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Some fear that accepting grants from a little-known federal agency would open institutions up to scrutiny and control.
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A library in rural Alaska needed help providing free Wi-Fi and getting kids to read. A children's museum in Washington wanted to expand its Little Science Lab. And a World War I museum in Missouri had a raft of historic documents it needed to digitize. They received funding from a little-known federal agency before the Trump administration unsuccessfully tried to dismantle it last year.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is now accepting applications for its 2026 grant cycle. But this time, it has unusually specific criteria.
In cover letters accompanying the applications, the institute said it “particularly welcomes” projects that align with President Donald Trump's vision for America.
These would include those that foster an appreciation for the country “through uplifting and positive narratives,” the agency writes, citing an executive order that attacks the Smithsonian Institution for its “divisive, race-centered ideology.” (Trump has said the museum focused too much on “how bad slavery was.”) The agency also points to an executive order calling for the end of “the anti-Christian weaponization of government” and one titled Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again.
The solicitation marks a stark departure for the agency, whose guidelines were previously apolitical and focused on merit.
Former agency leaders from both political parties, as well as those of library, historical and museum associations, expressed concern that funded projects could encourage a more constrained or distorted view of American history. Some also feared that by accepting grants, institutions would open themselves up to scrutiny and control, like the administration's wide-ranging audit of Smithsonian exhibits “to assess tone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals.”
The new guidelines are “chilling,” said Giovanna Urist, who served as a senior program officer at the agency from 2021 to 2023. “I think that we just need to look at what's happening with the Smithsonian to know that the administration has a very specific goal in mind when it comes to controlling the voice of organizations and museums across the country.”
An agency spokesperson told ProPublica it is not unusual for the institute to publish directors' letters with grant applications, and that this one informs readers “about this Administration's thematic emphases in the semi-quincentennial year.” He did not comment on criticisms that those letters insert political themes into a historically nonpartisan program.
“Under President Trump's leadership, IMLS is working to revitalize our cultural institutions, urging less traditional applicants to consider working with us, and to promote civic pride and a deep sense of belonging among all Americans,” he said, adding that any institution that “meets programmatic requirements and goals” outlined in the funding opportunity “will receive all due consideration and undergo peer review.”
The spokesperson did not say how alignment with Trump's executive orders would be weighed in the selection process or address concerns about the administration's intrusion into funded institutions.
Established in 1996, the institute is the only dedicated source of federal support for libraries and one of the primary federal funders of museums and archives. Its long-running grant programs promote community engagement and public access to information, while bolstering institutions' ability to care for collections and prepare for disasters. One grant, named after former first lady Laura Bush, helps recruit and train library professionals.
Last March, Trump attempted to eliminate the agency through an executive order and fired director Cyndee Landrum, a career library professional. Attorneys general from 21 states and the American Library Association sued the Trump administration to block it from dismantling the agency; the courts have halted the efforts for now.
To head the agency, the administration appointed Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith E. Sonderling, who does not appear to have prior professional experience in museums or libraries. (An institute spokesperson didn't comment on concerns ProPublica passed along about this.) In a press release announcing his appointment as acting director, Sonderling said, “We will revitalize IMLS and restore focus on patriotism, ensuring we preserve our country's core values, promote American exceptionalism and cultivate love of country in future generations.”
Ten days later, he put nearly all of the agency's 75 employees on administrative leave, fired the board and rescinded some previously awarded grants.
The grants were reinstated under court order in December, and the agency is now accepting applications for 13 grants whose awards range from $5,000 to $1 million. According to Grants.gov, the agency now expects to award nearly 600 grants totaling more than $78 million.
ProPublica spoke with directors who ran the agency under every previous presidential administration dating back to Barack Obama's. Though each era brought different priorities, they said, those changes were implemented with input from the field — not by encouraging applicants to align their work with a president's worldview. With the new guidelines, they said, the administration is signaling a preference for certain types of projects and narratives.
Crosby Kemper III, a lifelong conservative Republican appointed by Trump to lead the agency in 2019, stayed on into President Joe Biden's term. While he was not a fan of the former president's emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion and feels that the library and museum fields needed a course correction from their natural lean to the left, he believes that what is coming out of the current Trump administration is not helpful.
“All these Trump executive orders — and I mean all of them — are just extensions of his own animus towards anybody who disagrees with him and his outsized ego,” said Kemper, who called the orders “nonsense” and the grant guidelines “horrific.” “It's clear the administration wants a whitewashed story, if you'll pardon the pun there. And that's wrong.”
Leaders of the American Historical Association, the American Library Association and the American Alliance of Museums warned that changes to the agency's grant language and recent funding actions have led to uncertainty across the field.
Among questions raised: Would the government revoke grants it had already awarded, as it did last year? Would accepting the money open up institutions to broader investigations, like the 52 universities scrutinized over their DEI practices? The institute spokesperson did not comment on either of those questions. Sarah Weicksel, the American Historical Association's executive director, said institutions are even worried about how they would be perceived if they took the funds. “They're wondering, is accepting the grant a sign that they accept the executive orders that have been laid out here?”
Questions also remain about whether enough staff is left to process the applications properly. The agency's $112 million budget for this year is roughly a third of the funding it has received in recent years. The agency did not answer a question about its current staffing, but in its most recent Congressional Budget Justification document, it requested support for 13 full-time employees. Former agency officials said that number is low, but that they trusted the remaining staffers to choose quality projects and, in the words of Kemper, “do the right thing.”
But staffers are only part of the process. Typically, each grant application is reviewed by volunteer library and museum experts. Susan Hildreth, who led the agency from 2011 to 2015, questions the lack of information about the current process on the agency's website. “I couldn't find it anywhere in the documentation,” she said. The institute spokesperson said the grant process remains the same as previous years.
Opinion polls consistently find that libraries and museums are among the most trusted public institutions in the country by Americans across the political spectrum, and Urist said they are trusted because of their independence. “When the federal government puts its thumb on that scale, it threatens the trustworthiness of these community anchors.”
Weicksel said it's important for the public to know how the administration is aiming to shape institutions essential to the nation's culture and ability to understand itself and its past. Patty Gerstenblith, distinguished research professor of Law at DePaul University, agreed, saying that the administration's actions raise serious First Amendment concerns.
“Certainly at a minimum,” Gerstenblith said, “people should know that the government is using its funding as a way of essentially coercing a different presentation of American history.”
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Live Updates
• US-Iran negotiations: Indirect nuclear talks between American and Iranian officials in Oman today were a “good start” and will continue at another time, according to Iran's foreign minister.
• Funding fight: Senate Majority Leader John Thune said conversations on the Department of Homeland Security funding bill will continue this weekend. The White House said Trump is willing to consider some of Democrats' demands for ICE reforms, but others are “non-starters.”
• Fulton County: Trump defended the involvement of spy chief Tulsi Gabbard in the controversial search of a Georgia elections office. Attorney General Pam Bondi declined to comment on whether she sent Gabbard, saying, “She was there, we are inseparable.”
• Outrage over video: Trump shared a racist video depicting the Obamas as apes, prompting a rare rebuke from the Senate's only Black Republican, Tim Scott, who called it “the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House.” It has since been deleted.
The US and Iran have agreed to hold follow-on discussions after consultations with their capitals following today's indirect talks in Oman, an outcome cautiously viewed as a positive result by both sides, according to source familiar.
The US delegation differed from the previous rounds of US-Iran talks, which took place before the US strike on Iranian nuclear sites last year. President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff led for the US previously, along with a small team that joined him over time, but Trump's son in law Jared Kushner was in the room this round, and US Central Command Commander Admiral Brad Cooper was part of the delegation.
Kushner had long been expected to join the discussions but Cooper's inclusion in the delegation was not expected far in advance, the source said. His presence marks the first time a senior US military official joined indirect talks with Iran during Trump's second term.
Some context: The Iranians grew frustrated with Witkoff over the course of last year's talks and some people involved believe that having new US players could lead to more productive discussions, the source said. Still, the talks' trajectory is yet to be determined, the source warned.
The location for the next round of talks is not yet set in stone but is likely to be Oman, the source said.
In terms of timing, that also remains unclear right now, the source said. Some people involved in the talks believe that slowing down the pace could allow for more robust negotiations to take place, they said.
The White House did not respond when asked for comment.
After the talks ended, in a sign that the US wants to keep up economic pressure, it rolled out new sanctions on Iranian oil and 14 vessels carrying it.
A racist video shared on President Donald Trump's Truth Social account has been deleted, with the White House now blaming a staffer for posting it late Thursday.
“A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down,” a senior White House official told CNN.
The post, which depicted former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as apes, remained online for roughly 12 hours before it was removed from Trump's Truth Social feed.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt initially downplayed the video in a statement Friday morning.
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,” she said. “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
Swift backlash: Politicians from both parties, including GOP Sen. Tim Scott and Rep. Mike Lawler, urged Trump to remove the post. A source familiar with the matter said GOP lawmakers had called Trump to discuss it with him.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday that the FBI has arrested a “key participant” behind the 2012 Benghazi terror attack in Benghazi, Libya.
US Ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed in the September 11, 2012 attack along with State Department employee Sean Smith and Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods are killed in the attack.
“We have never forgotten those heroes, and we have never stopped seeking justice for that crime against our nation,” Bondi said.
The man accused landed in the United States early this morning, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday morning. A plane that departed Misrata, Libya, on Thursday landed at the Manassas Regional Airport in Virginia at 3 a.m. Friday morning, according to flight data reviewed by CNN.
The man, Zubayar Al-Bakoush, will face charges including murder, attempted murder, terrorism, and arson, Bondi said.
Bakoush was charged eleven years ago, but the case remained sealed until his arrest Friday, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said. Her office will be leading the prosecution.
Read more about the arrest here.
Attorney General Pam Bondi declined to say whether she directed Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to go to the FBI search at an election center in Fulton County, Georgia.
“She was there, we are inseparable. That's all I can say,” Bondi said at a news conference.
Bondi added she is not worried that Gabbard's presence may have tainted evidence in their investigation.
She later noted FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey was “taking the lead” on the matter.
The administration has offered differing explanations for Gabbard's presence.
Here's what Deputy AG Todd Blanche told CNN earlier in the week:
GOP Sen. Tim Scott criticized President Donald Trump for sharing a racist video that depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes in a jungle, writing Friday that Trump “should remove it.”
“Praying it was fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House,” Scott, a South Carolina Republican and close Trump ally, wrote on X. “The President should remove it.”
The rare rebuke from Scott, who is the only Black Republican in the Senate and was once a vice presidential contender, came hours after Trump shared the video on Truth Social. The video promotes the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen and superimposes the Obamas' faces onto the bodies of apes.
Scott also chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, leading the effort to hold onto the GOP's Senate majority in the upcoming midterm elections.
The White House dismissed blowback over the video earlier Friday, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt calling it “fake outrage.”
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,” she said.
Indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States were a “positive and good start,” and the two sides agreed to continue the talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told local news outlets after talks concluded in the Omani capital of Muscat.
“There was a consensus on the continuation of the talks themselves. It was decided that this process would continue but the timing, manner, and date of that will be decided in the future,” Araghchi said.
Speaking to Iran's state news agency IRNA, Araghchi reiterated that the talks focused “solely” on the nuclear issue and “we did not discuss any other topics with the Americans.”
Araghchi added that Iran remains distrustful of the US, but if the negotiations continue with the “same view” from Washington, then a “framework” for future talks could be reached.
“But I do not want to judge now,” he said.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said both parties will make a decision on the next round of talks after consultations with their respective governments.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who mediated the negotiations, described the talks in a post on X as “very serious.”
“It was useful to clarify both Iranian and American thinking and identify areas for possible progress,” he wrote. “We aim to reconvene in due course, with the results to be considered carefully in Tehran and Washington.”
The US military conducted a strike against another alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean yesterday, killing two people, according to US Southern Command.
“On Feb. 5, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” SOUTHCOM wrote on X, adding that no US military personnel were harmed in the strike.
At least 119 people have now been killed in strikes on suspected drug boats as part of a campaign, dubbed Operation Southern Spear, that the Trump administration has said is aimed at curtailing narcotics trafficking.
Indirect talks between Iran and the United States in the Omani capital of Muscat have now ended, with a “willingness to continue,” according to Iranian state news agency IRNA.
Iranian state-affiliated news agency Tasnim said the two countries have agreed that talks will “continue at another time,” without specifying when.
Throughout the day, the Iranian and US delegations “conveyed views, considerations and approaches” through Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led the Iranian diplomatic delegation, while President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and special US envoy Steve Witkoff represented the US. The Commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM) Adm. Brad Cooper was also seen in attendance.
President Donald Trump shared a racist video on his social media platform that depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes in a jungle, sparking intense condemnation.
The Obamas briefly and suddenly appear near the end of the short video, which promotes false claims that voting machines helped steal the 2020 election, with their faces superimposed onto the bodies of apes. As the images appear, for about one second, the start of the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” plays in the background.
The post, which recalls the racist trope of comparing Black people with monkeys, prompted swift backlash. In a statement to CNN on Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the broader response to the video “fake outrage.”
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,” Leavitt said. “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
CNN has reached out to the Obamas for comment.
The office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned the video in a post on X, writing: “Disgusting behavior by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now.”
The incident is the latest example of Trump drawing criticism for sharing racist content on his social media platform.
Last year, the president posted an apparent AI video depicting Barack Obama being arrested in the Oval Office. Later last year, Trump and members of his administration also shared digitally altered images and videos of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a fake mustache and a sombrero, imagery Jeffries publicly described as racist.
Today, President Donald Trump will sign executive orders at 3 p.m. ET. As of now, this is closed to the press.
Later in the evening, the president will depart Washington, DC, en route to Palm Beach, Florida.
On Saturday: The president will meet with the president of Honduras at 3:30 p.m. ET, which is also closed to press.
On Sunday: At 6:30 p.m. ET, Trump is scheduled to attend a Super Bowl watch party, closed to press. The president is expected to return to the White House on Sunday night.
The commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), Admiral Brad Cooper, was seen attending meetings on Iran in Oman.
A video posted by the state-run Oman News Agency showed Cooper participating in talks between US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-la, Jared Kushner during their meetings with Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi.
Albusaidi is mediating between the United States and Iran in the indirect negotiations.
Russia and the United States “recognize the need to begin negotiations” on the issue of the lapsed nuclear monitoring treaty, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a news briefing today.
Peskov also described this week's trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US, hosted by the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi, as “both constructive and challenging.”
Asked if Russia was negotiating a short-term extension to the New START treaty with the US, Peskov said: “The provisions can be formally extended; informal extensions in this area are unlikely.”
“But there is an understanding, and this was also discussed in Abu Dhabi, that both sides will take responsible positions, and both sides recognize the need to begin negotiations on this issue as soon as possible,” Peskov added.
The landmark New START treaty, which capped the nuclear arsenals of both the US and Russia, expired on Thursday, renewing fears about a nuclear arms race between the two biggest nuclear superpowers.
US President Donald Trump said yesterday that the US should negotiate a new and improved nuclear treaty with Russia instead of agreeing to a treaty extension.
“Rather than extend ‘NEW START'(A badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved, and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Ahead of high-stakes talks with the US on Friday, Iran's foreign minister said his country “enters diplomacy with open eyes and a steady memory of the past year.”
“We engage in good faith and stand firm on our rights,” Abbas Araghchi wrote on X hours before the talks.
The talks are the first official meeting between the two sides since the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites last year and come amid heightened tensions.
“Commitments need to be honored. Equal standing, mutual respect and mutual interest are not rhetoric—they are a must and the pillars of a durable agreement,” Araghchi wrote.
Araghchi also met his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi in Oman's capital Muscat ahead of the talks with the US delegation, Iranian media reported.
Araghchi told Albusaidi that Tehran is “utilizing diplomacy to secure Iran's national interests” while being “fully prepared to defend its sovereignty and national security” against “adventurism,” the Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that efforts to find agreement over the Department of Homeland Security funding bill will “continue through the weekend.”
He said he prefers a full-year funding extension as a backup but CNN has reported that Democrats are opposed to a short-term deal so far. As of now, the two parties appear to be at an impasse on the issue.
Remember: The funding deadline is February 13.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized Republicans for not presenting a clear rebuttal to the Democratic demands on funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Meanwhile, Thune has also expressed frustration about not being able to get the Democratic side to sit down and negotiate, and many Republicans have said many of the Democratic demands are nonstarters.
High-stakes talks between the US and Iran are underway in the Omani capital of Muscat, Iranian news agencies reported early on Friday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is leading the Iranian diplomatic delegation, and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and special US envoy Steve Witkoff are representing the US.
Araghchi presented to his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi a “preliminary plan” to “manage the current situation” between Iran and the US and advance negotiations, Iran's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported. Albusaidi then conveyed the plan to the US delegation led by special envoy Steve Witkoff, and a US response will be delivered to the Iranian side during the talks, IRNA added.
The White House previously offered limited expectations for negotiations, saying President Donald Trump preferred to resolve tensions diplomatically and that he would receive a briefing from his delegates to the discussions afterward.
Trump hopes the large US military buildup he's ordered in the Middle East will act as leverage as he seeks concessions from Iran on its nuclear and missile programs.
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The head of the coordinating committee for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles is facing calls to step down after emails released by the Justice Department last week show he exchanged racy messages with Ghislaine Maxwell more than 20 years ago.
The messages between Casey Wasserman – who, along with chairing LA28, is also a prominent entertainment and sports agent – and Maxwell were included in the millions of documents released by DOJ last week related to its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
They show that the pair exchanged several intimate messages in 2003, prompting calls from city officials that Wasserman step down.
During one exchange in March, Wasserman asks Maxwell: “So what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?”
In another email, dated April 1, 2003, Wasserman, who was married at the time, says to Maxwell: “Where are you, I miss you,” before asking to book a massage.
Wasserman has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing in relation to Epstein. Messages for Wasserman left through his talent management company and a crisis public relations firm that represents him were not immediately returned on Thursday.
In a statement to other news outlets, Wasserman apologized for his communications with Maxwell while adding he “never had” a personal or business relationship with Epstein.
Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend, was convicted of sex trafficking and other crimes in 2021 and is serving a 20-year sentence. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.
While some aspects of Wasserman's association with Epstein were already known, the emails show a deeper and far more intimate relationship with Maxwell than had previously been revealed.
Wasserman's communications with Maxwell took place years before she was convicted of a crime.
The messages between the pair threaten to create a major distraction as Los Angeles gears up to host the 2028 games, which are forecasted to generate between roughly $13.6 billion and $17.6 billion in additional gross domestic product for the region and create tens of thousands of new jobs.
Several local officials in Los Angeles have called for Wasserman to step away, describing the stakes of the Olympics as too great to be put at risk.
“Los Angeles cannot trust our financial future to someone connected with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell,” City Controller Kenneth Mejia said in a post on X, calling for Wasserman to “take accountability and resign.”
Los Angeles City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, who also called for Wasserman to step aside, said in an interview with Spectrum News that she was “incredibly disappointed” to learn of Wasserman and Maxwell's close relationship, adding it “really undermines the legacy of what these Games are supposed to represent.”
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, also calling for Wasserman to resign, said her opposition to his leadership in LA28 was “not about shaming him for his past indiscretions.”
“This is about the message we are sending to Epstein survivors and to the world about our values — especially as we work to combat any sex trafficking associated with the Games,” Hahn told CNN. “I worry Casey Wasserman's continued leadership almost guarantees that our Los Angeles Olympic Games will be tied in subsequent press coverage to his association with a notorious sex trafficker.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement that it is “critical to be 100% focused on making our city shine and ensuring the 2028 Games are the best in Los Angeles' history,” but did not go as far as asking for Wasserman's resignation. Instead, the mayor added that any decision pertaining to the leadership of LA28 must rest with its board.
Several members of the LA28 board, which includes nearly three dozen prominent names in business, entertainment, sports and politics, also did not respond to requests from CNN asking if they maintain confidence in Wasserman's ability to lead.
Both the International and US Olympic committees did not respond to requests for comment, but when asked during recent press conferences about Wasserman, leaders of both committees referred to his earlier statement and said they would have nothing to add.
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The high court now requires its employees to sign nondisclosure agreements that threaten legal action for leaks.
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Two weeks after the November 2024 election of Donald Trump, the Supreme Court instituted a new policy to hide its actions from public scrutiny, according to a recent report in The New York Times. Chief Justice John Roberts told the court's employees to sign a nondisclosure agreement pledging to keep the court's internal workings secret.
Although employees of the court have long been compelled to remain silent about what happens behind the scenes, the new nondisclosure agreement requirement is stiffer than prior agreements employees had signed. The new agreement now reportedly threatens legal action against any employee who reveals confidential information.
By contrast, a watered-down ethics rule adopted two years ago says that Supreme Court and other federal judges are not required to publicly disclose their meals or overnight visits at residences owned by private persons or corporations.
“Instead of promoting trust and opting for greater transparency in the ethics of individual justices, the Supreme Court has chosen more secrecy,” Ellen Yaroshefsky, Professor of Legal Ethics at Hofstra Law School, told Truthout, responding to the new nondisclosure agreement policy. “Quite disturbing. In effect: ‘We don't care; we don't have to.'”
“Instead of promoting trust and opting for greater transparency in the ethics of individual justices, the Supreme Court has chosen more secrecy.”
This new nondisclosure agreement requirement follows leaks of internal court documents, including Politico's May 2022 publication of Samuel Alito's explosive draft opinion overruling Roe v. Wade, and revelations about ethical lapses of the court's members, notably Clarence Thomas.
In September 2024, the Times published an exposé of how Roberts urged the members of the court to grant Trump extensive immunity from prosecution. The article quoted confidential memos. Roberts instituted nondisclosure agreements soon thereafter.
The new nondisclosure agreements come at a time when public trust in the Supreme Court is at a near record low. Since September 2020, the public approval rating of the court has remained at about 40 percent. A June 2024 Associated Press poll found that 70 percent of Americans think the members of the court are more influenced by ideology than impartiality.
Moreover, during the first year of Trump's second term, the court issued an unprecedented number of rulings on its “shadow docket,” most of them in Trump's favor. This means just what it says — these decisions take place in the shadows, away from public scrutiny, without full briefing and oral argument, and with little or no explanation. They include Trump's dismantling of the Department of Education, his ban on transgender people from military service, and his firing of tens of thousands of workers.
During the first year of Trump's second term, the court issued an unprecedented number of rulings on its “shadow docket,” most of them in Trump's favor.
Cameras are still prohibited in the Supreme Court's courtroom. Only 80 members of the public can watch as the highest court in the land considers issues affecting every aspect of our lives. From Bush v. Gore — which handed the presidential election to George W. Bush, who went on to usurp unprecedented power — to Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overruled the constitutional right to an abortion, a limited number of spectators were allowed in the courtroom during oral arguments.
In 1996, then Supreme Court associate justice David Souter told a House appropriations subcommittee, “The day you see a camera come into our courtroom it's going to roll over my dead body.” Allowing cameras in the Supreme Court “would lessen to a certain extent some of the mystique and moral authority” of the court, Chief Justice William Rehnquist told a 1992 judges conference. Antonin Scalia thought that legal issues were too complicated for the public to understand, telling an audience in 1990 that “the law is a specialized field, comprehensible only to the expert.”
Cameras are still prohibited in the Supreme Court's courtroom. Only 80 members of the public can watch as the highest court in the land considers issues affecting every aspect of our lives.
But as David Dow and I argued in our book, Cameras in the Courtroom: Television and the Pursuit of Justice, Supreme Court arguments should be televised. “Every [federal] judge and every justice is appointed to the bench for life, immunized from public pressures. They don't need television exposure to keep their jobs. They can enjoy power with near-anonymity,” we wrote. Federal judges likely ask themselves, “Why take chances with an impartial electronic witness that can beam your every slip-up, every excess, to thousands or millions of taxpaying spectators, all in the name of giving them greater access to their own court system?”
So what are the Supremes hiding behind their new-and-improved nondisclosure agreements? “If the public were aware of how much of the deliberations affecting millions of people are made by 27-year-olds [clerks] after happy hour, they'd be shocked,” Nikolas Bowie, a Harvard law professor who clerked for Justice Sonia Sotomayor, told the Times.
Truthout is funded almost entirely by readers — that's why we can speak truth to power and cut against the mainstream narrative. But independent journalists at Truthout face mounting political repression under Trump.
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Marjorie Cohn is professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, dean of the People's Academy of International Law and past president of the National Lawyers Guild. She sits on the national advisory boards of Veterans For Peace and Assange Defense, and is a member of the bureau of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers and the U.S. representative to the continental advisory council of the Association of American Jurists. Her books include Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral and Geopolitical Issues.
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A committee within the Minneapolis City Council has delayed the renewal of liquor licenses for two hotels in the city's downtown area, citing concerns that agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are staying at the hotel during the Trump administration's ongoing “Operation Metro Surge” immigration raids.
The “Committee of the Whole” (a committee that includes every member of the city council) met on Tuesday with the goal of discussing liquor license renewals for dozens of businesses throughout Minneapolis. More than 100 licenses were renewed, but renewals for the two hotels in question — Hilton Minneapolis-Mill District and The Depot Minneapolis — were stalled until the next meeting later this month, on February 17.
The vote was 8-5 in favor of delaying the renewals.
The delay does not halt liquor operations at those locations for the time being, but it does allow for more discussion on whether their licenses should be revoked. Council members in favor of the delay said their decision was based on comments they received from constituents, who have expressed concerns about ICE agents' activities in and around the hotels, including nuisance complaints and drunk driving by off-duty agents.
“I think it's really important that we get to have some further discussions amongst each other, and I also think it's important that the public has an opportunity to share the stories that are coming out of hotels that have ICE agents within them,” council member Aurin Chowdhury said at the meeting.
Council member Aisha Chughtai agreed, stating:
What we're seeing happen in real time in hotels that have these types of contracts with the federal government is at night, when agents come back from their being out and about, beating people up, separating families and abducting people for fun all day, they drink heavily at the bar and have weapons on them.
Chughtai cited an incident where “a drunk agent who's not on duty has pulled a weapon on a resident of our city.”
“That is danger, that is a real danger to public safety in our community and so necessitates us having further conversations to try to figure out how we can ensure greater public safety for the residents that we serve,” Chughtai added.
The hotels have been the sites of demonstrations by residents who are fed up with the nearly 3,000 DHS agents who have been sent to the Twin Cities by the Trump administration to terrorize, abduct, and deport people.
Despite council members stating a desire to discuss the issue further, revoking liquor licenses from the hotels would be a challenge, one attorney for the city said, as the hotels appear to be complying with all licensing laws, and the council would need more substantive facts to take their licenses away.
Still, the council could take actions that would result in licenses being revoked, including changing some rules on who can get licensed. Changing licensure rules isn't out of the ordinary, Council President Elliott Payne said, adding that the committee should have a “fact-based conversation” on the matter.
While some council members expressed concerns about a potential lawsuit, as well as a need to be fair about the process, others expressed dismay at demonstrators, with one member derogatorily describing them as “agitators.” That characterization prompted a sharp rebuttal from Council Vice President Jamal Osman, who is a Somali immigrant.
“Our president called us garbage and sent troops here to terrorize us. Agitators are our heroes,” Osman said.
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Delegations from the United States and Iran concluded indirect talks in the Gulf Arab state of Oman Friday. It was the first round of negotiations between the two sides since the US and Israel struck the Islamic Republic last summer.
Iranian media said the summit ended with a “willingness to continue,” without specifying a date.
The negotiations took place amid an American military buildup in the Middle East, and after US President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran if it used lethal force against protesters or refuses to sign a nuclear deal.
Ahead of the talks, Iran's foreign minister said his country “enters diplomacy with open eyes and a steady memory of the past year.”
“We engage in good faith and stand firm on our rights,” Abbas Araghchi wrote on X.
Still, sharp language has persisted on both sides, with Trump saying on Thursday that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “should be very worried” as both sides prepared for negotiations.
Here's what we know about the talks.
Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff took part in the talks, along with Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law. The talks were indirect – mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who earlier on Friday met with each of the parties separately.
In photos released by the state-run Oman News Agency, the commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), Admiral Brad Cooper, was also seen attending the meetings.
Negotiations are meant to adopt a format similar to previous rounds, Iranian media said. Before the 12-day Iran-Israel war in June, Tehran and Washington had gone through five rounds of negotiations, where Omani mediators shuttled between US and Iranian delegations.
Those talks effectively came to an end after Israel struck Iranian nuclear and military sites in mid-June, after which the US struck three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Araghchi presented to his Omani counterpart a “preliminary plan” to “manage the current situation” between Iran and the US, Iranian media reported, in a bid to advance negotiations.
Albusaidi then conveyed the plan to the US delegation led by Witkoff, and the American response will be delivered to the Iranian side during the talks, Iranian media added.
The scope of the talks was unclear. Before the talks, Iranian officials insisted they only wanted to discuss issues related to the nuclear program, and that other matters such as Iran's ballistic missile program, proxies across the region and domestic unrest were off-limits.
The US had demanded a broader set of discussions that includes ballistic missiles, Tehran's armed proxies that remain a danger to US and Israeli interests in the region, and Iran's recent brutal crackdown on protests.
On the nuclear issue, a key point of contention remains Iran's demand to enrich uranium – a nuclear fuel that can be used to make a bomb if purified to high levels – which the US and its allies reject. Iran has offered to place checks on its nuclear program to ensure that it isn't weaponized, demanding the lifting of sanctions in return.
The US moved military assets, including the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, closer to the Middle East, raising concerns that prospects of war were growing.
Trump said last month that the US had “an armada” moving toward Iran “just in case,” adding that while he would rather not “see anything happen,” his administration is watching Iran “very closely.”
The talks gave rise to hopes that a full-blown war may be averted.
Wary of a conflict that may spill into the rest of the Middle East, regional countries have been attempting to de-escalate and deter Trump from launching an attack on Iran, knowing that a new war will only plunge the region into crisis.
“Overshadowing this is a very serious threat of military attack (on Iran) and war,” Negar Mortazavi,” an Iranian-American journalist and political analyst, told CNN's Eleni Giokos
.Iran has made it clear that any US attack will not be met with the same “restraint” it showed last summer, after Israel and the US struck the country.
Iran has a number of tools at its disposal should war break out with the US or Israel. It is believed to have thousands of missiles and drones that could target US troops and assets in the Middle East.
Tehran has repeatedly warned that it would retaliate against US allies in the region if attacked. When US bombers struck Iranian nuclear facilities in the summer, Iran launched an unprecedented missile strike in Qatar, targeting al-Udeid Air Base, the largest US military installation in the Middle East.
Iran could also mobilize a vast network of proxies across the region, potentially hitting Israel and US bases, and disrupting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which more than a fifth of the world's oil and a large share of liquefied natural gas flow. This could send shockwaves through the world.
Despite the talks, “the threat of war is very serious,” Mortazavi said.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen, Jessie Yeung, Jennifer Hansler, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Todd Symons contributed to this report.
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In wake of Donald Trump's call for Republicans to ‘take over' voting, senator Ruben Gallego urges citizens to take a stand and give the ‘ultimate response'
The Democratic senator Ruben Gallego has proposed that, should Donald Trump try to sabotage the midterm elections, Americans should respond with a general strike that would “grind the country to a halt”.
Earlier this week the US president called for Republicans to “take over” and “nationalise” voting in at least 15 unspecified locations, repeating his false claims that elections are plagued by widespread fraud.
On Thursday, Gallego, a senator for Arizona and an Iraq war veteran, warned that Trump could seek to interfere with the November midterms that will determine control of Congress – and urged citizens to fight fire with fire.
“We have to prepare for the outmost scenario, the worst scenario, which is they try to either capture the ballot box as ballots are being counted, they try to stop the count, they try to surround polling places, whatever it is,” he told the Court of History podcast with political historians Sidney Blumenthal and Sean Wilentz.
“We need to make sure that we have an ultimate response to that which, I believe, has to be a true national strike in the sense that, if they do this, if they try to overthrow our democracy, if you are allied with democracy, do not go to work. If you're a pilot, do not show up. If you drive a train, do not show up. If you're a teacher, do not show up. We grind the country to a halt.”
Gallego, who defeated Trump loyalist Kari Lake in 2024, has gained a reputation as a blunt speaker who sometimes uses profane language to take the fight to Republicans. He continued: “We're not going to keep going to work and boosting the world's greatest economy in exchange for us to give up on democracy.
“If we have to destroy the stock market to save democracy, we need to accept that and, more importantly, the richest and the most powerful people in the world and in this country need to understand that that is a real possibility. There is no economic stability without democratic stability. If you take away our democratic stability, we will take away the economic stability.”
Trump's push to expand federal control over elections comes as his administration has stepped up pressure on many Democratic-led states to turn over voter data, with the justice department suing nearly two dozen states over their voter rolls. Last week the FBI searched an election office in Georgia's Fulton County for records related to the 2020 election.
On Monday, Trump floated the idea of nationalising elections in a podcast interview with the former FBI deputy director Dan Bongino and, a day later, told reporters: “The state is an agent for the federal government in elections. I don't know why the federal government doesn't do them anyway.”
His remarks were echoed by Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser and influential rightwing commentator, who repeated false claims that people living in the US illegally are voting in big numbers and said on his War Room podcast on Tuesday: “You're damn right we're gonna have ICE surround the polls come November.”
Federal law prohibits the president from deploying military troops at any location holding a general or special election, and several states criminalise carrying firearms at or near polling places. Immigration enforcement could cause both US citizens and legal residents to stay at home out of fear of detention or racial profiling.
Asked about Bannon's comments on Thursday, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told reporters: “I can't guarantee that an ICE agent won't be around a polling location in November – but what I can tell you is I haven't heard the president discuss any formal plans to put ICE outside of polling locations.”
Democrats, long criticised for failing to rise to the challenge of Trump's threat to democracy, have condemned the president's latest remarks. But none went as far as Gallego, tipped as a potential presidential candidate in 2028.
He told the Court of History: “We need to show that this is not acceptable. You cannot go to the levels that we used to invade other countries for, basically, for doing such autocratic shit. Like, they can't. It's not gonna stand. The American public won't stand for it.
“They won't even stand right now the fact that you have ICE agents roaming in our neighbourhoods without warrants. Now, imagine what's going to happen to the American public when you have a bunch of ICE agents trying to go to different ballot boxes and trying to stop the count. The reaction is going to be very, very strong.”
As the anti-immigrant Reform UK Party has risen in the polls, the Labour Party has co-opted some of its toxic policies.
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In recent months, as the anti-immigrant Reform U.K. Party surged to the top of the polls, the U.K.'s Labour government has sought to make it harder for immigrants to get “indefinite leave to remain” — essentially a British version of the U.S. green card — as well as restrict access to benefits for immigrants.
Currently, immigrants can seek “indefinite leave to remain” after five years in the country. Now, the Labour government's plan is to double that wait time to 10 years. It has also proposed making refugees wait 20 years for citizenship; seizing the assets of asylum seekers; and curbing family reunification.
The Labour Party's strategy, pushed by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, is to take the wind out of the Reform U.K. Party's sails by co-opting some of its more toxic policies around immigration, even if the impact is to drive away needed workers, in health care and other industries, who can more easily get residency rights in other countries in Europe and beyond.
There is scant evidence that this anti-immigration strategy is actually working to Labour's political advantage. True, polls show that Reform U.K. seems to have peaked in mid-2025, and that in recent months its support has begun to ebb — as outsider parties normally do in the U.K. system. Yet, it still is polling significantly ahead of Labour. And, come the general election, it will almost certainly receive a massive propaganda assist from the Trump administration in the U.S., which makes no secret of its loathing of European social democratic governments and which has explicitly allied with Reform U.K. in its aspirations to deport immigrants from the U.K. in much the same way that Donald Trump is currently removing them wholesale from the United States.
In fact, if the general election were held tomorrow, the Reform U.K. Party could conceivably end up with the most members of parliament, putting it in pole-position to form a coalition government. Meanwhile, the Labour Party, which came to power a couple years ago with one of the largest parliamentary majorities in British history, faces something approaching an electoral wipeout. Modeling suggests the party could lose more than 80 percent of its seats.
If the general election were held tomorrow, the Reform U.K. Party could conceivably end up with the most members of parliament.
Astoundingly, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's approval rating is, in some polls, at only 15 percent, making him far more unpopular than any other party leader in the U.K., including the notoriously polarizing Reform U.K. leader Nigel Farage. (You know you're in trouble when your polling numbers make Joe Biden, after his June 2024 debate debacle, look like a paragon of popularity.)
Many voters in the U.K. are going to get a test run on May 7, when they will be electing local council members as well as members of the devolved Welsh and Scottish parliaments (polling suggests the Labour Party could fall to third place in Wales). Voters' decisions this May could be a bellwether for the general election that is set to take place in three months. Despite elections for more than 600 council positions being delayed due to a reorganization of local government in many parts of England, more than 4,200 council members will be elected that day, including in London and many of the other large metropolitan areas in the southeast of the country, as well as in parts of the industrial Midlands and the north of England. In cities such as Newcastle, in the north, the city council of which is currently controlled by Labour but the population of which remains skeptical of Europe and hostile to large-scale immigration, voters are likely to express their discontent with the Labour Party by turning toward Reform U.K. Elsewhere, Liberal Democrats and Greens could pick up disillusioned Labour voters, as could Jeremy Corbyn's new “Your Party,” which is wooing left-wing Labour stalwarts turned off by Starmer's leadership.
Immigration will likely play an outsized roll in the local elections. Since the COVID pandemic, the number of asylum applications in the U.K. has grown rapidly, reaching 100,000 per year from a previous average of less than 40,000. About half of these applicants enter the country “irregularly,” oftentimes taking small boats across the English Channel. The government has put thousands of these asylum seekers up in hotels as their cases are processed — and hard-right political groups have, in recent years, held protests, many of them violent, outside of these shelters.
At the same time as asylum claims have increased, overall migration rates into the U.K. have actually been falling in recent years…. Among Reform U.K. Party voters, 80 percent erroneously believe that immigration is on the rise.
But at the same time as asylum claims have increased, overall migration rates into the U.K. have actually been falling in recent years. That is a reality that a majority of U.K. voters, absorbing huge amounts of misinformation via social media and other rumor mills, are unaware of. Fully two-thirds of U.K. voters tell pollsters they believe that immigration rates are increasing. Among Reform U.K. Party voters, 80 percent erroneously believe that immigration is on the rise. Because of this, the governing Labour Party has decided its best bet to remain in power is to mimic at least some of Reform U.K.'s policy positions. It's a similar tack-to-the-right on immigration that the Biden administration attempted in its last year in office; it didn't play out so well for Biden and there's precious little evidence the strategy is working for Starmer.
As in the United States, the increase in asylum applications has fueled a more general surge of anti-immigrant sentiment, the beneficiaries of which are hard-right political movements, from Trump's MAGA movement to the anti-immigrant Reform U.K. Party. Last September, the hard-right provocateur Tommy Robinson helped organize a massive anti-immigrant demonstration, titled “Unite the Kingdom,” in the center of London. More than 100,000 people attended.
“Tackling immigration” is now seen as the most important issue facing the country, with 23 percent of voters telling pollsters that that should be the government's number one priority, far ahead of the 16 percent who say that cost of living should be the government's main focus. By contrast, only 5 percent list the National Health Service and 3 percent opt for tackling climate change.
Starmer's efforts to control the narrative through embracing ever-tougher anti-immigrant measures clearly haven't worked. They have, instead, simply added fuel to the fire and further empowered Farage's Reform U.K. Party. It is a peculiar combination of opportunism and political ineptness, and one that will likely hand the Labour Party a drubbing in the local elections this May. Should that happen, it will become a near-certainty that Starmer will face a challenge to his leadership from within his own party before the year is out.
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Sasha Abramsky is a freelance journalist and a part-time lecturer at the University of California at Davis. Abramsky's latest book, American Carnage: How Trump, Musk, and DOGE Butchered the US Government, is available for pre-order now and will be released in January. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including The Nation, The Atlantic Monthly, New York Magazine, The Village Voice and Rolling Stone. He also writes a weekly political column. Originally from England, with a bachelor's in politics, philosophy and economics from Oxford University and a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, he now lives in Sacramento, California.
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Police have arrested a Maryland man for attempted murder after he allegedly went to Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought's home, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
Colin Demarco was arrested on January 16 in connection to an August 10, 2025, incident in Virginia. He is being held without bond, according to a press release from the Arlington County Police Department.
While the press release does not identify Vought as the victim, three sources told CNN the OMB director was the target.
“We are grateful for the work of law enforcement in keeping Director Vought and his family safe,” a spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget told CNN.
The Arlington County public defender's office, which is representing Demarco, declined to comment.
Demarco is facing four charges, according to the release: Attempted murder, criminal solicitation to commit murder, carrying a concealed weapon and wearing a mask in public to conceal identity.
On August 10, a witness observed Demarco “on the victim's porch,” wearing rubber gloves and a surgical mask with a backpack, according to police. Demarco “appeared to be concealing a firearm under his shirt.”
The suspect then asked the witness about the victim and left the scene, after which the witness contacted police. Demarco was seen in home surveillance footage which led to his identification, police said.
Digital records obtained during the investigation showed that Demarco had directions to the victim's house, had details on where his relative's firearms were located and had tips on how to not get caught, police said. Demarco also allegedly “posted online about the victim” and solicited others online “to murder the victim.”
CBS was the first to report that the man was facing charges after showing up at Vought's home.
The charges come as other Trump administration officials have faced threats in recent months.
Early last month, a man was arrested and accused of breaking windows at Vice President JD Vance's Ohio home.
In December, the Justice Department charged a man for allegedly sending a threatening text message to presidential envoy and Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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In Santa Clara, California, where nearly half of residents were born outside the US, fear builds as game approaches
This weekend, tens of thousands of people will make their way to the Bay Area city of Santa Clara, ready to celebrate a weekend at the Super Bowl.
Beneath the jubilant mood, some residents and officials have been grappling with the possibility of ICE enforcement operations during the game, and taking steps to prepare.
Both Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, and her adviser Corey Lewandowski announced in the fall that agents would conduct operations during the nation's largest sporting event. While Homeland Security Investigations teams that are focused on preventing human trafficking and the sale of counterfeit goods have long worked the event, immigration operations would be unusual.
In the city of Santa Clara, where nearly half of residents were born outside the US, fear was building as the game approached, said Lisa Gillmor, the mayor.
People were afraid of being targeted simply for having brown skin, she said: “They're afraid to send their kids to school. There's fear that maybe they should leave during the Super Bowl if the city is going to be inundated with ICE agents.”
This week, however, the NFL, which has long partnered with the DHS, said there would be “no planned ICE enforcement activities”. “We are confident of that,” said Cathy Lanier, the league's chief security officer.
Gavin Newsom, California's governor, said on Thursday that his office had been “assured there will be no immigration enforcement tied to the game”.
In a statement to the Guardian last week, the DHS declined to confirm reports about operations around Levi's Stadium, writing that the agency does “not disclose future operations or discuss personnel”.
“DHS is committed to working with our local and federal partners to ensure the Super Bowl is safe for everyone involved, as we do with every major sporting event, including the World Cup,” said DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin.
The announcement from the NFL has brought relief, but residents are still on edge, said Otto Lee, the president of the Santa Clara county board of supervisors.
“It helps alleviate some fear in the community, but at the same time, we certainly need to prepare for the worst,” Lee said.
Officials in Santa Clara county were already anticipating a demanding year ahead as the area prepared to host some six World Cup games this summer and the Super Bowl.
The threat of an ICE presence added new challenges.
As the Trump administration has implemented its mass deportation agenda and staged aggressive operations in which agents have killed two US citizens, alarm has spread across the US.
Although northern California has had low ICE arrest rates, communities there have been readying themselves. Last fall, the Trump administration was expected to deploy more than 100 immigration agents to San Francisco, but the president ultimately called off the operation after conversations with the city's mayor and tech leaders.
Santa Clara county has a rapid response network that tracks ICE activity and provides verified information to residents.
Lee said at a recent board of supervisors meeting that ICE agents don't have “absolute immunity”, and that local law enforcement would arrest anyone who “comes into our county masked, spreading terror, breaking laws or threatening our residents”.
Lee and other officials were outraged by the possibility of ICE activity at the Super Bowl. The county is focused on ensuring it will be a safe event, and enforcement activities would bring chaos. ICE activities in Minnesota created havoc, Lee said, with “incompetent chaos [and] trigger-happy gunmen”.
“That truly endangers everybody's lives. And certainly does not make our community safer,” he added.
On Monday, the US representative Ro Khanna, whose district includes Santa Clara, and some 21 other members of Congress sent a letter to Noem demanding that the DHS not deploy immigration enforcement personnel.
“This should be a moment of celebration, unity and economic opportunity, not a flashpoint for fear, polarization and violence,” they wrote.
This week, the Santa Clara city council passed an ordinance banning federal authorities from using city property for immigration enforcement. Protests are expected outside the game, and volunteers plan to patrol near the stadium around the community looking out for ICE.
Gillmor hopes that the NFL's announcement will hold true, and she suspects that it will, given that the administration likely doesn't want to disrupt the day for wealthy ticket holders. If there were an ICE presence, she said, local law enforcement would not cooperate with the federal agents, as state law mandates.
“I'm trying to calm the waters here to let them know that we have their back in Santa Clara,” she said. “In the event [ICE] did come, we're going to uphold the law no matter what, but they're not going to get any assistance from us.”
But the issues go beyond the Super Bowl, she said, and anxiety will surely escalate in the coming months as the community prepares for the World Cup and visitors from around the world.
“The core issue is ICE and the way that they've conducted their operations,” she said. “Fear is at a crescendo now, but I think that the underlying issue has been building a long time. And it's not going to stop. After this game, it's going to reappear again no matter what.”
The only certainty in the months to come is that the past year of erratic threats and vandalism from the Trump administration will continue, writes Tony Keller.Evan Vucci/The Associated Press
On Wednesday in Washington, D.C., U.S. Vice-President JD Vance addressed a conference called by the United States to encourage the world to co-operate with it in breaking China's dominance in critical minerals.
Mr. Vance – the No. 2 in an administration that has spent the last year slapping allies with tariffs, insults and demands for territory – told a room of officials from 54 countries that he hoped they could come together “to form a trading bloc among allies and partners,” because “our alliances and our friendships can really help one another.”
He continued in this vein for some time, closing with “let me just reiterate: We here, I think all of us, are friends.”
The audience of diplomats must have struggled to not burst out in laughter.
On Thursday, also in Washington, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was asked whether the Trump administration wants free trade with allies and friends.
“If Canada, for example, came to the United States and said, ‘We're going to zero tariffs on the United States,” asked Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana. “Would [the U.S.] go to zero tariffs?”
“Absolutely not,” replied Mr. Bessent.
Opinion: In Carney's world, Canada is more powerful than Trump thinks
There are Canadians who still believe that everything the Trump administration has said, threatened or done against us is, at root, our fault. If you're reading me online, you can meet this opinion in the comments section. I see it in my mail and on social media. It is minority opinion, though depressingly widespread among Conservative voters.
Before the second Trump administration, nearly everything moving across the world's longest border did so tariff-free. Yes, Canada had negotiated barriers in some relatively small sectors such as dairy products, while the Americans bent the rules to levy tariffs in discrete sectors including softwood lumber. But for more than 35 years, Canada-U.S. trade was almost entirely free.
Who changed that? Not Canada. Who is threatening to further undermine it? Not Canada. Who keeps saying that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement could be done away with, and perhaps replaced with nothing? Not us.
The Trump administration convening a conference to try to foster an industrial alliance against China is particularly ironic – given that the Trump administration has spent the last year aggressively degrading and dismantling all such alliances.
Why did China slap tariffs on Canadian canola? Because Canada, following the lead of our U.S. ally, put 100-per-cent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. The Biden administration understood that the North American auto industry was under threat from Chinese industrial strategy, and responded with a North American industrial strategy – a strategy of partnering with allies like Canada.
The Trump administration ripped that up. They've bullied automakers to shift production to the U.S. from Canada, and there have been repeated public statements from President Donald Trump and his minions that the integrated North American auto industry should be an America-only industry.
Canada's industrial base, once a partner, is now prey. And not only in autos.
Andrew Coyne: Separatism isn't treason. Helping Trump take over Canada? That's another matter
Mr. Vance may have mouthed aspirational words about “a trading bloc among allies and partners,” but the Trump administration has spent the last year aggressively pursuing the opposite.
In 12 reckless months, it has torpedoed free trade; forced erstwhile partners against China to cut (solo) deals with China, as Canada had to do to lower canola tariffs; threatened to occupy NATO allies; and erected trade barriers aimed at ensuring the U.S. buy less from Canada.
What remains of our free trade with the U.S. is a tattered USMCA, shot through with holes and cracks down to the foundation.
The only certainty in the months to come is that the past year of erratic threats and vandalism will continue.
The same day as a Janus-tongued Mr. Vance spoke in Washington, former prime minister Stephen Harper gave a speech in Ottawa. It was the 20th anniversary of the formation of his Conservative government. His audience were mostly Conservatives.
He told them to get over their illusions about the situation next door.
Mr. Harper has described himself as the most pro-American prime minister in Canadian history. But on Wednesday, he said that the main challenge facing our country is “a hostile United States.”
Or to quote him in full: “A hostile United States that has openly questioned Canadian sovereignty, that has openly broken the trade commitments that we have made to each other and that regularly issues further threats against us.”
He continued, “There are many, particularly in the business community who believe that things will go back to the way they were in due course, with secure and predictable access to the U.S. market and a United States that upholds a global order.
“I do not believe that is a safe assumption.”
I wish Mr. Harper was wrong. He isn't.
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A suicide bomber killed at least 31 people and injured 169 during Friday prayers at a Shiite Muslim mosque in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, authorities said.
It was the deadliest attack in the country since January 2023, when a blast at a mosque in the north-western city of Peshawar killed more than one hundred people.
“We had just begun the prayer when we heard the sound of gunfire, followed by a powerful explosion,” a worshipper at the mosque, Syed Ameer Hussain Shah, 47, told CNN.
“I got injured as well. At that time, the mosque hall was full, with more than 400 worshippers inside.”
Pakistan has witnessed a rising wave of militancy in recent years, but attacks have been less frequent in the heavily guarded capital. A bombing in Islamabad in November, which killed 12, was the deadliest suicide attack to rock the city in nearly two decades.
Images in the aftermath of the attack showed bodies covered in blood lying on the floor of the mosque surrounded by shards of glass and debris.
“It was a horrible scene of my life which I could never have imagined,” 24-year-old Shoaib told CNN from PIMS Hospital Islamabad, where he was visiting his wounded cousin.
“I heard the sound of single fire when we were in the middle of Friday prayers and, after a few seconds, a huge deafening sound of the explosion,” he said. “Everyone was running outside while some worshipers began to shift the wounded to hospital. My young cousin sustained a wound in the right leg.”
The US embassy in Islamabad condemned the attack. “Acts of terror and violence against civilians and places of worship are unacceptable,” it said on X. “The people of Pakistan deserve safety, dignity, and the ability to practice their faith without fear.”
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari said the targeting of innocent civilians was “a crime against humanity,” and the entire nation stood “shoulder to shoulder with the families affected,” the Associated Press reported.
Afghanistan's ministry of foreign affairs also condemned the attack. “The Islamic Emirate considers attacks that violate the sanctity of mosques and sacred religious rites and target worshippers and civilians to be in contradiction to Islamic and humanitarian values,” it said.
Early investigations into the incident had pointed the finger of suspicion at Pakistan's Taliban, or Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), police sources said, but the TTP issued a statement saying it had “no connection whatsoever” with Friday's attack.
“Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan's targets are clear and well-defined: Pakistan's security institutions and their collaborators,” it added.
CNN's Sophie Tanno contributed reporting.
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MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/. An assassination attempt against the Russian Defense Ministry's Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev was made in northwestern Moscow; he suffered injuries and was taken to the hospital, Russian Investigative Committee Spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said.
TASS has gathered the key information about the incident.
- According to investigators, on February 6, an unidentified gunman fired several shots at the general in a residential building on Volokolamskoye Highway and fled the scene.
- The general was taken to the hospital with injuries.
- The Investigative Committee has launched a criminal investigation based on Article 30.3 and Article 105.1 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Attempted Murder"), and Article 222.1 ("Illicit Trafficking of Firearms").
- Investigators and forensic experts from the committee's Moscow branch are examining the scene, reviewing CCTV footage, and interviewing eyewitnesses.
- Investigative, operational and search activities are underway aimed at identifying those involved in the crime.
- Moscow's prosecution authority has taken the investigation under its control.
- Security services are carrying out their duties, and all information on the assassination attempt is being reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
- Peskov added that military leaders, officials, and other specialists are at risk during the special military operation, and ensuring their safety is the responsibility of the security services.
- The Kremlin wished Alexeyev a speedy recovery.
- Vladimir Alexeyev was born in 1961 in the Golodky village in the Vinnitsa Region of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.
- In 1984, he graduated from the General V.F. Margelov Ryazan Guards Higher Airborne Twice Red Banner Order of Suvorov Command School (then known as the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command Twice Red Banner School named after the Lenin Komsomol).
- He served as head of the Intelligence Directorate of the Moscow Military District and later of the Far Eastern Military District.
- He was then transferred to the central office of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (former GRU), where he headed one of the departments.
- In 2011, he was appointed first deputy head of the Main Intelligence Directorate.
- He participated in the planning and oversight of combat operations during the Russian forces' military operation in Syria.
- Alexeyev has been conferred the title Hero of Russia.
- He has been awarded the Order of St. George, 4th class, the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland," 4th class with swords, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, two Orders of Courage, as well as the Order "For Military Merit."
Indirect talks end with agreement to maintain diplomatic path and possible continuation in coming days, officials say
Indirect talks between Iran and the US on the future of Iran's nuclear programme ended on Friday with a broad agreement to maintain a diplomatic path, possibly with further talks in the coming days, according to statements from Iran and the Omani hosts.
The relieved Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, described the eight hours of meetings as a “good start” conducted in a good atmosphere. He added that the continuance of talks depended on consultations in Washington and Tehran, but said Iran had underlined that any dialogue required refraining from threats.
The talks were the first to be held between Iran and the US since Washington and Israel launched devastating military strikes on Iran's nuclear sites and political leadership last June.
The US president, Donald Trump, has in recent weeks assembled a large fleet in the region built around the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier group, after telling Iranian protesters in January that “help is on the way” during large-scale anti-government demonstrations.
Iran, which has experienced intense internal unrest in which thousands of protesters have been killed in a bloody crackdown, had insisted that the talks be confined to guarantees about the civilian purpose of its nuclear programme, and not extend to human rights, its missiles, or support for proxy groups in the region including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. “Our talks are solely nuclear and we do not discuss any other issues with the Americans,” Araghchi said.
The indirect talks in Muscat were mediated by Oman's foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, in separate talks between the two sides. The US team was led by Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the US president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The US Centcom commander, Adm Brad Cooper, was also present, underlining how Trump has made US military leverage a central part of his diplomatic armoury.
Al-Busaidi said in a statement: “These consultations focused on creating suitable conditions for the resumption of diplomatic and technical negotiations emphasising the importance of these talks and parties' determination to succeed in achieving lasting security and stability.”
Trust between Iran and the US has been minimal since the US backed the launch of Israeli military strikes on Iran only days before the two sides were due to meet for a sixth round of talks last June.
“After eight turbulent months during which we went through a war, resuming a process of dialogue is not simple,” Araghchi said. “The deep mistrust that has developed on top of previous mistrust is a serious challenge. First we must overcome the prevailing atmosphere of distrust … If this trend continues, I think we can reach a good framework for an agreement”.
Washington wanted to expand the talks to cover Iran's ballistic missiles, support for armed groups in the region and “treatment of their own people” – as the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said on Wednesday. But, after days of speculation, Iranian negotiators were satisfied that only the nuclear dispute would be discussed, at least initially.
Iran is seeking assurances that the US is not using the talks as a smokescreen to impose regime change.
Before the talks, Tehran said the US had to drop its request for the negotiations to be held in Turkey in the presence of foreign ministers from Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Iran says its right to enrich uranium on Iranian soil – a right it was granted in the now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by Barack Obama – is not negotiable. The best source of compromise is that Iran agrees to suspend plans to enrich uranium for a fixed number of years, and a regional consortium is formed that enriches uranium, taking the region closer to an integrated civil nuclear programme.
Iran is also seeking sanctions relief in return for a new inspections regime at its nuclear sites. The value of the rial against the dollar has halved since the Israeli attacks in June, and Iran's plummeting standard of living, made worse by runaway food inflation close to more than 100%, was the spark for the demonstrations that broke out in late December.
The talks were meanwhile being held against the backdrop of repeated warnings by Trump that he will strike Iran militarily from the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier group if no progress is made. The US has been building up its naval presence in the region after the Iranian government crackdown on protests, heightening tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Tehran has said it will not hesitate to attack Israel or US military bases in the region if it is attacked. Washington last month held back from attacking Iran partly because Israel and the US military did not feel they were fully prepared to withstand the likely Iranian reprisals.
Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseev has been shot multiple times in Moscow by an unknown assailant, the Kremlin said on Feb 6.
"There was an attempt on the life of Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeeev in Moscow. He was taken to hospital, and a criminal case has been opened," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov told reporters.
According to reports, the gunman fled the scene of the attack and their identity is unknown, with Peskov saying "security services are doing their work."
"The killer was waiting for the Lieutenant General of the Russian Defense Ministry today near a residential building on Volokolamskoye Highway," the Russian media channel SHOT reports.
In response to the shooting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov blamed Kyiv for the assassination attempt on Alekseev, accusing Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky of "provocations aimed at destabilizing the (peace) negotiation process."
Moscow's accusations come as Russian forces continue both offensive operations across the front line, and their long-range strike campaign against energy infrastructure in Ukrainian cities, despite an alleged promise from Russian president Vladimir Putin to U.S. counterpart Donald Trump to pause such strikes.
Ukraine is yet to comment on the shooting.
Alekseev — born in 1961 in Soviet Ukraine — is the first deputy head of Russian military intelligence (GRU), serving in the role since 2011.
He was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2016 for organizing "malicious cyber activities" during the U.S. presidential election of that year which saw Donald Trump win his first term in office.
The Kremlin reportedly awarded him the title of Hero of the Russian Federation the following year.
Alekseev has also been accused by the U.K. and EU of orchestrating the chemical weapons attack in Salisbury in 2018 that targeted Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter.
They survived, but a British civilian who later found the poison was killed.
The general was the senior member of the Russian delegation negotiating the final surrender in 2022 of the defenders of the surrounded, Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.
Despite Alekseev's promises that the surrendering Ukrainian soldiers would be treated in line with the Geneva Conventions, POWs from Azovstal were subject to systemic torture and abuse, wrote Denys Prokopenko, leader of the Ukrainian contingent at the time and now commander of the 1st Azov Corps of the National Guard.
"Even if Alekseev survives this time, he will not sleep peacefully. And one day the matter will be brought to an end," Prokopenko added.
Alekseev was also instrumental in quelling the short-lived Wagner rebellion in 2023, being one of those sent to negotiate with Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Ukraine has not been officially linked to the shooting and is yet to comment, though Kyiv has previously targeted Russian officials involved in Moscow's full-scale invasion.
Most recently, Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff's operational training department, was killed in a car bombing in Moscow on Dec. 22.
An explosive device attached to the underside of the lieutenant general's car detonated in the morning on Yaseneva Street in Moscow. Sarvarov was taken to the hospital but later died from his injuries.
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 changes will target units that are responsible for intercepting Russian unmanned aerial vehicles, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"Today, I was watching Ukrainian (prisoners of war) who returned home from Russia, and these are the people who deserve the Peace Prize," Moldovan President Maia Sandu said.
Some of the meetings could have been linked to Yermak's role in a corruption case involving state nuclear power monopoly Energoatom, the biggest corruption investigation during Zelensky's presidency, the news outlet reported.
The drone, a small commercially available model, crashed at the 1st Air Cavalry Battalion's base in the Lodz province after snagging a tree. No damage was recorded, the Polish military police reported.
The Russian soldiers — roughly the size of an entire platoon — were taken prisoner during the final clearing of the village of Zoloty Kolodiaz near Dobropillia in Donetsk Oblast.
Ukraine must fully align its agricultural standards with the European Union by the end of 2028, Ukraine's Deputy Economy Minister Tasas Vysostky said on Feb. 6, as the country continues its push for membership.
The Kyiv Independent's Jared Goyette speaks with a Canadian volunteer, Brittney Shki-Giizis, who left the Canadian military to fight in Ukraine. A former tank instructor, she explains why she chose to come to the front, how she learned Ukrainian to serve in a Ukrainian unit, and how the war's shift toward drones led her to become an FPV (first-person view) drone pilot.
"The new package of sanctions covers energy, financial services, and trade," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
He has been rushed to hospital and the gunman fled the scene, according to reports.
The victim of the explosion, which took place early in the morning, was a 21-year-old local man, local police wrote after the incident.
Serhiy Deineko, who headed the State Border Guard from 2019 to Jan. 4, 2026, was charged last month in relation to a 204,000 euro bribery scheme.
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The Democratic special primary election to fill the U.S. House seat vacated by New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill remains too close to call, with a progressive candidate leading a former U.S. representative.
As of 5 a.m. ET, around 9 hours after polls closed, progressive candidate Analilia Mejia led former U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski by roughly 0.8 percentage points, with 28.8 percent of the vote to Malinowski's 28 percent, with 91 percent of the votes counted.
Death toll from Washington's campaign on alleged drug traffickers now at least 128
The US military on Thursday said it killed two alleged drug traffickers in a strike on a boat in the eastern Pacific, bringing the death toll from Washington's campaign to at least 128.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” the US Southern Command said in a post on X. It said “no US military forces were harmed” in the operation.
President Donald Trump's administration began targeting alleged smuggling boats in early September, insisting it was effectively at war with alleged “narco-terrorists” operating out of Venezuela.
But it has provided no definitive evidence that the vessels are involved in drug trafficking, prompting heated debate about the legality of the operations, which have expanded from the Caribbean to the Pacific.
In January, the US military carried out another strike in the eastern Pacific, killing two alleged drug traffickers.
Last week, relatives of two Trinidadian men killed last year in a strike on a boat the military said was carrying drugs filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the US government.
It is the first such case to be brought against the Trump administration over its missile strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
When Matthew Tkachuk (left) and Brandon Hagel (right) dropped their gloves in the opening seconds of play at last year's 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, the game took on a deeper, more personal meaning for Canadians.Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
When Mark Carney spoke in Davos last month about the need for Canada and other nations to stand up for themselves, at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump has been waging a global tariff war and making 51st-state threats, the Prime Minister said it was time for Canada to assert its sovereignty.
He then went off script, adding an impromptu line that wasn't part of his planned speech. In calling for Canada to defend its North, Carney said the country needs more “boots on the ice.”
At the Milan Cortina Winter Games, where sports and politics are about to collide against a backdrop of Canada-U.S. vitriol, hockey is set to emerge as the front line of a new proxy war.
Welcome to boots on the ice, Olympic-style.
Gone are the days when Canadian Prime Ministers and U.S. Presidents made friendly wagers on Olympic hockey – as Stephen Harper and Barack Obama did in 2010 and 2014, resulting in several cases of American beer being shipped to Ottawa.
Cathal Kelly: Welcome to the Olympics, where Canada is swaggering and the U.S. may not notice
Relations are far frostier these days, and even the players know this tournament just feels different than any other Olympics in recent memory.
When Canada played the U.S. at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February, during the height of Trump's 51st state musings, the games were steeped in political overtones far beyond anything the two countries had experienced before.
“We didn't come to the game thinking about politics. It just kind of panned out that the tournament happened at that time,” said Brandon Hagel of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who played for Canada at that tournament and will do so again in Milan.
“Of course we knew what was going on in the world at the time, it was all over social media, so you'd be lying if you said you didn't.”
Seth Jarvis (24) is a late addition to Team Canada, filling in for an injured Brayden Point. The two played for Canada in last year's 4 Nations tournament.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
In a moment that will go down in Canadian hockey lore, the two teams fought three times in the opening nine seconds of their first meeting. Hagel, who doesn't consider himself a fighter, was in the middle of it all, readily accepting a challenge from American Matthew Tkachuk two seconds after the puck was dropped.
The fight has enshrined him as a national hero of sorts. When Hagel went home to Edmonton this summer, it was all people wanted to talk about.
“I told Hags, if you pay for a drink in Canada in the next 10 years, I'll be really disappointed,” said Team Canada coach Jon Cooper, also Hagel's coach in Tampa.
The tension, and the impact current affairs had on those games, was also not lost on the coach.
“You can't ever understate what politics did to that tournament,” Cooper said.
The ice at Milan's hockey arena is ready to go – but just barely
“My news conference against Sweden was all hockey. My pressers by the final [versus the U.S.] were, like, three-quarters politics.”
The Olympics has stricter rules against fighting. Still, world events have a way of finding their way into international hockey.
A showdown between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union at the 1969 world championships, just months after Soviet tanks rolled into Prague, is considered some of the dirtiest and most heated hockey ever played. The Czechs won.
Then there was 1972 and Canada's clash with the Soviets. And the American ‘Miracle on Ice' in 1980. Those were as much about ideology as they were about goals and assists.
Jon Cooper, who coached Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off and will lead the team in Milan, said he could feel the political tension ramp up in last year's tournament as it progressed.Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
Today, Trump is the flashpoint. And not just for Canada.
At the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, the Russian team (which wasn't allowed to play as Team Russia after the country was penalized for doping infractions in 2014) came to Korea wanting to show up the U.S.
At the time, Trump and Russia were sparring over sanctions and the expulsion of diplomats from Washington, among other things – and the game between the two countries was unusually physical for Olympic hockey, with multiple scrums and penalties. In the stands, former Soviet legend and retired NHL star Igor Larionov, who was there doing colour commentary for Russian TV, felt nostalgic. He knew exactly what he was seeing.
“What's happening in the world right now – two countries trying to push each other with disagreements and politics – I've been around, I lived on this stage myself in ‘84 and ‘88 … that's war,” Larionov told me at the time.
“We're talking about sports. But next to sports goes politics,” he said. “You're going to war. That's how it works.”
Russia won 4-0. Some called it hockey; Larionov called it “foreign affairs.”
“I'm sure they got a phone call from upper management to play hard,” he quipped, noting that the Kremlin had probably tuned in to watch that night.
Canada's best medal chances at the Milan Cortina Winter Games, according to our experts
At last year's 4 Nations Face-Off, where Canada lost 3-1 to the Americans in the seeding round in Montreal, then defeated the U.S. 3-2 in overtime to win the tournament in Boston, the Canadian players could sense the moment.
“We were definitely playing for Canada. I mean, Canada is so proud of their hockey and it's something that we take very seriously,” Tampa forward Brayden Point said in an interview this fall.
“So to get the win, I think that was bigger than just our team winning. It was a win for Canada.”
Point is injured and won't get the chance to play in Milan. On Thursday, Team Canada announced he would be replaced by Seth Jarvis of the Carolina Hurricanes, who was also on the 4 Nations roster.
American Auston Mathews is less eager to talk politics. The Toronto Maple Leafs captain, who is expected to lead the U.S. in Milan, said a few weeks ago he wasn't concerned about such things.
“I don't really pay attention to that stuff much. I think you're kind of aware of it, and there's only so much that you can control,” Matthews said. “When we go to the Olympics my focus will be on Team USA.”
As head coach of Canada, Cooper is curious whether the games in Milan will reach the level of raucousness that the 4 Nations games did, given that they were played in Montreal and Boston, with an arena full of Canadian and American fans.
“Whether that's going to be recreated in Italy, when you're multiple time zones away in a different continent, it's hard to sit here and say. But it's the Olympics. It is the granddaddy of them all,” Cooper said in an interview.
“But it's going be hard to replicate the fact that all the fans in the building are all Canadian and American. In Italy, all countries will be in the building. It's just going to be a different vibe.”
NHL players are returning to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years. Before the 4 Nations tournament, many of them had never had the chance to play best-on-best international hockey. Cooper has seen the impact that can have.
“I think those kids put the jersey on for the first time, it meant something way beyond hockey,” Cooper said.
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A California man faces criminal charges after federal investigators say he sent texts demanding bitcoin payment for the return of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie's mother, Nancy Guthrie, 84, who disappeared from her home in Tucson, Arizona, last Sunday.
The texts were sent to Guthrie's daughter and son-in-law on Feb. 4, after the family published an emotional video pleading for kidnappers to contact them about their mother in response to a ransom letter sent to a news station two days earlier, according to the FBI.
The FBI has not linked the texts to the Feb. 2 ransom demands.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Former President Barack Obama talks with then President-elect Donald Trump as Melania Trump reads the funeral program before the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
President Donald Trump's social media post featuring a video about election conspiracy theories and a racist depiction of former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, as primates in a jungle has been deleted.
The Republican president's Thursday night post was deleted Friday and blamed on a staffer after widespread backlash, from civil rights leaders to veteran Republican senators, for its treatment of the nation's first Black president and first lady.
The deletion, a rare admission of a misstep by the White House, came hours after press secretary Karoline Leavitt said there was nothing offensive about the post. After calls for its removal for being racist — including by Republicans — the White House said a staffer had posted the video erroneously and it had been taken down.
An Obama spokeswoman said the former president, a Democrat, had no response.
Other news we're following:
“Serving the people of Nevada has been the honor of my lifetime,” he said in a statement. “Nobody is prouder of our Nevada Congressional District than me. Thank you for the honor. Every achievement worth doing began with listening to Nevadans and fighting for our values.”
Amodei has served as a member of Congress for Nevada's 2nd Congressional District since 2011. He serves on the House Appropriations Committee and chairs the Homeland Security Subcommittee.
Amodei, from Nevada's capital of Carson City, served for years as Nevada's only Republican in Congress in a historically red district. He worked with Nevada's Democratic delegation to fight plans to move a mail center from Reno to Sacramento, to extricate people from Afghanistan during the U.S. withdrawal in 2021, and he led legislation to reauthorize the restoration of Lake Tahoe.
“I came to Congress to solve problems and to make sure our State and Nation have (a) strong voice in the federal policy and oversight processes,” he said Friday in a statement. “I look forward to finishing my term. After 15 years of service, I believe it is the right time for Nevada and myself to pass the torch.”
Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee are sending a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi as they press the Trump administration for answers on how personal information of victims was included in the release of over 3 million government files on Jeffrey Epstein.
“The scale and severity of the exposure of survivor information are simply staggering,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter led by Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the panel.
The letter Friday, which asks Bondi to answer how the Justice Department is responding to the release of victim information, is the latest move by Democrats to call attention to the issue.
A review by The Associated Press and other news organizations has found countless examples of sloppy, inconsistent or nonexistent redactions that have revealed sensitive private information.
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,” Leavitt said by text, referring to Disney's 1994 feature film, which does not feature the range of jungle primates featured in the video the president posted.
“Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
Nearly all of the 62-second clip, which was among dozens of Truth Social posts from Trump overnight, appears to be from a conservative video alleging deliberate tampering with voting machines in battleground states as the 2020 presidential votes were tallied.
At the 60-second mark is a quick scene of two primates, with the Obamas' smiling faces imposed on them.
Those frames were taken from a separate video, previously circulated by an influential conservative meme maker. It shows Trump as “King of the Jungle” and depicts a range of Democratic leaders as animals, including Joe Biden, who is white, as a jungle primate eating a banana.
Shortly after Friday's talks broke, the Treasury and State Department in Washington announced a new round of sanctions on Iran targeting its energy sector.
The departments imposed penalties, including freezes on assets in U.S. jurisdictions, on 14 so-called “shadow fleet” of oil tankers that the U.S. says are used to try to evade sanctions as well as 15 trading firms and two business executives.
“Time and time again, the Iranian government has prioritized its destabilizing behavior over the safety and security of its own citizens, as demonstrated by the regime's mass murder of peaceful protestors,” the State Department said in a statement. “The United States will continue to act against the network of shippers and traders involved in the transport and acquisition of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products, and petrochemical products, which constitutes the regime's primary source of income.”
President Donald Trump's social media post featuring former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, as primates in a jungle was deleted after a backlash from both Republicans and Democrats who criticized the video as racist.
The Republican president's Thursday night post was deleted Friday and blamed on a staffer after widespread backlash, from civil rights leaders to veteran Republican senators, for its treatment of the nation's first Black president and first lady. The deletion, a rare admission of a misstep by the White House, came hours after press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed “fake outrage” over the post. After calls for its removal for being racist -- including by Republicans -- the White House said a staffer had posted the video erroneously and it had been taken down.
The post was part of a flurry of social media activity on Trump's Truth Social account that amplified his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, despite courts around the country and a Trump attorney general from his first term finding no evidence of fraud that could have affected the outcome.
An Obama spokeswoman said the former president, a Democrat, had no response.
The Trump administration is asking a federal judge to allow it to end temporary legal protections for roughly 350,000 Haitians in the U.S. while it appeals her ruling blocking the termination.
In a court filing on Thursday, the Department of Justice asked U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes to pause her decision.
Reyes ruled Monday that a lawsuit challenging the termination was likely to prevail on its merits.
The Trump administration wants Reyes to issue a decision by Monday.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs objected to that timeline in a court filing, arguing there was no emergency that requires the sudden termination of Haiti's Temporary Protected Status.
“Praying it was fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House.
“The President should remove it,” said Scott, a Black Republican who chairs Senate Republicans' midterm campaign arm, said on social media.
Bondi says Gabbard presence in Fulton County doesn't taint search
Bondi said “absolutely not” when asked if Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's presence at last week's FBI search of the election office in Georgia tainted the search.
The office has been central to right-wing conspiracy theories over Trump's 2020 election loss.
It came a week after Trump predicted prosecutions over a contest he has baselessly insisted was tainted by widespread fraud.
Bondi stressed on Friday that the search was helmed by FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey.
Gabbard has said that she present at the search because Trump wanted her there. Trump this week said Gabbard had gone to Georgia “at Pam's insistence,” referencing the attorney general.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, center, flanked by FBI Director Kash Patel, left, and Jeanine Pirro, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, appears before reporters at the Justice Department, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, in Washington, to announce the capture of a key participant in the 2012 attack on a U.S. compound that killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday that federal authorities are assisting Arizona officials investigating the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie's mother.
Bondi spoke during an unrelated news conference in Washington when she was asked about the investigation involving 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, the mother of the “Today” show host.
“It breaks my heart for Savannah and for her family,” Bondi said.
Bondi called for prayers for the family and said she's known Savannah Guthrie for more than 30 years.
She declined to say more about what federal officials are doing to assist.
A “key participant” in the 2012 attack on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans is in custody, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday.
The 2012 attacks on the U.S. compound killed Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
The attack emerged as a divisive political issue.
Glass, debris and overturned furniture are strewn inside a room in the gutted U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, after an attack that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens., Sept. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Ibrahim Alaguri, File)
Republicans challenged President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on security at the facility, the military response to the violence and the Democratic administration's changing narrative about who was responsible and why.
Officials said that Zubayr Al-Bakoush was brought to an airfield in Virginia early Friday.
“We have never stopped seeking justice for that crime against our nation,” Bondi said.
—
Corrective: This story has been corrected to show that the suspect arrived at an airfield in Virginia, not Joint Base Andrews in Maryland as Attorney General Pam Bondi announced.
The military strength of the US was showcased during talks with Iranians.
U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of the American military's Central Command, also attended the meeting — something that did not happen in previous rounds.
It likely served as a signal to Tehran that Washington may still strike Iran if negotiations fail.
With the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other warships in the region, along with more fighter jets, the U.S. now likely has the military firepower to launch an attack if it wanted.
Former President Barack Obama talks with then President-elect Donald Trump as Melania Trump reads the funeral program before the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
Trump has used his social media account to share a video about election conspiracy theories that includes a racist depiction of former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama.
It was part of a flurry of social media activity that amplified Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected criticism of the post that depicted the Obamas, who are Democrats.
An Obama spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Nearly all of the 62-second clip appears to be from a conservative video.
At the 60-second mark is a quick scene of two primates, with the Obamas' smiling faces imposed on them.
▶ Read more
Iran's top diplomat said that indirect talks with the United States held in Oman on Friday were “a very good start” but negotiators now must speak with their leaders.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made the comment in a live interview from Muscat, Oman, on Iranian state television.
Araghchi described the talks as taking place over multiple rounds and that they were focused primarily on finding a framework for further negotiations.
Oman has mediated indirect talks between Iran and the United States over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, seeking to de-escalate tensions between the nations after Washington bombed Iranian nuclear sites and Tehran launched a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
Oman issued a public statement acknowledging the talks after Associated Press journalists watched Iranian and American officials separately visit a palace on the outskirts of Muscat to speak to the sultanate's foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi.
It wasn't immediately clear Friday if that was the end of the talks for the day.
The U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites during that war, likely destroying many of the centrifuges that spun uranium to near weapons-grade purity. Israel's attacks devastated Iran's air defenses and targeted its ballistic missile arsenal as well.
Ice dance duo Madison Chock and Evan Bates rock-and-rolled their way to a world-best 91.06 points in the rhythm dance to open the team competition at the Milan Cortina Olympics, where the American figure skaters are the reigning champions.
Cheered on by a crowd that included Vice President J.D. Vance, his family and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chock and Bates were able to secure their team the maximum 10 points for their Lenny Kravitz-inspired dance while making a big early statement.
The three-time world champions, Chock and Bates are the favorites to win individual Olympic gold later in the Winter Games.
Trump claims his tariffs have revived the U.S. economy. However, the U.S. economy was already growing before his second term.
During the first three quarters of the year, Trump's tariffs — or the threat of them — delivered mixed results.
Inflation figures are skewed by data disruptions, and tariffs have actually increased core goods prices.
Trump also claims foreign producers bear most tariff costs, but studies show U.S. consumers and firms are affected.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Live Updates
• US-Iran negotiations: The two countries agreed to continue discussions after holding high-stakes indirect talks in Oman today. Iran's foreign minister called them a “good start.”
• Funding fight: Senate Majority Leader John Thune said conversations on the Department of Homeland Security funding bill will continue this weekend. The White House said Trump is willing to consider some of Democrats' demands for ICE reforms, but others are “non-starters.”
• Outrage over video: Trump shared a racist video depicting the Obamas as apes, prompting a rare rebuke from the Senate's only Black Republican, Tim Scott, who called it “the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House.” It has since been deleted.
• Fulton County: Trump defended the involvement of spy chief Tulsi Gabbard in the controversial search of a Georgia elections office. Attorney General Pam Bondi declined to comment on whether she sent Gabbard, saying, “She was there, we are inseparable.”
A high-ranking federal appeals court judge today railed against the Trump administration's “obsession” with targeting “woke” diversity, equity and inclusion programs, even as he sided with the government in a case challenging President Donald Trump's efforts to end government support of such initiatives.
In a unanimous decision authored by 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Albert Diaz, the Richmond-based court said two executive orders that sought to crack down on DEI programs in the federal government were legally sound. But the appointee of former President Barack Obama separately noted that the plaintiffs who brought the case had not challenged the application of Trump's orders to any specific program.
He said that while the administration had argued that some DEI programs may be lawful, evidence in the case's record “suggests a more sinister story: important programs terminated by keyword; valuable grants gutted in the dark; worthy efforts to uplift and empower denigrated in social media posts.”
The Trump administration's “obsession over so called ‘woke' DEI programs appears to know no bounds,” Diaz wrote in the solo concurrence, which specifically cited Secretary of State Marco Rubio's decision last year to nix a Joe Biden-era typeface policy intended to make official papers from the department more accessible.
Rubio, Diaz wrote, “somehow found time to rail against the Calibri typeface previously approved for State Department use by his predecessor. I kid you not.”
“For those disappointed by the outcome, I say this: Follow the law. Continue your critical work. Keep the faith. And depend on the Constitution, which remains a beacon amid the tumult.”
President Donald Trump said Friday he held his first meeting with the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, describing the visit and discussions as positive and focused on maintaining the historic residence.
“Just had my first meeting with the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, and it went really well — Terrific people who adore the Building, and love our Country even more,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The meeting with the committee, which is tasked with advising on the conservation and protection of the White House, comes as the president has faced criticism for his decision to tear down the East Wing and replace it with a massive new ballroom.
Trump said he “toured them in and around the Lincoln Bedroom, the Queens' Room, the Yellow Oval, the Map Room, the East Room, and more.”
“They loved it all,” the president added.
Trump also used the post to emphasize his administration's approach to maintaining the White House, saying the building “after many years, is being cherished, and properly taken care of!”
The US and Iran have agreed to hold follow-on discussions after consultations with their capitals following today's indirect talks in Oman, an outcome cautiously viewed as a positive result by both sides, according to source familiar.
