, diversity and championship aspirations of each country and its athletes.”
In designing the kits, Nike says it used “overlapping maps with rich data specific to women athletes to guide the placement of mesh and ribbed textures throughout the uniforms — delivering specific performance attributes, such as enhanced stretch or compression, exactly where it's needed most. This approach led to a new side panel, for example, enabling increased stretch, breathability and movement throughout the athlete's core.”
The new kits are made with at least 80% recycled material and 100% recycled polyester from plastic bottles. All the Nike swooshes and trim on the uniforms are made from Nike Grind, a material composed of “pre-consumer manufacturing scraps, recycled post-consumer shoes and unsellable footwear.”
Here's a closer look at each of the kits, along with what Nike had to say about them in their press release:
The 2025 primary kit celebrates the 40th anniversary of the founding of the US Women's National Team (USWNT) by refreshing its traditional red, white and blue uniforms. Abstract stars are integrated into lighter, denim-inspired blues, a shift from the classic all-white kit of former teams. A subtle, ribbed texture and classic dark blue and red trims add dimension to the clean, modern lines of the kit.
The 2025 secondary kit features a stealth obsidian background. Symbolizing the brilliant role that USWNT plays as the pulse for global football and the rhythmic energy of the U.S. National Team's ever-growing fan community, vertical red and blue stardust stripes take a rippling, kinetic effect when the player is in motion – like a consistent heartbeat.
The 2025 primary kit celebrates the nation's iconic color palette of yellow, green and blue. This season, the yellow is updated into a more saturated hue, inspired by Brazil's vibrant wildlife, landscape and architecture, like the Maracanâ stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The inside of the ribbed collar reads “Força Beleza,” which translates to “Beautiful Strength,” describing the inherent balance between confidence, strength, femininity and competitiveness.
The 2025 secondary kit incorporates both new and traditional shades of blue in its palette, symbolizing joyful expression and vitality. An all-over print, designed in a diamond grid pattern, includes various geometric and organic shapes, like Jaguar print, tropical plant silhouettes, an interpretation of Brasiliadade (the elegant, harmonious movement on the pitch) and more. It represents the multifaceted strength and beauty of the growing women's football community.
The 2025 primary kit is interpreted through a creative method, loosely translated as “Trompe l'oeil” (“Deceiving the Eye”), to give the jersey a rich, unexpected texture that's reminiscent of the iconic tweed design. The creative direction pays tribute to the artistic revolutionaries who change culture — and the country's footballers who become legends of the game.
The 2025 secondary kit offers a softer, warmer palette than the primary kit, characterizing the elegance of champagne both as an element of sophistication and the champagne style of play that defined the French teams during the second half of the twentieth century. The secondary kit presents the national crest centered across the chest — a first for the French women's national team — and an asymmetrical collar.
The 2025 primary kit dials up the traditional Dutch ‘oranje' and adorns the iconic palette in bold, white graphics. A micro-dot treatment, influenced by national art movement of the ‘90s, also nods to the team's famous Total 90 jersey. The primary kit features the unique “Leeuwinnen” (lioness) crest and is finished with red, white and blue trim, honoring the national flag.
The 2025 secondary kit draws from a palette that is an elegant contrast to the primary kit, with an arrangement of blue, black, university red, white and game royal.
The 2025 primary kit draws inspiration from the palette of the Korean flag, consisting of predominantly red, with hints of blue, black and white. The combination of black ribbing against the white collar are integrated with graphics featuring traditional national motifs like bojagi, stamps and bank notes, reflecting Korea's cultural heritage in a multifaceted way.
The 2025 secondary kit features a more traditional blue and introduces volt for a modern spin. Neon accents are used across the cuff, neck rib and short. Both the primary and secondary kits bring modern twists to reference the five cardinal colors of Obangsaek in Korean culture.
The 2025 primary kit is energized stylistically by the rhythm of local nightlife, which carries with it the energy of Nigerian youth who unite community, music and culture. The minimalist design features glow in the dark trims and a bespoke font and number system.
The 2025 secondary kits are inspired by Sokoto's lively streets, using a diverse green palette and stripes to reflect the bold spirit and textures of its local markets.
The 2025 primary kit embraces bold, deep reds, complemented by accents of blue and white to create an unmistakable connection to national pride. Throughout the kit's graphics and trims are stylistic nods to traditional methods of Norwegian knitting.
The 2025 secondary kit takes as its foundation the creativity of contemporary Norwegian architecture, particularly the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which safeguards hundreds of millions of seeds from every corner of the world to ensure crop diversity for future generations. Blues, violets and greys combine with iridescent details to celebrate the natural brilliance of the Norwegian landscape.
The 2025 primary kit is derived from the concept of ‘deeds, not words,' an homage to the Lionesses, their heroic national victories — their latest being in 2022 — and the future generations of women players who are taking the game to new heights. The kits use shifts in color to honor the pioneers of the national team playing through the ‘70s and ‘80s.
The 2025 secondary kit is designed to challenge familiar design palettes with a bold, modern design that features an unexpected flood of black, highlighting other features like the Hyper Royale blue numbers, specks of color on the side gusset and a blue crest.
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Alex Morgan may have retired from playing soccer last year, but she hasn't stepped away from the game by any means. This week, the two-time World Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist became the newest minority investor in her former club, San Diego Wave FC.
"San Diego is where I've built my home, where I am raising my children, and found a purpose beyond my playing career," Morgan said in a statement. "I believed in Wave FC before a single match was played, and I still believe this club has the power to change the future of women's sports. I'm proud to invest in that future and not just as a player, but now as an investor."
Morgan, 35, is from Southern California and lives in the San Diego area with her family. She recently gave birth to her second child. She won the NWSL's Golden Boot in the club's inaugural season with 16 goals and led the Wave to become the first expansion team in league history to qualify for the 2022 playoffs. In 2023, Morgan helped the Wave win the NWSL Shield.
Morgan has always been advocate for women's sports and growing the game. She said in an interview released by the team that discussions about investing in the Wave began last year.
The USWNT legend is also an entrepreneur and has made purposeful investments in other sects of women's sports. She's part of a strong group of investors in Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 women's professional basketball league that started earlier this year. And before Morgan retired, she launched the Alex Morgan Foundation and co-founded TOGETHXR, a media company dedicated to the next generation of women's sports.
Savy King ‘stable' after collapsing on the field
There was a scary moment in the NWSL over the weekend when Angel City defender Savy King was carted off the field and taken to a hospital after going down and requiring medical attention during a game vs. the Utah Royals.
On Saturday, the NWSL said in a statement that King, 20, was in stable condition.
"Savy left the field in stable condition, and currently remains stable and will be undergoing further evaluation," the league said. "League protocols were followed from both a medical and game operations perspective. We are grateful to the Angel City medical staff as well as to local paramedics who handled this difficult situation seamlessly. As always, the NWSL will review and determine if changes to that protocol need to be made.
"We share everyone's concern about Savy, and our thoughts are with her, her family, the Utah Royals players and staff, and the Angel City players, staff and community. Please respect her privacy."
After the match concluded – Angel City won 2-0 – both teams gathered on the field and Utah defender Alex Leora (who previously played with King at Bay FC) led the group in what appeared to be a prayer.
Royals coach Jimmy Coenraets told reporters later that perhaps the match should not have resumed after King collapsed.
"In those moments, I'm not sure if we should have continued the game," Coenraets said. "Our players were just scared. That's not the right situation to be in but in the end, we played on. That's the decision other people have taken, which is fine. It was a really tough moment."
King played one year for the North Carolina Tar Heels before being drafted second overall by Bay FC in 2024. She joined Angel City ahead of the 2025 season and has played for U.S. youth national teams including last year when she helped the U-20 team win bronze at the 2024 Women's World Cup. She participated in the USWNT ‘Futures Camp' in January.
Women's World Cup expansion
The Women's World Cup will expand from 32 to 48 teams for the 2031 tournament after a proposal was unanimously approved during a FIFA Council meeting last Friday. The 2031 World Cup will be hosted by the United States.
The 2026 Men's World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada, will also feature 48 teams. The 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil will still have 32 countries competing.
"This is not just about having 16 more teams playing in the FIFA Women's World Cup, but taking the next steps in relation to the women's game in general by ensuring that more FIFA Member Associations have the chance to benefit from the tournament to develop their women's football structures from a holistic point of view," FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement.
"The FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, the first in which teams from all confederations won at least one game and teams from five confederations reached the knockout stage, among many other records, set a new standard for global competitiveness. This decision ensures we are maintaining the momentum in terms of growing women's football globally."
FIFPRO supported the expansion, and U.S. Soccer CEO J.T. Batson told reporters previously that the federation would be in favor of it as well.
Chelsea wins another WSL title
Chelsea clinched its eighth WSL title – and sixth in a row – over the weekend following a 1-0 win over Liverpool. In doing so, the Blues also became the first club in league history to go unbeaten, winning 22 straight games this season.
While winning titles is nothing new for Chelsea, it was the club's first with coach Sonia Bompastor. The former Lyon coach took over the Blues after Emma Hayes left to become the USWNT manager.
"As a manager, players and staff, you only live these moments maybe once in your life," Bompastor said after the match. "It is difficult to believe, but you need to enjoy it because it is a great achievement."
Hayes congratulated her former team on social media, while current Chelsea and USWNT players Naomi Girma, Catarina Macario and Mia Fishel celebrated their victory on the pitch.
Chelsea was eliminated from Champions League competition after losing to Barcelona 8-2 on aggregate, but still has a chance to win more trophies this year when it faces Manchester United in the FA Cup final on May 18.
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman.
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Human Rights Watch says football's governing body should be prepared to “reconsider” choice of U.S. as tournament co-host.
FIFA is facing mounting pressure about the 2026 World Cup in North America after a top human rights organization said it has “grave concerns” about the Trump administration's border policies affecting the tournament.
Human Rights Watch urged FIFA President Gianni Infantino to be “prepared to reconsider the hosting decision” if the safety of fans and players can't be guaranteed, according to a letter seen by POLITICO.
The 2026 men's tournament will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and follows politically controversial tournaments in 2018 in Vladimir Putin's Russia and in 2022 in Qatar.
But as U.S. President Donald Trump cracks down on some foreign arrivals — with tourists even detained at the border on minor grounds — the world's premier sporting event now risks being overshadowed again by politics.
Last week, POLITICO reported that Infantino is in lockstep with Trump behind closed doors, privately telling top football officials that tough border policies would not affect the competition.
In the letter dated May 5, Human Rights Watch Director of Global Initiatives Minky Worden told Infantino that FIFA must “establish clear benchmarks and timelines for U.S. immigration policy changes needed to ensure respect for the rights of players, fans, and other participants in the World Cup.”
The world football governing body anticipates that as many as 6.5 million people could attend the tournament next summer, with another 3.7 million coming for this summer's Club World Cup, which will be held entirely in the U.S.
For its part, the White House has pledged that World Cup travel will be a smooth process for visiting supporters.
“Every part of the U.S. government will be working to ensure that these events are safe and successful, and those traveling to America to watch the competition have a seamless experience during every part of their visit,” Trump said during a World Cup task force event in Washington last week. “It's going to be very special.”
But Human Rights Watch worriedly detailed Trump's potential visa bans on some countries, the possibility of detention, interrogation and denial of entry at the U.S. border, “prohibitively” long visa waiting times, new laws targeting LGBTQ+ people, and the potential for “chilling limits” on free speech and peaceful protest as policies threatening the competition.
“The administration of President Donald Trump has implemented or is planning policies that fundamentally undermine the inclusive spirit of the World Cup and the non-discrimination policies under FIFA's Statutes,” the organization warned Infantino.
It also noted that in FIFA's own human rights legislation, the football behemoth pledges to take measures to “to promote the protection of human rights” and “apply effective leverage” where it can to strength the promotion of human rights through football.
In the letter, Human Rights Watch said that Infantino has “both the responsibility and authority to address the repudiation of human rights commitments at the 2026 World Cup” and demanded a response to the following questions.
“What actions is FIFA taking so that the U.S. government will permit players, fans and journalists from around the world to safely attend the 2026 World Cup in the U.S.?” it asked.
“What actions does FIFA plan to take in the event any players, fans or journalists are subject to discrimination, wrongful interrogation or arbitrary arrest while in the U.S.?,” it added.
“What steps is FIFA taking with the U.S. government and the White House Task Force on The FIFA World Cup 2026 chaired by President Trump to advocate for changes in policies to align with international human rights, FIFA's Statutes, and FIFA's Human Rights Policy?” it concluded.
FIFA did not provide a response to POLITICO's request for comment.
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Hipster beer and pub food in a conveniently central location.
Looking to channel a mixture of team history, cultural identity, and fashion, U.S. Soccer has revealed its Nike kits for 2025.
This eye-catching new kit was co-designed between Nike and U.S. Men's National Team and U.S. Women's National Team stars Kellyn Acosta, DeAndre Yedlin, Walker Zimmerman, Lynn Biyendolo, Naomi Girma, and Sophia Wilson.
Meant “to honor the storied legacy of our teams and celebrate the passion of U.S. Soccer fans,” according to a press release, the selection includes a white jersey, dark blue jersey, a pre-match top and an anthem jacket.
Up close, influences from past jerseys are clear to see, with subtle large stars featured within the white jersey. While created to celebrate the USWNT's 40th anniversary, the pattern is eerily similar to the iconic 1994 FIFA Men's World Cup denim jerseys. This pattern continues on the jacket, although this time they are quite literally the stars of the show, printed in bold red and blue on a black backdrop.
By comparison, the dark jersey is more subtle, featuring a sleek and simple blue and red pinstripe design along with a matching red and white Nike logo. As for the pre-match top, the bright red shirt features “One Nation. One Team.” printed in a mixture of fonts, forming a series of stars once again.
Also worth noting is that the jerseys are constructed of entirely recycled polyester acquired from recycled plastic bottles.
"This collection represents Nike's deep commitment to women's soccer as an undeniable force that continues to elevate the game globally,” Maggie Gauger, Nike's Vice President/GM of North America Women's Business, said in a statement. “The refreshed designs honor the brilliance of the U.S. Women's National Team — celebrating 40 years of legacy, resilience, and groundbreaking achievements both on and off the pitch.”
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Star forward Biyendolo, who currently plays for the NWSL's Seattle Reign, said that “the kits represent the USWNT mentality of always pushing forward.
“I know I can speak for my teammates when I say that every time we put on the uniform, it brings a great sense of pride. When we represent our country, our team and ourselves, we know we are doing so while standing on the shoulders of giants. The Brilliant (white) Kit is just another way to honor our past and the women who played before us.”
As for the dark kit, also known as the Heartbeat Kit, Ligue 1 and USMNT defender Mark McKenzie said that style is evolving in tandem with the game of soccer. “There's a modern edge to this (Heartbeat) kit, a sleekness that catches the eye,” he explained.
“But it doesn't lose sight of what this crest stands for, the history etched in the red, white, and blue threads. The kit pays tribute to our fans and the importance of their connection to the team. It's a reminder of who we play for and what we represent every single time we step onto that field. Not much more you can ask for!”
U.S. Soccer fans will catch their first glimpse of the white jersey, which will only be worn by Emma Hayes' team, when the USWNT hosts China in a friendly on May 31 in Minnesota.
The USMNT will then debut the blue kit when Mauricio Pochettino's side hosts Turkey on June 7 in Connecticut.
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The Nike jerseys were developed in collaboration with multiple USMNT and USWNT players, honoring the legacy and passion of the American game
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The new Nike-designed kits are called “Brilliant” and “Heartbeat,” and were designed with input from Lynn Biyendolo, Naomi Girma, and Sophia Wilson.
US Soccer has two exciting new National Team kits that will be worn for the first time in the coming months, and one of them is specifically for the USWNT. The Nike kits were developed in collaboration with USWNT players Lynn Biyendolo, Naomi Girma, and Sophia Wilson and USMNT players Kellyn Acosta, DeAndre Yedlin and Walker Zimmerman.
The new light kit, called “Brilliant,” will be worn only by the USWNT, and was designed as a tribute to the history of the women's national team. It features a white background of stars with red and blue details.
“This collection represents Nike's deep commitment to women's soccer as an undeniable force that continues to elevate the game globally,” said Maggie Gauger, Vice President/GM, Nike North America Women's Business. “The refreshed designs honor the brilliance of the U.S. Women's National Team — celebrating 40 years of legacy, resilience, and groundbreaking achievements both on and off the pitch.”
“To me, the kits represent the USWNT mentality of always pushing forward,” said USWNT player Lynn Biyendolo. “I know I can speak for my teammates when I say that every time we put on the uniform, it brings a great sense of pride. When we represent our country, our team and ourselves, we know we are doing so while standing on the shoulders of giants. The Brilliant Kit is just another way to honor our past and the women who played before us.”
The second kit, a dark kit called “Heartbeat,” will be worn by both the USWNT and USMNT. It features vertical red and blue stripes on a dark background. According to a press release, the kit is dedicated to fans and features a “heritage-meets-streetstyle aesthetic.”
“As the game evolves, the style evolves,” said USMNT player Mark McKenzie. “There's a modern edge to this (Heartbeat) kit, a sleekness that catches the eye. But it doesn't lose sight of what this crest stands for, the history etched in the red, white, and blue threads. The kit pays tribute to our fans and the importance of their connection to the team. It's a reminder of who we play for and what we represent every single time we step onto that field. Not much more you can ask for!”
Inspired by our players.Worn by our fans.Designed by Nike.Be the first to represent: https://t.co/wsdSbt09Zf pic.twitter.com/IKXXJQTJrb
The Brilliant kit will be debuted by the USWNT on May 31st in Saint Paul when they play China PR.
The Heartbeat kit will be worn by the USMNT on June 7th at their game in East Hartford, Connecticut against Turkey. The USMNT will continue to wear their current home kits.
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GOAL ranks the top-13 USMNT prospects at or under the age of 21
America is always on the lookout for the next big homegrown soccer talent — and with good reason. The U.S. men's national team continues to make meaningful strides, and sometimes all it takes is an influx of talent to reach the next level.
Landon Donovan was once that rising star, as were Clint Dempsey, Brian McBride, Tab Ramos, and Steve Cherundolo. Christian Pulisic, who was a highly-touted prospect, continues to defy expectations, and now, with the 2026 World Cup on the horizon, a new generation is preparing to make its mark.
So who's next? Which rising stars could play a role in this World Cup cycle, and which ones should fans be watching closely?
Paxten Aaronson, Jack McGlynn, Cavan Sullivan, Diego Luna, and Diego Kochen headline the list, thanks to their rapid development and growing reputations. Others like Damion Downs, Julian Hall, Noahkai Banks, and Josh Wynder may be less known, but they possess serious upside. In between, there's Borussia Dortmund's Cole Campbell, Inter Miami's Benjamin Cremaschi — Lionel Messi's young teammate — and Chelsea's promising duo of Gabriel Slonina and Caleb Wiley, all pushing to take the next step.
GOAL ranks the top 13 American prospects between the ages of 15 and 21 — players on the verge of breaking into the professional spotlight, and possibly, the senior national team.
International Football
It took Peter Moore about 30 minutes at a Xerox machine in 1993 to create the most iconic piece of design in American soccer history.
Moore had made his name years earlier at Nike, as the designer of the first Air Jordan sneaker and the iconic “Jumpman” logo. He'd helped grow the sportswear and shoe brand from a tiny Oregon startup to a global titan before leaving for Adidas in the early 90s. There, he'd continued knocking almost every design out of the park. By the time Moore stood at the copy machine, most of the world's soccer jerseys bore the ascending three stripes of the modern Adidas logo that he'd designed.
Advertisement
This was not Moore's first soccer project. Among his first tasks at Adidas had been designing the beautiful, baggy men's and women's kits they'd worn in the early 90s, with the blue and red stripes up the shoulder. But this particular assignment – designing the USMNT's kits for the 1994 World Cup, the first ever to be hosted in the United States – felt more important than most. Moore, remembers his close friend and associate Mary McGoldrick, had kept the circle close on this one. Barely anybody at Adidas' U.S. headquarters in Portland had any idea what he was up to, and even fewer at the company's global headquarters in Germany.
Moore took a piece of denim – Levi's, he remembered before his death in 2022 – and laid out some paper stars on it. He pressed the copy button on the Xerox machine and slowly, methodically, dragged the swath of fabric across the glass.
“Remember,” said Moore, “in 1993, computer graphics were not really in existence, at least not in Portland, Oregon. In other words, we got our hands dirty.”
Moore took one look at the output of the copy machine and knew right then and there that he'd nailed the design. He'd just created the “denim kit,” and over 30 years later, those kits remain iconic. They are held aloft by some as the pinnacle of American soccer design and they are derided by others, reduced to a frivolous example of gauche 90s fashion, chucked in a bin alongside the purple and teal designs of the day.
Undeniably, though, the kits evoke memories of that tournament, the one where the USMNT finally solidified America's love affair with the global game. On sun-drenched fields in California and under the roof of the Silverdome, the 1994 USMNT exceeded all expectations, emerging out of a very tough group and fighting gallantly against eventual champion Brazil.
Advertisement
Years later, the kit's popularity has only increased. You see it everywhere at national team matches and it has become wildly bootlegged and emulated, maybe the ultimate mark of relevance.
Tuesday, with another World Cup on home soil just over a year away, we got our first look at the USMNT's latest kit – a red and blue pinstriped number dubbed the “heartbeat kit” that frankly may be its best offering in recent years. It's simple and bold without being boring, feels highly wearable off the pitch and seems an ideal stopgap between the USMNT's current shirts and the 2026 World Cup designs, which they'll presumably release closer to the tournament itself.
There's a new complete women's set as well, including the lighter “brilliant kit.” Both were designed in collaboration with women's players Lynn (Williams) Biyendolo, Naomi Girma and Sophia (Smith) Wilson, and men's players Kellyn Acosta, DeAndre Yedlin and Walker Zimmerman. The designs, U.S. Soccer says, celebrate the legacy of its teams and the “passion of U.S. Soccer fans across the country.”
The men's kit, which they'll debut on June 7 in a friendly against Turkey, is evocative of the 2007 “Copa” kits that were only worn for a single year. It's a vintage design that remains a favorite these days, and Nike and U.S. Soccer have done well to emulate it, even if perhaps unintentionally.
The men's shirts, though, pale in comparison to the new women's kits, which offers a callback to the denim kit. The washed-out stars, the red-and-blue trim around the neck … even the sublimated, vertical stripes are reminiscent of the USMNT's home kit at the ‘94 World Cup, the “wavy flag” design that never quite achieved the notoriety of Moore's other design that year.
The women's “brilliant” design, which will be debuted on May 31 in a friendly vs. China, frankly would not make a bad men's World Cup shirt. The women's kits have been largely aligned with the men's kits for years, and the women's team has done just as much, if not more, to solidify the legacies of some of those designs. (The men will be sticking with their current white kits for the time being.)
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One thing feels certain enough: whatever the USMNT ends up wearing in 2026 needs to be daring and bold and brash. U.S. Soccer, and Nike, need to look to iconic designs of the past – the denim kit, or the “bomb pops” – to determine their course for the tournament. It feels easy enough to argue that this tournament could prove the most pivotal moment in the history of American men's soccer – maybe even bigger than the ‘94 tournament – and the U.S. needs to be equipped with something memorable.
There are risks, of course. Had the USMNT crashed out in the group stage in ‘94, for example, it feels almost certain that the denim kit would've become a punchline, the latest example of how decision-makers in American soccer had “gotten it wrong.” Take the oversized Nike kits, the ones the USMNT wore in 1998. They're not bad-looking on the surface, but the design itself is imbued with the team's failure in France, a painful memory.
The opposite, of course, also holds true. Fans adore the bomb pops not only because they broke the trend of “clean” design, but because of Clint Dempsey or John Brooks celebrating goals in it at the 2014 World Cup. USWNT fans love the 2019 kits – which, on the surface are a little bland – not because of the design itself but because of the World Cup the women won in it, something that can be said for their 1999 kits as well.
As for the denim kit? Fans love it because of Wynalda, Lalas, Harkes and the lot on those sun-drenched fields. Nike can only get so close to the denim kit before it runs into copyright and intellectual property issues with Adidas, a chief competitor. And it's worth noting that as design cycles go, much of the design work for the men's kit is likely already done, leaving precious little room for adjustment.
But we can always hope they get it right. The task at hand for the USMNT and Nike is two-fold: create an iconic design, and live up to it. If they do, Nike likely won't be able to print enough jerseys to meet demand. If they come up with something forgettable – and if the team itself puts on a forgettable performance – the shirts will only prove as evidence of a painful, embarrassing memory.
(Top photos: Courtesy of U.S Soccer)
Pablo Maurer is a staff writer for The Athletic who covers soccer, with a particular focus on the history and culture of the game. His writing and photography have been featured in National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Gothamist and a variety of other outlets. Follow Pablo on Twitter @MLSist
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International Football
It took Peter Moore about 30 minutes at a Xerox machine in 1993 to create the most iconic piece of design in American soccer history.
Moore had made his name years earlier at Nike, as the designer of the first Air Jordan sneaker and the iconic “Jumpman” logo. He'd helped grow the sportswear and shoe brand from a tiny Oregon startup to a global titan before leaving for Adidas in the early 90s. There, he'd continued knocking almost every design out of the park. By the time Moore stood at the copy machine, most of the world's soccer jerseys bore the ascending three stripes of the modern Adidas logo that he'd designed.
Advertisement
This was not Moore's first soccer project. Among his first tasks at Adidas had been designing the beautiful, baggy men's and women's kits they'd worn in the early 90s, with the blue and red stripes up the shoulder. But this particular assignment – designing the USMNT's kits for the 1994 World Cup, the first ever to be hosted in the United States – felt more important than most. Moore, remembers his close friend and associate Mary McGoldrick, had kept the circle close on this one. Barely anybody at Adidas' U.S. headquarters in Portland had any idea what he was up to, and even fewer at the company's global headquarters in Germany.
Moore took a piece of denim – Levi's, he remembered before his death in 2022 – and laid out some paper stars on it. He pressed the copy button on the Xerox machine and slowly, methodically, dragged the swath of fabric across the glass.
“Remember,” said Moore, “in 1993, computer graphics were not really in existence, at least not in Portland, Oregon. In other words, we got our hands dirty.”
Moore took one look at the output of the copy machine and knew right then and there that he'd nailed the design. He'd just created the “denim kit,” and over 30 years later, those kits remain iconic. They are held aloft by some as the pinnacle of American soccer design and they are derided by others, reduced to a frivolous example of gauche 90s fashion, chucked in a bin alongside the purple and teal designs of the day.
Undeniably, though, the kits evoke memories of that tournament, the one where the USMNT finally solidified America's love affair with the global game. On sun-drenched fields in California and under the roof of the Silverdome, the 1994 USMNT exceeded all expectations, emerging out of a very tough group and fighting gallantly against eventual champion Brazil.
Advertisement
Years later, the kit's popularity has only increased. You see it everywhere at national team matches and it has become wildly bootlegged and emulated, maybe the ultimate mark of relevance.
Tuesday, with another World Cup on home soil just over a year away, we got our first look at the USMNT's latest kit – a red and blue pinstriped number dubbed the “heartbeat kit” that frankly may be its best offering in recent years. It's simple and bold without being boring, feels highly wearable off the pitch and seems an ideal stopgap between the USMNT's current shirts and the 2026 World Cup designs, which they'll presumably release closer to the tournament itself.
There's a new complete women's set as well, including the lighter “brilliant kit.” Both were designed in collaboration with women's players Lynn (Williams) Biyendolo, Naomi Girma and Sophia (Smith) Wilson, and men's players Kellyn Acosta, DeAndre Yedlin and Walker Zimmerman. The designs, U.S. Soccer says, celebrate the legacy of its teams and the “passion of U.S. Soccer fans across the country.”
The men's kit, which they'll debut on June 7 in a friendly against Turkey, is evocative of the 2007 “Copa” kits that were only worn for a single year. It's a vintage design that remains a favorite these days, and Nike and U.S. Soccer have done well to emulate it, even if perhaps unintentionally.
The men's shirts, though, pale in comparison to the new women's kits, which offers a callback to the denim kit. The washed-out stars, the red-and-blue trim around the neck … even the sublimated, vertical stripes are reminiscent of the USMNT's home kit at the ‘94 World Cup, the “wavy flag” design that never quite achieved the notoriety of Moore's other design that year.
The women's “brilliant” design, which will be debuted on May 31 in a friendly vs. China, frankly would not make a bad men's World Cup shirt. The women's kits have been largely aligned with the men's kits for years, and the women's team has done just as much, if not more, to solidify the legacies of some of those designs. (The men will be sticking with their current white kits for the time being.)
Advertisement
One thing feels certain enough: whatever the USMNT ends up wearing in 2026 needs to be daring and bold and brash. U.S. Soccer, and Nike, need to look to iconic designs of the past – the denim kit, or the “bomb pops” – to determine their course for the tournament. It feels easy enough to argue that this tournament could prove the most pivotal moment in the history of American men's soccer – maybe even bigger than the ‘94 tournament – and the U.S. needs to be equipped with something memorable.
There are risks, of course. Had the USMNT crashed out in the group stage in ‘94, for example, it feels almost certain that the denim kit would've become a punchline, the latest example of how decision-makers in American soccer had “gotten it wrong.” Take the oversized Nike kits, the ones the USMNT wore in 1998. They're not bad-looking on the surface, but the design itself is imbued with the team's failure in France, a painful memory.
The opposite, of course, also holds true. Fans adore the bomb pops not only because they broke the trend of “clean” design, but because of Clint Dempsey or John Brooks celebrating goals in it at the 2014 World Cup. USWNT fans love the 2019 kits – which, on the surface are a little bland – not because of the design itself but because of the World Cup the women won in it, something that can be said for their 1999 kits as well.
As for the denim kit? Fans love it because of Wynalda, Lalas, Harkes and the lot on those sun-drenched fields. Nike can only get so close to the denim kit before it runs into copyright and intellectual property issues with Adidas, a chief competitor. And it's worth noting that as design cycles go, much of the design work for the men's kit is likely already done, leaving precious little room for adjustment.
But we can always hope they get it right. The task at hand for the USMNT and Nike is two-fold: create an iconic design, and live up to it. If they do, Nike likely won't be able to print enough jerseys to meet demand. If they come up with something forgettable – and if the team itself puts on a forgettable performance – the shirts will only prove as evidence of a painful, embarrassing memory.