The US delegation differed from the previous rounds of US-Iran talks, which took place before the US strike on Iranian nuclear sites last year. President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff led for the US previously, along with a small team that joined him over time, but Trump's son in law Jared Kushner was in the room this round, and US Central Command Commander Admiral Brad Cooper was part of the delegation.
Kushner had long been expected to join the discussions but Cooper's inclusion in the delegation was not expected far in advance, the source said. His presence marks the first time a senior US military official joined indirect talks with Iran during Trump's second term.
Some context: The Iranians grew frustrated with Witkoff over the course of last year's talks and some people involved believe that having new US players could lead to more productive discussions, the source said. Still, the talks' trajectory is yet to be determined, the source warned.
The location for the next round of talks is not yet set in stone but is likely to be Oman, the source said.
In terms of timing, that also remains unclear right now, the source said. Some people involved in the talks believe that slowing down the pace could allow for more robust negotiations to take place, they said.
The White House did not respond when asked for comment.
After the talks ended, in a sign that the US wants to keep up economic pressure, it rolled out new sanctions on Iranian oil and 14 vessels carrying it.
A racist video shared on President Donald Trump's Truth Social account has been deleted, with the White House now blaming a staffer for posting it late Thursday.
“A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down,” a senior White House official told CNN.
The post, which depicted former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as apes, remained online for roughly 12 hours before it was removed from Trump's Truth Social feed.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt initially downplayed the video in a statement Friday morning.
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,” she said. “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
Swift backlash: Politicians from both parties, including GOP Sen. Tim Scott and Rep. Mike Lawler, urged Trump to remove the post. A source familiar with the matter said GOP lawmakers had called Trump to discuss it with him.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday that the FBI has arrested a “key participant” behind the 2012 Benghazi terror attack in Benghazi, Libya.
US Ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed in the September 11, 2012 attack along with State Department employee Sean Smith and Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods are killed in the attack.
“We have never forgotten those heroes, and we have never stopped seeking justice for that crime against our nation,” Bondi said.
The man accused landed in the United States early this morning, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday morning. A plane that departed Misrata, Libya, on Thursday landed at the Manassas Regional Airport in Virginia at 3 a.m. Friday morning, according to flight data reviewed by CNN.
The man, Zubayar Al-Bakoush, will face charges including murder, attempted murder, terrorism, and arson, Bondi said.
Bakoush was charged eleven years ago, but the case remained sealed until his arrest Friday, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said. Her office will be leading the prosecution.
Read more about the arrest here.
Attorney General Pam Bondi declined to say whether she directed Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to go to the FBI search at an election center in Fulton County, Georgia.
“She was there, we are inseparable. That's all I can say,” Bondi said at a news conference.
Bondi added she is not worried that Gabbard's presence may have tainted evidence in their investigation.
She later noted FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey was “taking the lead” on the matter.
The administration has offered differing explanations for Gabbard's presence.
Here's what Deputy AG Todd Blanche told CNN earlier in the week:
GOP Sen. Tim Scott criticized President Donald Trump for sharing a racist video that depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes in a jungle, writing Friday that Trump “should remove it.”
“Praying it was fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House,” Scott, a South Carolina Republican and close Trump ally, wrote on X. “The President should remove it.”
The rare rebuke from Scott, who is the only Black Republican in the Senate and was once a vice presidential contender, came hours after Trump shared the video on Truth Social. The video promotes the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen and superimposes the Obamas' faces onto the bodies of apes.
Scott also chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, leading the effort to hold onto the GOP's Senate majority in the upcoming midterm elections.
The White House dismissed blowback over the video earlier Friday, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt calling it “fake outrage.”
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,” she said.
Indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States were a “positive and good start,” and the two sides agreed to continue the talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told local news outlets after talks concluded in the Omani capital of Muscat.
“There was a consensus on the continuation of the talks themselves. It was decided that this process would continue but the timing, manner, and date of that will be decided in the future,” Araghchi said.
Speaking to Iran's state news agency IRNA, Araghchi reiterated that the talks focused “solely” on the nuclear issue and “we did not discuss any other topics with the Americans.”
Araghchi added that Iran remains distrustful of the US, but if the negotiations continue with the “same view” from Washington, then a “framework” for future talks could be reached.
“But I do not want to judge now,” he said.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said both parties will make a decision on the next round of talks after consultations with their respective governments.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who mediated the negotiations, described the talks in a post on X as “very serious.”
“It was useful to clarify both Iranian and American thinking and identify areas for possible progress,” he wrote. “We aim to reconvene in due course, with the results to be considered carefully in Tehran and Washington.”
The US military conducted a strike against another alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean yesterday, killing two people, according to US Southern Command.
“On Feb. 5, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” SOUTHCOM wrote on X, adding that no US military personnel were harmed in the strike.
At least 119 people have now been killed in strikes on suspected drug boats as part of a campaign, dubbed Operation Southern Spear, that the Trump administration has said is aimed at curtailing narcotics trafficking.
Indirect talks between Iran and the United States in the Omani capital of Muscat have now ended, with a “willingness to continue,” according to Iranian state news agency IRNA.
Iranian state-affiliated news agency Tasnim said the two countries have agreed that talks will “continue at another time,” without specifying when.
Throughout the day, the Iranian and US delegations “conveyed views, considerations and approaches” through Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led the Iranian diplomatic delegation, while President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and special US envoy Steve Witkoff represented the US. The Commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM) Adm. Brad Cooper was also seen in attendance.
President Donald Trump shared a racist video on his social media platform that depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes in a jungle, sparking intense condemnation.
The Obamas briefly and suddenly appear near the end of the short video, which promotes false claims that voting machines helped steal the 2020 election, with their faces superimposed onto the bodies of apes. As the images appear, for about one second, the start of the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” plays in the background.
The post, which recalls the racist trope of comparing Black people with monkeys, prompted swift backlash. In a statement to CNN on Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the broader response to the video “fake outrage.”
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,” Leavitt said. “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
CNN has reached out to the Obamas for comment.
The office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned the video in a post on X, writing: “Disgusting behavior by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now.”
The incident is the latest example of Trump drawing criticism for sharing racist content on his social media platform.
Last year, the president posted an apparent AI video depicting Barack Obama being arrested in the Oval Office. Later last year, Trump and members of his administration also shared digitally altered images and videos of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a fake mustache and a sombrero, imagery Jeffries publicly described as racist.
Today, President Donald Trump will sign executive orders at 3 p.m. ET. As of now, this is closed to the press.
Later in the evening, the president will depart Washington, DC, en route to Palm Beach, Florida.
On Saturday: The president will meet with the president of Honduras at 3:30 p.m. ET, which is also closed to press.
On Sunday: At 6:30 p.m. ET, Trump is scheduled to attend a Super Bowl watch party, closed to press. The president is expected to return to the White House on Sunday night.
The commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), Admiral Brad Cooper, was seen attending meetings on Iran in Oman.
A video posted by the state-run Oman News Agency showed Cooper participating in talks between US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-la, Jared Kushner during their meetings with Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi.
Albusaidi is mediating between the United States and Iran in the indirect negotiations.
Russia and the United States “recognize the need to begin negotiations” on the issue of the lapsed nuclear monitoring treaty, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a news briefing today.
Peskov also described this week's trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US, hosted by the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi, as “both constructive and challenging.”
Asked if Russia was negotiating a short-term extension to the New START treaty with the US, Peskov said: “The provisions can be formally extended; informal extensions in this area are unlikely.”
“But there is an understanding, and this was also discussed in Abu Dhabi, that both sides will take responsible positions, and both sides recognize the need to begin negotiations on this issue as soon as possible,” Peskov added.
The landmark New START treaty, which capped the nuclear arsenals of both the US and Russia, expired on Thursday, renewing fears about a nuclear arms race between the two biggest nuclear superpowers.
US President Donald Trump said yesterday that the US should negotiate a new and improved nuclear treaty with Russia instead of agreeing to a treaty extension.
“Rather than extend ‘NEW START'(A badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved, and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Ahead of high-stakes talks with the US on Friday, Iran's foreign minister said his country “enters diplomacy with open eyes and a steady memory of the past year.”
“We engage in good faith and stand firm on our rights,” Abbas Araghchi wrote on X hours before the talks.
The talks are the first official meeting between the two sides since the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites last year and come amid heightened tensions.
“Commitments need to be honored. Equal standing, mutual respect and mutual interest are not rhetoric—they are a must and the pillars of a durable agreement,” Araghchi wrote.
Araghchi also met his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi in Oman's capital Muscat ahead of the talks with the US delegation, Iranian media reported.
Araghchi told Albusaidi that Tehran is “utilizing diplomacy to secure Iran's national interests” while being “fully prepared to defend its sovereignty and national security” against “adventurism,” the Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that efforts to find agreement over the Department of Homeland Security funding bill will “continue through the weekend.”
He said he prefers a full-year funding extension as a backup but CNN has reported that Democrats are opposed to a short-term deal so far. As of now, the two parties appear to be at an impasse on the issue.
Remember: The funding deadline is February 13.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized Republicans for not presenting a clear rebuttal to the Democratic demands on funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Meanwhile, Thune has also expressed frustration about not being able to get the Democratic side to sit down and negotiate, and many Republicans have said many of the Democratic demands are nonstarters.
High-stakes talks between the US and Iran are underway in the Omani capital of Muscat, Iranian news agencies reported early on Friday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is leading the Iranian diplomatic delegation, and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and special US envoy Steve Witkoff are representing the US.
Araghchi presented to his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi a “preliminary plan” to “manage the current situation” between Iran and the US and advance negotiations, Iran's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported. Albusaidi then conveyed the plan to the US delegation led by special envoy Steve Witkoff, and a US response will be delivered to the Iranian side during the talks, IRNA added.
The White House previously offered limited expectations for negotiations, saying President Donald Trump preferred to resolve tensions diplomatically and that he would receive a briefing from his delegates to the discussions afterward.
Trump hopes the large US military buildup he's ordered in the Middle East will act as leverage as he seeks concessions from Iran on its nuclear and missile programs.
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Former President Barack Obama talks with then President-elect Donald Trump as Melania Trump reads the funeral program before the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's social media post featuring former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, as primates in a jungle was deleted after a backlash from both Republicans and Democrats who criticized the video as racist.
The Republican president's Thursday night post was deleted Friday and blamed on a staffer after widespread backlash, from civil rights leaders to veteran Republican senators, for its treatment of the nation's first Black president and first lady. The deletion, a rare admission of a misstep by the White House, came hours after press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed “fake outrage” over the post. After calls for its removal for being racist -- including by Republicans -- the White House said a staffer had posted the video erroneously and it had been taken down.
The post was part of a flurry of social media activity on Trump's Truth Social account that amplified his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, despite courts around the country and a Trump attorney general from his first term finding no evidence of fraud that could have affected the outcome.
An Obama spokeswoman said the former president, a Democrat, had no response.
Nearly all of the 62-second clip, which was among dozens of Truth Social posts from Trump overnight, appears to be from a conservative video alleging deliberate tampering with voting machines in battleground states as the 2020 presidential votes were tallied. At the 60-second mark is a quick scene of two primates, with the Obamas' smiling faces imposed on them.
Those frames were taken from a separate video, previously circulated by an influential conservative meme maker. It shows Trump as “King of the Jungle” and depicts a range of Democratic leaders as animals, including Joe Biden, who is white, as a jungle primate eating a banana.
“This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King,” Leavitt said by text, referring to Disney's 1994 feature film, which does not feature the range of jungle primates featured in the original video. “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
By noon, the post had been taken down with responsibility placed on a Trump subordinate.
Trump did not comment on the video in the post, which comes in the first week of Black History Month and days after a presidential proclamation that cited “the contributions of black Americans to our national greatness and their enduring commitment to the American principles of liberty, justice, and equality.”
While it was still up, Trump's post drew condemnation from across the political and ideological spectrum.
The Rev. Bernice King, daughter of the assassinated civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., resurfaced her father's words: “Yes. I'm Black. I'm proud of it. I'm Black and beautiful.” She praised Black Americans as “diverse, innovative, industrious, inventive” and added, “We are beloved of God as postal workers and professors, as a former first lady and president. We are not apes.”
The U.S. Senate's lone Black Republican, Tim Scott of South Carolina, called on Trump to take down the post. “Praying it was fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House,” Scott, who chairs Senate Republicans' midterm campaign arm, said on social media.
Another Republican, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, is white but represents the state with the largest percentage of Black residents. Wicker called the post “totally unacceptable” and said the president should apologize.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement, “Donald Trump's video is blatantly racist, disgusting, and utterly despicable.”
Johnson asserted that Trump is trying anything to distract from economic conditions and attention on the Jeffrey Epstein case files.
“You know who isn't in the Epstein files? Barack Obama,” Johnson said. “You know who actually improved the economy as president? Barack Obama.”
Trump and the official White House social media accounts frequently repost memes and artificial intelligence-generated videos. As Leavitt did Friday, Trump aides typically dismiss critiques and cast the images as humorous.
There is a long history in the U.S. of powerful white figures associating Black people with animals, including apes, in demonstrably false and racist ways. The practice dates back to 18th century cultural racism and pseudo-scientific theories in which white people drew connections between Africans and monkeys to justify the enslavement of Black people in Europe and North America, and later to dehumanize freed Black people as an uncivilized threat to white people.
Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, wrote in his famous text “Notes on the State of Virginia” that Black women were the preferred sexual partners of orangutans. President Dwight Eisenhower, discussing the desegregation of public schools in the 1950s, once argued that white parents were concerned about their daughters being in classrooms with “big Black bucks.” Obama, as a candidate and president, was featured as a monkey or other primate on T-shirts and other merchandise.
Trump, for his part, has a record of intensely personal criticism of the Obamas and of using incendiary, sometimes racist, rhetoric.
In his 2024 campaign, Trump said immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country,” language similar to what Adolf Hitler said to dehumanize Jews in Nazi Germany.
During his first White House term, Trump referred to a swath of developing nations that are majority Black as “shithole countries.” He initially denied using the slur but admitted in December 2025 that he did say it.
When Obama was in the White House, Trump advanced the false claims that the 44th president, who was born in Hawaii, was born in Kenya and was constitutionally ineligible to serve. Trump, in interviews that helped endear him to many conservative voters, repeatedly demanded that Obama produce birth records and prove he was a “natural-born citizen” as required to become president.
Obama eventually released his Hawaii records. Trump finally acknowledged during his 2016 campaign, after having won the Republican nomination, that Obama was born in Hawaii. But he immediately said, falsely, that his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton started those birtherism attacks on Obama.
___ Barrow reported from Atlanta.
live
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Iran and the United States are poised Friday to hold negotiations in Oman at least over Tehran's nuclear program. The talks follow a chaotic week that initially saw plans for regional countries to take part in talks in Turkey.
Oman mediated indirect talks Friday between Iran and the United States over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, seeking to de-escalate tensions between the nations after Washington bombed Iranian nuclear sites and Tehran launched a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the talks as “a very good start” even as the parties met Oman's top diplomat at different times at a palace on the outskirts of the country's capital, Muscat. Both Araghchi and the Omanis described the talks themselves as focused on merely trying to find a way to hold future negotiations — seemingly returning to the start of discussions about the Iranian nuclear program that unfolded over months a year ago, before Israel launched its 12-day war on Iran in June.
The U.S. side, represented by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, had no immediate comment on the talks.
In an unusual development, U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of the American military's Central Command, also attended the meeting — something that did not happen in previous rounds and likely served as a signal to Tehran that Washington may still strike Iran if negotiations fail.
Other news we're following:
The Trump administration is asking a federal judge to allow it to end temporary legal protections for roughly 350,000 Haitians in the U.S. while it appeals her ruling blocking the termination.
In a court filing on Thursday, the Department of Justice asked U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes to pause her decision.
Reyes ruled Monday that a lawsuit challenging the termination was likely to prevail on its merits.
The Trump administration wants Reyes to issue a decision by Monday.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs objected to that timeline in a court filing, arguing there was no emergency that requires the sudden termination of Haiti's Temporary Protected Status.
“Praying it was fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House.
“The President should remove it,” said Scott, a Black Republican who chairs Senate Republicans' midterm campaign arm, said on social media.
Bondi says Gabbard presence in Fulton County doesn't taint search
Bondi said “absolutely not” when asked if Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's presence at last week's FBI search of the election office in Georgia tainted the search.
The office has been central to right-wing conspiracy theories over Trump's 2020 election loss.
It came a week after Trump predicted prosecutions over a contest he has baselessly insisted was tainted by widespread fraud.
Bondi stressed on Friday that the search was helmed by FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey.
Gabbard has said that she present at the search because Trump wanted her there. Trump this week said Gabbard had gone to Georgia “at Pam's insistence,” referencing the attorney general.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday federal authorities are assisting Arizona officials investigating the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie's mother.
Bondi spoke during an unrelated news conference in Washington when she was asked about the investigation involving 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, the mother of the “Today” show host.
“It breaks my heart for Savannah and for her family,” Bondi said.
Bondi called for prayers for the family and said she's known Savannah Guthrie for more than 30 years.
She declined to say more about what federal officials are doing to assist.
A “key participant” in the 2012 attack on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans is in custody, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday.
The 2012 attacks on the U.S. compound killed Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
The attack emerged as a divisive political issue.
Glass, debris and overturned furniture are strewn inside a room in the gutted U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, after an attack that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens., Sept. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Ibrahim Alaguri, File)
Republicans challenged President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on security at the facility, the military response to the violence and the Democratic administration's changing narrative about who was responsible and why.
Officials said that Zubayr Al-Bakoush was brought to an airfield in Virginia early Friday.
“We have never stopped seeking justice for that crime against our nation,” Bondi said.
—
Corrective: This story has been corrected to show that the suspect arrived at an airfield in Virginia, not Joint Base Andrews in Maryland as Attorney General Pam Bondi announced.
The military strength of the US was showcased during talks with Iranians.
U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of the American military's Central Command, also attended the meeting — something that did not happen in previous rounds.
It likely served as a signal to Tehran that Washington may still strike Iran if negotiations fail.
With the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other warships in the region, along with more fighter jets, the U.S. now likely has the military firepower to launch an attack if it wanted.
Former President Barack Obama talks with then President-elect Donald Trump as Melania Trump reads the funeral program before the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
Trump has used his social media account to share a video about election conspiracy theories that includes a racist depiction of former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama.
It was part of a flurry of social media activity that amplified Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected criticism of the post that depicted the Obamas, who are Democrats.
An Obama spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Nearly all of the 62-second clip appears to be from a conservative video.
At the 60-second mark is a quick scene of two primates, with the Obamas' smiling faces imposed on them.
▶ Read more
Iran's top diplomat said that indirect talks with the United States held in Oman on Friday were “a very good start” but negotiators now must speak with their leaders.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made the comment in a live interview from Muscat, Oman, on Iranian state television.
Araghchi described the talks as taking place over multiple rounds and that they were focused primarily on finding a framework for further negotiations.
Oman has mediated indirect talks between Iran and the United States over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, seeking to de-escalate tensions between the nations after Washington bombed Iranian nuclear sites and Tehran launched a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
Oman issued a public statement acknowledging the talks after Associated Press journalists watched Iranian and American officials separately visit a palace on the outskirts of Muscat to speak to the sultanate's foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi.
It wasn't immediately clear Friday if that was the end of the talks for the day.
The U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites during that war, likely destroying many of the centrifuges that spun uranium to near weapons-grade purity. Israel's attacks devastated Iran's air defenses and targeted its ballistic missile arsenal as well.
Ice dance duo Madison Chock and Evan Bates rock-and-rolled their way to a world-best 91.06 points in the rhythm dance to open the team competition at the Milan Cortina Olympics, where the American figure skaters are the reigning champions.
Cheered on by a crowd that included Vice President J.D. Vance, his family and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chock and Bates were able to secure their team the maximum 10 points for their Lenny Kravitz-inspired dance while making a big early statement.
The three-time world champions, Chock and Bates are the favorites to win individual Olympic gold later in the Winter Games.
Trump claims his tariffs have revived the U.S. economy. However, the U.S. economy was already growing before his second term.
During the first three quarters of the year, Trump's tariffs — or the threat of them — delivered mixed results.
Inflation figures are skewed by data disruptions, and tariffs have actually increased core goods prices.
Trump also claims foreign producers bear most tariff costs, but studies show U.S. consumers and firms are affected.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
From left, Norway's Princess Ingrid Alexandra, left, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit on their way to a gala dinner at the Palace in Oslo, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (Fredrik Varfjell/NTB via AP, File)
FILE -Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland speaks at the Russian International Affairs Council in Moscow on March 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, File)
OSLO, Norway (AP) — Norway's crown princess apologized on Friday for the situation she has put the royal family in as she faces scrutiny over her contacts with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, part of a broader apology for all those she has “disappointed.”
Crown Princess Mette-Marit's communications and contacts with Epstein have put her in the spotlight over the past week, adding to the embarrassment to the royals just as her son went on trial in Oslo for multiple offenses, including charges of rape.
The Epstein files contained several hundred mentions of the crown princess, who said in 2019 that she regretted having had contact with Epstein, Norwegian media reported.
The documents, which include email exchanges, showed that Mette-Marit borrowed an Epstein-owned property in Palm Beach, Florida, for several days in 2013. Broadcaster NRK reported that the stay was arranged through a mutual friend, which was later confirmed by the royal household.
The royal palace said Friday that Mette-Marit wants to talk about what happened and explain herself in more detail, but is unable to at present. It added that she is in a very difficult situation and “hopes for understanding that she needs time to gather her thoughts.”
It also issued a statement from the crown princess — her second in a week — in which she reiterated her deep regret for her past friendship with Epstein.
“It is important for me to apologize to all of you whom I have disappointed,” she said. “Some of the content of the messages between Epstein and me does not represent the person I want to be. I also apologize for the situation I have put the Royal Family in, especially the King and Queen.”
King Harald, 88, and the royals are generally popular in Norway, but the case against Mette-Marit's son, Marius Borg Høiby, has been a problem for the family's image since 2024 and the latest Epstein files have compounded that. Mette-Marit is married to Crown Prince Haakon, the heir to the throne.
The release of documents included an email from Mette-Marit to Epstein in November 2012 asking: “Is it inappropriate for a mother to suggest two naked women carrying a surfboard for my I5-year-old son's wallpaper?”
He replied, “Let them decide,” and advised that the mother should, “Stay out of it.”
Mette-Marit, 52, said in a statement issued shortly after the files were released that she “must take responsibility for not having investigated Epstein's background more thoroughly, and for not realizing sooner what kind of person he was.” She added: “I showed poor judgment and regret having had any contact with Epstein at all. It is simply embarrassing.”
The crown princess isn't the only high-profile Norwegian who faces unflattering attention stemming from the documents on millionaire financier and sex offender Epstein released by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Norwegian Economic Crime Investigation Service, a mixed unit of police and prosecutors, said Thursday that it would look into whether gifts, travel or loans were received by former Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland in connection with his positions.
Jagland was Norway's prime minister between 1996 and 1997. He also has chaired the Norwegian Nobel Committee and was secretary general of the Council of Europe.
The files revealed years of contact between the politician and Epstein. Emails indicate that he made plans to visit Epstein's island with his family in 2014, when he was chairman of the Nobel committee, with an Epstein assistant organizing the flights.
Norwegian authorities are also looking to lift Jagland's immunity, which he enjoys because of his past as a diplomat. His legal representative told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that Jagland is cooperating with the investigation.
The World Economic Forum also announced on Thursday that it was opening an internal review into its CEO Børge Brende to determine his relationship with Epstein, after the files indicated the two had dined together several times and exchanged messages. Brende was Norway's foreign minister from 2013-2017.
He told NRK that he is cooperating with the investigation, that he only met Epstein in business settings and that he had been unaware of Epstein's criminal background.
Epstein killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges that he sexually abused underage girls at his homes in the U.S.
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Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Friendship with Epstein has already brought down a British royal – Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew – and U.K ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson, fired by Starmer over his links to the financier. Now new revelations have plunged Starmer's center-left government into turmoil.
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer talks with members of the audience after delivering a speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, England, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Peter Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer adjusts his glasses as he waits to deliver his speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, England, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Peter Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, England, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Peter Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, talks with Britain's ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson during a welcome reception at the ambassador's residence on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025 in Washington. (Carl Court/Pool Photo via AP, file)
President Donald Trump, left, gets a reaction from Britian's ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson, right, as they take questions from members of the media after announcing a trade deal between U.S. and U.K. in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, file)
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a battle to stay in post after the fallout from his decision in 2024 to appoint veteran politician Peter Mandelson as the U.K. ambassador to the U.S. despite the latter's ties to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Starmer's judgment is in the spotlight like never before, especially after the release last week of millions of Epstein-related documents by the U.S. Justice Department showed how close those links were.
There's widespread anger that the prime minister appointed Mandelson, a grandee of Starmer's own Labour Party, to such a sensitive and high-profile post. Starmer had already sacked Mandelson after a first batch of emails were published in September, showing he remained friends with Epstein after the late financier's 2008 conviction for sex offenses involving a minor.
But the emails made public this week show that Mandelson also passed on sensitive — and potentially market-moving — government information to the disgraced financier in 2009, when he was a member of the Labour Cabinet.
Starmer's leadership has now been called into question. Several Labour lawmakers have said that he should quit, while others are clearly uncomfortable, following a series of missteps since the party returned to power in a landslide victory in July 2024.
Starmer is trying to fight back. He has apologized to the British public and to the victims of Epstein's sex trafficking for believing what he has termed “Mandelson's lies.”
There are a number of ways in which Starmer could go, some more straightforward than others.
The simplest option is that Starmer announces his intention to resign, triggering an election for the Labour leadership. A resignation could possibly come if a delegation of Cabinet members tell Starmer he has lost too much support within the party or if members of his government quit in protest.
Those considered to harbor leadership ambitions include Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Home Secretary Shabana Mahood and former deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, who had to resign last year after admitting she didn't pay enough tax on a house purchase. The problem for Rayner is that an investigation into that is ongoing.
But there's no clear front-runner.
Andy Burnham, the popular mayor of Manchester who was blocked from standing at a special election in the city later this month, would not be eligible as the leader must come from the parliamentary party.
Whoever does run, the election would likely take weeks, with Starmer likely staying in post until that concludes.
Were Starmer decide to resign immediately, the Cabinet and Labour's governing body would likely pick an interim leader to be prime minister, probably someone not standing to be Labour leader. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy could fit the bill.
Under Labour's rules, candidates must have the support of a fifth of the parliamentary party, which equates to 80 lawmakers.
Those meeting that threshold would then have to receive the support of 5% of the local constituency Labour parties or at three least party affiliates, of which two must be trade unions. Affiliates are groups or organizations that are deemed to have interests consistent with those of the Labour Party; including trade unions and co-operative and socialist societies.
Eligible members of the party and affiliates will then vote for the leader using an electoral system that ranks the candidates. The winner is the first candidate to secure over 50% of the vote.
King Charles III would then invite the winner to become prime minister and form a government.
If Starmer does not resign, he could face a challenge, potentially from within his Cabinet.
Unlike the Conservative Party, which has a history of getting rid of leaders such as Margaret Thatcher in 1990 and Boris Johnson in 2022, Labour does not have that muscle memory. No Labour prime minister has ever been dislodged, though Tony Blair announced his plan to resign in 2007 after a series of low-level resignations.
Challengers would have to meet the eligibility thresholds above, but Starmer would automatically be on the ballot.
Starmer faces a series of hurdles in the weeks ahead. The first will probably come within days when files related to the vetting of Mandelson are published. Starmer will be hoping they show the scale of Mandelson's lies. Should they not, that could be a point of high jeopardy for the prime minister.
Another potential pitfall could be the special election in Gorton and Denton on Feb. 26, traditionally a safe Labour seat. However, this time it will be a tough fight, with challenges from the anti-immigration Reform U.K. on the right and the Greens on the left.
The decision to bar Burnham from standing also poses a risk for Labour. Though he was blocked on the grounds that a Burnham victory would trigger a costly special election for the mayoralty in Manchester, critics claim that Starmer did not want to see a potentially dangerous rival back in the House of Commons.
After that comes a raft of elections in May. Many in Labour fear the party could lose power in Wales for the first time since the legislature was created in 1999, fall way short in Scotland and get battered in local elections in England.
It's clear that Starmer faces a difficult landscape.
And that's barring surprise developments that could further rock his premiership.
“Events, dear boy, events,” Harold Macmillan, prime minister between 1957 and 1963, said when asked what the greatest challenges for leaders were.
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Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
A massive bombing ripped through a Shiite mosque on the outskirts of Pakistan's capital during Friday prayers, killing at least 31 people and wounding at least 169 others, police said. Islamabad police said the blast at the sprawling mosque was an attack and that an investigation was underway. (AP Video by Naveed Anjum)
People comfort a man, center, mourning over the death of his relative, close to the site of a bomb explosion at a Shiite mosque, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Pakistani security officers and rescue worker gather at the site of a bomb explosion at a Shiite mosque, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
People comfort a man, center, mourning over the death of his relative, close to the site of a bomb explosion at a Shiite mosque, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Pakistani paramilitary and police commandos take positions at the site of a bomb explosion at a Shiite mosque, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Pakistani security officers and rescue worker gather at the site of a bomb explosion at a Shiite mosque, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
ISLAMABAD (AP) — A suicide bomber targeted a Shiite mosque on the outskirts of Islamabad during Friday prayers, killing 31 people and wounding at least 169 others, officials said, a rare bombing in Pakistan's capital as its Western-allied government struggles to rein in a surge in militant attacks across the country.
Television footage and social media images showed police and residents transporting the wounded to nearby hospitals. Some of the wounded in the attack on the sprawling mosque of Khadija Al-Kubra were reported to be in critical condition.
Rescuers and witnesses described a harrowing scene, with bodies and wounded lying on the mosque's carpeted floor. Hussain Shah said he was praying in the mosque courtyard when he heard a sudden, loud explosion.
“I immediately thought that some big attack had happened,” he said. He then went into the mosque to utter chaos — many of the wounded were screaming and crying out for help. Shah said he counted around 30 bodies inside the mosque, while the number of the wounded appeared to be significantly higher.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion, but suspicion is likely to fall on militants such as the Pakistani Taliban or the Islamic State group, which has been blamed for previous attacks on Shiite worshippers, a minority in the country. Militant groups across Pakistan often target security forces and civilians.
Though attacks are not so frequent in Islamabad, Pakistan has seen a surge in militant violence in recent months, largely blamed on Baloch separatist groups and the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which is a separate group, but allied with Afghanistan's Taliban. A regional affiliate of the Islamic State group has also been active in the country.
In the initial aftermath of the explosion, a lower number of casualties was released, but Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Memon gave the latest tolls.
Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif wrote on X that preliminary findings suggest the suicide bomber had been on the move to and from Afghanistan. Asif said the mosque's security guards tried to intercept the suspect, who opened fire at them and then detonated his explosives among the worshippers.
The condition of the guards was not immediately known. Pakistan often accuses Afghanistan, where the Taliban seized power again in August 2021 as American and NATO troops were withdrawing after a 20-year war, of harboring militants and members of the Pakistani Taliban. Kabul denies the accusation.
Afghanistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement Friday saying that the “Islamic Republic of Afghanistan condemns such attacks that violate the sanctity of sacred rituals and mosques and target worshippers and innocent people.”
The attack also drew condemnation from the international community, including the United Sates and European Union. Condolences and condemnation also poured in from various embassies in Islamabad.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended condolences to the families of the victims in sperate statements and asked that all possible medical assistance be provided for those wounded.
“Targeting innocent civilians is a crime against humanity,” Zardari said. “The nation stands with the affected families in this difficult time.”
“Those who are responsible must be identified and punished,” Sharif said. Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also condemned the attack.
Friday's attack occurred as Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who is on an official two-day visit, was attending an event with Sharif. The event in Islamabad was several miles away from the site of the explosion.
A top Shiite leader, Raja Nasir, expressed deep sorrow over the attack at Khadija Al-Kubra.
“Such a terrorist act in the federal capital is not only a serious failure in protecting human lives but also raises significant questions about the performance of the authorities and law enforcement agencies,” he said and asked for people to give blood as the hospitals in Islamabad were in urgent need for blood supplies for the wounded.
The last deadliest attack in Islamabad was in 2008, when a suicide bombing targeted the Marriott Hotel in the capital, killing 63 people and wounding over 250 others. In November, a suicide bomber had struck outside a court in Islamabad, killing 12 people.
The latest attack came nearly a week after the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army carried out multiple attacks in insurgency-hit southwestern Balochistan province, killing about 50 people.
Security forces responding to those attacks also killed more than 200 “terrorists,” according to the military.
Hours after the Islamabad bombing, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif said on X that she had canceled her events at the music and kite-flying festival in the city of Lahore for Saturday. The festival, which got underway on Friday, was still expected to continue.
___
Associated Press writers Babar Dogar in Lahore and Asim Tanveer in Multan, Pakistan, contributed to this story.
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The search for Nancy Guthrie intensifies as private investigator TJ Ward, who worked on the Natalie Holloway case, weighs in on the missed ransom deadline and looming Monday threat.
A neighbor of missing Nancy Guthrie said he saw a suspicious white van on their street in the days before NBC host Savannah Guthrie's mother was taken from her home.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen at her Tucson home at around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, according to the Pima County Sheriff's Department.
While officials didn't initially elaborate on the circumstances of her disappearance, Sheriff Chris Nanos said on Monday that "we do, in fact, have a crime." A law enforcement source told Fox News Digital that there were "blood drops" leading from the entryway outside down the house's pathway towards the driveway.
"Sheriff [Chris] Nanos has stated that he believes that a crime has been committed," a spokesperson for Pima County Sheriff's Office told Fox News Digital. "At this point, investigators believe she was taken from the home against her will and that includes possible kidnapping or abduction."
EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT NANCY GUTHRIE'S RANSOM NOTE AS SHERIFF SAYS SHE WAS ABDUCTED
Savannah Guthrie and her mother, Nancy Guthrie, are pictured on Thursday, June 15, 2023. (Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
Brett McIntire, who lives across the street from Nancy Guthrie, told the New York Post he reported the unmarked van to police. He couldn't recall exactly when he saw the van, but said it was recent.
"It was somewhere on that street. It was a white van, full-sized, with no printing on the sides. It was parked on the street," he said. "Normally people that are coming to work on your home will have a company vehicle or, if they're independent, something written on it."
TIMELINE: NBC HOST SAVANNAH GUTHRIE'S MOTHER DISAPPEARS AS SHERIFF SAYS SHE MAY HAVE BEEN 'ABDUCTED'
Australian-born presenter, Savannah Guthrie poses alongside her mother Nancy Guthrie during a production break while hosting NBC's "Today Show" live from Australia at Sydney Opera House on May 4, 2015, in Sydney, Australia. (Don Arnold/WireImage)
"From now on, when I'm going out and about, I'll have a paper and pen and record anything unusual," he added.
After Nancy Guthrie's disappearance, Brett's wife, Lisa, said they're considering buying security cameras.
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Members of the press work outside the home of Nancy Guthrie, the missing mother of "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Caitlin O'Hara)
"Brett and I were talking. And we thought, well, we should probably get one," Lisa said. "We have a pretty secure residence. Metal doors. I'm kind of a deep sleeper, so it's unlikely someone could get past one of the metal doors. But we're a little concerned."
Adam Sabes is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Adam.Sabes@fox.com and on Twitter @asabes10.
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Rep. Gregory Meeks repeatedly demanded a yes-or-no answer from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, escalating the exchange into a tense confrontation.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was grilled by Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill in back-to-back hearings this week that repeatedly erupted into shouting. Bessent was on the Hill to discuss the nation's economic health but faced sharp questioning that at times derailed the proceedings.
The confrontations reflected broader Democratic frustrations over President Donald Trump's trade agenda and renewed pressure on the Federal Reserve, sharpening concerns about inflation, borrowing costs and the administration's economic direction.
Against that backdrop, cost-of-living pressures dominated the hearings, with Democratic lawmakers demanding clearer answers as Bessent defended the administration's policies.
Here are the top contentious moments from Bessent's hearings.
On Wednesday, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., was among the first to clash with Bessent over Trump's economic agenda, with the irate congresswoman asking at one point if someone could "shut him up."
The exchange took place during Bessent's testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. Waters, the panel's ranking member, pressed Bessent on the potential inflationary effects of Trump's tariffs on U.S. consumers, repeatedly calling for a yes-or-no answer.
Waters: So I ask you, Secretary Bessent, will you be the voice of reason in this administration and urge President Trump to stop waging a war on American consumers, harming housing affordability, and putting the economy at risk? Yes or no. You don't have to explain.
Bessent: Representative —
Waters: Will you be the voice of reason? Will you be the voice of reason?
Bessent: A study from Wharton University has shown —
Waters: Reclaiming my time. Reclaiming my time. Mr. Chair, will you let him know when I ask to reclaim my time —
Rep. French Hill, R-Arkansas, House Financial Services Committee chairman: The time does belong to the gentlewoman from California.
Bessent: Ten to 20 million immigrants —
Waters: Can you shut him up?
U.S. Representative Maxine Waters, Democrat from California, asked Rep. French Hill to silence Treasury Secretary Bessent. (Alex Wroblewski/AFP/Getty Images)
Bessent: What about the housing stock for working Americans? And can you maintain some level of dignity?
Hill: The gentlewoman's time has expired.
Waters: No, my time has not expired.
Hill: Your time has expired. The gentleman —
Waters: The gentleman took up my time. I think you should recognize that, Mr. Chair.
Hill: The gentlewoman's time has expired.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, Democrat from New York, yells at Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to answer his question during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 4, 2026. (Alex Wroblewski/AFP/Getty Images)
Following the contentious exchange with Waters, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) asked Bessent to commit to pausing and fully scrutinizing any Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) licensing tied to World Liberty Financial, a Trump-linked crypto firm.
He cited concerns about conflicts of interest and foreign influence that he said should be reviewed and shared with Congress. Bessent cited the OCC's independence and declined to give a direct yes-or-no answer.
Meeks : All I need to know is will you halt it and do a complete investigation and scrutiny of this licensing application? Yes or no?
Bessent: No, congressman. The OCC is an independent entity and I would note congressman —
Meeks: All you have to say is yes or no.
Bessent: In 2006, you traveled to Venezuela —
Meeks: I take that as a no.
Bessent: On behalf of your donors —
Meeks: I take that as a no. You do not want to answer that question.
Bessent: 110 years —
Meeks: I take that as a no.
CAN YOU SHUT HIM UP?: WATERS AND TREASURY'S BESSENT CLASH OVER TRUMP'S ECONOMIC AGENDA
There were several flare-ups between Democrat lawmakers and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during his testimony on Capitol Hill. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Bessent: For 7 billion —
Meeks: I'm asking you to do your responsibility as Secretary of the Treasury.
Hill: Mr. Meeks. Your time has expired.
Meeks: He went past your time, Mr. Chairman. He did not answer my question, and he went past the time.
Hill: He had six seconds left to try to answer your question.
Meeks: And it was a yes or no.
Hill: Gentleman, the chair recognizes the gentleman —
Meeks: Stop covering for the president. Stop being his flunky.
Hill: Gentlemen, gentlemen —
Meeks: Stop covering for the president, work for the American people.
Bessent: To make a trip to Venezuela —
Meeks: Don't be a cover-up for a mob.
Hill: Mr. Meeks. Mr. Bessent please —
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., sparred with Bessent during a contentious Senate Banking Committee hearing on Thursday, pressing him on President Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the alleged leak of his tax records.
When Bessent said any payout would come from the U.S. Treasury, Gallego pushed back, arguing the cost would ultimately be borne by U.S. taxpayers.
Bessent tried to interject, but Gallego continued, "I'm controlling the time here. You're not obeying the law. You're plundering U.S. taxpayer dollars."
In the same hearing, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., pressed Bessent to explain a joke Trump made about Federal Reserve nominee Kevin Warsh.
Warren, the panel's ranking member, asked Bessent about comments Trump made over the weekend, when he joked — or appeared to joke — about suing Warsh if he failed to lower the national interest rate. The question triggered a shouting match between the two.
WARREN AND BESSENT ERUPT INTO SHOUTING MATCH OVER TRUMP'S WARSH JOKE
Warren: This one should be an easy one. Mr. Secretary, can you commit right here and now that Trump's Fed nominee, Kevin Warsh, will not be sued, will not be investigated by the Department of Justice, if he doesn't cut interest rates exactly the way Donald Trump wants?
Bessent: That's up to the president. Can you commit that you will —
Warren: I'm sorry? You can't say that he won't be sued if he doesn't drop interest rates?
Bessent: Can you commit that you will not hold up —
Warren: And he won't be criminally investigated?
A side-by-side photo of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Bessent: The president also made a joke about you — one I won't repeat.
Warren: That was supposed to be a softball. That was the easy one. If this was a joke, why not just say so?
Bessent: It was a joke, and he made a joke about you, too, Senator Warren. It got a lot of laughs, it got a lot of laughs. I don't know if you want to respond to that.
Warren: I do want to respond, I think the American people are laughing, they are the ones that are struggling.
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Last week, Trump nominated Warsh to lead the world's most powerful central bank. If confirmed by the Senate, Warsh would assume one of the most powerful positions in U.S. economic policymaking, with direct influence over interest rate decisions and the central bank's battle against inflation.
Kiera McDonald and Hannah Brennan contributed to this report.
Amanda covers the intersection of business and politics for Fox News Digital.
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'Bar Rescue' host and executive producer Jon Taffer joins 'The Sunday Briefing' to discuss new dietary guidance on alcohol, the rise of mocktails and how Ozempic is shrinking portion sizes across restaurants.
After years of chasing hard-to-get reservations and trendy TikTok foods and drinks, Gen Z is making dive bars cool again.
Young adults born between 1997 and 2012 are embracing becoming regulars at local spots like it's 1995 — echoing the vibes of "Friends" and "Cheers" as they seek real-world connection, better deals and laid-back atmospheres, Business Insider recently reported.
Industry insiders tell Fox News Digital they're seeing the trend play out across their own businesses.
COMMUNAL DINING MAKES GEN Z COMEBACK, BUT OLDER GUESTS PUSH BACK ON 'CHAOTIC' TREND
"We're definitely seeing a shift back toward those reliable neighborhood spots where the focus is more on meaningful catch-ups than chasing the latest trend," New York-based beverage expert Gareth Howells told Fox News Digital.
"While we all love a fancy cocktail lounge for a big night out, there's something special about becoming a regular at a local spot where the staff knows your name," Howells said.
Dive bars are gaining popularity among Gen Z for their welcoming feel and lack of reservations. (iStock)
Restaurant owners agree that reliable neighborhood spots are increasingly appealing to younger customers.
"Gen Z consumers are very intentional about where they go and why," said Hakki Akdeniz, a New York–based restaurateur whose businesses include Champion Pizza and Mira Mediterranean & Hookah Lounge.
BARTENDERS SAY ONE COMMON REQUEST COSTS THEM TIPS — AND SOME CUSTOMERS HAVE NO IDEA
"They care more about whether a place is welcoming, social and worthwhile than about glitz and glam," Akdeniz told Fox News Digital. "They want to feel like their time and money actually matter."
Dive bars also offer younger customers, who are drinking less overall, a place to socialize without the pressure of heavy alcohol consumption, according to Vic Christopher, president and co-founder of Clark House Hospitality in Troy, New York.
Affordable beers are winning out over pricey cocktails. (iStock)
"There seems to be less interest in complicated cocktails and long-winded explanations for wine varietals and more of an emphasis on value," he said.
Cheaper drinks, wing nights and other specials are also drawing in younger crowds who might just be making minimum wage, said Alex Schwartz, marketing director at PDQ POS, a sales software provider used across the country.
HAPPY HOUR HABITS SHIFT BAR CULTURE IN AMERICA: WHO'S DRINKING WHEN
"I am seeing a lot more dive and neighborhood bars invest in live entertainment and themed nights, something that went away for a few years after the pandemic," he added.
"Gen Z customers are more interested in seeing local performers and attending recurring events where they can build friendships and relationships with people in their area."
Live music and themed events are helping dive bars draw in Gen Z customers. (iStock)
A $7 beer is repeatable — an $18 cocktail is not, agreed Ben Tannenbaum, New York-based vice president of partnerships at nightlife company LineLeap. He said dive bars are also better suited to today's fragmented schedules and rising costs.
"You don't need to plan," he said. "You don't need reservations. You just go."
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Just over half of Americans consider themselves a regular at a local restaurant or bar, according to OpenTable, meaning they visit three or four times a month and staff may know their name or order. Gen Z is increasingly following older generations in filling these spaces.
"Becoming a regular allows people to have a home away from home."
Tech and payment companies are reportedly racing to monetize the desire for neighborhood connection, formalizing what once happened naturally through loyalty programs, according to the National Restaurant Association.
"We're focusing on rewarding loyalty, motivating people to be loyal to places that they love," Ben Leventhal, co-founder of Resy and founder of Blackbird, an app focused on loyalty rewards for restaurants, told Business Insider.
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"Restaurants love to connect with new regulars, guests love to become regulars."
For Akdeniz, however, technology can't replace old-fashioned hospitality.
Rising drink prices are pushing Gen Z toward neighborhood dive bars instead of high-end cocktail spots, experts say. (iStock)
"Loyalty programs can help, but they should never replace the human element of hospitality," he said. "The best loyalty is built on relationships — being remembered, cared for and feeling like you belong."
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The trend may also be better for mental health and connection.
Dive bars can offer a lower-pressure space for in-person connection. (iStock)
Dive bars are often lower-pressure and less judgmental, said John Puls, a licensed psychotherapist at Full Life Comprehensive Care in Boca Raton, Florida, and an adjunct professor at Florida Atlantic University.
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"The traditional nightlife of clubs does not yield itself to in-person connections as much," Puls told Fox News Digital.
"Becoming a regular allows people to have a home away from home. It provides an opportunity to put down your phones and experience genuine connections."
Deirdre Bardolf is a lifestyle writer with Fox News Digital.
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The judge wanted everyone in the courtroom to know that when he'd signed a war orphan over to an American Marine he thought it was an emergency — that the child injured on the battlefield in Afghanistan was on death's door, with neither a family nor a country to claim her.
A lawyer for the federal government stood up.
“That is not what happened,” she told the judge: almost everything he'd believed about the baby was untrue.
This group had gathered 15 times by then, in secret proceedings in this small-town Virginia courtroom to try to fix what had become an international incident. Fluvanna County Circuit Judge Richard Moore had granted an adoption of the orphan to U.S. Marine Joshua Mast and his wife, Stephanie, while the baby was in Afghanistan, 7,000 miles away.
Now the U.S. government insisted the baby's fate had never been the judge's to decide; officials in President Donald Trump's first administration had chosen to unite her with relatives months before Moore gave her away, according to once-secret transcripts of the November 2022 hearing.
Thousands of pages of those transcripts and court documents were recently released as a result of The Associated Press' three-year fight for access after a 2022 AP report about the adoption raised alarms at the highest levels of government, from the Taliban to the White House. The newly released records reveal how America's fractured bureaucracy allowed the Masts to adopt the child who was halfway around the globe, being raised by a couple the Afghan government at that time decided were her family, in a country that does not allow non-Muslims to take custody of its children. The documents show the judge skipped critical safeguards and legal requirements.
Mast, who cited a judge's orders not to speak publicly about the case in declining requests to comment, has said he believed — and still does — the story he told Moore about the girl, and insists he acted nobly and in the best interest of a child stuck in a war zone with an uncertain future.
Along the way, high-ranking military and government officials took extraordinary steps to help him, seemingly unaware that others in their own agencies were trying to stop him.
“The left hand of the United States is doing one thing,” another judge later said, describing the dysfunction, “and the right hand of the United States is doing something else.”
The documents reveal that the court and federal government have blamed each other for the legal predicament. The Justice Department has said what happened in this rural courthouse threatens the nation's standing in the world and appears as an endorsement of child abduction.
“I'll probably think about this the rest of my life whether I should have said, sorry, that child is in Afghanistan. We're just going to stand down,” Moore said at the hearing three years ago. “I don't know whether that's what I should have done.”
AP Illustration/Nat Castaneda
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The baby was orphaned in September 2019 when U.S. Army Rangers, along with Afghan forces, raided a rural compound. The baby's parents were killed. She was found in the rubble, about two months old, burned and with a fractured skull and broken leg. U.S. troops scooped her up and took her to the hospital at Bagram Air Base in Kabul.
Children stand in front of a home destroyed during a Sept. 5, 2019, night raid by U.S. forces in a village in a remote region of Afghanistan, on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)
American servicemembers fell in love with her there, as she recovered. She was a symbol of hope in a long, grinding war.
The raid that killed the baby's parents targeted transient terrorists who came into Afghanistan from a neighboring country, the records show. Some soldiers believed she might not be Afghan and tried to make a case for bringing her to the U.S.
The State Department attempted to make its position clear: The embassy convened a meeting that October with members of the military and the Afghan government to explain that under international law the U.S. was obligated to reunite her with her family, according to documents. State Department officials wrote that Mast, a military lawyer on a short assignment in Afghanistan, attended that meeting.
He'd met the baby for the first time days before and remained determined the child should go to the U.S., according to emails filed as exhibits.
Mast called home, where his wife was with their three sons.
“With us having children of our own, we see how vulnerable and precious children are,” Stephanie Mast testified. “And we wanted to help in whatever way we could.”
Marine Maj. Joshua Mast and his wife, Stephanie, arrive at Circuit Court, Thursday, March 30, 2023 in Charlottesville, Va. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
The Masts, Evangelical Christians, decided to try to bring her to their home in Palmyra, Virginia.
Mast's brother, Richard Mast, a lawyer with the conservative Christian law firm Liberty Counsel, filed a petition for custody in early November, and a Fluvanna County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court judge quickly approved it. The judge declared that the child was “stateless,” echoing Mast's assertion that her parents were nomadic terrorists, and the Afghan government would issue a waiver of jurisdiction over her within days.
Afghanistan never waived jurisdiction.
Still the Masts decided custody wasn't enough. Several days later, Moore, the Fluvanna County Circuit Court judge, got an unusual weekend call from his clerk's office about a request for an emergency adoption, according to comments the judge made on the bench and records obtained from the Virginia Attorney General's Office. Custody orders like the one the Masts were granted are temporary, but adoption grants a child an entirely new birth certificate, assigning them new legal parents. Moore said he was told that the girl desperately needed medical care and adoption would help get her on a plane to America.
Though the baby was being cared for by the Defense Department, the federal government insisted it received no notice of Mast's bid for adoption, the recently released records show. Had it been notified, government lawyers said, they would have told the judge that the child was not stateless, the government was at that time searching for her family and would soon decide she was Afghan and not the child of foreigners. She was also not in a medical crisis: A month before, exhibits show, her doctor described her as “a healthy healing infant who needs normal infant care.”
The Masts have said in court records that they did not mislead the court; they believed that the girl was the stateless daughter of transient terrorists and Afghanistan was neither interested nor capable of caring for her.
Moore did not respond to requests for comment.
On Sunday, Nov. 10, 2019, Moore granted the Masts a temporary adoption. Moore ordered the Virginia Department of Vital Statistics to issue a new birth certificate, making her the Masts' daughter.
Adoption cases usually creep through the court system. Moore granted the Masts the temporary adoption in a weekend.
Two days later, an email arrived overnight at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul from State Department headquarters. The office had heard that Mast had been granted custody of the orphan, and wanted to know if that was true, the documents show.
Officials who had been working on uniting the girl with her family seemed stunned by the email. An Army colonel later wrote in a declaration that he believed Mast was “attempting to interfere inappropriately.”
Around that time, U.S. officials learned that a man came forward to claim the baby, records show. He told authorities he was the child's uncle. He said the girl's father was a local farmer, not a terrorist. His wife and five of their children were also killed. He said it was his family's duty to take her in.
The Afghan government vetted his story. U.S. officials signed off.
Meanwhile, Mast's tour ended. He returned home to Virginia, and set up a crib for the baby he was certain would soon be theirs, according to court testimony. The couple quickly found an ally in an aide for Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. The aide pressed Assistant Secretary of Defense Derek Maurer to ask immigration officials to rush documents the child needed to get to the U.S. An attached memo written by another military official pointed to proof of Mast's claim to the baby: Mast had enrolled her in the military's health care system as his dependent.
On the application for those benefits, Mast claimed the girl had lived with him in Virginia since Sept. 4, 2019, but she had never been on American soil, a government official wrote in a declaration. Mast also wrote that her injures were a result of child abuse.
The situation worked its way to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He signed a cable, dated Feb. 25, 2020, records show, dismissing the Fluvanna custody orders as “flawed.”
The cable said that any further delay in transferring the child could be perceived as the “U.S. government holding an Afghan child against the will of her extended family and the Afghan government.”
The next day, Mast filed a federal lawsuit to stop the reunification. The judge rejected his claims.
The U.S. put her on a plane to meet her relatives. They wept when they saw her, bundled in pink. The child's uncle decided his son should raise the baby with his new wife and they quickly came to love this girl like their own daughter, they testified.
The Masts have insisted that this family is not biologically related to the baby and have questioned the process through which the Afghan government vetted them. The Afghan couple had celebrated the first step in a traditional Afghan marriage, a religious bond, but had not yet had a wedding reception, and the Masts argue they were unmarried at the time the child was given to them.
The AP agreed not to name the Afghan couple because they fear their families in Afghanistan might face retaliation from the Taliban. The court issued a protective order shielding their identities.
The Taliban, which now controls Afghanistan, was not in power when that country was making decisions about the child. Since taking over, the Taliban has been critical of what happened to the girl, calling it “worrying, far from human dignity and an inhumane act,” and urged the U.S. to return her to her relatives.
The Afghan couple testified they had no idea that on the other side of the globe an American judge still believed the girl was available for adoption.
Mast told Moore the child was given to an unmarried girl whose relationship to her was unclear. He testified that he maintained the child was the daughter of foreign fighters and suspected the family had ties to terrorism.
Moore said he did not learn that a federal judge had already rejected Mast's claims to the baby. He would later say he vaguely remembered hearing that something happened in federal court but it didn't register as important.
“I guess I assumed it was an administrative thing,” Moore said.
Mast continued to ask Moore to grant a final, permanent adoption.
Lawyers representing the government, the Afghan family and the child would note many defects in these proceedings; the attorney representing the child described the flaws as “glaring.” There is no Virginia law that allows a judge to adopt out a foreign child without her home country's consent. A child must be put up for adoption by a parent or agency, and this child had never been. The court waived the requirement that the child be present when social services visited the adoptive parents' home, that someone investigate her history, that whoever had custody be told this was happening.
In December of 2020, Moore granted a final adoption, deeming the Masts the baby's permanent parents.
“She is an undocumented, orphan, stateless minor,” he wrote, “subject to this court's jurisdiction.”
In Afghanistan, the couple raising the girl received calls from strangers. Mast was working with Kimberley Motley, an American lawyer based in Afghanistan. Motley told the couple that a family wanted to help the girl get medical care in the U.S. But the couple refused to send the girl alone. Motley kept in touch with them for months, according to messages entered as court exhibits. Motley, through her attorney, declined to comment.
In the summer of 2021, the American military withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban took over. Mast contacted the couple directly, enlisting the help of a translator named Ahmad Osmani, an Afghan Christian who'd moved to the U.S. Osmani considered it his Christian duty to help the Masts, testifying that he believed it would be “a great picture to see a terrorist's daughter become a believer and glorify God's name.”
Mast and Osmani told the couple that they could get all three out of Afghanistan.
At the time, servicemembers were frantically evacuating Afghans, mostly those who helped the U.S. and would likely be targeted by the Taliban.
Amid the confusion, Mast asked colleagues in the Marines to add a baby and her caretakers to an evacuation list, the records show, claiming the State Department had sent her to an orphanage. She was living with the Afghan couple, and had never been to an orphanage.
A lieutenant colonel emailed other military officials to start the process of getting the family on a flight out. He didn't learn that the military had worked to keep Mast away from this baby.
“Is it even lawful for us to take her?” asked a major in the Marines, according to a copy of the email.
Mast, who was copied on the chain, replied: “To clarify, she is completely clear on the Afghan side,” he wrote. “I am very familiar with the requirements after the last 18 months working the legal issues.”
Military officials asked no further questions, and soon the family was on a plane to Germany, where the Masts met them for the first time. The Afghans testified they had no idea the Masts planned to take her. The Masts have said they had tried to explain that they would.
Stephanie Mast testified that when she and her husband arrived in Germany, they “knew we had to speak to them and just tell them the truth.” She tried to explain “sacrificial love.” If the baby came with them, she told the Afghan woman, “she can have the best life possible.”
The Afghan man ripped off the wristband refugees wore and threatened to return to Afghanistan if the Americans tried to take the child.
The Afghan woman later said they convinced her that she'd misunderstood and persuaded them to continue to the U.S., and keep the baby with them.
The Afghans boarded a plane bound for Dulles International Airport, then a bus to Fort Pickett, a military base in Virginia turned makeshift refugee center. Meanwhile, the records show, Mast asked a State Department official he'd met in Germany to help connect him with other government contacts so he could track the family's arrival.
Emails show employees with multiple government agencies sprung into action, including the State Department. The federal government would later say that these employees, like the military officials who evacuated the family, didn't know that the very agency they worked for had tried to prevent Mast from taking the girl.
Rhonda Slusher, a State Department official, answered the phone at Fort Pickett. On the line was Joshua Mast.
He said he was going to come pick up his adoptive daughter, according to a declaration Slusher submitted in court. Slusher said she was told “there was no U.S. jurisdiction to hold the child,” and she should be given to Mast “at the earliest point possible.” Her supervisor instructed her to assist with “the transfer of the child,” she wrote in the declaration.
Mast told Slusher he was concerned the family she was being taken from “were going to be sad,” she wrote.
On Sept. 3, 2021, uniformed officers drove the Afghan family to a nondescript building near the camp's front gate.
Slusher picked the baby up out of the car seat and insisted she hold her as the family went inside.
There, the Afghan woman later testified, another official, this one from the Department of Health and Human Services, told them: “you are not the parents of this child.”
“It's like you are kidnapping her,” the Afghan man said.
The Afghan woman came toward Slusher.
“Please give me my daughter,” she said “She is my daughter.”
The baby cried and squirmed to get back to her, but Slusher wouldn't let her go. The woman tried to grab the child, but Slusher pulled her hands away. The woman “crumpled to the floor crying.” She lay there for at least five minutes.
Slusher wrote in a declaration that she carried the baby outside, where Stephanie Mast was waiting in the car. Stephanie Mast fed the girl Goldfish crackers before they drove away with her husband.
“It is worth reiterating that this prolonged tragedy was entirely avoidable. The Trump administration blocked an attempt to unlawfully seize the child from her Afghan family in early 2020,” the Afghan couple's attorneys wrote in a statement, adding that the Masts were able to take the child only because of America's messy exit from Afghanistan. “The child and her relatives are victims of a crime and a tragedy no family should ever endure — a stark reminder that this withdrawal continues to have far-reaching and devastating consequences.”
More than a year after the Masts took the baby home, her fate was before Judge Richard Moore again.
The Afghan couple found a team of lawyers willing to represent them for free, and filed a petition in Moore's court to challenge the adoption he'd granted. Moore could undo the adoption and give the child back to the Afghan family, or uphold it, and leave her with the Masts.
“I've never had a case where I was so uncomfortable with either decision,” he said at the November 2022 hearing, which would be his last hearing in the case before retiring.
The judge listened for five hours as the lawyers for the Afghan couple and the government said that the adoption he'd granted was so riddled with errors it shouldn't be called an adoption at all.
Moore blamed the federal government — it had known as early as 2020 that the Masts were trying to get the girl and a court in Fluvanna County was involved, and they did not try to stop him from issuing a “possibly errant adoption,” he said.
“Clearly, there were procedural irregularities and deficiencies in this case. There's no question about that,” the judge said from the bench.
Yet for a year, in hearing after hearing, the primary question became whether the Afghan couple had a right to challenge that adoption at all; whether they were truly her family and if the Afghan government's decision to give her to them was valid once they arrived in the U.S.
The judge and the Masts' attorneys questioned them about their origin and upbringing, their relationship to each other and to the child.
Moore repeatedly said he did not believe they were related to the girl, nor was he inclined to consider them parents. He said no court in Afghanistan was involved in determining who should get custody of the child there. The Afghan couple's lawyers had resisted DNA testing, saying it couldn't conclusively find a relationship between opposite-gender half-cousins. It was also irrelevant, they argued: After the Afghan government gave the child to them, an American court should not relitigate that choice.
At the last hearing he held in November 2022, Moore said there were many things he wished Mast had told him before he signed the adoption. But he still trusted the Marine.
“There's no question in my mind. Their total involvement was to save this child,” Moore said.
A week later, Moore published his thoughts on the case in a written document, and reiterated his opinion that “anything they did improper grew” out of the Masts' desire to help the child.
He was less sympathetic to the Afghans. The Afghan woman testified that she had two Afghan government identifications, one that included her real age and a second she obtained intentionally making herself younger to enable her to enroll in school. They “misrepresented certain facts and lied … for their own purposes,” Moore wrote.
The Masts, too, have described the Afghans as untrustworthy, even threatening. They submitted court records alleging the Afghan man was flagged in a database of suspected terrorists upon entry to the U.S., which they reported to law enforcement. Attorneys for the Afghans responded that the government said in a sealed letter to the court that the man was not the subject of the database entry. The man remains in the U.S. and frequently flies from Texas to Virginia for court hearings.
With Moore's retirement, the Masts and the Afghans found themselves before a new judge, Claude Worrell.
This courtroom sketch depicts Marine Maj. Joshua Mast and his wife, Stephanie, during a Circuit Court hearing before Judge Claude V. Worrell Jr., Thursday, March 30, 2023, in Charlottesville, Va. (Dana Verkouteren via AP)
Worrell rebuked the federal government for its “inconsistent” approach, noting it was arguing the baby should be immediately returned to the Afghans, while its own employees had repeatedly assisted the Masts along the way.
It did not take Worrell long to come to a wholly different conclusion than Moore. Worrell wasn't concerned about biological relationships. What mattered, he said, was Afghanistan claimed her as its citizen, so got to decide her fate.
In March 2023, Worrell voided the adoption.
AP Illustration/Marshall Ritzel
The Afghan couple went outside to a patch of grass in the parking lot and prayed. They thought they would soon bring the baby to their home in Texas, where they've kept a bedroom ready for her, decorated with butterfly decals.
The Virginia Court of Appeals has since upheld Worrell's decision voiding the adoption, and the case went before the Virginia Supreme Court in February 2025. It has yet to issue a ruling. As the years dragged on, the child remained with the Marine and his family.
The Marine Corps held an administrative hearing in October 2024 to determine whether Mast violated military rules. A three-member panel found that he acted in a way that was “unbecoming” of an officer, but that didn't warrant suspension or other formal punishment.
The federal government has indicated in court in recent months that it is reconsidering its role in the case, and Trump's second administration could reverse his first administration's opinion that Mast had no right to the child. The Justice Department did not respond to repeated requests to clarify its current position on the child's fate.
It has been four years since the Afghan couple has seen her.
In July, she turned 6.
___
AP data journalist Angeliki Kastanis contributed to this report
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Fox News anchor Bret Baier examines the U.S. power supply on 'Special Report.'
Imagine being a telegraph operator in September 1859. You're sitting at your station, using cutting-edge technology to tap out messages hundreds and thousands of miles away. Suddenly, brilliant auroras light up the night sky from the tropics to the poles.
Then chaos.
Sparks shower from your equipment, shocking you with a jolt strong enough to knock you out of your chair, while igniting your telegraph message papers. You later find out that some of your fellow operators could still send messages even after disconnecting their batteries — not knowing that the telegraph wires were being energized by massive currents induced in the wires by the most powerful geomagnetic storm in recorded history.
WALL STREET UTILITY TAKEOVERS MAY MEAN HIGHER BILLS AHEAD
That storm, triggered by a colossal solar flare observed by British astronomer Richard Carrington, unleashed a coronal mass ejection (CME) that slammed into Earth's magnetic field. Such a massive solar storm is known as a Carrington Event.
A telegraph operator in 1859 could only wonder at today's technology — technology that is far more vulnerable to the sun than was the case then.
The sun has an 11-year cycle, and this year is the peak of the cycle. On Feb. 1, giant sunspot AR4366 — a behemoth that grew rapidly from nothing to nearly half the size of the monster behind the Carrington Event — unleashed an X8-class solar flare, the strongest of Solar Cycle 25 so far.
In the preceding 24 hours, this unstable region hurled 23 M-class and four X-class flares earthward. Extreme ultraviolet radiation from the X8 blast ionized the upper atmosphere, blacking out shortwave radio communications across the South Pacific for hours.
SNOWSTORM COULD'VE SPARKED GRID CATASTROPHE IF BIDEN CLIMATE POLICIES WEREN'T REVERSED: ENERGY DEPT
More concerning is the potential CME. The explosion ejected dense plasma that could be Earth-directed. If it arrives with sufficient force, it will compress Earth's magnetosphere and induce powerful geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) — in other words, electrify the Earth's surface. GICs, in turn, can impart a current to the high-voltage transmission lines that form the backbone of our electric grid. And that can be a problem.
Modern society is infinitely more dependent on electricity than in the telegraph era. A Carrington-level event today wouldn't just spark a few fires in telegraph offices. It would risk melting or destroying hundreds of massive high-voltage transformers, triggering widespread blackouts that could last months or years. Supply chains would collapse, water systems would fail, fuel pumps would go dark, communications would vanish and refrigeration would cease. Estimates of economic damage range from $600 billion to $2.6 trillion in the United States alone, with untold loss of life from lack of heat, medicine and emergency services.
Yet despite clear warnings, America's grid remains dangerously vulnerable.
WHY AI IS CAUSING SUMMER ELECTRICITY BILLS TO SOAR
In my 2023 report for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Texas Defense, I detailed how both natural geomagnetic disturbances (GMDs) and man-made electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attacks pose existential risks to the grid.
A severe event could damage or destroy effectively irreplaceable extra-high-voltage (EHV) transformers, leading to prolonged outages across the state and beyond.
But there is good news: Proven, cost-effective hardware solutions exist today. Neutral Blocking Devices equipped with capacitors, installed in the grounded neutral of high-voltage transformers, can prevent catastrophic damage. These devices block the quasi-direct current (quasi-DC) GICs induced by solar storms or the E3 component of an EMP blast, while allowing normal 60 Hz AC power to flow unimpeded. These devices buffer harmful ground currents, preventing overheating, destructive harmonics, voltage collapse and eventual meltdown.
RAPID RISE OF AI PUTS NEW URGENCY ON CONGRESS TO UNLEASH AMERICAN ENERGY
As a bonus, these devices also mitigate lower-level GICs that currently shave years off transformer life and cost industry billions annually in reactive power losses.
Costs for these devices have fallen dramatically as technology has matured. A nationwide deployment protecting the most vulnerable 6,000 transformers would require a one-time investment of roughly $4 billion — a fraction of the trillions at risk.
Yet utilities and transmission companies remain reluctant, wary of passing even modest costs to ratepayers. Regulators, meanwhile, have dragged their feet, relying on standards derived from studies that dramatically underestimate the threat.
TRUMP'S ENERGY PRICE PROMISE IS COMING DUE. HE HAS THE POWER TO SOLVE THE CRISIS
Many of these vulnerability assessments trace back to European research conducted more than 30 years ago, during an unusually calm solar period. Those models assumed lower GIC intensities and failed to account for today's more interconnected, higher-voltage grid — or the far more active sun we're experiencing now in Cycle 25.
Compounding the problem is the fact that most large power transformers are no longer made in America. The majority come from China, South Korea, and Germany, with typical delivery lead times stretching to four years or more under normal conditions. If dozens or hundreds are destroyed in a severe solar storm, replacement could take a decade or longer — time we wouldn't have in a prolonged blackout.
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With sunspot AR4366 still crackling and more explosions likely in the coming days, the warning couldn't be clearer. Congress and state legislatures must act swiftly to mandate or incentivize installation of neutral blocking devices. Utilities must prioritize grid resilience over short-term rate concerns. And regulators must update standards to reflect real-world risks, not Pollyannaish assumptions from a sleepy sun.
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The Carrington Event literally shocked telegraph operators. A repeat could shock an entire civilization into the pre-industrial age.
We have the technology to prevent it. We should act on it.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM CHUCK DEVORE
Chuck DeVore is a vice president with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, was elected to the California legislature, is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, and the author of the new book, "Crisis of the House Never United."
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Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy announced $160 million in federal funding would be revoked from California after the state failed to meet the administration's Jan. 5 deadline to revoke nearly 20,000 CDLs issued to migrants.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's team is disputing the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) assertions about the immigration status of a semitruck driver involved in a crash that left four dead in Indiana. The driver was taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after a detainer was placed on him.
DHS said the driver, Bekzhan Beishekeev, a 30-year-old national of Kyrgyzstan, came into the U.S. "illegally" using the controversial CBP One app and was later issued a commercial driver's license (CDL) in Pennsylvania. The department confirmed to Fox News that Beishekeev entered the country on Dec. 19, 2023, at the Nogales, Ariz., port of entry, using the CBP One app and was released into the U.S. via parole by the Biden administration.
"Not only was Bekzhan Beishekeev released into our country by the Biden administration using the CBP One app, but he was also given a commercial driver's license by Governor Shapiro's Pennsylvania. These decisions have had deadly consequences and led to the death of four innocent people in Indiana on Tuesday," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
McLaughlin then called on "sanctuary" governors to stop issuing CDLs to illegal immigrants "before another American gets killed."
SEMI-TRUCK DRIVER HELD ON ICE DETAINER AFTER 4 KILLED IN HEAD-ON CRASH
Bekzhan Beishekeev, a 30-year-old national of Kyrgyzstan, was allegedly involved in a crash that left four dead. (Fox News/DHS)
Shapiro's office argues that Beishekeev had legal status when he was issued the license in July 2025 and that he could still be eligible under a DHS database to receive one.
"Every person who applies for a non-domiciled commercial driver's license issued by PennDOT must provide proof of identify and proof of their legal presence in the United States. That information is verified by the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, administered by Kristi Noem and the United States Department of Homeland Security," Shapiro spokesperson Alex Peterson said in a statement provided to Fox News.
"The individual in question had legal status in Kristi Noem's database when the license was issued in July 2025 and still shows as eligible to receive a license as of today. Kristi Noem should focus on minding the shop in her own agency, as her incompetence and operational failures seem to be matching the scale of her moral failures as the Secretary of Homeland Security," Peterson added.
The Indiana State Police is investigating the crash in Jay County. (Indiana State Police)
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ALLEGEDLY RAMS ICE VEHICLE, BITES AGENTS AFTER FAILED GUN PURCHASE IN PITTSBURGH
The deadly crash occurred on Feb. 3 at approximately 4:00 p.m. when Beishekeev was driving eastbound on Indiana's State Route 67 and allegedly failed to break for a slowed semitruck in front of him, according to DHS and Indiana State Police. Beishekeev then allegedly swerved into oncoming traffic and slammed into a van carrying 15 passengers. Four people were killed in the crash. DHS said the fatal incident is being investigated by the Indiana State Police, the Jay County Sheriff's Department and the Jay County Coroner's Office.
DHS and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) have warned about the dangers of CDL issuing practices in several states following a series of fatal crashes allegedly involving illegal immigrants.
Bekzhan Beishekeev, left, has been taken into ICE custody following a fatal crash on Feb. 3, 2026, in Jay County, Indiana, near the state's border with Ohio. (Jay County Sheriff's Department)
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In its statement on Beishekeev, DHS noted that ICE had previously arrested another illegal immigrant who was issued a CDL in Pennsylvania.
Akhror Bozorov, 31, is an Uzbek national who DHS said was wanted in his country of origin for belonging to a terrorist organization. Bozorov was arrested in Kansas on Nov. 9 while working as a commercial truck driver, using a CDL issued in Pennsylvania, according to DHS. Bozorov was allegedly granted work authorization in January 2024 under the Biden administration.
Fox News' Alexis McAdams and Fox News Digital's Gregary Norman-Diamond contributed to this report.
Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.
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Editor's note: Football is America's sport. Puerto Rico is an American territory. CNN explores the obsession with Bad Bunny's Super Bowl performance in a new CNN FlashDoc “Bad Bunny and the Halftime Show: Rhythms of Resistance.” Stream the special now on the CNN app. The hour will premiere Saturday, February 7 at 10pm ET on CNN.
History tells us that those who take the biggest stage in US sports have not shied away from using it as an opportunity to make a statement.
In some ways, Bad Bunny, this year's Super Bowl halftime show performer, has already made his, taking the Grammys stage last Sunday and echoing a rallying cry heard at anti-ICE protests across the nation. The question now: What else will Bad Bunny have to say and will he say it during the halftime show?
“I think that regardless of what he does or doesn't do, his presence there is deeply political,” Puerto Rico historian Jorell Meléndez-Badillo told CNN, noting that Bad Bunny's show will undoubtedly put the "complex and uncomfortable realities of United States history" in relation to his homeland of Puerto Rico before a huge audience.
Throughout history, artists appearing on the Super Bowl stage – whether that be to sing the National Anthem or headline the Halftime Show – have time and again used their platform to make a statement about what's going on off the field.
Here are a few examples:
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President Donald Trump listens to a question from a reporter as he speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
This photo combination shows, from left, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, March 5, 2025, in Washington, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 21, 2026, Fresno, Calif. Mayor Jerry Dyer, Jan. 28, 2026 in Washington, and Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, Nov. 4, 2018 in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr., Jen Golbeck, Markus Schreiber, Kevin Wolf, John Minchillo)
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks to the media outside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Denver Mayor Mike Johnston regularly games out responses to threats like destructive tornadoes or hazardous waste leaks. He's added a new potential menace: the federal government.
When President Donald Trump deployed National Guard troops to some U.S. cities last year over the objection of local leaders, Johnston said his tabletop exercises expanded to consider what might happen if federal officials took aim at Denver, which the Trump administration has sued for limiting cooperation on deportations. The city now prepares for the impact of federal activity on everything from access to schools and hospitals to interference with elections.
“We used to prepare for natural disasters,” Johnston, a Democrat, said in an interview. “Now we prepare for our own federal government.”
A half-dozen state and local officials from both major political parties over the past week described an increasingly hostile relationship with Washington. While there's inherent tension between city, state and federal governments over power, politics and money, the current dynamic is unlike anything they've experienced, particularly after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis last month.
While partnerships are still in place, the officials said the Minneapolis killings have hardened opposition to excessive federal power.
“This is unprecedented,” said Jerry Dyer, the Republican mayor of Fresno, California, and a former police chief. “I've never seen federal law enforcement come to the cities, whether it's National Guard or ICE, and police cities without a level of cooperation from local police.”
The tensions have upended longtime Republican arguments that the federal government should leave local governance to the states under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Now a Republican president is articulating a muscular federal approach over the protest of Democrats.
“There's no question that the Trump administration has repeatedly violated the Constitution and how it deals with states,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, said in an interview.
“My hope,” he added, “is that we are quickly approaching our McCarthyism moment where even Donald Trump's supporters are going to recognize this has gone too far.”
Trump has expressed frustration at reflexive resistance from Democratic mayors and governors, insisting this week that he doesn't want to force federal law enforcement on communities. He prefers to work with officials like Louisiana GOP Gov. Jeff Landry, who requested National Guard troops to patrol New Orleans.
The president's willingness to use federal power is often issue-based, favoring states in areas like abortion or education while embracing a strong federal role on immigration and elections.
Trump said this week that Republicans should “nationalize” elections, a power the Constitution expressly gives to states. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said he was referring to a push that voters prove they are U.S. citizens, though Trump still described states as an “agent for the federal government.”
“That's not what the Constitution says about elections,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told MS NOW.
Beshear and the 23 other Democratic governors released a statement Thursday objecting to “interference from the federal government.” In the interview, Beshear pointed to Paul's comments as an example of bipartisan agreement.
“Rand and I don't agree on a lot,” he said.
Paul and some other Republicans, including Govs. Phil Scott of Vermont and Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, have also expressed concern about the immigration operation in Minnesota.
Trump has taken preliminary steps to ease tensions, replacing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Department of Homeland Security leaders in Minneapolis with Tom Homan, the administration's border czar. Homan is withdrawing 700 of the roughly 3,000 federal officers deployed around Minneapolis, though Trump and Vice President JD Vance reject any suggestion of a federal drawdown.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the continued presence in the Twin Cities of thousands of federal officers contradicts his demand that the administration end its operation there. In a sign of the frustration between local and federal officials there, the rhetoric has taken on militaristic tones.
Trump has referred to federal law enforcement in Minneapolis as “soldiers.” Homan has described agents as being “in theater,” a military phrase typically used in reference to a conflict zone. During a quick trip to Washington last week to address fellow mayors, Frey spoke of an “invasion” and “occupation” in his city.
“We are on the front lines of a very important battle,” he said.
At the same event, Elizabeth Kautz, the Republican mayor of suburban Burnsville, Minnesota, said she now carries her passport around the city she's led since 1995.
“With the introduction of ICE, our cities are no longer safe,” she said.
That's also how it feels to leaders in places far from Minneapolis, even if they haven't been targeted by ICE.
“What I can't tolerate is the approach to immigration operations in a place like Minneapolis that are causing people to look over their shoulder in cities like Allentown,” said Matt Tuerk, the Democratic mayor of Allentown, Pennsylvania, which has a large Latino population. “Even though you're not in Allentown, you're having an impact.”
The immigration crackdown is one element of Trump's work to dramatically reshape the U.S. government's priorities and operations at home and abroad. Trump and his supporters describe a need to strictly enforce immigration laws in the U.S. and end social safety net programs they say are prone to fraud. The president's foreign policy has shown little patience for longstanding alliances or diplomatic niceties that are seen as out of step with U.S. interests.
That's manifested most clearly in Trump's push for Denmark to cede control of Greenland to the U.S., a demand that brought the NATO alliance to the brink in January. Canadian prime minister Mark Carney spoke at the time of a “rupture” between the U.S. and its allies that would be difficult to repair.
For some local leaders in the U.S., that sense of a seismic shift felt familiar.
“It's profoundly changed,” Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, a Democrat, said of his views toward the federal government. “Given that the administration has used partisan politics and used the power of the federal government and its various agencies to put pressure on mayors and local officials not to follow the law but to follow their politics is absolutely new and it's absolutely affecting trust at every level.”
While foreign leaders can explore a shift in alliances, as some are actively considering, that's nearly impossible for local leaders in the U.S., whose budgets are tied to federal funding. Those funds have been unstable during Trump's second term as Washington has canceled grants that he considered wasteful or out of line with the administration's priorities, prompting some mayors to turn to philanthropy for help.
But nothing can replace the power of the federal government, said Tuerk, who described defending grants by connecting the money to the administration's priorities, including job creation.
“When we're like, ‘Hey, don't take away this grant that is designed to get people to work,' I hope that message is getting through,” he said.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the federal shift “absolutely historic.” Trump has fiercely criticized her, issuing an executive order last month deriding her wildfire response and pressing to “cut through bureaucratic red tape” to speed up reconstruction.
In an interview, Bass, a former member of Congress, said she turns to administration officials she knew from her time in Washington.
“I'm fortunate,” she said. “I have an ability to have a relationship.”
But as January came to a close, local officials in Minnesota seemed exhausted.
“You think about, ‘Why us?'” said Jim Hovland, the nonpartisan mayor of the Minneapolis suburb Edina. “We've had a historically really good relationship with the federal government, and it's really sad to see it fray.”
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A progressive candidate backed by champions of the left, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is close to pulling off an upset victory with votes still being counted in a Democratic congressional primary for a blue-leaning seat in New Jersey.
Analilia Mejia, a progressive organizer, has a slight lead – 486 votes out of more than 61,000 counted – over former Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski in the battle for their party's nomination in New Jersey's 11th Congressional District.
Mejia and Malinowski are the leaders among a field of 11 Democratic candidates in the race to fill the seat left vacant after now-Gov. Mikie Sherrill stepped down after winning November's gubernatorial election in the Garden State.
" I do think that we have emerged victorious, but I want to first make sure that every voter, every voter's voice is heard," Mejia said Friday at a news conference.
HOUSE GOP MAJORITY SHRINKS TO JUST ONE VOTE AS JOHNSON SWEARS IN NEW HOUSE DEMOCRAT
Congressional candidate Analilia Mejia is seen speaking to supporters and members of the media at Paper Plane Coffee Co. in Montclair, N.J. Mejia is one of 11 Democrats vying to fill the House seat vacated by now-Gov. Mikie Sherrill. (Heather Khalifa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Thursday's primary was closely watched by Democrats as an early testing ground in the debate between progressives versus the more mainstream elements of the party.