(Top photos: Courtesy of U.S Soccer)
Pablo Maurer is a staff writer for The Athletic who covers soccer, with a particular focus on the history and culture of the game. His writing and photography have been featured in National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Gothamist and a variety of other outlets. Follow Pablo on Twitter @MLSist
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Argentina's minister of national security Patricia Bullrich sent a list to the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires on Monday that included the names of more than 15,000 violent soccer fans who will be banned from attending this summer's Club World Cup.
"The list includes more than 15,000 people who will be banned from stadiums," Bullrich said, per Reuters. "For us, this is extremely important because no violent person who has committed any crime in Argentine stadiums will be able to attend this sporting event."
The list of names was created through the "Tribuna Segura" program, which detects people who have been banned from stadiums in Argentina.
"Since the beginning of this government, 'Tribuna Segura' has monitored more than four million people in 1,328 matches," Bullrich, who has been in her current role since 2023, when Javier Milei became the president of Argentina, said. "We have detected 1,166 people with arrest warrants and have issued more than 40 administrative resolutions restricting entry to stadiums."
The Club World Cup, which will take place in the U.S. from June 14 to July 13, will have two teams from Argentina taking part – Boca Juniors and River Plate. Boca Juniors were placed into Group C and will take on Germany's Bayern Munich, Portugal's Benfica and New Zealand's Auckland City in the group stage. River Plate, meanwhile, are in Group F and will play Italy's Inter, Mexico's Monterrey and Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds in the group stage.
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Local artist John Rego chosen to illustrate FIFA World Cup 2026 poster
New England has been selected to host the FIFA World Cup in 2026, and Rhode Island native John Rego has been selected to illustrate the event's official poster.
John Rego, originally from Warren, Rhode Island, now lives in Boston as an illustration professor at the Massachusetts College of Art. Rego both illustrates and paints, and ultimately chose an illustration for this project. Together with the help of students at the school, Rego compiled a Boston Harbor-themed illustration for the poster, showcasing some of New England's most iconic representations. The poster includes depictions of a lobster, the Bunker Hill Monument, the Tall Ships, the Tea Party, and the Gloucester Sea Monster, to name a few.
"We invited illustration students to help with the poster and get a firsthand look at the process of working as a professional artist. While I created the illustration, the poster aimed to elevate the student's voices and depict what Boston means to them," said Rego.
You will see his poster used to promote the World Cup taking place in June and July 2026 across the United States and Mexico.
To learn more about John Rego and his artwork, visit https://www.johnrego.com/.
Christian Pulisic has been one of the few high points in an otherwise rocky season for AC Milan which has, naturally, attracted him several admirers.
The U.S. Men's National Team captain, 26, is the Rossoneri's leading scorer this season with 17 in all competitions, whilst also having provided a further 11 assists across 47 appearances.
Only Pulisic's second season in Serie A, since making the switch from Premier League side Chelsea for $25.9 million, his 32 goals already surpasses his total of 27 from his four seasons in London.
Unsurprisingly, Pulisic's career rebirth has prompted Milan to engage in talks to extend his current contract, which is set to expire in the summer of 2027. However, it now seems the Pennsylvanian may be tempted to weigh up his options before putting pen to paper on a new deal in Italy.
While said to be “happy in Milan,” Pulisic “wants to know Milan's plans for next season,” according to Orazio Accomando, who added that he remains “especially popular in the Premier League.” Exactly which teams are currently keen on the American remains unclear.
That being said, prior to the January transfer window, Manchester United, Liverpool, and West Ham United were all linked with the American, as per Calciomercato.
This news comes a matter of days after it emerged that Milan were planning their summer rebuild around just a handful of players, including Pulisic, Tijjani Reijnders, and potentially Mike Maignan and Theo Hernandez - although their futures remain uncertain, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
A proposed new deal for Pulisic could see him secure a significant pay increase, going from $4.56 million per year to $5.7 million, via Goal. This new deal would run through the summer of 2029.
Milan's desire to keep hold of Pulisic is no surprise, especially given that he recently became the first player since Zlatan Ibrahimovic to score at least 15 goals in each of their first two seasons with the Rossoneri.
But while Pulisic may be loved in Milan, the tumultuous situation the team finds itself in may give Pulisic cause for concern when it comes to committing his long-term future to the team.
Currently eighth in Serie A with just two games to go, Milan would need various slip-ups to fall in their favor over the coming weeks if they're to secure European soccer for next season via the league. Alternatively, their best bet to ensure another year of continental competition would be to win their upcoming Coppa Italia final against Bologna, with the winner awarded a UEFA Europa League spot.
This would also mark Milan's second piece of silverware this season, following their Supercoppa Italiana win in January.
Whether they lift another trophy this season or not, it seems that they will be looking for a new head coach in the summer regardless, with Sergio Conceicao's future continually thrown into question, and the Portuguese boss said to be ready to leave even if they win the final, as per Sempre Milan.
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The upcoming FIFA World Cup runs globally through June and July of 2026. In the Pacific Northwest, we're surrounded by FIFA World Cup matches, hosting six in Seattle and seven in nearby Vancouver, BC. For die-hard fans looking for a summer road trip, there are an additional six in San Francisco and eight in Los Angeles. If you are headed to Olympia to watch FIFA Soccer, plan to make time to visit the Washington coast—we've got lots of things to see and do in Grays Harbor County.
Plenty of spots are televising the FIFA World Cup matches on the scenic Washington coast. Whether you stick close to home or book an immersive soccer staycation, you're sure to have a kickin' good time without missing any of the action.
When it's time to take a break from watching your favorite team, a stay in Grays Harbor means long, sunny days at the beach enjoying bonfires, s'mores, kite flying, beach-combing, hiking, or splashing in the waves!
The Westport Light State Park has a picturesque lighthouse for those holiday-card photo shoots but you can also take surf lessons each May through September.
In Aberdeen, check out the wildly wonderful Mermaid Museum, which both kids and adults will enjoy. Next door is Westport Winery, with wine tasting for the adults. Take a turn in their garden as well. It's the perfect stop for the whole family.
And nothing says summer better than a beachside boardwalk of games, rides, prizes and flashing lights. Pacific Paradise Park in Ocean Shores is nonstop miniature golf, bumper boats, panning for gems and arcade fun. They welcome parties for kids and kids at heart so the birthday boy or girl won't feel left out.
If your entire family are sports fans, awesome. But chances are, there's at least one member of the group who prefers pedicures to penalty kicks and hot tubs to dribbling defenders. Consider booking a soccer staycation at Seabrook or the Quinault Beach Resort Casino where there's something for everyone. With meals, rooms, fun and friends under one roof, it's win/win…even if Team USA doesn't.
Or combine your football frenzy with a local festival to keep everyone engaged. The Grays Harbor Festival of Colors in Ocean Shores is the west coast's most amazing kite festival and held each June. Or later that month get wild with Rusty Scuppers Pirate Daze in Westport.
If you prefer more rustic entertainment, check out the Grays Harbor County Fair in late July. This event runs from July 30 until August 2 at the fairgrounds in Elma.
Check out a list of lodging and places to stay courtesy of Greater Grays Harbor and turn any visit into a surefire success.
If you prefer to camp or bring your RV, check out the Copalis River RV Park, River Run RV Park or Friends Landing camping. The Westport Inn, South Bay Inn and Caroline Inn are good for a vintage vibe. Thousand Trails members can use Oceana RV & Camping Resort. With more than 60 options listed through the curated Greater Grays Harbor list, there's something for everyone, all year round.
Seabrook has vacation rentals for all sizes of parties. These cute beach cottages are perfect for a couple or a team-sized group! Close to downtown Seabrook and all it has to offering including, shopping, dining and recreation, they are a great choice for a stay on the Washington Coast during the FIFA World Cup.
Need a break from the sun? Check out the broody, shaded Quinault rainforest. There's plenty of hiking and photography opportunities if you choose to camp, or just take one of their gorgeous drives through the cooler setting. Check out an Olympic Peninsula Waterfall trail for a nice change of pace.
Whether your summer is full of Grays Harbor explorations or Western Washington shenanigans, you can find FIFA matches streaming at endless sports bars, pubs, neighborhood eateries and more. There's no FIFA FOMO when you plan ahead and everybody wins.
Sponsored
Check out more things to do in Grays Harbor here.
It has not been the easiest start to life for Mauricio Pochettino as Head Coach for the United States Men's National Team as the Argentine would have envisaged. Results have been disappointing as the one year to go mark to the 2026 World Cup quickly approaches, a tournament which will be hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico. At CNN's Techwood location recently in Atlanta, Poch sat down with TNT Sports' Melissa Ortiz to discuss a range of topics, starting with the importance of the team's upcoming friendly matches against Türkiye and Switzerland.
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MANCHESTER CITY have unveiled their kit for the 2025/26 season and dropped a hint over Jack Grealish's future.
Pep Guardiola's side will wear the new home shirt at this summer's Club World Cup in the US.
Puma have gone for a white sash across the club's iconic sky blue jersey.
The diagonal stripe is a nod to City kits from the 70s as it has been seen on old away strips.
Grealish is one of the stars modelling the new look alongside the likes of Phil Foden, Erling Halaand and Mateo Kovacic.
And fans reckon having him as the poster boy suggests he is staying at City beyond the summer.
It comes amid rumours of Grealish's departure after a tough season in which he has scored just three goals and started only seven Premier League games.
Tottenham, Aston Villa and Napoli are all interested in signing him.
Grealish was not, however, seen in the promotional video to launch the new kit.
The clip stars actor John Thompson hosting a talent show as stars like Foden, Haaland, Manuel Akanji, Oscar Bobb and Ederson take to the stage to perform.
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Former players Micah Richards, Joleon Lescott and Mike Summerbee also have cameo roles.
The video was filmed at the Clayton Official Supporters Club just around the corner from the Etihad Stadium.
Puma say the sash home shirt "creates a connection to the past with a futuristic design, bridging the gap between different generations of City fans".
The German sportswear brand's chief Marco Mueller said: “We're so excited to be featuring the iconic sash, made famous from away days of old, on the home kit for the first time.
"Both in this kit and all our kits for this upcoming season, fans across the world will be reminded that with our partnership we do things differently and want to push the boundaries in terms of design, creativity and innovation”.
The kit is available in the City shop for £85 and the authentic jersey costs £130.
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The Englishman may be leaving but he is still needed in Bavarian.
Eric Dier's move from Bayern Munich to AS Monaco on a free transfer is more or less a done deal, with Bayern already confirming the Englishman's departure and reports indicating that Dier has already signed a deal for the 2017 Ligue 1 champions. Still, his time at Bayern may not be over just yet.
Despite moving Dier on, the club has short term injury concerns in the center of defense. Dayot Upamecano is currently battling to return from a months long injury, Kim Min-Jae has been fighting with Achilles problems for months and needs a break and Hiroki Itō broke his metatarsal again and will be out for an indefinite period of time. Bayern has already wrapped up the Bundesliga title, but the start of the FIFA Club World Cup is just about a month away, at the time of writing, and there is a chance none of the other center backs will return in time.
So Bayern may still need Dier for a little longer and are willing to make the necessary concessions, via Maximilian Koch (and captured by @iMiaSanMia):
Due to the injury concerns in defense, Bayern are considering giving Eric Dier a short-term contract in order to be able to play at the Club World Cup.
Board member for sport Max Eberl recently hinted that outgoing players may not be required to stay at Bayern for the Club World Cup, but Dier's contract in Munich lasts until end of the group stages of the tournament. An extension would likely see the former Tottenham Hotspur player remain at the club until the tournament is over. But would Monaco allow this to happen? Would Dier be willing to wait two weeks to start his adventure in France? Let's see.
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LA is poised to host the World Cup, transforming the city's local economy and leading to economic growth.
Drama, passion and joy are set to fuel another summer as the World Cup takes over iconic North American stadiums in Los Angeles (LA) for the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) 2026 tournament.
The most recent edition of this soccer or fútbol tournament drew an impressive attendance of 3.4 million individuals, a number nearly equivalent to the entire population of Uruguay. While many dedicated soccer fans around the world look forward to this event every four years, there is criticism from the public about the expenses associated with building large stadiums to support crowds that are frequently abandoned, despite massive investment.
However, with California's stable economy, facilities to support urban populations and stadiums capable of hosting large crowds, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will bring significant economic gains without the hefty price tag that has damaged past host countries. The event will be an economic boost for LA as it will generate revenue through increased tourism, provide new job opportunities and bring recognition to the soccer industry, not just as a sport, but as a global event worth celebrating.
The FIFA World Cup will bring more money off the field due to a substantial boost in tourism revenue, directly benefiting California's economy. It is expected to generate $343 million in direct spending just from an estimated 179,200 out-of-town visitors drawn in by the grandeur of the tournament. With increasing global recognition for soccer and an influx of tourists pulled in by the World Cup celebrations, LA is expected to gain an extra $230.4 million in future tourism revenue.
The average tourist will spend $2,35 on travel, food, housing and shopping, generating much-needed tax income for the state to support companies and their staff. This illustrates the economic multiplier effect, where increased spending sources lead to greater economic activity. Eventually, the original amount spent by tourists cascades through local businesses to hotel employees, drivers, waiters and food vendors, creating economic incentives surrounding this event.
The additional money from new sales and occupancy tax revenues — taxes collected from hotel stays and short-term lodging — can be directly used to improve diminishing urban infrastructure, support upgrades to local public transportation and provide funding to alleviate the homelessness crisis in LA. Better transportation infrastructure would boost productivity and efficiency, which in turn would stimulate economic growth and future tourism. Some of these new revenues can also be used to fund long-term solutions to aid the reintegration of the state's homeless population into the workforce, such as transitional housing programs and mental health care.
By investing money in long-term interventions, LA can better address issues of homelessness while simultaneously increasing employment opportunities and improving overall quality of life. Tourist-generated revenue can yield more economic opportunities than drawbacks, which will improve consumer and investor confidence in purchasing goods, investing in companies and overall business growth. As a result, California's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will increase, demonstrating how the FIFA World Cup 2026 will help build a better LA.
Furthermore, the 2026 FIFA World Cup is expected to be a great investment for California's economy by increasing the availability of employment and wages. In hosting just eight World Cup games in LA, wages will increase by $243.2 million from new jobs and added working hours for existing employees. Additionally, this sporting event will create new job opportunities to support the stadiums and merchandise booths and extended work hours in various industries to support the demand of crowds during the games.
While much of the increased workload will be temporary in hospitality, food service and transportation, these jobs can still provide valuable experience and transferable skills for future employment. As the tournament is scheduled for summer, the boost in employment opportunities will be particularly beneficial for students, teachers and seasonal workers with specific scheduling restrictions.
Many of these new jobs will not require a college degree, making them more accessible to individuals from low-income backgrounds, as a large proportion of young United States (U.S.) workers without a college degree are concentrated in customer service representative and construction laborer occupations. With extra work hours, employees will gain more disposable income, which will be pumped back into the local economy, driving further consumption and stimulating economic growth.
Increased Major League Soccer (MLS) audience and merchandise sales in LA would economically benefit the local population. The MLS revenue would provide the cash to pay for the wages of those who work for clubs such as LA Football Club (LAFC) and LA Galaxy (LA Galaxy), supporting hundreds of households.
In addition, local sports firms gain monetary value from the revenue created by LA MLS teams because many of their goods and merchandise are handled by third-party sellers like soccer shops and sports stores. Media and sponsorship growth from the tournament will generate employment and investment, which would significantly advance the economic well-being of California and the U.S. by inspiring dreams and paying bills.
The World Cup can also provide significant socioeconomic benefits by fostering growth within the soccer industry. Soccer's popularity has been rapidly increasing in the U.S. In fact, the revenue generated in the soccer industry is projected to reach $5.43 billion in 2026, compared to the $4.33 billion generated in 2024. The passion and excitement fans have about the tournament can positively impact youth participation and registration for academy and club soccer teams, thereby stimulating the job market as more coach and instructor positions become available. Expenses associated with playing soccer, such as facility fees and access to specific athletic gear, can also contribute to local sporting goods stores and boost local market economies.
Soccer's unique position as a global sport can bring communities together and promote collective celebrations in the form of watch parties. Other positive externalities or indirect benefits from the growing popularity of the soccer industry also include improved public health and greater community engagement. Research shows that participation in soccer improves cardiovascular health, coordination and mental health. Playing soccer can also work as a protective factor in preventing non-communicable diseases, such as obesity and hypertension.
Some argue that despite economic benefits, the expenses set aside for the World Cup should be allocated elsewhere. In previous host countries, the money needed to successfully run this competition became an unbearable burden due to significant infrastructure construction and wage costs, which tend to rest in the hands of unwilling owners of private stadiums or a struggling government. Qatar spent $220 billion to build brand new stadiums, housing, parking and sporting facilities for the entire competition. However, these factors don't hold true for the 2026 edition of the tournament.
The U.S. already has established stadiums that host the National Football League (NFL) and MLS, such as SoFi Stadium and Levi's Stadium, and the benefits of hosting a large-scale event like the World Cup would include infrastructure development, cultural exchange, sports growth and job creation.
Therefore, the costs for the U.S. will be very minimal compared to prior nations. FIFA and the World Trade Organization (WTO) expect a $47 billion economic output from the World Cup. With these existing supports, the 2026 World Cup is an opportunity for the U.S. to not just host an international spectacle, but to be able to do so with a minimal financial burden.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is more than a global sporting event — it is a transformative economic opportunity for the city of LA and the U.S. It will provide a lasting boost through increased tourism, expanded employment opportunities and growth in the soccer market by introducing the sport to new players.
Africa's four representatives for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Chile 2025™ have now been confirmed, with Morocco, Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa all sealing qualification by reaching the semi-finals of the TotalEnergies CAF U20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
The four sides booked their tickets following hard-fought quarter-final victories in a day filled with tension, drama, and high stakes.
Morocco were the first to punch their ticket, edging Sierra Leone 1-0 after extra time thanks to a late own goal.
The tightly contested match was decided in the 115th minute, ending Sierra Leone's impressive debut campaign.
Hosts Egypt joined them after a thrilling comeback against Ghana.
Trailing 2-0, the young Pharaohs forced penalties with a last-gasp equaliser and held their nerve in the shootout to win 5-4 and book a return to the global stage.
Nigeria, the continent's most decorated U20 side, advanced after defeating defending champions Senegal on penalties.
The Flying Eagles kept calm under pressure to seal their record 14th appearance at the U20 World Cup.
South Africa completed the quartet with a 1-0 extra-time win over DR Congo, thanks to Thabang Mahlangu's decisive strike deep into added time.
The qualification of these four sides maintains Africa's strong tradition at the U20 global showpiece, with each team now shifting its focus to the semi-finals—and ultimately the continental crown.
The FIFA U-20 World Cup takes place in Chile from 27 September to 19 October.
Diane Parry, Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, Iva Jovic and Lois Boisson have all been awarded Roland Garros main-draw wild cards this year.
Six Frenchwomen, including former No. 48 Diane Parry and Rouen quarterfinalist Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, have received wild cards for Roland Garros, which begins on May 25.
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The full list of main-draw wild cards is as follows:
Nine qualifying wild cards have all been awarded to Frenchwomen:
Diane Parry, Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, Iva Jovic and Lois Boisson have all been awarded Roland Garros main-draw wild cards this year.
The world No. 35—an avid F1 fan—has won 11 career titles at this level.ByDavid KanePublished May 13, 2025 copy_link
Published May 13, 2025
ROME, Italy—Is Tallon Griekspoor the Max Verstappen of the ATP Challenger Tour?The world No. 35 and avid F1 fan arrives to the Bordeaux Challenger having won 11 titles at this level and owns a 30-match win streak. His last Challenger appearance came in 2022, when he won the Amesfoort Challenger on clay in his home country of the Netherlands.
The world No. 35 and avid F1 fan arrives to the Bordeaux Challenger having won 11 titles at this level and owns a 30-match win streak. His last Challenger appearance came in 2022, when he won the Amesfoort Challenger on clay in his home country of the Netherlands.
Tallon Griekspoor is on a 30-match win streak in Challengers after winning five titles in a row in 2021 and then defending his Amersfoort crown in 2022. Hasn't played at this level since. https://t.co/QNeHEhDTTW
“I always liked clay,” Griekspoor said after winning his first-round match at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. “I always said it was my favorite surface. But the first two years I came on tour, I had a lot of injuries during the clay season, never got the chance to play a lot of matches on clay. So, I felt like I lost a little bit of my feeling on the clay.“This year, I've been playing a lot of matches on clay, a lot of good matches, even the matches I lost were very, very good.”
“This year, I've been playing a lot of matches on clay, a lot of good matches, even the matches I lost were very, very good.”
Indeed, the 28-year-old kicked off the clay swing with a runner-up finish at an ATP 250 in Marrakech and the quarterfinals of a 500 in Munich.Though his Foro Italico campaign ended in the second round to No. 13 seed Arthur Fils, Griekspoor feels himself sliding into form just in time for Roland Garros, where he reached the third round last year—pushing eventual finalist Alexander Zverev to five sets. He would later defeat Zverev at Indian Wells.“I think, for me, the most important thing is my footwork, the whole feeling of the sliding, when to slide, when to be aggressive or when to be a bit more defensive,” said Griekspoor. “I think it's pretty natural for us in Holland. We don't have the best weather but we still grow up on clay as much as hard. I would say it's 50-50 there.“When I played Challengers and Futures, I played nine months a year on clay because I never liked to play indoors.”
Though his Foro Italico campaign ended in the second round to No. 13 seed Arthur Fils, Griekspoor feels himself sliding into form just in time for Roland Garros, where he reached the third round last year—pushing eventual finalist Alexander Zverev to five sets. He would later defeat Zverev at Indian Wells.“I think, for me, the most important thing is my footwork, the whole feeling of the sliding, when to slide, when to be aggressive or when to be a bit more defensive,” said Griekspoor. “I think it's pretty natural for us in Holland. We don't have the best weather but we still grow up on clay as much as hard. I would say it's 50-50 there.“When I played Challengers and Futures, I played nine months a year on clay because I never liked to play indoors.”
“I think, for me, the most important thing is my footwork, the whole feeling of the sliding, when to slide, when to be aggressive or when to be a bit more defensive,” said Griekspoor. “I think it's pretty natural for us in Holland. We don't have the best weather but we still grow up on clay as much as hard. I would say it's 50-50 there.“When I played Challengers and Futures, I played nine months a year on clay because I never liked to play indoors.”
“When I played Challengers and Futures, I played nine months a year on clay because I never liked to play indoors.”
These guys, especially I think Max, is one of the best at pushing his car on tough weekends or tough days. These guys are pushing themselves for two hours in brutal, brutal conditions. Tallon Griekspoor on F1
Off the court, Griekspoor finds inspiration—his Drive to Survive, if you will—watching Verstappen compete against an increasingly deep field, finding common struggles between F1 drivers and tennis players.“I love the sport, especially this year when it's not just Max who shows up and wins. He has a lot of competition from McLaren this year, for sure. But it makes it more fun to watch.“These guys, especially I think Max, is one of the best at pushing his car on tough weekends or tough days. These guys are pushing themselves for two hours in brutal, brutal conditions.”Seeded third in Bordeaux, Griekspoor could draw a brutal opening-round opponent, awaiting the winner of 2015 Roland Garros champion Stan Wawrinka vs. Billy Harris.
“I love the sport, especially this year when it's not just Max who shows up and wins. He has a lot of competition from McLaren this year, for sure. But it makes it more fun to watch.“These guys, especially I think Max, is one of the best at pushing his car on tough weekends or tough days. These guys are pushing themselves for two hours in brutal, brutal conditions.”Seeded third in Bordeaux, Griekspoor could draw a brutal opening-round opponent, awaiting the winner of 2015 Roland Garros champion Stan Wawrinka vs. Billy Harris.
“These guys, especially I think Max, is one of the best at pushing his car on tough weekends or tough days. These guys are pushing themselves for two hours in brutal, brutal conditions.”Seeded third in Bordeaux, Griekspoor could draw a brutal opening-round opponent, awaiting the winner of 2015 Roland Garros champion Stan Wawrinka vs. Billy Harris.
Seeded third in Bordeaux, Griekspoor could draw a brutal opening-round opponent, awaiting the winner of 2015 Roland Garros champion Stan Wawrinka vs. Billy Harris.
The world No. 35—an avid F1 fan—has won 11 career titles at this level.ByDavid KanePublished May 13, 2025 copy_link
Published May 13, 2025
ROME, Italy—Is Tallon Griekspoor the Max Verstappen of the ATP Challenger Tour?The world No. 35 and avid F1 fan arrives to the Bordeaux Challenger having won 11 titles at this level and owns a 30-match win streak. His last Challenger appearance came in 2022, when he won the Amesfoort Challenger on clay in his home country of the Netherlands.
The world No. 35 and avid F1 fan arrives to the Bordeaux Challenger having won 11 titles at this level and owns a 30-match win streak. His last Challenger appearance came in 2022, when he won the Amesfoort Challenger on clay in his home country of the Netherlands.
Tallon Griekspoor is on a 30-match win streak in Challengers after winning five titles in a row in 2021 and then defending his Amersfoort crown in 2022. Hasn't played at this level since. https://t.co/QNeHEhDTTW
“I always liked clay,” Griekspoor said after winning his first-round match at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. “I always said it was my favorite surface. But the first two years I came on tour, I had a lot of injuries during the clay season, never got the chance to play a lot of matches on clay. So, I felt like I lost a little bit of my feeling on the clay.“This year, I've been playing a lot of matches on clay, a lot of good matches, even the matches I lost were very, very good.”
“This year, I've been playing a lot of matches on clay, a lot of good matches, even the matches I lost were very, very good.”
Indeed, the 28-year-old kicked off the clay swing with a runner-up finish at an ATP 250 in Marrakech and the quarterfinals of a 500 in Munich.Though his Foro Italico campaign ended in the second round to No. 13 seed Arthur Fils, Griekspoor feels himself sliding into form just in time for Roland Garros, where he reached the third round last year—pushing eventual finalist Alexander Zverev to five sets. He would later defeat Zverev at Indian Wells.“I think, for me, the most important thing is my footwork, the whole feeling of the sliding, when to slide, when to be aggressive or when to be a bit more defensive,” said Griekspoor. “I think it's pretty natural for us in Holland. We don't have the best weather but we still grow up on clay as much as hard. I would say it's 50-50 there.“When I played Challengers and Futures, I played nine months a year on clay because I never liked to play indoors.”
Though his Foro Italico campaign ended in the second round to No. 13 seed Arthur Fils, Griekspoor feels himself sliding into form just in time for Roland Garros, where he reached the third round last year—pushing eventual finalist Alexander Zverev to five sets. He would later defeat Zverev at Indian Wells.“I think, for me, the most important thing is my footwork, the whole feeling of the sliding, when to slide, when to be aggressive or when to be a bit more defensive,” said Griekspoor. “I think it's pretty natural for us in Holland. We don't have the best weather but we still grow up on clay as much as hard. I would say it's 50-50 there.“When I played Challengers and Futures, I played nine months a year on clay because I never liked to play indoors.”
“I think, for me, the most important thing is my footwork, the whole feeling of the sliding, when to slide, when to be aggressive or when to be a bit more defensive,” said Griekspoor. “I think it's pretty natural for us in Holland. We don't have the best weather but we still grow up on clay as much as hard. I would say it's 50-50 there.“When I played Challengers and Futures, I played nine months a year on clay because I never liked to play indoors.”
“When I played Challengers and Futures, I played nine months a year on clay because I never liked to play indoors.”
These guys, especially I think Max, is one of the best at pushing his car on tough weekends or tough days. These guys are pushing themselves for two hours in brutal, brutal conditions. Tallon Griekspoor on F1
Off the court, Griekspoor finds inspiration—his Drive to Survive, if you will—watching Verstappen compete against an increasingly deep field, finding common struggles between F1 drivers and tennis players.“I love the sport, especially this year when it's not just Max who shows up and wins. He has a lot of competition from McLaren this year, for sure. But it makes it more fun to watch.“These guys, especially I think Max, is one of the best at pushing his car on tough weekends or tough days. These guys are pushing themselves for two hours in brutal, brutal conditions.”Seeded third in Bordeaux, Griekspoor could draw a brutal opening-round opponent, awaiting the winner of 2015 Roland Garros champion Stan Wawrinka vs. Billy Harris.
“I love the sport, especially this year when it's not just Max who shows up and wins. He has a lot of competition from McLaren this year, for sure. But it makes it more fun to watch.“These guys, especially I think Max, is one of the best at pushing his car on tough weekends or tough days. These guys are pushing themselves for two hours in brutal, brutal conditions.”Seeded third in Bordeaux, Griekspoor could draw a brutal opening-round opponent, awaiting the winner of 2015 Roland Garros champion Stan Wawrinka vs. Billy Harris.
“These guys, especially I think Max, is one of the best at pushing his car on tough weekends or tough days. These guys are pushing themselves for two hours in brutal, brutal conditions.”Seeded third in Bordeaux, Griekspoor could draw a brutal opening-round opponent, awaiting the winner of 2015 Roland Garros champion Stan Wawrinka vs. Billy Harris.
Seeded third in Bordeaux, Griekspoor could draw a brutal opening-round opponent, awaiting the winner of 2015 Roland Garros champion Stan Wawrinka vs. Billy Harris.
Lorenzo Musetti was on the edge of victory on Tuesday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, until rain halted his charge toward the finish line.
The Italian led Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 5-4, 30/30 where heavy showers swept through the Foro Italico at 4:38 p.m. local time. While fans rushed for cover, Musetti and Medvedev continued. The 23-year-old remained composed on court, crafting a delicate drop shot that barely bounced on the damp clay to bring up match point.
But that's when the drama paused. With Musetti perched on the verge of victory, the chair umpire suspended play. Musetti will return with a chance to close out the match and secure a place in the quarter-finals against Alexander Zverev or Arthur Fils.
Musetti is aiming to reach his fifth ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final and third of the season, highlighted by his final run in Monte-Carlo.
Hubert Hurkacz's match with Miami champion Jakub Mensik has also been suspended due to rain. Hurkacz leads 7-6(5), 4-6, 3-2.
© Copyright 1994 - 2024 ATP Tour, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this site may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way or by any means (including photocopying, recording or storing it in any medium by electronic means), without the written permission of ATP Tour, Inc.. Terms & Conditions | Privacy | Community Social Media Policy | Modern Slavery Statement | Feedback | Cookies | Your Privacy Choices
Lorenzo Musetti was on the edge of victory on Tuesday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, until rain halted his charge toward the finish line.
The Italian led Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 5-4, 30/30 where heavy showers swept through the Foro Italico at 4:38 p.m. local time. While fans rushed for cover, Musetti and Medvedev continued. The 23-year-old remained composed on court, crafting a delicate drop shot that barely bounced on the damp clay to bring up match point.
But that's when the drama paused. With Musetti perched on the verge of victory, the chair umpire suspended play. Musetti will return with a chance to close out the match and secure a place in the quarter-finals against Alexander Zverev or Arthur Fils.
Musetti is aiming to reach his fifth ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final and third of the season, highlighted by his final run in Monte-Carlo.
Hubert Hurkacz's match with Miami champion Jakub Mensik has also been suspended due to rain. Hurkacz leads 7-6(5), 4-6, 3-2.
© Copyright 1994 - 2024 ATP Tour, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this site may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way or by any means (including photocopying, recording or storing it in any medium by electronic means), without the written permission of ATP Tour, Inc.. Terms & Conditions | Privacy | Community Social Media Policy | Modern Slavery Statement | Feedback | Cookies | Your Privacy Choices
Lorenzo Musetti was on the edge of victory on Tuesday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, until rain halted his charge toward the finish line.
The Italian led Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 5-4, 30/30 where heavy showers swept through the Foro Italico at 4:38 p.m. local time. While fans rushed for cover, Musetti and Medvedev continued. The 23-year-old remained composed on court, crafting a delicate drop shot that barely bounced on the damp clay to bring up match point.
But that's when the drama paused. With Musetti perched on the verge of victory, the chair umpire suspended play. Musetti will return with a chance to close out the match and secure a place in the quarter-finals against Alexander Zverev or Arthur Fils.
Musetti is aiming to reach his fifth ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final and third of the season, highlighted by his final run in Monte-Carlo.
Hubert Hurkacz's match with Miami champion Jakub Mensik has also been suspended due to rain. Hurkacz leads 7-6(5), 4-6, 3-2.
© Copyright 1994 - 2024 ATP Tour, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this site may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way or by any means (including photocopying, recording or storing it in any medium by electronic means), without the written permission of ATP Tour, Inc.. Terms & Conditions | Privacy | Community Social Media Policy | Modern Slavery Statement | Feedback | Cookies | Your Privacy Choices
The Italian Open is rapidly moving towards its final stages, with many players using the tournament as preparation for the French Open.
Jannik Sinner has made a positive return to tennis at the Italian Open, having made his comeback from a three-month ban in Rome.
The ATP number one has avoided a shock thus far, but WTA star Iga Swiatek was among the players losing out early on.
Swiatek left Jim Courier shocked after she fell to Danielle Collins, although world number one Aryna Sabalenka remains on track for success at the WTA 1000 event.
She will reunite with Qinwen Zheng in the Italian Open quarter-finals, with American duo Coco Gauff and Peyton Stearns also reaching that stage.
And it is Stearns who former players Steve Johnson and John Isner have been really impressed by as the French Open nears.
Discussing American women other than Gauff who they think can shine at Roland Garros, Johnson said on the Nothing Major podcast: “I am going to go off the beaten track here and say Peyton Stearns can make a bit of a run.
READ MORE: WTA Italian Open 2025 – how to watch, top players, prize money & predictions
“She has a couple of big wins, six in the third over [Madison] Keys and six in the third over [Naomi] Osaka here in Rome.
“Playing some of the best tennis of her career. She is going to be flying completely under the radar, unless she titles this week, because there are so many American women ahead of her.
A post shared by WTA (@wta)
“That is sometimes a good thing, you can go out there and be businessman like, take care of what is in front of you and go and win and she is playing great tennis and can be somebody who if she can get a favourable draw can make some noise, get a good run, and once she is in the second, third or fourth round, hopefully, that belief will be there to beat anyone and then the tournament will begin.”
As Johnson mentioned, Stearns has picked up some huge wins at the Italian Open, knocking out Osaka and Keys.
Both players are Grand Slam champions, with Stearns having also beaten Nuria Brancaccio and Anna Kalinskaya in Rome.
READ MORE: Former French Open quarter-finalist withdraws from the Italian Open after winning opening match
Hugely impressively, she came from behind to edge past Keys and Osaka, and now meets Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals.
The American remains the only unseeded player left in the women's draw, with the 23-year-old currently ranked 42nd in the world.
Discussing her chances at the French Open later this month, Isner said: “She is playing well. Early on in the season she lost a lot of close matches.
“I remember she lost to Emma Navarro early on at the Australian Open, 7-5 in the third and she was up maybe 5-1 or 5-2 in the third that match.
“But winning two matches in a row, 7-6 in the third is going to do her confidence a lot of favours going forward. I like her game and she could certainly be someone who can make a lot of noise at the French Open.”
LONDON (AP) — Novak Djokovic is splitting with coach Andy Murray just two weeks ahead of the French Open, following a dismal start to the clay-court season.
Murray's representatives announced Tuesday that the two former No. 1-ranked players will “no longer be working together.”
“Thanks to Novak for the unbelievable opportunity to work together and thanks to his team for all their hard work over the past six months,” Murray was quoted as saying. "I wish Novak all the best for the rest of the season.”
The decision comes after Djokovic lost his opening match in his last two tournaments in Monte Carlo and Madrid, both on clay.
Djokovic thanked Murray in a post on social media “for all the hard work, fun & support over last six months on & off the court.”
“I really enjoyed deepening our friendship together,” Djokovic wrote.
Djokovic and Murray joined forces ahead of the Australian Open in what initially was seen as an unlikely pairing. After Murray retired last year, Djokovic reached out with the coaching proposition.
Djokovic said in February that Murray had agreed to stay on for an “indefinite” period, including “some clay-court tournaments” this season. Djokovic has yet to win a tournament this season after having to retire from the Australian Open semifinals with a hamstring injury and losing in the final in Miami to leave him one shy of 100th career title.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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The Swiss is three-time Grand Slam champion; the Frenchman will retire after the tournament.ByAssociated PressPublished May 13, 2025 copy_link
Published May 13, 2025
© AFP or licensors
PARIS (AP) — Three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka and French veteran Richard Gasquet were among eight men given wild-card entries Tuesday for the French Open.Wawrinka, who turned 40 in March, won the Australian Open in 2014 for his first Grand Slam singles title and added major wins at the French Open in 2015 and the 2016 U.S. Open.The Swiss player has battled injuries in recent years and has dropped to No. 132 in the ATP rankings.Gasquet will be playing his final tournament in Paris. The 38-year-old Frenchman, who reached a career-best ranking of No. 7 back in 2007, was once regarded as a potential Grand Slam winner but could never get past the semifinals at any major. Gasquet reached the Wimbledon semifinals twice and was also a semifinalist at the U.S Open. He claimed 16 Tour titles and was a member of the France team that won the 2017 Davis Cup.
Wawrinka, who turned 40 in March, won the Australian Open in 2014 for his first Grand Slam singles title and added major wins at the French Open in 2015 and the 2016 U.S. Open.The Swiss player has battled injuries in recent years and has dropped to No. 132 in the ATP rankings.Gasquet will be playing his final tournament in Paris. The 38-year-old Frenchman, who reached a career-best ranking of No. 7 back in 2007, was once regarded as a potential Grand Slam winner but could never get past the semifinals at any major. Gasquet reached the Wimbledon semifinals twice and was also a semifinalist at the U.S Open. He claimed 16 Tour titles and was a member of the France team that won the 2017 Davis Cup.
The Swiss player has battled injuries in recent years and has dropped to No. 132 in the ATP rankings.Gasquet will be playing his final tournament in Paris. The 38-year-old Frenchman, who reached a career-best ranking of No. 7 back in 2007, was once regarded as a potential Grand Slam winner but could never get past the semifinals at any major. Gasquet reached the Wimbledon semifinals twice and was also a semifinalist at the U.S Open. He claimed 16 Tour titles and was a member of the France team that won the 2017 Davis Cup.
Gasquet will be playing his final tournament in Paris. The 38-year-old Frenchman, who reached a career-best ranking of No. 7 back in 2007, was once regarded as a potential Grand Slam winner but could never get past the semifinals at any major. Gasquet reached the Wimbledon semifinals twice and was also a semifinalist at the U.S Open. He claimed 16 Tour titles and was a member of the France team that won the 2017 Davis Cup.
Stan Wawrinka won Roland Garros in 2015.© Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
© Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
The Swiss is three-time Grand Slam champion; the Frenchman will retire after the tournament.ByAssociated PressPublished May 13, 2025 copy_link
Published May 13, 2025
© AFP or licensors
PARIS (AP) — Three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka and French veteran Richard Gasquet were among eight men given wild-card entries Tuesday for the French Open.Wawrinka, who turned 40 in March, won the Australian Open in 2014 for his first Grand Slam singles title and added major wins at the French Open in 2015 and the 2016 U.S. Open.The Swiss player has battled injuries in recent years and has dropped to No. 132 in the ATP rankings.Gasquet will be playing his final tournament in Paris. The 38-year-old Frenchman, who reached a career-best ranking of No. 7 back in 2007, was once regarded as a potential Grand Slam winner but could never get past the semifinals at any major. Gasquet reached the Wimbledon semifinals twice and was also a semifinalist at the U.S Open. He claimed 16 Tour titles and was a member of the France team that won the 2017 Davis Cup.
Wawrinka, who turned 40 in March, won the Australian Open in 2014 for his first Grand Slam singles title and added major wins at the French Open in 2015 and the 2016 U.S. Open.The Swiss player has battled injuries in recent years and has dropped to No. 132 in the ATP rankings.Gasquet will be playing his final tournament in Paris. The 38-year-old Frenchman, who reached a career-best ranking of No. 7 back in 2007, was once regarded as a potential Grand Slam winner but could never get past the semifinals at any major. Gasquet reached the Wimbledon semifinals twice and was also a semifinalist at the U.S Open. He claimed 16 Tour titles and was a member of the France team that won the 2017 Davis Cup.
The Swiss player has battled injuries in recent years and has dropped to No. 132 in the ATP rankings.Gasquet will be playing his final tournament in Paris. The 38-year-old Frenchman, who reached a career-best ranking of No. 7 back in 2007, was once regarded as a potential Grand Slam winner but could never get past the semifinals at any major. Gasquet reached the Wimbledon semifinals twice and was also a semifinalist at the U.S Open. He claimed 16 Tour titles and was a member of the France team that won the 2017 Davis Cup.
Gasquet will be playing his final tournament in Paris. The 38-year-old Frenchman, who reached a career-best ranking of No. 7 back in 2007, was once regarded as a potential Grand Slam winner but could never get past the semifinals at any major. Gasquet reached the Wimbledon semifinals twice and was also a semifinalist at the U.S Open. He claimed 16 Tour titles and was a member of the France team that won the 2017 Davis Cup.
Stan Wawrinka won Roland Garros in 2015.© Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
© Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
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PARIS (AP) — Three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka and French veteran Richard Gasquet were among eight men given wild-card entries Tuesday for the French Open.
Wawrinka, who turned 40 in March, won the Australian Open in 2014 for his first Grand Slam singles title and added major wins at the French Open in 2015 and the 2016 U.S. Open.
The Swiss player has battled injuries in recent years and has dropped to No. 132 in the ATP rankings.
Gasquet will be playing his final tournament in Paris. The 38-year-old Frenchman, who reached a career-best ranking of No. 7 back in 2007, was once regarded as a potential Grand Slam winner but could never get past the semifinals at any major. Gasquet reached the Wimbledon semifinals twice and was also a semifinalist at the U.S Open. He claimed 16 tour titles and was a member of the France team that won the 2017 Davis Cup.
The French Open runs from May 25 to June 8.
___
French Open wild cards:
Women's singles (main draw)
Destanee Aiava, Australia
Loïs Boisson, France.
Elsa Jacquemot, France.
Léolia Jeanjean, France.
Iva Jovic, United States.
Chloé Paquet, France.
Diane Parry, France.
Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah, France.
Men's singles (main draw)
Terence Atmane, France.
Arthur Cazaux, France.
Richard Gasquet, France.
Pierre-Hugues Herbert, France.
Emilio Nava, United States.
Valentin Royer, France.
Tristan Schoolkate, Australia.
Stan Wawrinka, Switzerland.
___
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Only Rafa could pull this one off.ByBaseline StaffPublished May 13, 2025 copy_link
Published May 13, 2025
Rafael Nadal won't be playing at Roland Garros this year, but the King of Clay will be omnipresent at the tournament he dominated in his career nonetheless. In addition to a forthcoming celebration that tournament director Amélie Mauresmo has promised will be "exceptional," the 14-time Roland Garros champion was revealed Monday as the voice of the tournament's official teaser trailer.In the 45-second clip, posted to Roland Garros' social media channels two weeks ahead of the start of the main draw, Nadal reads a poem paired with idyllic and dramatic scenes from the Parisian Grand Slam. Tense moments to trophy lifts, with action from the men's, women's and wheelchair events interspersed with photos, make for a captivating package that was met with universal acclaim from fans online."Only where love is written in capital letters, only the clay where champions fight, only the glide, the power, only the endurance until the night, only where tennis and everyone rhyme, only where hats fit all heads, only where the clay marks passion in red, only where rituals leave a trace, only a stage for courage and fire, only here where all dreams transpire, only at Roland-Garros," Nadal says in his narration.Watch and listen to the trailer in full below, a clip which closes with a tight shot of Nadal himself standing on the terre battue.
In the 45-second clip, posted to Roland Garros' social media channels two weeks ahead of the start of the main draw, Nadal reads a poem paired with idyllic and dramatic scenes from the Parisian Grand Slam. Tense moments to trophy lifts, with action from the men's, women's and wheelchair events interspersed with photos, make for a captivating package that was met with universal acclaim from fans online."Only where love is written in capital letters, only the clay where champions fight, only the glide, the power, only the endurance until the night, only where tennis and everyone rhyme, only where hats fit all heads, only where the clay marks passion in red, only where rituals leave a trace, only a stage for courage and fire, only here where all dreams transpire, only at Roland-Garros," Nadal says in his narration.Watch and listen to the trailer in full below, a clip which closes with a tight shot of Nadal himself standing on the terre battue.
"Only where love is written in capital letters, only the clay where champions fight, only the glide, the power, only the endurance until the night, only where tennis and everyone rhyme, only where hats fit all heads, only where the clay marks passion in red, only where rituals leave a trace, only a stage for courage and fire, only here where all dreams transpire, only at Roland-Garros," Nadal says in his narration.Watch and listen to the trailer in full below, a clip which closes with a tight shot of Nadal himself standing on the terre battue.
Watch and listen to the trailer in full below, a clip which closes with a tight shot of Nadal himself standing on the terre battue.
Only at #RolandGarrosNarrated by @RafaelNadal pic.twitter.com/6O7ZYbkG7Z
To whet fans' appetites ahead of the official reveal, Roland Garros also posted a behind-the-scenes "Making Of" clip late last week, which showcased Nadal studying his script, and testing a microphone, on the grounds of his eponymous tennis academy in Mallorca, Spain.Read more: Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal reunite on the red carpet at the Laureus World Sports AwardsWith Roland Garros having previously unveiled a statue on its grounds in Nadal's honor in 2021, former world No. 1 Mauresmo played coy last month in sharing exactly how the tournament will honor its most prolific champion now that he is retired, only reiterating that Roland Garros organizers respected his wishes and canceled a planned tribute ceremony following what was ultimately his last Roland Garros match: a first-round loss to eventual finalist Alexander Zverev last May. (He did play at the venue for the Olympics two months later.)A ceremony celebrating Nadal's career will take on the opening day of the tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier, following the conclusion of the day session's three matches. In addition, an exhibition paying tribute to Nadal's victories will also be on display for the duration of the clay-court major.
Read more: Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal reunite on the red carpet at the Laureus World Sports AwardsWith Roland Garros having previously unveiled a statue on its grounds in Nadal's honor in 2021, former world No. 1 Mauresmo played coy last month in sharing exactly how the tournament will honor its most prolific champion now that he is retired, only reiterating that Roland Garros organizers respected his wishes and canceled a planned tribute ceremony following what was ultimately his last Roland Garros match: a first-round loss to eventual finalist Alexander Zverev last May. (He did play at the venue for the Olympics two months later.)A ceremony celebrating Nadal's career will take on the opening day of the tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier, following the conclusion of the day session's three matches. In addition, an exhibition paying tribute to Nadal's victories will also be on display for the duration of the clay-court major.
With Roland Garros having previously unveiled a statue on its grounds in Nadal's honor in 2021, former world No. 1 Mauresmo played coy last month in sharing exactly how the tournament will honor its most prolific champion now that he is retired, only reiterating that Roland Garros organizers respected his wishes and canceled a planned tribute ceremony following what was ultimately his last Roland Garros match: a first-round loss to eventual finalist Alexander Zverev last May. (He did play at the venue for the Olympics two months later.)A ceremony celebrating Nadal's career will take on the opening day of the tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier, following the conclusion of the day session's three matches. In addition, an exhibition paying tribute to Nadal's victories will also be on display for the duration of the clay-court major.
A ceremony celebrating Nadal's career will take on the opening day of the tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier, following the conclusion of the day session's three matches. In addition, an exhibition paying tribute to Nadal's victories will also be on display for the duration of the clay-court major.
A post shared by Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros)
"Rafa has left his mark on the history of the French Open in so many ways, that's why a tribute ceremony will be held in his honor," she said in a press conference detailing what's new at the tournament for 2025. "We want the tribute to be special, exceptional. We want it to be a surprise for everyone."
Carlos Alcaraz found his best level when he needed it most on Tuesday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.
The No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings delivered an up-and-down fourth-round performance against Karen Khachanov at the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome, but his peaks proved enough to secure a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 victory. Alcaraz let slip a break lead in both the second and third sets, including four straight games from 6-3, 3-2 up, but recovered in time to maintain his perfect Lexus ATP Head2Head record against Khachanov.
“It feels amazing to get the win at the end against a really big and really tough guy like Khachanov,” said Alcaraz. “Physically I struggled a bit. Not any pain on any part of the body, but I was just tired. The match was really tough. I had to run a lot, so I'm just really proud of the way I fought for every ball.
“At a break up in the second set, from then to the end of the second set, I probably lost focus a little bit. He started to play great, but I was really happy to forget it and come into the third set as good as I could. I just fought, and I'm really happy about that.”
Game. Set. Alcaraz. 🦸@carlosalcaraz completes the set of quarter-finals at all nine Masters 1000 events and will face Draper in what promises to be a fabulous encounter!@InteBNLdItalia | #IBI25 pic.twitter.com/dTrvGEXNzM
With his two-hour, 29-minute win, Alcaraz advanced to the quarter-finals in Rome for the first time, and he has now reached that stage at all nine Masters 1000 events. The 22-year-old is the first Spaniard to make the last eight in Rome since record 10-time champion Rafael Nadal in 2021. Jaume Munar could make it two Spaniards in the 2025 quarter-finals later on Tuesday by defeating Casper Ruud.
Now 26-5 for 2025, including a 12-1 record on clay, Alcaraz will take on fifth seed Jack Draper in the semi-finals after the in-form Briton rallied past Corentin Moutet 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. It will be a clash between the first and second-placed players in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. Alcaraz leads 3-2 in the pair's Lexus ATP Head2Head series, but Draper won their most recent meeting in March en route to the title in Indian Wells.
“Jack is playing great,” said Alcaraz of Draper, who will rise to a career-high No. 4 in the PIF ATP Rankings next Monday should he win the pair's quarter-final. “The way he's playing is really high. I've been watching his matches. The way he plays is huge, and I have to be ready for that. I think it's going to be a great battle.”
As he had in his third-round win against Laslo Djere, Alcaraz struggled to find his rhythm in the opening few games of Tuesday's fourth-round clash against Khachanov. He dropped serve in the opening game of the match as his opponent stayed solid from the baseline and behind his powerful serve.
Yet after that low-key start, Alcaraz appeared to flick a switch. He reeled off five straight games featuring some typically classy shotmaking that energised the Tuesday morning crowd on Campo Centrale, and the Spaniard seemed to be riding that wave to victory when he pulled off three sublime clean winners to break for 3-2 in the second set.
Khachanov, who had not won a set in his four previous Lexus ATP Head2Head clashes with Alcaraz, did not let himself be shaken by the prospect of another straight-sets defeat. The 23rd seed continued to keep his errors to a minimum, which allowed him to capitalise on a lapse in Alcaraz's level, reel off four straight games and force a deciding set.
Alcaraz soon forged a 4-1 lead in the third, set but again stuttered as Khachanov refused to lay down in his bid for his maiden Top 3 win on clay. Alcaraz rediscovered his touch in time to escape with the win, however, decisively breaking Khachanov's serve in the 12th game to seal victory.
Just how close the margins were in the fourth-round clash was reflected in the fact that the defeated Khachanov won more points (98 to 95) than his opponent overall, according to Infosys ATP Stats. Alcaraz produced 29 unforced errors to Khachanov's 17, but also outhit the 23rd seed by 41 winners to 17.
© Copyright 1994 - 2024 ATP Tour, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this site may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way or by any means (including photocopying, recording or storing it in any medium by electronic means), without the written permission of ATP Tour, Inc.. Terms & Conditions | Privacy | Community Social Media Policy | Modern Slavery Statement | Feedback | Cookies | Your Privacy Choices
Tennis - Italian Open - Foro Italico, Rome, Italy - May 12, 2025 Britain's Emma Raducanu in action during her round of 16 match against Coco Gauff of the U.S. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Former British tennis star, Tim Henman, has expressed his unwavering support for Emma Raducanu despite her recent exit from the Rome Open. Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion at just 18 years old, faced a tough defeat in the fourth round of the Rome Open against Coco Gauff, with a score of 6-1, 6-2. This loss marks the eighth time in nine events this season that Raducanu has failed to advance past the early stages of a tournament.
Henman, however, remains optimistic about Raducanu's future in tennis. He believes that despite her recent setbacks, the young player is on the right path to success. Reflecting on Raducanu's clay-court season, Henman noted that it has been overall positive for her development as a player.
While Raducanu may not have performed as well as expected in the Rome Open, Henman highlighted her potential for improvement in the upcoming events. He acknowledged that Raducanu was outplayed by Gauff in their recent match but emphasized that the clay courts at Roland Garros could be more favorable for her playing style.
As Raducanu climbs up the live rankings to the 42nd position, Henman raises the question of whether she can secure a seeding pre-Wimbledon to gain a competitive edge in the early rounds on grass courts. With her game showing signs of progress, Raducanu's journey in professional tennis continues to capture the attention and support of fans worldwide.
Young tennis sensation Emma Raducanu faced a crushing defeat at the hands of Coco Gauff in Rome, admitting she had "no shame" in acknowledging Gauff's dominance on the...
In a stunning turn of events at the Rome Open, the intense rain became the ultimate game-changer for Lorenzo Musetti and Daniil Medvedev. What started as a standard...
Emma Raducanu, the rising tennis sensation, faced a tough loss against Coco Gauff in the Italian Open but remains determined to stay positive and striving for excellence. Gauff,...
Andrey Rublev's Secret Marriage Revealed: Anastasija Homutova Drops Major Hint Tennis star Andrey Rublev and his partner Anastasija Homutova have always kept their relationship under wraps, but recent...
Canadian tennis star Milos Raonic has made headlines by slamming critics for their harsh judgment of rising talent Carlos Alcaraz. Despite being a four-time Grand Slam champion, Alcaraz...
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Moovit, the world's leading urban mobility app, and the ATP Tour, have today announced a pilot collaboration to guide tennis fans to tournaments more sustainably. The trial kicks off at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament currently underway in Rome (7–18 May 2025).
Moovit will provide spectators travelling to the Internazionali BNL d'Italia with tailored journey planning information, covering all scheduled public transport services as well as sustainable last-mile options such as bike and taxi. By encouraging the shift to high-capacity public transit and low-emission mobility solutions, the collaboration aims to significantly reduce CO2 emissions associated with match-day travel, underlining the critical role that sustainable mobility plays in mitigating climate impact at major sporting events.
Fans will be able to access journey information via a dedicated ATP experience within Moovit's app and web platform, translated into 45 languages. This custom tool will guide users step-by-step from their starting point to the Foro Italico's various gates, delivering real-time updates on schedules, service alerts, and helpful wayfinding tips to ensure a seamless fan journey.
“We are proud to join forces with the ATP and support tennis fans in traveling to Rome's iconic clay-court tournament in the most eco-friendly way possible,” said Samuel Sed Piazza, Director of Global Partnerships at Moovit. “By integrating comprehensive public transit data with multimodal options and localised wayfinding in 45 languages, we're making sustainable mobility accessible and stress-free for every fan, from first-time visitors to seasoned travellers.”
Mark Epps, ATP Director of Communications & Web3, added, “Travel is by far the biggest contributor to our sport's carbon footprint, and reducing that impact has been our top sustainability priority under ATP Serves. That's why we're excited to team up with Moovit. Their technology is smart, scalable, and already serves nearly a billion users worldwide. Through this pilot, we're exploring how to make sustainable mobility easier and more accessible for the 5.5 million fans who travel on-site to watch tennis each year.”
Plan your journey HERE
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Their split comes after the 24-time grand slam champion lost the first match at his past two tournaments
Andy Murray will no longer coach former rival Novak Djokovic, ending their six-month partnership, the pair announced on Tuesday.
Djokovic stunned the tennis world in November when he said he had hired the retired Murray, who had no track record as a coach, to lead his off-court team.
But the two 37-year-olds have already parted company, with Britain's Murray thanking Serbia star Djokovic for an “unbelievable opportunity”.
Their split comes after Djokovic, the winner of a record 24 men's grand slam singles titles, endured a difficult start to the season – including losing the first match at his last two tournaments.
“Thanks to Novak for the unbelievable opportunity to work together and thanks to his team for all their hard work over the past six months,” Murray said in a statement.
“I wish Novak all the best for the rest of the season,” added the Scot, who defeated Djokovic in the 2012 US Open and 2013 Wimbledon finals to win two of his three grand slam titles.
May 12, 2025
Cheryl Murray
Match previews
2
Jannik Sinner has played so far in Rome like he never left, but he is about to face a stern test in Francisco Cerundolo. Fellow Italian Lorenzo Musetti will also be in round of 16 action against Daniil Medvedev.
(1) Jannik Sinner vs. (17) Francisco Cerundolo
If you didn't know the entire drama behind the Jannik Sinner suspension, you could be fooled into thinking that the world No. 1 has been playing throughout the entire spring. He dropped into the Internazionali BNL d'Italia last week and has plowed his way into the round of 16. But the fact is that he had a three-month layoff and his fourth-round match against Francisco Cerundolo is the first time he will be put to the test.
Cerundolo, a scrappy Argentine, is playing fantastic clay-court tennis. He and Sinner have split their previous matches 2-2, and the world No. 18 won their only match on clay. Still, it's hard to draw too many conclusions based on that alone. Their last meeting was in 2023 before Sinner became the major-winning champion he is today. Look for Cerundolo to challenge Sinner in this one. Yes, the Italian will be playing in front of an enthusiastic home crowd–but Cerundolo is just playing too well to give in too easily. Sinner should pull through, but not without some effort.
Cheryl pick: Sinner in 3Ricky pick: Sinner in 2
Sinner in 2
Sinner in 3
Cerundolo in 2
Cerundolo in 3
(8) Lorenzo Musetti vs. (10) Daniil Medvedev
Daniil Medvedev has had some good success on the clay courts of Rome. This was the most recent title he has won, surprisingly, all the way back in 2023. It's also his only career clay title. But whether it will be enough to overcome his comparatively lackluster form remains to be seen. Medvedev played pretty well in Monte-Carlo a few weeks ago, when he reached the quarterfinals. But he has just come up short more often than not in 2025. That he faces Lorenzo Musetti in the fourth round is not good news for the Russian.
Musetti Is enjoying some of the best form of any player on the ATP Tour right now. The Italian made the final in Monte-Carlo and the semis in Madrid, and now he is also playing with home-court advantage. All of this spells trouble for Medvedev's prospects to make it into the business end of the tournament. Not only is Musetti a better clay-court player generally, he is also in superior form. The eighth seed may well make it a short day at the office on Tuesday. He has all the momentum and while he has played a lot of tennis in the run-up to the French Open, he also had the chance to rest in between Madrid and Rome.
Cheryl pick: Musetti in 2Ricky pick: Musetti in 3
Musetti in 2
Musetti in 3
Medvedev in 2
Medvedev in 3
WWW?
Sinner in 2; Musetti in 3
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Draper in 2
Draper in 3
Ruud in 2
Ruud in 3
The Grandstand gets you up close and personal with the ATP Tour, covering men's tennis through previews, recaps, blogs, and discussion in the comments sections. Just like the Grandstand on the grounds of any tournament, this site aims to be the best seat in the house. *Interested in writing for The Grandstand in 2025? Contact Ricky Dimon at ridimon@gmail.com.*
Advertise on The Grandstand with banners, text links, sponsored posts, or links inserted into already existing articles. Contact Ricky Dimon @ridimon@gmail.com.
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GREATEST RACES: Celebrating the 25 best races across F1's 75 years of history
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Today marks 75 years since the start of the Formula 1 World Championship – and, to celebrate the milestone, we've got a 24-hour marathon of the sport's most iconic moments for you to enjoy.
From full race replays and F1 animated, through to extended race highlights and some of your favourite episodes of Grill the Grid, there is plenty in store to keep you entertained throughout the livestream!
READ MORE: 10 fascinating facts about the very first F1 race – held at Silverstone on this day 75 years ago
So sit back, relax and enjoy our F1 75 24-hour marathon in the video player above.
And for even more from the archive – including documentaries and much more – check out our F1 TV Premium, Pro and Access options.
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Despite the pair's public sparring and ongoing pranks since costarring on The Voice together, everyone knows that Adam Levine and Blake Shelton are best buds. Now that Levine is back as a coach after a long absence, some fans are missing the friendly bickering that was so prevalent between the two. Luckily, Shelton has announced that he's returning to The Voice, though not as a judge, and Levine has some choice words for his frenemy.