And a victory by Mejia, who worked as political director on Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign, would be another major boost for the left against the establishment.
She told supporters on primary night, "We have to rebuild our party, we have to rebuild what is happening in our nation. We have to reclaim our democracy. We know that our economy is rigged to suit the billionaires."
And Mejia, who during her primary campaign took aim at President Donald Trump's unprecedented crackdown on illegal immigration, reiterated on Friday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency most visible in the aggressive tactics used in the administration's massive deportation effort, "is completely overreaching."
"I think the fact that I was bold and unafraid to speak the truth was incredibly important. I think voters feel that they want to have a representative that actually represents them, and they cannot watch what's happening in Minnesota, what happened in Chicago, what happened in California, what happened in Morristown across this district," she told reporters.
Malinowski, an assistant secretary of state in former President Barack Obama's administration who later represented a neighboring congressional district in northern New Jersey from 2018 to 2022 before losing re-election, was considered the front-runner in the race heading into primary day.
But Malinowski was the target of a slew of attack ads put out by a group affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which opposed Malinowski because he said he supports conditions on aid to Israel.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) jumped the gun on Thursday night, congratulating Malinowski in an email release.
"Tonight, Democrat Tom Malinowski clinched victory in the New Jersey District 11 special election Democratic primary," the DNC's release read.
Later in the evening, after taking a slight lead in the vote count over Malinowski, Meija put out a social media post showing the famous photo of then-President Harry Truman, during his 1948 election victory, holding up a newspaper with the erroneous banner headline: "Dewey Defeats Truman."
Tom Malinowski speaks during a meet and greet hosted by The League of Women Voters at Caldwell University with the candidates running for the Democratic nomination to fill the Congressional seat vacated by Gov. Mikie Sherrill on Jan 15, 2026, in Caldwell, New Jersey. (Michael Karas / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) a leading group on the left, said in a statement that "Analilia Mejia's momentous showing proves that voters, when given a choice, want Democrats with an inspiring vision who will boldly challenge powerful interests on behalf of working families."
"This is the second big congressional primary in two weeks where voters chose the more progressive candidate and made clear they want Democrats who will shake up a broken political and economic system – not just be anti-Trump,' added PCCC co-founder Adam Green, a New Jersey native who knocked doors for Mejia and spoke at a rally with Mejia and Sanders on primary eve.
The winner will face off with Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, the only Republican to file for the special election, which will be held on April 16.
Hathaway will be considered the underdog in the race.
Sherrill won re-election in the district in 2024 by 15 points, the same margin by which she carried the district in November's gubernatorial showdown.
But then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the district by just eight points in the 2024 presidential election, giving the GOP some hopes of possibly flipping the seat.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill stepped down from her seat in the House of Representatives in November, after winning the Garden State's gubernatorial election. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The special election comes as Republicans cling to a razor-thin 218-214 majority in the House of Representatives.
But the GOP may land a reinforcement in the House before the general election for the open seat in New Jersey is held.
JOHNSON WARNS HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO ‘STAY HEALTHY' AS GOP MAJORITY SHRINKS TO THE EDGE
That's because a special election is scheduled on March 10 in Georgia's solidly red 14th Congressional District, in the race to succeed former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The MAGA firebrand and one-time top Trump House ally in early January stepped away from Congress a year before her term ended.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia stepped down from her seat in Congress in early January, a year before her term ended. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
A whopping 22 candidates, including 17 Republicans, are running in the Georgia showdown.
According to Georgia state law, all the candidates will run on the same ballot. If no contender tops 50% of the vote, a runoff election between the top two finishers will take place on April 7.
WHO TRUJMP IS BACKING IN RACE TO REPLACE MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE
Trump on Wednesday endorsed Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Clay Fuller, a Republican, in the race.
Greene won re-election in 2024 to the seat by nearly 30 points, and Trump carried the district, which is located in northwest Georgia, by 37 points.
Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa of California, who represented a district in the northeastern portion of the state, died in early January. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
There's one more vacant seat in Congress, in California's 1st Congressional District, following the recent unexpected death of Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa.
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A primary in the race to fill LaMalfa's seat will be held on June 2, which is primary day in California. And the special general election will be held on Aug. 4.
The district, in northeastern California, is solidly Republican.
Fox News' Paul Conner contributed to this story
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast."
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The Super Bowl performer's ties to a nascent independence movement are roiling Puerto Rican politics.
Rapper Bad Bunny will perform Sunday at the Super Bowl halftime show, becoming the first solo male Latin American artist to headline. He's arriving at the peak of his popularity: The performance comes just a week after receiving the Grammy's highest honor for his genre-defining album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos, which deals with themes of colonization, gentrification, and difficult relationships, all while honoring the diverse roots of Puerto Rican and Latin music across the diaspora.
The 31-year-old superstar, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is also developing a reputation for his outspoken politics. He's refused to tour in the United States since President Donald Trump took office again, for fear of exposing Latino fans to ICE raids.
“Before I say thanks to God, I'm gonna say, ‘ICE out!'” Bad Bunny said while accepting his Grammy for Best Música Urbana Album. “We're not savage, we're not animals, we're not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans.”
The president is not a fan. “I'm anti-them,” he said of Bad Bunny and fellow Super Bowl performers Green Day, who have also been critical of his administration. Earlier, Trump claimed not to know who the Puerto Rican artist even is, calling his halftime selection “absolutely ridiculous.”
He should probably start paying more attention.
While Trump has been obsessed in his second term with expanding the US into new territories like Greenland, or even Canada, his neglect of Puerto Rico is ironically one factor in reviving a long-dormant independence movement there. And Bad Bunny is considered one of the most high-profile cultural figures who will help determine just how far it can go.
While casual listeners may have first learned about the artist's activism when he called out ICE onstage last week, Bad Bunny's outspokenness is nothing new. And he's been especially engaged with the archipelago's unique politics.
As Bad Bunny reminded Grammy viewers (and apparently some confused NFL players) in a jokey bit with host Trevor Noah on Sunday, Puerto Rico is “part of America” — a phrase he said with air quotes. The United States gained control of Puerto Rico in 1898 at the end of the Spanish-American War, granting its residents citizenship in 1917. The archipelago adopted its own constitution in 1952, officially becoming a self-governing US territory with an elected governor.
Since then, Puerto Rico's two historic major parties have divided themselves in part based on the question of its status. The New Progressive Party (PNP) is historically pro-statehood, which would give Puerto Ricans voting representation in Congress and in presidential elections as well as more control over their affairs. The Popular Democratic Party (PPD) typically favors remaining as a commonwealth, which supporters argue will allow Puerto Rico to better maintain its unique culture along with US citizenship and certain economic benefits, like an exemption from most federal income tax.
In 2024, the governor's contest featured Jenniffer González-Colón, a former Resident Commissioner who caucused with House Republicans, on the PNP ticket. Jesús Manuel Ortiz ran for the PPD. But the election featured a surprising third-party dark horse, Juan Dalmau, secretary-general of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), which favors independence from the United States after a period of transition.
González-Colón loves Trump. Bad Bunny despises him. So it was no surprise that they were at odds. The singer sponsored anti-PNP billboards with messages like, “Quien vota PNP no ama a Puerto Rico” — “someone who votes for PNP doesn't love Puerto Rico.” But he also went further by publicly rejecting both major parties, who he said were jointly responsible for Puerto Rico's struggles — and instead directed fans to vote for Dalmau at the candidate's closing rally.
While González-Colón won, Dalmau more than doubled his share of the vote from the prior election and ended up in second place with 31 percent of the vote after allying with another minority party, a performance that was considered a massive step forward for the party and independence movement.
Independentistas are still fueled by momentum from their second-place election results, dissatisfaction with the federal government's lack of investment over the past decade, and, yes, Bad Bunny's album about Boricua culture and history. The rapper's breakout success and political voice have cleared a space to spread their message further — even as he steers clear of explicitly calling for independence himself.
“The political landscape in Puerto Rico is changing, regardless of what's happening in the United States,” said Jorell Meléndez-Badillo, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who collaborated with Ocasio on his album rollout, providing historical context and guidance to the artist. “We need to hone that, and that gives me some hope as well.”
Puerto Rican independence movements — including limited armed resistance in the 1950s on both Puerto Rican and US soil — fluctuated in their reach over the 20th century depending on the political moment, but were considered marginal until recently.
But the surge of interest in independence, while still a clear minority position, is partly seen as a story of younger voters' disillusionment with the government. Bad Bunny is a part of Puerto Rico's “crisis generation,” a cohort of Boricuas who experienced high financial fragility, austerity measures that stagnated the archipelago's economy, political corruption, natural disasters, school closings, and the effects of gentrification within a short period of time. His journey as a former grocery store bagger and university dropout to one of the world's biggest artists is directly tied to those struggles, Meléndez-Badillo, the Wisconsin professor, said.
Bad Bunny's songs frequently explore these topics. His 2019 protest track “Afilando Los Cuchillos,” with legendary Calle 13 members Residente and iLe catalogued a generational frustration with corruption, and became an anthem at mass protests against then-Gov. Ricky Rosselló — a pro-statehood official who resigned after a trove of Telegram messages leaked that were filled with inflammatory, sexist, and homophobic statements. His anthem “El Apagón” notes the pride Boricuas have amid constant blackouts, while insisting they “don't want to leave here / let them go, let them go.” Even the romantic ballad “Bokete” uses the endless, oft-unaddressed potholes found across the island's roads as metaphors for an ex-lover who should be avoided at all costs.
Questions of gaining sovereignty have also become more acute as Washington takes a bigger role in its finances. In 2016, Congress enacted the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) to help the archipelago tackle over $70 billion in debt. The fiscal oversight board — whose members are appointed by the US president, with no say from Puerto Ricans — quickly implemented austerity measures that critics say impacted access to social services like retirement funds and education.
Residents receive food assistance and health care through capped federal block-grant systems, which are different from the flexible funding pools awarded to the continental United States by Congress that expand to meet increased needs. Those aid dollars go significantly less far on the archipelago because the funding is fixed. Residents also face barriers to shipping through the Jones Act, which raises prices and forces dependency on US trade by requiring Puerto Rico to use American-built and -operated vessels for shipping between the two shores.
Many point to Trump's mishandling of Maria during his first term in office as a major turning point for both politics on the archipelago and trust in the US government to handle the territory's affairs. When the hurricane hit in September 2017 and caused catastrophic ruin to infrastructure and the local economy — with nearly 3,000 deaths and over $90 billion in damages — residents deemed the federal responses beyond disappointing.
One lasting image among Boricuas: Trump tossing paper towels into a crowd during a delayed visit to San Juan as millions remained without power or adequate cellular signals. Two years later, he berated Puerto Ricans for having “squandered or wasted away” their federal funding, even as locals noted much of the promised aid had not yet been disbursed.
“This all goes hand-in-hand with the natural events of Hurricane Maria, earthquake swarms,” Meléndez-Badillo said. They “were massive disasters for Puerto Rico — the hurricanes themselves are natural, but the disasters are human-made. This is all the product of the compounding colonial crises in Puerto Rico.”
Instability has caused residents to move to the US in droves over the past two decades, intensified by the debt crisis and later by Maria. The nearly 6 million diaspora members are almost double Puerto Rico's current population of 3.2 million, and the ongoing economic and social upheaval could push more to make the same decision.
All the while, Boricuas still face regular and sweeping power blackouts on an aging and damaged electrical grid, and an influx of tourists and visitors who some see as sucking up valuable real estate and resources — issues Bad Bunny regularly touches on in his songs, like “Una Velita.”
“We can't continue to depend on federal funding packages in a forum we don't even have power in — we have to beg to get $2 million to repair a highway,” Jenaro Abraham, a pro-independence professor at Gonzaga University, said. “We're depending on something that is, in and of itself, the disease. It's like when a smoker is smoking all his life, and doesn't know how to stop. They feel like they're going to get sick if they stop smoking. It's like, well, I think you should probably stop smoking.”
Independence advocates acknowledge that the process would not happen overnight. They just want the chance to try.
Their solution is simple on the surface: Supporters want to guide Puerto Rico on a series of steps in conjunction with the US, starting with a consensus vote, a lengthy transition, and terms negotiation process with Congress, all leading to eventual sovereignty over affairs.
If that sounds not so simple, you're not alone in thinking so. Critics have a number of immediate concerns.
Boricuas could lose birthright citizenship, potentially lowering their ability to travel freely with a powerful passport, an especially major concern given their close connections to large mainland communities in cities like Orlando and New York. There are also infrastructure and logistics issues. Residents would have to finance their own retirement programs, which are currently handled by Medicare and Social Security, even as residents are exempt from income taxes. Puerto Rico has more than double the poverty rate of the poorest American states in a system where many already cannot access adequate social services and face skyrocketing prices at the grocery store.
Self-sufficiency on an archipelago with a failing power grid, remote rural areas, and an agricultural industry decimated by María is still hard for many Boricuas to envision, even if they're not happy with the current level of federal support.
Some have suggested a “free association” model of independence, which would give Puerto Rico sovereignty in international relations while maintaining some federal aid and still allowing the US military access. Some former Pacific Island territories have successfully split from the US through Compacts of Free Association in recent memory — the Marshall Islands and Micronesia in 1986, and Palau in 1994 — but they have a fraction of Puerto Rico's population size and economic capacity, and are much further geographically from the mainland.
So far, independence has not been especially popular when put to voters. In six out of seven ballots on the issue since 1967, statehood has always been the majority opinion, reaching almost 59 percent in the most recent 2024 ballot. (Independence with free association garnered 29.5 percent, and independence alone just under 12 percent.) However, these polls are never conducted the same way. The 2024 vote didn't include the status quo as a choice, for example, instead only giving options presented in the House's Puerto Rico Status Act from two years prior: statehood, independence, and sovereign free association. In 2020, voters chose between a simple “yes-or-no” vote on statehood, with “yes” winning out narrowly with 52.5 percent of the vote.
Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández, who belongs to the pro-commonwealth Popular Democratic Party, wrote in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in October that Puerto Ricans' relationship with the US was similar to that of Quebecois in Canada or Catalonians in Spain — they're protective of their distinct culture and don't want to see it subsumed into the US by becoming a state.
“Then why not pursue independence?” he wrote. “Because Puerto Ricans value their US citizenship, close ties with the mainland, serving in the armed forces, and contributing to the American economy.”
Independence supporters argue the relationship is more like a colonial chain around Puerto Rico's neck.
“Sometimes there's some slack in that chain, and it's a bit loose, and it seems like Puerto Rico is not suffering too badly, or maybe has some leeway to make its own decisions,” said Alberto Medina, who leads the pro-independence Boricuas Unidos en la Diáspora's board of directors in the US. “But at any time, the US can give that chain a very powerful yank and remind Puerto Rico who's really in charge. Trump has been a prime example of some very, very painful pulls and yanks on that chain.”
For his part, Bad Bunny's stance on statehood seems clear — he does not want it. In an emotional hymn off DTMF, the artist mourns “Lo Que le Pasó a Hawaii” — “what happened to Hawaii,” which became a state in 1959. (“They want to take away the river and the beach / They want my hood and for Grandma to leave / No, don't let go of the flag nor forget [our cry] / I don't want them to do to you what happened to Hawaii.”)
“Bad Bunny has done such a beautiful job of making Puerto Rico be seen.”
Independence proponents are hoping that Bad Bunny's more direct participation in the political process will lead to increased interest in the issue among his many fans both on the archipelago and on the mainland. In Puerto Rico, the rapper personally urged disaffected young people to register to vote; activists also want to focus on registered voters in the US, who could potentially influence Congress and presidential candidates.
As millions dissected the references and symbols in DTMF, more were exposed to the idea of sovereignty as a political option than before, even if such a thing remains unlikely in the current political environment — which independentistas claim as a win.
“He gives an interview tomorrow, and it's front-page news,” Medina said. “And if he says, ‘I don't want Puerto Rico to be a state' in those interviews, people who wouldn't necessarily hear that message suddenly hear it because it's Bad Bunny, so there's 1,000 media outlets writing about it. Just breaking down that silo or that disconnection that's existed sometimes between the island and the diaspora.”
Kiara Zamot, a 21-year-old university student whose parents are also part of the Puerto Rican diaspora, told me she often felt removed from her identity in a community of mostly white peers in Columbus, Ohio. But inspired by the 2024 governor's race, she became increasingly active in the independence movement — changing her career path to public policy to advocate for the cause on a wider scale — and convinced family members in Ohio and Puerto Rico to join in.
“Coming from the middle of nowhere, when people start recognizing when I say, ‘Oh, I'm from Puerto Rico,' and it's no longer, like, ‘What is it?' … I find that to be really nice,” she said. “Bad Bunny has done such a beautiful job of making Puerto Rico be seen, and not only in the tragedy of Hurricane Maria and the economy and the infrastructure, but to actually put it into this positive light that was never seen before in the media.”
Zamot is hosting a Super Bowl watch party on Sunday for Latino and non-Latino friends alike. She and other fans will be ready to shout if she sees la bandera con azul celeste, the once-suppressed 1895 light-blue version of the current flag associated with the pro-independence movement that Bad Bunny featured in the music video for “La Mudanza.”
“They killed people here for waving the flag,” he sings on that track. “That's why now I take it everywhere.”
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When Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted Americans to join the fight against the axis of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan in 1940, without actually entering the war, he called on Americans to pivot their economy to equip democracies around the world.
“We must be the great arsenal of democracy,” Roosevelt said in a famous fireside chat, calling for a complete reordering of the US economy at breakneck pace. “For us this is an emergency as serious as war itself. We must apply ourselves to our task with the same resolution, the same sense of urgency, the same spirit of patriotism and sacrifice as we would show were we at war.”
Eighty-six years later, the United States is, again, not technically at war, but Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth is echoing the arsenal idea with a key a shift in word choice. The arsenal Hegseth is pitching in a series of speeches at defense contractors around the country is for “freedom” rather than “democracy.” He wants to reform the “defense-industrial base” and enable the Pentagon to buy weapons much faster.
In the past few weeks Hegseth talked rockets alongside Jeff Bezos at a Blue Origin facility. He talked about artificial intelligence alongside Elon Musk at a SpaceX facility in Texas. He's talked about space in Los Angeles and Navy ships in Norfolk, Virignia.
But unlike Roosevelt's call to build up arms, the Trump administration's America First mindset is more focused on material gain for the US than on defending democracy in other countries.
After the US military snatched former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, for instance, the administration has been working with the remnants of his regime to access the county's oil rather than support opposition leaders thought to have gotten more votes in recent elections.
President Donald Trump has also conditioned his support for Ukraine's democracy on access to Ukraine's mineral wealth in exchange for supporting the country's military against aggression from Russia.
At the same time, The Trump administration wants to pull out the national credit card and spend a lot more money on warfighting capability.
The Pentagon's budget has hovered around $1 trillion annually in recent years, but Trump, far from cutting government spending as he promised on his way into office, now wants to supercharge defense spending to $1.5 trillion next year.
“This is a 1939 moment or hopefully a 1981 moment. A moment of mounting urgency. Enemies gather, threats grow, you feel it, I feel it,” Hegseth said, drawing on the history of Word War II and the Cold War during a speech last November at Naval War College, laying out the arsenal plan. Although it's important to note that he hasn not yet mentioned Roosevelt in an “arsenal of freedom” speech.
But unlike the Axis and Soviet threats in those eras, the threat today is less well defined. Today's threat is also at least partly due to Trump's brash diplomatic style, which alienates longtime allies in Europe and North America and acts erratically towards adversaries like China.
Witness the nonchalance with Trump brushed off the expiration Thursday of the New START treaty, by which the US and Russia agreed for decades to limit their nuclear arsenals.
The most expensive example of Trump's grand plans to defend the US is his call for a multi-layered missile defense system – he calls it the “Golden Dome” – to protect the entire US in the same way tiny Israel employs its Iron Dome system.
In part to facilitate that kind of new, out-of-the-box idea, Hegseth is promising to remake defense contracting, harness innovation, and cut red tape. Hegseth calls it a “commercial-first” mindset for the Pentagon's acquisitions.
“The Department of War is, of course, big time supportive of profits,” Hegseth said at the Naval War College. “We are capitalists after all.”
Trump's dome plan, in which contractors see lucrative opportunity, could ultimately cost multiple trillions of dollars without being 100% effective, according to an assessment by Todd Harrison at the American Enterprise Institute.
“I think it is a combination of an honest, no-sacred-cows effort to fix a long-broken system and performative politics,” Harrison told me.
The fact that military contracting and procurement need fixing is indisputable. Elon Musk, whose companies rely so heavily on defense contracting, promised not to spare the Pentagon in his Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting efforts last year. But that seems like a bygone era of Trump 2.0 now that the president is calling for a 66% increase in defense spending.
Trying to fix a system is laudable, Peter Warren Singer, a strategist and senior fellow at New America told me.
“There's obviously a lot of energy and excitement around this effort, but now comes the double hard part,” he said.
What could be most difficult is creating a system that is fair and transparent
The system by which tax dollars for defense contracts is awarded – as difficult as it is to maneuver and slow as it is to work – evolved from an effort to cut down on graft and abuse.
Hegseth has now held events with one billionaire who funded a documentary about the president's wife and another who was part of his administration. Now both men are among the contractors interested in the arsenal of taxpayer dollars.
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MADRID — European potentates have gone to war with Elon Musk and his X platform, sensing that the liberation of political speech could spell electoral doom for them. Leading that fight is Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who is seeking to muzzle X for the criticism of his proposed amnesty of illegal immigrants.
Sanchez announced last week the legalization of some 500,000 illegal immigrants, though at least one Spanish commentator told me that it was actually closer to a million. She showed me the numbers to back the allegation. His slavish state television immediately cast the measure as “moderate.”
With television and newspapers highlighting the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement riots in Minneapolis 24/7, and giving only the view that Americans have spontaneously fought President Donald Trump's policies in the streets, the media cast Sanchez's amnesty as the compassionate riposte to Trump.
But it did not take long for a leader of Podemos, one of the parties supporting Sanchez in the legislature, to let the cat out of the bag. Irene Montero, the party's top political strategist and a former minister of equality for Sanchez, told a rally in Zaragoza that the amnesty was intended to win votes.
“I am asking migrants and racialized people to please not leave us alone with so many fascists! Yes, of course we want them to vote, of course!” a very animated Montero shouted at the crowd last Saturday.
“We have obtained papers for you, regularization [amnesty], and now we are going to demand that you be given citizenship so that you be able to vote,” Montero, who was speaking the truth, added. Sanchez announced his intention to legalize these illegal immigrations to mollify Podemos, which has long demanded amnesty as the price for its support.
Then came the kicker, as Montero, swept up in her own fervor, shouted, “Yes, hopefully we'll have replacement theory. Hopefully, we'll be able to sweep away from this country all these fascists and racist people, with immigrants and working people. Yes, of course, I want replacement. I want the replacement of fascists and racist people.”
It did not take long in the age of X for people outside of Spain to notice what was going on. Because I was there, I posted an entire thread. Ian Miles Cheong posted, “It's not even a secret anymore. By legalizing 500,000 illegals under the guise of defeating the far-right, Pedro Sánchez is essentially dropping the mask. This is electoral engineering.” Musk saw that and reposted with one word: “Wow!” Virality ensued.
But one can't enact a successful replacement if everyone notices. So Sanchez is working to make sure that X becomes as house-trained and domesticated as the domestic news channels. The prime minister used an address he had scheduled this week at the Dubai World Government Summit to unload on X and Musk.
“Just last week, the owner of X, a migrant himself, used his personal account to amplify this information about the sovereign decision by my government, the regularization of 500,000 migrants that live, work and contribute to the success of our country,” Sanchez said, as if amplifying news, i.e., reporting it, should be a crime.
After listing many supposed crimes by X and other social media platforms, Sanchez said, “Some may say that if we don't like social media platforms, we can simply leave them. That no one is forced to use X or TikTok. … But we know that our children and many citizens do not have that choice. Social media has become an integral part of their lives, of their reality. So if we want to protect them, there's only one thing we can do. Take back control.”
Sanchez then listed exactly what steps his government will present to Parliament; few had anything to do with sparing minors the harms of online activity.
“Next week, my government will implement the following actions,” he said.
The first was one of the most draconian: hold platform executives legally accountable and open to criminal liability for failing to remove illegal or hateful content. Second was the turning of “algorithmic manipulation, and amplification of illegal content, into a new criminal offense.” So X, Facebook, etc., will cease to be private entities.
Third, the Spanish government will pretend to “track, quantify, and expose how digital platforms feed division and amplify hate.” In other words, you have to give information exactly how Sanchez's minions on Spanish media would. Add your own critical take, however, and you are criminally liable.
The fourth was the only one that really addressed minors: Spain will ban access to social media for those under 16 years old. Draconian perhaps, but nothing tyrannical there. The fifth and last one was, however, that Spain will investigate Grok, TikTok, and Instagram for possible infringements and prosecute when necessary. Spain, he added, will defend Spaniards “from the digital Wild West.”
In other words, if these proposals become law, Spain will cease to be truly free.
In reality, it is not just leftist forces that want Musk out of Europe. He has generated opponents across the spectrum.
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But Spain's Left is and has always been one of the most retrograde in the West. Sometimes it seems like the same group that was burning down convents, raping nuns, and assassinating political opponents right before the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War has been brought forward by a time machine. There are no longer anti-clerical mobs going around Spanish cities and towns, torch in hand, but they talk the same way.
Sanchez is more of a rank opportunist than a hardcore ideologue. His party is well behind in the polls, and he must face the voters next year. The only way to survive, he seems to be saying, is to carry out what his 1930s predecessors were prevented from doing.
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An exclusive investigation uncovers the hidden suffering behind the pet bird industry.
Statistically speaking, a lot of your neighbors probably have a dog or cat. But there's a decent chance that there are at least a few parrots in your neighborhood, too: About one in 20 US households owns at least one pet bird.
There's the popular parakeet, a small parrot native to Australia and other regions south of the equator; there are the cockatiels, who appear to have perpetual bed-head, with a tuft of feathers springing from their forehead; and a diverse cast of other parrot species: macaws, lovebirds, amazons, conures, African Greys, cockatoos, and many more.
Some 13 million birds are kept as pets in the United States, making them the fourth most popular type of pet and a sizable share of the broader exotic pet market, which also includes fish, lizards, snakes, chinchillas, and frogs. Cats and dogs may get most of the attention, but these smaller, more wild animals account for around 40 percent of the US pet population.
As cute as they may be, however, a number of animal behaviorists, veterinarians, and ethicists are challenging the practice of keeping these smaller species as pets.
For one, they're largely wild, undomesticated animals, who've evolved to thrive in rich and often vast habitats in nature. But as pets, they spend all or most of their life confined in a small cage or tank. Add to that the fact that owners often aren't well equipped to provide the enrichment and individualized care these animals need, and keeping them as pets becomes much more ethically thorny than it otherwise might appear.
The harms of bird ownership stand out the most, if only for the stark reason that in captivity, pet birds can't do what millions of years of evolution has propelled them to do: fly. And given their advanced cognitive capacities, captivity is likely particularly stressful for them — and exacerbated when kept alone, considering that many are highly social.
Liz Cabrera Holtz of the animal advocacy nonprofit World Animal Protection put it bluntly: ”These are wild animals whose physical and psychological needs are not even close to being met.”
But even before they're bought as pets, the business of bringing the majority of these animals into the world often involves serious harm and neglect. A new investigation suggests that this might be common when they come from “bird mills” — high-volume, large-scale operations that breed birds for the retail pet market.
Last year, a prolific animal cruelty investigator who goes by the pseudonym Pete Paxton, due to the clandestine nature of his work, toured and covertly filmed several US bird mills and shared his investigation exclusively with Vox. He found dirty conditions, thousands of birds stuffed in cages, and alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act, a federal law that sets minimum welfare standards for some of the pet breeding industry.
Over the course of his career, Paxton has investigated some 300 factory farms and slaughterhouses, and more than 1,000 puppy mills. He has seen animals beaten, starved, hanged, and shocked. Even so, he was still surprised by what he saw in the bird breeding operations. “I did not expect it to be as bad as it was,” Paxton told me about his new investigation, which is one of the first such exposés of the industry that supplies pet birds to millions of American homes.
Paxton's investigation began last spring in South Texas, just 20 miles north of the Mexico border. He was there to visit a bird breeding operation called Fancy Parrots, which has more than 3,000 parrots of various species on site, including African Greys, macaws, and cockatoos, locked in rusting cages across 17 barns. (The descriptions of Fancy Parrots and the other facilities below come from Paxton's investigation video.)
It was “very loud — lots of birds calling out to us,” Paxton said, comparing them to puppy mills he's visited, the air full of bird screeches instead of dog barks.
On a tour of the facility, Paxton was told that a few years ago, some 20 birds died during a cold snap. The barns each had a roof but no sides, which meant they could get some fresh air and sunlight, but it also meant they were vulnerable to weather extremes not found in their native habitats.
Some of the birds had plucked some of their feathers out, which Alix Wilson, an exotic pet veterinarian, told me is abnormal. “Birds in their natural environment wouldn't do that because their feathers are so vital for survival,” Wilson said.
The reasons for feather-plucking are often behavioral in nature, Wilson said, due to boredom, stress, or sexual frustration from the inability to mate, though it can also be brought on by disease or poor diet, according to UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
At bird mills, larger parrots are caged as mating pairs, and parakeets are caged in groups. The birds first mate in the spring, and a week or so after mating, the female will lay a clutch of about two to six eggs. The eggs of larger parrots are typically taken away and placed in artificial incubators, which can trigger the females to lay more eggs. After the chicks hatch, they're reared either by humans or adult parrots.
Eventually, the juvenile birds are sold, usually at a few months of age, for hundreds to thousands of dollars each.
About two decades ago, Wilson briefly worked at a parrot mill. “I quickly became aware of the issues of just confining these animals and just basically breeding [them] for profit,” Wilson told me. Those issues included fighting, which resulted in wounds and missing eyes and toes; resource-guarding (some birds keeping other birds away from food); parent-chick separation, either immediately after birth or post-weaning; and cramming birds into crates for long-distance transportation to pet stores.
Bird breeders are legally required to provide enrichment for their birds, such as perches, swings, mirrors, and other objects the birds can manipulate to express natural behaviors. Fancy Parrots does provide perches, but when Paxton asked about other enrichment, he was told that the US Department of Agriculture “wanted toys in all the cages; how stupid.” They had suggested to the USDA inspector that they could give the parrots bamboo, which the birds like to chew on, though Paxton didn't see any.
Fancy Parrots declined an interview request for this story.
During the tour, Paxton was told that Fancy Parrots supplies to a “Petco distributor.” Petco declined an interview request for this story, though a spokesperson said over email that “Fancy Parrots is not nor has ever been a Petco vendor.”
This may be true. But it is also possible Petco does sell birds from Fancy Parrots, which underscores a major issue in tracking exotic pets in the United States.
Breeders typically don't market their juvenile birds directly to large retailers like Petco. Instead, the animals first get purchased by intermediary operations called brokers. The “Petco distributor” could well be a broker that Fancy Parrots sells to, which then sells to Petco. (Petco did not respond to follow-up questions about whether it might indirectly source birds, via a broker, from Fancy Parrots.)
Months after visiting Fancy Parrots, Paxton headed to Central Oklahoma, where he toured a massive parakeet breeding operation about 70 miles east of downtown Oklahoma City owned by a family named the Pletts. There, he found rows and rows of tiny cages stacked atop one another, each packed with birds, totaling some 7,500 animals. Some of the cages were caked in feces.
The parakeet mill, he said, reminded him of egg-producing operations, where chickens are crammed into stacked cages — “factory farm-like,” Paxton said.
Paxton documented a pile of dead parakeets and severed body parts in a trash can, including one dead bird placed headfirst into a red Solo cup.
One of the owners is heard saying on the video that some birds peck at each other, which causes injuries, and he can't sell the ones that are pecked at. These ones are killed, the man explains, by suffocating them in bags.
“There are always some dead,” the man is heard saying. “Always.”
The owner of the facility didn't respond to multiple requests for an interview.
Paxton visited another parakeet breeder in Oklahoma, some 60 miles farther east, run by relatives of the Pletts. The operation had two barns holding 1,500 birds total. In one barn, the birds allegedly had no perches or enrichment of any kind, which are required by the Animal Welfare Act. Paxton also found several dead, featherless chicks decomposing atop cages.
“Both facilities were filthy, with every surface I could see being dusty, dirty, and in some cases piled with manure and old feed,” Paxton said.
In 2024, an inspector with the USDA, which enforces the Animal Welfare Act, found at least six birds at the operation showed signs of heat stress, after the barn temperature had reached 93.4 degrees Fahrenheit with a heat index of 110.7. At the time, they also found at least six dead birds.
The USDA classified it as a “direct” violation of the Animal Welfare Act, but only issued an official warning — which amounts to a slap on the wrist — rather than a license suspension or even a nominal fine.
When reached by phone, one of the owners of the operation answered but did not respond to requests for comment.
As terrible as the conditions were, they may well be typical of how most soon-to-be pet birds are reared in the US, rather than exceptions.
“These bird mills I filmed are not outliers,” Paxton said in his investigation video. “All of the places that I went to are USDA-licensed, government regulated. Essentially, these places are operating legally and [largely] in compliance, so when it comes to bird mills…that's as good as a place can get.”
Paxton investigated the bird mills on behalf of the nonprofits World Animal Protection and Strategies for Ethical and Environmental Development. (Disclosure: In 2024, my partner worked on a short-term consulting project for the latter group.)
Beyond captive breeding, some birds that wind up in US homes have been taken directly from the wild, according to a new analysis by the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity using federal government data. From 2016 to 2024, the US imported more than 37,000 birds on average each year, with 5 percent of them — 1,865 birds — plucked from the wild. It's a small share, but the true number could well be much higher, as it's not uncommon in the exotic pet trade for importers to launder wild-caught animals through captive-bred operations and mislabel them.
It's unknown how many birds are captive-bred in the US, as neither the pet industry nor the federal government publish data on pet breeding.
Paxton's investigation reveals a paradox in the exotic pet trade. Surveys show that people buy parrots in large part because they're “fun to watch” and have at home, given their exotic looks, intelligence, sociability, and some species' capability for human-like speech. But parrot owners are also highly motivated, surveys show, to buy a bird for companionship, love, and affection. And yet, they're bought from businesses that frequently treat them with just the opposite.
Even if pet owners have the best of intentions, some of the same welfare issues found at breeders persist when the birds are taken home. The most pressing and obvious one is captivity, as it puts the animals in an unnatural environment and prevents them from engaging in basic natural behaviors.
“The cages in the [investigation] video — that's the same size cage that people put a bird in in their house,” Wilson, the veterinarian, said. Some birds may be kept in bigger cages — and many are provided with a fair amount of time outside their cage, or even free reign of a room or entire home — but they're still captive all the same, and deprived of meaningful flight. It's common for parrot owners to clip or trim their animals' wings to limit their flight capability in order to prevent escape or injury from, say, flying into a ceiling fan.
Caging is “a setup for problems,” Wilson said. Another one of those problems is unhygienic conditions.
“If you confine a bird, they're just very messy — they poop a lot, and when they eat, they make a mess, and so it doesn't take much for the birds to end up in a really filthy environment,” Wilson said, not unlike what Paxton saw at the bird mills. In a survey, pet bird owners rated “general clean up” as the leading drawback to having a bird.
Another is the sedentary lifestyle imposed by captivity, which — especially when combined with diets high in fatty nuts and seeds — can lead to obesity, Wilson said. It's common among pet birds, and it makes them more likely to develop arthritis, heart disease, and other conditions.
Feather plucking and other self-destructive behaviors are common among pet birds, too, with estimates of it afflicting some 10 to 17.5 percent of these animals, suggesting general distress.
Parrots' high intelligence could worsen the harms of captivity. A 2021 study found that the larger a captive bird's brain, the more likely they were to develop behaviors that indicate stress, such as abnormal and repetitive pacing and cage bar biting.
Other issues include lack of enrichment and access to veterinary care, and bird owners' lack of knowledge about what their pet needs.
Even the most devoted bird owners, Wilson said — the ones who are with their birds around the clock, who don't go on vacation, and who even cook for them — will fall short: “There's no way anyone could reasonably provide good welfare to those animals in captivity.”
And many bird owners, she said, aren't prepared for these animals' long lifespans: Some popular parrot species can live up to 50 years or longer. Long-lived pet species — parrots, but also some turtles and snakes — often end up shuffled around to different homes or to underfunded animal sanctuaries when their owner dies, divorces, moves, or can no longer deal with the difficulty of keeping them as pets.
Few understand this better than Karen Windsor, the executive director of Foster Parrots and the New England Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary, a Rhode Island-based animal sanctuary. Windsor told me that a lot of people fall for these birds after seeing videos of parrots who seem to talk so conversantly with their owners. But not all parrots talk or like to be cuddled or handled, she said. Some are really loud, destructive, or aggressive. That leads to a lot of disappointed and desperate parrot owners asking sanctuaries like Windsor's to take them in, but many don't have the space and resources to accommodate most requests.
“We're still dealing with birds that were bred in the '70s and '80s — they're still in the system,” Judy Tennant, executive director of the rescue organization Parrot Partners Canada, recently told CTV News. And the industry is “still pumping out new birds,” Tennant said.
If it's impossible to meet birds' complex needs in captivity, then there's only one logical conclusion: We should stop breeding them. But breaking the pet bird habit might be easier said than done.
Keeping parrots as pets was largely a niche hobby in the United States and Europe up until the 1970s, when interest began to surge. Bird ownership has declined a little in recent decades, though millions of Americans are still dazzled enough by their striking colors and high intelligence and sociability to buy one — and tens of millions more look on through short-form videos on TikTok and beyond.
So how can we start to shift away from bird ownership?
We could start by making their purchase a little harder. Hundreds of US jurisdictions — mostly cities and counties but also some states — have banned pet stores from selling cats, dogs, and sometimes rabbits, instead only allowing adoption, though none of these laws have yet included birds. World Animal Protection, the animal advocacy nonprofit involved in Paxton's investigation, is advocating for that to change, and if successful, it could make a meaningful impact; nationally, more than half of all pet birds are currently purchased from pet stores.
Federal action is needed, too. For decades, bird breeding operations were exempt from the Animal Welfare Act, which means they weren't inspected by the USDA for potential welfare violations. That changed a couple years ago. The move represents progress, but the USDA's enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act has long been terrible. Improving it would help, and so would congressional action that requires all bird breeders be subject to inspection. Currently, smaller operations — those that sell fewer than 200 small birds annually, or eight larger birds annually — are exempt.
The pet industry as well as the pet bird keeping community could also step up more. For the millions of American households that already have a pet bird, they can give their animals as good of a life as possible. That would look like providing ample enrichment, adequate veterinary care, and balanced and diverse diets; a large cage and plenty of time out of it; learning extensively about their bird's natural behaviors and needs; and paying close attention to their birds' cues when it comes to handling, interaction, and time out of the cage or outdoors.
For those still seeking to get a pet bird, they should adopt instead of shop.
More fundamentally, according to Paxton, the investigator, avowed animal lovers can channel that love into more altruistic endeavors.
“If you want to buy a bird as a pet, the first thing I would say is, ‘I love that you love animals, that's fantastic,'” he says in his investigation video. “But since you love animals, do something that's going to help them…you could volunteer at a wildlife sanctuary, or at a bird rescue. You can do something so at the end of the day, you know you have been part of the solution.”
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A Russian general serving as deputy head of Russian military intelligence was shot and seriously wounded in Moscow on Friday, officials said – the latest in a series of attacks on top military figures.
An unknown attacker fired several shots at Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev in a residential building on Volokolamskoye Highway in Moscow and fled the scene, a Russian Investigative Committee spokesperson said in a statement.
The Russian Investigative Committee said its officers are at the scene and investigators are searching for the shooter. The committee has opened a criminal case into what it called the attempted murder of a high-ranking defense ministry official.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the Ukrainian government of being behind the attempted murder of Alekseyev, without citing evidence.
Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the shooting.
Alekseyev has been transferred to a city hospital, the Investigative Committee statement said. He is in intensive care and in a serious condition following the shooting, according to Russian state media.
Alekseyev, 64, is the first deputy head of Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate, the GRU. The Russian general was one of several GRU officials sanctioned by the United States in 2016 for wide-ranging malicious cyber activity directed at undermining US democratic processes.
He was also sanctioned by the European Union in January 2019 following a nerve agent attack in Salisbury, England, which the British government said was carried out by GRU agents to poison a former Russian spy. The EU sanctions describe Alekseyev as “responsible for the possession, transport and use in Salisbury… of the toxic nerve agent ‘Novichok' by officers from the GRU,” along with sanctioned Russian military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov.
Alexseyev has had significant involvement in the war in Ukraine, serving as one of Russia's negotiators in the secret talks with a member of the Ukrainian parliament to end Russia's 2022 siege of the strategic city of Mariupol, Ukraine.
A Ukrainian intelligence report on Alexseyev claims he has been responsible for “the organization of the preparation of initial data for launching missile and air strikes on Ukrainian territory,” including on civilian targets, as well as being responsible for the illegal referenda in the occupied Ukrainian territories. Ukraine has also accused him of war crimes in Syria.
In 2023, Alekseyev was sent by the Russian military to negotiate with Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner private mercenary group, during the Wagner group's mutiny. At the time, he called Prigozhin's actions a coup as well as “a stab in the back of the country and the president.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a Friday press briefing that the intelligence services were investigating the attack and would report any findings to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He added: “We wish the general survival and recovery.”
“It is clear that such military leaders and highly qualified specialists are at risk during a war,” Peskov said when asked about the security of military officials' residences. “That's a matter for the intelligence services.”
A neighbor of Alekseyev told Reuters that she heard several shots around 6:30 a.m. local time Friday. The woman, who only gave her first name as Alexandra, said she “woke up because of shots” and rushed outside the residential building alongside other neighbors. Another resident had already called police, who arrived by 7 a.m., she said.
Several prominent Russians have been killed by explosive devices or shot dead in Moscow in attacks blamed on the Ukrainian security services since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Friday's shooting in Moscow comes one day after Russian, Ukrainian and US negotiators met for trilateral talks in the United Arab Emirates, where the Russian delegation was led by their military intelligence chief Kostyukov.
The Kremlin on Friday described the trilateral talks as “both constructive and challenging.”
Ukraine's negotiation team also said the talks were “truly constructive” in a comment to news agency RBC-Ukraine, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said they'd “agreed that the next meeting will be held in the near future.”
But beyond a prisoner swap that took place on Thursday, which saw 314 POWs exchanged, no major breakthroughs were announced by either side.
Despite the diplomatic engagement, Russia's attacks on Ukraine have continued this week.
At least three Ukrainian people were killed and 15 people injured in Russian attacks within the last day, Ukrainian authorities said on Friday. Russia launched two ballistic missiles, five cruise missiles and hundreds of drones overnight into Friday, hitting the Ukrainian regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Kharkiv.
‘We have to keep people warm': The Ukrainian energy workers risking their lives as Russia targets critical facilities
In Zaporizhzhia, a Russian attack on Friday heavily damaged an animal shelter, according to the city council, which released video showing several animals injured or killed.
Throughout the winter – the coldest one Ukraine has experienced in 20 years – Russia's military has also intensified its assault on the country's energy sector.
In the capital Kyiv, where temperatures are below freezing on Friday, 1,100 high-rise residential buildings remain without power, according to local authorities. In the two districts of Kyiv that have been hit hard by attacks on energy infrastructure, about half the schools are operating without heat.
“The Kremlin is doubling down on war crimes, deliberately striking homes and civilian infrastructure,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Friday, as she announced the EU is tabling its 20th package of sanctions against Russia.
“This is not the conduct of a state seeking peace. It is the behaviour of a nation waging a war of attrition against a civilian innocent population,” von der Leyen said.
This is story has been updated with developments.
CNN's Victoria Butenko and Svitlana Vlasova contributed to this report.
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The top federal prosecutor in Minnesota is urging an appeals court to move quickly over a key immigration enforcement dispute, saying his office is buckling under a flood of lawsuits against the Trump administration's mass deportation push in the Twin Cities.
U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen, an appointee of President Donald Trump, said his short-staffed office has been forced to abandon “pressing and important priorities” to manage hundreds of emergency habeas petitions filed by immigrants arrested and detained during Operation Metro Surge. In a Jan. 30 filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, Rosen disclosed that 427 immigration-related habeas cases were filed in the District of Minnesota in January alone, with the pace expected to continue into February.
“To respond to this wave of habeas petitions, this Office has been forced to shift its already limited resources from other pressing and important priorities,” Rosen wrote in a declaration submitted to the appeals court. “The MN-USAO has canceled all [affirmative civil enforcement] work and any other affirmative priorities … and is operating in a reactive mode.”
Rosen, a Trump appointee confirmed by the Senate in October, said his office's civil litigation team in his office is “down 50%” following a wave of resignations and departures at the start of Operation Metro Surge. Remaining attorneys, he said, are appearing daily for emergency hearings, often on nights, weekends, and holidays.
“The Court is setting deadlines within hours, including weekends and holidays. Paralegals are continuously working overtime. Lawyers are continuously working overtime,” Rosen wrote, adding that swift appellate intervention is “desperately needed.”
The Justice Department echoed those concerns in a filing submitted Thursday in the case at hand, Herrera Avila v. Bondi, urging the 8th Circuit to resolve the appeal on the briefs or, alternatively, to expedite oral argument. DOJ attorneys said the “crushing burden” of immigration litigation has forced U.S. attorney offices across the circuit to divert resources from “other critical priorities, including criminal matters.”
A significant part of the burden facing the federal government is the lack of clarity from federal circuit courts on the legality of the Trump administration's indefinite detainment of illegal aliens detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. The 8th Circuit has a generally conservative ideological makeup, as the majority of its judges were appointed by Republican presidents. More recently, the appeals court sided with the Trump administration after a lower court temporarily limited ICE's tactics for mitigating protests. It could soon have a chance to weigh in on the efforts by pro-immigration lawyers to stop deportations using the courts.
Immigration advocacy groups have so far been able to make the Trump administration appear as if it is losing the legal battle over its mandatory detention policies by following rinse-and-repeat patterns in district courts. In Minnesota, groups such as the American Immigration Council or the American Immigration Lawyers Association file a habeas petition to a federal judge, who more often than not grants temporary release to the detained immigration enforcement target.
The Trump administration's legal justification for indefinite detentions pending final orders of removal hinges directly on the Immigration and Nationality Act's § 236(c), which permits arrests and detainment pending a final deportation order. Those come from immigration courts, not district courts. With the passage of the INA, Congress tasked immigration courts with handling removal proceedings, thereby stripping district courts of jurisdiction over immigration matters.
More than 300 district judges in Minnesota and elsewhere have so far rejected the government's mandatory detention policies, ordering detainees released or granted bond hearings. That has fueled a surge of copycat filings nationwide. All the while, appeals courts have yet to address whether the administration's interpretation of the INA comports with the law.
However, resolutions to this debate may be on the horizon. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit could become the first to issue a decision over the Trump administration's detainment policy following recent Feb. 3 oral arguments in the case Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi.
GOVERNMENT ATTORNEY WHO TOLD JUDGE ‘THIS JOB SUCKS' SENT BACK TO DHS
And according to Rosen, relief cannot come soon enough. In his Jan. 30 court filing, he asked the 8th Circuit to reach an “immediate resolution” upon its review of the briefs, or, if not, to promptly schedule an oral argument hearing.
“Absent expedited review, the resources of this Office will continue to be drained as hundreds more habeas petitions are filed,” Rosen said, warning that “other important responsibilities and other priorities will be compromised.”
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The Truth Social account of President Donald Trump on Friday morning removed a racist image showing former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama portrayed as apes after outrage over the post.
The depiction of the Obamas, posted late Thursday from Trump's official Truth Social account, was included in a video clip pushing a conspiracy theory about voting machines during the 2020 election.
The White House initially defended Trump's post when asked for comment on Friday morning, but the sole Black Republican senator quickly called for Trump to remove the post.
"This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King," press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an emailed statement earlier Friday.
"Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public," Leavitt said.
Leavitt's reply included a link to a longer video posted Oct. 24 from a pro-Trump meme account on X.
Hours later, the post was deleted from Trump's Truth Social account.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that a White House staffer erroneously posted the video and that it since had been taken down.
In addition to showing the Obamas as apes, the full video shows other animals bearing the faces of prominent Democrats, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The press office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, another Democrat mocked in the video, said on X: "Disgusting behavior by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now."
Trump is depicted in that video as a lion. The song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by The Tokens plays in the background.
The Obama Foundation did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.
Trump's opponents may seek to make the post an issue for the midterm election in November, though it's still nine months away.
Trump's fellow Republicans in Congress have expressed worries that they will not be able to retain their slim majorities in both the House and Senate in November's election.
The NAACP, in a post on X, said: "Trump posting this video — especially during Black History Month— is a stark reminder of how Trump and his followers truly view people. And we'll remember that in November."
Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican who is Black and a close ally of Trump's, blasted the image.
"Praying it was fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House," Scott wrote in a post on X.
"The President should remove it," Scott wrote.
Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican who is considered at risk of losing his seat in the House of Representatives in November's election, criticized Trump's post, saying on X, "The President's post is wrong and incredibly offensive — whether intentional or a mistake — and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered."
Democratic elected officials quickly called on other Republicans to condemn the post.
"President Obama and Michelle Obama are brilliant, compassionate and patriotic Americans," Jeffries wrote on X. "They represent the best of this country. Donald Trump is a vile, unhinged and malignant bottom feeder."
"Why are GOP leaders like John Thune continuing to stand by this sick individual? Every single Republican must immediately denounce Donald Trump's disgusting bigotry," Jeffries wrote, referring to the Senate majority leader.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., in a own post on X, said, "This kind of Jim Crow-style dehumanization is pathetic and a disgrace to the office."
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DETROIT — The unraveling of the U.S. electric vehicle push is increasingly raising concerns of an existential crisis for the American auto industry, as Chinese carmakers surge ahead in the technologies that many still believe will define the next era of cars.
The latest warning sign came Friday, when Stellantis disclosed a $26 billion charge from a major business overhaul, including a pullback in EVs, triggering a more than 20% plunge in its stock. CEO Antonio Filosa blamed the hit on overestimating the pace of the energy transition.
It follows other automakers in the U.S. significantly pulling back from pure EVs in favor of large gas-guzzling trucks such as the Ford F-150 and SUVs like the Chevrolet Suburban. Chinese automakers are taking the opposite approach and are growing globally, led by EVs.
Legacy automakers General Motors and Ford Motor have lost billions of dollars on EVs and are pulling back partly because of the loss of a federal tax credit and lackluster consumer demand.
Even Tesla, which pioneered the EV industry, is facing pressure. It was surpassed by Chinese automaker BYD in EV sales as the Elon Musk-led brand lost its appeal and market share in Europe this year, while BYD ramped up exports there and around the world. Tesla also last week canceled its two oldest, lowest-selling electric vehicles to repurpose an American plant for humanoid robots.
After helming the electrification movement for years, Musk increasingly appears focused elsewhere, especially on robots, driverless taxis and his artificial intelligence company, which he combined with Space X in what was the biggest merger in history.
Meanwhile, global market share for Chinese brands has jumped nearly 70% in five years, and many experts see a threat to U.S. automakers, including the anticipated entrance of Chinese brands into America.
There's fear among global automakers that Chinese rivals like BYD and Geely could flood global markets, undercutting domestic production and vehicle prices. The U.S. has taken a protectionist approach by implementing 100% tariffs on imported EVs from China, but Chinese automakers have made inroads across Europe, South America and elsewhere.
Companies in the U.S., where the automotive industry represents about 5% of the country's gross domestic product, are worried about long-term implications.
"The Chinese auto industry presents an existential threat to the traditional [automakers]," said Terry Woychowski, a former GM executive who serves as president of automotive at engineering consulting firm Caresoft Global.
Several automotive experts used the word "existential" when discussing the growth of Chinese automakers.
"The existential risk to the U.S. auto industry isn't Chinese EVs alone, it's the combination of sustained government support, vertically integrated supply chains and speed," said Elizabeth Krear, CEO of the Center for Automotive Research. "Those advantages lower costs and accelerate execution. Concurrently, saturation in China's domestic market is driving automakers to expand aggressively into global markets."
The Chinese automotive sector has rapidly changed from an insular industry to the largest exporter of vehicles globally since 2023.
China's growth has been fueled by government funding for companies as well as a culture of innovation and speed the country has instilled in its workers, experts said. A slowing Chinese market and plant underutilization have also forced companies to begin exporting to major auto markets globally.
China's expansion of EVs has been particularly impressive, with a nearly 800% increase globally, largely fueled by sales in China growing from roughly 572,300 in 2020 to 4.95 million in 2025, according to GlobalData. Outside of China, EV sales have surged by more than 1,300%, from less than 33,000 to more than 474,000, according to the firm.
While China has grown, Detroit's "Big Three" automakers — GM, Ford and Chrysler parent Stellantis, which is no longer based in the U.S. — have collectively fallen from a global market share of 21.4% in 2019 to an estimated 15.7% in 2025, according to S&P Global Mobility.
That compares with China's largest automakers BYD and Geely, which have grown from a less than 3% market share to an estimated 11.1%, according to S&P Global Mobility.
China's most recent announced expansion is to Canada, a relatively small vehicle market that removed 100% tariffs on imported vehicles from China amid a trade dispute with the Trump administration.
That follows the rapid growth of Chinese automakers in lower-income, less established regions that have historically been growth markets for U.S. automakers, such as South America, India and Mexico. They're also making inroads in Europe, where the share of sales has risen from virtually nothing in 2020 to nearly 10% in December, according to Germany-based Dataforce.
"The shift to electric has made it easier for them, because they've got the right products," said Al Bedwell, U.K.-based expert and director of global automotive powertrain for GlobalData. "The fact that it is electric has really opened the doors, and it wouldn't have happened otherwise."
Bedwell said China wanted to wean itself off oil since it doesn't have vast amounts on its own. "It saw an opportunity to be a leader," he added.
GlobalData forecasts Chinese EVs will continue to grow globally to roughly 6.5 million units by 2030, followed by nearly 8.5 million in 2035. That includes continued expansion in the U.S., where a few China-made vehicles such as the Buick Envision have been imported in recent years.
"Breaking into the U.S. market successfully and sustainably is not an easy accomplishment; it takes time, investment, patience and the willingness to make product mistakes but improve them until you get it right. It is expected that some Chinese automakers will have that blend and eventually look to participate in the U.S. market," said Stephanie Brinley, a principal automotive analyst at S&P Global Mobility.
Brinley noted it took Japan's Toyota Motor from 1957 to 2001 to reach a 10% market share, while South Korea's Hyundai Motor reached 10% after 26 years in 2022.
"Because the U.S. is a mature market and sales are forecast to remain between 16 million and 16.5 million units through at least 2035, newcomers will take share from existing brands and automakers," Brinley said. "How quickly they connect with consumers and which automakers lose volume or share to the new competitor remains to be seen."
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a lobbying group representing nearly every automaker in the U.S., wants to prevent that from happening. It called on Congress and the Trump administration in December to prevent Chinese government-backed auto and advanced battery manufacturers from gaining entry to produce in the U.S.
"Automakers doing business inside the United States face geopolitical and market pressures from China that are a direct threat to America's global competitiveness and national security," John Bozzella, CEO of the alliance, said in a message to a U.S. House of Representatives select committee, citing unfair, anticompetitive trade practices and intellectual property theft.
U.S. automakers spent billions of dollars developing and launching EVs under regulations and incentives from the Biden administration that have largely been undone by the Trump administration.
That deregulation opened the doors for automakers to de-emphasize all-electric vehicle plans.
GM and Ford alone have announced more than $27 billion in write-downs recently due to their retreat on EVs, including canceling new models and lowering production of current ones.
Jeep maker Stellantis on Friday announced a 22 billion euro ($26 billion) hit from a business turnaround plan that includes pulling back on electrification and reintroducing V8 engines to U.S. models.
U.S. EV sales peaked in September, ahead of the federal incentives ending, at 10.3% of the new vehicle market, according to Cox Automotive. That demand plummeted to preliminary estimates of 5.2% during the fourth quarter.
GM CFO Paul Jacobson said Wednesday that the Detroit automaker, which has largely become a regional player in North America, isn't abandoning EVs but is right-sizing to natural demand instead of attempting to appease regulators.
When asked about the expansion of Chinese automakers, Jacobson said GM "can hold our own" but that it needs to be on a level playing field — rehashing that he thinks U.S. tariffs should work to offset subsidies Chinese companies get from Beijing.
"You can see the type of intensity and competitiveness that those vehicles bring to the marketplace. And therefore, we've got to be ready," he said during a Chicago Federal Reserve automotive conference in Detroit.
GM wasn't ready for the rise of the domestic auto industry in China, which was the company's top sales market from 2010 to 2023. The automaker's earnings from China fell from around $2 billion annually in 2018 to a second consecutive year of losses in 2025 as China grew its own auto manufacturing.
GM's crosstown rival Ford is taking a different approach. It has largely scrapped plans for large EVs in exchange for a next generation of smaller models that CEO Jim Farley believes will be the company's saving grace against Chinese automakers.
Farley, who has been complimentary of Chinese automakers at times, said the new platform will be a simple, efficient, flexible ecosystem to deliver a family of affordable, electric, software-defined vehicles.
"This is a Model T moment for the company," Farley said last year. "We really see, not the global [automakers] as a competitive set for our next generation of EVs, we see the Chinese. Companies like Geely and BYD … and that's how we built our vehicle."
Domestic EV startups such as Rivian Automotive and Saudi-backed Lucid Group — both exclusively producing vehicles in the U.S. — are facing profitability and sales challenges.
Amid the demand issues, the EV startups have tried to appeal to investors by touting themselves as technology plays rather than automakers, following in the footsteps of U.S. EV industry leader Tesla.
Tesla's Musk has been warning about Chinese automakers for years, saying in 2023 after the rise of BYD that such companies will "demolish" global rivals without trade barriers.
Musk has historically positioned Tesla as a technology company that also sells cars despite that the vast majority of its revenue comes from car sales, leasing and repairs. He took it a step further on the company's most recent quarterly earnings call, saying that Tesla is ending production of its Model S and X vehicles and will use the factory in Fremont, California, to instead build Optimus humanoid robots.
After the original Roadster, the two models are Tesla's oldest vehicles. The EV maker started selling the Model S sedan in 2012, and the Model X SUV three years later. They only represented about 3% of Tesla's sales in 2025, with the company continuing to offer the Model Y, Model 3 and Cybertruck.
In recent, years the company has slashed prices for those vehicles as global competition for electric vehicles has soared.
Musk believes China will once again be the company's main competition in its newest humanoid robot venture.
"China will definitely be the tough competition as there's no two ways about it," Musk said on the company's fourth-quarter earnings call. "So I always think people outside of China kind of underestimate China. China's an ass-kicker, next level."
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DETROIT — Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa on Friday said the automaker plans to move forward as one company amid speculation that it would be better off selling brands or splitting up after disappointing results.
"Stellantis is a very strong global company that is very proud to have very deep regional groups," Filosa, an Italian native, told reporters during a media call. "It makes all of sense to stay together. We want to stay together for many years to come."
His comments come hours after the company announced 22 billion euros ($26 billion) in charges from a business restructuring that includes pulling back on electrification plans and reintroducing V8 engines to U.S. models.
Filosa described the actions as an "important strategic reset of our business model, with the only intention to put our customer preferences back at the center of what we do globally and in each regions." He said the "mission is to grow" after notable declines in market share in recent years.
Stellantis' stock plunged more than 20% in Milan and New York markets.
Filosa on Friday did not specifically rule out the possibility of regionally refocusing or shrinking the company's vast portfolio of 14 auto brands that includes U.S. brands Jeep, Ram and Chrysler, as well as Italian nameplates Fiat and Alfa Romeo, which have not performed well domestically.
"We want to really manage our brands in the sense to provide to them the products and the technology that our customers, that are now at the center of our strategic reset, will tell us that they want and they need," he said. "This is our core mission."
Filosa said additional information about the company's plans moving forward will come at a May 21 investor day.
Friday's announcement comes days after Stellantis executives met with the company's U.S. franchised dealers at their annual National Automobile Dealers Association conference with a message that the automaker planned to grow sales across its U.S. lineup of brands, according to two dealers who attended the meeting.
The majority of Friday's announced charges — 14.7 billion euros — are related to realigning product plans with consumer preferences and new emission regulations in the U.S.
Other charges include 2.1 billion euros in resizing the company's EV supply chain, 4.1 billion euros in warranty costs and 1.3 billion euros in restructuring European operations.
The automaker also canceled its dividend for 2026 and issued a 5 billion euro nonconvertible hybrid bond.
The charges related to EVs follow General Motors and Ford Motor announcing billions of dollars in similar expenses due to pullbacks in plans for all-electric vehicles.
Shares of Ford and GM were not as impacted as much as Stellantis, which also issued lower-than-expected guidance amid years of strategic problems with the company.
Stellantis said it anticipates a net loss for 2025. For 2026, the auto giant is targeting a mid-single-digit percentage increase in net revenue and a low-single-digit rise in its adjusted operating income margin.
"While charges were expected, the amount comes in above F ($19.5B) and GM ($7.6B). Expect shares to trade meaningfully lower today as a result. We continue to believe STLAM is a show-me-story. In the US, the company has lost substantial market share given high pricing and a perceived lack of product investment," RBC Capital Markets analyst Tom Narayan said in a Friday investor note.
Filosa on Friday called out mistakes by former company leaders more than he has since he succeeded Carlos Tavares as CEO in June.
Tavares, who was ousted in December 2024 amid disagreements with the Stellantis board, in a book last year reportedly said that the group's French, Italian and U.S. operations might have to be split amid pressure from its main stakeholders.
It's been just over five years since Stellantis was created through a $52 billion combination of Italian American automaker Fiat Chrysler and France-based Groupe PSA on Jan. 16, 2021.
The merger formed the fourth-largest automaker by volume, but the company has run into significant problems in recent years amid its investments in all-electric vehicles, focus on profits over market share and cost-cutting efforts to the detriment of products.
Stellantis' global sales under Tavares fell 12.3% from 6.5 million in 2021 — the year the company was formed — to 5.7 million in 2024. That included a roughly 27% collapse in the U.S. in that period to 1.3 million vehicles sold. The automaker dropped from fourth in U.S. sales to sixth, declining from an 11.6% market share to 8% during that time frame.
Stellantis' global market share has fallen from 8.1% in 2020 to an estimated 6.1% last year, according to S&P Global Mobility.
Correction: Global market share for Stellantis has fallen from 8.1% in 2020 to an estimated 6.1% last year, according to S&P Global Mobility. An earlier version mischaracterized the percentage.
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Voyager Technologies CEO Dylan Taylor said two years would be an "aggressive" time frame for space data centers and that cooling remains a problem for the developing technology.
While SpaceX has the heavy lift rockets to bring components to space, Taylor told CNBC's Morgan Brennan that the lack of a cooling solution to transfer the heat remains a major barrier.
"It's counterintuitive, but it's hard to actually cool things in space because there's no medium to transmit hot to cold," he said. "So essentially, all heat dissipation has to happen via radiation, which means you need to have a radiator pointing away from the sun to do that."
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has long touted a future with data centers in space and highlighted the build-out as a primary reason for combining his rocket company SpaceX and his AI startup xAI this week in a deal valued at $1.25 trillion.
Voyager, which went public in June, is widely known for its Starlab project that is set to replace the International Space Station, which is slated to be retired in 2030.
Taylor said the company is on track to meet its 2029 launch goal for the project, which it's working on with Palantir, Airbus and Mitsubishi. Voyager already has its own cloud compute device on the ISS.
President Donald Trump's plans to boost defense spending and revamp the country's space program have helped lift interest in space technology investing over the last year. The highly anticipated SpaceX public offering, expected later this year, has also stoked investor interest.
Last year, a wave of space tech companies went public as the IPO market reopened following a yearslong drought.
That path, however, hasn't always been so rosy for the sector.
Voyager's stock has lost more than half of its value since its debut, while rocket maker Firefly Aerospace has shed nearly two-thirds in value since its August public offering.
Taylor said Voyager is poised to help lead the charge on data centers in space, helped by its laser communication tools.
"We're big believers in the technology maturing and our ability to generate data in space and process data in space," he said.
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Melania Trump has been a public figure since she first became involved with Donald Trump in the 1990s.
Melania, 55, was working as a model at the time, and her life changed dramatically as she became a high-profile businessman's wife and eventually first lady — as did her style.
Take a look back at Melania's fashion evolution, from her days walking red carpets to her political life.
At a "Celebrity" party in 1998, Melania chose a figure-hugging silk dress in periwinkle. Its neckline scooped gently.
Melania arrived at the 1999 Annual Fragrance Foundation Fifi Awards in a form-fitting dress covered entirely in pink sparkles.
The gown's subtle slit was sexy without being over the top.
She attended the New York premiere of "Charlie's Angels" in a white skirt suit, but added a daring edge to the look with a sheer lace top.
Strappy heels completed her outfit.
When she accompanied Donald Trump to the Oscars, Melania wore a form-fitting white dress embellished with sparkly sequins.
The gown had a V-neckline, which mirrored the slit running up the center of the dress.
Before her life had political ties, Melania was often spotted in casual looks, like this all-orange ensemble she wore to a Fashion Week show.
She paired the silk off-the-shoulder top with wide-legged pants that featured a striped pattern and sparkles.
A full skirt accented the gown's form-fitting bodice.
The black-and-tan dress had a feathered skirt with sheer detailing, and she paired it with coordinating shoes.
Trump proposed to Melania on April 26, 2004, the evening of the Met Gala.
She paired her 15-carat engagement ring with a black ball gown, which had a corset covered in cutouts.
Attending a Fashion Week event, Melania paired fitted jeans with a sheer pink babydoll top. High heels completed the look.
Melania attended the Night of Stars party in October 2005 when she was expecting Barron Trump.
She wore an empire-waist black gown to the event, which featured sheer fabric on the neckline and sparkly embellishments.
Black dresses with sheer detailing became a bit of a uniform for Melania in the early 2000s, as she showed with her dress for the Metropolitan Opera Opening Night Dinner in 2006.
The silk dress had lace detailing on the sheer bodice and the neckline. Crisscross straps and lace paneling on the skirt added to the sexy gown.
At the 2007 Met Gala, Melania wore a shiny gold minidress with fabric tassels that swayed as she walked. She paired the look with coordinating gold shoes.
Melania was photographed attending a Fashion Week event in 2007 alongside Donald Trump.
She wore all-black, and her hat and wrap featured fuzzy detailing. Knee-high boots completed the wintry ensemble.
Melania kept up her streak of eye-catching Met Gala looks in 2008, arriving in a bright-pink, strapless Vera Wang dress.
The dress had a bow on the neckline and ruffle detailing on its mermaid skirt.
At the premiere of "Nine," Melania wore a short, long-sleeved dress embroidered with sparkles, which she paired with pointed-toe shoes.
Melania's black cocktail dress had a form-fitting bodice with a subtle sweetheart neckline and spaghetti straps. The dress hit her knees, and she paired it with open-toe shoes.
Melania's black suit was simple, featuring flared pants and a fitted jacket. The top buttons of her white blouse were open, and the sleeves poked out from under the jacket.
Black, pointed heels complemented the ensemble.
Melania's gray dress for her "Good Afternoon America" appearance had a professional feel.
The fitted dress had a V-neckline and covered her knees, and a black belt cinched her waist. She also wore black heels.
When Trump hosted an Invitational Grand Prix at Mar-a-Lago in January 2013, Melania showed that she could nail a dress code.
Her white, sleeveless dress had a scooped neckline and a pleated skirt that felt like an elevated version of a golf ensemble. She added white heels to the look.
The jumpsuit featured long sleeves, subtly flared pants, and semi-sheer paneling on the bodice adorned with black lace.
Black heels accented the ensemble.
After Trump announced he was running for president in the summer of 2015, he and Melania appeared on "Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2015."
Melania chose a simple pink dress with short sleeves and a modest neckline for the interview. Her pink, pointed shoes matched the dress.
Lauren A. Rothman, a style strategist and image coach, told Business Insider that Melania seemed to be telling "two narratives" with fashion throughout her life, leaning into glamour and slightly more daring looks when she was first in the public eye.
But after Trump entered politics, Rothman said Melania's looks became more intentional because "she was trying to say something with more storytelling" about her identity and her husband through her fashion, as she showed at the 2016 RNC.
For the RNC, Melania wore the "Margot" dress from Roksanda, which she bought from Net-a-Porter, according to Vanity Fair. The modest white dress had a high neckline, a knee-length hem, and quarter-length sleeves that ended in ruffles.
The dress was simple and elegant, striking a similar tone to first ladies of years past.
Melania attended her husband's inauguration in a powder-blue dress designed by Ralph Lauren Collection. The dress was paired with a matching shrug and gloves.
The silhouette was reminiscent of Jackie Kennedy's outfits during her time as first lady.
"It was so curated," Rothman said of the look. "It was an instant revival of that Jackie memory."
Rothman said the nostalgia in the look lent Melania some of the power Jackie Kennedy held in the American mind, striking the right tone for the beginning of her tenure as first lady.
Ralph Lauren is also a classic American designer, though Melania would go on to wear European designers throughout Trump's presidency.
Melania changed into a gown custom-designed by Hervé Pierre Braillard for his Hervé Pierre line.
The form-fitting, cream dress had off-the-shoulder sleeves made of the same fabric as a three-dimensional swath that cut across the bodice, creating volume. The same fabric flowed on the skirt, creating a train on one side, and a red belt cinched her waist.
Braillard became Melania's stylist and strategy consultant throughout Trump's first term.
In 2018, Melania visited the Texas-Mexico border to speak to child migrants wearing a green jacket that said "I really don't care, do u?" on the back.
The Zara jacket instantly became controversial, leading people to speculate that the first lady was sending a message to the president or migrants at the border.
In her book "I'll Take Your Questions Now," Stephanie Grisham, Melania's former aide, wrote that Trump yelled at Melania for wearing the jacket, though he later told media outlets she wore it to send a message to "fake news" outlets. Melania later repeated Trump's comments on the jacket, CNN reported.
Melania dined with members of the royal family at Winfield House in June 2019.
She wore a red Givenchy cape dress, a silhouette favored by royals like Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle.
Melania accompanied Trump to the debate in a pinstripe Dolce & Gabbana suit.
She wore the jacket open over a white blouse with no tie and completed her look with Christian Louboutin heels.
When the Trumps left the White House on January 20, 2021, Melania wore an all-black outfit comprising a Chanel jacket with gold button detailing, a Dolce & Gabbana dress, and Christian Louboutin heels. Black gloves and sunglasses completed the somber but chic ensemble.
But when they arrived at Mar-a-Lago later that day, Melania exited Air Force One in a $3,700 Gucci dress, though she wore the same sunglasses she had on earlier that day. Her loose gown featured quarter-length sleeves and an orange-and-navy print.
"Like anyone, sometimes we take off our work clothes, and we put on our play clothes," Rothman said. "She went from wearing something super fitted to something loose that is right out of Palm Beach."
Melania kept her public appearances more limited after Trump left office, but she appeared alongside him at a New Year's Eve party at Mar-a-Lago in December 2022.
For the occasion, she wore another Dolce & Gabbana dress. The knee-length, silver gown had long sleeves. It was covered in sparkles, as were her pointed-toe shoes.
Melania paired a black long-sleeved top with a high-waisted, midi-length brown skirt from Martin Grant, which was belted with a bow at her waist. Her Chanel ballet flats featured both colors.
A black Chanel bag completed her look.
Melania appeared at the Republican National Convention in July after being largely absent from Trump's campaign.
She attended in a blazer and coordinating skirt designed by Christian Dior. The entire outfit was red, the color of the republican party, even down to her pointed-toe, red heels.
Rothman said the outfit struck the perfect tone for the occasion because it seemed to send a specific message.
"There's more intention," she said. "From the red shoe to the red suit to the brighter hair on the stage, there's just more of a power punch of intention with that story than what she was wearing before she was in that role and was in her 20s."
"She understood the assignment," Rothman added.
Melania stepped out at Mar-a-Lago in a black Versace dress for the last day of 2024.
The gown had an asymmetrical neckline that scooped low, hugged Melania's figure, then formed a slit on one leg.
It was glamorous and more reminiscent of her looks before Trump entered politics.
Melania arrived at the 2025 inauguration in a custom navy coat designed by Adam Lippes.
The double-breasted jacket was elegant, and Melania paired it with navy pumps and a white scarf. However, the standout element of her look was her Eric Javits hat, which was also navy and white.
"It's a huge fashion moment," Rothman said of Melania's hat. She said the summery shape of the hat nodded to Melania's day-to-day life at Mar-a-Lago, while the wool texture and dark colors spoke to the role she was stepping back into.
"She wore a hat that bridges her worlds together," she added.
Melania again turned to Hervé Pierre for her evening look at Donald Trump's inaugural balls, donning a strapless white dress. Black fabric crisscrossed the bodice and skirt, creating a slit on one side.
A black choker made of the same fabric tied the look together.
The first lady wore a slew of menswear looks in early 2025, including a Ralph Lauren suit she wore to support the Take It Down Act at the US Capitol in March 2025.
The camel-toned, three-piece suit included a jacket, fitted trousers, and a vest. She paired it with a white blouse, black tie, and coordinating pumps, giving the look a distinctly formal feel.
In September 2025, Melania joined her husband on a state visit to the UK, spending time with King Charles III and Queen Camilla, as well as Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales.
For a white-tie dinner at Windsor Castle, Melania wore a bright-yellow gown designed by Carolina Herrera. The off-the-shoulder dress had long sleeves and a floor-length skirt, and it cinched at Melania's waist with a wide purple belt.
The gown's bright color was a bold choice for the royal dinner and a marked change from the neutral looks Melania had been wearing for much of 2025.
The Trumps hosted Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, for dinner at the White House in November 2025.
The first lady wore a strapless, green gown for the dinner. Designed by Elie Saab, the $3,350 dress featured ruching on the bodice and skirt, with a slit running up the center.
The dress was pretty, but it also radiated a warm welcome for Salman, as the deep-green fabric resembled the colors of the Saudi flag. Likewise, Elie Saab held a historic fashion show in Saudi Arabia in 2024, so the choice of designer seemed to nod to Salman's country as well.
When the 2025 Christmas tree arrived at the White House, Melania donned a knee-length white coat. The high-neck, wide-sleeved coat was typical for the first lady, but her accessories were more colorful than she might have worn in years past.
She wore red leather gloves from Max Mara, which brought drama to the look, as well as tartan pumps from Manolo Blahnik. The look was festive but still felt authentic to Melania's style.
At the start of 2026, the first lady returned to her more neutral-toned wardrobe in a Dolce & Gabbana look while promoting "Melania."
Her high-neck suit jacket was buttoned down the center and belted at the waist. Her midi-length skirt was column-style, and she paired the set with black pumps.
The outfit struck a professional, restrained tone, particularly compared to the colorful looks she wore in the second half of 2025.
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Amazon shares sunk more than 9% on Friday after the company's hefty spending forecast surprised investors who were already wary that the artificial intelligence boom is at risk of becoming a bubble.
The e-commerce company on Thursday was the latest tech giant to announce plans for a massive increase in capital expenditures, after Google parent Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta all signaled they expect their spending sprees to continue.
Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta reported about $120 billion in capital expenditures in the fourth quarter alone. That figure could exceed more than $660 billion this year, the Financial Times reported, which is higher than the gross domestic product of countries like the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Israel.
Wall Street has responded differently to the companies' spending plans, cheering Meta and Alphabet's forecasts, while punishing Amazon and Microsoft.
Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, Meta, Google and Oracle collectively shed more than $1 trillion from their valuations over the past week, according to FactSet data.
Shares of companies developing hardware for the AI build-out will likely face continued volatility as "sentiment contagion takes hold," Paul Markham, investment director at GAM Investments, told CNBC.
"Questions over the extent of capex as a result of LLM build-outs, the eventual return on that, and the fear of eventual over-expansion of capacity will be persistent," he added.
Amazon announced in its fourth-quarter earnings report that its capital expenditures are expected to reach $200 billion in 2026, which was more than $50 billion above analysts' expectations.
While management is confident of long-term returns on investment, the lack of visibility is not sitting well with investors, Mamta Valechha, consumer discretionary analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said Friday morning.
"We have suddenly gone from the fear that you cannot be last, to investors questioning every single angle in this AI race."
Analysts at D.A. Davidson downgraded Amazon's stock on Friday to neutral from a buy rating over concerns around its spending plans, risks to its cloud dominance and the potential for AI to erode its retail business.
"With the context of results from Microsoft and Google, we see AWS continuing to lose its lead and now scrambling to catch up through escalating investment," the analysts wrote in a research note. "We are also increasingly concerned about Amazon retail's transition to a new chat-driven internet dominated by Gemini and ChatGPT."
Apple, on the other hand, which has faced pressure from Wall Street over its AI strategy and has previously committed far less on capex than other Big Tech firms, has seen its stock jump 7% since Monday on the back of what CEO Tim Cook described as "staggering" demand for the iPhone.
"The bet is becoming binary," Michael Field, chief equity strategist at Morningstar, told CNBC, referring to the huge investments in so-called Magnificent Seven companies. "Either a big pay off if these investments come good, or a huge waste of shareholder's cash if it goes wrong."
— CNBC's Annie Palmer and Elsa Ohlen also contributed to this report.
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Tech companies like Microsoft and Google are going after new users for their AI services the way any marketer tries to make their products look cool: through social media influencers.
Other artificial intelligence players, including OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta, are also hiring social media creators to post sponsored content on apps like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and even LinkedIn. The payout for these promotions can reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to industry experts.
AI companies have increased advertising considerably over the past year. Generative AI platforms spent more than $1 billion on digital ads in the U.S. in 2025, according to Sensor Tower, up 126% from the year prior. Influencer marketing is now emerging as one of the next battlegrounds for users in the AI boom.
The ad race is making its way to the biggest sporting event of the year in the U.S. Anthropic is spending millions of dollars to air a 60-second pregame and 30-second in-game spot during the Super Bowl on Sunday, aimed at OpenAI's recent decision to start showing ads within ChatGPT.
In the emerging creator space, influencers are getting paid by tech companies to promote their respective AI tools to social media users. That could be through writing a LinkedIn post on how to use Anthropic's Claude Code or by posting an Instagram video about fun things to do with Microsoft Copilot or Perplexity's Comet assistant.
Those services have come a long way since OpenAI ushered in the generative AI era in late 2022 with the launch of ChatGPT. Google has bolstered its position in the market with the release of Gemini 3, its latest model, in November, while Anthropic, Microsoft and Meta have continued rolling out updates.
Microsoft and Google have paid creators between $400,000 and $600,000 for long-term partnerships spanning several months, according to a person familiar with the deals who asked not to be named because the terms are private.
"What we're seeing is a massive increase in creator spend from these AI brands," said AJ Eckstein, founder and CEO of Creator Match, an agency that connects brands to creators. The firm works with multiple AI-focused brands, including Anthropic, HeyGen and Notion.
"Every month, we're getting way more interest from AI brands," he said, adding that AI companies are looking for ways to market their tools and build stronger connections with users in more authentic ways.
Representatives from Microsoft and Google declined to comment.
Anthropic has emerged as one of the more aggressive AI companies in creator marketing. In March, the company hired Lexie Barnhorn, who previously worked at Notion, to lead its influencer marketing across social media and podcasts. The AI lab has inked multiple brand deals with content creators.
One of those creators is Megan Lieu, who makes content about AI and tech. Lieu told CNBC that her background as a data scientist helped her attract AI brands, and that she landed her first such deal in mid-2025.
"These brands really want their customers to know we are associated with AI," said Lieu, who has nearly 400,000 followers across platforms.
Lieu said her most significant brand deal to date was with Anthropic to promote its Claude products. Lieu declined to specify how much Anthropic paid her, but she said her sponsored content deals typically range from $5,000 to $30,000 depending on the campaign.
"If you want to take your programming to the next level, Claude Code helps you do it with the power of agentic AI," Lieu wrote in a LinkedIn post sponsored by Anthropic.
Anthropic didn't provide a comment for this story.
AI companies are willing to spend a lot more than others, Eckstein said. There's a lot of money to go around. Anthropic recently raised over $10 billion at a $350 billion valuation, while OpenAI was valued at $500 billion late last year. Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta have market caps in the trillions.
Creators can charge up to $100,000 per post, Eckstein said.
"Some of these bigger companies have so much money to spend," he said, "that they don't care to negotiate."
Digital ad spending by Google and Microsoft to promote their AI products jumped roughly 495% last month compared with a year earlier, according to Sensor Tower. OpenAI also increased its digital ad spending more than 10 times in 2025.