A post shared by Adam Levine (@adamlevine)
When E! News asked Levine how he felt about Shelton returning to The Voice to perform for the Season 27 finale on May 20, Levine had a prickly reply ready. “Boo!” he said. “You hear me, Blake Shelton? Right now, you hear me at home? I'm not excited that you're coming back and I don't like you.”
Even with Shelton gone from the show, Levine has been unable to escape his playful jabs and quips. New coach Kelsea Ballerini added some of Shelton's one-liners to her chair button for ‘backup.'
On one episode, Levine started to convince an artist that she wanted on her team to join his, and Ballerini used Shelton's canned phrases to hilarious effect. “Adam's a big baby,” the chair speaker blares. She presses the button again, and “Adam won't shut up,” in Shelton's voice rings out. The last time she pushed it, viewers heard “Adam, you say a lot of stupid stuff,” which caused fellow judge, Michael Bublé, to crack up.
After leaving the show in 2019, many were surprised when the news began circulating that Levine was returning. At the time, he had said he wanted to spend more time with his family, and he felt it was time to move on. When asked how it felt to be back, he told Extra TV that he was “having even more fun than when he first started.”
“I think that I did it for so long, such a long run, that I didn't think about it, that I can really appreciate now that I've taken a step back,” he continued. “It's just been super fun, amazing.” But when asked “what's up their sleeves,” concerning Shelton returning for the finale, he returns to form.
“I feel like the show is doing so well, you know? Like, why they would dumb it down — I don't know why they would have him on because it's so elevated right now. And I feel like he just kind of brings it, drags it down into the mud,” he deadpanned.
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Venable, the law firm that's represented Swift for more than a decade, has been subpoenaed alongside the pop star in messy litigation over the movie It Ends With Us.
By
Rachel Scharf
Taylor Swift's longtime lawyers are asking a court to throw out a subpoena they were served by Justin Baldoni in his feud with Blake Lively over the movie It Ends With Us, just a few days after Swift's own reps slammed Baldoni for targeting the pop star with a similar subpoena.
The Washington, D.C.-based law firm Venable, which has represented Swift for more than a decade, revealed in a Monday (May 12) motion that Baldoni's lawyers served it with a subpoena on April 29 seeking all communications between the firm on one side and Lively, the actress' husband Ryan Reynolds and/or their attorney Michael Gottlieb on the other.
The subpoena specifically name-drops Douglas Baldridge, a Venable partner who's worked with Swift since 2013 and recently returned to the firm after a stint as general counsel at her company, 13 Management.
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“Venable had nothing to do with the film at issue or any of the claims or defenses asserted in the underlying lawsuit,” wrote the firm in a so-called motion to quash, which, if granted, would throw out the document request. “There is no reason for this subpoena other than to distract from the facts of the case and impose undue burden and expense on a non-party.”
The law firm described Baldoni's subpoena as a “fishing expedition,” noting that “even if Venable were somehow involved (again, it is not),” the documents that Baldoni seeks should be sourced from Lively and Reynolds themselves. The actor power couple is supporting Venable in its quest to throw out Baldoni's subpoena, calling it an “abuse of the discovery process” in a court filing on Tuesday (May 13).
Revelations of the Venable subpoena come just a few days after Swift's representatives confirmed that she, too, had been served with a document request in the Baldoni-Lively feud. Mirroring the language in Venable's motion, a representative for Swift said she had no involvement in It Ends With Us and slammed the subpoena as “designed to use Taylor Swift's name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.”Venable did not immediately return a request for comment, nor did reps for Swift, Lively, Reynolds or Baldoni.
The It Ends With Us legal battle began when Lively launched bombshell claims in December, alleging that Baldoni, her co-star and director on the movie released last summer, sexually harassed her on set and then orchestrated a public relations smear campaign to retaliate against her after she complained.
Baldoni vehemently denied the claims and countersued Lively for defamation and other wrongdoing in January. Baldoni's suit said Lively leveraged her close relationship with a “megacelebrity friend,” presumed to be Swift, to take control of the movie.
The Baldoni filing includes text messages concerning an alleged meeting attended by “Ryan and Taylor,” seemingly referencing Reynolds and Swift. In one message sent by Lively, the actress called Swift and Reynolds her “most trusted partners” and compared them to the “dragons” in the show Game of Thrones.
“The message could not have been clearer,” Baldoni's lawyers wrote in the countersuit. “Baldoni was not just dealing with Lively. He was also facing Lively's ‘dragons,' two of the most influential and wealthy celebrities in the world, who were not afraid to make things very difficult for him.”
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Despite being three decades since the two starred together in James Cameron's True Lies, the easy banter between Jamie Lee Curtis and Arnold Schwarzenegger makes it seem like it was only yesterday. As Schwarzenegger spoke at Amazon's Upfront event, Curtis came up to playfully take him off the stage. What followed was the pair giving the audience a sweet and entertaining trip down memory lane.
It started with Schwarzenegger talking about his new Amazon film, The Man with the Bag, before he began rambling about getting tricked into speaking, and the best marketing strategies. “Marketing, and communicating to the mass, and publicity is the most important thing,” he said at the Ad-focused event (via Deadline). “You can have the best product in the world, but if they don't know about it, you have nothing! Absolutely nothing.”
Soon, Curtis was sneaking out, pretending she was there to pull him from the stage. As she grabbed his arm, he protested. “This is elder abuse!” he joked. Soon, both were off-script, reminiscing about True Lies.
But as the two wrapped things up and senior ad executive Alan Moss began to walk out, she yelled, “Hold on, don't come!” She then turned to Schwarzenegger, who uttered “We'll be back,” before the two recreated a True Lies moment with a kiss. “She still has it,” Schwarzenegger said.
“Let me just say this because I'm here with all y'all, because of this man, I have the career I have,” the Freaky Friday actress told the audience. She then explained how significant Schwarzenegger's decision to put her name above the title was to her.
“So Jim [Cameron] writes the part for me. We shoot the movie. So we make the movie and you know, they cut it together and we finished in April, [it] came out in July. I mean it was a really fast thing,” Curtis recalled (via People). “And I remember I was at home and I got a phone call and it was James Cameron and Arnold. And Jim said to me, ‘Jamie, I'm sitting here with Arnold in my office. I've just shown him the movie. It's about a married couple.'”
“And in the contract, it says Arnold Schwarzenegger in True Lies starring Jamie Lee Curtis,” she continued. “And Jim said to me on the phone, ‘I asked Arnold if I could put you above the title because it's a movie about a marriage, and I think it would be appropriate,' and Arnold, a figure who clearly did not have to say yes, said yes.”
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By Andreas Wiseman
Executive Editor, International & Strategy
EXCLUSIVE: Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Elizabeth Olsen has joined Kristen Stewart and Oscar Isaac to co-star in vampire thriller Flesh Of The Gods from director Panos Cosmatos (Mandy).
Isaac and Stewart will portray Raoul and Alex, a married couple in glittering '80s L.A. who descend each evening from their luxury skyscraper condo and head into an electric nighttime realm. When they cross paths with the mysterious and enigmatic Nameless (Olsen) and her hard-partying cabal, Raoul and Alex are seduced into a glamorous, surrealistic world of hedonism, thrills and violence.
The film is written by Andrew Kevin Walker (Se7en) based on a story by Cosmatos and Walker, and is produced by Adam McKay and Betsy Koch of Hyperobject Industries and Gena Konstantinakos and Isaac for Mad Gene Media.
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Domestic rights are co-repped by CAA Media Finance and WME Independent, with XYZ Films continuing international sales at this week's Cannes market. No date yet for start of shoot as schedules get aligned.
The movie returns Stewart to her vampire roots after the global sensation that was the Twilight franchise.
Olsen is is known for playing Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and the Disney+ series WandaVision. She made her breakthrough in the critically acclaimed indie thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene, and has also starring in Wind River, Ingrid Goes West, and Godzilla, among others.
Flesh of the Gods marks the fourth collaboration between Cosmatos and XYZ, as they produced the upcoming Miley Cyrus film Something Beautiful, which will debut at the Tribeca Film Festival in June. They also have Nekrokosm in development with A24.
Upcoming titles from XYZ Films include Banquet, starring Meghann Fahy and directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia; the SXSW thriller Hallow Road, directed by Babak Anvari and starring Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys; and The Trip starring Jason Segel, Samara Weaving, Juliette Lewis and Timothy Olyphant, which is currently in post-production.
Olsen is repped by CAA, Brillstein and Sloane, Offer.
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By Nellie Andreeva
Co-Editor-in-Chief, TV
ABC‘s fall 2025 schedule has an 8 PM – 10 PM 9-1-1 block on Thursdays with the mothership series and the newest spinoff, 9-1-1: Nashville, starring Chris O'Donnell. Like its 9-1-1 predecessors — and in typical Ryan Murphy fashion — the rookie is expected to start with a bang, Craig Erwich, president, Disney Television Group, told Deadline, calling 9-1-1: Nashville, the only new ABC series for next season so far, “a huge priority.” You can watch 9-1-1: Nashville‘s fiery teaser below.
The scheduling has potential crossovers written all over it; something 9-1-1 franchise's executive producer Murphy accomplished with 9-1-1 and his other ABC series, Doctor Odyssey, this season.
Watch on Deadline
“I think that the 9-1-1 team are truly the masters of event-izing television, the way that be-nado kicked off 9-1-1 last year,” Erwich said. “They have a really special event planned for 9-1-1: Nashville, and although we haven't discussed [crossovers], I think it's an incredible opportunity that I'm sure at some point we'll figure out how to capitalize on. What the 9-1-1‘s been able to do, it's really a master class in television, which is consistently event-izing that show to keep it fresh after all these many years, my hat's off to [showrunner] Tim {Minear] and Ryan for that.”
The mothership 9-1-1 delivered a shocker this spring, with male lead Peter Krause‘s Bobby Nash dying as a result of a chemical lab leak, leaving his wife, Athena (Angela Bassett) and his team devastated. Erwich shared his thoughts about the plot twist as a viewer and as an executive who had to sign off on it.
“As a viewer, it was incredibly emotional. He's a beloved character, and there was so much grist for the mill for Angela Bassett, who I thought gave such an incredible performance in both the episode where he died and the funeral,” he said.
“Ultimately, it's about the creative, and it was a decision that Tim Minear came to us with, and we supported him, as we always do. It was a really great night of television that created a massive amount — not just of viewing, but really social conversation. And I think it'll give us a lot of momentum going into Thursdays next year. And it'll be a great lead-off for 9-1-1 Nashville, which will be a huge priority for us.”
9-1-1: Nashville is an action procedural about heroic first responders, as well as their family saga of power and glamour set in Tennessee. It stars O'Donnell as Captain Don Sharpe, Jessica Capshaw, LeAnn Rimes and Kimberly Williams-Paisley. 9-1-1: Nashville is produced by 20th Television in association with Ryan Murphy Television. Murphy, Minear and Rashad Raisani will serve as executive producers and writers, with O'Donnell, Brad Buecker, Brad Falchuk and Bassett also executive producing.
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By Nellie Andreeva
Co-Editor-in-Chief, TV
Ryan Murphy will keep his hold on ABC‘s Thursday 8 PM – 10 PM stretch next season with the first 9-1-1 franchise block in three and a half years, while reality veteran Shark Tank is moving to a new night after 15 seasons on Friday and Sunday. The Golden Bachelor also is back in a new time slot on the network's fall 2025 schedule, which features one new series, spinoff 9-1-1: Nashville starring Chris O'Donnell.
Here is the schedule, which Craig Erwich, president, Disney Television Group, said is “about maintaining stability.” It does not include two of ABC's top dramas, The Rookie and Will Trent, slated again for a midseason return alongside High Potential on Tuesday. The fall lineup is followed by analysis — with input from Erwich on benching of The Rookie and Will Trent and moving Shark Tank — and more details about the latest 9-1-1 offshoot.
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ABC 2025 FALL PRIMETIME SCHEDULE (all times listed are Eastern/Pacific).
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MONDAY
8 PM — ESPN's Monday Night Football
TUESDAY
8 PM — Dancing with the Stars10 PM — High Potential
WEDNESDAY
8 PM — Shifting Gears8:30 PM — Abbott Elementary9 PM — The Golden Bachelor10 PM — Shark Tank
THURSDAY
8 PM — 9-1-19 PM — 9-1-1: Nashville10 PM — Grey's Anatomy
FRIDAY
8 PM — Celebrity Wheel of Fortune9 PM — 20/20 (two hours)
SATURDAY
7:30 PM — College Football
SUNDAY
7 PM — America's Funniest Home Videos8 PM — The Wonderful World of Disney
This season, ABC launched a big breakout hit with High Potential, the network's most-watched new series in seven years, which ranks as the season's top broadcast series in multi-platform adult 18-49 ratings. Not looking to mess with what worked so well, ABC is keeping High Potential in the same time slot, Tuesday 10 PM, with the same lead-in, Dancing with the Stars, next fall.
The network has been able to increase High Potential's episode count by a couple of hours from last season's 13-episode order, which will stretch its sophomore run into midseason.
“We have so much momentum going with that show, and I actually think it will perform even better next year,” Erwich said, noting the additional exposure High Potential‘s first season has been getting on Hulu as well as ABC though reruns, a strategy the network previously employed with Will Trent to strong ratings results.
Tuesday is one of four consecutive nights (Saturday-Tuesday) left unchanged from last fall, with college/NFL football on Saturday and Monday and America's Funniest Home Videos and The Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday, the latter featuring the world television premieres of Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3, Elemental, and Avatar: The Way of Water and the broadcast premiere of Wakanda Forever.
Also staying put are Thursday's bookmarks, Ryan Murphy's 9-1-1 at 8 PM and Shonda Rhimes' Grey's Anatomy at 10 PM, with 9-1-1: Nashville taking over Murphy's Doctor Odyssey in the hammock 9 PM slot. While off the schedule, the cruise ship medical drama has not been officially canceled, and creative conversations with Murphy about its future are continuing, Erwich said.
The two-hour 9-1-1 block sets up likely crossovers between the mothership and the Nashville-set spinoff. The last time two series in the first responder franchise aired back-to-back was a brief tandem run of 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star on Fox in spring 2022.
The biggest scheduling changes are coming on Wednesday. Back is the 8 PM – 9 PM comedy block ABC introduced this winter with the new Tim Allen sitcom Shifting Gears and Quinta Brunson's hit Abbott Elementary, the #5 and #2 broadcast series of the season in multi-platform adults 18-49, at 8 PM and 8:30 PM, respectively.
They will be followed by the second installment of The Golden Bachelor, starring former NFL player Mel Owens, which is trying out a new slot after the inaugural season aired hourlong episodes on Thursday at 8 PM during the strike impacted fall 2023, while offshoot The Golden Bachelorette ran 90-episode episodes Wednesday at 8 PM last fall.
Anchoring the night at 10 PM will be veteran reality utility player Shark Tank, moving to Wednesdays for its upcoming 17th season. Except for four episodes in its first season, which aired on Tuesday, Shark Tank‘s original run to date had been confined to two nights, Sunday as well as Friday where the entrepreneurship series has been an 8 PM opener for the past five seasons. (Shark Tank repeats have aired in the Wednesday 10 PM slot off-season.)
Succeeding Shark Tank in the Friday 8 PM hour will be another ABC unscripted utility player, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, with its first installment emceed by new Wheel of Fortune host Ryan Seacrest.
“We've had a lot of different shows on Wednesday nights, many of them quite successful,” Erwich said. “But the theme for us this year was really about stability, I think it's actually the key to our success year over year. So with Shark Tank, being able to put one show there for the entire year, just felt like it really made sense. And we have this incredible luxury that we're able to put Celebrity Wheel of Fortune on Fridays at eight.”
At 8 PM, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune will follow the syndicated duo of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, which air in the 7 PM – 8 PM hour on the ABC stations. The network had Celebrity Wheel of Fortune ready to go first but Celebrity Jeopardy! may go into that 8 PM slot too in midseason, Erwich said.
“You'll see other expressions of Jeopardy on throughout the year on ABC,” he said.
In addition to The Rookie, the #3 broadcast series this season in multi-platform 18-49, Will Trent, and Celebrity Jeopardy!, ABC's midseason bench includes American Idol, which traditionally launches in January. (The network also has recently ordered drama pilot RJ Decker in midseason consideration.)
Erwich spoke about the decision to again hold Will Trent and The Rookie for midseason.
“Rookie and Will Trent is a repeat of the extraordinarily successful schedule we had last season,” he said. “Will Trent was one of the only broadcast shows that actually grew year over year. I think one of the reasons for that was, when we start in January, we're able to run all of the episodes straight through, and it creates this kind of momentum.”
Erwich indicated that the two one-hours once again would be headed to Tuesday where they have been airing this midseason, followed by High Potential originals and then repeats at 10 PM. With High Potential producing more episodes next season, the Will Trent, The Rookie and High Potential lineup will remain in originals longer next season.
“And when you bring in High Potential to that Tuesday night, it just creates a powerhouse night. Television, in many ways, is still about nights. People ask, What am I going to watch tonight? And ABC has had so many signature nights of television. Over the last 20 some odd years, it's been Thursday night — now with Grey's and 9-1-1 — and Tuesday night has become really a must-see destination night of television for our viewers.”
NEW DRAMA SERIES
9-1-1: NASHVILLE
The newest entry into the franchise, 911: Nashville, is a high-octane procedural about heroic first responders, as well as their family saga of power and glamour set in one of America's most diverse and dynamic cities. The all-new series stars Chris O'Donnell as Captain Don Sharpe, Jessica Capshaw, LeAnn Rimes and Kimberly Williams-Paisley. 9-1-1: Nashville is produced by 20th Television in association with Ryan Murphy Television. Ryan Murphy, Tim Minear and Rashad Raisani will serve as executive producers and writers, with Chris O'Donnell, Brad Buecker, Brad Falchuk and Angela Bassett also executive producing.
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The high-rise restaurant disaster that kicks off “Final Destination Bloodlines” has a “Looney Tunes” quality to it that some critics will falsely pin on a single falling piano. Yes, there is a thousand-pound string instrument that comes crashing down several stories before flattening a bratty kid in a bow tie. But that's just the cherry on top of a perfectly cartoonish opening to the best film this fiendish horror franchise from the 2000s has ever known. Delivering the most visually impressive, emotionally compelling, and quick witted “Final Destination” to date, co-directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein work wonders with a reboot that shouldn't land nearly as well as it does.
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Twenty-five years since Flight 180 failed to reach Paris, New Line's freak accident series — infamous for its mass-casualty events and Rube Goldberg-inspired kill sequences — returns with an unconventional script written by Guy Busick and Lori Evans. Here, the same narrative scaffolding that brought Laurie Strode and Jamie Lee Curtis back to “Halloween” (2018) meets the more retro side of The Conjuring Universe… but in typical “Final Destination” fashion, there's no slasher villain in sight.
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“Bloodlines” is a prequel/sequel hybrid that introduces, torments, and revives a legacy final girl, who didn't exist at all before now, over the course of just one film playing opposite the invisible threat of Death. That might sound like a bad idea, but the blood-soaked series' triumphant sixth installment is better for the unexpected approach. Ambition trips up this highly detailed resurrection just a handful of times, leaving behind a feat of nimble comedic tone and cohesive pacing that's even more effective than the iconic time-loop twist that directly precedes it at the end of the last sequel, “Final Destination 5.”
“Bloodlines” zips past the 2010s and the aughts to the same day as the plane crash from the original 2000 movie in the year 1968. Lovebirds Iris (Brec Bassinger) and Paul (Max Lloyd-Jones) help their atypical “Final Destination” setup take flight with a believable but still idyllic date night reminiscent of a romantic old ad for a luxury car brand. The dramatic radiance of AMC's “Mad Men” contorts to resemble something more like the body horror in Shudder's “Mad God” when opening night at the Skyview ends in a cataclysmic structure collapse. Screws pop loose, glass panels break, and open flames collide with panicked dancers for a chain reaction so fatally funny it could have happened to Wile E. Coyote. It's all triggered by a careless flick of the wrist and cinema's least lucky penny: a fitting new totem for “Final Destination” that shines brightest the instant that crappy kid's piano flattening finally sticks.
You can't cheat death without seeing your fate first, and signs have always played an essential part in the “Final Destination” universe. Still, “Bloodlines” pushes far past its standard premonitions to explore Death's superstitious side and its complex lore more completely. The scares continue to rely on the laws of physics, creepy atmosphere, and common objects to work their magic. (If you aren't afraid of Trash Day yet, you will be.) But filmmakers Lipovsky and Stein find their groove in a unique sort of bouncy brutality. Eyes brimming with tears, reflecting back the bright teal color of her '60s party dress, Bassinger should take the following comparison — between her performance as Young Iris and that one scene with the clown shoe in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” — as a compliment of the highest order. Helping a toddler (Jayden Oniah) survive the Skyview carnage, Iris emerges as a fully formed, energized, and sympathetic horror heroine who seems like she's battled through her share of sequels before.
Following in the footsteps of fan favorite Kimberly Corman (the “Final Destination 2” lead played by A.J. Cook, who gets a solid shout-out in “Bloodlines”), new girl Iris Campbell seems to meet her sky-high maker when a piercing scream suddenly jolts “Bloodlines” into the present. Waking up confused in the middle of a college lecture hall in 2025, Stefani Reyes (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) has been having recurring nightmares about her estranged grandmother for months. “Iris.” One of several delightfully melodramatic reveals, that's the first clue this “Final Destination” puzzle won't operate like the earlier ones did.
Soon, Stefani is speeding back to her childhood home, demanding answers about Iris and the bizarre fine-dining disaster she endured decades ago. How did Iris escape the certain doom foretold to her by that “Shout!” needle drop? And could that terrible night have something to do with why her only daughter, Darlene (Rya Kihlstedt), abandoned Stefani and her brother, Charlie (Teo Briones), years later?
After a rushed reunion with her dad, Marty (Tinpo Lee), Stefani wastes no time contacting even more of her relatives about uprooting the planet's most fucked-up family tree. Haunted by his disturbed mother and her mysterious history, Uncle Howard (Alex Zahara) doesn't want to talk about it. His wife, Aunt Brenda (April Telek), isn't related to Stefani anyway. And as for Erik (Richard Harmon), Julia (Anna Lore), and Bobby (Owen Patrick Joyner) — the coolest cousins to grace a major horror sequel since Alexandra Daddario hit “Texas Chainsaw 3D” — the siblings are mostly loyal to each other. They like their parents. They like Charlie. They even love Bobby's pet turtle, Paco. But when it comes to Stefani and her crazy theories about Grandma Iris (Gabrielle Rose), news of the Campbell family's supposed curse isn't welcome. Of course, “Final Destination” rarely wastes time explaining itself to victims who won't listen.
The rare reboot with a decent title, “Bloodlines” uses direct confrontation between characters who know each other intimately to revitalize a torture format typically reserved for total strangers. The core cast has an infectious chemistry that improves the film's tone immensely, and even situated in a generally good plot, there are portions of the story that wouldn't fly without their buzz. It's vastly more exciting to watch relatives as they simultaneously battle Death's Design and their petty grudges than it is to see single-trait caricatures getting repeatedly yanked through a twisted public health crisis. Better still, that familiarity between actors subtly affirms the work of the two “Bloodlines” filmmakers — conveying faith in this story, comfort with their artistic collaboration, and authority over the “Final Destination” fanbase.
Having loved these movies since the turn of the century, I'll debase myself with first-person references just long enough to admit that “Bloodlines” gave me everything I could personally need. Ranking these films is a nostalgia-laden minefield that's more sensitive than most, and yet each chapter seems to serve a distinct purpose(*) in retrospect. “Final Destination” (2000) delivers Jeffrey Reddick's original “X-Files” spec script idea in its purest form, but “Final Destination 2” (2003) enjoys the smartest arc of the first five films and has already gone down in history for its indelible highway disaster. The brilliant decision to cast Mary Elizabeth Winstead — and include that tanning booth scene — in “Final Destination 3” (2006) make it the most entertaining chapter that's specific to aughts horror, while “Final Destination 5” (2011) continues to boast the all-around strongest collection of kills with the most stable shelf life.
(*)The purpose of “The Final Destination” (2009) is that it is the worst one. The end. (Also known as “Final Destination 4,” that one also has the pool butt scene, which ought to count for something.)
Die-hard “Final Destination” obsessives will find plenty to pick apart when it comes to Iris' dubious survival strategy in “Bloodlines.” Suffice to say, Clear Rivers' padded cell has never looked smarter — and some tackier sequences near the end undercut that sparkling first impression from the Skyview. Clever enough to riff on the earlier films' spotty track record with digital effects, the newest “Final Destination” stays a smidge too true to its era by including at least one slow-mo explosion à la Michael Bay. It's a fiery splash of nonsense that's as boring to look at now as it would have been then, but the underwhelming effect feels even more maddening in the middle of near-miss climax that needs all the help it can get.
Narrowly saved by a truly genius kicker (one that's oddly reminiscent of Sam Raimi's “Drag Me to Hell,” by the way), “Bloodlines” is the only “Final Destination” that doesn't play both versions of its centerpiece emergency back-to-back. It's also the first of these philosophical kill-a-thons that feels like watching a real flesh-and-blood movie. An emotional death by a thousand darkly comic cuts, “Bloodlines” wracks up little character wins along its way to rendering an impeccable kill featuring the best-written death in the entire series. Intertwining humor, horror, and heart into a jester's crown of thorns, the magnetic actor sacrificed at the main altar of that kill should be immediately canonized a “Final Destination” saint.
Silly, delicate, sharp, and mean, “Bloodlines” has its flaws but nevertheless confirms Death's Design as a force worthy of its own special place in the horror hall of fame. A flawless goodbye for Tony Todd, whose enduring affection for the genre community oozes from the screen like a warm hug, “Bloodlines” should appear high on any list of the Candyman's most enchanting performances regardless of when he passed. As the sun sets on William Bludworth, the latest and greatest “Final Destination” looks to the horizon in a rapidly expanding world that Todd helped build into an institution as big as his presence.
Sketched with the same boundary-pushing meticulousness “Looney Tunes” animators once used to make Bugs and Daffy leap off the page, “Final Destination” could have returned with the disappointing *dink* of a 2D penny. Instead, this wonderfully weird and lyrical film — a crackling ode to the perverse operatics underpinning accidents no human can explain — lands with the full weight of a frenzied jazz band. It doesn't get much better than a rude maître d' ironically denied a life-saving spot on a crowded elevator. And yet, even falling from the top of the Skyview, “Bloodlines” will have newcomers and lifelong “Final Destination” fans laughing about that damn piano the whole way down.
Warner Bros. Pictures, “Final Destination Bloodlines” is in theaters Friday, May 16.
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Bob Odenkirk is back as Hutch Mansell AKA the anonymous assassin whose identity was compromised during the ass-kicking 2021 action hit film “Nobody.” Now, four years later, Odenkirk reprises his role for “Nobody 2” and has more than a few enemies to battle onscreen…
After inadvertently taking on the Russian mob, Hutch is still $30 million in debt to the criminal organization and is working it off with an unending string of hits on international thugs. During his day job of being a suburban dad and husband to his wife Becca (Connie Nielsen), he realizes that his role as a family man is also in danger. And so, Hutch and his kids decide to go on a vacation, one that quickly turns into a bloodbath as Hutch has to not only protect his family but also his identity from hit men.
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The official synopsis reads: “Much as he likes the slam-bang action of his “job,” Hutch and his wife Becca find themselves overworked and drifting apart. So, they decide to take their kids (Gage Munroe and Paisley Cadorath) on a short getaway to Wild Bill's Majestic Midway and Waterpark, the one and only place where Hutch and his brother Harry (RZA) went on a vacation as kids. With Hutch's dad (Christopher Lloyd) in tow, the family arrives in the small tourist town of Plummerville (“Plummerville is Summerville!”), eager for some fun in the sun. But when a minor encounter with some town bullies yanks the family into the crosshairs of a corrupt theme-park operator (John Ortiz) and his shady sheriff (Colin Hanks), Hutch finds himself the focus of the most unhinged, blood-thirsty crime boss he (or anyone) has ever encountered (Sharon Stone).”
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Timo Tjahjanto directs from a script by Derek Kolstad and Aaron Rabin. Kelly McCormick, David Leitch, Marc Provissiero, Braden Aftergood, and Odenkirk are back producing, with David Hyman executive producing. “Nobody 2” is an 87North/Eighty Two Films/Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment production.
Odenkirk famously trained for two years to play the role in the first 2021 feature. He also told The New York Times at the time that “Nobody” was inspired by two real-life break-ins that he experienced. The character was also an extension of his titular “Better Call Saul” role, as Odenkirk explained.
“My hope is we get to do a trilogy, and he ends up with nothing,” Odenkirk said of his dreams of a franchise for the character. “He destroys everything he loves.”
Universal will premiere “Nobody 2” August 15 in theaters. Check out the trailer below.
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The track would become the star's first solo Billboard Hot 100 hit.
By
Hannah Dailey
The party don't stop for Kesha‘s biggest hit, “Tik Tok,” which has remained one of the most popular songs from the late 2000s more than a decade later. But according to the pop star, she originally thought the track was “too dumb” when she first wrote it.
While serving as a guest on The Jennifer Hudson Show Tuesday (May 13), Kesha recalled being blown away by the success of “Tik Tok” after it dropped in 2009. “No, oh my god,” she said when asked whether she ever expected it to become such a big hit.
“When I was writing ‘Tik Tok,' it was weird, because the dumber it got, the better it got,” the “Praying” singer continued. “Which was confusing, because I like to think of myself as a fairly intelligent human being. But it just got dumber and dumber and better and better.”
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Kesha added, “When I listened to the final product, I was like, ‘This is too dumb.'”
Regardless, there was nothing dumb about what the track would do for her career. “Tik Tok” would launch the California native to superstar status, becoming not just her first solo Billboard Hot 100 entry, but her first No. 1 on the chart. It would also remain in the top spot for nine weeks, her longest run at the chart's summit, and helped Kesha's first album, Animal, debut atop the Billboard 200.
Fifteen years later, the musician is gearing up to release her sixth studio album, . (Period), her first LP under her own label, Kesha Records. Her departure from Dr. Luke's Kemosabe Records — the founder of which also produced much of Animal — comes after a yearslong legal battle with Dr. Luke over Kesha's claims that he drugged and raped her in 2005, after which he sued her for defamation while calling the allegations “false and shocking.” Their ensuing legal battle continued for nine years before the two parties finally reached a settlement in 2023.
Of finally getting to release music fully on her own terms, Kesha told Hudson, “I'm really excited for the world to hear this, because I've been in control of everything.”
“It's been all of my vision, all of my words, a lot of hard work, a lot of joy,” she continued, tearing up. “Really coming back home to myself and feeling what freedom really looks like, feels like, sounds like.”
Watch Kesha's conversation with Hudson below.
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Kim Kardashian has had some of the most publicized divorces in celebrity history, but this budding attorney is turning her fact into fiction for Ryan Murphy series “All's Fair.”
Kardashian reunites with her “American Horror Story: Delicate” producer Murphy for the Hulu ensemble legal drama. And Kardashian isn't the only Murphy staple in the mix: In addition to Kardashian, the cast includes fellow Murphy alums Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts, and Niecy Nash, as well as Glenn Close, Teyana Taylor, and Matthew Noszka.
Kardashian is set to play Los Angeles' most successful divorce lawyer, who works at an all-female law firm. Murphy is directing the series, as well as writing and executive producing. Fellow producers include Jon Robin Baitz, Joe Baken, Jamie Pachino, Lyn Greene, and Richard Levine. Of course, Kardashian's momager Kris Jenner is also executive producing, along with Alexis Martin Woodall, Eric Kovtun, and Scott Robertson. 20th Television, which Kardashian has a first-look deal with, produces “All's Fair” in association with Ryan Murphy Television.
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The official synopsis reads: “A team of female divorce attorneys leave a male-dominated firm to open their own powerhouse practice. Fierce, brilliant, and emotionally complicated, they navigate high-stakes breakups, scandalous secrets, and shifting allegiances—both in the courtroom and within their own ranks. In a world where money talks and love is a battleground, these women don't just play the game—they change it.”
Upon the announcement of “All's Fair,” Kardashian said in a press statement that she is “incredibly interested in telling stories that are personal, complicated, relevant, from my own experiences and those familiar to me.”
Kardashian's “All's Fair” co-star Paulson teased to IndieWire while promoting her film “Hold Your Breath” that the series is in good hands with its all-star cast. “It's a who's who of the greats,” Paulson told IndieWire of the “All's Fair” ensemble. “I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to it.”
The series also marks Paulson's first non-terrifying role in a Murphy production, aside from her “American Crime Story” appearances.
Paulson added of reuniting with Murphy, “It's also for me, something I've never really done with Ryan, which is not playing a real person. I'm not running around and I'm not a witch or running from a clown. In the Ryan world, those are the things that I sort of have done the most: either I'm playing a real person, or I'm a witch or a fearful clown person. So I get to play this character that is very far from all of those things, and the whole piece is very far from all of those things.”
Paulson continued, “There's nothing Ryan Murphy could ask me to do that I would say no to. When he calls I answer, and that's what that is. I am lucky to do so. Being reunited with him which is really, really, thrilling”
“All's Fair” will premiere in Fall 2025 on Hulu. Check out the teaser below.
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By
Nikki McCann Ramirez
Aides to former President Joe Biden privately discussed putting him in a wheelchair should he have managed to win a second term, according to new details from an upcoming book by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson.
According to details published today by Axios, in Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, Thompson and Tapper write that concern about Biden's declining health was so acute among his staff that “there were internal discussions about putting the president in a wheelchair, but they couldn't do so until after the election.”
“Given Biden's age, [his physician Kevin O'Connor] also privately said that if he had another bad fall, a wheelchair might be necessary for what could be a difficult recovery,” the book adds.
Fears over the optics of a president in a wheelchair in the middle of a reelection campaign ultimately stayed their hand, but Thompson and Tapper write that the former president's team began taking precautions to avoid falls or other incidents, including decreasing the amount of walking expected of him, briefing him on routes, and having him wear sneakers more often.
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In a statement to Axios, a Biden spokesperson said that the former president's stiff gait toward the end of his term had been “caused, in part, by wear and tear to his spine — but that no special treatment was necessary and that it had not worsened.”
“He was transparent about this, and it was far from ‘severe,'” they added. “Yes, there were physical changes as he got older, but evidence of aging is not evidence of mental incapacity … We are still waiting for someone, anyone, to point out where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or make a presidential address where he was unable to do his job because of mental decline. In fact, the evidence points to the opposite — he was a very effective president.”
The New Yorker published a full excerpt from Original Sin, recounting a high-profile 2024 fundraiser where several attendees were dismayed at Biden's diminished physical and mental state. George Clooney, who has known Biden for years, hosted the event — and Biden didn't even recognize him.
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“Thank you for being here,” Biden told Clooney, apparently unaware he was speaking to the A-list actor.
“You know George,” an aide reportedly told Biden, to no avail. The aide clarified that he was speaking with George Clooney, the actor, and Biden finally remembered. “It was not O.K.,” a Hollywood VIP who saw the exchange told Tapper and Thompson. “That thing, the moment where you recognize someone you know — especially a famous person who's doing a fucking fundraiser for you — it was delayed. It was uncomfortable.”
The problem wasn't just that Biden was the president of the United States, but that he was in the middle of a campaign to win reelection and keep Donald Trump from returning to office. According to a separate review of Original Sin by The Guardian, which obtained a copy of the book, former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe told the authors of Original Sin that Biden “totally fucked us” by clinging onto the campaign despite clear signs to exit the race.
Another source who spoke to Tapper and Thompson said that staff had “attempted to shield [Biden] from his own staff so many people didn't realize the extent of the decline beginning in 2023.”
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“I love Joe Biden. When it comes to decency, there are few in politics like him. Still, it was a disservice to the country and to the party for his family and advisers to allow him to run again,” the unnamed senior aide added. A prominent Democratic strategist is quoted saying that “it was an abomination” and that Biden “stole an election from the Democratic party; he stole it from the American people.”
There were several moments where Biden's age and mental decline were clearly visible in the waning months of his presidency, most notably during his disastrous debate against President Donald Trump in June 2024. Set for release on May 20, Original Sin will grapple with the decline in Biden's health as it unfolded both privately and publicly — and how the former president's refusal to step aside and pass the torch until mere months before the election may have set the stage for a second Trump term.
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In a film sure to break the internet, real-life sisters Rooney and Kate Mara are playing infamous tabloid twins Joan and Jean Holbrooke for Werner Herzog‘s buzzy “Bucking Fastard.”
Maverick auteur Herzog writes and directs “Bucking Fastard” based on the true story of the Holbrooke sisters who lived on the fringes of society and spoke in their own twisted language, shared the same dreams, and even loved the same man. Domhnall Gleeson and Orlando Bloom co-star in the feature, which is a sales title from HanWay Films.
“Bucking Fastard” is set in Ireland, where the sisters are assigned a government-issued social worker (Gleeson) in an attempt to help them adapt to modern life. The official logline teases that Joan and Jean begin digging a tunnel through a mountain range to find an imaginary land where true love is possible; Bloom plays their shared ex-lover, Gareth Maloney.
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Herzog announced that “Bucking Fastard” will “complete a circle in an operatic triptych” with his two prior films, “Fitzcarraldo” and “Grizzly Man.” Herzog said of the sisters, played by both Maras, “We cannot see the world as Jean and Joan Holbrooke see it, but we do see how the world reacts to them — through the courts and the press, through those that want to help and those who want to use them, through the eyes of beasts both tame and wild, and even through their own echoes in the core of the earth.”
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Kate Mara recently told IndieWire while promoting hit comedy “Friendship” that she was skeptical over whether or not “Bucking Fastard” would even get made. To Mara, the project seemed “too good to be true,” especially as her debut acting alongside sister Rooney Mara.
“I have loved Werner Herzog's films ever since I saw ‘Burden of Dreams,'” Mara said. “I just love his passion for film and his dedication to it, and how seriously he takes it. I just think it's so rare and beautiful, and he's such a brilliant writer and so truthful and honest and so unique and peculiar. He wrote me and my sister a beautiful letter asking us to be in this about a year ago. We were both so thrilled because we have been wanting to work together for a while, but nothing made sense. This one was immediately a no-brainer, and then it just so happened that it was these sisters who are so connected that they speak in unison and they dream the same dreams. It was so perfectly presented and the script was so special, and odd, so it's an obvious thing to say yes to. But it kind of felt like it would never happen just because it it was like too good to be true.”
Mara added, “It was the most special experience working with Werner, who was wild and fantastical. He's everything you want him to be. He just knows exactly what he wants. And then working with my sister was equally as much of a dream.”
“Bucking Fastard” is produced by Clara Wu Tsai, Ariel Leon Isacovitch, Agnes Chu, Kieran Corrigan, Emanuele Moretti, and Andrea Bucko. The film is a sales title that will be presented at the Cannes marketplace. Check out the first look image above.
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By Jesse Whittock
International TV Co-Editor
Mads Mikkelsen will star in action thriller Sirius, the debut feature from Academy Award-winning editor Lee Smith.
Neon International is kicking off foreign sales to the film at in Cannes, with Neon's third-party sales house Decal handling rights domestically and planning it as the label's first wide theatrical release.
Pic is based on a screenplay by Tony Mosher (Mechanic: Resurrection) and is currently in pre-production, described as a “gripping Arctic action-thriller inspired by the real-life Sirius Patrol, the Danish special forces unit charged with defending Greenland's 8,700-mile frozen coastline.”
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Pascal Degove and Matt Williams will produce for Future Artists Entertainment and Deborah Acoca will executive produce.
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Smith, a first time director, is known for collaborations with Sam Mendes, Christopher Nolan and Peter Weir, and won an Academy Award for Best Film Editing for his work on Nolan's Dunkirk. He was also nominated for Weir's Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Nolan's The Dark Knight.
Mikkelsen is known for roles in the first two of Nicolas Winding Refn's Pushing trilogy, and others in Casino Royale, The Hunt, Doctor Strange, Rogue One, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Danish Oscar entry The Promised Land. He was BAFTA-nominated for Thomas Vinterberg's Another Round, which won the Best International Feature Oscar in 2021. Mikkelsen has also starred in NBC drama Hannibal.
Given President Donald Trump's noises around annexing Greenland from Denmark, which counts it as an autonomous territory despite its location in North America, interest could be high on this one. Greenland voted in a new centre-right, pro-independence party in March, which has been taken as a rejection of Trump's advances.
Neon is hoping for another hit following Sean Baker's Anora, starring Mikey Madison. After winning the 2024 Palme d'Or, it went on win five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress. This year on the Croisette, it is launching Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value and Julia Ducournau's Alpha as well as Raoul Peck's Orwell: 2+2=5 and Michael Angelo Covino's Splitsville starring Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona, the latter of which it also produced.
Neon International's sales slate includes Takashi Miike's Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo, starring Shun Oguri and Lily James; Her Private Hell from director Nicolas Winding Refn, starring Sophie Thatcher and Charles Melton; and Michael Shanks' lauded feature Together, starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco.
Mikkelsen is represented by UTA, Art Management and Viewpoint. Smith is represented by Gersh. Mosher is represented by Gersh, Circle of Confusion and Behr Abramson Levy Johnson, LLP.
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Despite best efforts to talk about movies at Cannes, with the sprawling official selection yet to be screened, at early press conferences festival director Thierry Fremaux and his Competition jury batted back questions about the state of the world today. Queries swung from Gerard Depardieu's #MeToo conviction, to showing three films from Ukraine and banning Russia from the festival, which from its founding in 1939 was “predicated on liberty,” said Fremaux.
“People take risks to make films,” he said. “The most important thing is not someone's safety, but making a film. The festival is political when the artists are political. Jafar Panahi [Iranian Competition entry ‘A Simple Accident'] is prepared to risk going to prison.”
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As to the current political winds prevailing in America and elsewhere, Fremaux said, “The cinema requires a lot of funding. It is often the first target. Around the world we need to defend cinema.” As for President Donald Trump's threatened tariffs on films produced overseas, Fremaux feels it is too early to know what will actually happen. “Maybe we should talk in a year,” he said. “The cinema always finds a way of existing and reinventing itself. Here in Cannes we wouldn't like the American cinema to cease to be strong.”
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While Cannes jury president Juliette Binoche deflected a question about Gaza, she took on President Trump's threatened tariffs on films, and she eventually revealed her true feelings. “We understood that from the beginning that President Trump was trying to protect his country but for us, we have a very strong community of filming on our continent,” she said. “We can see that he's fighting, and he's trying in many, many different ways to save America and save his ass.”
She continued, “The world is going into places that are very dangerous. And so the more we're going close to those spaces of danger, we need art in order to survive and have a view that gives us gives us hope and connection between each other.”
Juror Jeremy Strong addressed playing his Oscar-nominated role in “The Apprentice,” which played Cannes last year without him, as he was on Broadway. “Roy Cohn, I see essentially as the progenitor of fake communities and alternative facts, and we're living in the aftermath of what he created,” he said. “This time where truth is under assault, where truth is becoming an increasingly endangered thing. The role of stories, of cinema art, but here specifically at this temple of film, the role of film is increasingly critical, because it can combat those forces and the entropy of truth, and can communicate truths, individual truths, human truths, societal truths, and affirm and celebrate our shared humanity. What I'm here doing this year is in a way, a counterbalance to what Roy Cohn was doing last year.”
Fremaux's main message is how Cannes has the power to propel even small indies like “The Apprentice” and Sean Baker's “Anora” (Neon) into the world — and eventually even win Oscars. “Things got going, the adventure begins in Cannes,” he said. “It's a special festival. A film can show in Cannes in May and still be alive in March the following year. American distributors and producers who like Cannes, like Neon, know how to make the best of it.”
Last year, Oscar winners “Emilia Pérez” and “Flow” also launched at Cannes. And the increasingly international cast of the Academy voters has elevated foreign-language films that gain a profile at Cannes.
Much of that buzz is generated for the prize-winners like Palme d'Or-winning “Parasite,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” and “Anora,” all from Neon. And that comes down to the Competition jury.
Jury duty began Tuesday, May 13 for this year's Cannes Film Festival competition panelists, led by Binoche, who first came to the festival 14 years ago. She presides over a nine-member jury composed of actors Halle Berry, Alba Rohrwacher, and Jeremy Strong, directors Hong Sang Soo, Dieudo Hamadi, Payal Kapadia, and Carlos Reygadas, and French-Moroccan diplomat/journalist Leïla Slimani. The winners tend to be films that move the jurors emotionally, which is why the Dardennes have won twice.
This year, Fremaux is proud to host the Dardennes for the ninth time in Competition, Julia Ducourneau's second (“Alpha”), as well as American auteurs Wes Anderson's fourth Cannes entry (“The Phoenician Scheme”) and Richard Linklater's second (“Nouvelle Vague”). What will the prize contenders be? “Sentimental Value” from Norway third-timer Joachim Trier could fly, along with Oliver Hermanus's gay romance “The History of Sound” (MUBI).
“We'll watch the films together,” said Binoche. “And after that, it's this connection that is beyond thinking that will make a special result.”
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As fans of “The Voice” prepare to vote for their favorites on the first live shows of season 27, they got an unexpected extra dose of excitement on May 12, 2025, as NBC announced the coaching lineup for season 28.
Snoop Dogg, whose return was announced in early May, will be joined this fall by three more of the most popular coaches in recent history: Reba McEntire, Michael Bublé, and Niall Horan. The morning announcement had fans flipping out on social media.
Snoop, Bublé, and McEntire had incredible chemistry during season 26, with Gwen Stefani rounding out their foursome. On May 12, fans were thrilled to see three of the four returning, but the addition of Horan — who was a coach during seasons 23 and 24 — took the excitement to a fever pitch.
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NBC dropped the news of its season 28 coaches with two social media posts featuring all four returning coaches. The first had over 100,000 likes within a couple of hours, and the comment sections were immediately flooded with responses from over-the-moon fans.
One exclaimed in all caps, “SCREAMING BECAUSE THIS IS THE MOST ICONIC GROUP YET!!!! 😍😍😍”
Another excitedly commented, “Snoop 🔥 Reba 🔥 Niall 🔥 YAAS ❤️ YAAS ❤️YAAS ❤️ So Hyped 😍”
“LETS FREAKING GOOOOOOOO,” someone else wrote, while another chimed in, “Niall Horan & Micheal Buble on THE SAME season was notttt on my 2025 bingo card!!! Eek! This is very yay!!!🙌🏼✨👏🏼🤩”
Horan's return had fans particularly pumped. The former One Direction star was a popular addition to the show and won both seasons he coached, with Gina Miles in season 23 and Huntley in season 24, but left in 2024 for his world tour. He's also been mourning the loss of One Direction bandmate Liam Payne, who died tragically in October.
Even Bublé, left a funny comment about Horan's return, writing, “My favourite Horan is back!! It's the return of the Irish king! The world is healing”
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Bublé, 49, previously said he turned down “The Voice” producers at least 15 times before finally agreeing to join the show for season 26. He quickly fell in love with the format, his fellow coaches and the contestants — including his season 26 winner Sofronio Vasquez.
“This is the best job I've ever had,” he told People on May 12. “Going to work every day is a joy, and I'm so thrilled to be back for Season 28. I remember being just like these contestants. I know how badly they want it and how hard it is to get there. I've had my dream come true, and the fact that I get to be a part of helping someone else in their journey to do that same thing, there's nothing better. It is really fulfilling.”
Returning for season 28 in the fall makes the Canadian crooner one of the only coaches to appear three seasons in a row in recent years, per People.
He told the outlet, “There's a reason why ‘The Voice' remains such a success after so many years, and it's because it really is about the artists. The talent on this show is incredible, and it's been such a beautiful experience to be a part of the process.”
Season 28 will air in the fall on NBC. Meanwhile, season 27 kicks off its live shows on May 12 at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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While they've admitted to having very different personalities, there doesn't seem to be anything that could come between Kendall and Kylie Jenner. The sisters are very close and always try to support each other. Recently, the supermodel publicly showed her approval of Kylie's relationship with Timothée Chalamet by happily playing third wheel at the New York Knicks vs. Boston Celtics Game 4 on May 12.
Kylie and Kendall sat courtside alongside Chalamet at Madison Square Garden for the much-anticipated game. They both posted photos on their Instagram stories of themselves in their tank top and leather jean uniforms, topped off with Knicks hats. At the game, Kylie also had a blue Knicks jacket, which she took off.
The three could be seen gleefully supporting the Knicks with Chalamet, who's known as an avid fan. So avid that, while Kylie went to the Met Gala, he cheered the team on at home with pals.
Chalamet was photographed looking ecstatic during the game. Afterwards, when the Knicks beat the Celtics 121 – 113, he celebrated with Spike Lee and shook Karl Anthony Town's hand.
A post shared by Timothée Chalamet Files (@tchalametfiles)
Chalamet has been an ardent fan since he was a kid. After the win, he posted a photo of himself at 14 on his Instagram stories, getting his jersey signed by then-Knicks star Amar'e Stoudemire. A second photo showed him as an adult clasping hands with Stoudemire. “TIED THE LOOP,” he captioned the photo.
No matter who she chooses as her partner, Kylie can always count on her sister. The two have often double-dated or seemed to befriend each other's beaus. In 2017, when Kylie was still dating Tyga and Kendall A$AP Rocky, the Daily Mail posted photos of the four in New York City. Their double date included diamond shopping.
When Kylie was pregnant with Stormi, she and Travis went on a double date with Kendall and then-boyfriend Blake Griffin. According to People, the group was spotted at Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights.
While Kylie was still with Travis Scott, Kendall often accompanied her sister to his concerts. Even after they split, she's frequently proven she can still be counted on when her sister needs her. In one TikTok video a fan posted, Kendall supervised Kylie and Scott's daughter, Stormi, at Coachella earlier this year so she could watch her dad perform.
Replying to @🐰 adorbsssss#stormiwebster #kyliejenner #travisscott #kendalljenner #fypシ
It's always been apparent that the sisters have a powerful bond. While they've joked about doing a Kardashians spin-off that's just about them, it would be fun to watch their two contrasting personalities together.
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By
Cheyenne Roundtree
Follow all our Sean Combs trial coverage
A year and a half after Casandra “Cassie” Ventura filed her explosive lawsuit against ex-boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs, the R&B singer took the stand Tuesday in front of a packed courtroom to testify against the man she claimed emotionally, physically, and sexually abused her for more than a decade.
Ventura's court appearance marks the first time she and Combs have seen each other in person since their 2018 breakup. She arrived in court wearing a long brown dress with brown suede heels, and when she walked in, Combs turned around and stared at her.
Ventura is considered the key witness in the Southern District of New York's criminal case, referred to in the charging indictment as Victim-1. Combs has pleaded not guilty to five felony counts against him.
Ventura's voice was quiet, but her demeanor confident. She chose her words carefully as she detailed what she called “frequent” instances of physical abuse. “He would smash me in my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me, stomp me in the head if I was down,” she said of Combs.
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Ventura also described the nature of the “freak-offs,” sexual encounters Combs allegedly orchestrated, and which could last anywhere from 36 hours to four days. Ventura said she was 22 years old when she had her first freak-off, adding, “eventually it became a job for me.” She called the encounters “a very choreographed experience,” testifying that there would be sometimes be blood on the sheets because Combs forced her to have sex while menstruating.
On multiple occasions, Ventura testified, both Combs and a male sex worker would urinate on her and in her mouth against her will. She says it was obvious she did not want it based on her facial expressions.
Ventura testified that she felt responsible to “make [Combs] happy” and didn't know how to refuse freak-offs. “I didn't feel like I had much of a choice, I didn't know what ‘No' could look like,” she said. Asked by prosecutors why she went along with it, she said the freak-offs were where she felt she was winning his affection and could be rewarded with one-on-one time. “When you are really in love with someone, you don't want to disappoint them,” she testified.
Ventura testified that she “felt disgusting. I was humiliated” about the freak-offs, breaking down in tears. “My self-worth took a hit,” she testified at one point. The freak-offs were “all I was good for to him.” She said that she was high during many of them but felt “dirty and confusion,” adding, “He's really happy with me, I did something right.” She would often stay awake for days at a time, she testified, per Combs' orders. Of the copious amount of drugs she said Combs made her take, including cocaine, mushrooms, ecstasy, and ketamine, she said they were “dissociative and numbing” when used during the freak-offs.
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Of Combs, she added, “Sean is a very polarizing person, he's also very charming. It can be hard to decide what you need when he's telling you his needs.”
She said she started pushing back on participating in the freak-offs in 2010, but told the court that she did it gently so as not to upset Combs.
Prosecutors asked Ventura to detail the beginning of her relationship with Combs. She said she first met him around 2005, when she was 19, describing her view of him at the time as “this larger-than-life entrepreneur musician. They had sex for the first time two years later during a trip to Miami, not long after Ventura's 21st birthday. Ventura said Combs also gave her ecstasy during the trip, and the jury was shown a photo of the pair: Ventura wearing a robe and sunglasses, with Combs draped around her.
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After the Miami trip, Ventura said, she became a “little shadow to Sean.” Ventura described herself as being naive and young at the beginning of their relationship, acknowledging that she was “enamored” with him at first, until things started to turn. Ventura said Combs' moods could swing wildly: “Make the wrong face, and the next thing I knew, I was getting hit in the face,” she testified. She says she “began to experience a different side of him: the abusive side. But there was still love there.”
Ventura went on to describe the control Combs wielded over her life. He kept tabs on her whereabouts and sent staffers out to look for her; decided what she wore and where she lived; and often gave her, what she described, as types of “busy work” — random tasks that kept her occupied when she wasn't with Combs.
“He had control over what I did every minute of the day,” Ventura added. That included constant comments about Ventura's appearance, including nails, hair, wardrobe and discussions about breast implants.
As for Combs' control over her music career, Ventura said she recorded hundreds of songs, many of which “didn't see the light of day.” She added: “My career was stifled.”
Sean #Diddy Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering criminal trial began yesterday. Rolling Stone's Senior Investigstions Reporter Cheyenne Roundtree breaks down the trials opening statements. #diddylawsuit#diddycharges#diddyraid#diddytrial#diddycase#pdiddy#pdiddycase#pdiddytrial#puffdaddy#puffdaddytrial#trial#case#fyp#fypシ#foryou
The jury was shown emails between Ventura and Combs in which Ventura refers to Combs as “Pop Pop.” She testified that Combs chose that nickname because it's what she called her grandfather, per media reports. “I thought it was weird,” she testified.
Before her testimony, Combs' attorney, Marc Agnifilo, was worried jurors would be biased against his client if they saw Ventura, who is eight-and-a-half months pregnant, walking into the courtroom. On Monday, Agnifilo asked U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian if Ventura could already be sitting in the witness box when jurors entered. (Ventura eventually walked into the courtroom with the jury present.)
“I think there is a prejudicial quality,” Agnifilo said in a closed-door meeting ahead of Monday's opening statements. “Pregnancy is beautiful and wonderful. It also is a source of potential sympathy.” Prosecutors objected, arguing it would be “deeply inappropriate” for the court to treat any witness with a medical condition differently.
Ventura is expected to testify for the duration of the trial's first week. She'll provide testimony that mirrored her harrowing and graphic civil lawsuit from November 2023 that launched the federal investigation that saw Combs go from a seemingly untouchable billionaire mogul who now faces the possibility of life in prison if he's convicted of the counts against him.
Prior to her testimony, Combs' team asked that Ventura's husband, Alex Fine, be barred from hearing her testimony, noting they may want to call him as a witness, per media reports. The two sides agreed that Fine could listen to a majority of Ventura's testimony, but not the allegation that Combs raped her in 2018.
Ventura is the third witness to testify in the high-profile trial that expected to last eight weeks. On Monday, jurors heard from Israel Florez, a former security manager who worked at the since-shuttered InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles. Florez testified he was present in the immediate moments after Combs kicked and dragged Ventura by a set of elevator banks in March 2016.
Surveillance video of the attack, which CNN published last year and was shown to jurors on Monday, shows Combs chasing after Ventura before throwing her to the ground. Florez claimed that Combs had a “devilish stare” and offered what he described as a cash “bribe” to keep the incident quiet, which he refused. Florez claimed he observed Ventura with a purplish eye as she left the hotel, and he questioned if she wanted him to call the police, which she declined.
Male escort Daniel Phillip also testified on Monday, giving detailed and explicit testimony about the multiple freak-offs he had with Ventura and Combs between 2014 and 2016.
Although initially excited by being “involved with people with such notoriety,” Phillip testified that his enthusiasm waned the first time he claimed to witness Combs attack Ventura during a freak-off. Combs called for Ventura to come to the bedroom, but when she didn't immediately comply, Phillip claimed Combs threw a liquor bottle in her direction, with the bottle smashing into the wall. Combs then allegedly dragged a screaming Ventura by her hair back to the room, where he heard sounds of slapping and Ventura apologizing and saying, “I'm sorry, I'm sorry!”
After that incident, Phillip said he had trouble performing sexually during freak-offs with Ventura and Combs. During one moment they were left alone in another freak-off, Phillip said he tried to warn Ventura of the “danger” that he perceived she was in, asking why she was staying with Combs when he was “hitting” her. Phillip said Ventura attempted to reassure him, saying she'd be OK.
When Ventura first met a 37-year-old Combs in 2005, she was an aspiring 19-year-old singer, excited to sign a record deal with Bad Boy. By the time she turned 21, Combs had begun to romantically pursue her, culminating with an alleged forced kiss in the bathroom the night of her 21st birthday party.
Eventually, prosecutors said, Combs forced Ventura to engage in sex with male escorts while he watched and masturbated. If she refused, prosecutors allege Combs would beat her and regularly supplied her with drugs to keep her awake and compliant. Ventura claimed she would have to camp out in hotels and Combs' mansion until the bruising from physical beatings faded.
When Ventura said she tried to escape Combs, his team helped track her down and encouraged her to return to her allegedly abusive label boss. Outside the bedroom, Combs allegedly controlled all aspects of Ventura's life and career.
While Combs' team admitted in opening statements that the mogul was physically abusive to Ventura, they reminded jurors that Combs was not being prosecuted for domestic violence in this case. Instead, they claim Ventura was a consenting adult and had personal motivations for being in a relationship with Combs and later pursuing litigation against him. “Ask yourself why,” Geragos said. “The answer is money.”
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Last week, Combs' lawyers claimed that Ventura was a fully capable woman and independent, suggesting that it wasn't in her nature to be forced into anything. Subramanian quickly shot down the notion. “Strong people can be coerced just like weak people,” the judge said.
This is a developing story.
We want to hear it. Send us a tip using our anonymous form.
Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2025 Rolling Stone, LLC. All rights reserved.
By
Cheyenne Roundtree
Follow all our Sean Combs trial coverage
A year and a half after Casandra “Cassie” Ventura filed her explosive lawsuit against ex-boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs, the R&B singer took the stand today in front of a packed courtroom to testify against the man she claimed emotionally, physically, and sexually abused her for more than a decade.
Ventura's court appearance marks the first time she and Combs have seen each other in person since their 2018 breakup. She arrived in court wearing a long brown dress, with brown suede heels, and when she walked in, Combs turned around and stared at her.
Ventura is considered the key witness in the Southern District of New York's criminal case, referred to in the charging indictment as Victim-1. Combs has pleaded not guilty to five felony counts against him.
Ventura's voice was quiet, but her demeanor confident. She chose her words carefully as she detailed what she called “frequent” instances of physical abuse. “He would smash me in my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me, stomp me in the head if I was down,” she said of Combs, per media reports.
Ventura also described the nature of the “freak-offs,” sexual encounters Combs allegedly orchestrated, and which could last anywhere from 36 hours to four days. Ventura said she was 22-years-old when she had her first freak-off, adding, “eventually it became a job for me,” per media reports.
Ventura testified that she felt responsible to “make [Combs] happy” and didn't know how to refuse freak-offs. “I didn't feel like I had much of a choice, I didn't know what ‘No' could look like,” she said.
Of Combs, she added, “Sean is a very polarizing person, he's also very charming. It can be hard to decide what you need when he's telling you his needs.”
Prosecutors asked Ventura to detail the beginning of her relationship with Combs. She said she first met him around 2005, when she was 19, describing her view of him at the time as “this larger-than-life entrepreneur musician,” per reports.
They had sex for the first time two years later during a trip to Miami, not long after Ventura's 21st birthday. Ventura said Combs also gave her ecstasy during the trip, and the jury was shown a photo of the pair: Ventura wearing a robe and sunglasses, with Combs draped around her.