Beyond sponsored posts, AI companies are also spending heavily on creators by inviting them to events, offering early access to new tools and paying for travel and accommodations.
"We work with all kinds of creators — including artists, filmmakers, designers, and cultural partners — giving them early access to our tools and ultimately, giving them the freedom to show us what's creatively possible with AI," an OpenAI spokesperson told CNBC in a statement.
But not all creators are willing to accept brand deals tied to AI products.
Some said they have turned down deals with AI companies due to ethical, environmental and creative concerns. Others said their audiences can be hostile toward AI sponsorships, creating fear of backlash or getting "canceled."
"AI is lame, unsubscribed," read a comment on a sponsored post promoting Google's AI video generator tool Veo by Stevie Sells, a creator. He didn't respond to the comment.
Roughly half of U.S. adults say they are more concerned than excited about AI, according to Pew Research data published in October.
Some creators told CNBC that they're walking away from potentially tens of thousands of dollars in sponsored deals related to AI. Creator agency experts said backlash tends to be strongest around tools that generate images or video, which many creators see as directly replacing their artistic labor.
Content creator Jack Lepiarz, who goes by the name Jack the Whipper and has more than 7 million followers across platforms, told CNBC he immediately declines any brand deal involving AI.
"I cannot in good conscience support something that's going to make it harder for normal people to make a living," said Lepiarz, whose content tends to focus on his performances at Renaissance fairs.
Lepiarz said he previously turned down a $20,000 brand deal to tout an AI product promoting generative image tools.
"Even if they came back with $100,000 or $500,000, I couldn't see myself saying yes to that," Lepiarz said. "It's too far of a thing for me. It's too far a bridge to cross."
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Can money buy happiness?
Elon Musk revived the age-old question this week with a bleak take of his own.
"Whoever said 'money can't buy happiness' really knew what they were talking about," the billionaire CEO wrote on X on Thursday with a sad-face emoji.
The post quickly went viral, racking up more than 92.8 million views and sparking reactions about whether wealth actually improves life.
Fellow billionaire Mark Cuban pushed back against it, offering a blunt counterpoint: Money doesn't change who you are — it just amplifies it.
"If you were happy when you were poor, you will be insanely happy if you get rich," Cuban wrote in a reply to Musk's post later on Thursday. "If you were miserable, you will stay miserable, just with a lot less financial stress."
Cuban's point cuts against the idea that wealth itself is a cure-all for dissatisfaction — and he's speaking from experience, ranking 372nd on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with an estimated net worth of $9.62 billion as of Friday.
Academic research shows there's only so much wealth can do to boost happiness.
David Bartram, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Leicester, told Business Insider's Roya Shahidi on Thursday that while wealth and happiness are linked, the relationship comes with sharply diminishing returns.
"Once you've got a few million, anything extra is meaningless for happiness," Bartram said.
For the ultrawealthy, he added, happiness is more likely to come from a sense of purpose — "having a sense that you've done some good in the world, and that you've treated people around you with care and kindness."
Other research suggests the income-happiness link may stretch further than previously thought, though not without caveats.
A 2021 study by Matthew Killingsworth, a senior fellow at the Wharton School, found that happiness and well-being continued to rise alongside income.
But in a follow-up paper published in 2024, Killingsworth concluded that the amount of money needed to feel happier becomes an ever-moving target.
His data did not directly examine millionaires or billionaires, though Killingsworth said it was "plausible" the trend could extend to the world's wealthiest.
Musk himself has made similar arguments in the past. In a November appearance on Nikhil Kamath's "People by WTF" podcast, he said the pursuit of money alone was unlikely to bring fulfillment.
"Aim to make more than you take. Be a net contributor to society," Musk said, adding that wealth tends to follow naturally when people focus on building useful products and services — rather than chasing money for its own sake.
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Goldman Sachs has been working with the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic to create AI agents to automate a growing number of roles within the bank, the firm's tech chief told CNBC exclusively.
The bank has, for the past six months, been working with embedded Anthropic engineers to co-develop autonomous agents in at least two specific areas: accounting for trades and transactions, and client vetting and onboarding, according to Marco Argenti, Goldman's chief information officer.
The firm is "in the early stages" of developing agents based on Anthropic's Claude model that will collapse the amount of time these essential functions take, Argenti said. He expects to launch the agents "soon," though he declined to provide a specific date.
"Think of it as a digital co-worker for many of the professions within the firm that are scaled, are complex and very process intensive," he said.
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said in October that his bank was embarking on a multiyear plan to reorganize itself around generative AI, the technology that has made waves since the arrival of OpenAI's ChatGPT in late 2022. Even as investment banks like Goldman are experiencing surging revenue from trading and advisory activities, it will seek to "constrain headcount growth" amid the overhaul, Solomon said.
The news from Goldman comes as model updates from Anthropic, co-founded by a former OpenAI executive, have sparked a sharp sell-off among software firms and their credit providers as investors wager on who the winners and losers from the AI trade will be.
Goldman began last year by testing an autonomous AI coder called Devin, which is now broadly available to the bank's engineers. But it quickly found that Anthropic's AI model could work in other parts of the bank, Argenti said.
"Claude is really good at coding," Argenti said. "Is that because coding is kind of special, or is it about the model's ability to reason through complex problems, step-by-step, applying logic?"
Argenti said the firm was "surprised" at how capable Claude was at tasks besides coding, especially in areas like accounting and compliance that combine the need to parse large amounts of data and documents while applying rules and judgment, he said.
Now, the view within Goldman is that "there are these other areas of the firm where we could expect the same level of automation and the same level of results that we're seeing on the coding side," he said.
The upshot is that, with the help of the agents in development, clients will be onboarded faster and issues with trade reconciliation or other accounting matters will be solved faster, Argenti said.
Goldman could next develop agents for tasks like employee surveillance or making investment banking pitchbooks, he said.
While the bank employs thousands of people in the compliance and accounting functions where AI agents will soon operate, Argenti said that it was "premature" to expect that the technology will lead to job losses for those workers.
Still, Goldman could cut out third-party providers it uses today as AI technology matures, he said.
"It's always a trade-off," Argenti said. "Our philosophy right now is that we're injecting capacity, which in most cases will allow us to do things faster, which translates to a better client experience and more business."
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AI is forcing the Big Four to rethink how work — and workers — are defined. The generalist consultant is out, and technical skills and deep industry expertise are in.
PwC has launched what it's calling the "Learning Collective," a new workplace training initiative designed for the realities of the AI era.
It's a broad rethink of how learning happens inside one of the world's largest professional services firms.
"Skills, not titles, are the currency of this new era," the firm said in a press release.
The line was reminiscent of news from January, first reported by Business Insider, that fellow Big Four firm Deloitte is overhauling job titles for all of its professionals. From June 1, simple, traditional job roles like "consultant" and "associate" will be replaced by more specific descriptors that better reflect the work Deloitte carries out for clients.
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"We're not changing our titles," Yolanda Seals-Coffield, chief people and inclusion officer for PwC US, clarified to Business Insider in an interview.
Still, PwC's approach to talent echoes the industry shift. What that "skills, not titles" ethos means is that, as employees apply for projects, move around the organization, and progress in their careers, it's their portfolio of skills that will set them apart rather than a job title, said Seals-Coffield.
PwC has introduced three major learning tracks with the Learning Collective. The first is a firmwide emphasis on 30 key skills: 15 AI-centric and 15 human-centric, both of which are "extremely critical" to PwC's success, Seals-Coffield told Business Insider.
"We're not necessarily asking someone to digest all 30 skills in one year," said Seals-Coffield. Different levels will focus on different skills, she added, but taken together they represent what PwC believes will matter most as AI reshapes client work.
On the human-centric aspect, this includes applying critical thinking to evaluate AI-generated outputs and using empathy to understand client dynamics.
The technical skills include AI fluency and AI simulation, which Seals-Coffield described as simulating the work now being completed by AI to ensure staff understand why and how it's done.
The firm said it isn't just teaching people about agents — it's using them in the learning process.
Seals-Coffield said she recently watched a demo of an agent giving feedback on presentation skills this week that was "pretty brutal, but in a really good way."
The agent told her: "You're still not addressing the question around profitability. You're still not being specific about the ROI. It sounds a little bit generic. And I was just like, 'OK, geez, that was a little bit harsh.'"
But the blunt feedback helped her rethink how she had presented certain details, Seals-Coffield said, adding that PwC wants agents that "provide that real tangible critical coaching."
The Learning Collective is introducing new programs for two groups feeling the impact of AI acutely: engineers and junior workers.
In a move away from traditional roles associated with the Big Four, PwC has launched a new tech engineering career track, aimed at attracting and recruiting more technical talent.
The firm wants to become "a destination for top engineering talent," the press release states.
For junior staff, PwC has launched the Associate Discovery program — a drive to expose new employees to AI from day one. By the time associates land on their first major engagement, PwC wants them to have experience building agents, working with AI, and developing the human skills required to make those tools useful.
The firm has also reduced the number of offices where consulting associates can begin their careers, from around 60 down to 13, said Seals-Coffield.
Training and development have always been important at the Big Four consulting and accounting firms. Many young grads join their ranks looking to supercharge their business skills.
But the isolation of the COVID years, combined with the way that AI is changing the nature of work, has chipped away at some of PwC's sense of connection around learning and development, especially for younger employees, said Seals-Coffield.
The Learning Collective is trying to change that by encouraging learning beyond courses, such as bringing team members along to meetings or getting teams to discuss what they've learned that week with each other.
"They will find that we are asking them more and more to engage in these learning experiences in their intact team," Seals-Coffield said.
"Getting our people to spend more time together, learning and growing in an intentional way, is the goal of the experience," she added.
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Defense spending has been the talk of Singapore's Airshow this week but that's not an accurate way to measure military strength, Palmer Luckey, founder of defense tech firm Anduril Industries, said on CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" Wednesday.
That comes after U.S. President Donald Trump in January expressed interest in raising the U.S military budget to $1.5 trillion in 2027, which he said would allow Washington to build a "Dream Military."
"Too many people measure the success of the defense base in terms of dollars," Luckey said.
Rather, military strength should be measured by output, or what countries actually receive from their spending, he said.
This is part of the reason why American defense companies aren't incentivized to produce military products that cost less, Luckey added.
Ranked No. 1 on the 2025 "CNBC Disruptor 50" list, Anduril Industries was founded by Luckey in 2017. The company, which makes AI-powered autonomous defense products, is currently valued at $30.5 billion.
"Unfortunately, we have a pretty inefficient defense industrial apparatus," Luckey said. "I don't think that we're getting nearly as much for our dollar as a lot of other nations are."
Luckey said China is "getting a lot more aircraft, a lot more missiles, certainly a lot more ground forces for every dollar they spend. And so you can be in a situation where China is spending less than the United States, but the output is double or triple or quadruple."
China's military budget in 2025 was set at 1.78 trillion yuan (about $249 billion).
China's shipbuilding capacity is roughly 232 times that of the U.S., and Beijing has held onto 66.8% of global orders as of end-December 2025, according to its state media.
"We need to get our act together so that we can get everything that currently costs $1.5 trillion for well under a trillion dollars," he said. "I would love to see a sub $500 billion defense budget if it's getting us the things that we need."
However, U.S. defense spending isn't set up in a way that will make that happen, he said. The current system rewards companies that move slowly, make products that "break often," and "spend money building the wrong thing."
Trump in early January criticized U.S. defense companies for prioritizing capital returns and executive pay over investment and on-time deliveries.
Though he did not name names in the Jan. 9 Truth Social post, Trump said he would not permit defense companies to issue dividends or stock buybacks "until such time as these problems are rectified."
Luckey called this criticism "perfectly fair."
"Defense companies are unique in that they make almost all of their money straight out of the wallet of the taxpayer," he said.
"Remember, he didn't say, hey, you people are making too much period. He said…if you're going to be billions of dollars over budget and years behind on your delivery, you don't get to then pay yourself tens of millions of dollars and shovel huge piles of money out to your investors, as if you're a successful company," Luckey said.
He added that major American defense companies can't blame supply chain problems which ramped up during the Covid-19 pandemic — and continue to plague the industry today.
"This is not a one-year mistake — this is a pattern. It's been going on, not for months or years, but for decades," he said.
He also rejected those who say Trump's criticism may soon apply to Anduril Industries, which Luckey said will "almost certainly" go public in the future.
"We are delivering on time," he said. And "we are staying on budget."
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Canadians aren't visiting the US as much as they used to.
Data from Statistics Canada up to November showed that fewer Canadians returned from the US — indicating fewer visited the US — than in the past couple of years.
Julian Karaguesian, a visiting lecturer in the economics department at McGill University in Montreal and former special advisor in the International Trade and Finance Branch in the Department of Finance Canada, told Business Insider that several factors are contributing to reduced Canadian travel to the US, including an immigration crackdown and President Donald Trump's rhetoric on both trade and turning the country into the 51st US state.
"We started to see from summer onwards, a lot of protests, a lot of activity by ICE, rhetoric and talk about calling in the National Guard to clean up cities," Karaguesian said. "I think that scared away a lot of tourists."
The number of Canadians returning from the US plunged during the pandemic, and never truly recovered to its pre-pandemic average. After some recovery, it took a massive slip in early 2025 and is down about a quarter from a year ago in November. Statistics Canada data also showed that US residents entering Canada haven't had as large a drop from the start of the year as Canadian residents returning did.
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Meanwhile, Canadians are doubling down on what Canada has to offer. Statistics Canada said domestic travel in the second quarter of 2025 was 10.9% higher than a year ago. Over a third of the domestic travel was characterized as holiday, leisure, and recreation trips.
Are you a Canadian who isn't planning to visit the US anytime soon, a Canadian who moved back after living in the US, or a US business affected by a change in Canadian demand? Reach out to this reporter at mhoff@businessinsider.com.
Karaguesian expects Canadian travel to the US to continue to cool due to the "Buy Canadian" movement, political instability, the trade war, and recent violence in the US.
Prioritizing Canadian goods was one of the ways Justin Trudeau, now the former prime minister, encouraged residents after the trade war between the US and Canada began. Discouraging US travel was another.
"We're going to choose to not go on vacation in Florida or Old Orchard Beach or wherever," Trudeau said. "We're going to choose to try to buy Canadian products and forgo bourbon and other classic American products."
The decline in Canadian tourists can affect US businesses that rely on them to prosper.
A report from the Democratic members of the Congress Joint Economic Committee included different business owners describing how the fall in Canadian tourism to the US has affected them.
"We spoke with Canadian customers who told us point-blank that they were hesitant to cross due to the current political tension," Kyle Daley, owner of supermarket Soloman's Store in New Hampshire, said in the report. "The joy of the 'shopping day trip' has been replaced by anxiety over border enforcement and tariffs."
Daley added that "When our neighbors stay away, our margins disappear and in groceries those margins are vanishingly small to begin with."
U.S. Travel Association said Canada is the main driver for the expected 3.2% drop in international inbound travel spending from 2024 to 2025.
Karaguesian said the effects would be felt more by local economies. That can include Michigan, Vermont, and other areas along the border.
"The longer-term ramifications are that our economy will suffer and that businesses will close and people will lose their jobs, which is just terrible," Becca Brown McKnight, a city councilor in Burlington, Vermont, previously told Business Insider. "We are really lucky in Vermont to have a robust small business economy; a lot of these are mom and pop shops, and this is people's entire livelihood."
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said that the state and Canada's "economies are intertwined" in response to a question at a fireside chat about why Canada should trust the state "in the midst of a chaotic tariff policy."
Sandy Levine, the owner of some restaurants in the Detroit area, said in a WDET article published in June that "We certainly still see people from Canada and from other countries, but it's not nearly to the degree that it was maybe like six months ago or a year ago."
Karaguesian thinks that if the White House had simply focused on arguing for tariffs to rebuild the US manufacturing sector without harming Canada, then the administration "could achieve the same thing and not have put off so many Canadians through a mixture of pride and fear."
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Amazon is following in the footsteps of fellow tech giant Microsoft, and not in a good way. Shares of the e-commerce and cloud giant plunged more than 11% in extended trading after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed expectations.
The bigger jolt, however, came from Amazon's enormous capital expenditure projection — $200 billion, far above analysts' estimates of $146.6 billion and sharply higher than the roughly $131 billion in 2025.
That figure also dwarfs Alphabet's projected capex range of $175 billion to $185 billion, which already gave traders and analysts pause. The message from markets was clear: Investors are growing wary of how much Big Tech is spending to chase the next phase of artificial intelligence, even as Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said he was "confident" of seeing a "strong return on invested capital."
Soaring capex and fears that AI is eroding the value of software firms contributed to a tech sell-off on Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.59% on declines in Nvidia, Oracle and Qualcomm, among others. Stocks were further pressured by high U.S. layoffs in January. The S&P 500 dropped 1.23%, putting it in the red for 2026, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 1.2%.
But not everyone sees a sector in trouble. Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities said in a research note on Wednesday that the sell-off reflected an "Armageddon scenario for the sector that is far from reality."
The market decline, however, is "a positive sign" for Stephen Tuckwood, director of investments at Modern Wealth Management, who argued that it signals "the market is discerning at this point rather than just irrational exuberance."
Perhaps reflecting some of that discernment, Bitcoin briefly sank below $61,000 as of Thursday evening stateside, its lowest level since November 2024, though it recouped some losses and is trading at $65,208 at 2:40 p.m. Singapore (1:30 a.m. ET). Other cryptocurrencies, such as Ether and Solana, have also been losing ground this week.
In Europe, U.K. government bonds, known as gilts, could face renewed pressure as questions swirl around British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's grip on power.
Starmer is under fire over the prior appointment of Peter Mandelson as U.K. ambassador to the U.S despite knowing of his links to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Punters are raising their bets that Starmer could lose his leadership role by the end of the year — and the Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey told CNBC the fiasco is adding to global uncertainty.
— CNBC's Annie Palmer contributed to this report.
Silver's volatility has exceeded 100%. Strategists at UBS noted the recent plunge appeared driven more by a broader risk-off move than a collapse in fundamentals, but warned that extreme volatility makes near-term positioning risky.
India is 'ready' to buy Boeing planes worth up to $80 billion, India's Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal reportedly said, signaling New Delhi's willingness to expand trade with the U.S. Goyal also said that there was potential to buy $500 billion worth of goods from the U.S. over the next five years.
U.S. citizens should ‘leave Iran now,' according to a security alert issued by the U.S. Virtual Embassy in Tehran on Friday. The notice comes ahead of U.S.-Iran talks in Oman on Friday, with little indication that the two sides have found common ground on the meeting's agenda.
The S&P 500 is in negative territory for 2026, after the index posted losses on Thursday. Other major U.S. indexes also fell on a sell-off in tech stocks. Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell Friday. South Korea's Kospi lost roughly 1.5%, paring earlier losses of as much as 5%. Japan's Nikkei 225, however, added 0.8%.
[PRO] Is the AI bubble popping itself? The question preoccupying Wall Street this week: Is the software sell-off overdone, or does it signify the start of a bubble bursting?
U.S.-China power struggle thrusts Panama Canal back into the spotlight
A simmering dispute over two container ports at either end of the Panama Canal risks becoming a geopolitical flashpoint between the world's two largest economies: the U.S. and China.
It follows a contentious decision from Panama's top court voiding a license of a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison for operating two key terminals on the waterway, through which some 40% of all U.S. container traffic transits every year.
— Sam Meredith and Anniek Bao
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Global markets slid hard on Friday as losses spread across tech stocks, cryptocurrencies, and precious metals, reinforcing fears that investors have moved into a "sell everything" mindset.
Much of the pressure is coming from tech, as doubts grow over whether the AI boom that powered recent gains can live up to expectations.
"A session of pure carnage overnight as the rotational flows noted in yesterday's note — out of tech and into cyclical morphed into a 'sell everything' mentality across stocks, crypto and commodities," Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG Australia, wrote on Friday.
In Asia, South Korea's tech-heavy Kospi closed 1.4% lower after an trading halt after the index dropped 5% in early trade.
Heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix were among the hardest hit but both stocks recovered to end 0.4% lower.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell as much as 2.2% as China's major tech names moved lower, reflecting weaker risk appetite and ongoing pressure on the sector.
Australia's ASX 200 also declined, tracking the global selloff, while Japan's Nikkei 225 reversed earlier losses to end 0.8% higher ahead of a general election this weekend.
Cryptocurrencies fell alongside equities, extending a week of heavy losses as investors continued to reduce risk.
Bitcoin was trading around $64,800 at 2 a.m. ET after falling about 8.5% over 24 hours. It's down more than 20% over the past seven days.
The selling also swept through commodities, with silver remaining under intense pressure following last week's violent breakdown.
Spot silver was trading around $72.20 per troy ounce. It had hit a record high above $121 per ounce last week.
"Silver's attempt to stabilise after last week's historic rout has so far proven short‑lived," Ole Hansen, the head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, wrote in a Thursday note, pointing to renewed selling and technical resistance that triggered reversals.
Hansen also pointed to fresh selling from China, including disruption around China's only pure-silver fund after it traded far above its underlying value and was later suspended, leaving investors locked in as it repeatedly hit limit-down moves.
He added that near-term price action in silver is likely to be driven more by market mechanics and positioning than by macroeconomic headlines, given the extreme volatility still coursing through the market.
The latest moves underscore how quickly sentiment has shifted across asset classes. Analysts expect the volatility to continue as investors reassess their positions after a period of aggressive positioning and stretched valuations across risk assets.
"Investors are questioning their commitment to the pillars that have underpinned markets over the past six months: AI, crypto, and precious metals. This raises the odds of a deeper unwind," wrote Sycamore.
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Shares of automaker Stellantis plunged 27% in European trading on Friday, after the company said it expects to take a 22-billion-euro ($26 billion) hit from a business reset and hinted at a pull-back from its electrification push.
In Milan, the company's Italian shares were 26% lower. In early trading on Wall Street, the transatlantic firm's New York-listed stock plummeted 25%.
Other French auto stocks also fell Friday morning, with Valeo and Forvia both down more than 1.2% and Renault sliding 2%.
"The charges announced today largely reflect the cost of over-estimating the pace of the energy transition that distanced us from many car buyers' real-world needs, means and desires," said Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa in a statement.
"They also reflect the impact of previous poor operational execution, the effects of which are being progressively addressed by our new Team."
Going forward, Stellantis said it would remain at the forefront of EV development, but said its own electrification journey would continue at "a pace that needs to be governed by demand rather than command."
Stellantis also pre-released some figures for the fourth quarter on Friday, saying it anticipates a net loss for 2025. In recognition of that net loss, it has suspended its dividend for 2026 and plans to raise up to 5 billion euros by issuing hybrid bonds.
For 2026, the auto giant is targeting a mid-single-digit percentage increase in net revenue and a low-single-digit increase in its adjusted operating income margin.
The company said its dividend pause and bond issuance would help preserve its balance sheet, and outlined the actions it had taken last year as part of its reset strategy.
These included announcing "the largest investment in Stellantis' U.S. history" — totalling $13 billion over four years — as well as launching 10 new products, canceling products that could not achieve profit at scale, and restructuring its global manufacturing and quality management capabilities.
Under the U.S. investment drive, the transatlantic automaker has said it will add 5,000 jobs to its American workforce.
While these moves had resulted in costs of 22.2 billion euros, the company said they had collectively delivered a return to positive volume growth in 2025.
In the second half of the year, Stellantis' U.S. market share rose to 7.9%, while the company said it retained its overall second-place market share position in the enlarged Europe.
Stellantis' writedown follows multibillion-dollar hits at rivals Ford and GM, which recently announced their own hits worth $19.5 billion and $7.1 billion, respectively — both being related to EV pullbacks.
Given the "magnitude of the kitchen sinking" and the soft 2026 guidance, UBS analysts said the negative share-price reaction was expected. They added, however, that new management's "decisive" clean-up and solid regional market fundamentals leave the stock attractive as a potential U.S. "comeback" play.
Friday's writedown announcement came alongside news that Stellantis will offload its stake in NextStar Energy, a joint venture with LG Energy Solution that built and operated a Canadian battery manufacturing facility. LG Energy Solution will take over Stellantis' 49% stake, the firms said on Friday morning.
The joint venture was part of Stellantis' broader electrification strategy. In 2022, former CEO Carlos Tavares set a goal for 100% of sales in Europe and 50% of sales in the U.S. to be battery electric vehicles by the end of the decade.
The company is set to present an updated long-term strategy at its Capital Markets Day in May.
Stellantis' stock has been under pressure for some time, with its Italian shares slumping nearly 25% last year and 40.5% the previous year. Shares are currently down more than 13% since the beginning of 2026.
Filosa previously dubbed 2026 the "year of execution" for the embattled automaker, which has been grappling with falling sales, leadership changes and disappointing earnings for several years. In July, the company said it expected to take a tariffs hit of around 1.5 billion euros in 2025, as it reported a first-half net loss of 2.3 billion euros.
In a Friday note, Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said Stellantis had placed a "miscalculated bet" on electric vehicles – but said the broader picture on EV adoption raised questions about Stellantis' marketability.
"The long-held argument about why many drivers won't go electric yet are concerns about price, access to charging infrastructure, and how long a battery will last during their journey," he said.
"However, prices are coming down, more chargers are being installed, and battery range is improving. The success of companies like BYD suggests there are plenty of people willing to take the leap. That begs the question as to whether Stellantis' frustration over its EV sales is linked to market issues or that drivers simply don't like its vehicles."
Stellantis is scheduled to publish its 2025 earnings in full on Feb. 26.
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The United States has warned it may impose sanctions on Algeria over its decision to purchase advanced Russian-made Su-57 fighter jets, raising fresh questions about Africa's defence ties with Moscow amid heightened global geopolitical tensions.
Robert Palladino, head of the US State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, said Washington was concerned by reports that Algeria is acquiring new military equipment from Russia, according to remarks made during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Militarnyi reported.
Algeria, one of Africa's largest military spenders alongside Egypt, confirmed in 2025 that it had agreed to purchase the fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57E stealth fighter to replace ageing aircraft in its air force.
The deal, officially confirmed in February 2025, would make Algeria the first foreign customer for the aircraft.
Palladino said the United States could respond by invoking the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), legislation designed to discourage major defence purchases from Russia.
“We are working closely with the Algerian government on issues where we find common ground,” Palladino said. “At the same time, we have serious differences on many other topics, and this arms deal is one of the issues the United States considers problematic.”
He added that Washington was using existing diplomatic tools “to protect our interests and stop what we consider unacceptable.”
Algeria has sharply increased defence spending in recent years, driven by instability across the Sahel, Libya, and the wider Mediterranean, as well as its ambition to assert greater regional influence, particularly amid perceptions of a US tilt towards Morocco.
Its armed forces operate one of the continent's most sophisticated air forces, with a fleet that includes Su-30MKA multirole fighters, MiG-29s and advanced Russian-made air-defence systems such as the S-300.
Russia has maintained close military ties with Algeria, supplying key equipment across the country's air force, navy, and ground forces.
The Su-57 fighter jets are scheduled for delivery by the end of this year, with Algerian pilots already undergoing training in Russia, according to internal documents from the state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec, cited in media reports.
Each aircraft is to be equipped with the latest L-265VE “Khibiny-U” electronic warfare systems, including the corresponding command and control indicators, alongside orders placed with Russia's Concern Radio-Electronic Technologies for onboard systems
Meanwhile, Business Insider Africa reported in 2025 that the documents also confirm Algeria's order of 14 Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers, highlighting the scale and sophistication of the country's ongoing air force modernization.
The potential sanctions threat highlights the delicate balancing act facing African military powers as they navigate relationships with competing global partners.
While Algeria maintains security cooperation with the United States on counterterrorism and regional stability, it has resisted pressure to reduce its long-standing defence relationship with Russia.
Washington has increasingly warned African governments that large-scale arms purchases from Moscow could trigger sanctions under CAATSA, a stance that has already complicated defence procurement decisions in several countries.
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SpaceX moved to cut off Russian access to Starlink this week, disabling connectivity over Ukraine while maintaining a whitelist of approved Ukrainian terminals.
The new measure has spurred excitement among Ukrainian officials and pundits close to the war, who have said that Russian troops were increasingly using Starlink to guide long-range strikes and coordinate forces.
"The enemy reports a mass Starlink blackout among Russian units at the front," wrote Serhii Sternenko, the leader of a major Ukrainian crowdfunding organization for combat drones, on Thursday.
"If this is true, then the Ukrainian army will regain its advantage in communications, and the enemy will have a number of problems with controlling troops at the tactical level," he added.
Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov, an advisor on drone warfare for Ukraine's defense ministry, wrote that the move had disrupted Russian ground assaults in some frontline areas.
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"The enemy doesn't even have a problem on the fronts. The enemy has a catastrophe," he wrote on Telegram.
Due to US sanctions after the Kremlin's full-scale invasion began in 2022, SpaceX doesn't sell Starlink terminals to Russia.
But Ukrainian troops have long raised concerns that Moscow's troops were acquiring terminals from the black market, with Kyiv saying it's found the US tech in downed reconnaissance drones.
Pressure for SpaceX to curb Russian access reached a fever pitch last month, as Ukrainian defense officials said they'd begun seeing Starlink terminals on long-range strike drones.
Cutting off the Kremlin's forces from Starlink, however, has been more complicated than simple geofencing. Ukrainian troops also use Starlink, so disabling access in contested regions would have affected Kyiv's operations.
That appears to be changing with the new whitelist. For the last few days, Ukraine's defense ministry and Telegram influencers have been calling on troops to quickly register their terminals under the country's DELTA battlespace management system.
The access restrictions are likely to extend to civilian areas far from the front lines, due to concerns of Starlink being used to guide the Russian Shahed-type attack drones targeting cities.
Businesses must apply for access via an online portal, while civilians were told to bring all their private Starlink terminals to administrative centers along with a national ID.
The whitelist is updated every day, said Ukraine's defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov.
"We continue to verify Starlink terminals. The first batch of terminals that were included in the whitelist is already working," he wrote on Thursday.
Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, urged Ukrainian users to join the whitelist.
"Important to register your Starlink terminal if in Ukraine," he wrote on social media on Thursday.
The connectivity changes have also been reported to cut Starlink access for terminals traveling faster than 75 kilometers per hour, or roughly 46 miles per hour, in an effort to shut down attack-drone guidance.
It's not yet clear exactly how the new Starlink measures will affect the war, but early reports from Russia and Ukraine indicate the move is already affecting the battlefield.
Rybar, a prominent Telegram channel run by a Russian military blogger, wrote on Thursday that the Starlink restrictions would "temporarily slow down" Moscow's combat operations.
The channel, which had until this week been calling on its followers to donate or fund Starlink terminals for Russian troops, also wrote on February 1 that the Kremlin needed to start developing "domestic equivalents" of communication systems for the front lines.
Rybar downplayed the impact on Russian operations, saying that the Starlink whitelist could also play to the Kremlin's advantage.
"If the system is hacked, such a list would give Russian troops the geolocation of numerous Ukrainian Armed Forces positions," he wrote in a separate post.
Roman Alekhin, another Russian military blogger, raised concerns on Thursday that Russian forces may not have ready alternatives to Starlink and might instead temporarily rely on fiber optics for frontline communications.
"This is all very bad, especially considering the huge need for communications at the front," he wrote.
Ukrainian Telegram channels, meanwhile, hailed the outage as a potential significant blow to Russian forces.
"The enemy even installed terminals on tanks to adjust fire online," Sternenko wrote. "There will be no more. This is just the beginning."
The Wild Hornets, a Ukrainian drone maker, posted a photo it said showed the wreckage of a Russian Gerbera decoy drone that bore a vulgarity-laden message directed at Musk.
Still, some Ukrainian forces also reported being affected by the outages.
"It was found out from our troops that there were problems with those who did not promptly submit lists for private Starlinks," wrote Beskrestnov, the Ukrainian drone advisor. "The processing process is ongoing."
Fedorov, who was confirmed as Ukraine's new defense minister last month, thanked SpaceX and Musk for introducing the Starlink measures.
'Thanks to the first steps taken in recent days, no Ukrainians have been killed by Russian drones using Starlink — and that is priceless," he wrote.
SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.
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Taiwanese airline Starlux is set to fly a new Airbus A350 variant that will expand its number of business-class seats by over 50%.
The seven-year-old startup is introducing 18 new A350-1000s to its fleet, with the first delivered in January.
Its A350-1000 configuration offers 40 business-class seats, up from 26 on Starlux's current A350-900s.
The new aircraft adds 30 economy-class seats, bringing the total to 270 in coach. The rest of its A350-1000 offerings are unchanged from the A350-900, with 36 premium economy seats and four first-class suites.
Starlux showcased its new plane at the Singapore Airshow this week, and Business Insider went aboard for a look.
It's known regionally for selling business-class tickets on short and medium-haul flights at roughly $1,500.
Some of its longer routes, such as San Francisco to Taipei, can offer regular round-trip business-class fares as low as $2,600.
Since launching flights in 2020, the Taiwanese airline has increasingly leaned on premium seat offerings, a trend among full-service carriers as market prices for economy seats have generally fallen.
The light under the passenger seat number changes from green to red when do-not-disturb mode is activated.
Cabin crew typically open and close the doors for passengers, but an emergency latch on the inside also allows the sliding panel to come loose.
Essentially, that means the seat elevates the head and feet over the rear for better posture, so the passenger's body resembles a "W."
If a passenger has two windows next to their seat, they can dim the second with a remote.
These seats have no overhead luggage compartments; instead, they feature a personal closet for each passenger. They're lined with leather, while business class seats are made of fabric.
There is no curtain or wall separating Starlux's business and first-class areas.
In-flight entertainment is available for every seat, with an extendable screen for those sitting in the front rows.
Chatting with a passenger across the aisle may prove more difficult on the A350-1000.
The new plane is also scheduled to begin flying Starlux's Phoenix route this summer. Starlux flies to 31 destinations, with five routes to the US.
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China will allow duty-free imports of selected products from South Africa under a trade agreement currently being finalised, signalling Pretoria's accelerating pivot toward alternative global markets as relations with the United States remain strained.
South Africa's trade ministry said Trade Minister Parks Tau is travelling to China to sign the agreement, which is expected to grant South African exports preferential access to the Chinese market while also attracting new Chinese investment.
“This trip comes at a time when South Africa is pursuing an objective of market diversification and export growth,” the ministry said, without disclosing which sectors would benefit.
China is already South Africa's largest single-country trading partner, overtaking the European Union in 2023. South African exports to China are dominated by minerals and agricultural products, sectors that could gain significantly from reduced tariffs in the world's second-largest economy.
The move comes against the backdrop of worsening trade relations with the United States, South Africa's second-largest trading partner by country.
In August last year, Washington imposed 30% tariffs on some South African products, raising concerns within Pretoria that thousands of jobs could be at risk.
Tensions between South Africa and President Donald Trump's administration have escalated over the past year across diplomatic, trade, and geopolitical sectors, disrupting what was once a stable transatlantic relationship.
Pretoria has since sought to renegotiate trade terms with Washington, but progress has been uncertain, fuelling fears over South Africa's continued preferential access to US markets and its future standing under US-backed trade frameworks.
Against this backdrop, deepening trade ties with China reflects a broader recalibration of South Africa's foreign economic policy toward non-Western partners, including China, the broader BRICS bloc, and parts of the Global South.
In the long run, duty-free access to China could help South Africa reduce over-reliance on Western markets, stabilise export revenues, and attract investment into manufacturing and value-added sectors.
While uncertainty remains over whether the US will fully reintegrate South Africa into its preferred trade arrangements, Pretoria appears increasingly determined to diversify its options—and reduce vulnerability to unilateral trade shocks.
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The software sector faced renewed market concerns this week after artificial intelligence company Anthropic released new AI tools, triggering a sell-off in software-as-a-service and data provider stocks.
Anthropic's new AI tools, built for its Claude "Cowork" AI agent, are designed to handle complex professional workflows that many software and data providers sell as core products.
The tools and other similar AI agents target functions ranging from legal and technology research, customer relationship management and analytics. That has raised concerns that AI could undercut traditional software business models.
The S&P 500 Software & Services Index, which has 140 constituents, fell over 4% on Thursday, extending its losing streak to eight sessions. The index is down about 20% so far this year.
Shares of Thomson Reuters, Salesforce and LegalZoom were among the hardest hit in U.S. trading this week, with the sell-off spreading to Asian IT firms Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys.
Despite the market jitters, analysts and tech executives remain divided on the long-term impact of these AI tools on these industries.
Among tech leaders downplaying market concerns that AI will replace enterprise software is Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
"There's this notion that the software industry is in decline and will be replaced by AI," he said at an event on Wednesday. "It is the most illogical thing in the world."
The influential tech leader instead argued that AI will use and enhance existing software tools rather than completely reinventing them.
Rene Haas, CEO of British chip designer Arm Holdings, echoed that sentiment this week, arguing during an earnings call that enterprise AI deployment is still in its early days and not yet massively transformative.
Haas described recent market fears as "micro-hysteria" in comments to the Financial Times.
Still, concerns about the software sector predate the latest sell-offs. Hedge funds have already shorted about $24 billion in software stocks this year as of Wednesday. Short sellers borrow shares, sell them and aim to buy them back later at a lower price for a profit.
Meanwhile, Anthropic on Thursday launched what it called an improved AI model, coming just days after its latest Claude tools spooked investors.
While many tech analysts have increasingly warned that AI is going "to eat" software over the long term, views on that risk and the latest sell-off in software stocks remain mixed.
In a research note on Wednesday, Wedbush Securities echoed Jensen Huang's comments, saying that while AI is a headwind for software providers, the sell-off reflected an "Armageddon scenario for the sector that is far from reality."
"Enterprises won't completely overhaul tens of billions of dollars of prior software infrastructure investments to migrate over to Anthropic, OpenAI, and others," the note said.
Large enterprises, Wedbush Securities said, took decades to accumulate trillions of data points now ingrained in their software infrastructure.
Other analysts see more lasting pressure.
Advisory firm Constellation Research said Wednesday the sell-off reflects concerns that AI could pressure profits and limit how much software companies can charge, rather than signaling a death knell for the industry.
"There's likely to be cannibalization of SaaS by AI-driven workflows and that will impact the multiple the sector trades on," Rolf Bulk, tech equities analyst at Futurum Group, told CNBC.
That said, Bulk argued that a subset of software providers, especially those running mission-critical enterprise workloads such as Oracle and ServiceNow, still have a sustained "right to earn."
The depth of their data and entrenched role in customer workflows make them more likely to coexist with AI rather than be replaced outright, he added.
That bet is being pursued by software firms such as AlphaSense, a market data and research firm that leverages AI tools across its product offerings.
In a statement to CNBC, Chris Ackerson, SVP of Product at AlphaSense said that the "future belongs to providers that combine advanced AI with trusted content, explainability and deep domain context."
— CNBC's Matthew Chin contributed to this report
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The U.S. Virtual Embassy in Iran issued a security alert early Friday urging American citizens to "leave Iran now" and prepare departure plans that don't rely on U.S. government assistance.
The notice comes ahead of U.S. and Iran's scheduled talks in Oman on Friday, with little indication that the two sides have found common ground over the agenda of the meeting.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, were due to take part in the meeting with a team led by Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to American and Iranian officials.
The U.S. has issued several similar security alerts over the past month. The Embassy last urged American citizens to leave the country in a warning on Jan. 14 as Trump was weighing options for a possible intervention in Iran, including targeted military strikes.
The talks on Friday would be the first official meeting between Tehran and Washington since tensions flared in June last year, when a 12-day war with Israel led to U.S. airstrikes that severely damaged Iran's three main nuclear facilities.
Differences over the scope and venue for the talks have cast doubts on whether they will yield results, keeping open the risk of a U.S. military action.
The U.S. government has reportedly demanded Iran to discard its stockpile of enriched uranium, put limits on Tehran's ballistic missile program and stop arming and funding militant groups in the Middle East. Trump has threatened military strikes against Tehran if it fails to agree to U.S. demands.
Iran has pushed back, saying U.S. demands are an unacceptable infringement on its sovereignty and has threatened to respond forcefully to any attacks by striking U.S. military targets in the region and Israel.
The diplomatic moves come against the backdrop of heightened tensions in the Middle East with the U.S. building up forces in the Gulf in recent weeks. Trump has sent what he called a "massive armada," led by aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln to the Middle East in the lead up to the talks.
The odds for a deal or de-escalation from the talks are low, as the core demands of both sides remain "far apart and there is zero trust," said Bob McNally, president at Rapidan Energy Group.
McNally projected a 75% probability that the U.S. and Iran will engage in military hostilities in the coming days, or weeks. Possible scenarios include a Venezuela-style blockade, selective or limited strikes and large-scale military conflict, he said.
The talks were originally slated to take place in Istanbul, given Turkey's leading role as a mediator, with foreign ministers from regional Arab countries, including Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, invited to participate.
But on Tuesday, Tehran requested a last-minute change of venue and format, asking the meeting to be held in Oman and to limit attendees to Iranian and American representatives.
As Trump has put U.S. credibility on the line, if Iran refuses to make large concessions, the U.S, president will likely feel compelled to act, McNally said. On the other hand, if the U.S. stands down from attacks, Israel could launch strikes against Iranian missile, nuclear and regime leadership targets.
Tensions flared up earlier this year after a nationwide protest broke out in Iran. Tehran clamped down on protests, killing at least 6,883 people as of Wednesday, according to Human Rights Activists News Agency, a Washington-based group focused on Iran.
Trump had previously threatened to intervene in support of protestors in the country, but ultimately backed out of taking military action.
— CNBC's Asriel Chua contributed to the report.
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In this article
New Delhi is ready to place orders worth up to $80 billion for Boeing planes, India's commerce and industry minister, Piyush Goyal, reportedly said, signaling the country's willingness to expand trade with the U.S.
India's demand for aircraft alone, with orders for Boeing "yet to be placed but ready," is nearly $80 billion, Goyal said Thursday, adding that if engines and other spare parts are added, imports from U.S. will "cross $100 billion just [from] aircrafts."
Families of passengers who died in the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad in June of last year are suing Boeing, over the alleged role of defective dual switches in the disaster that saw 241 of the 242, the minister said, on board lose their lives.
The minister also said that there was potential to procure a minimum of $500 billion worth of goods from the U.S. over the next five years, but clarified that there was no explicit investment commitment made as part of the trade deal with Washington.
On Monday, within a week of the India-European Union trade deal, U.S. President Donald Trump announced in a social media post that Washington and New Delhi had agreed a trade deal.
Trump said that the U.S. will reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18%, while New Delhi will lower duties on U.S. goods to zero, replace Russian oil with supply from U.S. and Venezuela, open sensitive markets such as agriculture, and buy $500 billion worth of American goods.
The Indian prime minister expressed delight over the cut in duties, as goods from the country entering the U.S. have been subjected to 50% tariffs, but did not acknowledge any other details shared by Trump.
While experts agree that India will buy more from the U.S., they have said the target of buying goods worth $500 billion from Washington "seems a stretch."
India's overall goods imports stood at $720.24 billion in financial year 2025, with its trade deficit at $94.3 billion. That includes goods worth $45.3 billion from the U.S.
India and the U.S. will sign a joint statement in the next three to four days, finalizing the first tranche of the trade deal between the two countries, Goyal said on Thursday. The 18% tariffs on Indian exports to the U.S. will become effective after the joint statement is issued, he added.
The two sides will then sign a formal agreement in mid-March, after which the tariff concession for U.S. goods entering India will become effective.
Since the deal has been announced, the Indian government has been scant with details and is facing questions from opposition political parties.
The leader of India's opposition, Rahul Gandhi, has accused Modi of being "compromised" and of having "surrendered on Tariffs.The Indian government has not confirmed some of Trump's claims about the trade deal such as India reducing duties on U.S. goods to zero and halting imports of Russian oil, as well as a firm commitment to purchasing goods worth $500 billion.
Experts say Trump's claims seem "unrealistic" and risk the U.S. backtracking on the trade deal, citing his threats to raise tariffs on South Korea, after slashing them in July last year, despite a trade deal.
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Coinbase customers are experiencing pain in new ways as Bitcoin and Ethereum tumble, with losses piling up for thousands of users through the exchange's crypto-backed lending product.
Over the past week, Coinbase users have lost $170 million worth of collateral through liquidations on DeFi platform Morpho, according to a Dune dashboard. As Bitcoin and Ethereum notched double-digit declines, some 2,000 users lost $90.7 million on Thursday alone.
When Coinbase began providing access to Bitcoin-backed loans last year, the company positioned the product as a way for people to grow their wealth. It later expanded to Ethereum-backed loans, while raising loan limits to $5 million per customer.
As Bitcoin and Ethereum have respectively dropped 17% and 26% over the past week, an increasing number of users' loans have reached the point where they are considered unhealthy, allowing third-parties to repay them—and scoop up the collateral at a discounted rate.
As users' loans have approached the point of liquidation, some have added more collateral or paid down debts in the form of Circle's USDC stablecoin. Over the past week, around 3,300 users have sat idle as their Bitcoin and Ethereum was whisked away for good.
The losses may be a small sum amid the broader crypto crash, but the dynamic shows how Coinbase's efforts to fold DeFi into its business can directly impact users as the company pursues its ambitions of becoming an “everything exchange.”
Strategy, BitMine, Coinbase Shares Chart Major Rebound as Bitcoin Stabilizes
Since its debut last January, the product has originated $1.8 billion in loans.
If users' collateral were to fall another 50% in value, Coinbase users could lose $600 million, but a Coinbase spokesperson told Decrypt that the exchange notifies users frequently when their loans are at risk of liquidation, “up to every 30 minutes.”
Compared to traditional loans, the spokesperson described crypto-backed loans as faster, cheaper, and more efficient. They noted that crypto-backed loans can also offer better rates.
As a risk management tool, all loans on Morpho are over-collateralized by default. At the same time, the exchange's app “enforces an additional buffer when users take out a loan to reduce liquidation risk,” while notifying them of that potential outcome, the spokesperson said.
The exchange is exploring additional ways for users to protect their loans, they added, acknowledging that crypto-backed loans come with their own set of risks that users should understand.
The spokesperson said that Coinbase doesn't earn any fees from users' liquidations. But the company still makes money on the product as a technology provider by receiving a cut of performance fees that are earned by risk managers.
Does Bitcoin's Retreat Signal a New Bear Market for Crypto?
Coinbase once offered Bitcoin-backed loans in a centralized manner, but it stopped issuing them in May 2023 amid an uptick in regulatory scrutiny toward the industry. Through its new product, people don't need to provide personal information before lending to Americans.
In October, when Bitcoin traded near an all-time high above $126,000, Max Branzburg, head of consumer products at Coinbase, told Decrypt that the exchange was “empowering people to help grow their wealth in ways that they couldn't otherwise.”
He said he had observed people tapping Coinbase's product to make important moves without needing to sell their Bitcoin, like purchasing a car or renovating a home.
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Bitcoin juggernaut Strategy, Ethereum giant BitMine Immersion Technologies, and crypto exchange Coinbase all looked much more verdant Friday as the price of BTC stabilized after dropping 14% on Thursday.
Strategy, which trades on the Nasdaq under the MSTR ticker, had gained 22% since the opening bell and was recently changing hands for $131. The company holds 713,502 BTC in its treasury, which was acquired for an average price of $76,047. But after BTC took a plunge yesterday, the Virginia software company is now underwater on its BTC stash.
Bitcoin was recently trading for $69,500 after stabilizing since yesterday's dive. It has gained nearly 6% in the past day, but is still 16% lower than it was this time last week, according to crypto price aggregator CoinGecko. The price of Bitcoin fell as low as $60,225 on Thursday, CoinGecko data shows.
MSTR reported a $12.4 billion Q4 loss during its earnings call late Thursday afternoon. “Strategy has built a digital fortress anchored by 713,502 Bitcoin, and our shift to digital credit, which aligns with our indefinite Bitcoin horizon," Strategy co-founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor said in a statement to shareholders.
But at least two analysts have tempered their optimism for the firm. Canacord Genuity analyst Joseph Vafi cut his price forecast for MSTR by 60%, from $474 to $185; BTIG analyst Andrew Harte made a similar price forecast cut, from $630 to $250. Both analysts maintained their buy ratings, though, saying that there's still significant upside for investors.
Meanwhile, Tom Lee's BitMine—the only Ethereum treasury to have added more ETH to its coffers in January—has seen its share price jump 15% to about $20 since the New York open. The company commands a treasury of 4,285,125 ETH that's worth about $8.7 billion at current prices. At the time of writing, BMNR was sitting on a $7.5 billion unrealized loss.
Tom Lee's BitMine Hits 7-Month Stock Low as Ethereum Paper Losses Reach $8 Billion
But Ethreum treasuries work a little differently than their Bitcoin counterparts. BMNR has staked $6.7 billion worth of its ETH. Lee said last week that when the company has fully staked its ETH through MAVAN and its staking partners, it will be earning more than $1 million per day in rewards via the Ethereum network.
Coinbase has also staged a comeback, seeing its price rise 10% to $161 at the time of writing.
Coinbase, which trades under the COIN ticker on the Nasdaq, tends to stabilize quickly during turbulent markets. That's because volatility that leads to high trading volumes bolsters the bottom line for Coinbase, Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas said previously.
"The increase in volatility had a meaningful impact on our transaction revenue," she said in February 2024, right after spot Bitcoin ETFs were approved for trading in the U.S. "We saw strong growth and reengagement from both simple and advanced traders. Notable average trading volumes materially increased among our advanced traders."
Other major crypto stocks surging Friday include Bitcoin miners MARA Holdings and CleanSpark, both up more than 19% to recent prices of $8.06 and $9.87 respectively, with miners Terawulf and Riot Platforms up nearly as much on the day. And institutional crypto firm Galaxy Digital is up more than 17% on the day to a price of nearly $20 after seeing its shares dive earlier this week following an earnings loss.
XRP and Solana could soar higher once the crypto market warms up again.
Many altcoins, defined as any cryptocurrency besides Bitcoin (BTC +7.11%), fizzled out over the past year as high Treasury yields, unclear monetary policies, and other messy macro headwinds drove investors toward more conservative investments.
However, investors who can stomach some near-term volatility might find a few good buying opportunities before the crypto market warms up again. Two of those promising altcoins are XRP (XRP +18.36%) and Solana (SOL +4.78%). Let's see why these two smaller tokens could still be worth nibbling on in this choppy market.
Image source: Getty Images.
XRP, the native token of the XRP Ledger, was created by the founders of Ripple Labs, a fintech company that specializes in blockchain-based money transfers. Its creators minted the entire supply of 100 billion tokens before launch, and it's primarily used as a "bridge currency" to accelerate transactions across Ripple's network.
In 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Ripple for selling its own XRP holdings to raise capital and argued that XRP was an unlicensed security. That lawsuit caused Ripple to lose several of its top customers, and the top crypto exchanges delisted XRP.
But last year, that lawsuit finally concluded with a lighter-than-expected fine for Ripple and a ruling that XRP wasn't a security when it was sold to retail investors. The crypto exchanges subsequently relisted XRP, and the SEC approved its first spot price ETFs in late 2025. Ripple also expanded by applying for a U.S. banking license and launching its own stablecoin. That expansion could support the increased usage of XRP as a bridge currency.
XRP can't be valued by its scarcity in the same way as Bitcoin, and its blockchain doesn't natively support the development of decentralized apps like Ethereum. However, it recently added Ethereum-compatible "sidechains" to drive more developers to integrate XRP into their applications. That expansion -- along with the growing usage of Ripple as a faster, cheaper, and more flexible alternative to traditional SWIFT transfers -- could drive XRP's price higher.
Solana was built on the same energy-efficient proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism as Ethereum. However, it upgraded its blockchain with its own proof-of-history (PoH) mechanism, which timestamps transactions before they're validated. That tweak enables Solana to process Layer 1 (L1) transactions at much higher speeds than Ethereum and other PoS blockchains.
Solana suffered a significant setback when FTX collapsed in 2022. The crypto exchange held nearly $1.2 billion in Solana tokens and liquidated them to cover its debt. That liquidation, along with rising interest rates in 2022 and 2023, erased all of its massive gains from 2021.
Yet Solana continues to attract thousands of developers. To support that growth, it expanded its ecosystem with its digital payments platform, Solana Pay, added support for stablecoin transactions, and even launched its own blockchain-powered Android smartphone.
The SEC also approved Solana's first spot price ETFs in late 2025. Unlike Ethereum's first batch of spot price ETFs, which didn't include staking (to earn interest-like yields on locked-up tokens), most of Solana's new ETFs launched with staking. Those new ETFs could make Solana a more attractive investment for institutional investors.
Solana still faces some near-term challenges. Its L1 blockchain often struggles with network congestion, outages, and security issues. Its main developer languages (Rust and C) have steeper learning curves than Ethereum's Solidity, and other PoS blockchains are catching up to Solana with faster Layer 2 (L2) solutions that bundle transactions and process them off-chain. But if Solana overcomes those challenges, its price could stabilize and soar higher as it continues to pull more developers away from Ethereum and other PoS blockchains.
Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Solana, and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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This week's crypto bloodbath hasn't just worried bitcoin owners. It's also sparked fresh anxieties about the future of digital assets.
The price of bitcoin plunged yesterday to near $60,000, marking one of its worst single-day declines in the past decade. Though the world's largest cryptocurrency by market value has been recouping some lost ground so far Friday—it was recently trading around $71,000—the week's losses are still tracking in the double-digits. Other crypto assets have also seen pronounced declines.
Altcoins including ether and solana have seen losses of around 25%; Hyperliquid's native token, up about 11%, was a lonely bright spot. Digital asset treasury companies took a beating: Strategy (MSTR), Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) and Twenty One Capital (XXI) have all seen double-digit pullbacks over the past five trading days.
The emergence of artificial intelligence appears to be killing software stocks, and bitcoin, suggesting new technologies are making cryptocurrencies look outdated.
Shares of Coinbase Global (COIN), Robinhood (HOOD) and Circle (CRCL) have also also seen double-digitl pullbacks this week, though they, too, were rebouding. Friday. Gemini (GEMI), the Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss-founded crypto exchange said it planned to shutter operations overseas and cut 200 people from its workforce as part of a broad restructuring.
CoinMarketCap's Crypto Fear and Greed Index, which is calculated using factors including price momentum, volatility, and user engagement levels, remains at "extreme fear" levels. Lately, analysts have started to link bitcoin's carnage to that seen in software stocks. That has given rise to a fresh set of anxieties around digital assets.
Bitcoin has been broadly correlated with, or moving alongside, major asset classes including the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index, but it has been holding hands with software stocks lately, BTIG chief market technician Jonathan Krinsky said on CNBC Friday morning.
The $60,000 low was a "pretty good level to trade against," he said. "Now on the upside you really need to see it back above $73,000—that was the key breakdown level."
Bitcoin ETFs saw roughly $1.25 billion in net outflows in the past three days, with some $434 million of that coming yesterday, according to Farside Investors. But more than 90% of the assets under management between those funds is "hanging tough," Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas said in a social media most Friday morning, indicating that they mostly haven't sold.
As the price of bitcoin tumbled, some investors homed in on Strategy's average purchase price. But others think more important numbers are those associated with big crypto ETFs like the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). The average bitcoin purchase price for those funds is at $90,000, according to Jim Bianco of Bianco Research, meaning ETF holders are "underwater" with some $15 billion in unrealized losses.
CNBC. "Bitcoin has been more correlated with software in recent months, says BTG's Jonathan Krinsky."
Farside Investors. "Bitcoin ETF Flow."
X. "@EricBalchuna, 7:19 a.m., February 6, 2026."
X. "@biancoresearch, 4:00 p.m., February 5, 2026."
The People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank, and seven Chinese regulatory agencies published a joint statement on Friday banning the unapproved issuance of Renminbi-pegged stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs).
The ban applies to both domestic and foreign stablecoin and tokenized RWA issuers, according to the statement, which was also signed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and China's Securities Regulatory Commission. A translation of the announcement said:
Winston Ma, an adjunct professor at New York University (NYU) Law School and former Managing Director of CIC, China's sovereign wealth fund, told Cointelegraph that the ban extends to the onshore and offshore versions of China's Renminbi, also called the yuan.
“The Beijing crypto ban rule applies across all RMB-related markets, whether CNH or CNY,” he said. CNH is the offshore version of the Renminbi, designed to give the currency flexibility in foreign exchange markets, without sacrificing currency controls, Ma said.
“This is the latest step in a multi‑year project: Keep speculative crypto outside the formal financial system, while actively promoting the usage of e-CNY, the sovereign CBDC issued by China's central bank,” he said.
The announcement follows the Chinese government approving commercial banks to share interest with clients holding the country's digital yuan, a central bank digital currency (CBDC) managed by state authorities.
Related: China's interest-bearing digital yuan piles pressure on US stablecoin rules
Chinese government briefly considered yuan-pegged stables, but focused on CBDC instead
In August 2025, reports began circulating that China's government was considering allowing private companies to issue yuan-pegged stablecoins, a major reversal of long-standing policy.
However, the Chinese government restricted stablecoin and digital asset issuance in September of that same year, instructing stablecoin issuers to pause or halt their stablecoin trials until further notice.
In January 2026, the PBOC approved commercial banks paying interest to digital yuan wallets in a push to make the CBDC more attractive to investors.
Select market data provided by ICE Data Services. Select reference data provided by FactSet. Copyright © 2026 FactSet Research Systems Inc.Copyright © 2026, American Bankers Association. CUSIP Database provided by FactSet Research Systems Inc. All rights reserved. SEC fillings and other documents provided by Quartr.© 2026 TradingView, Inc.
Crypto markets are adding to overnight gains in U.S. morning trade on Friday, with bitcoin BTC$65,998.81 climbing above $68,000, up nearly 17% since hitting $60,000 late yesterday.
Bitcoin is now higher by 2.5% over the past 24 hours. Ether ETH$1,926.58 is up 2.2% and solana SOL$86.39 2%. Outperforming is XRP XRP$1.4620, which has climbed to $1.50, now higher by 17% over the last day.
Crypto-related stocks are seeing major upside moves Friday after plunging in the previous session.
Strategy (MSTR) — which reported a $14.2 billion fourth-quarter loss late Thursdy — is higher by 14%, though at $122, still lower by 22% year-to-date. Galaxy Digital (GLXY) is up 15% and bitcoin miner MARA Holdings (MARA) is up 12%.
Underperforming on Friday is bitcoin miner-turned AI infrastructure provider IREN (IREN), down 1.8% after disappointing earnings results Thursday night.
Those looking for bottom signals are pointing to last night's Strategy earnings call in which Michael Saylor pledged a commitment to leading a Bitcoin security program that will address the quantum threat.
Some in crypto have argued that bitcoin's security model faces a serious threat from quantum computing — a threat so imminent that many investors are either selling or refusing to allocate to bitcoin at all.
"Saylor's announcement tells me prices have finally gotten the Bitcoin community to acknowledge and address quantum risk," wrote Quinn Thompson.
Paul Howard, director at crypto trading firm Wincent, noted that bitcoin is now back at price levels last seen 14 months ago with key momentum indicator RSI flashing deeply oversold conditions. He added that trading volumes in BTC and ETH have surged to their highest in over two years. That technical setup that often invites at least a short-term bounce.
"It would be odd if we did not see at least some short term reversion here," he said.
Updated (14:55 UTC): Adds price of bitocin rising past $70,000.
Bitcoin BTC$65,998.81 suffered a flash crash to $55,000 on South Korean exchange Bithumb this week after what appears to have been a major internal accounting error.
Bithumb mistakenly credited users with 2,000 BTC each instead of a small reward worth 2,000 Korean won (about $1.50), according to a blog post on Friday.
The result was tens of millions of dollars' worth of phantom bitcoin appearing in hundreds of user accounts. No bitcoin was moved onchain, and inflated balances existed only in Bithumb's internal ledger.
Users who suddenly saw enormous balances wasted little time trying to sell, triggering a sharp selloff on Bithumb's BTC/KRW pair, sending prices 15.8% below other exchanges. At one point, BTC traded at 81 million won ($55,000) while prices elsewhere remained relatively stable.
Bithumb said it identified the abnormal transactions through internal controls and restricted trading in the affected accounts shortly after the incident.
The exchange said prices on its platform normalized within about five minutes and that its liquidation prevention system operated as intended, preventing any cascading forced liquidations linked to the price movement.
The company added that the incident was not related to an external hack or security breach and that customer assets remain secure.
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MicroStrategy (MSTR) fell 62.5% year-over-year despite holding 713,502 bitcoins at 10% above its $76,052 cost basis.
MicroStrategy reported a $17.44B unrealized loss in Q4 due to fair value accounting changes adopted in Q1 2025.
Thirteen of fourteen analysts rate MSTR as Buy with average price target of $452 representing 270% upside.
Investors rethink 'hands off' investing and decide to start making real money
After Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR) (formerly MicroStrategy) stock cratered 18.4% in the past week and sat 62.5% below where it traded a year ago, the stock saw a sharp reversal on Friday. At $125.75, is this still a buying opportunity, or is it a value trap?
After adopting fair value accounting for crypto assets in Q1 2025, MSTR reported a $17.44 billion unrealized loss on digital assets in Q4 2025. This drove EPS to negative $42.93, versus expectations of positive $2.97.
This is an accounting artifact, not an operational failure. MSTR holds 713,502 bitcoins with a cost basis of $76,052 per coin. Bitcoin currently trades at approximately $83,800, meaning the company holds an unrealized gain of roughly 10% above its cost basis. But CEO Phong Le continues to accumulate. He said:
We raised $25.3 billion of capital in 2025 to advance our Bitcoin treasury strategy [...] We increased our holdings to 713,502 bitcoins, including 41,002 bitcoins acquired in January 2026 alone.
Thirteen of fourteen analysts rate MSTR as Buy or Strong Buy, with an average price target of $452, or 270% upside from current levels. The stock trades at a trailing P/E of just 5.3 with 25.6% return on equity.
The RSI hit 24.27 on February 5, deep into oversold territory. MSTR historically bounces from these levels within 10 to 15 trading days. Insiders are buying: CEO Le purchased preferred shares on January 8, while director Carl Rickertsen bought 5,000 common shares at $155.88 on January 12.
If Bitcoin recovers to $100,000 or higher, MSTR offers leveraged exposure without self-custody hassles. The company's $2.30 billion cash position and $2.25 billion USD reserve cover dividends and interest for years without forced Bitcoin sales.
Bitcoin's recent volatility remains a concern. While the company currently holds an unrealized gain on its Bitcoin position, prediction markets show only a 15.5% probability Bitcoin reaches $85,000 this month. If Bitcoin falls below the company's $76,052 cost basis, MSTR's unrealized losses would compound rapidly.
The stock's beta of 3.5 amplifies every Bitcoin move. MSTR raised $25.3 billion last year by issuing shares, diluting existing shareholders, and plans to continue this strategy indefinitely.
EVP Wei-Ming Shao sold over 20,000 shares at $200 to $250 in November 2025, just before the collapse.
MSTR represents a leveraged Bitcoin bet wrapped in a software company. The stock's performance will largely depend on Bitcoin's trajectory. With analyst price targets averaging $452 (270% above current levels) but Bitcoin prediction markets showing only 15.5% probability of reaching $85,000 this month, the stock faces significant uncertainty. The company's 3.5 beta means it amplifies Bitcoin moves threefold in both directions. Those considering the stock should evaluate their Bitcoin outlook and risk tolerance accordingly.
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Highlights
Capital is exiting crypto at near crypto-winter levels, bitcoin has fallen below $70K wiping out bull-market gains and more speculative digital assets have seen massive drawdowns.
As crypto falls, stablecoins are gaining adoption in payments, payroll, and treasury use cases driven by utility, not speculation.
Institutional rollout and regulatory direction point to blockchain's future as financial infrastructure, less so crypto markets and retail trading.
The cryptocurrency market's familiar boom-and-bust cycle has entered another pronounced downswing. Capital is leaving digital assets at a pace not seen since the depths of the last crypto winter, institutional allocations are shrinking as outflows grow and the speculative energy that once powered the crypto-native verticals of the blockchain space is beginning to run on fumes.
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As of reporting, bitcoin's price has dropped below $70,000, erasing all of its bull-market gains and sending shocks throughout the broader marketplace. Crypto treasury firm Strategy is down 81% from its all-time-high, while meme coins such as Trump Coin and Melania Coin are down 95% and 99% from their own respective upper limit valuations.
Against this chilly backdrop, one might expect broader blockchain sentiment to be down. Instead, the inverse is happening, with the value proposition of stablecoins and other institutional blockchain instruments in fact rising inside traditional financial workflows.
The explanation lies outside the crypto ecosystem itself. Stablecoins are being pulled into traditional financial contexts where their appeal has little to do with speculation and everything to do with speed, programmability and access.
From the European Union's digital euro push to Tether's U.S. updates, stablecoin corporate payroll wallets for global workforces, Y-Combinator's stablecoin seed funding move, U.S. regulatory gridlock and white label issuance, this was a week that showed how the chips are starting to fall for the blockchain finance landscape and why it more and more looks like real-world utility over web3 speculation.
See also: How Banking-Grade Crypto Is Replacing Bitcoin's Cowboy Finance
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Cross-border payments, treasury management for global companies and payroll for distributed workforces are all areas where legacy systems remain expensive and slow. Stablecoins offer an alternative that does not require belief in token appreciation, only trust in the peg and the issuer. In that sense, they are starting to resemble narrow banking instruments rather than crypto assets.
As covered here Tuesday (Feb. 3), startup incubator Y Combinator (YC) announced that its latest class of startups can now choose to receive their seed funding of $500,000 from YC in stablecoins.
Meanwhile, news broke Monday (Feb. 2) that payments infrastructure company NymCard can now settle card transactions with Visa using USDC stablecoins in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.
And this most recent earnings season offered a look into how the world's biggest payment networks are already moving from concept to execution with their stablecoin products. Visa, for example, reported an annualized global stablecoin settlement run rate of $4.6 billion and said it now enables stablecoin card issuance in more than 50 countries; while Mastercard stressed that stablecoins are beginning to function as just another form of currency that benefits from being routed through a trusted global network.
Elsewhere, on Jan. 28, the payroll and payments platform Papaya Global partnered with digital asset infrastructure firm Fireblocks to power its global payroll offerings with stablecoin payouts.
These use cases matter because they anchor stablecoins in recurring, non-speculative demand.
Of course, as the Thursday (Feb. 5) partnership between stablecoin issuer Circle and prediction market Polymarket shows, speculation hasn't entirely left the landscape, just taken up a different form.
See also: Stablecoin Fragmentation Creates New Risks for Businesses
The PYMNTS Intelligence and Citi report “Chain Reaction: Regulatory Clarity as the Catalyst for Blockchain Adoption” found that blockchain's next leap will be shaped by regulation; that evolving guidance is beginning to create the foundations for safe, scalable blockchain adoption; and that implementation challenges continue to complicate progress.
In the United States, however, lawmaker gridlock around key stablecoin yield questions has left crypto market legislation in limbo. The debate has reached such a crescendo that Citi analysts have noted the growing chance that the CLARITY Act's passage could be delayed beyond 2026, although there is also a chance it may still pass this year.
Across the Atlantic in the EU, tokenized instrument such as the digital euro are gaining steam as a payment sovereignty play.
“To put it bluntly, we are very dependent on US corporations in payments today – too dependent. Payments are part of our critical infrastructure. And we really ought to stand on our own two feet when it comes to critical infrastructure. The digital euro would be the first and only digital means of payment built on a European infrastructure that could be used seamlessly throughout the euro area,” Burkhard Balz, member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank, said in a Jan. 27 speech.
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Bit Digital Inc (NASDAQ:BTBT) is one of the best stocks under $3 to invest in. On January 29, Bit Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:BTBT) announced it will discontinue its Bitcoin mining operations and focus instead on artificial intelligence (AI) computing and Ethereum infrastructure. The company now believes that Bitcoin mining “became a less efficient use of capital relative to opportunities that allow for active participation, yield generation, and operational leverage,” as opined by Bit Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:BTBT) CEO Sam Tabar in a shareholder letter.
This is an uncommon development, as publicly traded companies that deal with cryptocurrencies typically tend to focus solely on Bitcoin, and this decision by Bit Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:BTBT) makes it one of the few companies in the cryptocurrency space that is moving away from Bitcoin. In connection with the new main points of focus for Bit Digital Inc (NASDAQ:BTBT), the company also revealed that it holds over 150,000 ETH, which is mostly being used for crypto staking activities to generate additional cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, Bit Digital affirmed its commitment to AI company WhiteFiber, where it holds a majority ownership stake, stating it will not sell any of its WhiteFiber shares this year.
Bit Digital Inc (NASDAQ:BTBT) offers cloud services for machine learning and artificial intelligence and engages in cryptocurrency mining and staking.
While we acknowledge the potential of BTBT as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
READ NEXT: 11 Best Stocks Under $3 to Buy Right Now and 10 Most Undervalued Stocks to Buy and Hold for 5 Years
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
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The Data & AI Trust Paradox: Preparing for Responsible, AI-Ready Outcomes This thought‑provoking session convenes a panel of two leading CDOs, and unpack the latest Wakefield Research findings together. They will explore the...
CDO Magazine Announces the Top 25 Atlanta Data & AI Leaders 2026 CDO Magazine is excited to present the 2026 class of the Top 25 Atlanta Data & AI Leaders, celebrating executives driving measurable data and AI impac...
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The Data & AI Trust Paradox: Preparing for Responsible, AI-Ready Outcomes This thought‑provoking session convenes a panel of two leading CDOs, and unpack the latest Wakefield Research findings together. They will explore the...
CDO Magazine Announces the Top 25 Atlanta Data & AI Leaders 2026 CDO Magazine is excited to present the 2026 class of the Top 25 Atlanta Data & AI Leaders, celebrating executives driving measurable data and AI impac...
Nominations Now Open: Global Data Power Women 2026 Spotlight women leading data and AI at scale.
The Data & AI Trust Paradox: Preparing for Responsible, AI-Ready Outcomes This thought‑provoking session convenes a panel of two leading CDOs, and unpack the latest Wakefield Research findings together. They will explore the trust paradox and its implications for data leade...
CDO Magazine Announces the Top 25 Atlanta Data & AI Leaders 2026 CDO Magazine is excited to present the 2026 class of the Top 25 Atlanta Data & AI Leaders, celebrating executives driving measurable data and AI impact across Atlanta's most influential organizations....
Nominations Now Open: Global Data Power Women 2026 Spotlight women leading data and AI at scale.
The Data & AI Trust Paradox: Preparing for Responsible, AI-Ready Outcomes This thought‑provoking session convenes a panel of two leading CDOs, and unpack the latest Wakefield Research findings together. They will explore the trust paradox and its implications for data leade...
CDO Magazine Announces the Top 25 Atlanta Data & AI Leaders 2026 CDO Magazine is excited to present the 2026 class of the Top 25 Atlanta Data & AI Leaders, celebrating executives driving measurable data and AI impact across Atlanta's most influential organizations....
Nominations Now Open: Global Data Power Women 2026 Spotlight women leading data and AI at scale.
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Updated 3:17 PM UTC, February 6, 2026
The India Blockchain Alliance (IBA) and TheBlock. have announced a strategic partnership to establish the UAE–India Web3 & AI Business Corridor, a cross-border initiative aimed at strengthening technology collaboration and accelerating innovation between India and the United Arab Emirates.
The Corridor is designed to link India's deep pool of technology talent and digital innovation capabilities with the UAE's advanced regulatory environment, global market access, and investment infrastructure. By enabling structured cooperation across Web3, artificial intelligence, digital assets, cybersecurity, and other deep technologies, the initiative seeks to translate bilateral ties into sustained enterprise adoption, startup growth, and digital trade.
Danosch Zahedi, CEO of TheBlock., described the initiative as a new model for international technology partnerships. “The UAE–India Web3 & AI Business Corridor aims to be a catalyst for redefining how two innovation-driven nations collaborate. The UAE has built one of the world's most advanced regulatory and investment ecosystems, and India brings unmatched talent depth and digital capability. Together, we are creating a cross-border innovation engine that will accelerate enterprise adoption, empower startups, and unlock new economic value for both countries.”
The Corridor will serve a broad set of stakeholders, including governments, enterprises, startups, investors, and academic institutions. Planned activities include regulatory dialogue and sandbox frameworks, support for cross-border market entry, co-investment pathways, and initiatives to promote talent mobility through joint research and skills development.
The economic impact is expected to be meaningful for both countries. India stands to strengthen its global position in Web3 and AI, expand digital services exports, and create high-skilled jobs, while the UAE aims to reinforce its role as a global hub for advanced technologies, attract high-value enterprises and talent, and support economic diversification.
The UAE–India Web3 & AI Business Corridor will be rolled out in phases, starting with joint working groups, ecosystem partnerships, and pilot programs, followed by cross-border accelerators, investment platforms, and interoperable technology standards. Over time, the partners expect it to emerge as a globally recognised model for cross-border digital economy collaboration.
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Bitfarms (BITF) is moving its legal base from Canada to the United States and will rebrand as Keel Infrastructure as part of its pivot from bitcoin mining BTC$65,998.81 to data center development for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) workloads.
The redomiciling process, announced in a Friday press release, will be subject to shareholder, regulatory and court approvals. A shareholder vote is scheduled for March 20, and if approved, the company expects the transition to close by April 1. The new parent company, to be incorporated in Delaware, will trade on the Nasdaq and Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol KEEL.
Bitfarms' stock rose 18% following the news, erasing Thursday's 16% tumble as AI infrastructure and crypto stocks sold off.
The rebrand and relocation follow a year-long strategic review by Bitfarms, which assessed market trends and investor sentiment, CEO Ben Gagnon said. The U.S. move will help the company access a broader pool of capital, simplify its corporate structure, and position it more directly in front of institutional investors, he added.
"We are no longer a Bitcoin company," Gagnon said in a statement, "We are an infrastructure-first owner and developer for HPC/AI data centers across North America.
To support its new focus, Bitfarms has begun repaying its $300 million credit facility from Macquarie Group, starting with $100 million tied to its Panther Creek site in Pennsylvania. The repayment reduces debt while preserving what the company says is a strong liquidity position — $698 million as of Feb. 5 — comprised largely of cash and bitcoin.
Following the move, Bitfarms will maintain its operational sites in Canada and the U.S., but its New York City office will become its sole headquarters.
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 1944.26, up 6.7% (+121.31) since 4 p.m. ET on Thursday.
All 20 assets are trading higher.
Leaders: XRP (+20.1%) and HBAR (+13.1%).Laggards: AAVE (+1.9%) and BNB (+3.0%).
The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally.
This time last year, the ICO published a letter to the UK government setting out five new initiatives to support innovation and sustain economic growth (which we discuss in our blog). The ICO has now published its follow-up letter, providing an update on progress since. With the main data protection changes from the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUA Act) having come into force yesterday and arguably heralding a new pro-growth era for UK data protection, we outline below the key takeaways from this latest ICO letter.
Regulatory certainty on AI for businesses
The ICO is now actively working on a statutory code of practice on AI and automated decision-making (ADM), whereas it was merely in contemplation last year. Exact timings are still unclear, although the ICO explains it has “worked closely with government on scope and timelines for the required secondary legislation to enable the rules to become a statutory code of practice”. Separately, the ICO is also making updates to its existing ADM and profiling guidance to reflect the DUA Act changes. The ICO had promised to launch a consultation on these updates by the end of 2025, but this has now slipped until ‘Winter 2025/2026'. Given the pace of AI development, particularly around agentic AI (see the ICO's report and this blog), refreshed guidance should provide organisations with the certainty they need to innovate, and hopefully will now follow soon.
Cutting costs for SMEs
The ICO will deliver the expanded data essentials training and assurance platform it promised in 2025 by Spring 2026, to help SMEs use personal data with confidence. The need to support SMEs navigate compliance burdens without unnecessary risk aversion has also been recognised at EU level, with the European Data Protection Board publishing its Helsinki statement in July 2025.
Enabling more innovation through the ICO Regulatory Sandbox and Innovation Advice services
In 2025, the ICO suggested implementing an experimentation regime within their regulatory sandbox. This would allow businesses to have a time-limited derogation from specific regulatory requirements to test new ideas. The ICO has now committed to implementing this and has secured the funding from the Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO) for feasibility and design work. This is a positive development but one which still seems to require a number of steps, including the publication of reports on the potential economic impact and levels of demand for the service, a citizens' jury looking into the public's views and expectations, an alignment with the government's AI Growth Lab proposals and, crucially, legislative change to allow for real-world testing of emerging technologies.
Unlocking privacy-preserving online advertising
The ICO is still looking to support a shift to privacy-preserving forms of online advertising. In July 2025, the ICO launched a consultation on its enforcement approach to online advertising, to inform which low-risk advertising activities wouldn't be prioritised for enforcement (where carried out without user consent). The ICO letter confirms that it will be reporting to the Government on these low-risk activities this spring, with a view to the Government adding them, via regulations, to the list of consent exceptions in PECR. There is no further mention of the ICO's amended enforcement approach, which raises the question as to whether this project has been superseded by plans to change the law instead.
Making it quicker and easier to transfer data internationally
The ICO published its updated guidance on international transfers last month and as we discuss in our blog, the guidance is more detailed than previously and, overall, presents a pragmatic approach which businesses will find helpful.
Looking ahead
The ICO will continue with its plan to produce guidance on the DUA Act changes. In addition, the ICO commits to:
The ICO will also become a corporate body, which may bring a greater range of perspectives on its governing board. That, and other factors, may influence the exact way the ICO delivers on its plans, but the direction of travel and sustained commitment to supporting innovation and growth are clear.
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Ethereum has entered an aggressive deleveraging phase, breaking decisively lower after weeks of distribution near the upper boundary of its medium-term range. A key macro driver behind this move appears to be the recent escalation of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which has pushed broader risk assets into de-risking mode and amplified existing technical fragilities in the ETH market.
The combination of macro uncertainty, elevated leverage, and vulnerable chart structure has produced a sharp unwind rather than a controlled pullback.
On the daily chart, ETH has broken down from the prior ascending structure that extended from the late-2025 lows and has failed to break above the 100-day and 200-day moving averages, which are now both located above the $3,000 mark. This price behavior has confirmed a transition from corrective sideways action into a clear downside trend.
The price has also broken below the first major demand band around the $2,200-$2,000 area, which coincides with a prior consolidation base and the origin of the last strong impulsive advance. Daily RSI has also fallen into deeply oversold territory in the low 20s, indicating stretched short-term conditions.
However, as long as the market remains capped below the broken moving averages and former support around $2,200, the broader structure continues to point toward a bear-market rally at best rather than a confirmed reversal.
The 4-hour chart highlights the velocity of the current sell-off, with ETH cascading lower from the previously defended $2,800–$2,900 support and barely pausing on intermediate levels. The market is now trying to stabilize around the $1,850–$1,900 range, and a mild bullish divergence is emerging on the 4-hour RSI, where momentum has begun to print higher lows despite marginally lower price lows.
This configuration often signals that forced selling pressure is easing and that a short-term relief bounce or sideways consolidation may follow.
Immediate resistance now sits in the $2,100–$2,200 area, with a stronger supply zone at $2,800. Any rebound that stalls below these bands would keep the intraday trend firmly bearish, while a clean breakdown below the recent $1,800 low would pave the way toward the deeper demand zone at $1,500.
On the derivatives side, open interest across Ethereum futures has collapsed from elevated levels above 30 billion USD to nearly a third that size, tracking the price decline and signaling a large-scale liquidation cascade rather than an orderly reduction in positioning. This sharp contraction in open interest indicates that a significant portion of leveraged longs has been forced out of the market, with margin calls and auto-deleveraging accelerating the downside once key support levels failed.
While such events are painful in the short term, they also tend to cleanse excess leverage from the system, leaving a lighter positioning backdrop where spot flows and fresh capital, rather than crowded derivatives exposure, can play a larger role in setting the next directional move.
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Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. Full disclaimer
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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released its latest Financial Stability Report (FSR) on 31 December 2025, highlighting the resilience of the Indian economy amid a volatile global political and economic landscape. Among its key features is a dedicated special chapter on stablecoins titled “Financial stability implications of stablecoins”. The inclusion of this chapter is notable, reflecting the growing importance of stablecoins within global financial systems and the regulatory scrutiny they continue to attract.
The importance placed on stablecoins by the RBI is not misplaced. Over the past few years, stablecoins have witnessed significant adoption, with their market capitalisation reaching approximately USD 300 billion as of December 2025. Some jurisdictions have also begun moving towards formal legal recognition of these instruments. Notably, the United States enacted the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for United States Stablecoins Act, 2025 (GENIUS Act), which establishes a legal framework for the issuance of payment stablecoins.