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After the Miami trip, Ventura said, she became a “little shadow to Sean.” Ventura described herself as being naive and young at the beginning of their relationship, acknowledging that she was “enamored” with him at the first, until things started to turn. Ventura said Combs' moods could swing wildly: “Make the wrong face, and the next thing I knew, I was getting hit in the face,” she testified, per reports.
Ventura went on to describe the control Combs wielded over her life. He kept tabs on her whereabouts and sent staffers out to look for her; decided what she wore and where she lived; and often gave her, what she described, as types of “busy work” — random tasks that kept her occupied when she wasn't with Combs.
“He had control over what I did every minute of the day,” Ventura said.
And as for Combs' control over her music career, Ventura said she recorded hundreds of songs, many of which “didn't see the light of day.” She added: “My career was stifled.”
Sean #Diddy Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering criminal trial began yesterday. Rolling Stone's Senior Investigstions Reporter Cheyenne Roundtree breaks down the trials opening statements. #diddylawsuit#diddycharges#diddyraid#diddytrial#diddycase#pdiddy#pdiddycase#pdiddytrial#puffdaddy#puffdaddytrial#trial#case#fyp#fypシ#foryou
Before her testimony, Combs' attorney, Marc Agnifilo, was worried jurors would be biased against his client if they saw Ventura, who is eight-and-a-half months pregnant, walking into the courtroom. On Monday, Agnifilo asked U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian if Ventura could already be sitting in the witness box when jurors entered. (Ventura eventually walked into the courtroom with the jury present.)
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“I think there is a prejudicial quality,” Agnifilo said in a closed-door meeting ahead of Monday's opening statements. “Pregnancy is beautiful and wonderful. It also is a source of potential sympathy.” Prosecutors objected, arguing it would be “deeply inappropriate” for the court to treat any witness with a medical condition differently.
Ventura is expected to testify for the duration of the trial's first week. She'll provide testimony that mirrored her harrowing and graphic civil lawsuit from November 2023 that launched the federal investigation that saw Combs go from a seemingly untouchable billionaire mogul who now faces the possibility of life in prison if he's convicted of the counts against him.
Prior to her testimony, Combs' team asked that Ventura's husband, Alex Fine, be barred from hearing her testimony, noting they may want to call him as a witness, per media reports. The two sides agreed that Fine could listen to a majority of Ventura's testimony, but not the allegation that Combs raped her in 2018.
Ventura is the third witness to testify in the high-profile trial that expected to last eight weeks. On Monday, jurors heard from Israel Florez, a former security manager who worked at the since-shuttered InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles. Florez testified he was present in the immediate moments after Combs kicked and dragged Ventura by a set of elevator banks in March 2016.
Surveillance video of the attack, which CNN published last year and was shown to jurors on Monday, shows Combs chasing after Ventura before throwing her to the ground. Florez claimed that Combs had a “devilish stare” and offered what he described as a cash “bribe” to keep the incident quiet, which he refused. Florez claimed he observed Ventura with a purplish eye as she left the hotel, and he questioned if she wanted him to call the police, which she declined.
Male escort Daniel Phillip also testified on Monday, giving detailed and explicit testimony about the multiple freak-offs he had with Ventura and Combs between 2014 and 2016.
Although initially excited by being “involved with people with such notoriety,” Phillip testified that his enthusiasm waned the first time he claimed to witness Combs attack Ventura during a freak-off. Combs called for Ventura to come to the bedroom, but when she didn't immediately comply, Phillip claimed Combs threw a liquor bottle in her direction, with the bottle smashing into the wall. Combs then allegedly dragged a screaming Ventura by her hair back to the room, where he heard sounds of slapping and Ventura apologizing and saying, “I'm sorry, I'm sorry!”
After that incident, Phillip said he had trouble performing sexually during freak-offs with Ventura and Combs. During one moment they were left alone in another freak-off, Phillip said he tried to warn Ventura of the “danger” that he perceived she was in, asking why she was staying with Combs when he was “hitting” her. Phillip said Ventura attempted to reassure him, saying she'd be OK.
When Ventura first met a 37-year-old Combs in 2005, she was an aspiring 19-year-old singer, excited to sign a record deal with Bad Boy. By the time she turned 21, Combs had begun to romantically pursue her, culminating with an alleged forced kiss in the bathroom the night of her 21st birthday party.
Eventually, prosecutors said, Combs forced Ventura to engage in sex with male escorts while he watched and masturbated. If she refused, prosecutors allege Combs would beat her and regularly supplied her with drugs to keep her awake and compliant. Ventura claimed she would have to camp out in hotels and Combs' mansion until the bruising from physical beatings faded.
When Ventura said she tried to escape Combs, his team helped track her down and encouraged her to return to her allegedly abusive label boss. Outside the bedroom, Combs allegedly controlled all aspects of Ventura's life and career.
While Combs' team admitted in opening statements that the mogul was physically abusive to Ventura, they reminded jurors that Combs was not being prosecuted for domestic violence in this case. Instead, they claim Ventura was a consenting adult and had personal motivations for being in a relationship with Combs and later pursuing litigation against him. “Ask yourself why,” Geragos said. “The answer is money.”
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Last week, Combs' lawyers claimed that Ventura was a fully capable woman and independent, suggesting that it wasn't in her nature to be forced into anything. Subramanian quickly shot down the notion. “Strong people can be coerced just like weak people,” the judge said.
This is a developing story.
We want to hear it. Send us a tip using our anonymous form.
Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2025 Rolling Stone, LLC. All rights reserved.
By
Cheyenne Roundtree
Follow all our Sean Combs trial coverage
A year and a half after Casandra “Cassie” Ventura filed her explosive lawsuit against ex-boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs, the R&B singer took the stand Tuesday in front of a packed courtroom to testify against the man she claimed emotionally, physically, and sexually abused her for more than a decade.
Ventura's court appearance marks the first time she and Combs have seen each other in person since their 2018 breakup. She arrived in court wearing a long brown dress with brown suede heels, and when she walked in, Combs turned around and stared at her.
Ventura is considered the key witness in the Southern District of New York's criminal case, referred to in the charging indictment as Victim-1. Combs has pleaded not guilty to five felony counts against him.
Ventura's voice was quiet, but her demeanor confident. She chose her words carefully as she detailed what she called “frequent” instances of physical abuse. “He would smash me in my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me, stomp me in the head if I was down,” she said of Combs.
Ventura also described the nature of the “freak-offs,” sexual encounters Combs allegedly orchestrated, and which could last anywhere from 36 hours to four days. Ventura said she was 22 years old when she had her first freak-off, adding, “eventually it became a job for me.” She called the encounters “a very choreographed experience,” testifying that there would be sometimes be blood on the sheets because Combs forced her to have sex while menstruating.
On multiple occasions, Ventura testified, both Combs and a male sex worker would urinate on her and in her mouth against her will. She says it was obvious she did not want it based on her facial expressions.
Ventura testified that she felt responsible to “make [Combs] happy” and didn't know how to refuse freak-offs. “I didn't feel like I had much of a choice, I didn't know what ‘No' could look like,” she said. Asked by prosecutors why she went along with it, she said the freak-offs were where she felt she was winning his affection and could be rewarded with one-on-one time. “When you are really in love with someone, you don't want to disappoint them,” she testified.
Ventura testified that she “felt disgusting. I was humiliated” about the freak-offs, breaking down in tears. “My self-worth took a hit,” she testified at one point. The freak-offs were “all I was good for to him.” She said that she was high during many of them but felt “dirty and confusion,” adding, “He's really happy with me, I did something right.” She would often stay awake for days at a time, she testified, per Combs' orders. Of the copious amount of drugs she said Combs made her take, including cocaine, mushrooms, ecstasy, and ketamine, she said they were “dissociative and numbing” when used during the freak-offs.
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Of Combs, she added, “Sean is a very polarizing person, he's also very charming. It can be hard to decide what you need when he's telling you his needs.”
She said she started pushing back on participating in the freak-offs in 2010, but told the court that she did it gently so as not to upset Combs.
Sean #Diddy Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering criminal trial began yesterday. Rolling Stone's Senior Investigstions Reporter Cheyenne Roundtree breaks down the trials opening statements. #diddylawsuit#diddycharges#diddyraid#diddytrial#diddycase#pdiddy#pdiddycase#pdiddytrial#puffdaddy#puffdaddytrial#trial#case#fyp#fypシ#foryou
Prosecutors asked Ventura to detail the beginning of her relationship with Combs. She said she first met him around 2005, when she was 19, describing her view of him at the time as “this larger-than-life entrepreneur musician. They had sex for the first time two years later during a trip to Miami, not long after Ventura's 21st birthday. Ventura said Combs also gave her ecstasy during the trip, and the jury was shown a photo of the pair: Ventura wearing a robe and sunglasses, with Combs draped around her.
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After the Miami trip, Ventura said, she became a “little shadow to Sean.” Ventura described herself as being naive and young at the beginning of their relationship, acknowledging that she was “enamored” with him at first, until things started to turn. Ventura said Combs' moods could swing wildly: “Make the wrong face, and the next thing I knew, I was getting hit in the face,” she testified. She says she “began to experience a different side of him: the abusive side. But there was still love there.”
Ventura went on to describe the control Combs wielded over her life. He kept tabs on her whereabouts and sent staffers out to look for her; decided what she wore and where she lived; and often gave her, what she described, as types of “busy work” — random tasks that kept her occupied when she wasn't with Combs.
“He had control over what I did every minute of the day,” Ventura added. That included constant comments about Ventura's appearance, including nails, hair, wardrobe and discussions about breast implants.
As for Combs' control over her music career, Ventura said she recorded hundreds of songs, many of which “didn't see the light of day.” She added: “My career was stifled.”
The jury was shown emails between Ventura and Combs in which Ventura refers to Combs as “Pop Pop.” She testified that Combs chose that nickname because it's what she called her grandfather, per media reports. “I thought it was weird,” she testified.
Before her testimony, Combs' attorney, Marc Agnifilo, was worried jurors would be biased against his client if they saw Ventura, who is eight-and-a-half months pregnant, walking into the courtroom. On Monday, Agnifilo asked U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian if Ventura could already be sitting in the witness box when jurors entered. (Ventura eventually walked into the courtroom with the jury present.)
“I think there is a prejudicial quality,” Agnifilo said in a closed-door meeting ahead of Monday's opening statements. “Pregnancy is beautiful and wonderful. It also is a source of potential sympathy.” Prosecutors objected, arguing it would be “deeply inappropriate” for the court to treat any witness with a medical condition differently.
Ventura is expected to testify for the duration of the trial's first week. She'll provide testimony that mirrored her harrowing and graphic civil lawsuit from November 2023 that launched the federal investigation that saw Combs go from a seemingly untouchable billionaire mogul who now faces the possibility of life in prison if he's convicted of the counts against him.
Prior to her testimony, Combs' team asked that Ventura's husband, Alex Fine, be barred from hearing her testimony, noting they may want to call him as a witness, per media reports. The two sides agreed that Fine could listen to a majority of Ventura's testimony, but not the allegation that Combs raped her in 2018.
Ventura is the third witness to testify in the high-profile trial that expected to last eight weeks. On Monday, jurors heard from Israel Florez, a former security manager who worked at the since-shuttered InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles. Florez testified he was present in the immediate moments after Combs kicked and dragged Ventura by a set of elevator banks in March 2016.
Surveillance video of the attack, which CNN published last year and was shown to jurors on Monday, shows Combs chasing after Ventura before throwing her to the ground. Florez claimed that Combs had a “devilish stare” and offered what he described as a cash “bribe” to keep the incident quiet, which he refused. Florez claimed he observed Ventura with a purplish eye as she left the hotel, and he questioned if she wanted him to call the police, which she declined.
Male escort Daniel Phillip also testified on Monday, giving detailed and explicit testimony about the multiple freak-offs he had with Ventura and Combs between 2014 and 2016.
Although initially excited by being “involved with people with such notoriety,” Phillip testified that his enthusiasm waned the first time he claimed to witness Combs attack Ventura during a freak-off. Combs called for Ventura to come to the bedroom, but when she didn't immediately comply, Phillip claimed Combs threw a liquor bottle in her direction, with the bottle smashing into the wall. Combs then allegedly dragged a screaming Ventura by her hair back to the room, where he heard sounds of slapping and Ventura apologizing and saying, “I'm sorry, I'm sorry!”
After that incident, Phillip said he had trouble performing sexually during freak-offs with Ventura and Combs. During one moment they were left alone in another freak-off, Phillip said he tried to warn Ventura of the “danger” that he perceived she was in, asking why she was staying with Combs when he was “hitting” her. Phillip said Ventura attempted to reassure him, saying she'd be OK.
When Ventura first met a 37-year-old Combs in 2005, she was an aspiring 19-year-old singer, excited to sign a record deal with Bad Boy. By the time she turned 21, Combs had begun to romantically pursue her, culminating with an alleged forced kiss in the bathroom the night of her 21st birthday party.
Eventually, prosecutors said, Combs forced Ventura to engage in sex with male escorts while he watched and masturbated. If she refused, prosecutors allege Combs would beat her and regularly supplied her with drugs to keep her awake and compliant. Ventura claimed she would have to camp out in hotels and Combs' mansion until the bruising from physical beatings faded.
When Ventura said she tried to escape Combs, his team helped track her down and encouraged her to return to her allegedly abusive label boss. Outside the bedroom, Combs allegedly controlled all aspects of Ventura's life and career.
While Combs' team admitted in opening statements that the mogul was physically abusive to Ventura, they reminded jurors that Combs was not being prosecuted for domestic violence in this case. Instead, they claim Ventura was a consenting adult and had personal motivations for being in a relationship with Combs and later pursuing litigation against him. “Ask yourself why,” Geragos said. “The answer is money.”
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Last week, Combs' lawyers claimed that Ventura was a fully capable woman and independent, suggesting that it wasn't in her nature to be forced into anything. Subramanian quickly shot down the notion. “Strong people can be coerced just like weak people,” the judge said.
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By
Ryan Bort
It's getting increasingly difficult for Republicans and even the MAGA faithful to defend Donald Trump's unconstitutional or otherwise misguided actions as president. In the case of Trump accepting a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar, they aren't even trying — and some of them, including some of the president's most loyal defenders, are going out of their way to bash the brazenly corrupt act.
Laura Loomer, the far-right conspiracy theorist and diehard Trump supporter (and adviser), was quick to respond to the news on Sunday that the administration was preparing to accept the pricey jet from the desert nation, and that it will be retained by Trump's presidential library after he leaves office. “I love President Trump. I would take a bullet for him. But, I have to call a spade a spade. We cannot accept a $400 million ‘gift' from jihadists in suits,” she wrote on X. Loomer added that accepting the plane would be “such a stain” on the administration.
“Ditto,” replied Mark Levin, one of Trump's most fervent supporters on Fox News, whose fawning coverage the president frequently lauds.
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Right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro sounded off on his podcast. “Is this good for President Trump? Is it good for his agenda? Is it good for draining the swamp?” he asked. “The answer is: No, it isn't. If you want President Trump to succeed, this kind of skeezy stuff needs to stop.”
Republican lawmakers weren't thrilled, either.
“The Constitution in Article II talks about how the president can't take emoluments or gifts from foreign leaders,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told Fox News on Monday, before attempting to parse whether the gift could be accepted if it were only used for official purposes. “We're not talking about a ride on the plane; we're talking about the entire $400 million plane. I think it's not worth the appearance of impropriety.”
“It would be better if Air Force One were a big, beautiful jet made in the United States of America,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), per The Hill. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) seemed most concerned with safety. “I'm not flying on a Qatari plane. They support Hamas. I don't know how you make it safe,” he said. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) echoed Paul in wondering “whether the administration would be in compliance with gift law.”
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The concern is well-founded. The Constitution states that the president cannot “accept any present … of any kind whatever” from a foreign state without the approval of Congress.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) sounded off on security concerns on Tuesday. “I think the plane poses significant espionage and surveillance problems,” he told CNBC. “We'll see how this plays out but I certainly have concerns.”
ABC News highlights how some Republicans have dodged the issue entirely, with the top Republican in the Senate, John Thune, and the top Republican in the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, both claiming on Monday that they didn't know enough about the situation to comment on it. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) told Fox News on Tuesday that he's “still seeking to get more information” on the situation, but did note that “we don't want to be straight up accepting any type of gift from any foreign government.”
The former top Republican in the House, Kevin McCarthy, wasn't as evasive during an interview with CNN. “I don't think another country should be providing America,” he said. “We don't need that.” McCarthy criticized the gift, but absurdly tried to shield Trump from responsibility: “I don't know what staffer worked on this, but I know [Chief of Staff] Susie [Wiles] and President Trump and that is probably not what they desire.”
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Trump has made clear, however, that he did desire the plane. In fact, he has called anyone who has said he shouldn't have accepted it “stupid.”
“I think it's a great gesture from Qatar, I appreciate it very much,” he said Monday. “I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer.” Trump later lashed out at a reporter who asked him about the gift, launching into a screed about legendary golfer Sam Snead, whose motto, according to Trump, was to take the putts the opponent offers: “A lot of people are stupid. They say, ‘No, no, I insist on putting it.' Then they miss it and their partner gets angry at them.”
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“They're giving us a free jet,” the president emphasized, incredulous that anyone could question whether to accept such a gift from a Middle Eastern nation notorious for trying to buy influence.
Trump is in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as part of his first official international trip of his second term. He'll soon head to Qatar, where his company recently struck a deal to build a golf resort.
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Michelle Pfeiffer at Christmastime? No, it's not a “Batman Returns” sequel, but it may be just as campy. The beloved actress who recently (finally!) received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is leading Michael Showalter‘s holiday feature “Oh. What. Fun.” alongside a slew of It-indie actors.
Pfeiffer plays matriarch Claire Clauster, whose perfectionist tendencies always make for the best Christmases. However, when her kids forget about their own mother over the holidays, she's forced to reflect on priorities. The official synopsis reads: “Claire is the glue that holds her chaotic, lovable family together every holiday season. From perfectly frosted cookies to meticulously wrapped gifts, no one decks the halls quite like Claire. But this year, as her grown kids and distracted husband get swept up in their own seasonal dramas, they make one crucial mistake: They forget their mom. By the time they realize she's missing, Claire's already set off on a festive adventure of her own — one that doesn't involve cooking, cleaning, or coordinating anyone else's chaos. As her family scrambles to find her and salvage their Christmas, Claire rediscovers what the holidays mean when you're finally free to put yourself first.”
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Dominic Sessa, whose own holiday-centric film “The Holdovers” propelled him to stardom in 2023, plays one of Pfeiffer's children, alongside fellow indie stars Felicity Jones, Chloë Grace Moretz, Devery Jacobs, Havana Rose Liu, and Maude Apatow in the cast. The iconic Joan Chen also is among the ensemble, as well as Denis Leary, Danielle Brooks, Jason Schwartzman, and Eva Longoria.
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Director Showalter cowrote the script with Chandler Baker; he also produces, along with Tribeca CEO and legendary producer Jane Rosenthal, Berry Welsh, Jordana Mollick, and Kate Churchill. Showalter has had a beneficial partnership with Prime Video as of late: The filmmaker helmed viral hit “The Idea of You” for the streamer, and will reunite with actress Anne Hathaway for another novel adaptation, this time of Colleen Hoover‘s “Verity.” “The Act” and “A Friend of the Family” true crime creator Nick Antosca is writing the script, with Josh Hartnett and Dakota Johnson co-starring.
“Oh. What. Fun.” will be streaming on Prime Video December 3. Check out the teaser below.
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Orlando Bloom and Domhnall Gleeson also star in the movie about two sisters so close that they start digging a tunnel through a mountain range that HanWay is promoting to buyers at the Cannes market.
By
Georg Szalai
Global Business Editor
Bucking Fastard, the new feature film written and directed by the legendary Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man, Fitzcarraldo) and starring sisters Kate Mara (House of Cards, The Martian) and Rooney Mara (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Carol), as well as Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings) and Domhnall Gleeson (Ex Machina), now has a first-look image.
It shows the sisters who star in the “deeply intertwined lead roles of Jean and Joan Holbrooke,” marking the first time they have appeared on screen together.
Bloom plays their rowdy ex-lover, Gareth Mulroney, while Gleeson portrays Timothy, their government-issued social worker/mender who is trying to help them “adapt to modern life after the two become tabloid sensations.”
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A synopsis of the movie reads: “Set in both contemporary urban modernity and against the epic untamed wilds of Ireland, Bucking Fastard is about two sisters who are so close to each other that they speak in unison, love the same man, and have the same dreams. They even make the same slip of tongue in unison. In search of an imaginary land, the Orkneys – where true love is possible – they start digging a tunnel through an entire mountain range.”
The film is produced by Clara Wu Tsai (Blue Bayou), Ariel Leon Isacovitch (Theater of Thought), and Agnes Chu (Spiderhead), with Kieran Corrigan, Emanuele Moretti and Andrea Bucko.
Principal photography wrapped in late April, with HanWay Films having boarded the movie to handle worldwide sales. HanWay said it would be sharing first footage from Dublin and Sligo, Ireland and Slovenia with buyers at the Cannes film market.
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By
Althea Legaspi
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments over President Donald Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship on Thursday. Trump signed the order, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” on the first day of his second term, but it has since been halted by nationwide injunctions issued by three separate federal district courts.
The Supreme Court is taking up the issue after the Trump administration filed emergency appeals asking the justices to narrow the injunction orders so the policy could move forward in some capacity while the issue is battled out in courts around the country. Twenty-two states have sued over the ostensibly unconstitutional executive order, which seeks to end the practice of granting citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil.
Rolling Stone spoke with legal experts Christopher M. Lapinig and Christopher W. Schmidt about the significance of the Supreme Court's decision to hear oral arguments, the merits of the cases challenging the order, and the broader impact of the Trump administration's attack on the 14th Amendment.
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Lapinig is an attorney with Asian Law Caucus, co-counsel alongside American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Immigrants' Rights Project, State Democracy Defenders Fund, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, and others on New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support, et al v. Donald J. Trump, et al (this birthright citizenship case is separate from those the Supreme Court is convening over on May 15). Schmidt is a law professor and co-director of the Institute on the Supreme Court of the United States at Chicago Kent College of Law and a research professor at the American Bar Foundation.
It's unclear exactly which questions the Supreme Court will take up on Thursday. But the oral arguments will likely have less to do with the constitutionality of birthright citizenship, and more to do with judicial authority and a contentious issue that has affected both parties in recent administrations: how lower courts can issue nationwide injunctions essentially inhibiting a president from instituting policies nationwide. The decision on that issue would not only impact these birthright citizenship cases, but the hundreds of other lawsuits challenging the Trump administration's actions that are in the pipeline.
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Here's what else is at stake:
The 14th Amendment, passed by Congress in 1866 and ratified in 1868, is pretty cut and dry regarding birthright citizenship: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” It has long been widely interpreted that anyone born on U.S. soil is an American citizen, regardless of the citizenship of the child's parents.
“It essentially was part of the efforts to make sure that slavery would not happen again, or anything resembling slavery would not happen again. And so the drafters of the 14th Amendment were abolitionists, right? They were anti-slavery, and they created this language with the idea of anti-subordination in mind,” Lapinig says. “And what that means is essentially that they wanted to make sure that no person in the United States would be subordinated or relegated to second-class citizens or something else by virtue of their race or their ethnicity or national origin.”
Drafters built “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” into the amendment's language. Lapinig says they “contemplated that birthright citizenship should not extend to invaders, for example,” but that “it's otherwise clear from the sort of discussions leading up to the enactment of the 14th Amendment that, of course, the 14th Amendment was to make sure that children of formerly enslaved people would be citizens by birth.”
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“They also made clear,” he continues, “that they knew that, for example, children of immigrants from places like China or anywhere else would also be U.S. citizens by birth if they were born in the United States.”
The “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” line in the 14th Amendment is the key to the Trump administration's argument.
“They are arguing that the categories of people that they are attempting to exclude are not subject to jurisdiction,” Schmidt says. “Their argument being that if you're not legally in the country, [or] temporarily, you're not, in some sense, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Now, even as I talk through that, it doesn't seem to really resonate in any meaningful way when people think about why you're subject to jurisdiction.”
“That was put in there to exclude people like someone born to a foreign diplomat who is subject to a different set of rules, even when they're in the United States, perhaps also Native American populations who are not fully subject to the control of the United States. So, there were certain groups of people who were thought to fit in that category at the time.”
Both the text and the amendment's history are not favorable to Trump's argument.
“‘Subject to jurisdiction' basically means, does the United States sovereign have control, or can it regulate you, like it can regulate other people? And whether you're in the country legally or not, you're subject to the sovereign authority of the United States, which is why [the jurisdiction argument] just doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, just in terms of the language,” Schmidt says. “Also, for those people who studied immigration policy around the time of the 14th Amendment … the categories of ‘legal,' ‘illegal,' ‘documented,' ‘undocumented' — they were not categories that had much or any meaning at the time. The process by which someone would enter the country or leave the country was not nearly as regulated … And there wasn't this sort of idea that there is a separate category of people who are undocumented or illegal immigrants.”
He adds: “This is a provision of the Constitution that has always struck me as being more clear than much of the Constitution.”
Notably, beyond the text and history arguments when interpreting the Constitution against Trump's executive order, there is also strong precedent against it with the Supreme Court's ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, in which the justices decided 6-2 in favor of Wong Kim Ark.
In the New Hampshire lawsuit, along with the other cases involving birthright citizenship, lawyers cite the 1898 case. Wong Kim Ark was a Chinese-American cook born in San Francisco in 1873. “His parents, who were from China, because of the Chinese Exclusion Act, were ineligible to be U.S. citizens,” Lapinig says.
Wong Kim Ark left the U.S. for China to see his family and his wife, whom he married on a previous trip (“Chinese immigration, especially Chinese women, were restricted” at the time, Lapinig says), but when he returned home to San Francisco, he was denied reentry by immigration officials on the claim that he was not a U.S. citizen, despite being born in San Francisco. He and his lawyers argued he was a U.S. citizen under the 14th Amendment. The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, which sided with Wong Kim Ark. The ruling “enshrined the right to birthright citizenship for all babies, all children born in the United States to this day,” says Lapinig.
In addition to the pretty straightforward legal precedent against Trump's executive order, Schmidt notes that it's “just established practice” that birthright citizenship applies to anyone born in the U.S., even if their parents are undocumented, and that “Congress has been operating under the assumption this is the proper reading of the 14th Amendment for generations.”
The Supreme Court's move to hear oral arguments is unusual because typically when the Supreme Court schedules oral arguments, it's after granting certiorari, meaning the court has agreed to review a decision from a lower court. “The striking thing about the granting of oral arguments in the birthright citizenship cases is that they did not grant certiorari in any of the cases, nor did they identify a question presented that they're going to be talking about,” Schmidt says.
There are a couple of topics that could be addressed on May 15. The first is the one Trump brought to the court: the validity of nationwide injunctions, which the district courts involved in the cases issued after deeming the executive order likely unconstitutional. “This is what the Trump administration went to the court saying: ‘We want you to lift these nationwide injunctions, because it's an abuse of judicial authority,'” says Schmidt. “So, it's highly likely that the court will want to hear some discussion simply about that problem, which certainly is sharply put into focus with this case, but it actually transcends this particular case. It's just about the scope of district court authority on these national issues.”
The other topic is the substantive question of the lawsuits, which is unlikely to be discussed on Thursday as the administration only asked the court, so far, to narrow the nationwide injunctions. The question is a big one, though: “The constitutionality of a redefinition of birthright citizenship away from what's been understood for over 100 years, to make it more narrowly applied, namely, at least according to the Trump executive order, to not apply to people who were born in the United States but to parents who are not in the United States with legal documentation or are only here temporarily,” Schmidt says.
Babies born after Feb. 19, 2025, to parents who do not have U.S. citizenship or permanent immigration status in the U.S. are the target of the executive order, should it stand. It is unclear how this would be enforced if the courts do ultimately allow it to stand.
“Anyone that is even on a visa that, in theory, could lead to a green card, like, say, an H-1B visa, which is a very common sort of skilled worker visa that is issued in the United States [would be vulnerable],” Lapinig says. “If at that point, they're only put only on an H-1B and have not quite obtained legal permanent residents in the United States, then the executive order would consider their children, their babies, born to be ineligible for their birthright citizenship.”
Other visa holders, such as students, exchange visitors, tourists, athletes, and entertainers would also fall under this umbrella, as would Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients, and people with humanitarian visas, among others.
“This is the president of the United States declaring what at least takes the form of an authoritative interpretation of the Constitution. So simply the significance of who is making the claim and the significance of how much the claim would affect people does seem to indicate that allowing lower court decisions to do the work for the Supreme Court … it has always struck me as unlikely,” says Schmidt.
There is also likely a strategic reason the Supreme Court might want to take this case up. While the GOP-controlled court may give Trump some wins, like it did with the Trump immunity case last July, it's likely “the court really wants to assert that it's not just simply a rubber stamp for the Trump administration, and it wants to find opportunities to also assert its role in this whole process,” Schmidt says. “So therefore, it wants to find some Trump administration initiatives to strike down, and this has always struck me as easy pickings. The law is so clear, so well-established, and the impact of this on American society would be very disruptive, quite radical, quite harmful.”
“It is just head spinning, the amount of activity coming out of the executive branch that is constitutionally and legally questionable, and the burden that's going to place on the courts,” Schmidt adds. “It's a question about whether the courts are going to be spread so thin with these really major issues, and whether they want to be a little strategic about which cases they're going to take on. … They might just allow the lower courts to take this one. I still don't think that's likely, but it is an option.”
Should Trump's executive order be implemented as is, the policy would create an “underclass of individuals,” says Lapinig, which is something the drafters of the 14th Amendment worked to combat. “The 14th Amendment was truly an effort to make sure that slavery itself would not happen again in the United States, but also that nothing like slavery would happen again, as in that there would never be the creation and growth of an underclass of people in the United States that were denied off their race or ethnicity or ancestry, equal rights to others.”
“This executive order would create, dramatically, a large underclass of people in the United States that, in turn, would not be eligible for any public benefits, or [other] aspects of public support — and all Americans would be affected, because they are in your communities,” he adds. “The fabric of every community in the United States would be affected in some way because there would be the presence of folks who would unfortunately be part of this underclass of people. And so those communities would have to — whether on an individual level or on a community level — deal with the ramifications of children who are or who have been, who will be excluded from membership among the ranks of U.S. citizens.”