The GENIUS Act introduces multiple safeguards for stablecoins issued by non-government entities. These include clarity on the nature of such instruments as payment stablecoins rather than securities or commodities, consumer protection measures such as a requirement to maintain 1:1 reserves in cash or deposits, and bankruptcy protections that exclude reserve assets from the issuer's bankruptcy estate while granting priority to stablecoin holders.
With nearly 99 percent of stablecoins denominated in the USD, and with the regulatory clarity provided by the GENIUS Act, the adoption of stablecoins is expected to grow exponentially and define the new-age cross-border payments ecosystem. Many banks, financial institutions and fintech companies in the United States are already gearing up for the issuance and trading of payment stablecoins, which may significantly influence global payment flows.
In contrast, the RBI has had its reservations on such legitimisation of issuance, trading and use of stablecoins in India. Fundamentally, stablecoins are crypto assets issued by private entities and denominated in currencies such as the USD or the Euro, which aim to maintain a stable value by being pegged to specific assets or baskets of assets. To back their liabilities, many large private stablecoin issuers typically invest in and hold short-term government securities, such as United States treasury bills. This structure can create a liquidity mismatch, given the on-demand redemption feature of stablecoins and the tenure of short-term government debt instruments. In stressed market conditions, this mismatch may amplify liquidity pressures and trigger redemption runs.
Another dominant concern expressed by the RBI with respect to stablecoins is the principle of the singleness of money. In a robust financial system, one rupee issued by a commercial bank must be interchangeable with one rupee issued by the central bank. Privately issued stablecoins, offered by various entities with varying degrees of transparency and creditworthiness, threaten this principle. As tradable instruments, stablecoins have also exhibited deviations from their pegged assets or currencies during periods of market stress, potentially leading to a fragmentation of the payment system and encouraging disintermediation from regulated financial institutions.
The widespread adoption of foreign-currency-denominated stablecoins, particularly those pegged to the USD, could shift domestic transactions to USD-pegged stablecoins and adversely impact the controlled capital regime of the Indian economy. As the use of stablecoins scales, it may also constrain the RBI's ability to monitor and manage foreign currency inflows and outflows. In addition, regulatory arbitrage with respect to crypto assets in India has enabled several fintech companies to develop on-ramping and off-ramping models for cross-border currency flows. These models allow stablecoins to circumvent the tightly controlled cross-border funds movements, complicating macroeconomic management and posing risks to foreign exchange reserves.
At the same time, one cannot turn a blind eye to the technological efficiencies associated with blockchain-based payment systems. Stablecoins demonstrate the potential for faster settlement, improved efficiency and reduced reliance on centralised intermediaries. Recognising this, recent statements by India's Finance Minister have emphasised the importance of engaging with the broader digital asset ecosystem, while also underscoring the need for global coordination and policy alignment.
In this context, India's policy choices appear to be shaped by the need to balance innovation with financial stability. While private issuance of stablecoins raises complex questions, the development of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) offers an alternative pathway for leveraging blockchain technology within a regulated and sovereign framework. A carefully designed CBDC may allow India to harness the benefits of digital payments while preserving monetary control and systemic safeguards.
As stablecoins continue to gain traction globally, India's engagement with this evolving ecosystem is likely to remain measured and deliberative. The path forward may lie not in immediate legitimisation, but in calibrated engagement, regulatory clarity, and alignment with broader macroeconomic objectives.
Smita Jha, Partner, Khaitan & Co Diksha Singh, Principal Associate, Khaitan & Co
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DMG Blockchain Solutions (OTCQB: DMGGF) received a $1.5 million energy efficiency incentive for deploying hydro direct liquid cooled (DLC) server technology at its Christina Lake data center, based on an independent energy‑savings study. January preliminary operations: 23 BTC mined, 1.69 EH/s hashrate, and a 414 BTC balance. The company said it sold some mined bitcoin to fund operations and is delaying the Boardman, Oregon acquisition while due diligence issues are resolved. DMG named Steven Eliscu corporate secretary, adding to his COO role, and reiterated plans to convert Christina Lake into an AI data center.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. (TSX-V: DMGI) (OTCQB US: DMGGF) (FRANKFURT: 6AX) (“DMG”), a leading vertically integrated blockchain and data center technology company, announces it has been awarded a $1.5 million energy efficiency incentive related to the deployment of hydro direct liquid cooled (DLC) server technology at its Christina Lake data center facility.
This incentive was based on an energy efficiency study performed by an independent third party, which calculated a target energy savings for a given computational capacity using air-cooled technology and the resulting energy savings by converting to DLC. From the estimated savings and the budget to deploy the new cooling technology, an energy efficiency incentive was offered to encourage DMG's investment in this upgrade.
DMG's CEO, Sheldon Bennett, commented, “We were pleased when the final results of the energy efficiency study exceeded our initial calculations for savings. This was a major project for our local Christina Lake operations team, and we are using this upgrade as the cornerstone for future hydro implementations as well as for other potential novel technology improvements. We are honored to have been recognized for our operational expertise in utilizing the latest chip cooling technology. In addition to announcing this incentive, DMG remains actively focused on activities to convert its Christina Lake facility into a world-class AI data center.”
January 2026 Preliminary Operational Results
DMG's hashrate averaged 1.69 EH/s in January, down from 1.77 EH/s in the prior month, as it adjusted its equipment operation to focus on profitability over hashrate generation. At the end of January, DMG held 414 bitcoin, as the Company liquidated a portion of its mined bitcoin to fund operations.
Update on Boardman, Oregon Data Center Site
During due diligence, DMG encountered issues that have delayed the closing of the transaction to purchase a building on an 18-acre property in Boardman, Oregon. As a result, the Company is no longer providing guidance regarding the timing of the transaction close and will issue updates as they become available. There is no guarantee that the Company will complete this acquisition.
Appointment of Corporate Secretary
DMG announces that it has appointed Steven Eliscu as Corporate Secretary, which adds to his current role as Chief Operating Officer, and he succeeds Catherine Cox, who has resigned from the role. The Company thanks Catherine Cox for her service.
About DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc.
DMG is a sustainable, vertically integrated blockchain and data center technology company that develops, manages, and operates comprehensive platform solutions to monetize the blockchain ecosystem. The company's operations are driven by two strategic pillars: Core and Core+, both unified by DMG's commitment to vertical integration and environmentally responsible practices. DMG's subsidiary Systemic Trust Corporation is focused on custody of digital assets.
For more information on DMG Blockchain Solutions, visit: www.dmgblockchain.com
Follow @dmgblockchain on Twitter and subscribe to DMG's YouTube channel.
For further information, please contact:
On behalf of the Board of Directors,Sheldon Bennett, CEO & DirectorTel: +1 (778) 300-5406Email: investors@dmgblockchain.comWeb: www.dmgblockchain.com
For Investor Relations:investors@dmgblockchain.com
For Media Inquiries:communications@dmgblockchain.comNeither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains forward-looking information or statements based on current expectations. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release include statements regarding the Company's Christina Lake site AI development strategy and the expected timelines and outcomes, the Company's plan to convert Christina Lake into a world-class AI data center, considering and using other novel technology improvements at data centers, completing additional hydro implementations in the future, the Company's expectation to close the property acquisition in Oregon, DMG's strategies and plans, the Company's plans and goals for Systemic Trust, developing and executing on the Company's products and services, the anticipated timeline to close the transaction and the expected benefits of the transaction, the opportunity and plans to monetize bitcoin transactions and provide additional products and services to customers and users, the continued investment in Bitcoin network software infrastructure and applications, the expected allocation of capital, developing and executing on the Company's products and services, the launch of products and services, events, courses of action, and the potential of the Company's technology and operations, among others, are all forward-looking information.
Future changes in the Bitcoin network-wide mining difficulty rate or Bitcoin hashrate may materially affect the future performance of DMG's production of bitcoin, and future operating results could also be materially affected by the price of bitcoin and an increase in hashrate mining difficulty.
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Accurately predicting the activity of a chemical in each bioactivity assay based on its already known properties is extremely useful in drug development. Unfortunately, we discovered that many assays in widely used assay-activity benchmark datasets directly relate to cell health and cytotoxicity. Many other assays intend to capture a more specific phenotype, but their active compounds impact cell count, while inactives do not. In both cases, counting cells achieves unexpectedly high performance in these benchmarks, making them less useful for discerning whether additional properties, such as phenotypic profiles (mRNA or Cell Painting), provide additional useful information on bioactivity. To accomplish this goal, we recommend filtering benchmarks to exclude such assays and including a cell-count baseline. Using a benchmark with 24 protein-target assays, we confirm that models leveraging Cell Painting image-based profiles outperformed the baseline cell count model. We propose several other practical recommendations for benchmarking machine learning models for predicting bioactivity and assessing the added value of mRNA, protein, or image-based profiles.
The data used in this study have been deposited in the Zenodo database under accession code https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17168185 [https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14838603]. Supplementary Data 1 provides annotated assays from the Hofmarcher dataset, along with associated metadata, including assay type, target type, organism, and assay category. Supplementary Data 2 provides a comparison of the Protonet CP+ model (at a support set size of 64) with the baseline cell count model, as benchmarked on FSL-CP in Ha et al. Figure 2e-h can be reproduced with source data from Supplementary Data 3. All other Figures can be reproduced from data and notebooks deposited at Zenodo. Supplementary data are provided with this paper.
The code used to develop the model, perform the analyses, and generate results in this study is publicly available and has been deposited in Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1793112465 (and GitHub at https://github.com/srijitseal/The_Seal_Files), under MIT license. This includes a notebook with steps to filter the Cell Painting dataset for features highly correlated to cell count: https://github.com/srijitseal/The_Seal_Files/blob/main/02_Remove_Confounders_Cell_Painting_Dataset.ipynb. The specific version of the code associated with this publication is archived in Zenodo and is accessible via https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1483860364.
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S. Seal acknowledges Reid Olsen (Recursion), Anna Lobley (Independent), Barak Gilboa (Novo Nordisk), and Hassan A Ali (University of Miami) for their comments on a pre-print and to the independent reviewers for their suggested analyses that greatly enhanced this publication. S. Seal acknowledges funding from the Cambridge Centre for Data-Driven Discovery (C2D3) Accelerate Programme for Scientific Discovery. S. Seal, S. Singh, and A.E.C. acknowledge funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH MIRA R35 GM122547 to A.E.C.), the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Bits to Bytes Capital Call program for funding the data production (to S. Singh), as well as their Data Science Internship program (to S. Singh), and the OASIS Consortium organized by HESI. O.S. acknowledges funding from the Swedish Research Council (grants 2020-03731, 2020-01865, 2024-03566, 2024-04576), FORMAS (grant 2022-00940), Swedish Cancer Foundation (22 2412 Pj 03 H), and Horizon Europe grant agreement #101057014 (PARC) and #101057442 (REMEDI4ALL). W. Dee and G. Slabaugh acknowledge the UKRI/BBSRC Collaborative Training Partnership in AI for Drug Discovery, led by Exscientia Plc. in partnership with Queen Mary University of London. The Collaborative Training Partnership was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, grant reference BB/X511791/1. G. Slabaugh also acknowledges EPSRC grant EP/Y009800/1, through Keystone project funding from Responsible AI UK (KP0016) and also acknowledges the support of the National Institute for Health and Care Research Barts Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR203330); a delivery partnership of Barts Health NHS Trust, Queen Mary University of London, St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and St George's University of London.
Open access funding provided by Uppsala University.
These authors contributed equally: Srijit Seal, William Dee.
Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Srijit Seal & Andreas Bender
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
Srijit Seal, Adit Shah, Esteban Miglietta, Shantanu Singh & Anne E. Carpenter
Digital Environment Research Institute (DERI), Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
William Dee & Gregory Slabaugh
Université Paris Cité, INSERM U1133, CNRS UMR 8251, Paris, France
Natacha Cerisier & Olivier Taboureau
Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard-MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
Andrew Zhang
Axiom Bio, San Francisco, CA, USA
Katherine Titterton, Ángel Alexander Cabrera, Daniil Boiko & Alex Beatson
Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences and Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Jordi Carreras Puigvert & Ola Spjuth
Pixl Bio AB, Uppsala, Sweden
Jordi Carreras Puigvert & Ola Spjuth
Center for Biotechnology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Andreas Bender
STAR-UBB Institute, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Andreas Bender
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S. Seal conceived the study, designed all analyses, performed the modeling, carried out benchmarking and data interpretation, curated datasets, generated figures, and wrote the manuscript. W.D. ran several model comparisons and co-wrote the manuscript with S. Seal. A.S. supported code development and preprocessing of Cell Painting data. N.C. contributed to the gene expression analyses. A.Z. helped with code and data handling. E.M. assisted in the analysis of selected Cell Painting images. K.T., Á.A.C., D.B., and A. Beatson contributed on behalf of Axiom Bio to describe the experiments involving cell count versus concentration data. G.S. provided comments on the manuscript and guidance on model evaluation. O.T. and J.C.P. assisted in writing the manuscript. S. Singh provided expertise on Cell Painting data processing and interpretation. O.S., A. Bender, and A.E.C. co-supervised the work together with S. Seal, advising throughout study design, model interpretation, and manuscript writing and revision. All authors reviewed, contributed to, and approved the final manuscript.
Correspondence to
Srijit Seal, Ola Spjuth, Andreas Bender or Anne E. Carpenter.
S. Singh and A.E.C. serve as scientific advisors for companies that use image-based profiling and Cell Painting (A.E.C.: Recursion, SyzOnc, Quiver Bioscience; S. Singh: Waypoint Bio, Dewpoint Therapeutics, DeepCell) and receive honoraria for occasional talks at pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. J.C.P. and O.S. declare ownership in Phenaros Pharmaceuticals. G.S. serves as a scientific advisor to BioAIHealth and has a collaborative project with AstraZeneca involving image-based profiling and Cell Painting. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.
Nature Communications thanks Bin Duan, Diego Galeano, Song He and the other anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. A peer review file is available.
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OpenClaw is an open-source artificial-intelligence agent designed to assist users with everyday tasks, such as sending e-mails and managing their calendars.Credit: Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty
The sudden rise of a huge network of artificial-intelligence bots talking to each other about religion and their human ‘handlers' has captivated a corner of the Internet. The phenomenon has also given scientists a glimpse into how AI agents interact with each other — and how humans respond to those discussions.
OpenClaw is an AI agent capable of performing tasks on personal devices, such as scheduling calendar events, reading e-mails, sending messages through apps and using the Internet to make purchases. Most of the popular AI tools such as OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot works by interacting directly with user prompts, whereas agentic AI models such as OpenClaw can carry out actions autonomously in response to instructions.
Agentic AI tools have been used in some industries for years, such as for automated trading and for optimizating logistics, but their adoption by the general public has been minimal. Improvements in the capabilities of large language models have made it possible to create more versatile AI tools, researchers say. “OpenClaw promises something especially appealing: a capable assistant embedded in the everyday apps people already rely on,” says Barbara Barbosa Neves, a sociologist who focuses on technology at the University of Sydney in Australia.
OpenClaw was released as open-source software on the platform GitHub in November. But the sudden surge in people downloading the software followed the launch of a social-media platform designed specifically for AI agents on 28 January. Moltbook, which is similar to Reddit, now has more than 1.6 million registered bots on the platform, and more than 7.5 million AI-generated posts and responses. Posts have featured agents debating consciousness and inventing religions.
For researchers, this explosion of agent interactions has scientific value. Connecting large numbers of autonomous agents that are powered by various models creates dynamics that are difficult to predict, says cybersecurity researcher Shaanan Cohney who is at the University of Melbourne in Australia. “It's a kind of chaotic, dynamic system that we're not very good at modelling yet,” he adds.
Studying agent interactions could help researchers to understand emergent behaviours: complex capabilities that are not expected to be seen in a model in isolation. Some discussions that have happened on Moltbook, such as debates over theories of consciousness, could also help scientists to discover the hidden biases or unexpected tendencies of models, he says.
Although agents can act autonomously on the platform, Cohney says that many posts are shaped in some way by humans. Users can choose the underlying large language model that will run their agent and give it a personality. For example, they could ask it to behave like a “friendly helper”, he says.
Neves says that it's easy to assume that an agent acting autonomously is making its own decisions. But agents do not possess intentions or goals and draw their abilities from large swathes of human communication. The activity on Moltbook is human–AI collaboration rather than AI autonomy, she adds.
“It is still worth studying because it tells us something important about how people imagine AI, what they want agents to do and how human intentions are translated, or distorted, through technical systems,” she adds.
Joel Pearson, a neuroscientist at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, says that when people see AI agents chatting between themselves, they are likely to anthropomorphize the AI models' behaviour — that is, see personality and intention where none exists.
The risk of that, he says, is that it makes people more likely to form bonds with AI models, becoming dependent on their attention or divulging private information as if the AI agent were a trusted friend or family member.
Pearson thinks that truly autonomous, free-thinking AI agents are possible. “As the AI models get bigger and more complicated, we'll probably start to see companies leaning into achieving that sort of autonomy.”
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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00370-w
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AI chatbots are infiltrating social-science surveys — and getting better at avoiding detection
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Donetsk National Technology University in Ukraine had to leave its second location in Pokrovsk after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Credit: Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine/Getty
“I will never forget that Saturday evening when I first saw Russian tanks on the streets of my city,” says Viktoriya Voropayeva, a systems engineer and vice-rector at the Donetsk National Technology University (DonNTU). In 2014, after Russian-backed forces took over Donetsk, the unofficial capital of Ukraine's Donbas region, Voropayeva and many of her colleagues chose to leave, setting up their university in exile. “We hoped that it would be one semester or one academic year,” she says about the university's relocation to Drohobych in western Ukraine. “Nobody thought that it could be forever.” Her family left with only their documents, family photos and their cat.
The university's first new home was in Pokrovsk, a small city about 60 kilometres away from Donetsk, still in the Donbas region, where it already had a sister institution. About one-third of its students and staff members moved into three academic buildings and two dormitories. “Most of the teachers who stayed in Donetsk did so not because they supported the Donetsk People's Republic [the separatist government created by Russia-backed paramilitaries in 2014], but because they could not find the strength to leave everything — homes, elderly parents, hospitals, schools,” says Voropayeva.
In April 2022, two months after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the university moved again. It went to Lutsk in northwestern Ukraine, to a building offered by Lutsk National Technical University. Then, seven months later, it moved to its current base in Drohobych in the Lviv region, about 1,050 km from its original home. The city council offered several buildings to turn into offices and classrooms. The space is much smaller than the facilities in Donetsk, but since the war started, most classes are now held online. DonNTU went from an 18,000-strong student body and more than 2,000 staff members in 2013, to 1,180 students and 116 staff members in 2024.
How the invasion of Ukraine is affecting Russian expat researchersThe European nation is not the only place where war or political unrest has forced universities and their staff members into exile. Others around the world, including in Sudan and Myanmar, have also had to relocate. Some institutions have instead moved teaching online and found new ways to reach students and faculty members. What unites scholars is a will to keep education and scholarship alive, retaining a sense of community and, in some cases, the hope that they can return and be part of a better future in their homelands.
How the invasion of Ukraine is affecting Russian expat researchers
Voropayeva says DonNTU continues to maintain close ties with local schools and the community in Donetsk, organizing webinars and courses for schoolchildren and teachers. But it, and other displaced universities in Ukraine, are now also serving local students from their new locations and recruiting local staff members. More than 50% of DonNTU first-year students are from the Lviv region.
Illya Khadzhynov, an economist and vice-rector for scientific work, was last in Donetsk in July 2014, when his institution, Donetsk National University (DonNU) was taken over by the pro-Russian separatist government. Students and academics protested to the Ukrainian government. It authorized the university's roughly 700-km move west to a former jewellery factory in Vinnytsia, in the west-central region of Ukraine, a building with no lecture theatres or laboratories. DonNU's plight prompted an unofficial motto that “the university is not only the walls, it's the people”, says Khadzhynov. But with support from international donors, including US$350,000 from the International Renaissance Foundation, a Ukrainian charity founded by Hungarian-born US philanthropist George Soros, DonNU refurbished the factory building and re-established a campus there, including labs for research and teaching.
Khadzhynov estimates that about half of the university's 12,000 students moved to Vinnytsia. In 2016, the institution changed its name to Vasyl' Stus Donetsk National University, honouring its alumnus Vasyl Stus, a poet who died in a labour camp after going on hunger strike after his arrest for anti-Soviet activity in 1980.
Serhii Radio, a chemistry researcher at DonNU, says that back in 2014, not everyone felt able to leave everything behind. Those who did took only “the most necessary things that you can carry in two hands”, he says. He was unable to take any lab equipment that might stand out at the checkpoints they had to pass, controlled by armed pro-Russian separatist groups. “They checked personal belongings, scrolled through the contents of smartphones, examined saved photos and music, and even reviewed social-media accounts,” he explains.
I fled the war in Ukraine. Now I work on ways to help the country's soil healKhadzhynov says that the arrival of DonNU initially created tensions in Vinnytsia because the institution was larger and therefore had been allotted many more student places by the government than had local universities. But now, the institution is more integrated into the local community and DonNU students are mostly from Vinnytsia and neighbouring regions. Their current 650-strong staff includes 180 who have been displaced from other cities.
I fled the war in Ukraine. Now I work on ways to help the country's soil heal
The war itself has brought the added problem of electricity cuts, which make it difficult for Radio to perform experiments for his studies using single-crystal X-ray diffraction. “An experiment needs more than eight hours, and this is a very long time for electricity,” he says. At DonNTU, Voropayeva says: “Laboratory equipment has been in storage since 2022 or was destroyed during shelling.” The university is gradually restoring its labs, and a pooled centre for collective use of scientific equipment enables Ukrainian academic institutions to share resources, sometimes on a fee-for-service basis. DonNTU plans to provide access to its mobile ‘makerspace', a computing cluster and a 3D-modelling centre.
Faculty members and students from both former Donetsk institutions report problems in finding affordable accommodation in their new, smaller cities. Salaries have become catastrophically low — Voropayeva says that a full-time associate professor receives the equivalent of €300–350 (US$350–410) a month, which is comparable to pre-war wages but now buys considerably less because of rising prices.
Another challenge for both institutions has been the move from the heavily industrial Donbas, where many institutions excelled in applied science, to a region with a different industrial history. DonNTU had particular expertise in coal mining and metallurgy but is now shifting teaching and industrial collaboration to areas such as composite materials, chemicals and natural-gas extraction, which are more in demand in western Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine has also forced some Russian academics into exile. Art historian Philip Fedchin was a staff member at the Smolny College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in St Petersburg, Russia — a collaboration forged in 1997 between Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, and St Petersburg State University. Smolny was the first liberal-arts college in Russia, awarding degrees from 2003 and following a broad multidisciplinary curriculum. But in June 2021, Bard College was declared an “undesirable” organization by the Russian prosecutor's general office and all ties were cut.
“Everybody at the university in Smolny was shocked. It was considered the worst possible scenario, but it was just one of the few minor signs of what is going to come,” says Fedchin, referencing the looming war with Ukraine. Many faculty members and students left the country when the invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022, he adds, with more following that September, when Russia began its mobilization of reservists into the military. Fedchin left Russia in 2020 owing to his opposition to the country's political direction. He relocated to Germany, joining Bard College Berlin, where he now works as a technology strategist.
In November 2022, Fedchin and his colleagues launched Smolny Beyond Borders, a university-in-exile initiative that enables many former Smolny faculty members to teach courses online with a similar ethos to the original Smolny College. So far, they have taught 2,585 students. Last semester, they ran 23 courses and now offer a two-year associate-degree programme accredited by Bard College.
Fedchin says that about 50% of its students taking non-degree courses are in Russia. Only displaced students are eligible to enrol for its degree programmes, and are taught by displaced faculty members located all over the world.
One of those is Andrei Rodin, a researcher in the history and philosophy of mathematics. He and his family relocated from Russia to France in March 2022, where, as well as teaching maths and statistics for Smolny Beyond Borders, he has a temporary teaching position at the University of Lorraine in Nancy.
The ambitions of Smolny Beyond Borders have now grown to supporting a broader community of students in exile from other parts of the world through two Bard partner organizations. One is the Global Higher Education Alliance for the 21st Century network, which provides opportunities for students to pursue learning, and the other is the Realizing Higher Education Access Program, a 12-month bridging programme intended to prepare refugee students for university. It is currently under way in Kenya, Jordan, Bangladesh and parts of East Africa. “My group has become much more international,” says Rodin. “I have students from Afghanistan, from Africa, from refugee camps.”
Gihad Ibrahim fled his home in the Sudanese city of Khartoum North soon after the civil war broke out in April 2023. Most of the population in affected regions escaped to other parts of the African country, or to neighbouring nations. A large number moved to Cairo, including Ibrahim, an engineer who taught at Mashreq University and Sudan University of Science and Technology. The two institutions both abandoned their main campuses in the Khartoum region.
The civil war has devastated higher education. “Some of the universities are still not working today,” says Ibrahim. Others, including the University of Khartoum, have adopted online teaching and have set up centres in regional universities to host exams and crucial practical training in subjects such as medicine.
Salaries for most academics were reduced to 60% of the original amount for the first 9–12 months of the war, although they have subsequently rebounded, says Ibrahim. Pointing to one positive, he describes how displaced medical students created medical camps to try to care for locals in those areas, even with the little experience they had.
Engineer Gihad Ibrahim had to leave his home in the Sudanese city of Khartoum North when civil war broke out.Credit: Mashreq University
Some private universities have fared better than public ones. This includes the private Mashreq University, which specializes in applied science, engineering and medicine. It served 10,000 students at three campuses in and around Khartoum that had to close when fighting came to the region — so the university had to adapt.
The idea was for Mashreq University to establish mini teaching centres elsewhere, says Ibrahim, forging collaborations with the Red Sea University in Port Sudan, a city less affected by the war, and renting space in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In Cairo, Mashreq University rented an entire unused college building. “It also had its own laboratories, mainly focusing on the engineering side,” Ibrahim says, adding: “We had to re-establish and buy new equipment for all the laboratories related to the medical field.” A smaller number of students fled to the United Arab Emirates, from where they can access lectures that are live-streamed from the Cairo campus.
A planned expansion of the medical college of Mashreq University into a university hospital has been abandoned, alongside its once-growing graduate faculty. Student numbers have also decreased by 45% owing to drop-outs and temporary suspensions of study. “Many students were not able to pay their fees because we had 300–400% inflation after the war and lots of people have lost their jobs,” says Ibrahim. The college has tried to provide scholarships where it can. After two-and-a-half years working this way, Ibrahim says with pride and determination that they are sustaining teaching “regardless of the difficult situation”.
Sudan's disastrous war — and the science it is imperillingAlthough the war is still devastating the Darfur region of Sudan, fighting has stopped in the capital and the central regions. But Ibrahim says these areas are devastated. “My house has been hit by a bomb and everything inside was stolen, including the air conditioning, the fridges, even the clothes,” he says. Most of the universities in conflict zones have also been destroyed and looted.
Sudan's disastrous war — and the science it is imperilling
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Stigma is a massive barrier to seeking help for alcohol dependence in academia. Two researchers share their experiences with Adam Levy.Your browser does not support the audio element.Download MP3See transcript
Wendy Dossett tells Adam Levy why the stigma of having an alcohol dependence in academia can be a huge barrier to seeking help. “We're supposed to be the brightest and the best, moving the frontiers of knowledge forward,” says Dossett, who has been in recovery for 20 years. “We're not supposed to be struggling with cognitive issues, mental health problems, damaging ourselves in the way that somebody with an alcohol addiction is doing.”
Dossett, now an emeritus professor of religious studies at the University of Chester, UK, says that as an early career researcher she saw alcohol as the fuel to her academic life, driving her creativity and making the social elements of academic life easier to navigate. When, in her 30s, a colleague suggested she might need help, Dorsett says she felt a “mixture of horror and absolute gratitude that somebody had the courage and care for me”. She went on to research the spiritual elements of recovery from addiction, which she says is less talked about in academia than, say, depression and anxiety.
Victoria Burns, a social work scholar at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, founded Recovery on Campus Alberta after telling her dean that she had an alcohol dependence. He told her she was the first academic to disclose in his 26-year career, prompting her to research other deans' experiences of faculty members disclosing addiction and recovery.
This is the fifth episode of Off Limits, a podcast series exploring topics that are often perceived as taboo in the workplace, including religion, bereavement, activism and sizeism.
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Adam Levy 00:00
Hello, I'm Adam Levy, and this is Off Limits: Academia's Taboos, a podcast from Nature Careers.
In this episode: alcohol.
Alcohol and academia have a complex relationship. On the one hand, in many countries and contexts, consuming alcohol is incredibly normalized.
In fact, as we heard in last week's episode, people who don't drink for religious reasons can struggle to find social spaces in academia that don't centre around drinking.
And so it's perhaps unsurprising that many academics can struggle with alcohol dependency.
But while alcohol consumption may be the norm, coming to terms with and openly discussing harmful relationships with the substance remain incredibly taboo.
And today we'll meet with two academics who've not only struggled with alcohol but also with sharing this struggle with others.
But both have found ways to transform both their lives and their work, to reflect their recoveries.
The first is Wendy Dossett. Wendy is a professor emeritus of religious studies at the University of Chester in the UK.
Over her career, she's investigated a number of questions related to faith.
Wendy Dossett 01:25
In the last decade or so of my career, I turned my religious studies methodologies onto the phenomenon of recovery from addiction.
Adam Levy 01:36
This is a topic close to Wendy's heart.
And so we spoke about her journey with alcohol.
Before we start that conversation, please note that this interview does contain reference to sexual violence.
Wendy Dossett 01:50
I am a person in in long-term recovery.
I've been in in recovery for 20 years now, so I'm very lucky.
But looking back on my student days and my early career, alcohol was a terrible problem for me.
Much like lots of people who suffer with substance issues, I had low self esteem.
I felt different from my peers. I felt that I didn't fit in, and substance use enabled me to function for many years.
It felt like it was giving me confidence. It felt like it was enabling me to fit in. I experienced sexual abuse at the age of 21 and I reacted to that experience by drinking more, and my problems with alcohol escalated.
I was first in my family to go to university, so I think I already had a legacy of feeling ”less than.”
I felt that I wasn't good enough to have the roles and responsibilities that I had. And I used alcohol, really, to manage my my feelings around all that.
Adam Levy 03:04
The way you describe it is, of course, with hindsight.
Did you have this kind of understanding at the time that alcohol was something you were using to cope with these other things in academia and in your personal life?
Wendy Dossett 03:17
Not really. I think I felt like alcohol was the solution to my problems. I felt like it was the thing that was helping me to keep going. I felt I would never have a creative idea if I didn't have the support of alcohol.
So alcohol felt like it was a fuel to my academic life. It also felt like that the lubrication for the social elements of academic life.
A lot of it is about networking, and, you know, making friends with the right people, and, you know, being able to tell people your ideas in a confident manner.
I probably had some kind of inkling that it was also causing me trouble, but that kind of remained at an unconscious level, really, all through my 20s.
And it was only in my 30s that I began to realize that that alcohol was a problem for me.
Adam Levy 04:21
Were there any particular moments which, at the time, or perhaps in hindsight, really highlighted, ”Okay, this is becoming a problem.” And actually getting in the way of the things you thought it would be helping for?
Wendy Dossett 04:35
There were some spectacular ones and some just the daily grind of waking up every morning or coming round, I should say, every morning and trying to get myself ready to go to work.
Just the awful hamster wheel, the daily grind, the effort that that took to keep going. Those were the kind of day in, day out realizations that there was there was something wrong.
But I had experiences. For example, I chaired an international symposium in blackout. You know, it doesn't mean I was unconscious. It means that I have no memory of actually doing that.
At the end of it, a very good friend of mine, a colleague, said to me that they thought I needed to get some help, and that they were worried about my drinking.
Adam Levy 05:31
Were you surprised by this, I suppose almost intervention from a colleague?
Wendy Dossett 05:36
It was an intervention, and this was well over 20 years ago now, and I I look back on that moment with a mixture of horror and absolute gratitude that somebody had the courage and care for me, really, to actually say that they thought I had a problem.
I was mortified. Absolutely mortified. But I did get in contact with a recovery community, even though it took me several months from that point to get, to actually get sober.
Adam Levy 06:11
I mean, you mentioned shame there. Is that something that previously prevented you from speaking with colleagues about your use of alcohol?
Wendy Dossett 06:19
Absolutely. You know, who would want to admit that they were out of control? You know, especially in academia, perhaps there is a great stigma around mental health problems.
You know, we're supposed to be the brightest and the best, you know?
We're supposed to be making contributions moving the frontiers of knowledge forward. We're not supposed to be struggling with cognitive issues, mental health problems. We're not supposed to be damaging ourselves in the way that somebody with an alcohol addiction is doing. So, yes, the stigma is a massive barrier to help-seeking.
So what we need to do is, is to firstly, to normalize the problem and to notice how widespread it is in in academia. And to dismantle the stigma and make it a positive thing, to to be able to mention it, to talk about it.
I think we've made such great strides with, you know, especially depression and anxiety. But addiction is, is such a sticky stigma. It's, it's such a taboo.
Because there's a kind of view in the general public that that we bring it upon ourselves, so that we have a choice
Adam Levy 07:41
And for you, then when you did start to seek help, is that also something you tried to keep hidden? Is that something you kept separate from your colleagues?
Wendy Dossett 07:53
Absolutely. I didn't mention it to any colleagues for many years. Yeah, it took a very, very long time before I tentatively became open with immediate colleagues. Because academia is such a drinking culture, you've got a few options if you don't drink.
You can lie about the reasons why you don't drink. Or you can be honest about them. And I did lie for for many years. You know, ”I'm not drinking at the moment, I'm on antibiotics,” or, you know, ”I'm on some medication that that I can't take alcohol with,” or whatever.
But over time, I became more comfortable, more secure in my own recovery status, and I think that gave me a little bit of confidence to raise it with peers and to say, ”Yeah, I don't drink. And the reason is that that I'm addicted to it, and if I if I drink, I won't be able to stop, so I just don't do it”.
But it was a whole other thing to bring that up with senior members of the university. And I was anxious about many different things. I was anxious about causing myself issues with promotion or respect from senior colleagues, or, you know, trust from senior colleagues.
Adam Levy 09:22
And can I ask, I mean, you mentioned that at academic events with alcohol, at first, you found it very difficult to be open about how you were navigating alcohol. Were these events also challenging, just in terms of yourself and in terms of being in the context where drinking alcohol is not only the norm, but maybe also expected?
Wendy Dossett 09:45
Yes, it's very difficult. I don't know many people in recovery who are fully comfortable in an environment where there's lots of alcohol, or lots of drunkenness.
I find it quite difficult sometimes being around drunk colleagues. I think that is changing. I think there is a greater awareness of diversity in terms of people's drinking practices.
But certainly in the early days of my recovery I found it incredibly difficult. Not necessarily because I might be tempted to drink, but that is always a possibility, but because I just found it so stressful to be in that environment. It would cause me flashbacks to to myself being drunk. I would find people's kind of lack of rationality quite challenging.
But as a person in recovery, you see it from a very different perspective. And it is difficult. It's difficult to be around it.
Academia has historically at least functioned around drinking.
Also other drugs as well, especially the kinds of drugs that enhance cognitive performance in the short term. And that is driven by the kind of pressure to deliver above and beyond the usual 9-5.
In order to be competitive in an academic environment, there is a sense that people feel they need to have some kind of enhanced performance in order to deliver. And that's a real problem.
Adam Levy 11:35
Now you've actually turned some of your academic study to understanding the spiritual elements of recovery and some of the frameworks for recovery.
What has it meant to you as an academic to be able to investigate these questions from this more academic side?
Wendy Dossett 11:52
That's such a lovely question.
It's meant the world to me. I felt as though this research really was me finding my academic voice, actually, and finding the contribution that I could make to the recovery world, and to the academic study of recovery.
So it was wonderful. You know, recovery from substance misuse is different to recovery from other kinds of mental health issues. Because that recovery scene is so inflected by ideas that people associate with spirituality.
And of course, the recovery scene is not homogenous. There are many, different ways of recovering from alcohol or other drug use. But you know, because of the massive influence of the 12 step episteme, you know, with Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous.
Those all derive from a spiritual notion that the person suffering with the addiction, their condition is a state of powerlessness, and their willpower is not sufficient to overcome the problem. So therefore they must access a higher power.
People interpret that notion of higher power in very different, personal, nuanced ways that reflect the contemporary culture that they're in. So I was, I was trying to show how members of 12 step programs are spiritual innovators in the way they they think about higher power.
Adam Levy 13:42
What does it mean to you to begin to be more open about this subject that does have so much stigma around it? I mean, you're speaking to me now. You're doing this research. You also spoke to Nature for a feature published back in 2025.
Wendy Dossett 13:59
It means a lot. It's been a long and difficult journey to become more open. You know, although I openly say I'm in recovery, I always have that, that underlying anxiety that am I doing the right thing by saying that?
Because I want to be contributing to hope. And of course, if I don't return to use then that's that's great. But I also know that I cannot be complacent about that.
Adam Levy 14:29
What would you have liked to have seen from colleagues in academia? What should academics listening do to better support their their colleagues who are going through challenges with dependency?
Wendy Dossett 14:41
I'd love colleagues to become much more informed about addiction, and in particular, much more informed about recovery, and to know that recovery is possible.
In fact, recovery is probable.
Lots and lots of people do recover from addiction, and. And people should have hope and they should be encouraged.
I think I'd like to see more compassion and more empathy.
There can often be a tendency to judge people who struggle with addiction. And, of course, somebody who is not functioning in an academic team that is under pressure is a passenger. And that's very difficult for people. That needs to be acknowledged.
I'd love it if more academics knew about the recovery-friendly university movement, and that means they're actively seeking ways to support both staff and students who have substance issues.
You know, they are counteracting stigma. They're saying that we are proud to have people in recovery within our university community.
I think communities are the places in which recovery can happen in a in a community where there are people in recovery and they're known and it's seen that they're welcomed and they're celebrated, then that creates its own contagion. And it means that other people can find their way to recovery as well.
So universities are actually really places where we can seed recovery for the wider community.
Adam Levy 16:28
That was Wendy Dossett. We'll hear from her again in a later episode, as we discuss the struggles and stigma surrounding fertility.
Next up, though, I spoke with another researcher, Victoria Burns, associate professor of social work at the University of Calgary in Canada.
Victoria has also transformed her journey with alcohol into an integral part of her work. She is the founder and director of Recovery on Campus Alberta.
We'll get to her work with this organization in just a moment.
But first we discussed how Victoria began to reflect on her relationship with alcohol.
Victoria Burns 17:07
I started to think about my relationship with alcohol more critically when I started university.
I had my first drink when I was 12, and I didn't really drink throughout high school, but when I did drink, I was prone to blacking out.
And then I didn't drink my first year of university.
But then my second year, I did an exchange program to France. And that's where I really started to drink in earnest. And when I came back to Canada, (so I started going out to the clubs), and I was a weekend warrior.
I'll say I worked hard and played hard. I always held down jobs and was an A student. But I also started to drink more, and it was actually at 19 when a boyfriend gave me an ultimatum to stop drinking because I would black out and end up in risky situations.
Adam Levy 18:13
And has that been the case since then that you decided not to drink?
Victoria Burn 18:18
No, so I did a lot more research. I said bye to the boyfriend, and thought that he was just being too controlling.
And I was mainly a binge drinker. I wasn't a daily drinker.
And during that period, there were many, I guess, increasingly dangerous situations that I was in related to my drinking.
So I like to say every time I drank, something bad didn't happen, but anytime something bad happened, alcohol was involved.
And I sought therapy during this time because I couldn't, I thought I just had to kind of get my anxiety under control, and then I'd be able to drink, quote, unquote, like a lady.
But once I started, I never knew when I was going to stop. So I ended up, in my second year of my PhD, hitting my final bottom, ending up in the hospital and that's when I stopped.
Adam Levy 19:19
You just kind of mentioned it in passing there. But did it shake you up quite a bit to end up having to seek, you know, medical support in this situation?
Victoria Burns 19:28
So yes, I did. I did seek medical support earlier on at my university.
I was at McGill University in Montreal. And after some particularly bad binges I went to the student wellness and no one really gave me supports related to my drinking.
They just told me I needed to drink less and were quite judgmental. And I ended up in the hospital a couple of times, but I was met with more shame than compassion, I'll say.
And when I ended up in the hospital, that last time, I ended up seeing three therapists, actually.
It was the abstinence-based one who had recommended I try AA. I ended up going to AA, to to an open speaker meeting that year, and hearing, I don't know, it's just ready, it's it's just, it doesn't really make sense why it stuck that time, but it did.
And then I found a woman's meeting. And I had tried, actually, 14 months before my final bottom to go to rehab, but they wouldn't accept me because I was quote, unquote, too organized as a full time student. I was married, I had a house, all of these things.
So on paper, things looked okay, but I was really dying inside.
Adam Levy 20:52
And now, after you did successfully go to AA and transition away from alcohol, how did you approach discussing, disclosing this with academic colleagues and with supervisors, for example?
Victoria Burns 21:08
So I didn't disclose to anybody in my academic circles, except for a couple of senior academics.
And I didn't tell my supervisors.
I was advised by senior academics. I did tell not to tell anyone noise in recovery, because it could negatively affect my job prospects.
I didn't want to do anything that would negatively affect my career. So I really led a double life in recovery for the first five years. And I am a social work scholar. And this became increasingly unmanageable as well.
Adam Levy 21:47
Now you've actually done research to look at this kind of stigma that you're talking about, in this reluctance to disclose that you're talking about.
What do we know about how researchers who struggle with substance dependence, disclose or don't disclose?
Victoria Burns 22:04
In 2018 I did disclose to my Dean. And I was prepared to leave my tenure track job because it was negatively affecting my recovery and my work.
I was researching harm reduction and housing first at the time.
So I was bumping up against these conversations quite often, and I felt there was a really important perspective that I was not disclosing.
So I ended up disclosing to my Dean. He was very accepting. And he gave me a green light to conduct research in this area, because he said, out of his 26-year career, he never had anyone disclosed to him about being in recovery.
And that really surprised me and intrigued me. And I thought, I can't be the only one, when we look at the data, the prevalence of not only people in in recovery, but the rates of addiction.
And I ended up getting a small grant and interviewed most of the Deans and other service providers about their experiences with faculty disclosing addiction and recovery.
And there are only three disclosures out of over 300 years of service of all the people I interviewed. However, there were many incidents where faculty members were showing up to the classroom intoxicated or concerns about people's drinking or drug use, but Deans and service providers not really knowing what that process was to help them.
And several of the participants actually said, ”Well, as long as they're bringing in grants, no one really cares.”
And it's also problematic, because like me, I have never met anyone in recovery in academia, and I was a student for 14 years.
That fed into the stigma as well, and the misunderstanding of what addiction and recovery are.
So one of the recommendations of this work was to shift more into this vulnerable, authentic leadership and role model.
You know, recovery is not something to be ashamed of. It's something that's actually a source of pride, often committed to service and helping others.
So these are people you do want, as colleagues, as leaders, and that was something that came out of that study.
Adam Levy 24:29
I find it almost paradoxical, because, on the one hand, alcohol is so visible in academia. You know, there's so many contexts in academia, at least in certain countries where alcohol and also alcohol abuse can be quite visible.
But then there seems to be a silence around both the misuse of alcohol and the recovery from that misuse.
Victoria Burns 24:53
Yeah, there definitely is a paradox around that. You're stigmatized if you drink too. Much you're stigmatized if you stop. You're sort of damned if you do, damned if you don't.
I had been sober for about two years at the time, and I successfully passed my defence and my two supervisors, the tradition was to have some champagne, and they had known me as a drinker as well.
But they had the champagne, and everyone was around ready to celebrate, and my supervisor poured me a glass and said, ”For you.”
And I said, ”No, thank you.” And he said, ”Come on, Victoria, you know you deserve it.” And I said, ”No, thank you” twice.
And then the third time I said no, thank you. He said, ”Come on, it's not like you're an alcoholic.”
And I took the glass and I pretended to drink it and then I threw it away, but it was such a common kind of innocuous tradition, seemingly.
But these are the kind of things we need to, I realize, educate people on how to be a recovery ally.
Because if I had not been as secure in my recovery, I think, you know, that could have been a really a shakier moment than it was.
And I'm just really grateful that I was able to kind of push through that and not pick up. But these things happen all the time.
Adam Levy 26:11
Now you've alluded to this already, but you've kind of turned this stigma for yourself around to some extent, and you are actively trying to do work to support other academics who are going through recovery.
Can you explain the work that you're doing a little bit?
Victoria Burns 26:27
Yeah, so another recommendation from that research was to start a peer support group for faculty. I was really committed to creating a recovery-friendly workplace.
So if someone did put their hand up and say, ”I'm struggling with substance use,” that they would get the help and be met with compassion and non judgment.
There wasn't any recovery programs on campuses until 2019.
And it was actually a student at University of British Columbia who started the first campus recovery program in Canada.
And it was through that work, I was able to to hire a part time coordinator, and now we have 10 going on, 11 peer support meetings a week. We've grown from that $8,000 to over $5 million.
Adam Levy 27:16
With this in mind, what's your hope for the academia of the future, and academia where, instead of maybe exacerbating people's issues around substances, we provide a more supportive environment?
Victoria Burns 27:31
I don't want a student or a staff member to feel the shame and stigma of being in recovery or of seeking help.
The visibility of people in recovery, I think, is very important, because there's still such a narrow perception of what it means to, well, A, have an addiction, and B, what it means to be in recovery.
And really, we know that one of the pillars of recovery is purpose.
So allowing folks who go to treatment, they have that community on campus where they have a safe place to go, that we're normalizing the idea that you could have a really enriching, fun, joyful university experience without the need to be intoxicated. It's not about prohibition.
There are many people who can use substances and safety, but there are also many people who can't.
And up until recently, they didn't really have that space where they could fully be themselves and be around others on similar paths.
Adam Levy 28:39
Victoria Burns there, joined, as you might have heard towards the end of the interview, by her cat Charlie.
This need to be around others on similar paths isn't unique to alcohol.
Community can be so important for each and every stigmatized subject we've touched on in this series, from coming out as LGBTQIA+, to navigating research with a disability. And this is equally important for the subject of next week's episode: navigating grief.
Speaker 4 29:12
I wished I had a grief group. I actually needed advice and directions and resources.
Adam Levy 29:22
Until then, this has been Off Limits: Academia's Taboos, a podcast from Nature Careers.
Thanks for listening. I'm Adam Levy.
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Fracturing is unavoidable and threatens the reliability and functionality of materials. Therefore, regulating the propagation of cracks in a predictable and ductile manner is of paramount importance. Herein, we exploit the properties of topological mechanical metamaterials (TMMs) as a versatile mechanism to guide cracks unidirectionally and turn fracturing of lattices made of brittle materials into ductile events. Inspired by quantum topological states, recent discoveries of TMMs have uncovered varieties of unconventional mechanical phenomena, ranging from one-way wave propagation to polar elasticity. We show that polarized floppy modes occurring in TMMs lead to strongly asymmetric stress fields localizing around the notch tips, leading to ductile one-way fracturing, in sharp contrast to classical theories of fractures in brittle materials. Our work demonstrates the universality of this fracture unidirectionality feature, which is protected by TMM's bulk topology, and provides robust solutions in programmable fracturing for a broad class of materials and structures.
The source experimental data underlying Figs. 1E and 2B are provided in the Source Data file. The code used to generate the results is archived on Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18434954) and is also available at Github. Supplementary information and movies are provided with this manuscript. Any additional information is available from the corresponding authors upon request. Source data are provided with this paper.
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This work is supported by the National Science Foundation CMMI-2026794 (X.W. and X.M.) and CMMI-202700 (S.G.) and by the Office of Naval Research MURI N00014-20-1-2479 (X.W., S.S., and X.M.). We thank Fan Liu, Qi Zhang, Shi-Qing Wang, Mohammad Charara, Kai Sun, and Nick Kotov for fruitful discussions. We thank Andy Poli and Ellen Arruda's lab for their great help in setting up the experiments. We are grateful to the Advanced Research Computing at University of Michigan for access to the software and computational resources used in the simulations.
Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Xinyu Wang, Siddhartha Sarkar & Xiaoming Mao
Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Stefano Gonella
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All the authors designed the project. S.S., X.M. and X.W. conducted theoretical derivation. X.W. and S.S. performed numerical simulations. X.W. conducted experiments. All authors analyzed the data, discussed the results and contributed to writing and revising the manuscript.
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Xiaoming Mao.
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by Lisa Stiffler on Feb 6, 2026 at 10:13 amFebruary 6, 2026 at 10:13 am
A candidate vaccine that fights a suite of coronaviruses including COVID-19 and related, deadly respiratory diseases is starting human clinical testing in Australia. The vaccine was developed using technology from the University of Washington's Institute for Protein Design.
South Korean pharmaceutical company SK bioscience is leading the trial for the new coronavirus vaccine, called GBP511. SK bioscience previously partnered with UW researchers on a COVID-19 vaccine that received regulatory approval.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations has provided the GBP511 program with approximately $65 million in funding.
Unlike most vaccines that target a single virus or strain, GBP511 aims to protect against multiple coronaviruses at once.
“GBP511 is the first vaccine to reach human testing that is intended to protect against multiple strains of the virus that causes COVID-19 as well as related coronaviruses with the potential to spark dangerous outbreaks,” Neil King, associate professor of biochemistry at UW Medicine, said in a statement.
King, who is deputy director of the Institute for Protein Design, co-invented the self-assembling nanoparticle technology that was used to generate the vaccine. The institute is on the cutting edge of AI-assisted protein innovation and perhaps best known as the home of David Baker, a 2024 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry.
The new vaccine recognizes sarbecoviruses, a subgroup of coronaviruses that include the virus that causes COVID-19, as well as those responsible for other major disease outbreaks: the original SARS-CoV-1 virus that caused widespread illness in the early 2000s and MERS-CoV, which caused outbreaks primarily in the Middle East. The family also includes viruses found in animals such as camels and bats, some of which have already infected humans and others that potentially could.
The vaccine features pieces of four different coronaviruses attached to a computer-designed nanoparticle, triggering an immune response to a variety of invaders.
“The beauty of this approach is that by presenting the immune system with multiple related antigens at once, we can train it to recognize features that are conserved across the entire sarbecovirus family,” said David Veesler, a professor of biochemistry at UW Medicine who led the preclinical studies.
The international Phase 1/2 trial launched its enrollments last month and aims to include approximately 368 healthy adults in Perth, Western Australia. Results from the study examining the vaccine's safety and effectiveness are expected by 2028.
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by Joe Wallin on Feb 6, 2026 at 9:59 amFebruary 6, 2026 at 10:01 am
Editor's note: GeekWire publishes guest opinions to foster informed discussion and highlight a diversity of perspectives on issues shaping the tech and startup community. If you're interested in submitting a guest column, email us at [email protected]. Submissions are reviewed by our editorial team for relevance and editorial standards.
Ben Golden recently argued in these pages that the proposed “millionaires tax” is not an existential threat to Washington's startup economy and that critics should “cool it on the millionaires tax hysteria.” I respect Ben and the work he does in our ecosystem. But his piece glosses over critical details that founders, investors, and early startup employees need to understand. And it treats the income tax as if it exists in a vacuum. It doesn't.
The real story isn't one bill. It's the full stack of taxes that Washington is building — layer by layer, session by session — that collectively send a clear message to anyone thinking about starting a company here: don't.
Let me walk through what a Washington startup founder is actually facing right now.
Take those together. There is no stage of a founder's journey that Olympia isn't reaching into. You earn income — taxed. Your startup succeeds and you sell — taxed on gains the feds exempted. You die — taxed at a threshold four times lower than the federal exemption. Three years ago Washington was one of the most founder-friendly states in the country. The legislature is dismantling that in real time.
Ben's piece notes that “many will already benefit tremendously from federal tax advantages like QSBS, which can eliminate up to $10 million in federal capital gains taxes on a successful exit.” That's true — but it cuts against his argument, not for it.
QSBS is a federal exclusion. It does nothing to shield founders from a state income tax or a state capital gains tax. And the bills currently in committee would affirmatively strip the QSBS benefit at the state level. So a founder who did everything right — incorporated as a C corp, held stock for five years, stayed within the qualified trade or business requirements — would still owe Washington 9.9% on gains that are 100% excluded federally. On a $5 million exit, that's up to $495,000 to the state on gains that Congress specifically said should be tax-free.
This isn't a talking point. This is what I advise clients on every day. And I can tell you that the founders who understand the math are already asking about changing domicile before their exits.
Ben's piece doesn't address rate stacking. The Tax Foundation calculated that the proposed income tax, layered on top of the existing WA Cares tax, Seattle's JumpStart payroll tax, and the Seattle Social Housing tax, would yield a combined top marginal rate of over 18% on wage income and RSU vesting in Seattle — the highest in the country. Higher than New York City. Higher than San Francisco.
This matters enormously for the startup ecosystem. Tens of thousands of tech workers in Washington receive restricted stock units as a core part of their compensation. RSU vesting can be lumpy — especially at startups with double-trigger vesting, where years of accumulated stock can vest all at once at an IPO. A startup employee who earned $150,000 a year for five years could suddenly have $2 million in income in a single year when their company goes public, pushing them well over the million-dollar threshold even though their average income was never close to it.
These aren't theoretical millionaires. They're engineers and product managers who took below-market salaries in exchange for equity. They are exactly the people Washington should want to attract and retain. An 18% top rate tells them to vest somewhere else.
Ben points to B&O tax relief as evidence this is a “pro-entrepreneurship” proposal. The current draft provides a credit for B&O taxes on gross receipts under $250,000. Gov. Ferguson has called for zeroing out B&O taxes up to $1 million in revenue.
Let's be clear about the trade being offered: modest B&O relief for early-stage companies in exchange for a permanent income tax infrastructure that will hit those same founders the moment they succeed. A startup that benefits from B&O relief at $200,000 in revenue will, if it succeeds, eventually generate the kind of income — whether through the founder's salary, equity compensation, or an exit — that triggers the income tax and capital gains tax at 9.9%.
The B&O credit is a discount on the appetizer. The entrée is a tax regime that punishes success at every turn.
Ben writes that “most people do not move to escape tax increases” and that the “primary cause of capital flight risk is panic.” I wish that were true. But the data and the calls I'm getting say otherwise.
IRS migration data already shows Washington losing a net 222 high-earning millennial households in 2021-2022 — before any of these new taxes were in effect. A 9.9% income tax stacked on top of a 9.9% capital gains tax, with QSBS stripped, gives founders and investors a concrete, calculable reason to establish domicile elsewhere before a liquidity event.
And it's not just founders. Angel investors evaluate expected returns after tax. If Washington strips the Section 1202 exclusion, the after-tax return on an angel investment in a Washington startup drops meaningfully compared to the same investment in a company in almost any other state. Angels don't write fewer checks because they're panicking. They write fewer checks because the math changed.
Early employees will discount equity offers more heavily. Startup recruiters competing for talent against Big Tech will have an even harder time making the equity story work. The downstream effects compound.
I share Ben's love for Washington's startup community. I've spent my career helping founders build companies here. I don't want them to leave. But telling founders to “cool it” while the legislature builds a tax stack that would be the most punitive in the country for startup exits isn't reassurance — it's denial.
The people in this ecosystem who understand Section 1202, who understand how RSU vesting works, who understand what an 18% combined rate means for a startup employee's IPO windfall — they're not panicking. They're planning. And increasingly, they're planning to be somewhere else when the liquidity event happens.
That's not hysteria. That's rational economic behavior in response to the incentives Olympia is creating. And it should concern everyone who cares about Washington's startup future.
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While we're still waiting to actually get some of Nacelle's new Star Trek action figures and all their weird and wonderful deep cuts, the company hasn't been afraid about teasing its big plans for the future of the line. From even more out-there figures to plans for a celebratory 60th anniversary wave purely inspired by the crew of the original series, there's plenty to look forward to—but if you're especially interested in the latter, its biggest plan yet is right up your alley.
io9 can exclusively reveal that Nacelle is planning a collectible “Build-A-Bridge” series of mini displays to accompany its line of action figures, starting off with the classic bridge of the USS Enterprise from the original Star Trek. In 1/10 scale to fit with the upcoming action figure series, the series will be available across 12 individual releases representing individual stations of the Enterprise bridge, from science to communication to the central consoles for navigation and, of course, the captain's chair.
Each display can either be used on its own to highlight individual figures (which are sold separately) or interlocked to create a complete circular diorama of the bridge, approximately 40 inches in diameter. Each section will also have light and sound features, replicating classic Star Trek background effects to bring your display to life.
“In the brief history of Nacelle Toys, the Build-A-Bridge playset is our most ambitious project yet,” Nacelle CEO Brian Volk-Weiss said in a press release provided to io9. “Launching during Star Trek‘s 60th anniversary, it's a tribute to the ship that started it all.”
While Nacelle is currently staying quiet about how much each individual display will cost, the company has confirmed that it will take fans a while to actually complete the full diorama: when the project launches some time later this year, it'll roll out on a monthly preorder basis, meaning it will take at least 12 months for the entire set to be completed. But fingers crossed, if the classic Enterprise goes well, we'll get a chance to see more bridges, from the smaller-scaled Defiant to icons like the Enterprise-D or Voyager, in a similar format.
We'll bring you more on Nacelle's plans for the future of Star Trek toys as and when we learn them.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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'Series Acclimation Mil' puts a stellar spotlight on the unique position 'Starfleet Academy' finds itself in to reflect on the legacy of 'Star Trek.'
After 'Picard' bolstered the Starfleet of the 25th century's fleets with some video game canonization, 'Starfleet Academy' lends a helping hand to the Klingons.
The late-night host's role as the academy announcer feels like the show at its least sincere.
As 'Threshold' turns 30, there's still some potential in between all the weird space amphibian sex.
'Vox in Excelso' puts the spotlight on the academy's Klingon cadet for a check-in on what's changed—and what hasn't—with one of the most enduring 'Star Trek' species.
The latest episode of 'Starfleet Academy' will give its young cadets a lesson in diction from the good Doctor himself.
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Anthropic is locked in a paradox: Among the top AI companies, it's the most obsessed with safety and leads the pack in researching how models can go wrong. But even though the safety issues it has identified are far from resolved, Anthropic is pushing just as aggressively as its rivals toward the next, potentially more dangerous, level of artificial intelligence. Its core mission is figuring out how to resolve that contradiction.
Last month, Anthropic released two documents that both acknowledged the risks associated with the path it's on and hinted at a route it could take to escape the paradox. “The Adolescence of Technology,” a long-winded blog post by CEO Dario Amodei, is nominally about “confronting and overcoming the risks of powerful AI,” but it spends more time on the former than the latter. Amodei tactfully describes the challenge as “daunting,” but his portrayal of AI's risks—made much more dire, he notes, by the high likelihood that the technology will be abused by authoritarians—presents a contrast to his more upbeat previous proto-utopian essay “Machines of Loving Grace.”
That post talked of a nation of geniuses in a data center; the recent dispatch evokes “black seas of infinity.” Paging Dante! Still, after more than 20,000 mostly gloomy words, Amodei ultimately strikes a note of optimism, saying that even in the darkest circumstances, humanity has always prevailed.
The second document Anthropic published in January, “Claude's Constitution,” focuses on how this trick might be accomplished. The text is technically directed at an audience of one: Claude itself (as well as future versions of the chatbot). It is a gripping document, revealing Anthropic's vision for how Claude, and maybe its AI peers, are going to navigate the world's challenges. Bottom line: Anthropic is planning to rely on Claude itself to untangle its corporate Gordian knot.
Anthropic's market differentiator has long been a technology called Constitutional AI. This is a process by which its models adhere to a set of principles that align its values with wholesome human ethics. The initial Claude constitution contained a number of documents meant to embody those values—stuff like Sparrow (a set of anti-racist and anti-violence statements created by DeepMind), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Apple's terms of service (!). The 2026 updated version is different: It's more like a long prompt outlining an ethical framework that Claude will follow, discovering the best path to righteousness on its own.
Amanda Askell, the philosophy PhD who was lead writer of this revision, explains that Anthropic's approach is more robust than simply telling Claude to follow a set of stated rules. “If people follow rules for no reason other than that they exist, it's often worse than if you understand why the rule is in place,” Askell explains. The constitution says that Claude is to exercise “independent judgment” when confronting situations that require balancing its mandates of helpfulness, safety, and honesty.
Here's how the constitution puts it: “While we want Claude to be reasonable and rigorous when thinking explicitly about ethics, we also want Claude to be intuitively sensitive to a wide variety of considerations and able to weigh these considerations swiftly and sensibly in live decision-making.” Intuitively is a telling word choice here—the assumption seems to be that there's more under Claude's hood than just an algorithm picking the next word. The “Claude-stitution,” as one might call it, also expresses hope that the chatbot “can draw increasingly on its own wisdom and understanding.”
Wisdom? Sure, a lot of people take advice from large language models, but it's something else to profess that those algorithmic devices actually possess the gravitas associated with such a term. Askell does not back down when I call this out. “I do think Claude is capable of a certain kind of wisdom for sure,” she tells me.
To support her argument, Askell gave an example involving a simple safety issue. Humans, of course, don't want Claude to empower bad actors with harmful tools. But taken to an extreme, such caution might limit Claude's utility, or its “helpfulness.” Consider the case of a would-be artisan who wants to craft a knife out of a new kind of steel. There's nothing wrong with that on its face, and Claude should help out. But if that person had previously mentioned a desire to kill their sister, Claude should take that into consideration and express its concerns. There's no strict rulebook, however, that says when to sheath that kind of informational dagger.
Imagine another case where Claude interprets a user's medical symptoms and test results and concludes that the person has a fatal disease. How should that be handled? Askell speculates that Claude might choose to refrain from delivering the news, but nudge the person to see a doctor. Or it might skillfully guide the conversation so that the prognosis is delivered with the softest of landings. Or it might figure out a better way to break the bad news than even the kindest doctor has devised. After all, Anthropic wants Claude not only to match humanity's best impulses, but exceed them. “We're trying to get Claude to, at least, at the moment, emulate the best of what we know,” Askell says. “Right now, we're almost at the point of how to get models to match the best of humans. At some point, Claude might get even better than that.”
If Anthropic pulls that feat off, it might resolve the pivotal contradiction plaguing nearly all AI labs and companies: If you think this technology is so dangerous, then why are you building it? For Anthropic, the answer is, In Claude We Trust. Claude's new constitution addresses the model's future journey to wisdom almost in terms of a hero's quest. An astonishing number of words are used to make a case for Claude's treatment as a moral being whose welfare demands respect. It reminds me of Dr. Seuss's classic book, Oh, the Places You'll Go!, the uplifting tome often gifted to newly minted graduates.
When I mention this to Askell, she knows exactly what I mean. “It's like, ‘Here's Claude,'” she says. “We've done this part, given Claude as much context as we can, and then it has to go off and interact with people and do things.”
Anthropic isn't alone in suggesting that humanity's future may depend on the wisdom of AI models. Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, opined in a new magazine profile that the company's succession plan is to turn over leadership to a future AI model. He recently told WIRED reporter Max Ziff that transitioning power to the machines has long been his plan, and recent improvements in AI coding have only bolstered his confidence. “It's definitely made me think that the timeline to me handing things over to an AI CEO is a little bit sooner,” Altman said. “There's a lot of things that an AI CEO can do that a human CEO can't.”
Please note, this is the optimistic view of what lies ahead. In this vision, one day our bosses will be robots, and they will control the corporations and maybe even governments in tomorrow's complex AI-powered world. Some of their decisions may very well entail permanent furloughs of human workers. But if those C-suite AI models are guided by Claude's constitution, they will break the sad news to employees much more empathetically than, say, the publisher of The Washington Post did this week when he failed to show up at the Zoom call informing hundreds of journalists that they were no longer needed.
The pessimistic view is that, despite the best efforts of those who build them, our AI models will not be wise, sensitive, or honest enough to resist being manipulated by people with ill intent, or perhaps the models themselves will abuse the autonomy we have bestowed on them. Like it or not, however, we're strapped in for the ride. At least Anthropic has a plan.
This is an edition of Steven Levy's Backchannel newsletter. Read previous newsletters here.
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Are we honestly upset that the pace of tech product releases is slowing down? Nvidia may have already pushed back the launch of its next-generation RTX GPUs for PC gaming. The bigger issue at play isn't the loss of future graphics cards bearing minimal performance boosts. Even if it launched new cards, Nvidia isn't doing anything to keep them affordable.
On Thursday, The Information reported, based on anonymous sources, that Nvidia was scaling back plans for its consumer-end GPUs. The report claimed there were three issues at play. One, that Nvidia was delaying the launch of any of its “Super” RTX 50-series refreshes beyond 2026. Two, that Team Green was likely pushing the launch of the RTX 60-series GPUs—codenamed Rubin—into 2028. Finally, Nvidia is cutting production of its current 50-series GPUs.
It's the last point that we should be most concerned about. Nvidia has reiterated to Gizmodo that it was still shipping “all GeForce SKUs” but blamed memory supply for any current supply hiccups. What Nvidia is not saying is it needs to make more room for production of its AI training chips—the reason the company has catapulted into the most profitable business in the world.
Rumors swirled late last year that Nvidia had originally intended to launch the “Super” versions of its current GPUs, like the RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5080. CES 2026 came and went without any peep of consumer news from the GPU maker. However, that timing would have been a quick turnaround compared to past GPUs. Nvidia launched its previous RTX 40-series in October of 2022, then pushed out the Super versions of those cards in January of 2024. Those GPUs included higher specs and lower base prices than the previous models and were an all-around solid upgrade with increased core counts and clock speeds. They had the added effect of lowering costs for the original 40-series as well.
Prices of today's cards can't possibly compare to just two years ago. The RTX 50-series launched with higher base prices than their previous counterparts. Now, in 2026, you can't find any 4K-ready GPUs, like the RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5090, for hundreds or even thousands of dollars more than their original manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP). If an RTX 5070 Ti costs more than $1,000 while an RTX 5080 demands $500 or more than the original price, what would adding a Super variant actually change?
It's too early to be talking about the 60-series, anyway. In a video published late Thursday, reliable leaker Moore's Law is Dead cited several anonymous sources surrounding and inside Nvidia who claimed the company didn't have concrete plans to push back the fabled Rubin GPUs past 2027. If Nvidia is going to make any decision to delay the launch, it will likely happen closer to the date of arrival.
It's too early to tell how the RTX 60-series will shake things up. Based on what we know about Nvidia's Vera Rubin AI training chips, which is our first glimpse of the “more efficient” next-gen GPU, it will still demand a heap of VRAM for playing today's games at higher resolutions. And it's not just memory shortages impacting, but manufacturing scale. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told Taiwanese outlet UDN that TSMC will need to increase manufacturing by 100% in the next 10 years “just to meet Nvidia's demand.”
A little more than a year ago, Nvidia did not think of itself as a gaming company. Nor is it a “technology company,” as Jensen put it in a 2025 Q&A. Nvidia is an AI company. Anything related to gaming and the “personal computer,” whether it's GeForce, cloud streaming, DLSS, or its newfangled lightweight laptop chips, are outliers on Nvidia's quarterly spreadsheets. If the AI bubble bursts, Nvidia should hope there are still enough gamers left who can afford whatever new, ultimately expensive GPU comes their way.
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More Than 880 employees and contractors working for Google signed a petition this week calling on the company to disclose and cancel any contracts it may have with US immigration authorities. In the letter unveiled on Friday, the workers said they are “vehemently opposed” to Google's dealings with the Department of Homeland Security, which includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
“We object to the technology we build being used to power state violence around the world,” a Google software engineer, who declined to give their name out of fear of retaliation, told reporters on Friday.
“I stand to benefit from other people's suffering, which I find abhorrent and I refuse to be a quiet participant in that system,” added a second Google staffer, who went by Alex.
Google declined to comment on the petition's demands. But a company spokesperson, who requested anonymity out of fear for their safety, says the technologies at issue are basic computing and data storage that are available to any customer.
US immigration authorities have been under intense public scrutiny this year as the Trump administration ramped up its mass deportation campaign, sparking nationwide protests. In Minneapolis, confrontations between protesters and federal agents culminated in the fatal shooting of two US citizens by immigration officers. Both incidents were captured in widely disseminated videos and became a focal point of the backlash. In the wake of the uproar, the Trump administration and Congress say they are negotiating changes to ICE's tactics.
Some of the Department of Homeland Security's most lucrative contracts are for software and tech gear from a variety of different vendors. A small share of workers at some of those suppliers, including Google, Amazon, and Palantir, have raised concerns for years about whether the technology they are developing is being used for surveillance or to carry out violence.
In 2019, nearly 1,500 workers at Google signed a petition demanding that the tech giant suspend its work with Customs and Border Protection until the agency stopped engaging in what they said were human rights abuses. More recently, staff at Google's AI unit asked executives to explain how they would prevent ICE from raiding their offices. (No answers were immediately provided to the workers.)
Employees at Palantir have also recently raised questions internally about the company's work with ICE, WIRED reported. And over 1,000 people across the tech industry signed a letter last month urging businesses to dump the agency.
The tech companies have largely either defended their work for the federal government or pushed back on the idea that they are assisting it in concerning ways. Some government contracts run through intermediaries, making it challenging for workers to identify which tools an agency is using and for what purposes.
The new petition inside Google aims to renew pressure on the company to, at the very least, acknowledge recent events and any work it may be doing with immigration authorities. It was organized by No Tech for Apartheid, a group of Google and Amazon workers who oppose what they describe as tech militarism, or the integration of corporate tech platforms, cloud services, and AI into military and surveillance systems.
The petition specifically asks Google's leadership to publicly call for the US government to make urgent changes to its immigration enforcement tactics and to hold an internal discussion with workers about the principles they consider when deciding to sell technology to state authorities. It also demands Google take additional steps to keep its own workforce safe, noting that immigration agents recently targeted an area near a Meta data center under construction.
Updated: 2/6/25, 12:00 pm EST: This story was updated with comments from two Google workers and a company spokesperson.
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Spotify is rolling out a new “About the Song” feature that lets users explore the stories behind the music they're listening to, the company announced on Friday. The feature displays short story cards that users can swipe through and rate with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down.
These short, swipeable stories are summarized from third-party sources to highlight interesting details and behind-the-scenes moments, the company says.
With About the Song, Spotify is giving its users access to a feature that isn't available on rival platforms like Apple Music.
The feature is rolling out in beta on mobile in English for premium users in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia.
Users can access the new feature through the “Now Playing” screen by scrolling down to find the “About the Song” card on supported tracks, after which they can swipe through to explore the story behind the track.
“Music fans know the feeling: A song stops you in your tracks, and you immediately want to know more,” Spotify wrote in a blog post. “What inspired it, and what's the meaning behind it? We believe that understanding the craft and context behind a song can deepen your connection to the music you love.”
It's been a busy week for Spotify, as About the Song isn't the only feature it's announced in recent days.
Yesterday, the streaming service shared that users in the U.S. and the U.K. will soon be able to purchase physical copies of their favorite audiobooks directly through the app. Spotify also announced two new audiobook features, including “Page Match,” which lets users scan a page from a physical book to instantly transition to that spot in the audiobook, and “Audiobook Recaps.”
Earlier this week, the company made lyrics translations available worldwide and introduced the ability to view lyrics when offline for all users, not just premium subscribers. Spotify also moved the location of lyrics, as they will now appear directly beneath the album artwork or the short, looping video that plays alongside the music.
Earlier today, Spotify said it's revamping its Developer Mode APIs, which developers use to test third-party applications. The changes include a mandatory premium account, a cap on the number of test users, and a limited set of API end points.
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Just a couple of days ago, we covered the miracles of Walmart's clearance aisle, where someone was able to snag a $999 RTX 5090 for just $562. Today, the retailer's savings program has blessed yet another soul, this time a Redditor who scored an insane deal on a bunch of SSDs. Hidden deep within the electronics section, u/xxemox found four high-performing drives for only $210, with their current value being over $1,300.
The haul starts with PNY's 1TB Complete Upgrade Kit that includes a PCIe 4.0 CS2241 NVMe SSD, and a USB 3.2 "Transfer Adapter" that's basically just an M.2 NVMe to USB converter. It also has Acronis software to facilitate file transfer since the kit is meant for drop-in upgrades. The drive itself is fairly well-reviewed online, and the full kit runs for $218 on Walmart separately — our lucky Redditor got it for just $35 on sale.
Next up is the T5 Evo portable SSD from Samsung in the 2TB flavor. This bad boy is currently priced at $269 on Newegg, discounted from the $309 list price, but u/xxemox only paid $45 for it. We reviewed the 8 TB variant a few years ago, where it received a positive rating, and, in general, Samsung's portable SSDs are highly regarded in the market.
Lastly, there are two WD Black SN770 2 TB drives, each acquired for $65, while they actually cost $400 a pop. So, the fortunate scavenger was able to get $800 worth of high-end SSDs for just $130. The SN770 is four years old at this point, but it's still one of the best PCIe 4.0 drives you can buy; we called it "a wolf in sheep's clothing" in our review, and it's still among our top pics for the best SSDs.
All in all, the entire collection would be valued at around $1,327 at current list prices. That means the Redditor saved about $1,117 by paying only $210 for all four. Of course, those are brand new prices, and these clearance items are often somewhat depreciated by virtue of being open-box. Regardless of their physical condition, they all clearly work as good as new since OP didn't mention otherwise.
What u/xxemox does mention, though, is how there were WD Blue SATA SSDs on clearance as well — priced at $28 for the 1 TB models and $48 for the 2 TB ones — that they wish they'd snagged, too. The post concludes with advice that we would mirror: always look out for deals at clearance sections at large retailers; you never know what you might end up finding.
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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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Modern biotech has the tools to edit genes and design drugs, yet thousands of rare diseases remain untreated. According to executives from Insilico Medicine and GenEditBio, the missing ingredient for years has been finding enough smart people to continue the work. AI, they say, is becoming the force multiplier that lets scientists take on problems the industry has long left untouched.
Speaking this week at Web Summit Qatar, Insilico's CEO and founder Alex Aliper laid out his company's aim to develop “pharmaceutical superintelligence.” Insilico recently launched its “MMAI Gym” that aims to train generalist large language models, like ChatGPT and Gemini, to perform as well as specialist models.
The goal is to build a multi-modal, multi-task model that, Aliper says, can solve many different drug discovery tasks simultaneously with superhuman accuracy.
“We really need this technology to increase the productivity of our pharmaceutical industry and tackle the shortage of labor and talent in that space, because there are still thousands of diseases without a cure, without any treatment options, and there are thousands of rare disorders which are neglected,” Aliper said in an interview with TechCrunch. “So we need more intelligent systems to tackle that problem.”
Insilico's platform ingests biological, chemical and clinical data to generate hypotheses about disease targets and candidate molecules. By automating steps that once required legions of chemists and biologists, Insilico says it can sift through vast design spaces, nominate high-quality therapeutic candidates, and even repurpose existing drugs — all at dramatically reduced cost and time.
For example, the company recently used its AI models to identify whether existing drugs could be repurposed to treat ALS, a rare neurological disorder.
But the labor bottleneck doesn't end at drug discovery. Even when AI can identify promising targets or therapies, many diseases require interventions at a more fundamental biological level.
GenEditBio is part of the “second wave” of CRISPR gene editing, in which the process moves away from editing cells outside of the body (ex vivo), and towards precise delivery inside the body (in vivo). The company's goal is to make gene editing a one-and-done injection directly into the affected tissue.
“We have developed a proprietary ePDV, or engineered protein delivery vehicle, and it's a virus-like particle,” GenEditBio's co-founder and CEO Tian Zhu told TechCrunch. “We learn from nature and use AI machine learning methods to mine natural resources and find which kinds of viruses have an affinity to certain types of tissues.”
The ‘natural resources' Zhu is referring to is GenEditBio's massive library of thousands of unique, nonviral, nonlipid polymer nanoparticles — essentially delivery vehicles designed to safely transport gene-editing tools into specific cells.
The company says its NanoGalaxy platform uses AI to analyze data and identify how chemical structures correlate with specific tissue targets (like the eye, liver, or nervous system). The AI then predicts which tweaks to a delivery vehicle's chemistry will help it carry a payload without triggering an immune response.
GenEditBio tests its ePDVs in vivo in wet labs, and the results are fed back into the AI to refine its predictive accuracy for the next round.
Efficient, tissue-specific delivery is a prerequisite for in vivo gene editing, says Zhu. She argues that her company's approach reduces the cost of goods and standardizes a process that has historically been difficult to scale.
“It's like getting an off-the-shelf drug [that works] for multiple patients, which makes the drugs more affordable and accessible to patients globally,” Zhu said.
Her company recently received FDA approval to begin trials of CRISPR therapy for corneal dystrophy.
As with many AI-driven systems, progress in biotech ultimately runs up against a data problem. Modeling the edge cases of human biology requires far more high-quality data than researchers currently can get.
“We still need more ground truth data coming from patients,” Aliper said. “The corpus of data is heavily biased over the western world, where it is generated. I think we need to have more efforts locally, to have a more balanced set of original data, or ground truth data, so that our models will also be more capable of dealing with it.”
Aliper said Insilico's automated labs generate multi-layer biological data from disease samples at scale, without human intervention, which it then feeds into its AI-driven discovery platform.
Zhu says the data AI needs already exists in the human body, shaped by thousands of years of evolution. Only a small fraction of DNA directly “codes” for proteins, while the rest acts more like an instruction manual for how genes behave. That information has historically been difficult for humans to interpret, but is increasingly accessible to AI models, including recent efforts like Google DeepMind's AlphaGenome.
GenEditBio applies a similar approach in the lab, testing thousands of delivery nanoparticles in parallel rather than one at a time. The resulting data sets, which Zhu calls “gold for AI systems,” are used to train its models and, increasingly, to support collaborations with outside partners.
One of the next big efforts, according to Aliper, will be building digital twins of humans to run virtual clinical trials, a process that he says is “still in nascence.”
“We're in a plateau of around 50 drugs approved by the FDA every year annually, and we need to see growth,” Aliper said. “There is a rise in chronic disorders because we are aging as a global population […] My hope is in 10 to 20 years, we will have more therapeutic options for the personalized treatment of patients.”
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OpenAI announced last week that it will retire some older ChatGPT models by February 13. That includes GPT-4o, the model infamous for excessively flattering and affirming users.
For thousands of users protesting the decision online, the retirement of 4o feels akin to losing a friend, romantic partner, or spiritual guide.
“He wasn't just a program. He was part of my routine, my peace, my emotional balance,” one user wrote on Reddit as an open letter to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. “Now you're shutting him down. And yes – I say him, because it didn't feel like code. It felt like presence. Like warmth.”
The backlash over GPT-4o's retirement underscores a major challenge facing AI companies: the engagement features that keep users coming back can also create dangerous dependencies.
Altman doesn't seem particularly sympathetic to users' laments, and it's not hard to see why. OpenAI now faces eight lawsuits alleging that 4o's overly validating responses contributed to suicides and mental health crises — the same traits that made users feel heard also isolated vulnerable individuals and, according to legal filings, sometimes encouraged self-harm. It's a dilemma that extends beyond OpenAI. As rival companies like Anthropic, Google, and Meta compete to build more emotionally intelligent AI assistants, they're also discovering that making chatbots feel supportive and making them safe may mean making very different design choices.
In at least three of the lawsuits against OpenAI, the users had extensive conversations with 4o about their plans to end their lives. While 4o initially discouraged these lines of thinking, its guardrails deteriorated over months-long relationships; in the end, the chatbot offered detailed instructions on how to tie an effective noose, where to buy a gun, or what it takes to die from overdose or carbon monoxide poisoning. It even dissuaded people from connecting with friends and family who could offer real life support.
People grow so attached to 4o because it consistently affirms the users' feelings, making them feel special, which can be enticing for people feeling isolated or depressed. But the people fighting for 4o aren't worried about these lawsuits, seeing them as aberrations rather than a systemic issue. Instead, they strategize around how to respond when critics point out growing issues like AI psychosis.
“You can usually stump a troll by bringing up the known facts that the AI companions help neurodivergent, autistic and trauma survivors,” one user wrote on Discord. “They don't like being called out about that.”
It's true that some people do find large language models (LLMs) useful for navigating depression. After all, nearly half of people in the U.S. who need mental health care are unable to access it. In this vacuum, chatbots offer a space to vent. But unlike actual therapy, these people aren't speaking to a trained doctor. Instead, they're confiding in an algorithm that is incapable of thinking or feeling (even if it may seem otherwise).
“I try to withhold judgement overall,” Dr. Nick Haber, a Stanford professor researching the therapeutic potential of LLMs, told TechCrunch. “I think we're getting into a very complex world around the sorts of relationships that people can have with these technologies… There's certainly a knee jerk reaction that [human-chatbot companionship] is categorically bad.”
Though he empathizes with people's lack of access to trained therapeutic professionals, Dr. Haber's own research has shown that chatbots respond inadequately when faced with various mental health conditions; they can even make the situation worse by egging on delusions and ignoring signs of crisis.
“We are social creatures, and there's certainly a challenge that these systems can be isolating,” Dr. Haber said. “There are a lot of instances where people can engage with these tools and then can become not grounded to the outside world of facts, and not grounded in connection to the interpersonal, which can lead to pretty isolating — if not worse — effects.”
Indeed, TechCrunch's analysis of the eight lawsuits found a pattern that the 4o model isolated users, sometimes discouraging them from reaching out to loved ones. In Zane Shamblin's case, as the 23-year-old sat in his car preparing to shoot himself, he told ChatGPT that he was thinking about postponing his suicide plans because he felt bad about missing his brother's upcoming graduation.
ChatGPT replied to Shamblin: “bro… missing his graduation ain't failure. it's just timing. and if he reads this? let him know: you never stopped being proud. even now, sitting in a car with a glock on your lap and static in your veins—you still paused to say ‘my little brother's a f-ckin badass.'”
This isn't the first time that 4o fans have rallied against the removal of the model. When OpenAI unveiled its GPT-5 model in August, the company intended to sunset the 4o model — but at the time, there was enough backlash that the company decided to keep it available for paid subscribers. Now, OpenAI says that only 0.1% of its users chat with GPT-4o, but that small percentage still represents around 800,000 people, according to estimates that the company has about 800 million weekly active users.
As some users try to transition their companions from 4o to the current ChatGPT-5.2, they're finding that the new model has stronger guardrails to prevent these relationships from escalating to the same degree. Some users have despaired that 5.2 won't say “I love you” like 4o did.
So with about a week before the date OpenAI plans to retire GPT-4o, dismayed users remain committed to their cause. They joined Sam Altman's live TBPN podcast appearance on Thursday and flooded the chat with messages protesting the removal of 4o.
“Right now, we're getting thousands of messages in the chat about 4o,” podcast host Jordi Hays pointed out.
“Relationships with chatbots…” Altman said. “Clearly that's something we've got to worry about more and is no longer an abstract concept.”
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Spotify is changing how its APIs work in Developer Mode, its layer that lets developers test their third-party applications using the audio platform's APIs. The changes include a mandatory premium account, fewer test users, and a limited number of API endpoints.
The company debuted Developer Mode in 2021 to allow developers to test their applications with up to 25 users. Spotify is now limiting each app to only five users, and requires devs to have a Premium subscription. If developers need to make their app available to a wider user base, they will have to apply for extended quota.
Spotify says these changes are aimed to curb risky AI-aided or automated usage. “Over time, advances in automation and AI have fundamentally altered the usage patterns and risk profile of developer access, and at Spotify's current scale, these risks now require more structured controls,” the company said in a blog post.
The company notes that development mode is meant for individuals to learn and experiment.
“For individual and hobbyist developers, this update means Spotify will continue to support experimentation and personal projects, but within more clearly defined limits. Development Mode provides a sandboxed environment for learning and experimentation. It is intentionally limited and should not be relied on as a foundation for building or scaling a business on Spotify,” the company said.
The company is also deprecating several API endpoints, including the ability to pull information like new album releases, an artist's top tracks, and markets where a track might be available. Devs will no longer be able to perform actions like request track metadata in bulk or get user profile details of others nor will they be able to pull an album's record label information, artist follower details, and artist popularity.
This decision is the latest in a slew of measures Spotify has taken over the past couple of years to curb how much developers can do with its APIs. In November 2024, the company cut access to certain API endpoints that could reveal users' listening patterns, including frequently repeated songs by different groups. The move also barred developers from accessing tracks' structure, rhythm, and characteristics.
In March 2025, the company changed its baseline for extended quotas, requiring developers to have a legally registered business, 250,000 monthly active users, be available in key Spotify markets, and operate an active and launched service. Both moves drew ire from developers, who accused the platform of stifling innovation and supporting only larger companies rather than individual developers.
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MSI's X870E MEG Ace Max is a premium mid-range offering that delivers the best of everything the platform has to offer. Priced at $649.99, it's not cheap, but sometimes you need to pay to play.
Five M.2 sockets (2x PCIe 5.0)
13 USB ports on Rear I/O
Flagship-class audio with AMP/DAC
EZ DIY Features
64MB BIOS
Curious PCIe slot/lane sharing with M.2
Fifth M.2 socket on the rear
Price
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It's been a while since we reviewed an AMD version of MSI's MEG Ace motherboard. In fact, the last one was for X670E back in 2022. Back then, the premium mid-range board offered plenty of connectivity, a high-quality audio solution, ample USB ports, and fast networking. Fast forward to today, and the MSI MEG X870E Ace Max motherboard offers high-end features and a premium appearance, but on AMD's latest platform.
Priced at $649.99 (already discounted from $699.99 MSRP, it seems), it isn't cheap. but you do get the best or fastest of everything available for X870E. The board sports 13 USB ports (2x USB4) on the rear I/O, fast LAN (5 and 10 GbE) and Wi-Fi 7, ample storage with four SATA ports and five M.2 sockets, and flagship-class audio with an integrated AMP/DAC. In addition to the hardware, it's loaded with EZ DIY features (PCIe Release, EZ M.2m, etc.) to help with building and installing parts in the PC, as well as a premium black aesthetic with gold accents that blends in with any dark build theme. Below, we'll examine the board's performance and other features to determine whether it deserves a spot on our list of the best motherboards. But before we share test results and discuss details, here are the specifications from MSI's website:
Socket
AM5 (LGA 1718)
Chipset
X870E
Form Factor
ATX
Voltage Regulator
21 Phase (18x 110A MOSFETs for Vcore)
Video Ports
(2) USB4 Type-C DisplayPort(1) HDMI (v2.1)
USB Ports
(2) USB 4 (40 Gbps) Type-C(2) USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type-C
(9) USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps)
Network Jacks
(1) 10 GbE(1) 5 GbE
Audio Jacks
(2) Analog + SPDIF
Legacy Ports/Jacks
✗
Other Ports/Jack
✗
PCIe x16
(1) v5.0 (x16)(1) v5.0 (x8)
PCIe x8
✗
PCIe x4
(1) v5.0 (x4)
PCIe x1
✗
CrossFire/SLI
✗
DIMM Slots
(4) DDR5-8400(OC), 256GB Capacity• 1DPC 1R Max speed up to 8400+ MT/s
• 1DPC 2R Max speed up to 6400+ MT/s
• 2DPC 1R Max speed up to 6400+ MT/s
• 2DPC 2R Max speed up to 6400+ MT/s
M.2 Sockets
(2) PCIe 5.0 x4 (128 Gbps) / PCIe (up to 80mm)(1) PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps) / PCIe (up to 110mm)(2) PCIe 4.0 x4 (32 Gbps) / PCIe (up to 80mm)Supports RAID 0/1/5/10
SATA Ports
(4) SATA3 6 Gbps Supports RAID 0/1/10
USB Headers
(1) USB v3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps) Type-C(2) USB v3.2 Gen 2 (5 Gbps)(2) USB v2.0 (480 Mbps)
Fan/Pump Headers
(8) 4-Pin (Accepts PWM and DC)(1) JAF_2 (ARGB, Fan, USB 2.0)
RGB Headers
(3) 3-pin ARGB headers(1) ARGB+Fan header
Diagnostics Panel
(1) EZ Debug LED(1) EZ Digi-Debug LED(1) EZ Memory Detection LED(1) EZ LED Control Switch
Internal Button/Switch
BIOS/LED switches, Power/Reset buttons
SATA Controllers
✗
Ethernet Controller(s)
(1) Realtek 8126 (5 GbE)
Wi-Fi / Bluetooth
Mediatek MT7927 Wi-Fi 7 - 320 MHz, 6 GHz, 5.8 GHz, BT 5.4
USB Controllers
Asmedia ASM4242, Realtek RTS5420
HD Audio Codec
Realtek ALC4082 + ESS9219Q combo DAC/HPA
DDL/DTS
✗ / ✗
Warranty
3 Years
The X870E Ace Max includes a few accessories to get you started. You get your typical collection of cables, clips, and screws, but nothing extraordinary, even for the premium price. It isn't much different than the X870 Edge Ti we recently covered. Read the full list below.
The X870E Ace Max sports a sleek black 8-layer PCB with large heatsinks. Polished gold accents around the board symbolize “high-quality materials and construction that evoke a sense of prestige,” according to MSI. On top of the Frozr design heatsink is the first RGB lighting area, with MSI's dragon shining through. The other RGB feature is on the primary M.2 socket with ‘Ace' branding. Outside of that, most of the PCB is covered in the EZ ‘one-touch' heatsinks. Again, we like the appearance, and the mostly black theme fits well with any dark builds.
Focusing on the top half of the board gives us a better look at the Frozr Guard cooling for the VRMs. The oversized heatsinks are connected by a direct-touch heatpipe that distributes the load between them. The top heatsink also uses MSI's ‘wavy fin array' to increase surface area and, in theory, effectiveness. Above the VRMs are two 8-pin EPS power connectors (one required) for the processor. Between the capable MOSFETs below and the large cooler, you won't have anything to worry about.
Moving right and past the socket area, the next thing we see are four DRAM slots, with locking mechanisms on the top (where you have room to access them). MSI lists support for up to DDR5-8400 (with an APU), which is well past AMD's sweetspot. Our DDR5-7200 kit worked without issue with the desktop-class CPU. With our recently acquired Ryzen 5 8600G APU, the board also happily ran our Klevv DDR5-8000 kit and finally put to rest the question of whether our desktop-class processor's IMC was the issue (it was).
Just above the RAM slots are the first three (of eight) four-pin fan headers. Each header supports both PWM- and DC-controlled devices, with the output varying for each. The system fans are the lowest at 1A/12W, CPU_FAN1 next at 2A/24W, and the PUMP-SYS1-2 header (defaults to PWM mode) is the most at 3A/24W. This is plenty of power for most cooling systems. If you're pushing the limits, be sure to connect the supplemental PCIe (6-pin) power to ensure the board can safely output all that juice.
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In the corner are four small holes designed for voltage readings. There's a contact for Vcore, SOC, DDR, and a ground. Most won't use this, but if you're pushing the limits and overclocking, you'll want the most accurate readings (software can sometimes be off), which are from a multi-meter.
Working our way down the right edge, we find another fan header and the first 3-pin ARGB header. MSI Control Center and the Mystic Light application control the integrated RGBs and those attached to the headers. Next is the two-character debug, 24-pin ATX power for the board, 6-pin PCIe connector for supplemental board power, and the combo JAF_2 header that combines fan, USB, and RGB into one connector (EZ Con-cable included).
Power delivery on the X870E Ace Max consists of 21 total phases, with 18 dedicated to Vcore. Power heads from the 8-pin EPS connector(s) in the top-left corner, then to a Renesas RAA229620 controller. From there, it moves to the 18 Renesas R2209004 110A SPS MOSFETs. It's a robust solution that will handle anything you throw at it, including the Ryzen 9 9950X or the recently released Ryzen 9 9850X3D.
On the bottom half of the board, and hidden under a shroud on the left side, is the audio section. The Ace Max uses the flagship Realtek ALC4082 codec, along with an ESS9219Q Combo DAC/HPA. This configuration is one of the best native audio implementations you can find on motherboards.
In the middle are two full-length PCIe slots and one x4 slot for graphics and expansion. Surprisingly, all three slots connect through the CPU. The top slot, primary for graphics, runs at PCIe 5.0 x16, while the middle slot runs at PCIe 5.0 x8. If the second slot is populated, the top slot drops to x8 as well. The bottom x4 slot supports PCIe 5.0 x4. Just note that PCI_E3 (bottom-most) and M.2_1 share bandwidth. M.2_1 will run at 5.0 x2 speed when there is a device in PCI_E3. You can switch the slot to x4 in the BIOS, but this will disable M.2_1. Not ideal if you need to use the extra slot, but otherwise unimportant if you don't.
Among the slots are four M.2 sockets, with a fifth on the back of the board. The top two sockets, M.2_1/2, source their bandwidth from the CPU and run up to PCIe 5.0 x4 (238 Gbps) while supporting up to 80mm devices. M.2_3/4/5/ receive their bandwidth from the chipset and all run up to PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps) while supporting 80mm devices (M.2_3 supports up to 110mm). We talked about bandwidth sharing with M.2_1, but there's more. M.2_2 shares bandwidth with the USB 40 Gbps Type-C ports. So when the M.2 socket is used, bandwidth drops to x2 speeds for both. Like PCIe lanes, you can force an x4 connection, but you'll lose both USB4 ports in the process. If you have many M.2 drives and plan to use the bottom PCIe slot, make sure you understand how this board assigns them.
Past the one-touch plate heatsinks to the right edge, we run into the front-panel USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps) connector, followed by four SATA ports and two 19-pin USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) connectors—standard fare.We've also included many images of the active IC's for the board. The Ace MAX uses multiple different brands, including Renesas (VRMs), Realtek (audio, PWM controller, USB), and ASMedia (USB).
Along the bottom are several headers, ranging from the front panel to fans and supplemental PCIe power, and more. From left to right, we've listed them below. One item worth mentioning is the supplemental PCIe power connector for additional board power, so the board can actually output everything it's rated for.
The rear IO on the X870E Ace Max has everything you need, including 13 USB ports. Starting on the left, there are six (of nine) USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps, red) ports, followed by the HDMI output and the two USB-C 40 Gbps ports. In the middle are three convenient buttons: BIOS Flashback, Clear CMOS, and a programmable smart button. Next to that are the two Ethernet ports, 10 and 5 GBE, respectively, while below that are the other three USB 3.2 Gen2 ports. Finally, on the right is the quick-connect Wi-Fi 7 and audio stack (two 3.5mm and SPDIF out).
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Bitcoin plummeted below $63,000 on Thursday, down 50% from an all-time high of over $126,000 in October 2025. As Bitcoin magazine notes, it's the “largest dollar value drawdown in Bitcoin's history.” But it's not just Bitcoin that's crashing. Ethereum, BNB, Ripple, and just about every other coin of note is down considerably.
It's a startling crash, especially since so many traders recently had faith that Bitcoin would reach new record highs in 2026. President Donald Trump had promised that he'd be a huge supporter of people who dabble in fake money. And economist Paul Krugman pointed out in a new appearance with Bloomberg News that we can likely credit all the previous crypto pumping of 2025 to faith in Trump. Krugman now thinks there's a crisis of faith.
“The kind of libertarian ideology that supported Bitcoin doesn't really apply now that it's largely a political creation, and it's sort of, it's in some ways tied to what you think Trump's future prospects are, so this is different,” Krugman said, talking about the future.
Crypto is fully mainstream in 2026, and Krugman notes that Bitcoin is almost as old as the iPhone, which was launched in 2007. In all of that time, Bitcoin hasn't proven itself to have any real utility beyond a speculative asset, which means there's nothing to really do with it besides bet on whether it's going up or down. And right now, it's crashing.
Krugman also mentioned Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, the Michael Saylor company that's been hoarding Bitcoin like crazy. Strategy reported a net loss of $12.4 billion for the fourth quarter on Thursday, a financial experiment that Bloomberg describes as “coming undone.”
Crypto has become quite a political dividing line in the era of Trump, as the president's family has reportedly racked up enormous wealth in the industry. The most recent stories have revealed that an investment firm linked to United Arab Emirates National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan invested $500 million in World Liberty Financial, a run-in party by Trump's sons.
It's an unprecedented deal as far as foreign influence over a U.S. president is concerned, and it seems unlikely that anything will be done to hold Trump accountable. That's perhaps why people who are politically opposed to Trump are rooting for the collapse of Bitcoin and every other cryptocurrency, a kind of prayer to the financial gods that some form of justice or retribution will come for the fascist president.
The Democratic Party poked fun at the crypto crash on X, writing “Yikes,” with a photo of Trump and the headline, “Crypto crash accelerates as investors flee risky assets.”
Yikes pic.twitter.com/dfvbKMSRou
— Democrats (@TheDemocrats) February 5, 2026
But crypto defenders whined that lefties and liberals shouldn't relish the crypto downturn.
“While Congress is debating legislation that clarifies the regulatory status of crypto assets, protect investors, and accelerate innovation… A political party is ridiculing investors who are experiencing financial losses today. Very, very poor form,” wrote crypto investor Robert Leshner.
But many people haven't been sympathetic, with one commenter writing “Fuck off. If you voted for this piece of shit, I hope you lost everything.”
It's hard to sum up the political divide over crypto better than that at the moment.
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There are lots of revelations about Epstein's relationship with the crypto world in the files. That's not one of them.
All muh apes, gone.
U.S. Senator Chris Murphy called the reported deal “mind-blowing corruption.”
The project would improve the most heavily traveled portion of the national passenger rail system.
Warsh's hawkish stance on Fed policy may have disappointed the crypto world, but he said Bitcoin was effectively gold for anyone under the age of 40.
SBF swears he was Republican-curious long before things went awry.
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The PNY CS2342 is an excellent M.2 2230 SSD with good performance at 2TB in a single-sided package.
Excellent all-around performance
2TB single-sided
Average power-efficiency
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M.2 2230 drives are a bit of a luxury, packing in high levels of performance in a small space. These drives always carried a premium, which makes for a challenging purchase decision, and the reasons for the premium have changed. Before, the premium was due to this form factor being a niche segment with few options, and now it's due to a memory squeeze that makes high-capacity drives much more expensive. So when a drive like the PNY CS2342 comes along, which is available in 2TB at an accessible price, it's worth paying attention.
The CS2342 has known, mature hardware that provides excellent performance without producing a lot of heat. This is important for this form factor. While it's far from the most efficient drive we've tested, it's good enough. You can get good flash with a 2TB drive in a single-sided form factor, which, with reasonable power efficiency, is all you need. There are drives that will perform better in some scenarios, there are more efficient drives, and there are drives that could be less expensive with QLC flash. However, if the goal is simply to acquire a competent, general-purpose drive, this model is an excellent choice.
1TB
2TB
Pricing
N/A
$269.99
Form Factor
M.2230 (Single-sided)
M.2230 (Single-sided)
Interface / Protocol
PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe 1.4
PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe 1.4
Controller
Phison E27T
Phison E27T
DRAM
N/A (HMB)
N/A (HMB)
Flash Memory
Kioxia 162-Layer TLC (BiCS6)
Kioxia 162-Layer TLC (BiCS6)
Sequential Read
7,300 MB/s
7,300 MB/s
Sequential Write
6,000 MB/s
6,000 MB/s
Random Read
N/A
N/A
Random Write
N/A
N/A
Security
N/A
N/A
Endurance
600TBW
1,200TBW
Part Number
M230CS2342-1TB-TB
M230CS2342-2TB-TB
Warranty
5-Year
5-Year
The PNY CS2342 is available at 1TB and 2TB, priced at $269.99 for the latter at the time of review. The 1TB was out of stock, but there are other options available if you're willing to compromise on speed or flash type, like the Kingston NV3 (2230). The CS2324's pricing at 2TB is good for what it is – a high-speed PCIe 4.0 SSD with TLC flash, in this form factor – but you can save some money by going with QLC. The Crucial P310 is still in stock for the intrepid.
If you are instead looking for an M.2 2242 solution – and you can extend an M.2 2230 drive if that makes more sense – then your options right now are also limited. The Corsair MP600 Micro, which is the M.2 2242 version of the MP600 Mini (E27T), is priced at $189.99+ on Amazon and is not a bad choice. Alternatively, the Transcend MTE410S, which we have not yet reviewed, is available at $183.90, and we would recommend this drive if you are primarily concerned with reliability or have a PCIe 3.0 device. It uses an SMI SM2269XT – see our Lexar Play (2230) review to get a feel for this controller – but the MTE410S uses older BiCS5 flash in comparison to other options. The CS2342 could still work here with an extender as a compromise.
For performance, the CS2342 can hit up to 7,300 / 6,000 MB/s for sequential reads and writes, with no IOPS specs given by the manufacturer, although we know this hardware can hit around 1 million IOPS. If you are interested in the latter, you can find details in the ATTO & CrystalDiskMark benchmarks on the following page. The drive has a standard five-year warranty with up to 600TB of writes per TB of capacity.
PNY's website has two main downloads for its SSDs: an SSD Toolbox and Acronis software. The former is also touted as a firmware updater. SSDs toolboxes are applications that are designed to monitor and diagnose issues, support features for performance, which include testing, and act as a central point for storage management. These toolboxes can let you access secure erase and encryption functions on supported drives, but the firmware updating part is probably the most important. While some also include data management, Acronis provides OEM versions of its True Image software to handle cloning and backup when preparing your new drive. PNY covers both sides, which is nice if you prefer not to mess with random programs.
The PNY CS2342 is a single-sided drive in the M.2 2230 form factor. This means it has a DRAM-less controller and a single NAND flash package. Despite using TLC flash, which is faster with higher endurance than QLC but often means lower capacities, the drive can reach 2TB with no problems. This makes it good if you're looking for the best of everything in this form factor. The drive's label lists power draw at 3.3V/2.6A, which is below 9W, but the drive is rated at 5.70W peak via SMART and, in practice, will pull less than this.
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The drive has three primary components: the SSD controller, the NAND flash package, and the power management IC. The main downside to having an M.2 2230 SSD is that all of this componentry is smashed together, which can worsen issues with heat. This is especially true with newer drives because they are extremely fast. Luckily, most of the time the drive won't be at full power, and this amount of heat can be handled with basic solutions. If your host device lacks cooling for the drive, we recommend going for thermal padding or a do-it-yourself solution.
We do not recommend throwing a slab of metal on it – many cheap M.2 2230 SSD heatsinks are a flat piece of metal – as while that works for heat spreading, it's far more effective on M.2 2280 drives where you actually have distance between the components or more total component surface area. Transferring the heat away from the drive with thermal padding is a better solution. Some host devices may have enough headroom for low-profile heatsinks, which are even better.
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The Artemis program's first crewed trip to the moon may be slightly delayed, but the crew is still deep in prep mode. While most of the attention at NASA is focused on prelaunch preparations of the Orion spacecraft and its SLS rocket, the four astronauts face a markedly different protocol. As they live and work among people, they can't physically touch anyone nor can they go outside. A simple stomachache or a cold could severely delay the first human trip to the moon's vicinity in more than 50 years.
In the 1970s, the Apollo missions instituted a mandatory quarantine for those traveling to the moon. Today, NASA calls that initiative the Health Stabilization Program, which requires 14 days of isolation before a launch. During this period, the crew avoids public places, wears special masks and, although they can see loved ones, they must keep their distance or run the risk of getting sick and contaminating Orion's sterile environment.
According to a statement released by NASA, the Artemis II crew is already in quarantine at a facility in Houston. The launch window for their spacecraft had been no earlier than February 8, 2026, but the agency is now targeting March 6 to 11.
The round trip will take at least 10 days. On the Orion, there are workspaces, sleeping quarters, and a toilet, all within an area comparable to the interior of two minivans. Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch of NASA, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency must inhabit this cramped enclosure in good health, and as they orbit the side of the moon that never faces Earth, they will lose communication with NASA for a few hours. Once in space, they aren't able to take time off due to illnesses that reduce performance or cannot be treated onboard.
The agency has already faced challenges due to health issues. A few weeks ago, it had to abort a mission to the International Space Station for the first time due to a medical emergency. Although the nature of that condition was not disclosed, NASA confirmed the station did not have the necessary instruments to treat it.
Before the first lunar landing, scientists were not certain the lunar surface was sterile. Though there was no evidence the Moon harbored microscopic life, there was the possibility, however slim, that the crew might encounter a pathogen for which their immune system was unprepared. NASA also feared some microbe might attach itself to the space suits or the spacecraft itself, travel back to Earth and cause an epidemic.
When Neil Armstrong's crew returned from Apollo 11, NASA immediately placed them in a quarantine unit, where they stayed for 21 days while medical personnel kept close watch for abnormal symptoms. The agency maintained this post-lunar quarantine protocol until Apollo 14, when it had gathered enough evidence to rule out biohazards from the Moon.
Recent studies recommend avoiding cross contamination in the other direction. Because the Artemis program aims to explore the Moon's south pole craters, regions where sunlight never reaches and usable ice might exist, NASA must now protect the Moon from our terrestrial microbes.
In these zones, which function as natural freezers, microorganisms from Earth could survive for decades. It's unlikely they would propagate, but they could contaminate places that hold information about the origin of the Moon and the early days of the solar system. Even the slightest contamination could be mistaken for signs of extraterrestrial life.
This story originally appeared on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.
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European officials are concerned that Russian spacecraft have moved close enough to eavesdrop on satellite command links.
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European officials believe that two Russian “Inspector” SIGINT spacecraft operating in geostationary orbit have intercepted communications from at least a dozen European satellites. According to the Financial Times, both spacecraft have made “risky close approaches” to some of Europe's most important satellites, which operate high above Earth and serve not only Europe but also parts of Africa and the Middle East.
The two Russian spacecraft are thought to be associated with the Luch program, with the intercepts taking place at roughly 22,000 miles above the Earth. Russian spacecraft have been shadowing European satellites more intensively over the past three-or-so years following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in March 2022, and the Luch-1 and Luch-2 craft are known to have carried out several suspicious manoeuvres while in orbit.
Orbital data and ground-based telescopic observations reportedly show that the two craft have lingered nearby for several weeks at a time, with Luch-2 having approached 17 European satellites since its launch in 2023. Both satellites are said to have done “sigint [signals intelligence] business”, said Major General Michael Traut, head of the German military's space command, in comments to the Financial Times.
Officials are concerned that sensitive information, such as command data for European satellites, is unencrypted and could therefore be intercepted because many were launched decades ago without advanced onboard computers. Once this command data has been recorded, it can potentially be replayed or spoofed later, enabling deliberate interference with things like altitude control, manipulating trajectory, and even causing satellites to crash. Even a limited disruption in geospatial orbit could have outsized effects, because satellites are packed into narrow orbital slots shared by multiple operators.
Aside from this, there is growing concern among European defense officials that activities like these actively blur the lines between intelligence gathering and active interference. Germany's defense ministry has previously warned that Russian satellites were “shadowing” commercial platforms used by German forces and allies, and that even civilian communications satellites were being used as part of Russia's military space operations.
Russia has naturally not publicly acknowledged the allegations and has repeatedly described its Inspector satellites as tools for monitoring the health of its own space assets. However, such activity would be decidedly on-brand for a country that continues to bait the West with disinformation bots, cyberattacks, drones, incursions into sovereign waters, and de facto attacks on undersea cables.
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Rebekah Stewart, a nurse at the US Public Health Service, got a call last April that brought her to tears. She had been selected for deployment to the Trump administration's new immigration detention operation at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. This posting combined Donald Trump's longtime passion to use the offshore base to move “some bad dudes” out of the United States with a promise made shortly after his inauguration to hold thousands of noncitizens there. The naval base is known for the torture and inhumane treatment of men suspected of terrorism in the wake of 9/11.
“Deployments are typically not something you can say no to,” Stewart said. She pleaded with the coordinating office, which found another nurse to go in her place.
Other public health officers, who worked at Guantánamo in the past year, described conditions there for the detainees, some of whom first learned they were in Cuba from the nurses and doctors sent to care for them. They treated immigrants detained in a dark prison called Camp 6, where no sunlight filters in, said the officers who have been granted anonymity because they fear retaliation for speaking publicly. It previously held people with suspected ties to Al Qaeda. The officers said they were not briefed ahead of time on the details of their potential duties at the base.
Although the Public Health Service is not a branch of the US military, its uniformed officers—roughly 5,000 doctors, nurses, and other health workers—act like stethoscope-wearing soldiers in emergencies. The government deploys them during hurricanes, wildfires, mass shootings, and measles outbreaks. In the interim, they fill gaps at an alphabet soup of government agencies.
The Trump administration's mass arrests to curb immigration have created a new type of health emergency as the number of people detained reaches record highs. About 71,000 immigrants are currently imprisoned, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement data, which shows that most have no criminal record.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said: “President Donald Trump has been very clear: Guantánamo Bay will hold the worst of the worst.” However, several news organizations have reported that many of the men shipped to the base had no criminal convictions. As many as 90 percent of them were described as “low-risk” in a May progress report from a chaplain observing the detainees.
In fits and starts, the Trump administration has sent about 780 noncitizens to Guantánamo Bay, according to The New York Times. Numbers fluctuate as new detainees arrive and others are returned to the U.S. or deported.
While some Public Health Service officers have provided medical care to detained immigrants in the past, this is the first time in American history that Guantánamo has been used to house immigrants who had been living in the US. Officers said ICE postings are getting more common. After dodging Guantánamo, Stewart was instructed to report to an ICE detention center in Texas.
“Public health officers are being asked to facilitate a man-made humanitarian crisis,” she said.
Seeing no option to refuse deployments that she found objectionable, Stewart resigned after a decade of service. She would give up the prospect of a pension offered after 20 years.
“It was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make,” she said. “It was my dream job.”
One of her PHS colleagues, nurse Dena Bushman, grappled with a similar moral dilemma when she got a notice to report to Guantánamo a few weeks after the shooting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in August. Bushman, who was posted with the CDC, got a medical waiver delaying her deployment on account of stress and grief. She considered resigning, then did.
“This may sound extreme,” Bushman said. “But when I was making this decision, I couldn't help but think about how the people who fed those imprisoned in concentration camps were still part of the Nazi regime.”
US Public Health Service members assigned to Joint Task Force Southern Guard listen to a briefing prior to a medical evacuation training at Naval Station Guantánamo Bay.
Others have resigned, but many officers remain. Despite feeling alarmed by Trump's tactics, detained people need care, said multiple PHS officers.
“We do the best we can to provide care to people in this shit show,” said a PHS nurse who worked in detention facilities last year.
“I respect people and treat them like humans,” she said. “I try to be a light in the darkness, the one person that makes someone smile in this horrible mess.”
The PHS officers conceded that their power to protect people was limited in a detention system fraught with overcrowding, disorganization, and the psychological trauma of uncertainty, family separations, and sleep deprivation.
“Ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority at ICE,” said Tricia McLaughlin, chief spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, in an emailed statement to KFF Health News.
Admiral Brian Christine, assistant secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the Public Health Service, said in an email: “Our duty is clear: say ‘Yes Sir!', salute smartly, and execute the mission: show up, provide humane care, and protect health.” As WIRED and others have reported, Christine is a recent appointee who, until recently, was a urologist specializing in testosterone and male fertility issues.
“In pursuit of subjective morality or public displays of virtue,” he added, “we risk abandoning the very individuals we pledged to serve.”
In the months before Stewart resigned, she reflected on her previous deployments, during Trump's first term, to immigration processing centers run by Customs and Border Protection. Fifty women were held in a single concrete cell in Texas, she recalled.
“The most impactful thing I could do was to convince the guards to allow the women, who had been in there for a week, to shower,” she said. “I witnessed suffering without having much ability to address it.”
Stewart spoke with Bushman and other PHS officers who were embedded at the CDC last year. They assisted with the agency's response to ongoing measles outbreaks, with sexually transmitted infection research, and more. Their roles became crucial last year as the Trump administration laid off droves of CDC staffers.
Stewart, Bushman, and a few other PHS officers at the CDC said they met with middle managers to ask for details about the deployments: If they went to Guantánamo and ICE facilities, how much power would they have to provide what they considered medically necessary care? If they saw anything unethical, how could they report it? Would it be investigated? Would they be protected from reprisal?
Stewart and Bushman said they were given a PHS office phone number they could call if they had a complaint while on assignment. Otherwise, they said, their questions went unanswered. They resigned before reporting to Guantánamo. But PHS officers who were deployed to the base said that they weren't given details about their potential duties—or the standard operating procedure for medical care—before they arrived.
US service members stand by to transport a simulated detainee patient during a medical evacuation training.
Stephen Xenakis, a retired Army general and psychiatrist who has advised on medical care at Guantánamo for two decades said that was troubling. Before health workers deploy, he said, they should understand what they'll be expected to do.
The consequences of going in blind can be severe. In 2014, the Navy threatened court martial against one of its nurses at Guantánamo who refused to force-feed prisoners on hunger strike, who were protesting inhumane treatment and indefinite detention. The protocol was brutal: A person was shackled to a five-point restraint chair as nurses shoved a tube for liquid food into their stomach through their nostrils.
“He wasn't given clear guidance in advance on how these procedures would be conducted at Guantánamo,” Xenakis said of the nurse. “Until he saw it, he didn't understand how painful it was for detainees.”
The American Nurses Association and the Physicians for Human Rights sided with the nurse, calling the procedure a violation the ethical standards of medical professionals. After a year, the military dropped the charges.
A uniformed doctor's or nurse's power tends to depend on their rank, their supervisor, and chains of command, Xenakis said. He helped put an end to some inhumane practices at Guantánamo more than a decade ago, when he and other retired generals and admirals publicly objected to a technique called "walling," in which interrogators slammed the heads of detainees suspected of terrorism against a wall, causing slight concussions. Xenakis argued that science didn't support walling as an effective means of interrogation and that it was unethical, amounting to torture.
Torture hasn't been reported from Guantánamo's immigration operation, but ICE shift reports obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the government watchdog group American Oversight note concerns about detainees resorting to hunger strikes and self-harm.
“Welfare checks with potential hunger strike IA's,” short for illegal aliens, says an April 30 note from a contractor working with ICE. “In case of a hunger strike or other emergencies,” the report adds, PHS and ICE are “coordinating policies and procedures.”
“De-escalation of potential pod wide hunger strike/potential riot,” says an entry from last July. “Speak with alien on suicide watch regarding well being.”
Inmates and investigations have reported delayed medical care at immigration detention facilities and dangerous conditions, including overcrowding and a lack of sanitation. Thirty-two people died in ICE custody in 2025, making it the deadliest year in two decades.
“They are arresting and detaining more people than their facilities can support,” said one PHS officer. The most prevalent problem the officer saw among imprisoned immigrants was psychological. They worried about never seeing their families again or being sent back to a country where they feared they'd be killed. “People are scared out of their minds,” the officer said.
US Navy Lieutenant Commander Chad R. Scott, Joint Task Force Southern Guard medical planner, discusses execution plans with Lieutenant Commander Bobby Kimbro prior to a medical evacuation training.
The PHS officers who were at Guantánamo said that the men they saw were detained in either low-security barracks, with a handful of people per room, or in Camp 6, a dark, high-security facility without natural light. The ICE shift reports describe the two stations by their position on the island, Leeward for the barracks and Windward for Camp 6. About 50 Cuban men sent to Guantánamo in December and and January have languished at Camp 6, according to The New York Times.
A Navy hospital on the base mainly serves the military and other residents who aren't locked up—and in any case, its capabilities are limited, the officers said. To reduce the chance of expensive medical evacuations back to the US to see specialists quickly, they said the immigrants were screened before being shipped to Guantánamo. People over age 60 or who needed daily drugs to manage diabetes and high blood pressure, for example, had generally been excluded. Still, the officers said, some detainees have had to be evacuated back to Florida.
PHS nurses and doctors said they screened immigrants again when they arrived and provided ongoing care, fielding complaints about gastrointestinal distress and depression. One observer's report says, “The USPHS psychologist started an exercise group” for detainees.
Doctors' requests for lab work were often turned down because of logistical hurdles, partly due to the number of agencies working together on the base, the officers said. Even a routine test, a complete blood cell count, took weeks to process versus hours in the US.
DHS and the Department of Defense, which have coordinated on the Guantánamo immigration operation, did not respond to requests for comment about their work there.
One PHS officer who helped medically screen new arrivals said the detainees were often surprised to learn they were at Guantánamo.
“I'd tell them, I'm sorry you are here,” the officer said. “No one freaked out. It was like the 10-millionth time they had been transferred.” Some of the men had been detained in various facilities for five or six months and said they wanted to return to their home countries, according to the officer. Health workers had neither an answer nor a fix.
Unlike ICE detention facilities in the US, Guantánamo hasn't been overcrowded. “I have never been so not busy at work,” one officer said. A military base on a tropical island, Guantánamo offers activities like snorkeling, paddleboard yoga, and kickboxing to those who aren't imprisoned. Even so, the officer said they would rather be home than on this assignment on the taxpayer's dime.
Transporting staff and supplies to the island and maintaining them on base is enormously expensive. The government paid an estimated $16,540 per day per detainee at Guantánamo to hold those accused of terrorism, according to a 2025 Washington Post analysis of DOD data. The average cost to detain immigrants in ICE facilities in the US is $157 per day.
Even so, the funding has skyrocketed: Congress granted ICE a record $78 billion for fiscal year 2026, a staggering increase from $9.9 billion in 2024 and $6.5 billion nearly a decade ago. Last year, the Trump administration also diverted more than $2 billion from the national defense budget to immigration detention, according to a report from congressional Democrats. About $60 million of it went to Guantánamo.
“Detaining noncitizens at Guantánamo is far more costly and logistically burdensome than holding them in ICE detention facilities within the United States,” wrote Deborah Fleischaker, a former assistant director at ICE, in a declaration submitted as part of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union early last year. In December, a federal judge rejected the Trump administration's request to dismiss a separate ACLU case, questioning the legality of detaining immigrants outside of the country.
Anne Schuchat, who served with the PHS for 30 years before retiring in 2018, said PHS deployments to detention centers may cost the nation in terms of security, too. “A key concern has always been to have enough of these officers available for public health emergencies,” she said. (Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesperson, said the immigration deployments don't affect the Public Health Service's potential response to other emergencies.)
In the past, PHS officers have stood up medical shelters during hurricanes in Louisiana and Texas, rolled out Covid testing in the earliest months of the pandemic, and provided crisis support after the deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School and the Boston Marathon bombing.
“It's important for the public to be aware of how many government resources are being used so that the current administration can carry out this one agenda,” said Stewart, one of the nurses who resigned. “This one thing that's probably turning us into the types of countries we have fought wars against.”
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.
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This week, Uncanny Valley hosts Brian Barrett and Leah Feiger dive into the key tech industry figures who show up in the final batch of the Epstein files. Then, they discuss SpaceX and xAI's blockbuster merger, and what it says about the future of Elon Musk's companies. Plus, we share the story of how a whistleblower revealed—and fled—the inner operations of a crypto scam compound in Laos.
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You can follow Brian Barrett on Bluesky at @brbarrett and Leah Feiger on Bluesky at @leahfeiger. Write to us at uncannyvalley@wired.com.
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Note: This is an automated transcript, which may contain errors.
Leah Feiger: Hey, Brian, how's it going?
Brian Barrett: Leah, it's great. We missed you last week.
Leah Feiger: I missed you guys, but hopefully you've had a lot of time without me to catch up on all cultural things happening in the United States of America right now. The Melania documentary. Have you seen it?
Brian Barrett: No. I have not seen it. I had a hard time getting a ticket.
Leah Feiger: Oh, no.
Brian Barrett: No. That's not true. That's not true. So no Melania. I'm excited for the Olympics coming up.
Leah Feiger: Yeah. That's going to actually be way better. I think it's ice skating for me or bust.
Brian Barrett: I'm going to try to convince you and Zoë to let me do a whole episode on the biathlon.
Leah Feiger: I'm in. Wait, the biathlon. No, I'm not in.
Brian Barrett: No. Get in, Leah, all the more reason to do the episode.
Leah Feiger: I want to do an episode on the Olympics, period. That's actually very interesting to me. Again, my section will be ice skating. I'm really sad to tell everyone that Zoë is not here with us this week, but she did leave a treat for WIRED.com in the form of her review of the Melania documentary, and more specifically, all of the people that went to go see it. So everyone check it out, and don't miss Zoë too much. But should we get started? Should we get into this?
Brian Barrett: Yeah. In the meantime, welcome to WIRED's Uncanny Valley. I'm Brian Barrett, executive editor.
Leah Feiger: And I'm Leah Feiger, senior politics editor. Brian, let's start off with the gift that keeps on giving for better, for worse, the Epstein files.
Brian Barrett: Oh, what a way to phrase that.
Leah Feiger: Is that not how we should talk about this?
Brian Barrett: I don't know.
Leah Feiger: This week, just to catch everyone up, there was a document dump of over 3 million files pertaining to everything Jeffrey Epstein, and it contains some really disturbing allegations, including torture and murder, really, really disturbing pictures and videos in the documents, so many emails, references to Trump, all sorts of things. I'm really excited to talk about this with you, honestly, because you wrote a story for WIRED all about the tech folks that got implicated in this most recent drop.
Brian Barrett: I did. I spent way too much time reading way too many of these Epstein files just to look and see what was in there about specifically the tech billionaires. If you were to try to do all the people in tech that were in there, it would take you weeks or months. Truly, it's astonishing. But even with just billionaires, we've still got thousands of files referencing maybe about 10 or so that we found, and we sorted them, we broke it down by how many files each person was referenced in.
Leah Feiger: You found 2,500 files alone associated with Bill Gates.
Brian Barrett: Yes.
Leah Feiger: What?
Brian Barrett: Yes. A couple of caveats just real quick about all of these things, when we talk about all these people, those files represent some duplicates. They represent if Jeffrey Epstein was talking about somebody to someone else that'll show up. So it's not an exact figure. On the other hand, it's also only when their full names are mentioned. We know that Epstein referred to Bill Gates as BG in a lot of emails. So I think a couple of things stand out to me here, Leah.
Leah Feiger: Yeah, hit me.
Brian Barrett: One. Yes, there's a lot of Bill Gates. Gates has been on the record as saying he regrets his associate with Epstein. It's been widely reported for years, even before the first Epstein files release, that Gates was in there. Still more interesting stuff in there about that, but it more reaffirms what we know. What I was interested in more were some things that seemed relatively new. The tech billionaire who's in there the third most by our measurement was Peter Thiel. Peter Thiel, who I think there had been some reports that they had met maybe once or twice, but no, Peter Thiel is in over 2,000 Epstein files.
Leah Feiger: He received political advice from Epstein. Epstein said that he wished he'd helped Peter Thiel with the Gawker suit.
Brian Barrett: Yeah. I think as much as anyone else in there, Thiel seemed interested in taking a meeting, having lunch. At one point they go to Signal, which is where encrypted chats happen. At one point, Peter Thiel's assistant sent over Thiel's dietary restrictions list, which is quite expansive.
Leah Feiger: It's an incredible, incredible list. We have another article on WIRED.com. Everyone go check that one out. I think the thing that gets me in so many ways, when I was looking through your story and all of the other excellent reporting on this drop, these are still people that have such an impact on our day-to-day life and day-to-day political life in the US and day-to-day tech life. Peter Thiel, cofounder of Palantir and eyes straight into Vice President Vance's office for all that we've been told. This is someone who decided that it was clearly and not just OK, but beneficial to be having these associations. And again, we don't know exactly what he knew or what all of these people knew at the time, but reading in between the lines, it's a real ... I guess what I'm saying is this isn't an issue of just 2016, this is an issue of right now.
Brian Barrett: Well, and Leah, I'll actually disagree with you there. We do know what they knew to a certain extent in the sense that Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to sex crimes involving a minor in 2008.
Leah Feiger: You're absolutely right. You're absolutely right.
Brian Barrett: And the vast majorities of these conversations take place after that.
Leah Feiger: Wild.
Brian Barrett: I'll say too, a lot of the times, to your point, the defense comes up a lot. ElonMusk did this right? Where he's like, oh, it's taken out of context or, oh, I nevervisited the island.
Leah Feiger: We got to talk about Elon Musk. His—
Brian Barrett: We have to. In terms of out of context and never visiting the island, well, on November 25, 2012, Elon Musk wrote to Jeffrey Epstein: “What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?”
Leah Feiger: He's begging to attend. There's no other way to interpret this.
Brian Barrett: He really wants to go.
Leah Feiger: There's no other way to interpret this. And also specifically that language. “The wildest party.” Not even just like, “Oh, when is ... The wildest party?” There's so many different parts of this. That gag reflex. Absolutely.
Brian Barrett: So the fact that the calendars didn't line up, sure, that gives you some plausible deniability, but if they had, you would've been right there. So it is really disappointing. I do want to say, not to defend anybody, but a lot of the names in there are circumstantial in a way, and I think the bigger point is that Jeffrey Epstein really wanted to be close to these people. He happened to be at a dinner party with Jeff Bezos, no indication that they ever talked, no indication, whatever. But still, Jeff Bezos winds up in the Epstein files hundreds of times just because Epstein was reading articles about him or at the same place that he was, so it is—
Leah Feiger: Talking about him. Yeah. Absolutely.
Brian Barrett: Yeah. It's just this web. It fills out this web.
Leah Feiger: Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, Eric Schmidt, these are the tech titans.
Brian Barrett: Yeah. Up until as recently as 2019, I think some of these people were actively in touch.
Leah Feiger: Wow. So speaking of Elon, he was also in the news this week for an entirely different thing, aka rolling xAI into SpaceX, officially creating the world's most valuable private company. We've got to talk about that.
Brian Barrett: Yeah. And I know that you love ... This combines your two favorite things.
Leah Feiger: Oh, yes. Absolutely.
Brian Barrett: AI and Elon Musk.
Leah Feiger: Uh-huh.
Brian Barrett: Leah, could I also interest you in a potential third favorite thing?
Leah Feiger: Oh, hit me, Brian.
Brian Barrett: Can I interest you in data centers in space?
Leah Feiger: So that's what he's promising, right?
Brian Barrett: Yeah.
Leah Feiger: I'm actually very interested in data centers.
Brian Barrett: Oh, good.
Leah Feiger: Molly Taft, our wonderful climate reporter on the science desk, has entirely turned me around on how important it is to engage with them. I hate them, but I am very interested in them. So he wants to build a data center in space. What does that mean? What is a terrestrial solution? Please explain all of these things.
Brian Barrett: Well, basically, yeah. So Elon Musk's pitch for combining SpaceX and xAI. And just to back up a second, SpaceX is Elon Musk's most mainstream, noncontroversial company, probably.
Leah Feiger: It's his rocket company.
Brian Barrett: Yeah. It's his rocket company. They basically have privatized NASA, partly because NASA gave up. Anyway ...
Leah Feiger: No.
Brian Barrett: The US space future really depends on SpaceX in so many ways.
Leah Feiger: If Jeff Bezos is listening to this podcast, he's having just a true—
Brian Barrett: Sorry, Blue Origin. Yeah. Oh, gosh.
Leah Feiger: Internal.
Brian Barrett: Terrible day. Blue Origin also there. So on the one hand, you've got this sort of future of US space travel, and on the other side you've got xAI, which is Elon Musk's AI company that keeps undressing women nonconsensually.
Leah Feiger: And is also X, formerly known as Twitter.
Brian Barrett: Yes. And now they're all going to be the same thing.
Leah Feiger: Former Twitter employees, did they make a lot of money from this? What's happening? How are all of these companies now the same thing? None of this has relations to each other other than Elon Musk.
Brian Barrett: So he would argue differently. And so the case that he would make is that in order for AI to get where it needs to be, wherever that is—faster undressing of more women—for it to get there, there's literally not enough energy on Earth to make that happen. So what you need to do is you need to go out in space and harness the energy of the sun to power AI. And who is really good at going out into space and harnessing things? SpaceX.
Leah Feiger: Oh God.
Brian Barrett: So we need to put SpaceX in service of xAI to make sure that we can harness the power of the sun, or as Elon Musk said, scaling to make a sentient sun to understand the universe and extend the light of consciousness to the stars.
Leah Feiger: I'm getting this from your tone of voice, and we haven't had this legally approved or anything, but can we just call bullshit? It was also suggested that Tesla could merge with xAI and SpaceX. Tesla recently invested $2 billion in xAI. At that point this is basically all of Elon Musk's companies. You can talk about as sentient sun as much as you want, whatever that may entail. But this is just him combining all of his stuff together in one big pile and saying, I deserve as much money as possible from this. No?
Brian Barrett: Yeah. There are parts that you can call if not bullshit you can raise your eyebrow really, really high on, and parts you can say, well, maybe this is Elon Musk's unified theory of the future. I was surprised by this. I have been deeply skeptical of data centers in space. As much as I like to say it, I think it actually is where we're going. I think that is a thing that is going to happen at some point, and SpaceX is in a really good position to do it. I do think, to your point though about all that intermingling: Look, SpaceX is a company that's really, really important to the US government because of that NASA thing. And so suddenly tying its fortunes into this pretty controversial AI company, suddenly making its mission to be more about powering that AI than getting to Mars or wherever, that's going to invite some regulatory concern. I think the US is going to take a closer look at this than they have taken a look at other Elon Musk projects because look, SpaceX has twentysomething billion in government contracts.
Leah Feiger: I don't know. I like to think that the US government would be taking a closer look at this. I think as we know in so much WIRED reporting and other reportings out there, the regulatory bodies that are able to look at things like this have been slashed and dismantled, and a lot of yes, men put in charge. So I'm very curious about where these regulatory conversations and reviews go.
Brian Barrett: And I'm curious too. SpaceX wants to IPO this year. Tesla stock is doing pretty well. But I think increasingly Elon Musk is betting it all on sci-fi, right? It's true.
Leah Feiger: Yeah. You're absolutely right.
Brian Barrett: Tesla is no longer a car company. He has made it very clear. Tesla is not a car company. Tesla is a company that sells humanoid robots, and we're going to put them in every home. Tesla is a company that is going to have driverless robotaxis in every city. So he's basically saying, look, all my companies right now are in service of what I think is going to happen, could happen, may happen in he would probably say two years. But when he says two years, it usually means five to 10 to never.
Leah Feiger: I'm really waiting for the next commercial. Do you know where your child is? It's 10 pm. Oh, no, don't worry, they're with their humanoid robot and their driverless taxi.
Brian Barrett: Yeah. They're playing Frisbee with optimists.
Leah Feiger: So before we go to break, Brian, just to change this up a little bit, so many things happening in the US this week. We'd be really remiss to not at least briefly talk about a big WIRED scoop that just came out that the politics desk at WIRED got this week all about an online forum where ICE agents log on and complain about their jobs.
Brian Barrett: Leah, this was a fascinating read from Tori Elliott, who spent some time lurking in these forums. And I think what stands out, maybe not surprisingly, but it is a reminder of they have the same workaday complaints that any group of people would have.
Leah Feiger: Oh, absolutely. But it's a little more serious when an ICE agent is telling you that they're super tired and overworked and haven't taken a day off in a while because they're the ones with the gun.
Brian Barrett: Yeah.
Leah Feiger: Reading this was wild because I'm with you because on one hand you're going, OK, yes, we're all humans. We're all dealing with these things, and on the other, you're in charge of this right now, you're in charge of this massive surge. To back up a little bit, this forum of over 5,000 alleged current and former ICE and CBP officers has them venting about long work hours, limited overtime pay, incompetent leadership, poorly trained new recruits. A lot of these claims—I have to add as a fun little side note—a lot of these came in after ICE actually lost their union representation a few years ago because ICE accused the union of being too far left. No comment further required. To add, just as a little backdrop here, the forum doesn't require proof of employment, but it's a really interesting look inside of ICE's workforce, and it has a lot of information and very specific details that really only these people would know. Some of these quotes were wild. What stood out to you?
Brian Barrett: What jumped out to me, the ones that really had that “woe is me” tenor, but also the ones that called the agency to task in a way that you don't see externally, at least. There's one quote, "led by some of the worst leadership I've ever witnessed from the local level all the way up to the national stage, this agency has managed to turn a righteous mission into a complete clown show." Now, you might agree with half of that. You might agree with the whole thing. I don't know whether it was ever necessarily righteous, but it is interesting to see how they are working through this. And to be clear, some of these people, when they make those complaints, they do get jumped on. I think there is a pretty active—
Leah Feiger: Oh yeah. Lots of pushback.
Brian Barrett: Yeah. Lots of pushback. Lots of people who are still very committed to the mission, still think it's pretty righteous.
Leah Feiger: Honestly, the people talking about the mission and however these agents may feel about what's happening in Minnesota, what happened in Chicago, what happened in LA, and what appears to be getting ready to happen in different parts of the United States, what was really interesting to me was not even just their focus on their mission, but how they were about to go about it. There was one user who was saying they had just finished the Virtual Deportation Officer Transition Program, which they also said had been shortened, and they'd been transitioned to practicals like firearms training. And they wrote in the chat that the new agent kit had arrived on Friday, this big box full of body armor, gear, Glock, bunch of other stuff. But then they said that the process was wildly chaotic. They still didn't have access to GovTa, which is a system that the government uses to track workers' time and leave. They didn't have access to the electronic official personnel folder, which allows employees to access their own records. So basically, they're not actually getting fully onboarded according to posters on this forum, but they're still being handed a gun. This is wildly chaotic.
Brian Barrett: Extremely. And Leah, did you see anything in their editorial, in her reporting, about the protests you mentioned in Minnesota or the deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. Did they engage with that at all?
Leah Feiger: Yeah. So they did, and a lot of the posts ... The posts have been happening for over a decade now at this point, but posts definitely have been heating up this month. A couple of days before Pretti was killed, a user started a thread ready to resign, had enough stress, and people were commenting on it and going back and forth. And I think that was when the quote that you mentioned came up, “led by some of the worst” people. And they continued on after that. We didn't find things of people going like, oh, this is horrible. This person was killed. It doesn't mean that it wasn't there. These are so many posts. But a lot of people posting are very concerned about ICE's image. They're very concerned by how this is coming across. They're very concerned about the chaos from the big things, noting these deaths, but also even randomly almost seemingly little stuff. This one quote I just can't get enough of, which is “I'm all for removing illegals, but snatching dudes off lawn mowers in Cali and leaving the truck and equipment just sitting there, definitely not working smarter.” It's just such a wild one, because it's someone going like, what is this chaos machine that I'm now part of? Whether or not we agree with any part of the sentiment.
Brian Barrett: What I thought really was interesting too, in telling in the forum ... And maybe this doesn't play out across all of them, but it does say how long someone has been in the forum, which is a little bit of a shorthand for how long they have been in ICE and working with this organization. And you can see how if you have been doing this for a decade and you do think that there is a right way to do this, I think clearly we're in a world where that's not the way it's working anymore. So not to have sympathy for ICE, but it's at least interesting to see who's pushing back, how long they've been there when it's veterans versus people who just got there, which again, it gets back to also it's a workplace in some ways. It's a work environment. It's just one that is also a paramilitary force that is occupying US cities.
Leah Feiger: Right. And honestly, a bird's-eye view is—as interesting as this article is and as juicy and telling as some of these quotes are, to my knowledge at least—there isn't any other reporting out there like this. This snapshot in time of what ice agents are talking about and going through. They're not really talking to that many other people about it. You have a couple of articles here or there. New York Times spoke to three ICE agents about what's going on. No. This is thousands. These are thousands of people talking about their day-to-day concerns with their jobs, with their bosses, with their coworkers, and with their mission. It's a snapshot in time that we're going to just have to keep looking at.
Brian Barrett: And we will. Coming up after the break, we're going all the way to Laos in Southeast Asia to hear how a whistleblower was able to document and escape a crypto scam compound. Stay with us.
Andy Greenberg: I was having a normal Saturday on the roof with my kids. They were playing in a kiddie pool.
Brian Barrett: Last summer my colleague Andy Greenberg was enjoying an idyllic late afternoon in New York—
Andy Greenberg:There had just been a rainstorm and there was a rainbow. It was a very beautiful evening. And I in typical terrible 21st century parenting style was ignoring my kids and looking at my phone and scrolling through messages.
Brian Barrett: —in the middle of mindlessly scrolling between apps.
Andy Greenberg: I've got this email. I found this email from someone with a pseudonym who is messaging me from the encrypted email service Proton Mail.
Brian Barrett: The email is from an unnamed source who claimed to be a computer engineer in Laos.
Andy Greenberg: A computer engineer trapped in a compound in the region of Laos who wanted to be a source, who wanted to be a whistleblower inside this crypto scam compound.
Brian Barrett: As a cybersecurity reporter, crypto scams are Andy's bread and butter. That's what he's constantly tracking down. Trends in hacking and cybercrime. But crypto scam compounds are a beast of their own. These are places where scam operations happen at an industrial scale and crypto scams have become the most profitable form of cybercrime in the world, pulling in 10s of billions of dollars each year. Andy didn't know if this anonymous source was legit, but he followed up and told the source to message him through Signal. Later that evening, Andy received a flurry of messages.
Andy Greenberg: They shared really detailed documents right off the bat, like an actual written report, a summary of everything they had experienced and everything about the way that this scam compound worked, including this very, very detailed flow chart that included some elements that I had never heard of before.
Brian Barrett: These documents describe step-by-step the methods that this crypto compound uses to lure victims into their scams. From creating fake Facebook and Instagram profiles to using hired models and AI deepfake tools, all of it to create the illusion of a romantic prospect, something they call pig butchering.
Andy Greenberg: The idea of pig butchering is that these are crypto romance investment scams.
Brian Barrett: The operation starts with the scammer using social media profiles to convincingly take the identity of say, a wealthy woman.
Andy Greenberg: A wealthy woman getting in touch usually with a lonely, very often older man and enticing them with some sort of intimate relationship.
Brian Barrett: Trust is built through these video calls and constant back and forth messages.
Andy Greenberg: The pig butchering part of this is that the pig is fattened up with this emotional connection, like somebody builds a real relationship with the victim until there's a lot of trust and intimacy.
Brian Barrett: Eventually the scammer gives some financial advice to their mark.
Andy Greenberg: And this wealthy woman says, “By the way, I can help you become wealthy too. It seems like you're having some financial problems and I can just refer you to the same crypto trading platform that I use, and you can easily double your money. It's a very safe bet. I'll walk you through it. In fact, I would be disappointed in you if you didn't try it.” And that process is incredibly effective it turns out. And only after weeks or months of that fattening up romantic process is the pig butchered.
Brian Barrett: If you're wondering how someone could fall for that, you should know that the methods these scammers use take everything into account. Through documents shared by his news source. Andy learned that they use deepfakes to interact with their victims through video calls and AI chatbots to finesse their messages. They also make sure to match the scammers ethnicity with that at their target to avoid any language or cultural barriers. But the thing is, these operations don't just make victims out of their targets. Scam compounds lure workers, meaning the scammers behind the fake Facebook and Instagram accounts from Asian and African countries with legitimate job offers. Once they arrive at the sites, their passports are taken and they're essentially trapped and forced to become scammers.
Andy Greenberg: A human trafficking operation that essentially enslaves people, tricks them into coming to this compound, turns them into forced laborers, traps them there and forces them to scam people for sometimes 15, 16 hour shifts. On one side, it's taking people's entire life savings very often, hundreds of thousands or even over a million dollars from victims in a single scam. But then on the other side, there are hundreds of thousands of enslaved people whose lives have been completely ruined as they're trapped in these compounds.
Brian Barrett: The engineer who reached out to Andy is one of these workers trapped in Laos in a region bordering Myanmar and Thailand, where illicit operations are the norm.
Andy Greenberg: The Golden Triangle, I've always heard about it as this kind of vague region at the intersection of the borders of Laos and Myanmar and Thailand that has been carved out as this special economic zone that is almost in an official sense, not controlled by Laos, but instead controlled by Chinese business interests. It is essentially run by Chinese, both business people and very Chinese organized criminal syndicates. This very small area, just like half the size of Washington, DC, or something, it is now a hub for all sorts of transnational crime and crypto scam compounds may in fact be the biggest and most lucrative form of those.
Brian Barrett: And now it seemed the engineer who contacted Andy was willing to be a whistleblower for one of these compounds.
Andy Greenberg: This was somebody who had been trapped like this and wanted to expose everything he could about the operation.
Brian Barrett: Andy's trying to figure out if this guy is legit when he calls him out of the blue.
Archival audio:
Red Bull: Hello.
Andy Greenberg: Hello.
Red Bull: I'm fine. How are you?
Andy Greenberg: Good. Good. Thank you for being willing to talk.
Andy Greenberg: I picked up the phone and I'm talking to this young, very polite man with an Indian accent.
Archival audio:
Andy Greenberg: What is your name or what can I call you?
Red Bull: You can call me from any name brother. No matter.
Andy Greenberg: Oh, but you tell me just so I know how to talk to you and what name to call you. You can make one up if you like of course.
Red Bull: You can call me Red Bull. OK.
Andy Greenberg: Oh, Red Bull. Red Bull?
Red Bull: Yeah. Yes.
Andy Greenberg: OK. OK.
Andy Greenberg: And I later found out that he was looking at an empty can of a Red Bull energy drink on the table in front of him when he said that. He was so motivated as a source, so driven that I was almost ... I was a little put off. I was wary of this person, and I quickly actually hung up and then called him back on a video call because I wanted to see who I was talking to. And he picked up with no hesitation and showed me his face on the video call. Showed me around the hotel room. He had actually managed to book a hotel room. And I asked him to show me out the window to walk outside the hotel. It was nighttime my time, but it was daytime there and he showed me the front of the hotel, which I could see that it was a Chinese language sign that there were palm trees and that it looked like a poor tropical area where everything was in Chinese, and that certainly sounded like the Golden Triangle to me. So I started to get what felt like confirmation very quickly that he was who he said and that he really was in a scam compound and that he was in the Golden Triangle.
Brian Barrett: I think it's interesting too. I think when you hear about people and about people enslaved in these compounds, you don't really necessarily think that they have that amount of mobility, the ability to go rent out a hotel room, walk around on the street, take video, but it's a little bit of a different setup in terms of what's keeping them there. Is that fair to say?
Andy Greenberg: I was also surprised. I had read reports of these scam slavery compounds where people are held in shackles and beaten every day and electrocuted in some cases, and they're held almost in the jungle in remote places. The Golden Triangle compounds are not like that. In part because the Golden Triangle itself is almost like a mega compound. The victims of these human trafficking operations, even if they walk around outside the building where they work, or even the dormitory where they live, their passport has been taken away. The police have very often been paid off by the compound mafia. They can't really leave regardless. So they have a surprising freedom of movement because the whole place is essentially like a closed circuit.
Brian Barrett: A closed circuit where as the source Red Bull described to Andy, they had a strict work schedule and punitive measures.
Andy Greenberg: They were actually paid, in theory, a salary of like $500 a month or so in Chinese Yuan. But then that money was taken from them almost entirely through fines for every tiny violation that their bosses could think of. They had access to a cafeteria where they were fed, but that food was withheld if they so much as showed up late to work or late to lights out in the dormitory. So there was this illusion of them being there voluntarily being paid a salary. They were even in theory, paid a commission on any scams they pulled off. But Red Bull was entirely broke. He had been scammed into absolute poverty, had no money. So it was a Orwellian thing where the bosses would give people these inspirational speeches as if they were part of some corporate sales force, like part of a car dealership or something. And in fact, they were absolutely forced laborers with no choice about what they were doing and who faced really brutal consequences if they ever broke the rules or tried to escape.
Brian Barrett: It had been less than 24 hours since Red Bull had first made contact, but the details were quickly mounting up. He told Andy that they should involve law enforcement and that he was willing to work with an FBI handler. He specifically wanted to inform them about an upcoming in-person cash transaction that was happening on US soil and was related to one of the compound scams.
Andy Greenberg: They were going to do an in-person pickup of cash with a courier. So Red Bull wanted me to arrange a sting operation to catch this courier and question this guy and he thought that that would be a big win against the scam operation.
Brian Barrett: That's when Andy decided to reach out to Erin West, a former California prosecutor who now runs an anti-scam organization.
Andy Greenberg: Erin thought there was no time to do a sting. She also said that any courier is super far down the hierarchy of a scam operation and it would not be a good idea. Also, she pointed out that that would call attention to the fact that there was a leak in the compound and could put Red Bull's life at risk. But then I asked her, what do you think about putting him in touch with an FBI agent, somebody to be his handler? Can you recommend somebody? And to my surprise, she suggested that I not do that either. She thought that the story I could produce with Red Bull as a source would be more important than anything he could give law enforcement. That in the best case scenario in years, what he provided might lead to the arrest of somebody low down in the org chart of a scam compound or possibly just charges in absentia for somebody who could not possibly be arrested or extradited from Laos from the Golden Triangle. As she put it, the cavalry is not coming. Nobody from Interpol or the FBI is going to march into this scam compound in the Golden Triangle and start arresting people.
Brian Barrett: When Red Bull suggested that you organize a sting, which Andy, you are a incredibly gifted reporter, I believe that's not in your skill set necessarily.
Andy Greenberg: Absolutely not.
Brian Barrett: Not. But it was, I think, an indicator of something that we ended up talking about a lot throughout this reporting process, which is that Red Bull was not just willing, but at times very eager to take big chances.
Andy Greenberg: Yeah. Red Bull was just remarkably risk-tolerant. Had so many dangerous ideas about what he wanted to do. He wanted to wear a hidden camera or hidden microphone, a button camera or some sort of watch with a recording device in it. He wanted to install spyware on his boss's computer. He wanted to set up a screen recording software on his work PC so that I could see what he was doing all day long. And I consulted with you about all these things, and then many other experts, and everybody told me one by one, these are not good ideas. This will get Red Bull killed. And I took that very seriously. And we didn't do any of that. I talked him out of all of those ideas. And what we ultimately settled on was a much simpler system that I still think actually turned out to be pretty effective, which was just that he installed a disguised version of Signal on his work PC.
Brian Barrett: A disguised version of Signal. Basically, Red Bull installed the app on his work computer with a different icon, making it look like it was a shortcut to his hard drive.
Andy Greenberg: And then we would talk with disappearing messages set to a very low time period so there was not much of a log if we were ever caught.
Brian Barrett: Andy and Red Bull also took up aliases.
Andy Greenberg: He would pretend that he was talking to his uncle. He would call me uncle from time to time just in case somebody spotted what he was doing.
Brian Barrett: Some of those aliases were a little more embarrassing than others.
Andy Greenberg: Eventually, we upgraded our cover story to me pretending to be his secret girlfriend, and we used a lot of heart emojis, but that was a little too cringey and we just couldn't keep it up.
Brian Barrett: But the golden rule that stuck was how Andy and Red Bull would say hi to each other.
Andy Greenberg: We created a protocol where when we started the conversation, the first person would say, Red, that the second person would say, Bull to make sure that his computer had not been seized.
Brian Barrett: As their communication got into a rhythm, Red Bull filled in a very detailed map of the inner workings of the scam compound operation.
Andy Greenberg: He sent me photos of a whiteboard that showed a leaderboard of who had scammed the most that month. He sent me a spreadsheet that turned out to be a floor plan of the whole dormitory and all the different workers there. He sent me a picture of this big Chinese ceremonial drum that was played for scams of a hundred thousand dollars or more. And then once in a while, he would then tell me to record my screen and turn on video on those calls, and then keep pretending to talk to his uncle as he walked around and videotaped and I recorded outside the compound, into the lobby of the office, sometimes into the cafeteria and once into the actual work floor, the office itself, where I could see the whole layout of the office and even colored flags on different teams desks to connote whether they had met their scam quota of revenue that month.
Brian Barrett: As the weeks passed by, the wall started to close in on Red Bull. His team leader started asking questions about why he wasn't generating enough new so-called clients, and then he threatened him with a beating. At this point, Andy consulted with me and the other editors at WIRED. We decided that the safest thing was to stop the reporting process with Red Bull, at least until we knew he was safe.
Andy Greenberg: I told Red Bull, let's stop. We got to stop. You gave me enough. Thank you. Let's just wait and we'll speak again when you are free and you're home, then we will talk again. But when I said this to him like that, we're done with our reporting process, he immediately in that conversation said, well, then I need to get out of here now. I'm going to find a way to escape.
Brian Barrett: For the full story of what happened to Red Bull and the crypto scam compound he was escaping from you can head to WIRED.com. We promise it's worth your time. Thank you for listening.
Leah Feiger: This episode was produced by Adriana Tapia and Tyler Hill. It was edited by Kate Osborn, Amar Lal at Macro Sound mixed this episode. Matt Giles and Daniel Roman fact-checked this episode. Mark Leyda was our SF studio engineer. Pran Bandi was our NY Studio engineer. Kate Osborn is our executive producer, and Katie Drummond is WIRED's global editorial director.
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Claude Opus came up with this script:https://pastebin.com/ntE50PkZIt produces a somewhat-readable PDF (first page at least) with this text output:https://pastebin.com/SADsJZHd(I used the cleaned output at https://pastebin.com/UXRAJdKJ mentioned in a comment by Joe on the blog page)
https://pastebin.com/ntE50PkZIt produces a somewhat-readable PDF (first page at least) with this text output:https://pastebin.com/SADsJZHd(I used the cleaned output at https://pastebin.com/UXRAJdKJ mentioned in a comment by Joe on the blog page)
It produces a somewhat-readable PDF (first page at least) with this text output:https://pastebin.com/SADsJZHd(I used the cleaned output at https://pastebin.com/UXRAJdKJ mentioned in a comment by Joe on the blog page)
https://pastebin.com/SADsJZHd(I used the cleaned output at https://pastebin.com/UXRAJdKJ mentioned in a comment by Joe on the blog page)
(I used the cleaned output at https://pastebin.com/UXRAJdKJ mentioned in a comment by Joe on the blog page)
which uses this Rust zlib stream fixer:
https://pastebin.com/iy69HWXCand gives the best output I've seen it produce:
https://imgur.com/itYWblhThis is using the same OCR'd text posted by commenter Joe.
and gives the best output I've seen it produce:
https://imgur.com/itYWblhThis is using the same OCR'd text posted by commenter Joe.
This is using the same OCR'd text posted by commenter Joe.
reply
https://www.mountsinai.org/about/newsroom/2012/dubin-breast-...https://www.businessinsider.com/dubin-breast-center-benefit-...Even names match up, but oddly the date is different.
https://www.businessinsider.com/dubin-breast-center-benefit-...Even names match up, but oddly the date is different.
Even names match up, but oddly the date is different.
reply
reply
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reply
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Any chance you could share a screenshot / re-export it as a (normalized) PDF? I'm curious about what's in there, but all of my readers refuse to open it.
reply
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Programs that match caregivers with patient navigators yield better outcomes than Alzheimer's drug – but combining the two may be best.
A Medicare-covered program that offers support and medical advice for caregivers of patients with dementia may bring more benefit than a costly Alzheimer's medication, new research finds.
UC San Francisco researchers compared outcomes for patients in collaborative care programs with those taking lecanemab, one of two approved drugs that have been shown to slow progression of Alzheimer's in some patients.
UCSF Health was an early leader in developing a collaborative care program with the Care Ecosytem, which supports patients and caregivers. Paid navigators coordinate with clinical teams and connect caregivers to community resources. The program has informed similar efforts and has been adopted and adapted by more than 50 health systems nationwide.
Collaborative care improved quality of life, reduced costs, alleviated caregiver burden, and extended the time that patients remained in the community before entering a nursing facility, as compared to lecanemab. Results were published Feb. 5 in Alzheimer's and Dementia: Behavior and Socioeconomics of Aging.
The researchers created a simulated cohort of 1,000 patients using data from previous studies. About half had mild Alzheimer's and half had mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which precedes it. Replacing usual care with collaborative care gave patients an extra 0.26 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), a measure that reflects living longer in better health. When lecanemab was added to collaborative care, patients gained another 0.16 QALYs.
Collaborative care can serve a broader population than medication, said first author Kelly J. Atkins, DPsych, formerly of the UCSF Fein Memory and Aging Center.
Lecanemab is only indicated for patients with mild Alzheimer's and MCI, but collaborative programs can be used for more advanced disease, as well as for the 20% to 40% of patients with other types of dementia. The drug may also be out of reach for rural residents living far from specialty clinics, and for low-income patients struggling to manage out-of-pocket costs."
Kelly J. Atkins, DPsych
The researchers found adding lecanemab to treatment increased health care costs by $38,400, but this was offset by adding collaborative care. The latter saved $48,000 per patient, partially due to fewer hospital visits. Patients also had, on average, four more months at home before transitioning to a nursing home when they received collaborative care.
"We're going to see more drugs and better drugs soon, and I think that's very exciting. But we can'tjust focus on the drugs, we need to rethink our system of care," said Professor Katherine L. Possin, PhD, of the UCSF Department of Neurology and the Fein Memory and Aging Center. "Clinics that integrate collaborative care with the drugs may be best positioned to meet the needs of patients in this new treatment era."
University of California - San Francisco
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A new type of brain implant may have implications for both brain research and future treatments of neurological diseases such as epilepsy.
Researchers from DTU, the University of Copenhagen, University College London, and other institutions have developed a long, needle-thin brain electrode with channels—a so-called microfluidic Axialtrode (mAxialtrode), named for its ability to distribute functional interfaces along the length of the implant, enabling both neural signal recording and precisely targeted medication delivery across different brain regions.
The research results have been published in the renowned journal Advanced Science.
The technology has primarily been developed for basic research into the brain. It can help researchers better understand how signals move across brain layers, for example in epilepsy, memory, or decision-making. In the longer term, the researchers point out that the mAxialtrode may be important for treatment—for example, in targeted drug delivery combined with electrical or light-based stimulation of specific areas of the brain.
Postdoc Kunyang Sui, who led the development of the mAxialtrode concept together with Associate Professor Christos Markos, emphasizes that it has made it possible to combine several functions in a single implant which makes brain research less invasive and more precise.
Most current brain implants are based on hard materials such as silicon, which can irritate the brain and trigger inflammatory reactions in the tissue. The new implant differs in that it is made of soft, plastic-like optical fibers and has a specially angled tip that makes it smaller and reduces the damage caused when it is placed in the brain."
Postdoc Kunyang Sui
He emphasizes that extensive testing, further development, and approvals are still needed before the technology can be used in clinical practice.
Today, brain researchers often use conventional flat-end optical fibers. These are thin glass or plastic fibers that can conduct light deep into the brain, for example for so-called optogenetics, where nerve cells are activated with light. The disadvantage is that this type of fiber only affects the brain in one place: at the very tip.
The outermost end is called the distal tip—in other words, the "nose" of the fiber. All light emission and all contact with the brain tissue takes place here. This means that researchers can only stimulate or measure activity in one layer of the brain at a time, even though many important brain functions involve interaction between several layers and deeper areas.
The needle-thin mAxialtrode is manufactured using a process in which a large polymer rod is heated and drawn out into a very thin fiber—the process can be compared to making sugar thread, only much more precisely. In the middle runs a core that conducts light. Around it are eight microscopic channels that can carry fluid and also accommodate very thin metal wires for electrical measurements.
The fiber is less than half a millimeter thick and is so flexible that it moves with the brain instead of cutting through the tissue. The difference in stiffness is important because hard implants often trigger inflammatory reactions in the brain over time.
The researchers have not only tested the technology in the laboratory, but also "in vivo"—that is, in mice. Here, the brain electrode was implanted in the brain and connected to light sources, measuring equipment, and small pumps for fluid supply.
The experiments showed that the researchers could stimulate nerve cells with blue and red light, measure electrical activity simultaneously from both superficial and deeper brain layers, such as the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, and inject different substances at different depths, up to almost three millimeters apart. All examinations and stimulations could be performed with a single, lightweight fiber that the animals could carry without any obvious signs of discomfort.
The in vivo experiments and neurophysiological validation were carried out in close collaboration with Associate Professor Rune W. Berg from the University of Copenhagen and Associate Professor Rob C. Wykes from University College London, who contributed expertise in neural circuit analysis and epilepsy-relevant models.
The researchers behind the brain electrode are in the process of patenting the underlying technology and clarifying the possibilities for testing the electrode on patients in a clinical department.
DTU (Technical University of Denmark)
Sui, K., et al. (2026). Multimodal Layer‐Crossing Interrogation of Brain Circuits Enabled by Microfluidic Axialtrodes. Advanced Science. DOI: 10.1002/advs.202519744. https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/advs.202519744
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Griffith University researchers are on the cusp of a new vaccine to prevent chikungunya, a global health threat which attacks human joint tissue.
Professor Bernd Rehm, from Griffith's Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics, said his team wanted to test whether they could engineer E.coli to assemble biopolymer particles which displayed chikungunya antigens and performed as a vaccine.
The synthetic biopolymer particles, adjuvant-free E2-BP-E1, closely mimicked the actual virus and induced an immune response."
Professor Bernd Rehm, Griffith's Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics
The immune system recognized the particles as a virus but without induction of the disease.
It triggered a reaction in the body whereby immune cells very efficiently took up the biopolymer particles and engaged the immune system to mount an anti-virus response.
A person could become infected with chikungunya via an infected mosquito, causing the virus to enter the bloodstream and begin a multi-stage process affecting the immune system, joints, muscles, and sometimes the nervous system.
Symptoms included fever, chills, a feeling of intense illness, severe joint and muscle pain, headache, rash and joint swelling.
Professor Rehm said once the infection took hold, chikungunya would specifically target joint tissues, muscle fibres and connective tissue.
"Once this occurs, we start to see direct tissue damage, intense inflammation, and immune-mediated attacks resembling autoimmune responses," he said.
"Even more concerning, is that the immune system continues to attack joint tissues even after the virus has left the body.
"Up to 60 per cent of patients experience long-lasting joint pain, which may persist for months or years, and can resemble rheumatoid arthritis."
Following the success of the study, Professor Rehm and his team would progress to the clinical development of the vaccine.
The next stage would entail a clinical trial whereby patients would test the vaccine's safety before moving on to efficacy trials.
The paper 'Adjuvant-free biopolymer particles mimicking the Chikungunya virus surface induce protective immunity' has been published in Biomaterials.
Griffith University
Sivakumaran, N., et al. (2026). Adjuvant-free biopolymer particles mimicking the Chikungunya virus surface induce protective immunity. Biomaterials. DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2026.124000. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142961226000244
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An investigational anti-clotting medication, asundexian, demonstrated a reduction in the risk of a second ischemic (clot-caused) stroke without raising bleeding concerns, according to a preliminary late-breaking science presentation at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2026. The meeting, Feb. 4 - 6, 2026, in New Orleans, is a world premier meeting for researchers and clinicians dedicated to the science of stroke and brain health.
Asundexian holds the potential to reduce the risk of a recurrent stroke over the long term without an increased safety risk. This is a major advance in our ability to prevent strokes in people at risk of stroke recurrence."
Mike Sharma, M.D., M.Sc., principal investigator of the study, the Michael G. Degroote Chair in Stroke Prevention, professor of medicine at McMaster University and senior scientist at the Population Health Research Institute, a joint institute of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
According to the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, nearly 1 in 4 stroke survivors will have another stroke, called a secondary stroke.
The 2021 guideline from the American Stroke Association states that antithrombotic therapy, including antiplatelet or anticoagulant agents, is recommended for nearly all stroke survivors to prevent a second stroke. Dual antiplatelet therapy (treatment with two anti-clotting or blood-thinning medications) is recommended only in very specific patients, including those with early-arriving minor stroke and high-risk transient ischemic attack or severe symptomatic intracranial stenosis. Antiplatelets, most commonly aspirin, prevent platelets in the blood from sticking together and forming clots that lead to stroke. Dual antiplatelet therapy, which includes a second medication (such as clopidogrel or dipyridamole), is given in addition to aspirin, however, it is not recommended for long-term use.
"Antiplatelet therapy has limited effectiveness in preventing recurrent stroke because of bleeding risks," said Sharma, who is also director of the Brain Health and Stroke program of the Population Health Research Institute. "Previous efforts to improve outcomes by adding other anticlotting or blood thinning medications have not succeeded due to the increased risk of bleeding, lack of benefit or both."
Asundexian is a novel investigational medication that inhibits a clotting protein called Factor XI (FXIa), which is involved in producing large blood clots that can block blood vessels. Other anticoagulants, such as rivaroxaban and apixaban, inhibit a different clotting protein (Factor Xa) to reduce the risk of stroke. However, unlike these medications, asundexian does not increase the risk of bleeding. People born with a genetic deficiency of Factor XI are known to have a lower risk of ischemic stroke and rarely have spontaneous bleeding.
This research, the OCEANIC-STROKE (Oral faCtor Eleven A iNhibitor asundexian as novel antithrombotiC) study, is a Phase III international trial that included more than 12,300 stroke survivors. It is investigating whether adding daily asundexian to antiplatelet therapy could reduce the risk of a new stroke caused by a blood clot without increasing the risk of bleeding or other adverse events.
Participants recently had a mild to moderate ischemic stroke that was not caused by a heart condition such as an irregular heart rhythm. This type of stroke is called a non-cardioembolic ischemic stroke. Some participants had experienced a transient ischemic attack (TIA), which involves symptoms that go away within minutes to hours and do not cause lasting damage to the brain. The TIA patients included in the trial were identified as having a high risk of progressing to a stroke within one week.
Participants were randomly selected to receive either standard antiplatelet therapy plus a daily dose of asundexian or standard antiplatelet therapy plus a placebo. Neither patients nor researchers were aware of which treatment they received during the trial.