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As for the New Hampshire v. Trump lawsuit, which was filed hours after Trump signed the birthright citizenship executive order on his first day in office on Jan. 20, Judge Joseph Laplante issued a preliminary injunction on Feb. 10. On April 10, Trump and his administration filed a notice of appeal.
“We are very confident in our lawsuit, in the legal merits of our lawsuit, and our position that this executive order is completely and flagrantly unconstitutional,” Lapinig says. “We know that the law — has stood for as I mentioned over 120 years — is clearly on our side, and so we will just continue to litigate our lawsuit and do what we can to make sure that this executive order is never implemented.”
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Queens of the Stone Age have announced a new concert film. Alive in the Catacombs documents a largely acoustic performance that the band—accompanied by a three piece string section—recorded in the Catacombs of Paris last July, around the time frontman Josh Homme underwent emergency surgery that led the group to cancel some tour dates. Directed by Thomas Rames, the film will premiere June 5 via Queens of the Stone Age's website. Watch the trailer below.
“We're so stripped down because that place is so stripped down, which makes the music so stripped down, which makes the words so stripped down… It would be ridiculous to try to rock there,” Homme said in a press statement. “All those decisions were made by that space. That space dictates everything, it's in charge. You do what you're told when you're in there.” He also described the catacombs' several million human remains as “the biggest audience we've ever played for.”
Revisit Zach Schonfeld‘s review of Queens of the Stone Age's 2023 album, In Times New Roman....
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By Rosy Cordero
Associate Editor, TV
Alien franchise fans have long awaited a look at Noah Hawley‘s upcoming FX series Alien: Earth, and that wait is officially over. Episodic photos of the ensemble cast led by Sydney Chandler, who plays the character Wendy, can be found above and below.
The 8-episode season will premiere with two episodes on Tuesday, August 12, at 8 p.m. ET on Hulu and the FX linear channel at 8 p.m. ET/PT in the U.S., and via Disney+ internationally. New episodes will drop on Tuesdays on Hulu beginning at 8 p.m. ET and FX at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Additionally, further details about what the show is about can be found below.
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When the mysterious deep space research vessel USCSS Maginot crash-lands on Earth, “Wendy” (Sydney Chandler) and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet's greatest threat in FX's Alien: Earth.
In the year 2120, the Earth is governed by five corporations: Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic, and Threshold. In this Corporate Era, cyborgs (humans with both biological and artificial parts) and synthetics (humanoid robots with artificial intelligence) exist alongside humans. But the game is changed when the wunderkind Founder and CEO of Prodigy Corporation unlocks a new technological advancement: hybrids (humanoid robots infused with human consciousness).
The first hybrid prototype, named Wendy (Chandler), marks a new dawn in the race for immortality. After Weyland-Yutani's spaceship collides with Prodigy City, Wendy and the other hybrids encounter mysterious life forms more terrifying than anyone could have ever imagined.
It was previously revealed that the series will feature 5 monsters.
The cast also includes Timothy Olyphant (Kirsh), Alex Lawther (Hermit), Samuel Blenkin (Boy Kavalier), Babou Ceesay (Morrow), Adrian Edmondson (Atom Eins), David Rysdahl (Arthur Sylvia), Essie Davis (Dame Sylvia), Lily Newmark (Nibs), Erana James (Curly), Adarsh Gourav (Slightly), Jonathan Ajayi (Smee), Kit Young (Tootles), Diêm Camille (Siberian), Moe Bar-El (Rashidi) and Sandra Yi Sencindiver (Yutani).
FX's Alien: Earth is created for television and executive-produced by Noah Hawley. Ridley Scott, David W. Zucker, Joseph Iberti, Dana Gonzales, and Clayton Krueger also serve as executive producers. The series is produced by FX Productions.
Photos can be found below.
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By Denise Petski
Senior Managing Editor
FX has set premiere dates for Noah Hawley's new drama series Alien: Earth, Season 4 of The Bear and Sterlin Harjo's The Lowdown.
The Bear's fourth season premieres on Wednesday, June 25 on Hulu, with all 10 episodes available beginning at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.
In Season 4, Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri) and Richard “Richie” Jerimovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) push forward, determined not only to survive, but also to take The Bear to the next level. With new challenges around every corner, the team must adapt, adjust and overcome.
The series also stars Abby Elliott, Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas and Matty Matheson, with Oliver Platt and Molly Gordon in recurring roles.
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FX's The Bear was created by Christopher Storer, who serves as Executive Producer alongside Josh Senior, Joanna Calo, Cooper Wehde, Tyson Bidner, Matty Matheson, Hiro Murai and Rene Gube. Courtney Storer serves as a Co-Executive Producer and Culinary Producer. The series is produced by FX Productions.
Alien: Earth, inspired by the feature film franchise, will premiere on Tuesday, August 12, with the first two episodes streaming on Hulu at 8 pm ET, on FX at 8 pm ET/PT, and on Disney+ internationally. A new episode of the 8-episode season will premiere every Tuesday on Hulu at 8 pm ET and on FX at 8 pm ET/PT. See the first episodic photos here.
In Alien: Earth, when the mysterious deep space research vessel USCSS Maginot crash-lands on Earth, Wendy (Sydney Chandler) and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet's greatest threat.
In addition to Chandler, the cast includes Timothy Olyphant (“Kirsh”), Alex Lawther (“Hermit”), Samuel Blenkin (“Boy Kavalier”), Babou Ceesay (“Morrow”), Adrian Edmondson (“Atom Eins”), David Rysdahl (“Arthur Sylvia”), Essie Davis (“Dame Sylvia”), Lily Newmark (“Nibs”), Erana James (“Curly”), Adarsh Gourav (“Slightly”), Jonathan Ajayi (“Smee”), Kit Young (“Tootles”), Diêm Camille (“Siberian”), Moe Bar-El (“Rashidi”) and Sandra Yi Sencindiver (“Yutani”).
FX's Alien: Earth is created for television and executive produced by Peabody and Emmy-winning Hawley. Ridley Scott, David W. Zucker, Joseph Iberti, Dana Gonzales and Clayton Krueger also serve as executive producers. Alien: Earth is produced by FX Productions.
The Lowdown, from Sterlin Harjo (Reservation Dogs), will premiere Tuesday, September 23 at 9 pm ET/PT on FX with the first two episodes of the eight-episode season. A new episode will premiere weekly each Tuesday at 9 pm on FX, streaming next day on Hulu and coming to Disney+ internationally.
Starring Ethan Hawke, who also executive produces, The Lowdown follows the gritty exploits of citizen journalist “Lee Raybon” (Hawke), a self-proclaimed Tulsa “truthstorian” whose obsession with the truth is always getting him into trouble.
Series is created by EP Harjo, who also wrote and directed the pilot. Garrett Basch, series' lead Ethan Hawke, and Ryan Hawke also executive produce. The Lowdown is produced by FX Productions.
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The show is scheduled to take place at Wide Awake Festival London's Brockwell Park next week (May 23).
By
Sophie Williams
Irish hip hop act Kneecap will still be headlining Wide Awake Festival 2025 as planned, the festival has announced. It will mark the band's first show since they performed at Coachella last month.
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The news arrives following a period of intense scrutiny on the West Belfast trio in the weeks after Coachella. At the end of their sets, Kneecap displayed messages on the war in Gaza, writing: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. 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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The group went on to face criticism from a number of industry figures including Sharon Osbourne, who called for their U.S. visas to be retracted. A group of politicians, meanwhile, called for Kneecap to be removed from a series of U.K. festival line-ups this summer.
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Scrutiny continued when counter-terror police in London announced (May 1) an investigation into videos of band members allegedly calling for the death of elected British MPs and shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah.” The group have since gone on to issue a statement to their Instagram account: “Let us be unequivocal: we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah. We condemn all attacks on civilians, always. It is never okay,” it read in part.
Consequently, German headline shows in Hamburg, Cologne and Berlin for this summer have been pulled, alongside previously-announced appearances at Hurricane and Southside Festivals. A night at the Eden Project, Cornwall, was also cancelled last month but has since been replaced with three new dates in the nearby city of Plymouth, south west England.
Wide Awake have now shared a statement across their social media platforms confirming Kneecap's headline performance is still slated to go ahead next week (May 23). “After positive discussions with key stakeholders, Wide Awake Festival can confirm that, as planned, Kneecap will be performing at this year's festival on Friday May 23 at Brockwell Park,” it began.
“Wide Awake has a proud history of supporting the alternative music scene, and we look forward to staging another unforgettable event showcasing the very best emerging and established talent.”
The post also featured a lengthy signatory list of artists sharing their support for Kneecap and the “freedom of expression,” featuring names such as Pulp, Fontaines D.C., Primal Scream, Massive Attack, Self Esteem and Amyl and The Sniffers, among others.
Other acts set to perform at Wide Awake, which takes place in Brockwell Park, south London, include English Teacher, CMAT, Peaches, Fat Dog and more. Tickets and the full line-up can be found on the event's official website.
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The event promises a unifying message of hope in a troubled, divided time for the family farmers growing the nation's food.
By
Thom Duffy
Editor
Willie Nelson's Farm Aid, the longest running concert for a cause, will mark the 40th anniversary of its advocacy for family farmers with an all-star festival on Sept. 20 at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
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Nelson will be joined on the bill by fellow Farm Aid board members Neil Young (with his band the Chrome Hearts), John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews (with Tim Reynolds) and Margo Price, with the full-day lineup also set to include: Billy Strings, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Trampled by Turtles, Waxahatchee, Eric Burton of Black Pumas, Jesse Welles and Madeline Edwards, with more artists to be announced.
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Since Nelson introduced the first Farm Aid concert in Champaign, Ill., on Sept. 22, 1985, the nonprofit behind the festival has raised nearly $80 million to promote a strong and resilient family farm system of agriculture, while also building connections in the battles against climate change and social injustice.
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“Family farmers are the heart of this country, and we depend on each other for good food and strong communities,” says Nelson, in announcing this year's event. “For 40 years, Farm Aid and our partners have stood with farmers, supporting them to stay on their land even when corporate power, bad policies and broken promises make it harder to keep going.
“This year, we're proud to bring Farm Aid to Minnesota to celebrate the farmers who sustain us and to fight for a food system that works for all of us. Family farmers aren't backing down, and neither are we.”
Not since the farm foreclosure crisis of the 1980s, which prompted Nelson to launch Farm Aid, have family farmers faced the challenges that confront them today, from the devastation of storms driven by climate change to government actions that play havoc with their finances.
Last month, on the Farm Aid website, Nelson and veteran agricultural activist David Senter wrote an open letter directed at America's young farmers, addressing this moment.
“The commitment you're making to your families, your communities and our water, soil and climate is not an easy one—and it never has been,” they wrote. “We want you to know that, even with the wave of uncertainty farmers are facing right now, the work you're doing has never been more critical for our country.
“All farmers — no matter their age, background, politics, location, size, type or production methods — must call on each other in these challenging times,” they wrote. “We invite you to call on us, and hope that you will answer when we call on you. We're in this together and it's only together that we will get through.”
The music at Farm Aid gives power to its message and mission.
Throughout its history, including during the first term of President Trump, the festival has been perhaps the one place in America today to unite blue and red, urban and rural, for a common cause: supporting the men and women who grow the nation's food.
Farm Aid notes the significance of the festival making its first appearance in Minnesota, a state which, since the 1980s, “has offered a groundswell of strength in the farm movement, championing rural advocacy, sustainable and equitable agriculture and forward-thinking policy reform,” the organization says in a statement.
This year's Farm Aid will once again include its trademarked HOMEGROWN Concessions, with a menu featuring “ingredients that are grown or raised by farmers who use ecological practices and are paid a fair price,” the organization states. The HOMEGROWN Village will feature exhibits about soil, water, energy, food and farming.
Farm Aid co-executive director Jennifer Fahy says this year's festivities are not only about looking back, but also about building for the future.
“We're grateful to our dedicated board members and hundreds of generous artists who have brought us together year after year to celebrate family farmers and highlight the challenges they face every day,” says Fahy.
“Our anniversary marks a critical time for the nation to come together in support of the family farmers we all depend on. Our work isn't done. There are significant threats to the future of family farm agriculture and our food system. Farm Aid 40 is an opportunity to call those out and work for the food system that farmers, eaters and our planet all deserve.”
Farm Aid co-executive director Shorlette Ammons adds: “There is no farm movement without the people. Rural communities represent the heartbeat of this country. Farmers and rural and immigrant labor sustain our food system, care for the land, and strengthen our foodways and cultural connections. When we invest in rural communities, we uplift the well-being of our entire country, celebrating the vibrant and needful contributions of all.”
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"People misjudged us because they couldn't label us," Daryl Hall explained of the contentious genre.
By
Tyler Jenke
Though the likes of Hall & Oates might be heavily associated with the contentious ‘yacht rock‘ genre, Daryl Hall himself has expressed disdain towards the classification.
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Used as a way to refer to the soft pop-rock and blue-eyed soul of the '70s and '80s, the term ‘yacht rock' was initially coined by makers of a 2005 mockumentary series of the same name. The series itself was a popular one, lasting from 2005 until 2010 and even resulting in a 2024 HBO ‘Dockumentary‘ that explored the genre in deeper detail.
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However, while the likes of Michael McDonald and even John Oates have been receptive to the original show, Hall is singing a far different tune. In the latest episode of the Broken Record podcast, Hall told interviewer Justin Richmond that he's far from a fan of the concept.
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“This is something I don't understand. First of all, yacht rock was a f–king joke by two jerk-offs in California, and suddenly it became a genre,” he explained. “I don't even understand it. I never understood it. It's just R&B with maybe some jazz in there. It's mellow R&B, smooth R&B. I don't see what the yacht part is.
“People misjudged us because they couldn't label us,” he continued. “They always came up with all this kind of crap, soft rock and yacht rock and all this other nonsense. And none of it, none of it really describes anything that I do, really.”
In 2007, Oates reflected on the success of the Yacht Rock series, explaining that it was the “beginning of this whole Hall & Oates resurrection,” and even noting that “a lot of things have happened because of Yacht Rock.”
It's little surprise that both Hall and Oates have differing views on the matter, given that the pair's 2024 dissolution was given an air of finality when Hall claimed in March that they would never again perform together. “That ship has gone to the bottom of the ocean,” he explained. “I've had a lot of surprises in my life, disappointments, betrayals, so I'm kind of used to it.”
The Hall & Oates dissolution first began back in November 2023 when the pair became embroiled in a legal dispute. Described by Oates as “a very boring business issue,” the crux of the issue began when Hall filed suit against his former partner over Oates' attempt to sell his half of the duo's joint venture Whole Oates Enterprises to Primary Wave Music without Hall's consent.
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By
Tomás Mier
Twitch streamer and political commentator Hasan Piker, a longtime critic of Donald Trump, said Monday he was questioned by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers after returning to the country over the weekend.
Piker explained on Twitch, where he streams as HasanAbi, that he was pulled aside at Chicago O'Hare International Airport after a flight from Paris, even though he is enrolled in Global Entry. The influencer said he was questioned for two hours about his job, political affiliation, and if he had a connection with terrorist groups.
Hasan Piker, a U.S. citizen, was detained and questioned by ICE and U.S. Customs — including questions about his views on Donald Trump. Piker is a vocal critic of Trump, describing his administration's agenda as ‘nefarious' and ‘fascist,' and has condemned Trump's mass deportation plans and attacks on free speech.
“They take me to this backroom. This backroom is not great. It's destined in the most hostile way. The vibes are fucked back there,” he said. “It's very obvious they knew who the fuck I was.”
Piker said he was asked, “Do you talk about Trump?” to which Piker says he responded, “Why are you asking me this?” before saying he told the agent, “I don't like Trump. What are you gonna do? It's protected by the First Amendment … He said he was gonna end the wars, he hasn't ended the wars. What the fuck is up with that.”
Piker said the agent he spoke to was “very sympathetic” to Piker when he was asked questions about Israel's war in Gaza, and when he was asked if he was involved with Hamas. (On X, Hasan said that the experience “wasn't that bad” but was a “very strange experience overall.”)
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“They straight up tried to get something out of me that I think they could use to basically detain me permanently,” Piker said. “[The agent] kept saying stuff like, ‘Do you like Hamas? Do you support Hamas? Do you think Hamas is a terror group or a resistance group?'”
NEWS: Hasan Piker Detained, Interrogated by U.S. Customs Over Political ViewsTwitch streamer and political commentator Hasan Piker (@hasanthehun) was detained for several hours by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at Chicago O'Hare on May 11 after returning from France. Agents… pic.twitter.com/pS6wsCZyi9
Tricia McLaughlin, Homeland Security assistant secretary, confirmed to The Washington Post that Piker was taken in for questioning, but claimed it had nothing to do with his political views.
“Our officers are following the law, not agendas,” McLaughlin told the outlet. “Upon entering the country, this individual was referred for further inspection — a routine, lawful process that occurs daily, and can apply for any traveler. Once his inspection was complete, he was promptly released.”
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The incident with Piker comes amid concerns that the Trump administration is targeting people with anti-Trump and pro-Palestinian views. In March, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist with a green card, after he led protests at Columbia University. And several days ago, a judge ordered the release of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts student the Trump administration detained after she co-authored a pro-Palestine op-ed.
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Brandon Lake, Goo Goo Dolls, Good Charlotte, Jennifer Holliday, Josh Groban, Kirk Franklin, Myles Smith, Patti LaBelle & all three Idol judges will also perform.
By
Katie Atkinson
Executive Digital Director, West Coast
A wide range of guest performers will hit the American Idol stage Sunday alongside this year's top 14 contestants ahead of the live crowning of the 2025 winner during the three-hour finale, Ryan Seacrest announced on Monday's (May 12) live episode.
Sunday's performers include: Brandon Lake, Goo Goo Dolls, Good Charlotte, Jennifer Holliday, Jessica Simpson, Josh Groban, Kirk Franklin, Myles Smith, Patti LaBelle and Salt-N-Pepa. In addition, Idol judges Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood and Lionel Richie will perform together, while artist in residence Jelly Roll will also hit the stage for a performance.
There's no word yet on what songs the guests will perform or with which of the season 23 finalists. The list of guest performers truly ranges genres and generations, including pop (Simpson and Smith), rock (Good Charlotte and Goo Goo Dolls), Christian and gospel (Lake and Franklin), adult contemporary (Groban), R&B (LaBelle), rap (Salt-N-Pepa) and Broadway (original Dreamgirls star Holliday). And of course country is well-represented on the judging panel by Underwood and Bryan, not to mention artist-in-residence Jelly Roll.
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Five contestants remain this season — Thunderstorm Artis, John Foster, Slater Nalley, Breanna Nix and Jamal Roberts — with two set to be eliminated on Monday's episode, leaving only a top three to compete for Sunday's crown. They'll give their final performances during Sunday's jam-packed finale.
The three-hour American Idol finale will air live Sunday coast-to-coast, starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The show is available to stream the next day on Hulu.
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On Monday, the fallen rap mogul's trial began in earnest with opening statements followed by testimony from two witnesses, with Cassie Ventura's testimony pushed to Tuesday.
By
Kevin Dolak
Day one of the second week of Sean “Diddy” Combs' federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial in Manhattan saw a flurry of activity, as the jury was finalized after an accusation of racial bias from the defense team. On Monday, the trial began in earnest with opening statements followed by testimony from two witnesses.
Combs — the 55-year-old rapper, producer and fashion mogul whose rags-to-riches-to-near-billionaire status New York fairytale came to an abrupt end last year with his arrest and a five-count indictment — stood up in the court on Monday morning when lead attorney Teny Geragos described him in her opening statements. The second lead defense attorney told the jury that Combs, accused by federal prosecutors of two decades of abuse of women, trafficking of sex workers, and turning his music and fashion empire into a criminal enterprise, is no saint and that he's by all accounts guilty of domestic abuse; but that's not what he's charged with and why he should be found innocent.
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On Monday, the day after Mother's Day, Combs' mother found her seat in the federal courtroom on the 24th floor in lower Manhattan. As she sat, her now-grey-haired-and-bearded son blew her a kiss. “Hi, mom, I love you,” he mouthed to her.
Before the jury was finalized, the defense lobbed a “Batson challenge” at the prosecution, essentially stating that the striking of eight Black potential jurors indicated the feds were excluding potential jurors based on demographic characteristics, such as race, gender, national origin, religion or sexual orientation. But the government was quick to shut this down, reading off the valid reasons the jurors in question were struck: one seemed favorably inclined toward 17 names she recognized might come up at the trial; another said he would miss out on 30 percent of his income by spending eight weeks on the jury, but didn't seem bothered, which suggested to the feds he may have an agenda. Judge Arun Subramanian overruled the Batson challenge and the jury was finalized.
“Sean Combs is a complicated man. But this is not a complicated case. This case is about love, jealousy, infidelity and money,” Geragos told the court, referring to what the defense says was the motivation of the women and alleged victims set to testify. “There has been a tremendous amount of noise around this case over the past year… It is time to cancel that noise.”
Combs has pleaded not guilty to all five counts in the indictment and says he has not committed any of the crimes of which he has been accused.
Prosecutor Emily Johnson spent significantly less time — about half an hour to Geragos' hour — laying out the feds' case against the fallen superstar to the jury: Over two decades, Combs conspired to use his business and loyal staff to stalk, harass and abuse via forced sex and drug use with male prostitutes, two women in his life — ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and a women he met in 2020 who is being referred to as Jane.
Johnson opened the case against Combs by telling what the feds say is a tale of one single night in the defendant's life: learning that Ventura was out with another man, he and a bodyguard went out to find them. In the process, the government says he woke and kidnapped one of his staffers and stalked his on-and-off girlfriend and when she was found, Combs “beat her brutally, kicking her in the back and flinging her around like a rag doll.” Other descriptions of his alleged abuse in court on Monday included an account of Combs tossing Ventura to the floor of a vehicle and stomping on her face, then directing a cover-up handled by his staff to ensure she stayed at home for a week while healing.
Ventura was allegedly forced, by Combs, into participating in “freak-offs,” mostly in hotel rooms where she was force fed drugs, primarily Ecstasy or MDMA, and engaged in sex with “dozens upon dozens” of male escorts over the years as Combs would masturbate as he looked on. Johnson said some “freak-offs” lasted days and participants required IV-drips to recover, Johnson told the jury. In a bid for coercive control over his girlfriend, Combs, who had signed Sunderland to his Bad Boy Records label for a 10-album deal (of which only one saw the light of day), threatened to ruin her music career by releasing videos of her engaging in sex with male escorts, the feds claim.
The second alleged victim, Jane, is a single mother whom Combs met in 2020 and dated among other romantic interests at the time. She is set to testify that she was also coerced into participating in “freak-offs” at the rap mogul's behest. When she discovered his other love interests were taken on trips and out for meals, Jane confronted him. Prosecutors say Combs beat her mercilessly in this moment, kicked down several doors as she ran and hid from him, then put her in a chokehold and kicked her to the ground before dashing off, late for a previously scheduled “freak-off.”
The defense told the jury that this is merely the story of a wealthy Black man with eccentric sexual proclivities and jealous women in his orbit who have become greedy for a piece of his fortune. Geragos, who repeated the defense's talking points several times over her hour-plus statement, put a fine point on the fact that Ventura did not file a police report but did file two multi-million dollar lawsuits against Combs. It was the next-day settlement of her suit by Combs that opened the floodgates for the river of civil lawsuits Combs now faces.
“I want you to ask yourself, how many millions of reasons does this witness, swearing to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, have to lie?” she asked the jury.At a point, Geragos boldly let the jury know that they'll witness the “closure” between Cassie and Combs when they see each other for the first time in six years.Following opening statements, two men took the stand on Monday afternoon: Israel Florez, a former security officer at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles who witnessed and filmed footage of the rap mogul's infamous 2016 assault on Ventura and Daniel Phillip, a male escort hired for a so-called “freak off.”
Jury members also saw the contentious footage brought by prosecutors of the hotel attack, in which Combs beats and kicks Ventura, then throws a hotel vase at her. Shown in court were two cellphone videos and three hotel surveillance videos related to the attack. Florez told the court that he recorded the hotel's video of the attack on his cellphone because he wanted to describe what he saw to his wife.
Florez also described the fear he felt Ventura was experiencing after the attack and that he believes he was offered a bribe from Combs when the mogul handed him a stack with a $100 bill on top. “Don't tell nobody,” Florez testified Combs told him. Florez recalled telling Combs, “I don't want your money. Just go back into your room.”
Phillips' testimony centered on the “freak-offs” he participated in with the couple; notably, the sexual marathons were mostly referred to as “hotel nights” by the defense. In 2012, the male stripper was invited by Ventura to meet the couple at the Gramercy Hotel in Manhattan, he explained. Wearing red lace lingerie when he arrived, Ventura first told him that she wanted to do something special for Combs. The night started with a baby oil massage, he told the court.The night, which led to him having sex with Ventura as Combs watched in a white robe, netted him a few thousand dollars and he was hired repeatedly to recreate the encounter, he said. At one point, he testified, Combs demanded that a photograph be taken of Phillip's driver's license; the sex worker testified that he saw this as an intimidation tactic. Another night, he says he witnessed Combs become violent with Sunderland, dragging her by the hair and slapping her in another room after she told him to “hold on a second.”
Following several objections during his questioning by the prosecution, defense attorney Xavier Donaldson went on the attack in cross-examining Phillip. Here it was revealed that he didn't even want money during his encounters with the couple, telling the court, ““In my head, I was just excited I was in this world and happy to be involved with people of such notoriety.”Ventura was expected to testify on Monday, but the two men's testimony carried the court to the end of the day. The trial was to resume at 9:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
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Dave Franco and Alison Brie were sued for copyright infringement over their body horror film Together
StudioFest accuses the couple of crafting the idea for the movie after declining to star in a similar-styled project Better Half
Both projects include a couple whose bodies fuse together
Dave Franco and Alison Brie are being sued for copyright infringement for their 2025 body horror film Together.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday, May 13 by production company StudioFest alleges that Together is a "blatant rip-off" of Better Half, while also claiming Franco, 39, and Brie, 42, penned a script for Together alongside writer-director Michael Shanks after declining to star in the studio's 2023 Sundance indie film, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.
Both Better Half and Together feature supernatural elements including a couple's body fusing together.
Named in the complaint are costars and producers Franco and Brie; Michael Shanks; WME, which represents all three; as well as Neon, the film's distributor.
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"This is not a generic comedic trope — it is a highly specific, artistic choice that plays out in a nearly identical fashion with both works framing the scene using a visual shot of the minor character's feet peeking out from just outside the door,” the complaint states, per those outlets.
"Defendants used the same combination of the awkward physical attachment, the urgency to remain hidden, and the romantic subtext of the looming outsider to achieve a substantially similar feel," the complaint adds.
A WME Spokesperson responded in a statement, "This lawsuit is frivolous and without merit. The facts in this case are clear and we plan to vigorously defend ourselves,"
PEOPLE has reached out to representatives of all other parties for comment.
NEON
Together marks the latest film that spouses Franco and Brie, who have been married since 2017. have starred together in. They've previously worked together iThe Little Hours, The Disaster Artist, Horse Girl and The Rental. Franco also directed Brie in Somebody I Used to Know.
During an interview with PEOPLE at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival in Austin, Texas in March, Brie told husband Franco that working with him is "very attractive."
“I am always so in awe of you when we're on set together,” added the Community alum, who has been married to Franco since 2017.
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Claims that spruce trees synchronize their responses to a solar eclipse were widely reported recently — but many researchers are sceptical of the results.
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The idea that trees communicate with each other during an eclipse and synchronize their behavior — as has been widely reported recently — is a compelling one. The fascinating idea sprang out of research detecting bioelectric signals in spruce trees (Picea abies) in Italy's Dolomite mountains during a 2-hour-long partial solar eclipse. But many researchers aren't convinced, saying the number of trees studied is tiny and that there are more plausible explanations for the results.
Some 6,600 feet (2,000 meters) above sea level, Alessandro Chiolerio, a physicist at the Italian Institute of Technology, Monica Gagliano, an ecologist at Southern Cross University in Australia, and their colleagues attached remote sensors to three healthy spruce trees — two of about 70 years old and the other around 20 years old — and to five tree stumps.
The sensors were there to detect electrical currents created when charged molecules travel through the cells of living organisms.
"Our results demonstrated that spruce trees exhibited synchronized changes in their bioelectrical activity in anticipation of a solar eclipse," Gagliano told Live Science. "Remarkably, this synchronization began several hours before the eclipse occurred, suggesting not just a passive reaction to darkness but an active, anticipatory response."
"The strongest signs of this early response were observed in older trees, hinting at a memory-like capacity linked to their age and environmental history," she said. "This study provides the first evidence that trees in a forest can behave as a coordinated collective system — functioning more like an integrated network than just as isolated individuals."
So, what exactly is going on in this work published April 30 in Royal Society Open Science, and how seriously should we take it?
"There is strong concern among my colleagues that this paper was published," James Cahill, a plant ecologist at the University of Alberta in Canada, told Live Science. "The paper doesn't meet what I would say are the basic standards needed for science. Its sample size is three, which is very low and they have a super large number of variables that they're testing — over 10 — and you're always going to find a pattern if you do something like that."
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Related: Tropical tree in Panama has evolved to kill its 'enemies' with lightning
Many plants and animals respond to the day-night cycles of light and dark, so plants responding to approaching darkness shouldn't be a surprise, he said.
"If you turn off the lights in a greenhouse at or at night, every plant will show reduced water transpiration and reduced photosynthesis. Is that coordination?" asked Cahill. This would also alter their bioelectrical signals, and every biological material has bioelectrical signals, he added, so there's nothing fancy in detecting changes to these.
It's also unlikely there's an evolutionary survival advantage to responding to an eclipse, Cahill pointed out, given how briefly and infrequently they occur. Instead, he thinks the plants are responding with capabilities that have evolved for a different reason. "It is very easy to imagine that sensory systems evolved for other purposes that are then hijacked in an eclipse. Plants respond to darkness and an eclipse causes darkness. But it doesn't mean that the eclipse caused the response to darkness."