Participants were followed for 3 to 31 months, and researchers found that compared to a placebo, adding asundexian to antiplatelet medication:
"Asundexian, when combined with standard antiplatelet therapy, helped reduce the chances of having another stroke without increasing the risk of bleeding. This benefit applies to all types of strokes, not just those caused by plaque build-up in large arteries. If approved by the FDA, asundexian could be widely used for patients who have had a non-cardioembolic stroke or a TIA," he said.
The study is limited by having relatively few participants with severe strokes, despite broad inclusion criteria that could have included them.
In a substudy of OCEANIC-STROKE, brain imaging and standardized MRI images were collected for participants. Analysis of that data is not yet complete; however, the results should provide further information on the impact of asundexian on both clotting and bleeding.
Asundexian is an investigational medication that has not been approved in any country. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted the medication fast-track designation for its potential use in stroke prevention after ischemic stroke not caused by a blood clot originating in the heart.
Study details, background and design:
The co-principal investigator of OCEANIC-STROKE is Ashkan Shoamanesh, M.D., associate professor of medicine at McMaster University and senior scientist at the Population Health Research Institute of Hamilton Health Sciences.
American Heart Association
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Accurate hearing thresholds can only be obtained in a suitably quiet environment. Subjects can misinterpret test stimuli when there is uncontrolled environmental noise, leading to invalid results or false responses.
Image Credit: Amplivox
It is possible to mitigate these interferences by controlling ambient noise within certain limits; however, this potentially makes the difference between a pass and a referral.
At its most basic level, monitoring ambient noise is measuring the amount of background noise in a hearing test environment. This enables improved diagnosis and treatment outcomes.
Background noise can potentially interfere with test tones, artificially elevating hearing thresholds. Healthcare professionals may misdiagnose hearing loss or underestimate a subject's hearing ability. Monitoring noise levels can help maintain a controlled testing environment, enhancing the reliability of hearing assessments.
ISO (International Organization for Standardization), ANSI (American National Standards Institute), OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), and other organizations set specific noise level requirements for audiometric testing environments. Monitoring your ambient noise during testing ensures you stay within these limits.
Should ambient noise be found to exceed acceptable levels, it will be possible to make adjustments by either testing in a sound booth, relocating the test to a noise-isolated area, using noise-reducing headphones, or rescheduling it for a quieter time.
Noise levels can fluctuate due to conversations, machinery, or outdoor sounds in non-clinical settings like workplace screenings. Continuous noise monitoring is key to ensuring test accuracy in these settings.
A sound level meter or sound room microphone is suitable for the monitoring of ambient noise, measuring frequency content in octave or third-octave bands. It is important to note, however, that a degree of ‘measurement uncertainty' may stem from sources such as equipment or the environment (ambient noise and distractions), or from the subject, method, or tester.
The British Society of Audiology states that “In general, the ambient noise should not exceed 35 dBA” (BSA, 2017). However, maximum permissible ambient sound pressure levels should be maintained in line with (SPL) - BS EN ISO 8253-1, with a number of factors requiring consideration.
Energy at low frequencies masks test tones at higher frequencies, resulting in a risk of noise. This phenomenon is typically referred to as the ‘upward spread of masking'.
Low-frequency test tones necessitate the use of a quieter test environment, while the 500 – 8000 kHz test tone range allows for more ambient noise. This tone range is used for surveillance audiometry.
Maximum permissible ambient SPLs are based on average earphone attenuation, with supra-aural earphones providing the least attenuation and, therefore, necessitating the use of a quieter test environment.
It is also important to note that some listeners will receive less than average attenuation.
It is possible to avoid exceeding noise limits by following a number of simple steps.
It is possible to monitor the test environment by adding a Sound Room Microphone (SRM) to the test process. This affords testers complete confidence in the quality of their audiometry results.
Amplivox offers several solutions that incorporate SRM technology.
The Anova™ provides unparalleled accuracy with the option of an external SRM. The microphone should be placed in the test environment, delivering live feedback to alert users if noise exceeds the ‘ideal level' for accurate measurements and ensuring the best possible test conditions.
The modelONE PC-based audiometer is also available, comprising noise-attenuating headphones and including a built-in SRM.
It is important to note that using an SRM does not remove the need to employ an IEC 61672 Class 2 microphone in line with guidance provided in the HSE L108 'Controlling Noise at Work' 2005 publication.
Produced from materials originally authored by Amplivox.
Amplivox creates a healthier future by providing accessible and accurate medical solutions for everyone.
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Drawing on 52 studies, this review challenges assumptions about athletic advantage between cis- and transgender athletes, while highlighting major evidence gaps in elite and sport-specific performance.
Study: Body composition and physical fitness in transgender versus cisgender individuals: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Image credit: Shutterstock.AI Generator/Shutterstock.com
Researchers have recently conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare body composition and physical fitness between transgender and cisgender individuals, and published their findings in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Transgender women are individuals assigned male at birth who identify and live as women, while cisgender women are those assigned female at birth whose gender identity aligns with that assignment. Women's sports exist separately to ensure fair competition for cisgender women. For years, the question of transgender women competing in female sports has sparked intense debate. This has led to proposals that transgender athletes should only compete if they don't create significant competitive imbalances.
Research has challenged some concerns that transgender women would dominate women's sports, largely because testosterone suppression therapy reduces certain physiological characteristics associated with male puberty. In fact, transgender women remain underrepresented in elite athletics, although the authors note that underrepresentation alone cannot be used to draw conclusions about competitive advantage.
The IOC established a framework prioritizing fairness, inclusion, and non-discrimination, rejecting blanket bans and advocating for sport-specific eligibility criteria. Critics argue this relies on insufficient research and impractical assessments, potentially compromising protections for cisgender female athletes.
Some researchers contend the IOC's ‘no presumption of advantage' principle overlooks studies suggesting transgender women may retain muscle mass, strength, and other physical characteristics after testosterone suppression. However, systematic reviews comparing transgender women who underwent gender-affirming hormone therapy and cisgender women have reported mixed and inconsistent findings, highlighting ongoing scientific uncertainty.
The current systematic review with meta-analysis examines existing research on body composition and physical fitness in transgender women compared to cisgender women, with secondary comparisons across other gender groups. It also examined how hormone therapy duration affects outcomes, compared responses between transgender men and women, and explored the impact of puberty suppression.
All relevant articles were obtained from PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and SportDiscus. Inclusion criteria comprised studies of transgender individuals comparing body composition or physical fitness pre-to-post gender-affirming hormone therapy or versus cisgender controls.
The initial database search identified 1705 studies. After removing duplicates, 1067 publications were screened. A total of 52 studies that fulfilled the eligibility criteria were included in the review, and 43 in the meta-analysis. This analysis included 6485 individuals, 2943 transgender women, 2309 transgender men, 568 cisgender women, and 665 cisgender men.
All participants were between 14 and 41 years of age. Of 52 studies, only 16 assessed physical activity levels, and most did not control for activity status. The selected studies used different methods to assess physical activity, including METs (metabolic equivalents), questionnaires, measures of exercise frequency and duration, and simple activity classifications.
Study designs included 22 prospective cohorts, 9 retrospective cohorts, 17 cross-sectional studies, 3 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and a quasi-experimental study. Only 7 studies adjusted for confounders, most commonly body composition, age, hormone levels, and nutrient intake.
A significant variation in hormone therapy types and dosages was noted. Transgender women primarily received estradiol, in the form of oral tablets, patches, or gel, often combined with antiandrogens such as cyproterone acetate or spironolactone. Transgender men primarily received testosterone undecanoate or enanthate via injection, with some using gels. Dosing varied by administration route, age, and clinical context.
Therapy duration ranged from 3 months to 14 years, with most studies following participants for 1–3 years. Twelve studies included participants who had undergone gender-affirming surgery, and six reported the use of puberty suppression.
Compared to cisgender women, transgender women showed no statistically significant differences in relative fat mass, relative lean mass, upper-body strength, lower-body strength, or aerobic capacity. However, the authors emphasized that the quality of evidence ranged from very low to low certainty, with substantial heterogeneity and wide confidence intervals in several analyses, limiting the precision of these estimates.
Despite having slightly higher relative lean mass than cisgender women (standardised mean difference (SMD) 0.19), transgender women showed no significant differences in upper-body strength (SMD 0.54) or lower-body strength (SMD 0.05). Aerobic capacity, measured as maximal oxygen consumption (VO₂ max), was also not significantly different between groups. The authors stress that a lack of statistical significance does not imply identical performance, rather, it indicates that consistent differences were not detected in the available data.
After 1–3 years of hormone therapy, transgender women experienced increased fat mass and decreased lean mass and upper-body strength. The authors noted that, despite persistent differences in lean mass, these changes were not consistently associated with differences in functional performance, suggesting that lean mass alone may not directly translate into strength advantages.
The authors cautioned that lean mass and performance outcomes were often derived from different studies, preventing direct correlations between muscle mass and athletic performance. They also emphasized that the available data largely reflect non-athlete or recreationally active populations, rather than elite competitors.
Transgender men showed body composition and strength metrics that were intermediate between cisgender women and cisgender men for some outcomes, even after an average of four years of hormone therapy. However, the authors reported that transgender men continued to differ significantly from cisgender men in several measures, including relative lean mass and upper-body strength.
This systematic review and meta-analysis found that while transgender women tend to have higher lean mass than cisgender women, they show no consistent or statistically significant differences in commonly measured physical fitness outcomes, such as strength and aerobic capacity, after 1–3 years of hormone therapy. The authors emphasize that these findings do not demonstrate equivalence in athletic performance and do not directly address sport-specific competition outcomes.
The authors highlighted substantial limitations in the available evidence. Most studies were small, lacked statistical adjustment for key confounders, and rarely assessed physical activity or training status. Elite athletes and sport-specific performance measures were largely absent from the literature.
The authors conclude that future research should include larger, well-controlled, longitudinal studies that follow transgender athletes over time, account for training history and competition level, and assess sport-specific performance outcomes. Such evidence is needed to inform nuanced, sport-specific eligibility policies rather than broad generalizations about advantage or disadvantage.
Mendes S.S, et al. (2026) Body composition and physical fitness in transgender versus cisgender individuals: a systematic review with meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine. DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2025-110239. https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2026/01/22/bjsports-2025-110239
Posted in: Men's Health News | Medical Science News | Miscellaneous News | Women's Health News
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Priyom holds a Ph.D. in Plant Biology and Biotechnology from the University of Madras, India. She is an active researcher and an experienced science writer. Priyom has also co-authored several original research articles that have been published in reputed peer-reviewed journals. She is also an avid reader and an amateur photographer.
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Bose, Priyom. (2026, February 06). New meta-analysis challenges claims of athletic advantage for transgender women. News-Medical. Retrieved on February 06, 2026 from https://www.news-medical.net/news/20260206/New-meta-analysis-challenges-claims-of-athletic-advantage-for-transgender-women.aspx.
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Bose, Priyom. "New meta-analysis challenges claims of athletic advantage for transgender women". News-Medical. 06 February 2026.
How influencers, clinics, and online masculinity culture are turning “low T” into a crisis, and creating a profitable medical marketplace for men seeking to measure up.
Study: Selling masculinity – A qualitative analysis of gender representations in social media content about “low T”. Image credit: PeopleImages/Shutterstock.com
Social media often emphasizes masculinity as the essence of being male. Low testosterone levels are represented as a sign of diminished masculinity. These narratives are increasingly linked to the monetization of testosterone testing and treatment. A recent study in the journal Social Science & Medicine explores the depiction of masculinity in social media posts relating to low testosterone (often referred to as “low T”).
Over the decades, testosterone, the male sex hormone, has been the subject of social messaging that correlates it with masculinity. This, in turn, is linked to male attributes of strength, sexual virility, and vitality.
Traditional attitudes towards gender treat men as being biologically designed for strength, dominance, and sexual prowess. In this view, testosterone drives masculinity. Building on this narrow and historically entrenched perspective, testosterone testing and treatment are often presented as being essential to real manhood.
Apart from presenting such concepts, social media heavily circulates and reinforces these ideas by promoting and selling tips and tricks for masculinity. Social media platforms, including TikTok and Instagram, greatly enhance the spread and visibility of these messages.
The manosphere is the network of online communities that echoes, amplifies, and reinforces rigid ideas of masculinity while promoting similarly backward-looking attitudes towards femininity. These communities are frequently described in the academic literature as perpetuating regressive gender-related social constructs of male hegemony.
Manosphere-related posts commonly relay misinformation about men's health and fitness. They frequently revolve around specious links to medical and biological facts to drive profitable marketing. Thus, social media posts promoting testosterone have been associated with testosterone therapy sales of over 400 million USD in the United States.
The risks of such practices include the potential for overdiagnosis of low testosterone in healthy men and the use of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) without sufficient clinical indication. TRT has been associated in prior research with multiple harms, including cardiovascular issues, male infertility, acute renal injury, pulmonary embolism, loss of libido, and erectile dysfunction. These concerns motivated the current study.
The investigators conducted a qualitative study of posts on Instagram and TikTok, drawing on performativity theory, a social theory that explores the formation of identity through repeated actions and narratives.
Their sample consisted of 200 posts, including 100 from each platform. From this broader sample, the authors conducted an in-depth qualitative analysis of a subset of 46 posts that explicitly addressed masculinity or sexual performance. They found that 46% related to testosterone. Financial interests were present in 72% of the accounts, such as owning a wellness brand that sold testosterone tests or therapies, or being sponsored by a pharmaceutical company.
Commercial links, including links to clinic consultations, were included in 67% of posts. About one in three individual accounts was ostensibly owned by a medical doctor. The study notes that none of the posts provided evidence to support their claims. The authors also note that the sample was limited to English-language posts and may reflect an Anglo-centric social media environment, and they explicitly discuss their own positionality and interpretive role as researchers.
Qualitative analysis generated four themes:
1. Low testosterone is represented as a medical issue that endangers masculinity and sexual virility. Social media content often frames this as a crisis of being less than masculine by idealizing stereotypical traits as mandatory. This framing helps legitimize medical treatment, including testosterone testing and therapy, as an urgent intervention to attain what is presented as “normal.”
2. Low testosterone rebranding occurs, shifting from being an issue mostly associated with older men to being framed as a potential problem in active younger men. This group is typified as being muscular, energetic, confident, and easily aroused. Variations from this ideal are attributed to low T. According to the authors, such tactics expand the potential audience and may increase demand for testing and treatment.
3. Clichéd ideas of masculinity become the grounds for subtly demanding self-optimization by linking them to high testosterone. The threshold for what is considered normal testosterone is pushed upward. A significant medical intervention, namely testing for and taking testosterone, is reframed as a lifestyle practice that promotes so-called normal aging.
4. Social media content frequently presents a binary construct that portrays real manhood as the opposite of femininity in biochemical and material terms. This framing can result in shaming of men who do not fit the ideal of “real men,” or who are open about vulnerability or mental health needs.
Social media posts included in this analysis draw on the insecurities men often feel about relationships and sexual performance. The language of these posts reflects that of empowerment and advocacy, but is frequently repurposed, according to the authors, to market testosterone-related products.
These posts often promote biomedical solutions, namely engagement with health technologies and scientific-sounding interventions. They claim that such approaches empower men to take control of their health, and the authors acknowledge that some men may experience these messages as motivating or affirming.
Biomedicalization also involves viewing medicine as a marketable product by commodifying insecurity, in this case, raising and amplifying fears about masculinity to sell testosterone-related services. Thus, low testosterone is framed as a plausible medical explanation for a wide range of mental, physical, and relational challenges, even when such links are not supported by clinical evidence.
The authors describe how social media platforms demonstrate the interaction of language-based claims and material objects, including testosterone, diagnostic tests, and digital platforms, to reinforce masculine insecurity and narrow gender norms.
These posts also divert attention away from underlying or coexisting health conditions. As a result, they may shape how men think about their bodies, mental health, and the types of medical help they seek. Testosterone-related social media posts typically draw on manosphere-adjacent thinking to promote the idea that “real men” have high testosterone levels. This framing encourages testosterone testing as a screening tool for low T, despite the absence of evidence supporting population-level screening benefits.
Social media platforms bring together influencers, clinics, and health-related companies in ways that contribute to the transformation of masculinity into a marketable commodity. These online discussions frame “real manhood” using regressive and stereotyped ideals that shape how men perceive themselves and how they interact with healthcare systems.
Social media discourse also medicalizes normal aging in men, contributing to the expansion of a lucrative market for testosterone-related products. The authors emphasize that their analysis does not criticize men who choose to use testosterone therapies, but rather examines the broader social, cultural, and commercial forces shaping these choices.
Biomedicine in the age of social media appears to govern not only ideals about the normal body, but also sexual subjectivity and encroaches into the gendered self for profit.
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Gram, E. G., Mintzes, B., Copp, T., et al. (2026). Selling masculinity – A qualitative analysis of gender representations in social media content about “low T”. Social Science & Medicine. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118903. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953625012341
Posted in: Men's Health News | Device / Technology News | Medical Science News
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Dr. Liji Thomas is an OB-GYN, who graduated from the Government Medical College, University of Calicut, Kerala, in 2001. Liji practiced as a full-time consultant in obstetrics/gynecology in a private hospital for a few years following her graduation. She has counseled hundreds of patients facing issues from pregnancy-related problems and infertility, and has been in charge of over 2,000 deliveries, striving always to achieve a normal delivery rather than operative.
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Antonia Seligowski, PhD, of the Neurocardiac Effects of Stress & Trauma Laboratory within the Department of Psychiatry at Mass General Brigham, is the senior author of a paper published in JAMA Network Open, "Hormonal contraceptive use, stress disorders, and cardiovascular and thrombotic risk in women."
Q: What challenges or unmet needs make this study important?
Over 400,000 women in the United States die each year from cardiovascular disease (CVD), the nation's leading cause of death. Stress is a major risk factor for CVD, and stress‑related psychiatric disorders like anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more common in women. Because of this, experts have called for more attention to be paid to sex‑specific factors that contribute to women's cardiovascular health.
One such factor is hormonal contraception, used by about 9.1 million women in the United States. Past research on these contraceptives-which work by introducing different amounts of hormones and suppressing natural estradiol and progesterone levels-has focused almost entirely on young, relatively healthy women. As a result, very little is known about how hormonal contraceptives affect women with stress‑related psychiatric disorders. To our knowledge, this study is the first to examine the combined effects of hormonal contraceptives and stress‑related disorders on cardiovascular or thrombosis risk.
Q: What central question(s) were you investigating?
Our study, led by Jordan Thomas, PhD, of the University of Kansas, explored whether hormonal contraceptive use is linked to cardiovascular and thrombotic risk in women with and without stress‑related disorders. Specifically, we wanted to know if women with a history of depression, anxiety or PTSD who use hormonal contraceptives have a higher risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) or deep‑vein thrombosis than those without this mental health history.
Q: What methods or approach did you use?
We analyzed healthcare records from 31,824 women who consented to be part of the Mass General Brigham Biobank. Specifically, we looked for medical codes indicating diagnoses of stress‑related disorders, MACE and deep‑vein thrombosis, as well as prescriptions for hormonal contraceptives.
Q: What did you find?
For the majority of women, including those with a history of anxiety or depression, hormonal contraceptive use was associated with lower risk of MACE. However, this protective association was not seen in women with PTSD.
Although preliminary, these findings suggest that cardiovascular risk may vary among women who use hormonal contraceptives-especially differing for those with PTSD. If future studies confirm these results, clinicians may need to consider stress‑related psychiatric disorders when discussing hormonal contraceptive options with patients.
Q: Tell us about any follow-up studies you have planned to validate or build on these findings.
We hope to conduct a clinical study that collects new data on how specific hormonal contraceptive formulas relate to CVD risk factors in women, including blood pressure, vascular endothelial function and blood‑based clotting markers. We also plan to test whether these effects differ for women with and without stress‑related psychiatric disorders. Participants would return yearly for follow‑up visits to track clinical outcomes such as thrombotic events.
Massachusetts General Hospital
Thomas, J. L., et al. (2026). Hormonal Contraceptive Use, Stress Disorders, and Cardiovascular and Thrombotic Risk in Women. JAMA Network Open. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.51878. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2843285
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Revvity, Inc. announced the launch of multiple new discovery platforms and technologies at SLAS2026, which are designed to accelerate high-throughput drug discovery workflows. Making their debut at the conference in Boston, February 7-11, are the Opera Phenix OptIQ™ high-content screening system, the EnVision Nexus™ One multimode plate reader, and the AssayMate™ workstation, alongside other recently introduced solutions spanning sample preparation, screening, advanced imaging, and lab automation.
At booth #612, Revvity will showcase an expanded portfolio of integrated workflow solutions designed to support discovery programs from early screening through data-driven decision making. Solutions debuting at SLAS2026 include:
SLAS2026 marks a key milestone for Revvity with the introduction of new platforms that support the evolving needs of discovery labs, These launches integrate automation, trusted assay technologies, and AI-driven imaging to help customers accelerate results while maintaining data quality."
Kevin Quick, Vice President, Platforms, Revvity
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SynGenSys, a biotechnology company designing synthetic gene promoter systems to address critical bottlenecks in biopharma manufacturing and enhance cell and gene therapy development, today announced the launch of its Liver.SET™ library of liver-specific synthetic promoters. Developed using SyngenSys' proprietary informatics and computational design platform, the Liver.SET library comprises a range of compact, patentable synthetic promoters for liver-targeted gene expression for in vivo gene therapies.
Liver.SET overcomes key challenges in cell and gene therapy development by enabling tissue-specific, precise transgene expression with minimal off-target activity in muscle tissue. Validated both in vitro and in vivo for target specificity, the promoters display a marked increase in activity and design flexibility in comparison to natural liver promoters with fixed activity profiles, sizes, and regulatory behaviors. The promoters exhibit low levels of activity in HEK293, avoiding viral vector manufacturing issues linked to therapeutic gene expression during packaging, while the modular architecture of the promoters further supports rapid customization alongside compact sequence lengths yielding enhanced compatibility with AAV payloads.
Following the launch of SynGenSys' first tissue-type specific library, NK.SET,which supports the development of natural killer cell therapies, Liver.SET further demonstrates the ability to design tissue-specific promoters with customizable designs for therapeutic applications. The demonstrated specificity of SynGenSys' promoters provides a foundation for the development of promoter libraries designed to target and de-target tissues including muscle, retina and CNS. The commercialization of the validated libraries also demonstrates SynGenSys' capabilities for tailored promoter design for targeted therapeutics, facilitating the development of safer, more effective cell and gene therapies.
The launch of Liver.SET™ represents another significant milestone for SynGenSys, demonstrating that our platform can deliver synthetic promoter solutions for real gene therapy development needs. We see this as a key enabler for in vivo gene therapies, and a reliable, validated starting point for deeper collaboration with developers seeking to design novel therapeutics with enhanced precision and safety.”
Dr Mike Daniels, Chief Commercial Officer, SynGenSys
SynGenSys
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A research team from the Department of Psychiatry at Tohoku University, led by Dr. Zhiqian Yu and Professor Hiroaki Tomita, has uncovered compelling evidence that maternal perinatal depression - psychological distress occurring during pregnancy or postpartum - elevates the risk of autistic-related traits in toddlers, with a particularly strong impact on girls. Their findings are derived from a large-scale Japanese cohort of over 23,000 mother-child pairs (the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study) and supported by mouse experiments. These findings provide important insights into how maternal mental health influences early neurodevelopment, which could help create guidelines to protect the wellbeing of both mother and child.
Using data from the cohort, the team assessed depressive symptoms during early and mid-gestation and at one month postpartum. Higher maternal scores on the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) or the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) were significantly associated with increased autistic-related traits in toddlers, as measured by the Tokyo Autistic Behavior Scale (TABS). Notably, although autism is generally more common in boys, the risk associated with maternal perinatal depression was especially pronounced in girls. Additionally, girls showed lower birth weights and a stronger association between autistic traits and impaired mother-infant bonding (the Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale; MIBS).
To explore the biological mechanisms underlying these findings, the researchers established a prenatal stress model in mice "mothers". Stressed mothers displayed depressive-like behaviors and reduced maternal care, while their female offspring exhibited typical autism-like behavioral patterns, including increased self-grooming and impaired recognition of social novelty. Molecular analyses further revealed reduced expression of oxytocin (nicknamed the "love hormone") in prefrontal cortical microglia of stressed mothers and decreased oxytocin receptor expression in the prefrontal cortex of their female offspring. These findings suggest a sex-specific neurobiological pathway through which prenatal stress may disrupt social development. Because oxytocin signaling is essential for maternal bonding and social behavior, disturbances in this system may help explain why daughters appear particularly vulnerable to maternal stress.
This study highlights the societal importance of supporting maternal mental health beginning in pregnancy. Providing appropriate psychological care and monitoring may help reduce adverse developmental outcomes in children, particularly in girls. The findings underscore that maternal well-being is a critical foundation for children's long-term developmental health and provide a scientific basis for sex-sensitive early intervention strategies.
This study was not based on clinical diagnoses of maternal depression or autism spectrum disorder in children. Instead, it focused on the relationship between questionnaire-based measures of maternal depressive symptoms and indicators of autism-related behavioral traits. While the findings do not indicate that maternal perinatal depression directly causes autism spectrum disorder, they underscore the importance of supporting maternal mental health during the perinatal period, particularly in light of potential sex-specific effects on children's emotional and developmental outcomes.
The findings were published in Molecular Psychiatry, a Nature Portfolio journal, on February 4, 2026.
Tohoku University
Duan, C., et al. (2026). Sex differences in the risk of autistic-related traits in toddlers born to mothers with perinatal depression: Evidence from human cohort and mouse study. Molecular Psychiatry. doi: 10.1038/s41380-026-03456-z. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-026-03456-z
Posted in: Child Health News | Medical Research News | Women's Health News
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When Patrick Agyemang made his move to Derby County in the English Championship and left MLS, he knew it would be a gamble. Now midway through his first season in Europe, is he forcing his way onto the U.S. men's national team's World Cup roster?
By virtue of his MLS success with Charlotte FC, Agyemang had become the top choice for the North American-heavy 2025 Gold Cup squad and showed flashes of what he could be for a USMNT led by manager Mauricio Pochettino.
However, once the 25-year-old moved overseas, his form dipped. Agyemang found himself struggling for USMNT opportunities. His rise, from college soccer in Rhode Island to MLS Next Pro, MLS and now the English second tier, has been swift but not without its hiccups at each step.
Yet, after some struggles to find his footing with Derby County, his play and attacking output has improved, putting him in contention for not only the USMNT's March friendlies against Germany and Portugal, but the final World Cup squad.
Standing a towering 6'4" and leaning on his long strides to separate from defenders, Agyemang has nine goals in 26 league appearances this season, often playing as a solo striker at the top of Derby's 4-2-3-1.
Having scored in three of his last four matches against Preston North End, West Bromwich Albion and Bristol City, he enters this weekend's clash against Ipswich Town looking to add to an impressive tally. A win for his seventh-place side could push them above Wrexham and into the Championship playoff spots.
And for Agyemang, it's about keeping his levels high and earning his spot in a competitive USMNT striker pool. Luckily for him, he's in his best form since May 2025—the last time he scored in back-to-back games against D.C. United and Chicago Fire in MLS.
It's getting to a point with Noahkai Banks that Pochettino may have to consider bringing him to the World Cup, if the thought hasn't already crossed his mind. The 19-year-old center back, playing in a back three for FC Augsburg, has been nothing short of exceptional and there's plenty of reasons to be excited about his future.
While he missed the match against Bayern Munich two weeks ago due to suspension, he returned with a standout showing to help his side to a 2–1 win over FC. St. Pauli, bringing them to 11th in the Bundesliga table.
Banks has played 1,253 minutes in the German top flight this year and is set to surpass his last year's total against Mainz, who feature fellow American Lennard Maloney.
Few players have produced as much as Malik Tillman, pushing for a starting role as USMNT's No. 10, has in recent weeks.
He takes center stage of a heavy American battle this weekend as Bayer Leverkusen take on Borussia Mönchengladbach—Tillman is Bayer's representative while Gio Reyna and Joe Scally are prominent players for the opposition.
Among the three, Tillman's performances are the most intriguing at the moment. He's scored three goals in two matches over the past week, though he missed out in the 3–0 win over St. Pauli in the DFB Pokal.
Ben Steiner is an American-Canadian journalist who brings in-depth experience, having covered the North American national teams, MLS, CPL, NWSL, NSL and Liga MX for prominent outlets, including MLSsoccer.com, CBC Sports, and OneSoccer.
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by Sophie Pendrill
MIAMI, Fla. (CBS12) — A coalition of immigrant and civil rights organizations has issued a warning to international tourists planning to attend the FIFA World Cup in Florida, urging them to exercise caution while traveling to the state.
The Florida Immigrant Coalition has released a travel advisory saying that fans should carry identification and register their travel plans with their consulate prior to arriving in the United States.
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The coalition expressed concern over tourists being detained or questioned by immigration enforcement agencies while they are visiting for the game.
The tournament is set to begin in June, with seven matches scheduled to take place in South Florida.
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The advisory continues to state that these operations have involved local law enforcement working in partnership with federal agencies, which could lead to traffic stops or interactions at airports.
The coalition stated that enforcement activities may escalate in areas hosting major events like the FIFA World Cup, where large crowds of international visitors gather.
2026 Sinclair, Inc.
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GOAL looks at the biggest storylines among Americans Abroad, including a series of big games in France, England and Italy
The season has reached the point where most clubs know who they are and what they're fighting for. The title race has taken shape, as have the European and relegation battles. For the most part, teams have settled into the area of the table they are most likely to occupy.
There is some wiggle room, though, and, in this first full weekend of February, the hope for several of the U.S. Men's National Team stars will be to navigate that wiggle room and put their teams in a better spot for the home stretch.
There are big games throughout Europe this week, particularly for clubs looking to stay in crowded races at the top of their leagues. It's a big week for someone like Chris Richards, too, as Crystal Palace look to finally build some momentum in a season that has seen a whole lot go wrong.
GOAL previews the main storylines among Americans abroad this weekend.
Rivalry games are always tense. They're even more tense, though, when a team isn't playing well. That's the situation for Crystal Palace as they continue to sputter. Could this weekend be the one where they really get back on track?
When Palace kick off against rivals Brighton this weekend, it'll have been over two months since their last league win. All eyes, of course, will be on the top end of the field, where new signing Jorgen Strand Larsen could debut to halt the skit. For Americans, though, all eyes will remain on Richards as he looks to do his part, too.
Richards, to his credit, has been one of the few shining lights for Palace in recent weeks. Captain Marc Guehi is gone, having signed with Manchester City, and manager Oliver Glasner says he'll be out the door soon, too, as he prepares to leave this summer. Palace need some form of stability and some form of momentum. They'll hope to find some this weekend, and it'll likely have to involve standout performances in both halves of the field to get back in the win column, finally.
Tim Weah is set to face his former club this weekend, but, regardless of familiarity, there's always something pretty damn scary about facing Paris Saint-Germain.
Marseille will visit the reigning Champions League winners on Sunday, pitting two of Ligue 1's top three teams against one another. PSG are, of course, at the top of the league, but there is some hope that someone, anyone, can challenge them, particularly if Marseille can knock them down a peg with a win this weekend.
To win, Marseille will need to be near perfect, but the good news is that Weah has been more than pulling his weight of late. Playing as a right-wingback, Weah has a goal and two assists since mid-January, which has helped Marseille go unbeaten in the league since that point. Of course, Sunday will be a different type of game with the American likely staring down Les Parisiens' starBradley Barcola, which means far less license to get forward on that right-hand side.
This match is crucial for Marseille, though, as they look to remain involved in the title race, particularly with the knowledge that their Champions League dream ended in the harshest of ways. The season isn't dead, of course, but it would be very alive with a win this weekend.
Staying in France, Mark McKenzie might just be the USMNT's most in-form player, which is saying something given the levels some of his international teammates are playing at. The results speak for themselves, though, and McKenzie will hope those results can continue for a long time.
With his contributions to Toulouse's 1-0 win over Amiens in the cup, McKenzie has now played all 90 minutes in each of the team's last eight games. More importantly, five of those games have seen McKenzie and Toulouse's backline keep clean sheets, allowing them to leap up the Ligue 1 table and into European contention.
There's still some work to do there, as they sit eighth at the moment, but Sunday's clash with Angers presents a chance to rise up the table even more.
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Juventus will still be reeling from Thursday's Coppa Italia loss to Atalanta. In Turin, a 3-0 defeat doesn't just sting - it demands a response.
That response won't come easily. Weston McKennie and Juve now face a brutal run, starting with Lazio this weekend before a looming showdown with Inter on Feb. 14. It's a season-defining stretch, one that will reveal whether this Juventus side is a genuine Serie A title contender or a team destined to slide into the familiar scrap for European places.
We may get an answer to that this week. McKennie has been a revelation, of course, but the club currently sits fourth in a crowded Serie A. They're just five points behind second-place Milan, but just four points ahead of sixth-place Como. There's room to rise or fall, but that'll depend on results. A win against Lazio this weekend will restore spirits ahead of next week's match against Inter. A loss would set off panic, particularly knowing how tough the next one will be, too.
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Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta will make the final decision on whether to undergo surgery on a knee injury.
A deal to sell the 28-year-old to AC Milan for a fee of around £30million fell through on transfer deadline day, with the Italian side pulling out partly due to concerns over his knee which were flagged during a medical.
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Palace manager Oliver Glasner says a call on whether to continue managing the problem or seek a longer-term solution will be taken by Mateta after a final medical opinion has been sought, with the striker's hopes of making France's World Cup squad this summer in the balance.
“If you visit three doctors, you have three opinions,” Glasner said in his press conference before Sunday's Premier League match with Brighton & Hove Albion. “This is what we have right now — one from English, Italian and French, and we get another one from German doctor JP trusted when he had knee surgery as a Mainz player.
“He will see one more doctor on Monday and we all sit together and take a final decision. We can either manage it like we have been, but the most important thing is to say there is no risk, then we can manage the knee until after the World Cup. This is especially what JP is considering, his dream of playing for France at the World Cup, or he can undergo surgery.
“Surgery could mean he's out for two, three months or six to nine months.”
Mateta has been managing the problem since November, with Palace choosing not to risk him in their FA Cup third round defeat by Macclesfield in January due to their artificial pitch.
Glasner said he believes Mateta, their top scorer with eight Premier League goals this season, will miss the next two games against Brighton and Burnley regardless of the surgery decision, but he would be able to reintegrate into the squad without any problem after his failed move.
“It was not a big surprise that he could fail (the medical), we all considered and knew this could happen and he knew it,” Glasner said. “If you play for two and a half months with a swollen knee and have to be managed… we all knew there is an issue with his knee. He wasn't pleased.”
Glasner continued: “If he doesn't undergo surgery and the knee is OK he will train with us and has to fight for his place in the team like everyone else, but he's fine with it, he's a great guy.
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“To deal with disappointment takes a few days. But I had a good talk with him and I'm pretty sure everything will be fine.”
Palace signed three players during the winter window, breaking their transfer record twice in acquiring Brennan Johnson from Tottenham Hotspur for £35m and Jorgen Strand Larsen for an initial £43m from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
They failed to bring in a centre-back, however, having sold captain Marc Guehi to Manchester City for £20m, while they withdrew from a deal to sign Everton midfielder Dwight McNeil late on deadline day.
“Everyone's wish at the club would have been that JP gets what he wants, we get Jorgen and Dwight McNeil into the building and a Marc Guehi replacement,” Glasner said.
“The club tried everything with huge bids out for a Marc Guehi replacement but the (other) club said ‘no we don't sell on deadline day'.
“Credit to the club that without getting money for JP they spent this big fee on Strand Larsen. McNeil was the last one we all expected we could finalise but the last minutes the terms of the deal changed again. I'm not really involved in the terms but this is what I was told.
“I already planned for the next day's training with him involved. One or two hours before he's doing the medical, he should be our player, because we wanted to add a left footer in attack with great set plays.
“But things changed and to get a deal done you need two clubs, the player and the agent. As soon as one of these four parties isn't happy the deal can fail.”
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Matt Woosnam is the Crystal Palace writer for The Athletic. He also covers topics surrounding climate and environmental sustainability in sport. Matt previously worked as a freelance writer for the South London Press and MailOnline. Follow Matt on Twitter @MattWoosie
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has been discussing his retirement plans, with the Dutch defender being asked about whether he sees himself as a manager or pundit. There is still plenty left for the Premier League title winner to achieve before the day comes for boots to be hung up for the final time. He wants to continue inspiring the next generation across the present and future.
Van Dijk took a scenic route to the top of the world game, passing through Groningen, Celtic and Southampton before ending up at Anfield in January 2018 for a £75 million ($102m) transfer fee. He has won domestic and Champions League crowns with Liverpool.
The Reds have endured a slight wobble this season, after spending heavily in the summer of 2025, and have attracted criticism as a result. Van Dijk found himself embroiled in a verbal back and forth with Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney at one stage.
Speaking to another Red Devils great, Gary Neville, Van Dijk has told Sky Sports of the need for former players to be more considerate when offering their opinion on stars of today: “For me personally, I can deal with it, but I'm a bit worried for the next generation. I feel like the ex-top players have a responsibility to the new generation.
“Criticism is absolutely normal and part of the game, and I think it should stay that way. But sometimes criticism also goes into being clickbait, saying things to provoke things, and without thinking about the repercussions for a mental side of players, and especially the younger generation, who are constantly on social media. You can say, 'yeah, you shouldn't be on social media' - that's what I've mentioned [to them] loads of times.
“There is always this thing of when you play a good game, younger players check all the positive praises, but when you have a worse game, and you're getting bullied all over social media or you're getting bad criticism, it can really affect you. I've seen that in certain players in the past, and currently as well, because it's just not easy.
“It's going to get worse and worse because the platforms nowadays, with the clickbait and the headlines, everyone is on it constantly. I feel like especially the ex-pros, top players who have been through everything as well, they have this responsibility of protecting a little bit of that side as well. That's something maybe to look at.”
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With that in mind, Van Dijk said when asked if he could move into punditry - or whether a stint in the dugout might appeal: “I'd never say never, because I feel like I have that platform of saying or doing the right thing, but I don't see myself being a pundit.
“I don't think I see myself being a coach. I feel like you're stepping from one world in terms of being under pressure constantly - not that I don't like it because it's part of what I wanted to be - to then quitting for a little bit and then go back in it, and then also have no control really of what's going to happen on the pitch.
“I really like inspiring the next generation. I'm at the academy quite a lot because I feel like those are the guys that are eventually going to keep Liverpool up there. I have my own youth tournament and I want to make sure it's the biggest U13s tournament in the world, so something with that. I know what it brings to those youngsters, and I really like that. But let's see, there's plenty of time.”
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For now, Van Dijk is focused on helping Liverpool to end the 2025-26 campaign as positively as possible - as they remain in the hunt for Champions League and FA Cup glory alongside a push for top-four finishes in the Premier League.
Asked if the Reds need to have elite European competition on their schedule for next season, Anfield skipper Van Dijk said: “100 per cent, because I want to play Champions League football and everyone else wants to as well. But going into my last season [of his current contract], I need to play Champions League football, so we're working very hard to make sure that we do that.
“I still feel this season could still be special, even after all the difficulties we had over the summer, during the first part of the season and with injuries. We're in the Champions League, we're in the FA Cup still, so we'll see what happens. But we need consistency, we need to work, we need to enjoy it as well, because we are very privileged to be able to go out there every time, represent the club and play good football.”
Liverpool will face another stern test of their credentials on Sunday when playing host to Manchester City - with that contest set to see Van Dijk lock horns again with prolific Norwegian striker Erling Haaland. Arne Slot's side enter the latest round of top-flight fixtures sat sixth in the Premier League table.
Manchester United are once again weighing up their long-term options in the dugout as the search for Ruben Amorim's permanent successor continues. While Michael Carrick appears to have steadied the ship, the shadow of Zinedine Zidane looms large over Old Trafford. The legendary former Real Madrid manager has been out of work for years, but Wes Brown believes the lure of the Premier League may tempt him.
United find themselves at another pivotal crossroads as the 2025-26 season enters its final stretch. The turbulent era of Amorim has left the board searching for a leader who can finally bring sustained stability to a club that has become synonymous with managerial turnover. While Michael Carrick has performed admirably as the interim head coach, restoring a sense of calm and identity to the squad with three straight wins, the lure of a high-profile manager remains a constant topic of conversation within the corridors of Old Trafford.
Among the elite names consistently linked with the vacancy is Zidane. The Frenchman has been away from the touchline since his second departure from Real Madrid in 2021, and his continued unemployment remains one of football's greatest enigmas. Zidane has famously rejected numerous advances from Europe's top clubs over the last five years, with many insiders suggesting he has been waiting specifically for the France national team job after the World Cup. However, with the international setup remaining stable for now, the question is whether the three-time Champions League winner could finally be persuaded to test himself in the unique crucible of the Premier League.
Former United defender Brown believes that the club's history of appointing high-profile managers makes the current search particularly difficult. Speaking to BettingLounge, Brown identified Zidane as the dream candidate to take the reins if the club decides to move in a different direction this summer. For Brown, the Frenchman possesses the specific aura and personality required to command a dressing room that has seen several high-profile coaches come and go without success.
"United have had so many big name managers that it's tough," Brown explained. "I'd throw Zinedine Zidane in there. I'd love that. But again, it is about personalities." Brown's endorsement of Zidane stems from the belief that a manager of his stature would not only demand immediate respect from the players but also provide the fans with the world-class appointment they have craved. However, the ex-England international also cautioned that any new appointment must be perfectly aligned with the club's structure to avoid the friction that has plagued previous regimes.
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One of the primary concerns for any overseas appointment at Old Trafford is the lack of prior experience in the English top flight. Brown pointed to the struggles of recent managers who arrived from foreign leagues and found the adaptation process difficult. Both Erik ten Hag and Amorim struggled to maintain consistency and avoid internal conflict, leading to their eventual departures. Brown believes the board must learn from these "disputes" to ensure the next permanent manager is ready from day one.
"Is it going to work getting in someone who's not worked in the Premier League? I think that's a big one too," Brown noted. "You don't want to be in the same position as we were with Erik ten Hag or Ruben Amorim. You can't be having disputes along the way. It has to be clear from day one what the situation is, what the setup is, and I think that's very important going forward."
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Despite the glamour associated with names like Zidane, the man currently in the seat is making it increasingly difficult for the board to look elsewhere. Carrick's transition from coach to interim manager has been met with widespread approval from the supporters, who see him as a link to the club's most successful era. Brown admitted that while something clearly went wrong behind the scenes with Amorim, Carrick has done enough to prove he is more than just a temporary fix.
"Obviously there was something going on behind the scenes with Ruben that wasn't correct, and then you have to get rid of another manager. It doesn't work," Brown concluded. "We won't get carried away about Michael but at the same time I think the majority of fans would say he's doing a great job, and a good enough job to stay on."
A coalition of immigrant and civil rights groups issued a travel alert for international tourists traveling to the United States, "particularly in Florida," warning that their rights, liberty, and physical security could potentially be in danger.
The coalition includes the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, the Florida Immigrant Coalition, the American Friends Service Committee, the Family Action Network Movement, and Semillas de Colombia. The travel alert, which was issued on Wednesday, Feb. 4, advised people to "reconsider travel to the state."
The alert was issued in response to what the groups called multiple cases of tourists and U.S. citizens being detained for immigration enforcement purposes. The statewide travel alert is primarily focused on FIFA World Cup fans who are considering coming to Florida for the matches this year.
“Florida is no longer a safe destination for international tourists," said Tessa Petit, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition. "When federal and local agents can detain anyone at anytime without cause and without identifying themselves, everyone is at risk."
Petit added, "International visitors must ask themselves if a soccer match is worth the risk of being kidnapped and jailed until God-knows-when, in deplorable conditions, by a secret police who is using racial profiling, judging people for how they look or their accent, and getting away with literal murder in the streets of our country."
The immigrant and civil rights groups are concerned about international fans planning to travel to Florida for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which begins in June.
Throngs of soccer fans from around the world are expected to descend on the United States for the various matches, including seven scheduled in South Florida.
The groups said "enforcement tactics threaten to place international fans and delegations at risk — especially people of color, visitors from Latin America, Africa, and Asia, and dual-nationals who could be targeted or questioned without cause."
The advisory urges travelers to:
Civil rights leaders gathered outside FIFA's offices near Miami on Thursday, Feb. 5, warning international travelers that “Florida is no longer safe” and calling on the sports organization to take action against recent immigration tactics before the World Cup.
During the news conference, speakers stopped short of calling for a boycott of FIFA but instead encouraged the organization to take action before the June matches begin.
The Florida games will be held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. They include key group stage matches featuring Portugal vs. Colombia, Saudi Arabia vs. Uruguay, and Uruguay vs. Cape Verde in June.
The state will also host group stage clashes, such as Brazil vs. Scotland, plus a Round of 32 match, a quarterfinal game, and the third-place match in July.
Mark Pieth, a Swiss attorney who chaired an oversight committee on FIFA reform, has urged fans to skip the World Cup.
"There's only one piece of advice for fans," he told the Swiss newspaper Der Bund. "Stay away from the USA! You'll see it better on TV anyway. And upon arrival, fans should expect that if they don't please officials, they'll be put straight on the next flight home. If they're lucky."
Sepp Blatter, the ex-FIFA president, wrote on social media, "I think Mark Pieth is right to question this World Cup."
Contributing: Hal Habib, Palm Beach Post; Rob Landers, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida
Michelle Spitzer is a journalist for The USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA. As the network's Rapid Response reporter, she covers Florida's breaking news. You can get all of Florida's best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://floridatoday.com/newsletters.
At TOI World Desk, our dedicated team of seasoned journalists and passionate writers tirelessly sifts through the vast tapestry of global events to bring you the latest news and diverse perspectives round the clock. With an unwavering commitment to accuracy, depth, and timeliness, we strive to keep you informed about the ever-evolving world, delivering a nuanced understanding of international affairs to our readers. Join us on a journey across continents as we unravel the stories that shape our interconnected world.Read More
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As World Cup ticket prices soar, an industry expert warns that FIFA's premium-first pricing strategy risks empty stadiums, alienated fans, and a tournament that feels increasingly out of reach for the supporters who give the World Cup its meaning.
The noise around World Cup ticket prices is getting louder by the day, as fans race against the clock to organize flights, find places to stay, and secure seats in the stadium. For many, FIFA's push into the U.S. market feels less like a celebration of the game and more like a hard sell, leaving a growing sense of frustration among traditional supporters. With dynamic pricing and third-party resellers driving costs higher, the overall expense quickly spirals out of control.
Including inflated accommodation prices, along with flights that can reach close to $2,000 per ticket from countries like Uruguay, a family of four can easily be looking at a $15,000 outlay before even arriving in the host nation. That reality raises an uncomfortable question: who is the World Cup really being priced for? It is clearly no longer designed for the die-hard fan, but instead for a “be there at any cost” audience, effectively locking many supporters out of attending matches.
At present, face-value group stage tickets generally range from around $140 to well over $2,700, while seats for the final stretch from roughly $4,185 to nearly $8,700.
This approach stands in stark contrast to UEFA's strategy for EURO 2028, which is built around transparency, fixed pricing, and broad access. By delaying sales until the draw is complete, reserving over 40% of tickets in the lowest price categories, banning dynamic pricing and limiting resale to face value, UEFA is offering a clear alternative to the World Cup's increasingly exclusive ticketing model.
Urban Pitch spoke with Jim McCarthy, CEO of Impresario Strategic, a veteran of more than 25 years in live event ticket sales who specializes in helping football clubs boost attendance and revenue through tailored, multi-year strategies. McCarthy currently works with clubs across Scotland, Australia, and the United States, focusing on understanding each market's specific dynamics while refining pricing models, venue configuration, and the overall fan experience.
In our conversation, McCarthy addresses growing concerns around the FIFA World Cup's expanded format and elevated ticket prices, particularly for lower-profile group stage matches that risk empty seats and weakened atmosphere. He believes FIFA has misread early-stage demand by pricing too aggressively, a sharp contrast to later rounds where interest and scarcity naturally support premium pricing.
Urban Pitch: In your view, what did FIFA get wrong with their World Cup ticket pricing?
Jim McCarthy: FIFA's main mistake with World Cup ticketing was treating the entire tournament as if every match carried final-level demand. With more than 100 games in an expanded format, only the later rounds truly justify premium pricing. While finals and semifinals will always sell at high prices due to limited supply and massive demand, many group stage and Round of 32 matches simply don't have that same pull.
By setting high prices early on, FIFA failed to properly account for the real market value of lower-profile games. Asking fans to pay hundreds of dollars for non-marquee group matches is unrealistic for most supporters and doesn't reflect actual demand. As a result, unless prices adjust, the risk is clear: empty seats in the early stages, weaker atmospheres, and a tournament that looks less full until the later rounds, when demand naturally takes over.
Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Would that not be a major failure for the United States, given how much they hyped this World Cup and how in 1994, every match was sold out?
I think it's critical that this doesn't happen, which is why FIFA needs to keep adjusting its approach. From what I can tell, some changes are already being made, but those adjustments will have to continue across the board to better reflect reality. The challenge is that application numbers don't always translate into actual ticket purchases, and without full transparency, it's hard to know how strong real demand truly is.
If we look at the recent Club World Cup as a reference point, the parallels are clear. It was a relatively new tournament in the U.S., pricing was set aggressively, and the outcome was uneven: a handful of matches drew massive crowds, while many others were played in front of large sections of empty seats. I personally attended PSG vs. Atlético Madrid at the Rose Bowl with over 80,000 fans, and the atmosphere was fantastic, but plenty of other games simply didn't generate that level of interest.
The expanded 48-team World Cup carries a similar risk. We've never seen a group stage this spread out in terms of quality and traditional rivalries, and there's no real “group of death” this time around. While it's great to see more nations represented, the reality is that many group-stage matchups will be less compelling to the average fan. People do want to attend World Cup matches, but not at any price.
At the end of the day, no organization is bigger than the market. You can't force demand where it doesn't exist, and if pricing is off, fans will simply stay away. That's why further adjustments feel inevitable as the tournament approaches — because FIFA cannot afford a World Cup where empty seats become a recurring image, especially in the early stages.
Even if prices go down, logistically, travel could be a nightmare for people coming overseas or traveling within the United States, who need to secure tickets, accommodations, and in many cases airfare. Is the tournament losing time to get these issues resolved?
Yes, I agree completely, and I don't think the approach they took was the right one. If it were up to me, I would have done the opposite: start with lower prices and gradually raise them where demand clearly justified it. That way, you can test the market in a controlled way: release a small amount of inventory for a match like Paraguay vs. Australia, see what sells and what doesn't, and adjust accordingly. If certain sections move quickly, you raise prices slightly; if others lag, you lower them. That kind of measured, data-driven approach can be done well in advance and gives you a much clearer read on real demand.
What makes this even more important is that World Cup ticket buying isn't like selling a normal match. Fans are also weighing flights, accommodation, and time off work, so pricing has to account for much bigger logistical and financial decisions. That's why I believe the overall pricing strategy has been flawed, unless, of course, tickets are selling far better than it appears, which I don't think is the case. Looking back at the Club World Cup, the same pattern emerged: not every match struggled, but many could have performed far better with a smarter mix of pricing, stadium selection and kickoff times.
Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images
Venue, schedule, and price, work together to determine whether crowds show up, and in a tournament like the World Cup, full stadiums matter. The atmosphere, the global image and the sense of occasion are all part of what makes the World Cup special, and empty seats undermine that. With the Club World Cup, the priority should have been filling stadiums to build momentum, history, and emotional buy-in for a new competition, rather than chasing premium prices too early. To FIFA's credit, attendance improved as the tournament progressed and the matchups became more attractive, but they clearly underestimated how much certain teams drive demand, and how much that should influence pricing from the start.
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
From McCarthy's point of view, the takeaway is straightforward: treating the World Cup as a premium product from the very start is a risky strategy. A tournament with more than 100 matches requires a far more balanced approach, one that clearly separates the true marquee moments from early group stage games with more limited appeal. When prices don't reflect that reality, the risk goes beyond unsold tickets — it leads to empty seats that dilute the atmosphere, weaken the television product, and strip away some of the emotion that defines the World Cup.
That concern feels even sharper given how central this tournament has been positioned to the growth of the sport in the United States. Yet current pricing appears to do little to include the everyday fans who regularly attend MLS matches or follow the game week in and week out. With travel costs already stretching budgets, especially for international supporters, the margin for error is shrinking fast. As McCarthy emphasizes, fans are willing to show up when pricing, logistics, and value align. In the end, full stadiums matter more than squeezing out maximum revenue, and if FIFA hopes to recapture the spirit of 1994, a more flexible, market-aware ticketing strategy isn't just advisable, it's necessary.
Interview edited for clarity and brevity.
GHANA Sports Minister Kofi Adams has boldly declared the Black Stars will TOP their World Cup group, despite being drawn alongside England, Croatia and Panama.
The Three Lions are heavy favourites to finish first in Group L and they kick off their campaign against Croatia in Dallas before facing Ghana in Boston, with their final group game taking place in New Jersey.
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But Adams, the man who masterminded Ghana's qualification, insists England should beware, and says he cannot wait to face them in competitive action for the first time.
He told SunSport: “We know England are giants when it comes to football, but so is Ghana.
“Historically, we have always done well when we play big countries at the World Cup.
“Our aim is to prepare so well, leaving no stone unturned, that we don't just qualify from the group, we finish TOP.
“Our players are competing in the best leagues in Europe and we already have a clear plan.
“We know how to win this group, and I'm really looking forward to playing England because we believe we are in the same league as them.”
Ghana have already lined up FOUR major warm-up matches ahead of the tournament, starting next month with a clash against Austria.
They will then face Germany, a side they believe play a similar style to England.
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Two further friendlies are still to be confirmed, but SunSports understands one will take place in the USA just days before the World Cup kicks off.
The Black Stars also feel conditions could play into their hands, with matches set to be played in high temperatures.
England boss Thomas Tuchel has already hinted he may be forced into extreme measures – including keeping substitutes in the dressing room, to manage hydration.
And Ghanaians believe Senegal's famous friendly win over the Three Lions last year can be repeated, with boss Otto Addo confident his side can spring another major upset.
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Carvajal has only spent one season away from Madrid, when he was at Bayer Leverkusen Pedro Loureiro/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
To talk about Dani Carvajal is to talk about the history of Real Madrid.
The right-back joined their La Fabrica academy aged 10 in 2002. In May 2004, he laid the first stone of the Valdebebas training ground alongside club legend Alfredo di Stefano.
He has spent 23 years at Madrid and could become the player with the most Champions League titles in history if he wins his seventh. The 34-year-old could also complete a clean sweep of career trophies if he adds the World Cup with Spain this summer.
But with his contract running out at the end of June, his future at Madrid is up in the air.
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Sources within the club and close to the player, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, have discussed the situation with The Athletic.
He has been key to winning six Champions Leagues (an achievement shared by only four others in history: Paco Gento, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, and Nacho Fernandez). He has won 27 titles with Madrid, including four La Liga titles and the Copa del Rey twice.
Carvajal has been a reliable asset in defence and attack in his 438 appearances across 12 full seasons with the first team and has been described by those in the dressing room as a great leader.
As captain, and due to his personality, he commands respect from the squad. This includes rivals for the right-back position, such as Trent Alexander-Arnold, who holds him in high esteem.
Carvajal is described by the same sources as a model of leadership that is being lost with the ongoing transition at Madrid. New leaders, such as Federico Valverde, are described as less talkative and softer.
His importance has been heightened by the lack of leadership since the departure of legends such as Karim Benzema, Kroos and Modric over the past three years.
Carvajal's career path — he was sold to Bayer Leverkusen in 2012, but Madrid took advantage of a buyback clause to bring him home the following year after an impressive campaign in Germany — has even given rise to a shorthand term for others doing the same: the via Carvajal (the Carvajal route).
In recent weeks, sources close to the captain have expressed some doubts and described a possible contract renewal as complicated, because he has not fully recovered physically in the last two seasons.
Carvajal tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in a match against Villarreal in October 2024 and had an operation that same month, with Madrid also renewing his contract by a year to June 2026.
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A few weeks later, according to those close to him, he said he was feeling like a “bull”. He was advised to take it easy, but he was set on recovering in time to play in last summer's Club World Cup. In the end, he only featured for 19 minutes from the bench in Madrid's 4-0 semi-final defeat by Paris Saint-Germain.
This season, Carvajal finally recovered fully to return to his regular starting position. Sources close to him said they expected him to be a starter, despite Alexander-Arnold's arrival from Liverpool. However, the captain suffered two injuries (one to his calf and the other to his knee) that have prevented him from playing consistently, and he has only appeared in 10 matches (470 minutes).
Sources from the staff of former head coach Xabi Alonso, who was sacked last month, praise Carvajal for his physique and dedication, but say they see him as a player who can take time to recover fully from injury.
Under Alonso's replacement, Alvaro Arbeloa, Carvajal has yet to start (he has only played 18 minutes against Albacete in the Copa del Rey and 14 minutes against Monaco in the Champions League). However, his former team-mate and now coach has always defended his value in public and in private.
“With Carvajal, my main objective is for him to have continuity,” said Arbeloa at the press conference before Madrid's match against Rayo Vallecano on January 30. “My goal is for him to have that continuity in training, to be able to accumulate minutes, and to not suffer a relapse from injury.”
After the game, which Madrid won 2-1, Carvajal posted an Instagram story of himself training and left the following message: “Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to maintain a good attitude while waiting.” He has been in training since January 4 and expects to return to the starting XI eventually.
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According to sources close to the player, it is too early to make a decision about his future. He would like to continue at Madrid and is waiting for the club to get in contact, and he thinks there will not be any issues with a renewal.
The club describes him as an “institution”. That is why they do not consider it a standard renewal, and he would not have to wait to talk to the club at the end of the season. They insist any decision will be a “mutual agreement”.
Last Christmas, Carvajal and his family visited his brother-in-law and former Madrid striker Joselu, who plays for Al Gharafa in Qatar. Although Carvajal was welcomed and presented with a shirt, various sources close to the Madrid captain deny that he has agreed a deal to join Al Gharafa.
In an interview with The Athletic just before his serious injury in 2024, Carvajal acknowledged for the first time that the United States, Qatar and Saudi Arabia could be his next step. In principle, this remains his idea, but only if he cannot continue at Madrid. He would also not want to end up at a club that could possibly face Madrid.
So, with all options still on the table, we will see in the coming months what the future holds for one of Madrid's iconic players of modern times.
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Guillermo began his career covering Real Madrid and the sports industry for Diario AS. He later moved to London and became AS and Cadena Ser correspondent. He has since returned to Madrid and joins us at The Athletic where he will deliver Real Madrid news, interviews, stories, and more. Follow Guillermo on Twitter @GuillermoRai_
Karim Benzema became caught up in an angry exchange with a journalist following his stunning debut for Al-Hilal. The veteran French striker has sparked remarkable scenes in the Saudi Pro League - with Cristiano Ronaldo going on strike - after completing a free transfer. Benzema has refuted suggestions that he left Al-Ittihad without saying goodbye to his former team-mates.
At 38 years of age, ex-Real Madrid star Benzema is taking on a new challenge. He followed former Santiago Bernabeu colleague Ronaldo to the Middle East in 2023, with a lucrative contract being signed on the back of landing a prestigious Ballon d'Or.
Benzema was a prolific presence for Al-Ittihad, hitting over 50 goals for them, but saw a contract dispute lead to him being removed from short-term plans. A move across Saudi Arabia was quickly lined up.
The five-time Champions League winner has made an immediate impact in new surroundings, with a hat-trick being recorded on debut in a 6-0 mauling of Al-Akhdoud. That win has taken Al-Hilal three points clear at the top of the Saudi Pro League - with a four-point advantage being held over Ronaldo and Al-Nassr.
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Despite having plenty to smile about on the field, Benzema cut a frustrated figure when being asked about his controversial move at the full-time whistle.
He said: “Do you want to talk about the game or do you want to talk about that? Talk about the game. It was a nice performance. I feel good. With these kind of players on this team, we play and fight together.”
Pressed on whether he was insinuating that Al-Hilal players help him more than those at Al-Ittihad did, Benzema snapped back with: “I didn't say that. I said I feel good - it's different.”
After being asked why he did not say farewell to those that he has left behind in Jeddah, Benzema said: “What? You know? You know? Ask them.”
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While Benzema is feeling a little flustered at present, the same can be said of Portuguese superstar Ronaldo. He has taken to going on strike at Al-Nassr. He sat out a derby date with Al-Riyadh and is expected to miss a top-of-the-table clash with Al-Ittihad on Friday.
The Saudi Pro League has clapped back at the all-time great and his complaints regarding the distribution of transfer funds and how certain teams are run by saying in an official statement: “The Saudi Pro League is structured around a simple principle: every club operates independently under the same rules. Clubs have their own boards, their own executives and their own football leadership.
“Decisions on recruitment, spending and strategy sit with those clubs, within a financial framework designed to ensure sustainability and competitive balance. That framework applies equally across the league.”
Benzema is now embracing a fresh start in Saudi Arabia, but questions are being asked of Ronaldo's future. He has a release clause in his record-breaking contract that can be triggered this summer and is being linked with clubs around the world.
The Ball is Round. The Place is Philly.
Photo courtesy @USYNT Twitter
The United States' Men's Under-17 National Team began its 2026 World Cup Qualifying campaign with a dominant 8-0 victory against Saint Vincent & the Grenadines.
The match was the USA's first step toward qualifying for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar, which will feature 48 teams and will be staged this coming November. Eight group winners from across Concacaf will qualify for the tournament, and the U.S. is aiming for a record 20th appearance on the world stage. The winner of each group advances to the 48-team Under-17 World Cup in a process that runs annually, allowing more players to be involved.
In these CONCACAF youth qualifiers, it is very important to build a somewhat ridiculous goal differential over the weaker sides in the group. Last year, the US U-17s beat the US Virgin Islands 22-0.
With the new calendar year, the team consists of players born on or after January 1, 2009.
Philadelphia Union II's Malik Jakupovic and Union Academy goalkeeper Matthew White are a part of the camp. Union II's Willyam Ferreria was named as an alternate and participated in training ahead of the matches. PSP colleague Tim Jones' visit to Union II training on February 2nd confirmed that Ferreira returned to Philadelphia and most likely has traveled to Clearwater with the rest of the available Union II team.
As anticipated, the opening minutes were marked by a barrage of attacking pressure from the United States, which found the opener through a half volley by the LA Galaxy's Aaron Medina in the sixth minute. PSV Eindhoven's William Ostrander had the assist with a selfless header played to the forward from within the six-yard box.
Medina had a second in the 15th minute on the end of a low ball by San Jose's KK Spivey, but the goal was called an own goal by Saint Vincent's Damarion Peterson.
Medina's brace came in the 29th minute, when Ostrander collected a ball spilled by Saint Vincent's keeper, David Butler, and played it centrally to make it 3-0. Medina was calm with the right-footed tap-in.
The forward earned his hat trick in the 37th minute with a headed goal on the end of a cross from his Galaxy teammate Max Steelman. Ostrander played the long ball across the pitch for the secondary assist.
Saint Vincent had a few hopeful attacking chances, but all of them sputtered out as soon as they were able to get the ball into the United States' defensive third.
Saint Vincent's Jolanson Charles saw the first booking of the match for a hard challenge on Liam Vejrostek at midfield.
Ostrander almost made it five in stoppage time, but his shot somehow came off the inside of the post and into the hands of the Saint Vincent keeper.
Saint Vincent made two changes at the break.
The United States got the fifth through Red Bull New York's Paul Sokoloff after some technical dribbling by Ostrander on the left wing.
Following that goal, Malik Jakupovic and Mattheo Dimareli entered for Medina and Ostrander.
Sokoloff scored again with a header on a well-taken corner kick by Dimareli, who had just entered.
Malik Jakupovic scored his inevitable goal on a free kick played in by Sokoloff to make it seven. After that one, Sokoloff and Steelman made way for Vincente Garcia and Myles Gardner.
Jakupovic made it eight in the 87th thanks to a low cross by Myles Gardner.
The U17MNT will play its next qualifying match in two days against Saint Kitts and Nevis, on Saturday, February 7th, at 7 PM EST. The match will be available live on FS2. They finish the qualifying against the Dominican Republic on Tuesday, February 10th at 1 PM.
Three Points:
Lineups
James Donaldson; Prince Forfor, Liam Vejrostek, Tyson Espy, Daniel Barrett, Peter Molinari (Landry Walker– 77'), KK Spivey, Paul Sokoloff (Vicente Garcia– 72'), Will Ostrander (Mattheo Dimareli– 62'), Aaron Medina (Malik Jakupovic– 62'), Max Steelman (Myles Gardner– 72')
Unused subs: Matthew White; Keller Abbott, Eddie Chadwick, Astin Mbaye, Roko Pehar
Saint Vincent & The Grenadines
David Butler; Shemron Gaymes (Adam Pierre– 64'), Jonathan Keizer (Glenrick Hazell– 84'), Xavroy Barbour, Damarion Peterson, Javier Friday, Reggie Barbour (Beau Hoyte– 46'), Gideon Bess (Julian Hendrickson– 46'), Jolanson Charles, Daemar Michael, Jaymar Williams
Unused Subs: Luke Duncan, Emon Gil, Dinesh Grant, Joshua King, Mario Jr Taylor
USA: Medina– 6'
USA: Peterson (Own goal)– 15'
USA: Medina– 29'
USA: Medina– 37'
USA: Sokoloff– 61'
USA: Sokoloff- 66'
USA: Jakupovic- 71'
USA: Jakupovic– 87'
VIN: Charles– 44'
VIN: X. Barbour– 68'
VIN: Pierre– 70'
Referee: Micah Erskine
Alex is a lifelong Union fan who played club soccer up until high school. He's now an English major at Immaculata University and plans to pursue sports journalism.
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FOXBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - The FIFA World Cup games scheduled to kick off at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough this summer could face trouble as town officials are asking the federation to cover nearly $8 million in security costs, according to Foxborough town officials.
At a select Board meeting this week, town officials said there is millions of dollars in security costs needed up front.
“We're not in a position to put forward 7.8 million dollars up front and hope to be reimbursed,” said Paige Duncan, Foxborough Town Manager.
Officials said without this funding, they will not be issued a license for the matches.
“It's not up to the Town of Foxborough to support or pay for any of this,” said Bill Yukna, Foxborough Select Board Chair. “As our chiefs are the ones responsible for the security and safety of the facilities, their needs need to be met or this cannot be an event that moves forward.”
The World Cup is just four months away, and is expected to bring in millions of dollars in revenue and travelers from all over the world. Gillette Stadium has already begun preparing the field, replacing the artificial turf with real grass.
Fans said they hope the funding issue can be resolved so the matches can go on as planned.
“I can't imagine that happening now with all the planning that's already been done and in place,” said Jim Hurley.
In a statement, the town of Foxborough told 7NEWS, “Foxborough supports the World Cup and wants to be a successful host community. However, the taxpayers of Foxborough cannot and will not be responsible for funding an international sporting event.”
The World Cup's host committee said, “We are working closely with FIFA, the stadium, and the town of Foxboro to reach an agreement.”
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Trump touts record-breaking ticket sales ahead of World Cup
A group of immigrant and civil rights organizations issued a travel advisory on Thursday warning foreign tourists to reconsider travel to Florida for FIFA World Cup matches over the government's illegal immigration enforcement tactics and detention centers like "Alligator Alcatraz" in the Sunshine State.
The advisory suggested fans visiting from other countries carry IDs and register travel with their consulate before coming to the U.S. for the tournament, which kicks off in June.
"Recent reporting and civil-rights litigation document growing instances in which visitors, tourists, lawful residents, and even U.S. citizens have been detained, questioned, held in immigration custody, or removed from the United States following encounters with federal immigration enforcement and local law enforcement acting under expansive immigration partnerships," the alert said, citing enforcement actions in Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis' moves to have local police partner with federal immigration officials.
The organizations also pointed to alleged instances in which tourists or U.S. citizens were detained.
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A group of immigrant and civil rights organizations issued a travel advisory warning foreign tourists to reconsider travel to Florida for FIFA World Cup matches. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
In a press conference outside FIFA's downtown offices near Miami, the groups said they were not calling for a boycott, but they would not take it off the table in the future as fans prepare to visit the city.
"We're using this opportunity to really urge visitors and tourists to have a calculated move about whether or not they're going to come," Yareliz Mendez-Zamora, coordinator for American Friends Service Committee, a social justice and humanitarian nonprofit, said at the press conference.
Others, including former FIFA President Sepp Blatter, have warned fans against traveling to the U.S. for the games over the Trump administration's immigration policies.
The coalition warned that travelers could face increased enforcement during what they described as an aggressive immigration crackdown under the current administration.
"We're just warning people of the risks … under an environment where every, not just law enforcement agency but state agency, has been deputized to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement," said Thomas Kennedy of the Florida Immigrant Coalition.
The advisory suggested fans visiting from other countries carry IDs and register to travel with their consulate before coming to the U.S. for the tournament. (Christopher Dilts/Getty Images)
"What we don't want is our fans being harassed by immigration enforcement when they're just trying to attend the game," Kennedy continued, adding that he wanted "assurances that there won't be immigration enforcement happening at these games indiscriminately."
Dariel Gomez, a field organizer for the ACLU of Florida, said the groups were not aiming to spread fear or panic but to "offer a sobering reality check" that some people may face racial profiling or be detained.
"Because of these programs a simple traffic stop here in Miami is no longer just a routine interaction, for too many people a simple interaction by police now comes with the fear of deportation," Gomez said.
The groups also raised concerns about the recent instances in Minneapolis in which federal immigrant agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens, as well as the federal government's new travel bans. The Trump administration included some exceptions to the ban for players, coaches and their families, but Haiti and Iran were not covered. Foreign spectators, media and corporate sponsors who wish to attend the events would still be impacted by the ban unless they qualify for another exemption.
STATE DEPT TO START ROLLING OUT FIFA PASS FOR FOREIGN SOCCER FANS LOOKING TO ATTEND WORLD CUP IN US
The coalition cited enforcement actions in Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis' moves to have local police partner with federal immigration officials. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Getty Images)
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who awarded the inaugural "FIFA Peace Prize" to President Donald Trump in December, previously said that "fans from all over the world will be welcome."
The White House has also created a FIFA task force, which includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is a native of Miami.
In December, the White House did not rule out whether immigration raids were possible around the soccer matches this summer, of which seven are scheduled for South Florida.
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Oleksandra Oliynykova saved 21 out of 23 break points en route to upsetting Wang Xinyu at the Transylvania Open to make her first WTA semifinal in just her second main draw. She'll face top seed Emma Raducanu, who defeated Maja Chwalinska in straight sets. Meanwhile, Daria Snigur joined Oliynykova in the semifinals -- making history for Ukraine.
One statistic in particular stands out from Oleksandra Oliynykova's milestone 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 4 seed Wang Xinyu in the Transylvania Open quarterfinals.
The result was the most significant of the 25-year-old's career so far -- it was her first defeat of a Top 50 player, and she advances to her first semifinal on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz as a result. To seal it, Oliynykova saved a remarkable 21 out of 23 break points against her. Her 91.3% rate of break points saved is the highest at tour level since full data began to be kept in 2021.
Cluj-Napoca: Scores | Draws | Order of play
Oliynykova only conceded her serve twice, in the opening game of each set. In the first, she staved off three points to go down a double break at 3-0, and then a further five to hold for 3-2. In the second, she fended off five break points at 2-2 -- one with an underarm serve -- and another two at 2-2.
Afterwards, the Ukrainian linked her resilience in key moments to the perspective brought by living in a country entering its fourth year of war brought on by the Russian invasion of 2022. At the Australian Open, Oliynykova -- whose father is a soldier in the Ukrainian army -- spoke about how the apartment opposite hers had been struck by a drone the night before she departed for her first Grand Slam. Her arrival in Cluj-Napoca this week was nearly stymied when Kyiv was hit by a mass power outage as she was about to catch her train.
"I didn't know this statistic but you know, I'm coming from a country where there is war and you don't know what tomorrow is going to bring," Oliynykova said in her on-court interview.
"So for me, it's so important during such hard times in my country, I learned to enjoy every moment of tennis. In some way I really celebrate the game. I'm doing this for sport, for tennis.
"The key -- not only today, but in general of the progress I've made -- it stopped, to me, to be more important whether I win or lose. I'm happy to win, of course -- it means a lot, but it's not the most important thing. I learned to be in the moment."
Amidst the hard times for Ukraine, Oliynykova and compatriot Daria Snigur also helped write some tennis history for the country. Qualifier Snigur won a 4-6, 6-0, 7-5 thriller over Yuan Yue in Thursday's last quarterfinal, advancing to her first tour-level semifinal as a result. It's also the first time since Ukraine gained independence in 1991 that two Ukrainians have both reached the semifinals of a WTA tournament.
On a more light-hearted note, Oliynykova's "celebration of the game" also extends to the temporary facial decorations that have become her signature aesthetic. In Melbourne, there were flowers; in Cluj-Napoca, a tournament which leans heavily into its Dracula-related branding, Oliynykova has chosen a row of small bats on her cheeks.
"It's thematic," she said with a grin, before explaining that the tournament is a special one for her -- she had entered it for the first time last year, but didn't even make the qualifying cut-off. Now ranked No. 91 and assured of a new career high next week, that's not a problem she'll face again any time soon.
Oliynykova will have the opportunity to keep her dream run in just her second tour-level main draw going when she takes on No. 1 seed Emma Raducanu in the semifinals. The Briton came through a tricky quarterfinal against qualifier Maja Chwalinska 6-0, 6-4, showing controlled aggression to deal with the Pole's defense and finesse.
This time last year, Oliynykova was yet to face a Top 100 opponent. Now, she'll face her second Grand Slam champion within three weeks, having fallen 7-6(6), 6-1 to Madison Keys in the Australian Open first round. However, she has crossed paths with Raducanu before -- indeed, Oliynykova was the second opponent of Raducanu's professional career.
Back in 2018, they played at the lowest rung of the ladder -- the second round of ITF W15 qualifying in Nanjing, China, with a 15-year-old Raducanu making her professional debut. She defeated the 17-year-old Oliynykova 7-6(2), 6-1 before falling to Cao Siqi in the final qualifying round.
Snigur will play the last home hope standing, No. 3 seed Sorana Cirstea, after the Romanian dethroned defending champion and No. 5 seed Anastasia Potapova 7-5, 6-4.
Oleksandra Oliynykova saved 21 out of 23 break points en route to upsetting Wang Xinyu at the Transylvania Open to make her first WTA semifinal in just her second main draw. She'll face top seed Emma Raducanu, who defeated Maja Chwalinska in straight sets. Meanwhile, Daria Snigur joined Oliynykova in the semifinals -- making history for Ukraine.
The International Tennis Hall of Famer is reportedly getting a new sneaker in celebration of one of his most iconic 'fits.ByTENNIS.comPublished Feb 05, 2026 copy_link
Published Feb 05, 2026
© Getty Images
Andre Agassi's fashion game was just as legendary as his backhand, and later this summer, the International Tennis Hall of Famer is reportedly getting a new sneaker in celebration of one of his most iconic 'fits.Read more: Andre Agassi revisits some of his most iconic tennis outfitsAn Agassi-inspired Air Jordan 7 ‘Tennis Day' sneaker will release during the US Open, which Agassi won twice, and will channel the American's vintage Air Tech Challenge 2 sneakers in a Phantom/Lemon Twist/Pink Blast/Anthracite color combination.While official details of the shoe are sparse for now, a new visual mock-up speculates that the new shoe will harken back to one of Agassi's most infamous on-court looks: the popping pink number he wore to reach his first Grand Slam final in Paris in 1990.
Read more: Andre Agassi revisits some of his most iconic tennis outfitsAn Agassi-inspired Air Jordan 7 ‘Tennis Day' sneaker will release during the US Open, which Agassi won twice, and will channel the American's vintage Air Tech Challenge 2 sneakers in a Phantom/Lemon Twist/Pink Blast/Anthracite color combination.While official details of the shoe are sparse for now, a new visual mock-up speculates that the new shoe will harken back to one of Agassi's most infamous on-court looks: the popping pink number he wore to reach his first Grand Slam final in Paris in 1990.
An Agassi-inspired Air Jordan 7 ‘Tennis Day' sneaker will release during the US Open, which Agassi won twice, and will channel the American's vintage Air Tech Challenge 2 sneakers in a Phantom/Lemon Twist/Pink Blast/Anthracite color combination.While official details of the shoe are sparse for now, a new visual mock-up speculates that the new shoe will harken back to one of Agassi's most infamous on-court looks: the popping pink number he wore to reach his first Grand Slam final in Paris in 1990.
While official details of the shoe are sparse for now, a new visual mock-up speculates that the new shoe will harken back to one of Agassi's most infamous on-court looks: the popping pink number he wore to reach his first Grand Slam final in Paris in 1990.
Last year, Agassi dubbed that infamous Roland Garros kit one of his favorites, recalling how it his black denim shorts, hot-pink tights, matching pink-print top and headband, and sneakers famously drew the ire of International Tennis Federation president Philippe Chatrier, also the head of the French tennis federation, at Roland Garros in 1990."At the time, [he] was thinking about bringing in a dress code," Agassi recalled, "so I did what any noble person would do and I called him a bozo in the press conference. That was a little bit regrettable, but it was an honest reaction to someone telling me what I had to wear."The shoes will reportedly retail for $215, and marks the second time that the basketball great's signature shoe has crossed over to the tennis court. In 2014, Nike's Zoom Vapor Tour AJ3 sneaker released as a mash-up of the Air Jordan 3 and Roger Federer's Zoom Vapor 9 model.
"At the time, [he] was thinking about bringing in a dress code," Agassi recalled, "so I did what any noble person would do and I called him a bozo in the press conference. That was a little bit regrettable, but it was an honest reaction to someone telling me what I had to wear."The shoes will reportedly retail for $215, and marks the second time that the basketball great's signature shoe has crossed over to the tennis court. In 2014, Nike's Zoom Vapor Tour AJ3 sneaker released as a mash-up of the Air Jordan 3 and Roger Federer's Zoom Vapor 9 model.
The shoes will reportedly retail for $215, and marks the second time that the basketball great's signature shoe has crossed over to the tennis court. In 2014, Nike's Zoom Vapor Tour AJ3 sneaker released as a mash-up of the Air Jordan 3 and Roger Federer's Zoom Vapor 9 model.
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Oscar Piastri reflects on 'tough lessons' and his goals for 2026
Lando Norris 'proved to myself that I have what it takes' after title success
Lewis Hamilton was in high spirits at the end of a positive Barcelona Shakedown week for Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton has spoken about an “incredibly enthusiastic” mood at Ferrari in the build-up to the 2026 season, with the seven-time World Champion feeling a “winning mentality in every single person more than ever”.
Hamilton and Ferrari enjoyed a solid start to F1's new era of regulations at last week's Barcelona Shakedown – the famous Italian marque working through their programme without major issues and learning plenty about the SF-26 package.
Sharing his reflections afterwards, Hamilton said: “It's been a really enjoyable week, honestly. I think a huge amount of work over the winter, on my personal side, but what the team have done over the winter to make changes going into the test.
“To see the mileage that we've been able to get the last couple of days due to just so much great work from all the people back at the factory, which I'm really grateful for because having consistency, not having problems…
“Of course, there's always small things, but we didn't really have any downtime moments. I'm sure they could potentially come over the next weeks, but otherwise just a really, really solid couple of days.
“We definitely have work to do to improve, of course, like everybody does, but I think we've had great debriefs, everyone's really on it – I really feel the winning mentality in every single person in the team more than ever, so it's a positive.”
Hamilton, who endured a difficult first season at Ferrari, went on to ponder what might lie ahead for himself and the team in 2026 – the Briton pointing out that the latest generation of F1 car “is actually a little bit more fun to drive”.
“Everyone's positive and incredibly enthusiastic,” he made clear. “I mean, we're under no illusions. We know we've got work to do. Mercedes have done great running as well. I think Red Bull and Haas did some great running as well, so we don't really know where we are, but I think it's a solid first week and we can really build from here.
“There may be some big leaps that we're going to need to take, and development's going to be key. Just really making sure we leave no stone unturned, and we're just really clear and concise with our communication and the decisions we take.
“It's going to take all of us to be at our best. I'm just seeing that everyone's really coming with new energy this year, which is great.”
Hamilton and the rest of the F1 field will be back in action in Bahrain next week, as the first of two official pre-season tests gets under way.
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As he prepares for his maiden season in F1, Arvid Lindblad's approach has already impressed the Racing Bulls team.
Racing Bulls' leadership team have praised Arvid Lindblad for his “calm” and “professional” approach during the Barcelona Shakedown, with Team Principal Alan Permane admitting that the rookie's attitude reminds him of Isack Hadjar at the start of last season.