And when it comes to the bioelectrical signals changing before the eclipse rather than during it, there's also a simple possible answer, he said. "Plants have elaborate sensory systems for detecting light and a lot of plants can detect UV light and blue light changes and those tend to come first across the horizon. A lot of plants will start changing their photosynthetic machinery before sunrise," said Cahill. "I'm not sure this is anything different."
"It's disappointing that this paper is getting so much press because it's just an idea and there's not much here other than assertion," said Cahill. "This could have been replicated, it should be replicated. There's no understanding of why they are focusing on electrical signals instead of the photosynthetic rate. They also didn't compare this to just night and day, which is the obvious thing to do and that's very worrisome to me."
Other researchers approached by Live Science said similar things. "I don't think anything can be concluded from an experiment that does not include replicates," Justine Karst, a forest ecologist at the University of Alberta in Canada, told Live Science.
Researchers in the field are also skeptical about the idea that older trees responded more strongly.
There are three living trees in the study and there are assertions about young versus old, said Cahill, "but they only have one young plant and it's in a different site. And it's not even young, it's 20 years old."
Asked about the small sample size, Chiolerio told Live Science how difficult it was to spend whole days working at almost 7,000 feet above sea level to attach sensors to trees when temperatures go down to 5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 15 degrees Celsius).
"Due to the complexity of the field setup — monitoring trees 24/7 in alpine conditions — we focused on a small number of carefully selected individuals. Despite the sample size, the data were robust and consistent across trees and sites," said Gagliano. "Still, this is an early study, and we view it as a foundation for broader research."
Karst compared the new findings to experimental studies that seemed to reveal a wood-wide web in which trees communicate and share resources via underground networks of mycorrhizal fungi. She was a co-author of work published in 2023 showing that there was insufficient evidence for the idea.
"I hoped that after the wood-wide web fell apart, journalists would be more skeptical about research claiming that 'trees talk'," said Karst.
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Cahill is in favor of studying plant behavior to probe whether these organisms have cognition — he is doing work in that area himself — but says the level of evidence needs to be very high before claims are made.
"How would we test cognition in plants? I'm sympathetic to the idea of a different approach, but papers like this make it really hard to do very strong science in a controversial area," said Cahill. "It's very disappointing because the Royal Society has had a great reputation. But this should not be published."
In response to questions about the study's publication, The Royal Society Open Science sent Live Science the following comment.
"All research published by Royal Society Open Science goes through thorough peer review before being accepted."
They also noted the role post-publication discussion plays in their process.
"We encourage academic debate and constructive criticism of the research published in our journals. Any reader is able to submit a comment on research published in Open Science, this will be peer reviewed and published alongside an invited reply from the original authors."
Editor's Note: This story was updated at 1:10 p.m. EDT to include comment from the Royal Society Open Science.
Chris Simms is a freelance journalist who previously worked at New Scientist for more than 10 years, in roles including chief subeditor and assistant news editor. He was also a senior subeditor at Nature and has a degree in zoology from Queen Mary University of London. In recent years, he has written numerous articles for New Scientist and in 2018 was shortlisted for Best Newcomer at the Association of British Science Writers awards.
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A security camera near Thazi, Myanmar, captured the earth cracking during a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in March.
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A video showing the ground tearing apart in a major earthquake in Myanmar in March may be the first of its kind.
The video captures a ground rupture, the ripping of Earth's crust all the way up to the surface, during a major earthquake. The magnitude 7.7 quake struck on March 28 at 12:50 p.m. local time and was felt as far away as Thailand. Nearly 5,500 people died.
The video, posted on Facebook by Singaporean engineer Htin Aung, comes from GP Energy Myanmar's Thapyawa solar farm, located near the town of Thazi, according to Aung's post. The feed is centered on a concrete-and-metal gate, which shudders and slides open as the earth begins to move. About 14 seconds into the video, a crack opens across the driveway and yard outside the gate, with the ground literally pulling apart.
"It's really kind of unsettling," said John Vidale, a seismologist at the University of Southern California Dornsife. Vidale told Live Science he knew of no other videos that show such a ground rupture. Rick Aster, a geophysicist at Colorado State University, concurred.
"To my knowledge, this is the best video we have of a throughgoing surface rupture of a very large earthquake," Aster told Live Science.
The Myanmar quake occurred on the Sagaing Fault between the Burma and Sunda tectonic plates, two minor tectonic plates. This fault slices through central Myanmar in a straight line, north to south. It's a transform fault, just like California's famous San Andreas, where the two plates move side by side against each other.
The epicenter of the Myanmar quake, where the fault rupture started, was north of the location in the video, near the city of Mandalay. This rupture then propagated both north and south, cracking the ground all along the fault line.
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"The actual segment of the Earth that is slipping side to side goes from the surface down to maybe 20 or 30 kilometers [12 to 19 miles] depth," Aster said. Below that, the crust still moves, but the crust is more malleable and deforms rather than cracks.
The shaking first seen in the video comes from the earthquake waves that speed out from the rupturing crack, Vidale said. Then, the rupture itself arrives.
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Seismologists get good measurements of such ruptures from seismic stations that use GPS to quantify even tiny movements of the crust. They also often do fieldwork to find evidence of ruptures after they happen, Aster said. "But we don't really understand the dynamics of what happened, exactly how things move," he said. The video might be useful for researchers who are trying to understand those unusual dynamics.
"I have no doubt that seismologists will take a very close look at this," Aster said. "It will probably lead to some kind of a publication at some point, if the location and other details can be sorted out."
Live Science reached out to Aung and to GP Energy Myanmar and will update this story with further details, if available.
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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A man who spent 14 years with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has shared a never-before-seen video of a UFO that was spotted in the Arizona sky. In his duties with the CBP, Army veteran Bob Thompson was part of the Tucson, Arizona sector's special operations detachment mobile response team and was tasked with coordinating airspace along the border. During those 14 years, he reports witnessing numerous objects in the sky that he could not explain.
“I've seen orbs that were off in the distance. I've seen crafts that were cigar-shaped, I've seen triangles,” Thompson told Reality Check with Ross Coulthart on NewsNation. He added that he had personally spoken to “at least 100” border agents who had witnessed anomalous objects.
He gave one example where “small triangles that were flying over agents” that showed no visible means of propulsion. He also discussed “a very large triangle” that an agent who was near Yuma, Arizona out on patrol saw fly over him. “The way he described it was at least 100 feet maybe 50 to 100 feet wide, silent, flying right over him,” said Thompson.
One video Thompson and Coulthart discussed was taken in November 2019 by an infrared camera on a RC-26B surveillance aircraft that was tracking a group of people who had crossed the border illegally in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Area. Thompson says that it appeared to show a UFO he says was almost shaped like a rubber duck. That UFO's thermal signature also didn't match known planes or drones.
“They seemed to think it was searching for something,” Thompson said.
In another video shot in May of 2021 and known as “La Bruja,” Bob Thompson says shows a shape that almost appeared humanoid in the Tohono O'odham Nation reservation.
The new never-before-seen UFO video that Thompson shared reveals a short, cylindrical object moving quickly without any visible wings or propellers, nicknamed “The Cigar.” That video was shot by a Customs and Border Patrol reconnaissance plane in the same vicinity where the rubber duck video was taken.
“There's obviously something going on in Arizona along the border areas, more than just illegal immigration,” said Thompson. “No one likes to talk about it freely. I think it's just still a taboo subject.”
Are all of these UFO sightings made by Bob Thompson and other U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents part of the ongoing mystery known as the “Phoenix Lights?” That's what he and others are trying to find out.
An object collided with the canopy of an F-16 Viper, a $63 million frontline multirole fighter, causing temporarily grounding the aircraft.
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Kapil Kajal
Stock image of F-16s.
Maikel de Vaan/iStock
Recent disclosures from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) documents reportedly confirm a troubling pattern of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) sightings over Arizona's US Air Force training ranges.
These encounters, some involving swarms of fast-moving objects, have been reported by active-duty pilots and raise operational, strategic, and homeland security concerns, according to NewsNation.
In one documented incident, an object collided with the canopy of an F-16 Viper, a $63 million frontline multirole fighter, causing physical damage and temporarily grounding the aircraft.
While the object's origin remains officially undetermined, defense insiders and border intelligence analysts are increasingly pointing to high-tech cartel-operated drones as a plausible source of the disruption.
Luis Elizondo, the former director of the Pentagon's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), testified before Congress and has monitored these anomalies closely.
Speaking to NewsNation, he said, “There has been a lot of activity, particularly on the Arizona border. A lot of people are reporting a lot of things.”
The correlation between these reports and the southern border's escalating drone activity is not lost on intelligence professionals.
Cartels have been documented using aerial drones for over a decade, initially for smuggling narcotics in small payloads of around 11 to 22 pounds (5 to 10 kilograms).
However, the evolution of drone technology, particularly the integration of advanced French and Russian agricultural UAVs, has allowed stealthier reconnaissance missions that are difficult to intercept with current US counter-UAS systems.
“Now we're seeing drones used as scouting patrols, to watch Border Patrol,” explained Ali Bradley, NewsNation's border correspondent.
“The technology they are using, we cannot intercept like we did with Chinese drones. These platforms are quieter, faster, and often fly under the radar.”
The strategic rationale is clear: persistent surveillance of US border operations provides cartels with a critical intelligence advantage.
“That's their MO,” said Bradley. “Their number one priority is to stay one step ahead of us. What better way to do that than by infiltrating airspace around military installations?”
Former acting ICE Director Tom Homan has also pointed to a growing intelligence nexus between cartel operations and transnational surveillance.
The use of drones for real-time reconnaissance over US soil, especially near sensitive military zones, marks a paradigm shift like cartel tactics.
Similar incidents have been observed beyond Arizona.
In late 2024, mysterious drone sightings over New Jersey caused alarm across multiple counties.
Despite weeks of investigation, authorities could not determine the aircraft's origin or operators.
“They don't know where the drones are coming from. They don't know who's doing it,” said New Jersey State Assemblyman Brian Bergen at the time. “But they say there is no credible threat.”
Journalists such as NewsNation's Rich McHugh personally observed the drones during field reports, describing them as “definitely not an airplane, but what was it?”
The Department of Defense has yet to provide a conclusive public statement. However, internal assessments reportedly acknowledge the growing difficulty in detecting, identifying, and neutralizing low-signature UAVs operating in civilian and restricted military airspace.
As technology proliferates and adversaries evolve, the United States may face a new front in asymmetric aerial warfare, where criminal syndicates, not nation-states, conduct intelligence operations over sovereign airspace with near-impunity.
Kapil Kajal Kapil Kajal is an award-winning journalist with a diverse portfolio spanning defense, politics, technology, crime, environment, human rights, and foreign policy. His work has been featured in publications such as Janes, National Geographic, Al Jazeera, Rest of World, Mongabay, and Nikkei. Kapil holds a dual bachelor's degree in Electrical, Electronics, and Communication Engineering and a master's diploma in journalism from the Institute of Journalism and New Media in Bangalore.
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An object collided with the canopy of an F-16 Viper, a $63 million frontline multirole fighter, causing temporarily grounding the aircraft.
20 hours ago
a day ago
a day ago
a day ago
a day ago
a day ago
a day ago
a day ago
a day ago
a day ago
22 minutes ago
2 hours ago
2 hours ago
4 hours ago
5 hours ago
5 hours ago
6 hours ago
6 hours ago
6 hours ago
6 hours ago
Kapil Kajal
Stock image of F-16s.
Maikel de Vaan/iStock
Recent disclosures from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) documents reportedly confirm a troubling pattern of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) sightings over Arizona's US Air Force training ranges.
These encounters, some involving swarms of fast-moving objects, have been reported by active-duty pilots and raise operational, strategic, and homeland security concerns, according to NewsNation.
In one documented incident, an object collided with the canopy of an F-16 Viper, a $63 million frontline multirole fighter, causing physical damage and temporarily grounding the aircraft.
While the object's origin remains officially undetermined, defense insiders and border intelligence analysts are increasingly pointing to high-tech cartel-operated drones as a plausible source of the disruption.
Luis Elizondo, the former director of the Pentagon's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), testified before Congress and has monitored these anomalies closely.
Speaking to NewsNation, he said, “There has been a lot of activity, particularly on the Arizona border. A lot of people are reporting a lot of things.”
The correlation between these reports and the southern border's escalating drone activity is not lost on intelligence professionals.
Cartels have been documented using aerial drones for over a decade, initially for smuggling narcotics in small payloads of around 11 to 22 pounds (5 to 10 kilograms).
However, the evolution of drone technology, particularly the integration of advanced French and Russian agricultural UAVs, has allowed stealthier reconnaissance missions that are difficult to intercept with current US counter-UAS systems.
“Now we're seeing drones used as scouting patrols, to watch Border Patrol,” explained Ali Bradley, NewsNation's border correspondent.
“The technology they are using, we cannot intercept like we did with Chinese drones. These platforms are quieter, faster, and often fly under the radar.”
The strategic rationale is clear: persistent surveillance of US border operations provides cartels with a critical intelligence advantage.
“That's their MO,” said Bradley. “Their number one priority is to stay one step ahead of us. What better way to do that than by infiltrating airspace around military installations?”
Former acting ICE Director Tom Homan has also pointed to a growing intelligence nexus between cartel operations and transnational surveillance.
The use of drones for real-time reconnaissance over US soil, especially near sensitive military zones, marks a paradigm shift like cartel tactics.
Similar incidents have been observed beyond Arizona.
In late 2024, mysterious drone sightings over New Jersey caused alarm across multiple counties.
Despite weeks of investigation, authorities could not determine the aircraft's origin or operators.
“They don't know where the drones are coming from. They don't know who's doing it,” said New Jersey State Assemblyman Brian Bergen at the time. “But they say there is no credible threat.”
Journalists such as NewsNation's Rich McHugh personally observed the drones during field reports, describing them as “definitely not an airplane, but what was it?”
The Department of Defense has yet to provide a conclusive public statement. However, internal assessments reportedly acknowledge the growing difficulty in detecting, identifying, and neutralizing low-signature UAVs operating in civilian and restricted military airspace.
As technology proliferates and adversaries evolve, the United States may face a new front in asymmetric aerial warfare, where criminal syndicates, not nation-states, conduct intelligence operations over sovereign airspace with near-impunity.
Kapil Kajal Kapil Kajal is an award-winning journalist with a diverse portfolio spanning defense, politics, technology, crime, environment, human rights, and foreign policy. His work has been featured in publications such as Janes, National Geographic, Al Jazeera, Rest of World, Mongabay, and Nikkei. Kapil holds a dual bachelor's degree in Electrical, Electronics, and Communication Engineering and a master's diploma in journalism from the Institute of Journalism and New Media in Bangalore.
Stay up-to-date on engineering, tech, space, and science news with The Blueprint.
By clicking sign up, you confirm that you accept this site's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
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If you're a fan of chaos, you surely loved what went down in the NBA Draft Lottery on Monday night. The Dallas Mavericks, on just a 1.8% chance, secured the No. 1 pick. The San Antonio Spurs and the Philadelphia 76ers -- who both were long shots to get top-three picks -- followed at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
Here is the 2025 NBA Draft order for the top 10 picks:
And with that settled, let's take a look at some of the big winners and losers on lottery night.
The Mavericks have to be thanking their lucky stars that they lost to the Grizzlies in their last Play-In Tournament game. If they win that game, they fall out of the lottery all for the right to get blasted in the first round by top-seeded OKC.
Instead, they lose that game, and give themselves a 1.8% chance of landing the No. 1 pick. It wasn't much. About like betting on the longest shot at the Kentucky Derby. But I'll be damned if that horse didn't come through, and suddenly a team that traded Luka Dončić, then saw Kyrie Irving blow his ACL, and was right about at the edge of needing to blow the whole thing up, finds itself in prime position to build an immediate contender.
The Mavericks have all kinds of options now. They can just draft Cooper Flagg, a player who's probably ready to contribute on a contender right away (sort of like a Chet Holmgren) and who also while locks in Dallas' future as the sort of two-way building block Nico Harrison can't stop telling the world he covets. If Kyrie Irving can come back around January, which Dallas is optimistic about, an Irving-Flagg-Anthony Davis trio with shooters and a bunch of defenders around them is, dare I say, probably a more complete and capable team than one that was going to be led by Dončić.
Or, the Mavericks can put the No. 1 pick on the open market and see what comes back. Giannis Antetokounmpo is going to be up for discussion. Everyone knows that by now. Can you imagine a Kyrie-Davis-Giannis trio? This is absolutely crazy how this has flipped, on a 1.8% chance, from a franchise on fire to a top-tier contender that has stumbled onto an almost impossible pathway to both short- and long-term success.
The nightmare scenario for Flagg, the almost guaranteed top overall pick, was to end up with the Wizards. Of the three teams with the highest odds to get the No. 1 pick, the Hornets would've palatable if only for the chance to team up with LaMelo Ball, and the Jazz are in good hands with Danny Ainge and figure to be capable of building a small-market winner. Going to Washington would've been the worst.
But now Flagg doesn't have to mess with any of those losing teams. He's either heading to a good team in the Mavericks with a chance to compete right away or he's going to be in a trade, perhaps to Milwaukee, which is fading as a desirable destination but, alas, isn't Washington. Good night for Flagg.
After signing Paul George with the expectation that it would catapult it into top-tier contention, Philadelphia saw its season turn into an unmitigated disaster. Joel Embiid only played in 19 games. George only played in 41 and wasn't even close to good enough even in that limited action to justify his four-year, $212M price tag.
When the Sixers finally gave up on winning and turned their attention to upping their lottery odds as high as possible, the only thing that could salvage their season was landing a top-six pick. If they landed anywhere outside the top six, they would've lost the pick to OKC.
Not only did Philly stay in the top six, it landed the No. 3 overall pick. Once we knew it was in the running for Flagg, sure, it's a little bit of a disappointment that it didn't get No. 1. But beggars can't be choosers. This is a deep draft and Philadelphia can do a lot with the No. 3 pick, either with a quality young player or, perhaps more likely, as a trade asset. Big night for the Sixers.
The Spurs are their way up, up, up baby. Two years ago they drafted Victor Wembanyama, who feels destined to be one of the greatest players ever barring injury. Last year they got Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle. And now they land the No. 2 pick in this summer's draft despite coming in with just a 6.3% chance of that happening.
Just like the Mavericks and Sixers above, the Spurs now have the option of using this pick on yet another young prospect as they build toward one of most promising futures in the league, or they can use it as a trade asset to hit the fast-forward button on their contention timeline.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is in play here. San Antonio has the draft assets, young players and matching money to make something happen. Gregg Popovich, now officially off the sidelines and into the top front-office spot, has a major decision to make with this pick, and all the options sound pretty damn good.
There were a few teams who started out the season trying to win and went to the tank late, notably the 76ers, Spurs and Pelicans. But the teams that were on the tank from the start, whose sole mission all season was to lose enough games to win the lottery, came up bust.
That would be the Charlotte Hornets, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards, who finished with the three worst records in the league and thus shared the highest odds (14.5% each) of winning the lottery. They fell to No. 4, 5 and 6, respectively.
If you're a team without absolutely no chance of competing for a playoff spot, and even more if you're not what we've come to refer to as a destination franchise that can build a winner through free agency, tanking still makes sense. But it has not proven to be a path to the No. 1 pick.
In fact, since the league smoothed its lottery odds in 2019, the team with the worst overall record has never won the No. 1 pick. This year that team was the Jazz, who fell to No. 5. Unbelievably, this is actually the third straight year that the league's worst team has landed the No. 5 pick. It happened to the Pistons in both 2023 and 2024. The Wizards, in particular, literally fell to the lowest spot possible, No. 6, for a team with a bottom-three record.
Finally something didn't go Oklahoma City's way in the draft. Nobody's crying for the Thunder, who still have a treasure trove of assets in addition to one of the most talented and youngest rosters in the league, but had they added another lottery pick here, in this draft, it would've been too crazy to deal with. Good on the Thunder, who have made their own luck, but at least a little bit of it ran out on Monday.
This guy was about to go into witness protection after trading Dončić for, relatively speaking, a pathetic return, only to watch Anthony Davis get immediately injured and Kyrie Irving tear his ACL. This guy was done in Dallas. And the next thing you know he steps in you know what and lands Cooper Freaking Flagg -- who, just to repeat everything from above, can either be Dallas' future franchise player or its ticket to Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Players like Luka might come around every couple decades. If that. When you just give one away, as Harrison and the Mavericks did, you are signing up for the possibility that a player like that will never wear your uniform again. But Harrison, on a 1.8% prayer, gets gifted a basketball miracle to start the cover-up process for what will always be one of the dumbest trades in sports history. Absolutely unbelievable.
If you like to trumpet NBA conspiracy theories -- that the league rigs playoff games, lottery spots, et cetera for business purposes -- then Monday night was your time to shine.
Let's be honest, the league did not want to see Cooper Flagg dying a slow basketball death in Washington or Charlotte or even Utah. It was also watching the Mavericks, a pretty premier franchise, go up in flames. It also has every incentive to make the Spurs as good as possible, as quickly as possible, to maximize the marketing bonanza that Victor Wembanyama stands to be. And clearly the Sixers, another high-profile team, getting a top pick to put a tourniquet on their bleed out is in the best interest of the league.
And what do you know, against extraordinary odds ... it all happened. Not one of those things. Not two of those things. All of them. The Mavericks, with a 1.8% chance, landed the No. 1 pick. The Spurs, with a 13% chance, landed a top-two pick. The Sixers, with a 31.6% chance, landed a top-three pick.
Put all those outcomes together, and the chances of it happening are miniscule. And it came to fruition. Do with that what you will.
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The 2000s were a television golden age for both cable and network programming. While prestige dramas like The Sopranos and Breaking Bad produced legendary antiheroes navigating shades of gray with grit and realism, genre shows such as Lost and Supernatural escalated the stakes, exploring similar themes by transforming characters into literal deities. It was a bold narrative dichotomy, challenging viewers with network episodic television like never before.
As several memorable shows mined these moral extremes, one actor moved between these cosmic extremes with precision: Mark Pellegrino. The veteran character actor performed a rare spiritual twofer in the late 2000s, embodying both divine protector and fallen angel across two genre-defining series. As Jacob, the actor watched over the Lost island with a relaxed yet all-powerful presence, while his Lucifer terrorized Supernatural with a mellow, patient menace. It's an underappreciated acting feat, and it's high time it gets celebrated.
Lost, ABC's groundbreaking mid-aughts TV drama, famously followed survivors of a plane crash stranded on a mysterious island with supernatural tendencies. Throughout the five Lost seasons, characters and audiences mined clues and symbols to unravel the program's many mysteries and faith-based inspirations. When Pellegrino finally appeared as Jacob, a heavily hinted-at character before his debut in the Season 5 finale, audiences got a proxy to address these thematic and plot-forward puzzles head-on.
Throughout its six season, Lost introduced massive and mind-blowing plot twists changing the show in irrevocable ways and these are some of the best.
Pelligrino's mysterious island protector emerged not like an almighty deity but like a gentle paternal presence. Pellegrino spoke softly and moved deliberately, plucking inspiration from the oldest source material of all: the Bible. The Lost producers described the character as a "Christ-like carpenter figure." Pellegrino took their direction literally, creating a character whose divinity came not from grandeur but from humility.
I approached Jacob as Jesus the carpenter. Jesus in the crowds, Jesus with the people. He looks at you and he can see into you. And you feel like you are being penetrated by him and that he knows you. Yet he is simple and unassuming, and that's kinda the way I felt about Jacob. If he does something miraculous it's simple. And he can see into you, he's got the wisdom to see what you are about and see into your soul.
- Mark Pelligrino
Key Jacob Moments in Lost:
-First appearance in Season 5 finale "The Incident"
-Meeting with the Man in Black on the beach
-Flashbacks showing Jacob's interactions with main characters
-Final appearance in Season 6's "What They Died For"
What makes the performance significant isn't technical virtuosity but tonal control. Jacob carries the burden of immortality without broadcasting it. He maintains cosmic balance while appearing unremarkable. The result confused some viewers and critics. Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker complained that Pellegrino made Jacob "more of a pious simp than a sturdy conveyor of Lost wisdom." Others recognized something more nuanced—a world-weary guardian tired of human folly but bound to protect it anyway.
Supernatural, The CW's super-long-running fantasy-horror series, followed brothers Sam and Dean Winchester as they hunted monsters across America. After years of build-up, Supernatural Season 5 introduced a climactic event befitting its title: the literal biblical apocalypse, catalyzed by Lucifer being freed from Hell, seeking to destroy humanity. What followed was another Pellgrino masterclass.
Two years after Jacob's introduction, Pellegrino stepped into another metaphysical archetype, albeit on the opposite side of the sanctity spectrum. Joining another rabid fan-base-boasting program, Supernatural, Pelligrino played Lucifer himself. Though the role showcased the actor as a dynamo, Pellegrino's Satan didn't rely on scenery-chewing excess like most do. Instead, he built something more disturbing: a calm, collected Devil with legitimate grievances, not so far removed from Jacob in Lost. His Lucifer didn't rage, but rather pervaded and persuaded.
The Supernatural series finale divided fans, but four years before then, it had the perfect ending for Sam and Dean Winchester with "Alpha and Omega."
Jacob (Lost)
Lucifer (Supernatural)
Protect the island
Revenge against God
Patient, calm
Witty, resentful
Distant observer
Active manipulator
Subtle, restrained
Direct, intimidating
Key Lucifer Moments in Supernatural:
-First appearance in Season 5 episode "The End"
-Confrontation with Castiel in "Abandon All Hope"
-The garden scene with Sam in "The Devil You Know"
-Apocalyptic showdown in Season 5 finale "Swan Song"
-Return from The Cage in Season 11's "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
-Final comeuppance in Season 13's "Let the Good Times Roll"
Pellegrino found an unexpected approach to playing the supreme evil: making him empathetic. "Lucifer's problem is very human," he told Smashing Interviews. "After being betrayed by his father and his brother, he wants revenge. That's a pretty down-to-earth issue." The grounded interpretation transformed biblical evil into relatable angst, subverting the usual Satan depiction and helping etch Pellegrino's name into the annals of genre television history.
Despite the ethical polarity of Jacob and Lucifer, Pellegrino portrays them as fundamentally similar. Both are calmly resolute, devoted to their causes. Both gently manipulate characters, occupying the margins and operating unseen, all to achieve their brand of cosmic balance. Both represent god-like forces that trump human understanding, but still endure recognizably human emotion.
"Sometimes what appears to be evil on the outside may not be, and vice versa." - Mark Pellegrino, AOL TV
Pellegrino brought immediate authority to both of his mythic roles. That natural presence the 6'4" Pellegrino enjoys works to his advantage; Jacob needed only to stand still to command attention. Lucifer's presence implied an invasion of personal space without overacting or active intimidation, thanks to Pellgrino's imposing figure and subtly insidious demeanor. Both characters possess quiet power but deploy it to achieve opposite ends.
"They were very different takes on the world and not so different takes on how to go about getting what you want because I think Jacob was very mission-oriented as well. And wouldn't stop until he finished his experiment, so there was a certain synchronicity between the parts."
- Mark Pellegrino, DragonCon 2021
Supernatural introduced several characters in memorable ways that revealed to the audience who they truly are in a single scene.
In limited, late, or mid-series appearances as Jacob and Lucifer, Pellegrino became an embodiment of evidence that the distance between heaven and hell might not be so far after all. As two sides of the same cosmic coin, each convinced of its rightness, each blind to its flaws, Pellegrino's performances proved that morality is, mostly, about perspective. And though the actor hasn't headlined a prestige series or won major awards, his ability to transform archetypes into fully-realized beings makes him television's most unsung secret weapon—screentime and accolades be damned.
Supernatural and Lost are streaming on Hulu and Netflix.
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Two brothers follow their father's footsteps as hunters, fighting evil supernatural beings of many kinds, including monsters, demons, and gods that roam the earth.
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The survivors of a plane crash are forced to work together in order to survive on a seemingly deserted tropical island.
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Tassili n'Ajjer is a vast plateau in south-east Algeria at the borders of Libya, Niger and Mali, covering an area of 72,000 sq. km. The exceptional density of paintings and engravings, and the presence of many prehistoric vestiges, are remarkable testimonies to Prehistory. From 10,000 BC to the first centuries of our era, successive peoples left many archaeological remains, habitations, burial mounds and enclosures which have yielded abundant lithic and ceramic material. However, it is the rock art (engravings and paintings) that have made Tassili world famous as from 1933, the date of its discovery. 15,000 engravings have been identified to date.
Tassili n'Ajjer, located in a strange lunar landscape of great geological interest, this site has one of the most important groupings of prehistoric cave art in the world. More than 15,000 drawings and engravings record the climatic changes, the animal migrations and the evolution of human life on the edge of the Sahara from 6000 BC to the first centuries of the present era. The geological formations are of outstanding scenic interest, with eroded sandstones forming ‘forests of rock'.
Algeria's Sahara Desert, a barren and mysterious expanse spanning millions of square kilometers, reveals secrets that will forever change our view of the universe. Archaeologists and scientists who have conducted research in this remote region of southeastern Algeria continue to question the possibility of an extraterrestrial presence. This isn't the first time the Sahara has revealed buried treasure, dinosaur fossils, prehistoric tools, and ancient rivers hidden beneath the sand, but this time, the story goes beyond anything anyone could have imagined in the town of Sefar, in Tassili n'Ajjer (wilaya of Illizi, located 2,400 km south of Algiers, the capital).
The city of Sefar is the largest troglodyte city in the world (listed as a World Heritage Site since 1982), the largest open-air museum in the world, housing hundreds of thousands of engravings, drawings, and rock paintings, including the famous “Great Gods” and “Martians” of a very particular pictorial style, which are among the oldest and most enigmatic paintings in the world. The dating of these astonishing figures goes back to at least 12,000 years BCE, if not much earlier.
The transition from one cultural style to another should never be imagined as a clear and brief break. The Capsians of the Bubaline period (the Algerian Paleolithic), in the north, did not suddenly disappear to make way for the following ones, in the south. One can imagine a sort of cross-fade of images, like in the cinema, to give the impression that many inseparable events are occurring.
For some, perhaps an extraterrestrial visit to Earth in the distant past. Could the Sahara, once a verdant region crisscrossed by rivers and populated by life tens of thousands of years ago, have been a point of contact with a civilization from the stars?
Rabah Arkam
Human rights activist and Amazigh (Berber) identity cause in North Africa, defends democracy, freedom and secularism in Algeria, he is the author of several articles.
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