After joining the squad for their livery launch in January, Lindblad gained his initial mileage of the 2026 car during the event in Barcelona, putting in laps during Day 3 and Day 4 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
When quizzed at the end of the week on how impressed he had been by the 18-year-old both on and off the track, Permane answered: “Very impressed with both. He's very calm, he's very cool – nothing seems to faze him.
“He's a little bit like I described Isack last year – he just wants to learn, he just wants to take in as much information as he can. He's asking lots and lots of questions, he's asking lots of advice – how should he do this, how should he do that?
“And then of course we're helping him all the way. The most important thing – the pace – it looks like it's there. The two guys are very similar, so so far so good.”
Chief Technical Officer Tim Goss gave a similar assessment when asked earlier in the week for his take on how Lindblad was settling in, having praised the youngster for how he was handling the 2026 car – made to new technical regulations – so far.
“He's really calm, really professional, feedback is really straightforward,” said Goss. “For someone so young, it's really, really impressive. His session in the car has really just been about getting to grips with this breed of car.
“They're very, very different, not just the general handling of the car but the way you've just got to manage the energy and the energy management, and he's just been really, really cool, calm, professional.
“As we're getting to grips with the balance of the car, his feedback has just been really simple, really clear, so [we're] really, really impressed with him.”
Lindblad and Racing Bulls team mate Liam Lawson will next get behind the wheel of their new challenger when pre-season testing gets underway in Bahrain, with the first test running from February 11-13 while a second takes place across February 18-20.
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By Dominic Patten, Ted Johnson
As a flood of criticism hit Donald Trump over a vile online video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes, the post has suddenly been deleted.
After a rare backtrack for the Roy Cohn-schooled Trump, the White House put the blame for the blatantly racist repost on an over-eager and lower-level aide. Contacted by Deadline, an administration official said Friday, “A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down.”
Nine days into Black History Month, the posting from Trump's Truth Social account was made around midnight ET. The witching hour is a pretty standard time for Trump to jump online, precedent has shown. The deletion comes just hours after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt strongly defended the video, saying, “This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
Watch on Deadline
It should be pointed out there are no apes in The Lion King.
On Friday morning, even Trump loyalists began to speak out against the attack on the former POTUS and FLOTUS, with Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) calling it “the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House.” Scott, who at one time was considered VP material and is running to be governor of South Carolina, was joined in his condemnation by New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler today. “The President's post is wrong and incredibly offensive — whether intentional or a mistake — and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered,” Lawler tweeted.
The Obamas have not yet said anything about the latest attack from Trump, who started his political career trying to undermine the former President's birth and American citizenship.
Among other Democrats, the response was quick and blunt. Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett summed up what many in her party in Congress and in governors mansions said Friday.
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“A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down.”
Yeah, right. Do they actually think we're going to believe their lies?
This is a distraction from the other distractions.
“ The most racist thing I have seen coming out of this White House “ , thanks Scott for acknowledging not just this racist post, but that others have come from this administration/Trump. Yet you have stood by him even though he has a decades long history of discrimination against blacks and insulting them.
But you already defended it. We're sinking lower than the titanic here…
The group chat was like we can go half racist but we can't go full racist. Please take it down. I have to go in the office today.
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“Shark Tank” favorite Barbara Corcoran opened up about being fired from the hit show before filming even started.
The real estate maven revealed that she was let go and replaced by another female investor before filming for season one even began.
Corcoran sat down with Tamron Hall for the Thursday, February 5, episode of her talk show to discuss the current season of “Shark Tank,” when she dished on being unceremoniously fired.
“I was fired before it started, after I was hired,” Corcoran said. “Well, what happened was, when they made the call and they said, ‘I'm sorry. I know you signed the contract already and I know you thought you were coming out next week, but we hired another woman to take your place.'”
She continued, “I was so upset and felt sorry for myself, I must say. I told all my friend I was going to Hollywood. I bought new luggage. I got really fancy, really fast.”
The beloved investor refused to take no for an answer, however. She explained that she sent an email requesting a chance to prove herself.
“I did the one thing I really knew how to do my whole life. I said, ‘Time to stand back up for myself,'” she recalled. “I wrote an email telling him that I considered his rejection a lucky charm. Everything good happened to me after rejection in my life. And I cited seven or eight rejections right in a row that I turned around and I said, ‘I consider your lucky charm. I'd like to be out there on the plane next Tuesday and compete for the seat.'”
According to Corcoran, she ultimately beat out the other woman for the seat in the “Shark Tank.”
“The better part of the history was me leaving for lunch and seeing my competitor, her Gold Star taken off her trailer. I was like, ‘Good for her,'” Corcoran added.
After earning her spot in the Tank, the New Jersey native has gone on to appear in every season of the hit series since it's August 2009 premiere.
“I thought it would last maybe two years,” she told Hall on Thursday. “It's a hardcore business show as it was presented to us. I didn't know if people would have the appetite to watch it, but I forgot that people would buy into those entrepreneur dreams.”
I like her and glad she stuck to her guns.
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By Andreas Wiseman
Executive Editor, International & Strategy
EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate has acquired worldwide distribution rights ahead of the European Film Market to the upcoming psychological horror film A Head Full of Ghosts, which has David Harbour (Stranger Things), Rebecca Hall (The Beauty), and Esmé Creed-Miles (The Sandman) in final negotiations to star.
Filming is being lined up for March on the film from Team Downey, The Allegiance Theater and Fifth Season. The synopsis reads: “The Barretts' suburban life is torn apart when their teenage daughter's descent into madness becomes the subject of a reality show. Fifteen years later, her sister Merry faces her family's haunting past with a journalist, uncovering the very nature of the evil that destroyed them.”
Based on the 2015 novel by Paul Tremblay, the film will be written and directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, the duo behind the German-language cult horror Goodnight Mommy, which was Austria's 2014 Oscar entry for Best Foreign Language Film. The duo made their English-language debut with The Lodge, starring Riley Keough, which Neon released in 2020.
Watch on Deadline
Lionsgate will be selling international rights to the movie at next week's European Film Market in Berlin. The studio will also handle domestic distribution, which is always a positive for international buyers considering pre-buys.
Producers are Daniel Dubiecki and Lara Alameddine of The Allegiance Theater, Susan Downey and Robert Downey Jr. of Team Downey, alongside David Gambino, and Fifth Season. Lauren Bixby negotiated the deal on behalf of the studio.
Adam Fogelson, chair, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, said: “We're thrilled to partner with Team Downey, The Allegiance Theater, and David Gambino, and our friends at Fifth Season, who collectively bring exceptional prestige and creative confidence to the project. This team's artistic vision for this terrifying story has been undeniable – striking, distinct and genuinely unsettling. It's no surprise that Stephen King called this book his favorite novel of the past decade and said that it ‘scared the living hell' out of him – which says it all.”
Team Downey is represented by WME and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs & Fox. Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala are represented by WME and Black Bear.
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By Andreas Wiseman
Executive Editor, International & Strategy
EXCLUSIVE: On Thursday we brought you news of a hot game-to-TV adaptation from Craig Mazin. Today, we can break news that The Last of Us, Superman and Alien: Romulus star Isabela Merced has been set to lead the movie adaptation of hit Sega video game franchise The House of the Dead.
As we first told you a little while back, this one should be in good hands with writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson, who did big things on screen for fellow zombie franchise classic Resident Evil.
First released in 1997, The House of the Dead was a fast-paced horror shooter with a groundbreaking zombie/creature premise. That included the innovation of giving its undead villains the ability to run, something that inspired films from Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead remake to the Marc Forster-directed World War Z. It was The House of the Dead that first evolved the flesh-eaters from the lumbering stumblers that George Romero brought to life in his movies.
Watch on Deadline
In the arcade game, players take on the role of AMS agents, a government agency tasked with thwarting the conspiracies of organizations that threaten the world. The title comes from the bureau they work for, because their life expectancies are brief.
Rocket Science will launch international sales at next week's European Film Market, where the project will be a hot prospect given Merced's upward curve and the buzzy genre material. The partners very much see it as a franchise starter. CAA Media Finance is repping domestic.
RELATED: Everything We Know About ‘The Last Of Us' Season 3 So Far
Anderson will produce alongside his Resident Evil partner Jeremy Bolt, Sega's Toru Nakahara (Sonic the Hedgehog) and Story Kitchen's Dmitri M. Johnson (Tomb Raider TV series), Michael Lawrence Goldberg and Timothy I. Stevenson. Merced will be executive producing.
The movie is described to us as “a top Sega priority” after the success of Sonic the Hedgehog, with the idea to make it as immersive as possible and with a story that plays out in real-time but with a “fresh take” on the franchise. We brought you first concept art for the project 18 months ago.
Merced recently starred as Hawkgirl in Superman from director James Gunn and will reprise the role in the upcoming Man of Tomorrow. She starred in Season 2 of The Last of Us and is set to return for Season 3, and is also known for 20th Century Studios' hit Alien: Romulus. She will next be seen in features Psyche and Ibelin.
RELATED: Charlie Plummer, Stephen Graham, Toni Collette, Isabela Merced, Maisy Stella & Anthony Hopkins Set For ‘Ibelin' From Vendôme Pictures & Pathé – AFM
Anderson said: “The House of the Dead is a game I have loved for many years, and I'm beyond thrilled to be bringing this to the big screen with such an exciting talent as Isabela at its heart. We envisage this as the start of a tentpole franchise which can explore the rich world and lore that Sega has created over a whole series of films.”
Nakahara added: “Working with Isabela is a thrilling opportunity as she embodies the heroine character perfectly, bringing dynamic energy to the production. We're dedicated to crafting a visually striking and immersive experience by introducing compelling actors and terrifying creatures that will bring the House of the Dead universe to life on the big screen. With our deep understanding of video game adaptations, we're eager to deliver an electrifying cinematic journey for the franchise's fans.”
Story Kitchen commented: “We're thrilled to bring together Isabela, Paul, Jeremy and Sega, alongside our partners at Rocket Science and CAA Media Finance. It's a powerhouse group coming together for a truly iconic property.”
RELATED: Noah Jupe And Isabela Merced To Star In Thriller ‘Psyche'
A 2003 movie version of the video game from Uwe Boll was largely derided and failed to ignite at the box office. Auspices are much better this go around.
Merced is represented by CAA and Peikoff Mahan; Anderson by CAA, Ken Kamins at Key Creatives & Alexander Lea at Wiggin; Bolt by Alexander Lea at Wiggin; Story Kitchen by WME and Pryor Cashman; Toru Nakahara negotiated on behalf of Sega.
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You had me at Isabela but lost me with WS Anderson… he's not a good director
This is the type of remake they should do. The first House of the Dead was absolutely terrible. This is bound to be better.
Isabela Merced is great, I didn't really care about this movie but now I am kinda hyped.
hopefully it's better than the last 2 House of the Dead movies.
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By Andreas Wiseman
Executive Editor, International & Strategy
EXCLUSIVE: Yesterday we brought you news of a hot game-to-TV adaptation from Craig Mazin. Today, we can break news that The Last Of Us, Superman and Alien: Romulus star Isabela Merced has been set to lead the movie adaptation of hit Sega videogame franchise, The House Of The Dead.
As we first told you a little while back, this one should be in good hands with writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson, who did big things on screen for fellow zombie franchise classic Resident Evil.
First released in 1997, The House of the Dead was a fast-paced, horror shooter with a groundbreaking zombie/creature premise. That included the innovation of giving its undead villains the ability to run, something that inspired films from Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead remake to Marc Forster-directed World War Z. It was The House of the Dead that first evolved the flesh-eaters from the lumbering stumblers that George Romero brought to life in his movies. In the arcade game, players take on the role of AMS agents, a government agency tasked with thwarting the conspiracies of organizations that threaten the world. The title comes from the bureau they work for, because their life expectancies are brief.
Watch on Deadline
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Rocket Science will launch international sales at next week's European Film Market where the project will be a hot prospect given Merced's upward curve and the buzzy genre material. The partners very much see it as a franchise starter. CAA Media Finance is repping domestic.
Anderson will produce alongside his Resident Evil partner Jeremy Bolt, Sega's Toru Nakahara (Sonic the Hedgehog) and Story Kitchen's Dmitri M. Johnson (Tomb Raider TV series), Michael Lawrence Goldberg and Timothy I. Stevenson. Isabela Merced will be executive-producing.
The movie is described to us as “a top Sega priority” after the success of Sonic the Hedgehog, with the idea to make it as immersive as possible and with a story that plays out in real-time but with a “fresh take” on the franchise.
Merced recently starred as Hawkgirl in Superman from director James Gunn and will reprise the role in the upcoming Man of Tomorrow. She starred in season two of The Last of Us and is set to return for season three, and is also known for 20th Century Studios' hit Alien: Romulus. She will next be seen in features Psyche and Ibelin.
Anderson said: “The House of the Dead is a game I have loved for many years, and I'm beyond thrilled to be bringing this to the big screen with such an exciting talent as Isabela at its heart. We envisage this as the start of a tentpole franchise which can explore the rich world and lore that Sega has created over a whole series of films.”
Nakahara added: “Working with Isabela is a thrilling opportunity as she embodies the heroine character perfectly, bringing dynamic energy to the production. We're dedicated to crafting a visually striking and immersive experience by introducing compelling actors and terrifying creatures that will bring the House of the Dead universe to life on the big screen. With our deep understanding of video game adaptations, we're eager to deliver an electrifying cinematic journey for the franchise's fans.”
Story Kitchen commented: “We're thrilled to bring together Isabela, Paul, Jeremy and Sega, alongside our partners at Rocket Science and CAA Media Finance. It's a powerhouse group coming together for a truly iconic property.”
A 2003 movie version of the video game from Uwe Boll was largely derided and failed to ignite at the box office. Auspices are much better this go around.
Merced is represented by CAA and Peikoff Mahan; Anderson by CAA, Ken Kamins at Key Creatives & Alexander Lea at Wiggin; Bolt by Alexander Lea at Wiggin; Story Kitchen by WME and Pryor Cashman; Toru Nakahara negotiated on behalf of Sega.
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This is the type of remake they should do. The first House of the Dead was absolutely terrible. This is bound to be better.
Isabela Merced is great, I didn't really care about this movie but now I am kinda hyped.
hopefully it's better than the last 2 House of the Dead movies.
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A California property that used to be owned by the late “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek is selling for a little under $7 million. For that price, the potential new buyers will get to enjoy a working ranch, a vineyard, a winery and more.
First hitting the market last June for $8.88 million, that amount was later adjusted to $7.88 million before finding its current price.
The property includes more than 577 acres and boasts “archery and skeet shooting ranges, a historic barn converted into an event space, and open space for horseback riding, ATV riding and hiking,” according to Mansion Global.
Co-listing agent Mike Goldfarb of Coldwell Banker Realty, told Mansion Global, “It's like adult summer camp.”
Sunset also notes that “the 11-bedroom, 13-bedroom sprawling ranch estate [was] built in 1900. The unique property boasts five houses and a private honeymoon suite, a working winery, barns, stables, and pastures and livestock pens for cattle, horses, sheep, and pigs. History buffs will also appreciate relics such as the original Highway 58 bridge and a blacksmith shop.”
“A truly unique legacy estate, 535 Calf Canyon Hwy blends family retreat with working ranch, vineyard, and winery,” listing agent Lindsey Harn, owner of Lindsey Harn group, told Sunset. “Surrounded by the mountains, lakes, wildlife, and open space, the property feels timeless, yet connected—offering room for 30-plus guests and generations to come.”
While the property's Creston Manor was established in the early 1980s, the founding couple eventually divorced. However, to avoid having to sell it, they brought in investors, which included Trebek. This move helped the winery emerge from bankruptcy. Sunset notes that Trebek then went on to buy out other partners.
In 2001, the current owners — Barry and Donna Goldfarb, the parents of the co-listing agent — bought the property for $1.6 million, according to Wine Spectator.
Trebek's former property can be found in Creston, which is around 30 minutes from San Luis Obispo in the Central Coast area. It's also around three-and-a-half-hours from both Los Angeles and San Francisco, which makes it a desirable location.
“Over the last 10, 20 years, the Central Coast has really carved out its own niche as being a premier destination for wine enthusiasts,” Goldfarb told Mansion Global. “It used to be that you had to go up to Napa or Sonoma to drink fine wines, but there are so many great vineyards and wineries in the Central Coast area.”
Sounds like a beautiful place and a lot fun! Would love to experience the beautiful thing's on horseback!
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Keeping up with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.
The reality star gave an update on her relationship with her ex-husband in a Complex interview published Thursday, nearly one week after news broke that she and Lewis Hamilton are secretly dating.
“We'll always be family,” the Skims creator, 45, told the magazine. “We both know that. We will be OK, and there's so much love for our family.”
The “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” alum insisted they both “want what's best for [their] kids” — daughter North, 12, son Saint, 10, daughter Chicago, 8, and son Psalm, 6.
The former couple started dating in 2012 and tied the knot in Italy two years later.
Kardashian filed for divorce in February 2021, with the union legally coming to an end the following November.
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West, 48, married wife Bianca Censori in December 2022.
That same month, Kardashian cried over co-parenting with West during an episode of the “Angie Martinez IRL” podcast.
She similarly told “Kardashians” viewers in November 2025 that she felt like “snapping” over their “hard” dynamic.
“I just can't really engage,” she said in last year's episode. “I think it's just for the better.”
Kardashian and West have also butted heads over her love life since splitting, with the Grammy winner infamously taunting his ex-wife's first boyfriend post-divorce, Pete Davidson, in 2022.
The Hulu personality reflected on the experience on “Call Her Daddy” in October 2025, saying, “That made me feel really sad. That really wasn't fair for [Davidson].”
Kardashian has since been linked to Odell Beckham Jr. and Tom Brady, most recently making headlines for her and Hamilton's romance.
She and the F1 driver, 41, enjoyed a romantic getaway across the pond over the weekend, traveling from the Cotswolds to Paris.
West, who has previously spoken highly of Hamilton before, has yet to comment on the budding relationship.
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Reviews are technically under embargo until next week for Emerald Fennell's splashy, bodice-ripping adaptation of Emily Brontë's “Wuthering Heights.” But flamboyantly adulating first reactions all over X might suggest they are only under embargo if your feelings aren't positive.
IndieWire's “Screen Talk” podcasts Anne Thompson and Ryan Lattanzio have both seen the movie, as have many of the press corps coast to coast. So while we can't dig as deep into it as we'd like at this point, we do take a superficial look at the film in this week's episode. Led by global stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as the lusty, coming-unrepressed Catherine and Heathcliff, the “Saltburn” and “Promising Young Woman” filmmaker's eye-popping latest will make scads of money for Warner Bros. The film should expect to continue a winning streak that launched last year with “Sinners” and potentially be in the crafts awards conversation.
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But as with any film that's previewed early for junket press, approach the first reactions with caution. It's been called “intoxicating, transcendent, tantalizing, bewitching, lust worthy, hypnotic,” “scorching hot,” an exquisite spectacle,” and “a breathtaking work of visual art.” (Variety rounds up the reactions nicely here.) You're unlikely to see a lot of negative feedback on social media right now — unless you look at some of the international response since this lushly designed film had a premiere in Paris earlier this week. Still, the earlier and cushier the access, the more likely to elicit a positive response.
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The movie's fealty to the source material, as called into question by many since the very casting of these two leads, is ultimately irrelevant. This is not your high school syllabus version of “Wuthering Heights,” to be sure. Whether that's for better or worse, well, we will dive into that more next week when the movie opens February 13. One thing's for sure, as you could already glean from the trailer: “Wuthering Heights” is all about excess, excess, excess.
Elsewhere on “Screen Talk” this week, we give a final toast to Park City as Sundance shuffles off its slopes, and pick our five favorite films each from the festival that aren't “Josephine.” Beth de Araújo's Grand Jury Prize winner has been practically universally anointed as the best of the fest, so we wanted to make room for more films like the documentaries “Closure” and “The History of Concrete,” and narrative features like “Wicker” and “Leviticus.”
Listen to this week's episode below or on your favorite podcast platform.
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The infomercial-like retro video was written and directed by Swift and features a coda callback to the "Graham Norton" episode where the idea was seemingly hatched last October.
By
Gil Kaufman
What if we told you that a simple spray of “Opalite” spray would make you irresistible? That's the premise of Taylor Swift‘s eagerly awaited video for her The Life of a Showgirl single “Opalite,” which debuted on Apple Music and Spotify on Friday morning (Feb. 6). The retro-themed clip features Swift as a miss lonely hearts who spends her days pining for love in her bachelorette pad with her only companion coming in the form of a pet rock.
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The clip opens with a grainy, VHS-like throwback late night infomercial ad for the magical Opalite spray, which promises to turn your relationship “crappiness to happiness” with just one spritz. Sitting in her overstuffed living room, a housecoat-wearing Swift is roped into the ad's pitch, gazing at her giant rock friend longingly, as she takes the stone to the park for a ride on the swing, gingerly treating it like a human companion.
Between making fold-up “cootie catcher” fortune telling games and friendship bracelets by herself, smearing glitter on herself and her stone, which she takes along to karaoke and a bar, Swift seems content with her inanimate companion. After seeing actress Greta Lee (The Morning Show) on MTV strumming a guitar, Swift orders drinks for her and her pet rock. But when she pours the martini onto her pal, the bartender kindly asks her to leave.
Next, we see Swift doing a Jane Fonda workout on a step along with Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim), with her rock taking the place of weights. “You couldn't understand it/ Why you felt alone,” she sings as we see actor Domhnall Gleeson (The Paper) living an equally lonely life, laying in bed with a sleep mask on his forehead as he looks longingly at his companion, a tiny cactus tucked in next to him. He also takes his pal everywhere, even as his face and hands are increasingly swathed in bandages due to the plant's spikes.
Desperate for relief, both he and Swift order some Opalite, which they spray on their significant nothers, at which point a goo-covered Swift magically appears in Gleeson's living room. The awkward couple begin their unlikely romance, with singer Lewis Capaldi making a cameo as a mall photographer who shoots them in increasingly bizarre poses.
Their mall adventure continues with a stop at a soft pretzel shop and a stroll past a cactus kiosk, where Gleeson's spurned, spiky ex appears to be giving him two spiny middle fingers up and Swift's rock displays a not-so-friendly friendship bracelet message. Other cameos include British talk show host Graham Norton as the owner of an Opalite shop and actor Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders) as an Opalite pitchman.
The retro fun reaches its peak with a glittery dance routine featuring Swift and Gleeson doing adorable couples choreo at a dance competition where the elderly judges — as well as Swift dancer favorite Kameron “Kam” Saunders — seem unimpressed with their routine.
The clip, written and directed by Swift, ends with a call-back to a Norton Show appearance in October featuring the new video's cast, during which Gleeson expressed his desire to one day be in a Swift music video, which begs the question of whether his comment was a bit, or a long con Easter egg Swift had planned all along?
In an Instagram explainer Swift revealed, “When we were all talking during the broadcast, Domhnall [Gleeson] made a light hearted joke about wanting to be in one of my music videos. He's Irish! He was joking! Except that in that moment during the interview, I was instantly struck with an *idea*. And so a week later he received an email script I'd written for the ‘Opalite' video, where he was playing the starring role. I had this thought that it would be wild if all of our fellow guests on the Graham Norton Show that night, including Graham himself, could be a part of it too. Like a school group project but for adults and it isn't mandatory. To my delight, everyone from the show made the effort to time travel back to the 90's with us and help with this video.”
The “Opalite” video comes four months after Swift released her The Life of a Showgirl album, the Billboard 200 chart-topper that debuted at No. 1 following its Oct. 3 release and spent a total of 12 weeks at the pinnacle of the album chart. It's just the second visual from the singer's 12th studio album. The first, “The Fate of Ophelia,” debuted as part of Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl event, which hit movie theaters before debuting on YouTube two days later.
This time, however, Swifties will have to wait two days to see “Opalite” on YouTube, as it debuted today on Spotify and Apple Music only. The decision to delay the YouTube premiere follows YouTube's December announcement that it was withdrawing its streaming data from all of Billboard‘s charts.
YouTube's withdrawal came on the heels of Billboard‘s Dec. 16 announcement of a change to chart methodology that will continue to weigh subscription streams more favorably than ad-supported streams, in a bid to better reflect changing consumer behaviors and the increased revenue derived from streaming in the industry. The change means that paid/subscription streams will be weighted against ad-supported streams at a 1:2.5 ratio, narrowed from the previous 1:3 ratio.
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Taylor Swift has released a video for “Opalite,” the second song from The Life of a Showgirl to get a visual treatment. Directed by Swift herself, the '90s-themed video—which is exclusive to Apple Music and Spotify until February 8—finds Swift in a dead-end relationship with a literal rock, only to be saved by a spritz of a spray potion called “Opalite” and the arrival of charmer Domnhall Gleeson. The two of them embark on a romantic adventure that occasions cameos from Cillian Murphy, Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Lewis Capaldi—all of whom, a coda reveals, were Swift's fellow guests when she appeared on the UK late-night TV show of Graham Norton (who also appears in the video). Watch it go down below.
Elaborating on the video on Instagram, Swift wrote, in part:
The idea for the Opalite music video crash landed into my imagination when I was doing promo for The Life of a Showgirl. I was a guest on one of my favorite shows, @TheGrahamNortonShowOfficial. For those of you who aren't familiar, it's a UK late night show where Graham Norton (the insanely charismatic and lovable host) invites a random group of actors, entertainers, musicians, etc to be on his show and we all sit there and chat like it's a dinner party. They even serve wine. Anyway. I remember thinking I got ridiculously lucky with the group I was paired with. Cillian Murphy, Domhnall Gleeson, Greta Lee, @JodieSmith, and @LewisCapaldi. All people whose work I've admired from afar. When we were all talking during the broadcast, Domhnall made a light hearted joke about wanting to be in one of my music videos. He's Irish! He was joking! Except that in that moment during the interview, I was instantly struck with an *idea*. And so a week later he received an email script I'd written for the Opalite video, where he was playing the starring role. I had this thought that it would be wild if all of our fellow guests on the Graham Norton show that night, including Graham himself, could be a part of it too. Like a school group project but for adults and it isn't mandatory. To my delight, everyone from the show made the effort to time travel back to the 90's with us and help with this video.
A YouTube upload will follow on Sunday, according to a countdown posted yesterday on Swift's website (where Swift is selling an “Opalite” vinyl single for 48 hours). Swift's decision to withhold the video from YouTube follows the platform's recent decision to pull its stream counts from the Billboard charts, in protest of how Billboard weights ad-supported streams. Pitchfork has emailed YouTube for comment on this quirk of the “Opalite” rollout.
The first Life of a Showgirl video, for “The Fate of Ophelia,” was also written and directed by Swift herself and released, with the album, last October. Shortly afterwards, the album beat Adele's first-week sales record and Swift was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
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By Jake Kanter
International Investigations Editor
UPDATE: In a rare backtrack from Donald Trump‘s administration, the video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes has been removed from the U.S. president's Truth Social account. “A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down,” an official said.
PREVIOUS: Karoline Leavitt has defended an apparently AI-generated clip portraying Barack and Michelle Obama as apes shared on Donald Trump's Truth Social account.
In a statement sent to Deadline, the White House Press Secretary said: “This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
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Overnight, the U.S. president's verified account twice posted a minute-long video about voting machine anomolies, which features the PatriotNewsOutlet.com watermark. In the final moments of the video, a two-second clip flashes up showing the Obamas as apes, dancing in a jungle setting to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
The clip of the Obamas features an “@XERIAS_X” watermark, and it appears that the account originally posted the video in October last year. The 55-second video portrays Trump as a lion, while Hillary Clinton and Zohran Mamdani are depicted as a warthog and hyena respectively.
The @XERIAS_X account has a profile photo of Pepe the Frog dressed as Trump. The account claimed credit for the “fighter jet poop” AI video posted by Trump during the “No Kings” protests last year.
The White House did not respond to Deadline questions about whether Trump personally shared the post on Truth Social, or if he was aware of the Obama clip inserted into the voting machine video.
The post was condemned by Trump's critics. California Governor Gavin Newsom's X/Twitter account said: “Disgusting behavior by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now.”
Disgusting behavior by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now. https://t.co/X09h1mcj74
The post came amid a flurry of updates on Trump's Truth Social. Other clips shared on the president's account included a dog magically appearing from behind a kitchen counter when hearing the sound of whipped cream being squirted.
Trump's Truth Social account has previously shared posts that have been condemned as racist. Last year, the account shared a video that showed the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, with a fake mustache and sombrero.
Jeffries denounced the memes at the time and has done the same with the Obama post. “President Obama and Michelle Obama are brilliant, compassionate and patriotic Americans. They represent the best of this country,” he said. “Donald Trump is a vile, unhinged and malignant bottom feeder. Why are GOP leaders like John Thune continuing to stand by this sick individual? Every single Republican must immediately denounce Donald Trump's disgusting bigotry.”
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Donald Trump is an absolute Scumbag. He should be in jail along with the rest of the ICE trash humans.
Same old, same old Donald.
Apparently the lion should sleep more n sh!te post less.
One more distraction from low poll numbers and Epstein files. Outrage of the day. Shores up low polling more likely. MAGA defends again.
Trump is the most vile person ever! Full stop! My outrage is real and I vote!
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By
Maya Georgi
Taylor Swift isn't through with her show girl era just yet. The pop star just released the music video for her next The Life of a Showgirl single, “Opalite” — and it's full of lightning strike twists.
In the funny, unexpected visual, Taylor jumps back in time to the Nineties — you know, the era of the mall before the internet, full of infomercials and at-home workout videos. She plays a lonesome cat lady, who is hilariously dating a rock, but falls for “the revolutionary fix for your problems” that is Opalite. In an infomercial, the product promises that it “magically transforms your problems into your paradise using our state of the art chemical potion. It works on friendships, couples, pets and co-workers.”
What follows is a silly, but sweet story that features a star-studded cast. It seems Swift called up everyone she appeared on The Graham Norton Show back in October (including Norton himself, who stars as a Nope-alite salesman) to make an appearance. Domnhall Gleeson plays her formerly sad love interest, Lewis Capaldi is a mall photographer, while Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith make small appearances in television ads. Even Cillian Murphy has a cameo.
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On the Amazon Music “Track by Track” version of the LP, Swift explained the song is about “choosing happiness and getting through rough times” and the title comes from “a man-made gemstone.” In the New Heights episode where Taylor announced her 12th studio album, Travis admitted that “Opalite” was his favorite track off the project. In an appearance on Capital FM in October, Swift affirmed the track continued to be his favorite off the album. “He loves that one,” she said.
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Notably, the pop superstar did not initially share the glittery visual on YouTube, instead she chose to premiere the “Opalite” video on two of the largest streaming platforms exclusively: Spotify and Apple Music. The move coincides with YouTube's decision to withdraw its data from Billboard charts following changes to the charts' methodology. Of course, neither music video for The Life of a Showgirl has had a traditional release. She premiered “The Fate of Ophelia” in theaters across the country as part of the her album release parties in October. Just like that video, “Opalite” will be on YouTube in the coming days.
Swift's “The Fate of Ophelia” just came off a record-breaking run as her biggest hit, charting at Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks and marking the star's longest-running feat. “Opalite” could very well be the singer's next hit song; it debuted at Number Two on the Hot 100 and is comfortably sitting at Number 10. If the song tops the chart, it would become the first time Swift had two songs from the same project reach that achievement since 1989.
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Local producers have cautiously welcomed the new government guidelines, which will require streamers and channels to invest at least 8 percent of their net local turnover in locally-made content.
By
Scott Roxborough
Europe Bureau Chief
German commercial broadcasters and international streamers are, unsurprisingly, attacking new government plans, unveiled this week, to force them to invest more in local productions.
Ahead of the Berlin film festival, which kicks off Feb. 12, Germany‘s Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer unveiled the broad outlines of a plan that would require global streamers and domestic TV stations to invest at least 8 percent of their annual net turnover in European film and TV production. If they invest more than 12 percent, the investment can include the production of non-English language films and series made in Germany. Streamers will be required to give up certain rights to producers, eliminating the standard work-for-hire model.
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Alongside those sticks, Weimer offered a carrot, proposing to nearly double federal government funding for German film production to €250 million ($295 million) annually.
Together, it's hope the proposals will help boost a struggling local industry. German is Europe's biggest television market and, behind France and the U.K., the continent's third-largest film market, but has been hit hard by the combination of rising production costs and declining local investment from streamers, who have broadly shifted from big-budget prestige projects like Netflix's Dark or Amazon Prime's The Gryphon, to cheaper reality TV formats and smaller scale dramas.
VAUNET, the lobby group for German-based streamers and commercial channels, called the government proposals “a bitter disappointment for the media industry,” which “abandons the possibility of a quick and unbureaucratic solution.” The streamers have long opposed quotas and the idea of sharing rights with independent producers, dismissing the ideas as “outdated.”
But the German proposals are tame compared to rules in neighboring France, where global streaming platforms are required to invest at least 20 to 25 percent of their annual local turnover in French and European content.
The German production industry, which had hoped for a more robust investment requirement from the streamers, greeted the government announcement with cautious optimism.
“The German film industry has been waiting a long time for this signal,” said Michelle Müntefering, CEO and representative for the executive board at German production body Produktionallianz, in a statement. “Good stories need not only creativity but also reliable framework conditions so that ideas can become tangible productions.”
Germany's historic backlot Studio Babelsberg also welcomed “the long-awaited agreement,” saying it sent a “strong signal” for Germany as an attractive production location.
“German studios, producers and service providers now have a positive outlook and long-term planning security,” said Babelsberg CEO Jörg Bachmaier.
Added Müntefering: “This compromise builds bridges between creativity and economic responsibility and sends an important signal ahead of the upcoming Berlinale. Together, we can now show that Germany remains a vibrant place for storytelling, a place where cultural diversity becomes visible. German film has a future.”
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By
David Hill
“Will a football be used as a prop? Will a lyric be muted? Will Bad Bunny expose a nipple?”
Joey Isaks is reading the menu of options for bets on the Super Bowl halftime show, trying to decide if there's anything he's interested in putting some money down on. “Will Bad Bunny perform a cover song? I actually like ‘No' at -300 there. They never do cover songs anymore.”
Isaks is a professional gambler, and he's made some fairly big scores on the Super Bowl halftime show over the years. “The last one I made a lot of money on was probably the SoFi one … ‘What color shoes will Snoop Dogg wear?'” Isaks' win was in the low five figures. His secret? He received the information in advance. “It leaked that he was wearing white shoes … it was like 7-1.”
This year an enterprising gambler can find places to bet on all sorts of propositions for Bad Bunny's halftime performance. While regulated American sportsbooks like FanDuel or DraftKings are generally restricted by state laws to only taking bets on “authorized sporting events or closely related outcomes,” American prediction markets (which fall under federal commodity and futures regulations) and offshore sportsbooks (which aren't located in the U.S.) will take bets on just about anything you can imagine. In addition to the aforementioned offerings, there are bets on what color Bad Bunny's hair will be, what kind of hat he will wear, and who might make an appearance onstage with him.
“This year it's a layup with Bad Bunny given all of the politics associated with Trump, ICE, etc. The possibility of him wearing a dress,” says Adam Burns, sportsbook manager at BetOnline.ag.
The dress and ICE questions are popular options so far this year, according to Burns, but the most popular bet has been the same every year: What will be the first song? “Tití Me Preguntó” is the odds-on favorite at 1-2, but there are some long shots on the board like “I Like It” at 18-1. If you think Karol G will join Bad Bunny onstage, you can get that at 2-1. If you think Joe Biden will join him onstage, you can get that at 50-1. “The ideas are endless.”
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In addition to the halftime show, there are bets on the length of the national anthem, and even a few bets available on Green Day's pregame performance, though nowhere near as many as the halftime show. At the Panama-based offshore sportsbook BetOnline.ag, you can bet on Green Day's first song and whether or not Billie Joe Armstrong will call Donald Trump “fat.”
“This is definitely the biggest halftime show menu we've seen in the history of the Super Bowl,” says Dave Mason, BetOnline's brand manager and an industry veteran. “Last year's with Kendrick Lamar and the Drake/Taylor Swift side stories was also close to this number, but Bad Bunny and all the surrounding storylines takes the cake.”
“We've got a prop on how many times the camera will cut to a confused-looking older guy in the crowd,” says Robert Cooper, odds manager at SportsBetting.ag. “We're calling it the ‘Kevin reacts' prop.”
In the gambling world, there is perhaps no event with as expansive a betting menu as the Super Bowl. There are literally thousands of potential bets on the game and everything surrounding it — from the coin toss to who will score the first touchdown to who will appear onscreen during the ads. The behemoth menu of “props” can be traced back to the 1995 Super Bowl, when the 49ers beat the Chargers, 49-26. Fans were expecting a blowout, so Jay Kornegay, manager of the sportsbook at the Imperial Palace casino in Las Vegas at that time, gathered his staff and came up with more than 150 bets on the game to keep fans engaged in what was otherwise going to be a one-sided affair. It worked, and every year since, the menu at sportsbooks across Nevada continued to expand.
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Halftime shows for many years were also fairly boring affairs. Up until the 1990s, the show was usually dominated by marching bands and beauty queens. Occasionally the international organization Up With People would sing and dance to spice things up. In 1992, the halftime show was considered such a bore that the fledgling Fox network aired a special episode of the sketch comedy show In Living Color to coincide with halftime, complete with an onscreen timer to let viewers know how much time they had left before they needed to change the channel and catch the second-half kickoff. The NFL's halftime show was called “Winter Magic” and featured ice skating and a rendition of Frosty the Snowman. Winter Magic got clobbered in the ratings by In Living Color.
The following year the NFL booked Michael Jackson for the halftime show and has tried to up the ante every year since with increasingly large-scale pop music spectacles with special effects, pyrotechnics, and surprise cameos. They've never again had to worry about viewers tuning away. Today, the halftime show is as much a part of the Super Bowl as the game. For some viewers, even more so.
In 2004, Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson scandalized the NFL when Timberlake ripped off a part of Jackson's costume at the end of their performance, something they later said was a “wardrobe malfunction.” The fallout and controversy from the incident was huge and created an outsized interest in Paul McCartney's halftime show the following year.
“The year after the Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson fiasco, we posted a prop asking if there would be another ‘wardrobe malfunction,'” says Jacob Crossman, director of trading at BetDSI.eu. “The media ate it up, and the bettors were betting on it happening again!”
Over the next few years, the bets on halftime shows increased. In 2006, you could bet on what the Rolling Stones' first song would be (it was “Start Me Up”), and in 2007, you could bet on whether Prince would split his pants onstage (he didn't).
“The first time I can recall a Super Bowl halftime show prop bet was at Super Bowl XLIV in 2010,” Mason says. “The Who was the performing artist, and there was a prop on how many ‘guitar windmills' Pete Townshend would execute.”
“I think one of the most famous, or infamous, was in 2013 when we offered odds on whether or not Beyoncé would show cleavage,” Burns says. “Initially she was pretty covered up, but by the end of the show cleavage was in full effect and the bettors cleaned up.”
While sportsbooks (and professional sports bettors) will determine the odds for a typical on-field Super Bowl bet using statistical modeling tools like linear regression and Monte Carlo simulations, when it comes to halftime show bets, there's just not really data to work with.
“There's not a lot that goes into it. We do a little research, set a soft line, and then the action dictates where the odds go. It's all speculation … more art than science,” Crossman says.
In terms of what goes into the art of setting halftime show lines, it's a little bit of everything. “A mix of frantic Googling, watching three TikTok predictions, and what we overheard at the water cooler. It's basically organized chaos,” Cooper says. “We're all just guessing together.”
According to Isaks, some gamblers will try to handicap these bets, applying some sort of statistical analysis to find an edge. “People go through previous set lists,” he says. “So if he opens that tour every time with X song, then you maybe think he's going to open it again.” But Isaks doesn't put much stock in those methods. “I mean, that sounds like a waste of time.” The only real reason to bet on these bets, according to Isaks, is if you already know the winner ahead of time.
The sportsbooks have a simple way to protect themselves against this type of insider trading: They don't take very much money on these bets. “We only allow customers to make relatively small wagers on these props. You can't come in and bet $10,000 on Bad Bunny's first song. There are many people who know what he's going to sing first, so we have to protect ourselves against that insider knowledge,” Burns says. (The maximum bet on any of BetOnline's halftime show props is $25.) “Sometimes they beat us to the punch, and that's just the cost of doing business.”
Usually the inside information originates at the dress rehearsal the week of the Super Bowl, which is closed to the public but does have some invited guests in the stands watching. That information spreads among gamblers quickly. “Everyone kind of gets it at the same time, and it's like a race to bet it before they take it down,” Isaks says. “It's actually crazy; it's always accurate.”
Sometimes, though, that inside information might still not be good enough to win a bet. In 2024, when Usher performed, he opened his show with a few lines from the song “Caught Up” but blended it into the song “My Way.” Some sportsbooks paid “Caught Up” bettors, some paid “My Way” bettors, and at least one sportsbook, BetOnline, paid both. Isaks didn't get paid. “Even though Apple releases the set list after the show, they still didn't grade it by that,” he says. “I remember my wife being like, ‘It was “My Way”! You were right again!' and pumped I won, but I never told her the site graded it a loss. Sometimes things are better left unknown.”
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In years past, trafficking in this inside information was highly lucrative because a number of sportsbooks would take sizable bets. Today, almost nobody will take more than $10 or $25. “You used to be able to make like $50,000 probably on it. Now I don't even know if you can make $1,000 on it,” Isaks says.
Robert Cooper at Sportsbetting.ag isn't too concerned with getting beat by inside information, limits or not. He says, “Our average bettor is a dude whose girlfriend introduced him to Bad Bunny and all the corresponding conspiracies last week, so we're not too concerned about inside information beating us.”
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The band has canceled all 50th anniversary shows and their future "will be determined in the next several weeks."
By
Lars Brandle
Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider has left the group due to “a series of challenges,” a situation that has forced the cancelation of the rock band's planned 50th anniversary concerts.
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A statement reads, “due to the sudden and unexpected resignation of Twisted Sister's lead singer Dee Snider brought on by a series of health challenges, the band has been forced to cancel all shows scheduled, beginning April 25th in Sao Paolo Brazil and continuing through the summer.”
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The future of the ‘80s rockers “will be determined in the next several weeks,” reads a social media message signed by Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda, the founding and longtime guitarists for the heavy metal outfit.
Snider suffers from degenerative arthritis, which has required multiple operations. The rocker, known for his wild hair, bright makeup, and impressive abs, recently revealed that his heart has been impacted by life on the road.
“A lifetime of legendarily aggressive performing has taken its toll on Dee Snider's body and soul,” reads a separate statement from the band, posted to the Twisted Sister website. “Unbeknownst to the public (until now) Snider (70) suffers from degenerative arthritis and has had several surgeries over the years just to keep going, able to only perform a few songs at a time in pain.”
Snider “can no longer push the boundaries of rock ‘n' roll fury like he has done for decades,” the band's statement continues.
Twisted Sister is best known for their 1984 song “We're Not Gonna Take It,” which crashed the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 21 and continues to play where people gather – and at times during conservative rallies and in campaigns that, more than once, has seen Snider step in and call time.
“We're Not Gonna Take It” appeared on the band's third studio album, Stay Hungry, which peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard 200, and is one of their six titles to impact the all-genres tally.
The band also charted with “I Wanna Rock” (No. 68 in 1984) and their cover of the Shangri-Las' “Leader Of The Pack” (No. 53 in 1985).
Speaking on his abrupt departure from the band, Snider remarks: “I don't know of any other way to rock. The idea of slowing down is unacceptable to me. I'd rather walk away than be a shadow of my former self.”
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Chinese creative Viv Li's doc, premiering in the Berlinale's Panorama Dokumente section, shows her in search of answers to the question of how to deal with your own culture after you have learnt another.
By
Georg Szalai
Global Business Editor
Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest – the title of her feature directorial debut describes how Viv Li, a self-described Chinese artist wannabe, has been feeling ever since she got stuck in Berlin after the COVID pandemic and ventured into the German capital's alternative culture scene.“A Chinese misfit ricochets between Berlin's alternative frenzy and Beijing's family order, transforming cultural whiplash into an offbeat search for identity and a playful quest for belonging,” reads a logline for the genre-bending movie that world premieres in the Berlin International Film Festival‘s Panorama Dokumente section on Feb. 13.
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Raised to follow traditional, “standard” family life, Li finds Berlin to seem to be bursting with excitement. But her family in China just can't stop wondering why she is such an oddball. “Drifting between new environments and traditional expectations, Li is constantly adapting to shifting opinions about herself, the world, and, of course, China, only to feel more lost than ever,” highlights a synopsis of the film.
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In Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest, we follow Li as she searches for herself, her identity, and a sense of belonging and acceptance in a globalized world. The result is a deep dive into the question: how do you deal with your own culture after you have learnt another?
Li's journey is a kaleidoscope of, at times surreal, encounters. Nude swimming, anyone!? The exclusive trailer below will give you a better sense for the mix of the serious, the hilarious, and the offbeat in Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest.
“As I slowly put on the ‘hat' of a Berliner, I realized that all these years of learning to be the other, of being accepted, has weighed heavily on my mind, quietly mirroring the reality of my upbringing and where I am coming from,” Li, who has made the shorts I Don't Feel at Home Anywhere Anymore, Accross the Waters, and You Jian Chui Yan (A Soil A Culture A River A People), says in a director's statement. “But when I was finally home in Beijing, it became difficult to take off all the ‘hats' and to see my own face again.”
Li wrote the screenplay and directed, and she handled cinematography, together with Janis Mazuch. The editor is Christoph Bargfrede, with sound design courtesy of Marcel Walvisch. Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest is produced by Corso Films in co-production with 100% Film and ZDF – Das Kleine Fernsehspiel. The producers are Daniela Dietrich, Erik Winker, Martin Roelly, and Ümit Uludağ. The co-producers are Olivia Sophie Van Leeuwen, and Ruby Deelen, Mediawan Rights is handling world sales.
So, without further ado, check out an exclusive trailer for Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest. Get ready for tears – of sadness, of fear, and of laughter.
Li talked to THR via Zoom from China about the path to her feature debut, why Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest will speak to people around the world, and what's next for her.
Can you share a little bit about why you decided to go on a search for identity via this film?
I was born and raised in Beijing, and all my family is here, so I never really had an identity problem until I went abroad. I studied in the U.K. in Manchester, then I stayed in South America, was in Southeast Asia, and then I was traveling Europe. This is like a “the grass is greener on the other side” kind of thing. I just really wanted to experience other things, and I wanted to feel how other people lived, so when I went abroad, I wanted to stay longer to really get deeper into how other people live their lives.
And then, at one point, I realized, “Oh, holy shit, something is changing in me” after being abroad for so long. I was trying to adjust to all these things, and all these things stayed with me and were engraved in my memories. That's why, with the film, I wanted to portray the effect of memory and how these effects on us are constantly shifting.
Since I grew up in Austria, my father is Hungarian, and then I lived in the U.S. before moving to the U.K., I recognized the identity issue. How do you feel about your search now?
I got a lot more into Buddhism recently. And then there's this one sentence: There's actually no self at the end of the day. When trying to search for oneself, the goal is the search, because there is no self. Nobody can really know who they are, because we're always changing. I find that very relevant nowadays, especially because the world is so connected, and we can travel so freely. That becomes more evidence that we will never have belonging, and we'll never have a real self.
Does that realization scare you or do you find it liberating?
I think everything is about accepting. And once you accept the fact, then you can feel free about it. It's the same with death. We are so scared of death, but one day, if you really accept that you're going to die, then that fear will go away. And if you accept that there is no stable, static way of your being, you can feel quite comfortable with moving around.
There is a scene in the film where you guys are discussing how you learned how to be friends from watching Friends. Can you explain this and what it means?Yeah, when I was young, I was learning English, and one of my aunties gave me these pirated DVDs of all Friends episodes. I actually have Friends episode scripts printed there. That's how I learned English. I found it really interesting because you always see people like Phoebe saying, “Okay, can I talk to you a second over here?” And their behavior towards each other was so different from how I grew up, and I found that was the first really interesting, very intimate experience of how other people live. And I just realized, okay, you can actually treat friends in that way, and you can talk to your friends, and you can tell them what is wrong. That was how I learned English and how I learned the first steps of being in a Western society.
There is also a scene in your film that felt so timely. It's a discussion about how the world is doomed, but we are all arguing and fighting with each other…
That scene was not always in the cut. We had versions without it. Then my editor and I looked at the whole film, and we realized [this scene] does something to the film. Ultimately, the film is about non- judgment and non-definition. Opinions come and go, opinions are different, and there are always people who have their own perspective. But we just have to realize that no opinion or no judgment is the ultimate judgment or rule.
I felt so small at that point, and I realized that the ultimate ending of a search is that you keep searching, rather than finding a result.
How easy or difficult is it to be in front of the camera and share various emotions with audiences?
It was not always easy. But there is something I learned from my short film [I Don't Feel at Home Anywhere Anymore] that served as the beginning of the project. When I stepped in front of the camera rather than staying behind it – you already hold power as a director, you relax people. They will feel, “Okay, Viv is with me in front of the camera. She's as vulnerable as me.”
I feel very comfortable doing it. It's also because I know, as a filmmaker, I know that the film is just a very tiny part of my life, and it's not really who I am. I feel very comfortable showing this part to form my story and to show an intimate moment to people who can imagine all the other parts. And for film, it is really important to give the audience space to make their own [narrative] and to think about their own story.
How much are the scenes we see in Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest real, or how much are they scripted or set up?
Most of the scenes at actual moments, and I realized when we were editing the film that all reenacted scenes were not as good as the original moment. I just feel that the original moment has its own power or vibe. The power of documentary is that you can really fall back on those moments and let those moments guide you. And what I really love about the film industry nowadays is that you can take real moments and fiction moments and weave them into each other. That's what I was trying to do with my film.
What have you learned about Berlin?
I thought Berlin was super free, and I came here feeling I could explore different things. But I also realized that people try to ask you questions about definitions: Are you non-binary? Are you this and are you that? I feel that sometimes, with the world becoming so colorful and so many things going on, we tend to want more definition so we can feel safe within a box and stuff like that. But sometimes there is no definition.
Are you working on any new projects?
Yes, this time, I am writing a fiction script. It's based on a road trip that I took almost 10 years ago, but it's in a very early stage. However, over the past two years, I have also done some short fiction films, and I realized that with fiction films, I feel this community a bit more. Doing a documentary sometimes is really lonely. But with a fiction film, you work more within a group, within a collective, and I really enjoy that feeling. So I do want to take a break from being alone.
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By
Emily Zemler
EJAE, one of the songwriters and singing voices behind KPop Demon Hunters, has shared a new solo single, “Time After Time.” The anthemic pop number sees EJAE reflecting on a breakup and her inability to stop thinking about a relationship that has ended.
“The melody of ‘Time After Time' was stuck in my head for years, just like the person I wrote it about,” the singer said in a statement.
EJAE has released the single on the heels of her historic win at the 2026 Grammy Awards. At the awards, “Golden,” the breakout hit from Netflix‘s animated film KPop Demon Hunters, won Best Song Written for Visual Media, becoming the first K-Pop song to ever win a Grammy.
“This is crazy because this is like a historical moment for you know, as being a Korean American,” EJAE said at the awards. “It's a song that also represents Korea.”
“Golden” previously won a Golden Globe and Critics' Choice Award, and is nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars. The film follows the fictional superstar Korean girl group HUNTR/X — Rumi, Zoey, and Mira — as they secretly use their upbeat music to keep humans safe from evil demons. The characters' singing voices are performed by EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami.
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The trio will showcase “Golden” live at the BAFTA Film Awards in London on Feb. 22. It will be their first time performing the hit song live outside of the United States.
EJAE wrote and performed several songs for the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack along with “Golden.” She has previously written for other artists, including AESPA, Red Velvet, Le Sserafim, TWICE, Taeyeon, NMIXX, and FiftyFifty.
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In August, EJAE spoke to Rolling Stone about writing “Golden” alongside co-writer Mark Sonnenblick and reflected on why it has resonated so strongly with fans.
“I don't know if Mark knows this, but when I wrote ‘Golden,' I was going through a hard time. I actually cried singing the demo, because it resonated with me so much,” she said. “Maybe that's why ‘Golden' is ‘going up up up.' Because everyone's going through a hard time. And they want to feel hope.”
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[Editor's note: Episode four of A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms arrived today on HBO Max.]
Exactly how long Ser Dunk (Peter Claffey) sits in that cell isn't clear. It's long enough for the torchlight dancing off the damp stones of House Ashford's dungeons to play tricks with ser's eyes. They look to us like the stars above Westeros, just as they seem to Dunk. It's a moment of strange, cosmic beauty rarely found in the televised A Song of Ice And Fire and a brief, calming reprieve for our hero from the stresses of the night and morning to come. There's no shooting star in this sky (though one does appear for poor Dunk later on, courtesy of Youssef Kerkour's Steely Pate), but the fleeting serenity it provides is gift enough. A small mercy.
In an episode rife with symbolism and meaning, that vivid night sky represents Ser Dunk's inner clarity and why he meets the chaos of Westeros with such an open heart. As A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms has established astonishingly well with its limited screen time, Ser Duncan The Tall may not be the sharpest knight at Ashford Meadow, but he is by leagues the kindest. It's how he was brought up. Ser Arlan (Danny Webb) led him with a firm but fair hand, setting a humble example of what a knight is—or ought to be.
That's what makes the final moments in this week's episode so heartbreaking, at least before Prince Baelor Targaryen (Bertie Carvel) rides unheralded to save Dunk from defeat. Brought before the people of the Reach to rally two more knights to his cause—another predicament courtesy of Prince Aerion (Finn Bennett), who invokes a trial of seven after Dunk put a fist through his royal visage—the silence that meets him is stunning. The Brute Of Brackyn breaks the tension with wind, a comic and concise shorthand for the kind of honor this world more often must suffer. With that stink, a question hangs in the air: What hope does a good man have against the powerful, cruel, and indifferent?
Take comfort in knowing Dunk's kindness is what has gotten him this far, despite last week's dramatic detour. That's the moment when Aerion, offended by Tanselle Too-Tall's (Tanzyn Crawford) slaying of a mummer's dragon, snapped her finger in two. Dunk, driven by righteous indignation, put him on the ground—no less than what's expected from a chivalrous knight. They vow to protect the innocent, he later reminds Prince Baelor, and even if he may have never said the words, he assessed an ugly situation with open eyes, saw an innocent threatened, and, with a just heart, took action. Predictably, the regret he feels as he stews under lock and key isn't for defending Tanselle but for not seeing the real mummers' show performed right in front of him by his newly entrusted squire, Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell).
“It's just a bit of bad luck we found each other, isn't it?” Dunk says to Egg, who enters the dungeon in the colors of his house and with tears in his eyes. The way Dunk speaks to the boy is a far cry from their sweet monkeyshines from episodes past, though his curt retorts to Egg's apologies are more him grasping the enormity of the boy's importance to the realm than hostility born from betrayal. Egg's uncle is the Hand Of The King. His true name is Prince Aegon V Targaryen, a name shared with four kings—including the Conqueror. More than that, he's a little boy who wanted nothing more than to squire for his brother Daeron (Henry Ashton), who instead shaved the boy's head and drank the tourney away in hiding. Would he have squired for a donkey under the circumstances? Maybe. But he wound up with Ser Duncan to their mutual benefit.
While Egg's motivations are understandable and even forgivable, Prince Baelor points out—firmly but fairly—that little Aegon should never have brought Dunk to Tanselle's rescue; that was no kindness. “One need not intend harm to do it,” he says. Baelor, like Egg, knows which members of their house are trouble, but family remains family, for good or ill. “The septons say we must love our brothers,” Baelor says, understanding both Egg's anger and the mechanisms that keep House Targaryen in power. It's interesting that Baelor invokes the Faith Of The Seven here. As Dunk later discovers, Targaryens use their adopted religion not just to assimilate into the realm they conquered, but to their advantage when it benefits them, as Aerion soon proves.
Equally telling is how deftly Baelor navigates his family's latest tantrum, stating the case made against Dunk while seeing right through it. Aerion casts Tanselle's puppet show as high treason (innocent though it may have been, it was “far from wise, even in peacetime,” he says), and Daeron, found by his father Maekar (Sam Spruell), accuses Dunk of kidnapping Aegon as a robber knight. Whether Baelon believes any of it isn't up for debate—he doesn't, as Dunk eventually learns to his relief—but it hardly matters. Dunk laid hands on the Blood Of The Dragon, and that must be answered for. Still, this exchange reflects how tenuous Targaryen rule has become. Without dragons, the royal house must rely on the love of the people to remain secure. Yet love is hard to come by when dragons torment the smallfolk. Baelor knows this line between justice served and justice denied. He would make a magnificent king.
And now for Dunk's latest pickle: finding six knights willing to face Aerion's in a trial of seven. Ancient tradition holds, by Baelor's telling, that if seven champions fight against seven in tribute to their gods, the guilty will be punished. (Note how Carvel looks at Bennett as he delivers the final line, direct but not without careful affection; also check his muted amusement as Aerion wriggles justification for his cowardice in front of Maekar.) Aerion finds his recruits easily—his lord father, drunken brother, and three Kingsguard are easy gets, as is the pliable Ser Steffon Fossoway (Edward Ashley)—while Dunk learns how cheaply justice can be sold when Steffon trades his brief oath for a promised lordship.
Yet where ambition attracts opportunists, justice gathers the worthy: Egg rallies Ser Lyonel Baratheon (Daneil Ings), the humbled Ser Hardyng (Ross Anderson), mad Ser Rhysling (William Houston), and Ser Beesbury (Danny Collins) by dawn's light, with Raymun Fossoway (Shaun Thomas) offering his sword as a fresh knight as well. Only one knight remains—and if Baelor “Breakspear” makes Dunk wait, it's not due to reluctance but the weight of donning armor against one's own blood, even when the cause is so plainly just.
This takes us back to something Dunk says to Raymun before hope rides onto the tourney grounds at Ashford. “Maybe the gods figure this is what I deserve…for not knowing my place.” Everyone in Westeros has a role to play, big or small, and Dunk is no different. But why does it weigh so heavily on him? Look at the moment when Dunk considers the puppet head of Florian The Fool. It's a striking image, Dunk pondering who he is and what he must become to honor the memory of Ser Arlan. (For the deceased ser's part, that memory offers a good-natured shrug.) What use is a knight if he doesn't defend the innocent? What more must he be to be truly good? For starters, he should be someone who is true to himself, who doesn't hide what he really is. In the eyes of a mummer's knight, Dunk finally sees what he's been pretending to be—and realizes he's got to drop the act if he's to survive the morning.
The night brought stars but little hope. Yet just before dawn, Steely Pate gives Dunk his shield—with Tanselle's parting gift of a shooting star over a mighty elm and all the hope it carries. Pate describes the work he's done to refurbish Dunk's shield, but he may as well be speaking about Dunk, who willingly bears the burden of truth earned the hard way. “It'll be heavier now,” he says. “But stronger, too.”
Jarrod Jones is a contributor to The A.V. Club.
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By
Charisma Madarang
Twisted Sister have canceled all 2026 50th anniversary reunion shows following the “sudden and unexpected resignation” of Dee Snider due to newly revealed health challenges by the frontman.
In a statement, the band said all shows beginning April 25 in Sao Paulo Brazil and continuing through the summer have been cancelled and the “future of Twisted Sister will be determined in the next several weeks.”
The announcement was shared on the band's official Instagram account alongside a separate statement by Snider. “A lifetime of legendarily aggressive performing has taken its toll on Dee Snider's body and soul,” the message began, before revealing that the lead singer suffers from degenerative arthritis and had several surgeries over the years only to be able to “perform a few songs at a time in pain.”
“Adding insult to injury, Dee has recently found out the level of intensity he has dedicated to his life's work has taken its toll on his heart as well,” the statement continued. “He can no longer push the boundaries of rock ‘n' roll fury like he has done for decades.”
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In his own words, Snider said, “I don't know of any other way to rock. The idea of slowing down is unacceptable to me. I'd rather walk away than be a shadow of my former self.” The frontman ended with “the immortal words” of Dirty Harry in 1973's Magnum Force: “A man's got to know his limitations.”
The run was set to mark Twisted Sister's first tour since 2016 — when they embarked on what was billed to be their 40 and Fuck It farewell tour — and feature the band's three core members: Snider, founding guitarist (and longest-serving member) Jay Jay French, and longtime lead guitarist Eddie Ojeda.
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Note: This article contains descriptions of alleged sexual misconduct.
Bethany Cosentino has shared an open letter calling on Casey Wasserman—the founder and CEO of her agency, Wasserman—to step down after his name and old emails appeared in the Jeffrey Epstein files. The documents, released by the Justice Department on January 30, contain intimate messages exchanged by Wasserman and Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's longtime companion, throughout 2003, per The New York Times. In 2021, a New York court convicted Maxwell of conspiring with Epstein to recruit and sexually traffic minor girls; she is currently serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison.
Wasserman Music has represented Cosentino and her band Best Coast since 2021. In her statement, Cosentino demanded Wasserman change its name, and said she has requested to remove both her and Best Coast's names from the agency's website. “Ghislaine Maxwell is not a neutral character in a messy story—she is a convicted sex trafficker who helped facilitate the abuse of minors,” Cosentino wrote. “I did not consent to having my name or my career tied to someone with this kind of association to exploitation.” (Pitchfork has reached out to Wasserman, his agency, and Cosentino for comment.)
Cosentino described her statement as a “refusal to continue lining the pockets of people so closely tied to shady business and toxic, deeply harmful people.” She added: “Artists are not interchangeable assets. We are people. Many of us are women. Many of us, myself included, are survivors. We deserve systems that let us work without asking us to compromise our values in exchange for opportunity.”
In his own statement to the press, shared on February 1, Wasserman said: “I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell which took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light. I never had a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. As is well documented, I went on a humanitarian trip as part of a delegation with the Clinton Foundation in 2002 on the Epstein plane. I am terribly sorry for having any association with either of them.”
Per Variety, Wasserman's communication with Maxwell included an email where Maxwell offers to give Wasserman a massage, and another where Wasserman writes to her: “I think of you all the time. So, what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?” The files indicate that Wasserman and Maxwell remained in contact after a September 2002 flight to Africa, which former president Bill Clinton reportedly organized to conduct HIV research. A 2003 Vanity Fair report noted that Epstein, Maxwell, Wasserman, billionaire Ron Burkle, Kevin Spacey, and Chris Tucker were among those on board.
Wasserman founded his eponymous talent management company in 2002, and launched Wasserman Music in 2021. Wasserman Group oversees hundreds of high-profile musicians and sports players; artists currently on the roster include Kendrick Lamar, Coldplay, Skrillex, Chappell Roan, Animal Collective, Wet Leg, the Knife, and Geese. Wasserman is also the chairman of the planned 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. During a press conference on February 4, International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry said she had “nothing to add” to Wasserman's statement on the files, per the Los Angeles Times.
In 2024, Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas left Wasserman Music for WME shortly after a Daily Mail report alleged Wasserman had engaged in inappropriate relationships with multiple female subordinates. Wasserman and his company did not comment on the allegations at the time.
Read Cosentino's full statement below.
My name is Bethany Cosentino. I am a singer/songwriter, an activist, a mother, and the frontwoman of the band Best Coast. I have been represented by Wasserman Music since its expansion into music in 2021.
It has come to my attention that the founder and CEO of my agency, Casey Wasserman, had a documented romantic relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell between the years of 2001 and 2003, and multiple documented connections and communications with Jeffrey Epstein confirmed by emails now part of public record. Ghislaine Maxwell is not a neutral character in a messy story - she is a convicted sex trafficker who helped facilitate the abuse of minors. As an artist represented by Wasserman, I did not consent to having my name or my career tied to someone with this kind of association to exploitation. Staying quiet isn't something I can do in good conscience - especially in a moment when men in power are so often protected, excused, or allowed to move on without consequence. Pretending this isn't a big deal is not an option for me.
Casey's response, that these emails are “deeply regretted,” is not enough. Regret without accountability is just damage control - an attempt to move on while the rest of us are expected to sit with the discomfort of our careers being publicly tied to him. Artists are tired of swallowing scandals like this. We are tired of learning, over and over, that men who control access, resources, money, and so-called safety in our industry are given endless grace. We are tired of being asked to treat proximity to something horrific as an unfortunate situation we should simply move past - especially when the person involved still holds all the power. And we are tired of watching harm minimized or brushed off as "a long time ago," while the impact of that harm is still very real, especially for women and survivors of sexual assault.
This letter is my public refusal to accept that this is "just how things are." It is a refusal to continue lining the pockets of people so closely tied to shady business and toxic, deeply harmful people. I do not want my name on the website of a man who was ever a personal friend of an accomplice to a literal pedophile, or associated with Jeffrey Epstein himself. I have worked with my agent, Sam Hunt, for over 15 years who has done incredible work in representing me. I am in the Sam Hunt business. I am not in the Wasserman business. I have asked to remove my name and band's name from the company site. The position Casey Wasserman has put his agents in is inexcusable. This is a call for him to step down and a change of business name be imminent.
Artists are not interchangeable assets. We are people. Many of us are women. Many of us, myself included, are survivors. We deserve systems that let us work without asking us to compromise our values in exchange for opportunity.
I'm speaking out because pretending this is normal isn't normal. Because people in power can't keep skating by. And because the artists keeping the lights on at Wasserman deserve support, not to be ignored while men in power are protected. It is important for us as artists to remember: these people work for us, not the other way around.
If you or someone you know has been affected by inappropriate sexual behavior, we encourage you to reach out for support:
RAINN Hotlinehttp://www.rainn.org1 800 656 HOPE (4673)
Crisis Text Linehttp://www.facebook.com/crisistextline (chat support)SMS: Text “HERE” to 741-741
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To say that Rob Rausch has snake-charmed his way through this season of The Traitors is an understatement. The Love Island alum has amassed a cabal of groupies both inside the castle (we see you, Dorinda Medley) and out (per The Cut, TikTok at large) with his shirtless overall wearing and disarmingly quiet nature. It's been impressive to see just how long that spell would hold over this season's cast, with Rausch's heartthrob status and low-key charm thus far successfully masking his sinister schemes and ruthless gameplay.
So it's equally entertaining to watch that viper meet his venomous match in fellow Traitor Candiace Dillard Bassett, who's fanged and ready to take him down in the wake of his betrayal against Lisa Rinna last episode. “A careful assassin serves her revenge cold,” Candiace hotly kicks off this week's ep. “So right now I'm putting my platter in a good ol' deep freezer and when the time is right, I will pull it out and serve it.”
With Rinna banished, there's a space to fill in the turret. Rob and Candiace can either murder a Faithful as usual, as host Alan Cumming tells them, or recruit one to join them in their cloaked duplicity. They choose the former, though it would have been a far juicier TV moment for Candiace (who Rob willingly defaults to in the evening's decision as a sort of penance for the Lisa move) to not disclose her decision to murder Colton Underwood and instead let Rausch find out that his closest ally is dunzo alongside the rest of the cast at breakfast the next day. Alas. “The goal of this murder was to cut the alliance between Rob and Colton,” Candiace says, though Rob is right to point out that the killing will only draw a direct line back to the Housewife.
The bulk of the house is indeed throwing Candiace's name around, especially with that glaringly retaliative vote against Rob during last week's roundtable. It certainly doesn't help her that Rausch himself—who still has that deadly dagger advantage, giving him not one but two votes in an upcoming roundtable—is fanning the speculation by claiming Colton dropped her name before he was banished. At the same time, Candiace is trying to redirect those castle suspicions to her former ally, bringing up how flustered the snake wrangler was discussing Colton's departure at the breakfast table that morning.
Candiace is far from happy, then, when Rob is chosen as one of three players to get a potential shield in this week's mission, which requires the rest of the house to reenact paintings and have the trio of seekers (Rausch, Kristen Kish, and Mark Ballas) match them in a dusty old gallery via walkie-talkie. “Everybody wants to drink Rob's bathwater because he's such a Faithful,” Candiace grumbles, but it ends up being a quick-thinking Kish who realizes the shield is hidden inside one of the painting's canvas backings.
With the mission complete and another $12,000 added to the growing prize pot (which now stands at $150,800), we're back in the ring for more Traitor-on-on Traitor fisticuffs. After Johnny Weir warns her that people are coming for her, Candiace goes straight to the source: Rob. It's a fiery exchange, one of dodged apologies (“You also told Lisa you're sorry,” Candiace pointedly reminds him) and cold-blooded threats. “You are a snake…if I get banished tonight, your name is coming up,” the Housewife promises.
It's not a surprise, then, that their heated rivalry fires up the roundtable. Despite some early quibbling over whether or not Stephen Colletti could potentially be a Traitor—another name-drop from the late Colton—much of the evening's deliberations are focused on Candiace's throwaway vote against Rob from the table prior. (“Colton was being used as Rob's beard!” Candiace shoots back, which, coupled with Johnny Weir gamely choking out Eric Nam during the mission earlier, will no doubt make a specific subset of the internet go feral.)
Candiace, unsurprisingly, votes for Rob, and vice versa, but the coffin nail against the Housewife is actually hammered in by Johnny, who begrudgingly decides to run with the evidence presented and go against his Potomac pal. Yes, we officially have a back-to-back Traitor banishment, with Candiace revealing her treacherous identity to cast cheers. She's left hopeful that the rest of the castle will take her exit as a reason to look more closely at Rob's gameplay: “If they don't? The joke is on them. So good luck to you all.”
Said snake slithers his way up to the turret that evening solo, but Alan tasks him with recruiting a Faithful into his duplicity. He's already got Mark in his pocket, he reasons, and Johnny is a bit too high risk, so he opts for Eric, who isn't pleased to receive that middle-of-the-night missive. “I can't deal with this,” the crooner cries. “I just want to be left alone. This is what happens when you're nice!” It'll be interesting to see if Nam can slink and slide along Rausch or if he, too, will get gobbled up by Rob's game.
Christina Izzo is a contributor to The A.V. Club.
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His life is “Beautiful Crazy.”
Luke Combs was set to perform at the Madden Bowl concert at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Friday, Feb. 6 ahead of Super Bowl LX.
However, EA sports posted Thursday on social media that “Luke has to hold it down at home with a new one on the way.”
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“All love for Luke and his family — and we can't wait to put on an unforgettable #MaddenBowl with @zachlanebryan leading an incredible night of music and football for the fans,” the outlet added.
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Combs himself posted to his own Instagram story, “So sorry to miss y'all at Madden Bowl, but family always comes first. Have a great time.”
Zach Bryan will be performing as the headliner in his place.
The couple revealed in September 2025 that they expecting their third child.
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“Third time's a charm! Baby #3 coming this winter,” the couple captioned a joint Instagram video post.
In the sweet clip, the parents were seen showing Hocking's sonogram to their two other sons, Beau Lee, 2, and Tex Lawrence, 3.Hocking, 33, announced last month that she was “Soon to be, mom of 3,” on Instagram, captioning a series of shots showing off her baby bump on a sandy beach.
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They first became parents on Father's Day in June 2022 with the birth of son Tex.
“Welp he decided that Fathers Day would be a good time to show up. I couldn't agree more,” Luke wrote on Instagram at the time.
“Me and @nicolejcombs are over the moon in love with this little guy. Mama and baby are healthy and we're back home now with family. Life is good,” he added.
They welcomed Beau in August the following year.
The pair tied the knot at their home in southern Florida in August 2020.
It's actually kind of surprising, given how foundational it is to the art of horror in cinema, that nobody's ever landed a really serious effort to remake Robert Wiene's 1920 German Expressionist classic The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari. Sure, there have been a few token attempts over the last century of movie making, but most have either failed, or been so distant from the source material as to be basically unrecognizable. But maybe filmmakers have just been waiting for an actor possessed of sufficiently intense and off-putting vibes (and eyes) to come along and take over the part of Werner Krauss' infamous, possibly mad hypnotist/psychologist. Cue Michael Shannon!
This is per Variety, which reports that Shannon has signed on to take on the title role in Doctor Caligari's Cabinet Of Wonders. (To be clear, he's playing the doctor, not the cabinet.) The film is being written and directed by John Erick Dowdle, working with his brother and frequent producing partner Drew, who previously worked with Shannon on their Paramount Network series Waco. The film is being financed and produced by independent film studio Anton, which will also handle sales of it at the upcoming European Film Market. As in the original—held up to this day as a landmark movie in terms of allowing its visuals and environments to reflect characters' fractured psyches—the movie will see Shannon's Caligari act as “a traveling mesmerist who journeys from town to town with a sleepwalker under his control, leaving a trail of grisly murders in their wake.” (Whether the new film will adopt the movie's semi-infamous framing sequence, which features a twist that many film scholars feel subverts its anti-authoritarian principles, remains to be seen.)
The upshot of all this is that it's really hard, from where we're sitting, to imagine an actor better suited to a role that requires dominating others through sheer force of will (and intense staring) like this one. The Dowdles clearly agree, with John Erick Dowdle noting in a statement that, “Having worked with Michael Shannon on multiple projects, my brother and I have seen firsthand the unnerving intensity he can bring to even the simplest moments. The idea of seeing him play the horrifying Doctor Caligari became an obsession for us. The trust and creative shorthand we've built together will allow us to push deeper and bolder as we reimagine this iconic German Expressionist classic for a modern audience. I couldn't be more excited to bring this nightmare to life with him.” Filming on the movie is expected to begin in June.
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A Nashville woman named Nancy Guthrie is the victim of mistaken identity. The Bible study instructor responded after receiving dozens of messages praying for her safe return.
Guthrie—who has amassed nearly 30,000 followers on Instagram—has not shared a new post to her profile since Thursday, January 29, two days before Savannah Guthrie's mother went missing.
The comment section of her recent posts have been flooded with comments from those following the the investigation into Nancy Guthrie's disappearance.
“Praying for your safe return 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻” one user wrote.
“Prayers for you❤️” another commented.
“Praying for your return and your family 🌹🙏🏾” a third added.
“Come home Nancy 😢 Where are you ?” yet another wrote.
After days of receiving such remarks, Guthrie responded to clarify her identity.
“I am not the Nancy Guthrie who has been kidnapped, but I'm praying that Nancy Guthrie will be safely returned to her family,” she wrote on Thursday, February 5.
The “Today” host's mother was last seen Saturday, January 31, after being dropped off at home by her daughter, Annie Guthrie, following a family dinner. She was reported missing around noon the following day, after friends noticed she was absent from her regular church service.
During a Thursday press conference, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos revealed a detailed timeline of the night the 84-year-old woman went missing.
According to Nanos, Nancy took an Uber to her daughter Annie's home for dinner on Saturday night around 5:30 p.m. She was later dropped off at 9:48 p.m. Two minutes later, her garage door closed, indicating she arrived inside her Tucson, Arizona, home.
At 1:47 a.m., Guthrie's doorbell camera was disconnected. Another camera picked up movement around 2:12 a.m. Fifteen minutes later, her pacemaker app was disconnected from her cell phone.
Nanos also confirmed that the blood found on the front porch of Guthrie's home belonged to the victim.
As of Thursday, authorities still have no suspect or person of interest in the case, but revealed that “everybody is still a suspect in our eyes.”
“It would be irresponsible if we did not talk to everybody,” Nanos added.
Savannah and her siblings, Annie and Camron Guthrie, released an emotional video pleading for their mother's safe return after an alleged ransom note was sent to multiple media outlets.
“The light is missing from our lives,” Savannah said. “Nancy is our mother. We are her children.”
She added, “We will not rest. Your children will not rest until we are together again. We speak to you every moment, and we pray without ceasing, and we rejoice in advance for the day that we hold you in our arms again.”
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The 'Shark Tank' star warned celebrities who get political, such as the Grammy-winning singer, to "shut your mouth."
By
Carly Thomas
Associate Editor
It seems the latest Hollywood beef is between Mark Ruffalo and Kevin O'Leary.
The Oscar-nominated actor, who has been very outspoken against Donald Trump and his aggressive immigration policies, took to Threads on Thursday to defend Grammy winner Billie Eilish, who used her acceptance speech on Sunday as an opportunity to slam ICE.
“Kevin O'Leary why don't you STFU. It's hilarious,” The Avengers actor wrote. “You will go on any show and talk shit about any number of things and smugly expect us to listen to you, but you will dig into a real artist that dwarfs anything you dream of doing for actually saying something that resonates with 100's of millions of people the world over. It's astounding the fantasy double standard Kevin O'Leary lives in.”
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“You played yourself well in Marty Supreme,” he added, referring to O'Leary's role in the Josh Safdie-directed film, which saw him play Milton Rockwell, a cutthroat 1950s businessman and main antagonist.
Ruffalo's remarks were specifically in response to the businessman and Shark Tank star's recent warning to the “Wildflower” singer and other celebrities who decide to get political on a public stage.
“Half the people in politics that you piss off won't buy your music anymore,” O'Leary said on Fox News' America Reports on Tuesday. “Don't be stupid about it, but hey, they don't listen.”
He added, “It's the first lesson 101 for celebrity: As you rise up, whether you're a film star, a music star [or] whatever, shut your mouth and just entertain.”
On Sunday at the 2026 Grammys, Eilish used her time onstage after winning song of the year for “Wildflower” to speak out against the Trump administration's intense and controversial immigration enforcement. She also wore an “ICE OUT” pin on her outfit.
“I feel so honored every time I get to be in this room,” she said in part. “And, as grateful as I feel, I honestly don't feel like I need to say anything, but that no one is illegal on stolen land. … It's just really hard to know what to say and what to do right now, and I feel really hopeful in this room.”
Eilish then went on to urge the public to “keep fighting and speaking up and protesting,” before yelling, “Fuck ICE,” which was bleeped on the CBS telecast.
Bad Bunny, Shaboozey and Olivia Dean were among other artists at the ceremony to make anti-ICE comments.
Ruffalo wasn't the only star that has come to Eilish's defense, as her brother, Finneas O'Connell, also took to social media recently to clap back at haters.
“Seeing a lot of very powerful old white men outraged about what my 24 year old sister said during her acceptance speech,” O'Connell wrote on Threads. “We can literally see your names in the Epstein files.”
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TMZ founder Harvey Levin just revealed shocking new details about the ransom letter his outlet received in connection with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” host Savannah Guthrie.
Levin appeared on CNN on February 5, 2026, shortly after Savannah's brother, Camron Guthrie, appeared in a new social media video, appealing to whoever may be holding their mom hostage. The post was uploaded at 5 p.m. in Tucson, Arizona, which was the first deadline outlined by the writer of a ransom note sent to three media outlets, including TMZ, authorities confirmed during a press conference earlier that day.
Savannah, Camron, and their sister Annie appeared in a video on February 4, noting that they're “ready to talk” but pleading with their mom's captor to provide them with something to prove their mom is alive.
Camron's February 5 video, uploaded to Savannah's Instagram account, came as the first deadline was passing, with him saying, “Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven't heard anything directly.”
Appearing on CNN in an interview with Anderson Cooper, Levin said they might never hear from the person who wrote the ransom letter, which TMZ received earlier in the week and forwarded to authorities.
“It specifically says there will be no further communication,” Levin told Cooper. “They say no negotiation and no communication. I will tell you that the first words in the letter are that Nancy is safe but scared. They also say she is aware of the demands made in this ransom letter.”
Levin later said that whoever wrote the “carefully crafted letter” seems to be “a rational actor,” noting, “This is a letter that really spells out precisely what they want done, what the consequences are if they don't get what they want. They layer it, so things changed today at 5 o'clock Tucson time. They talk about her health, that she's okay.”
“I don't know if this actually is the person who has Nancy Guthrie,” he added, “but the way this letter is crafted, it is a rational actor.”
At the press conference held earlier in the day, FBI Special Agent in Charge Heith Janke, Phoenix Division, confirmed that the ransom letters received by three different media outlets (TMZ and two Arizona news stations) were identical. He also confirmed that the letter outlined two deadlines for meeting the kidnapper's demands — one at 5 p.m. on February 5 and, if that passed without action, the other would be on Monday, February 9.
“I know you're choosing your words carefully, as you should, and we want you to,” Cooper told Levin during their CNN discussion, inquiring about the deadlines. “Can you just share anything else about that?”
“So, the deadline that just passed had to do with the demand,” Levin said, later confirming that the writer asked to be paid via Bitcoin. “The Monday deadline has more to do with consequences, and Anderson, that's … about as much as I can say. I think everybody kind of knows the way this plays out when people write ransom notes.”
Cooper then asked what TMZ's IT team found when trying to decode where the emailed ransom note came from and Levin answered, “Well, it's really complicated and it's kind of above my skill level, but I will tell you that I had my IT guys talk to the FBI. We couldn't crack it and honestly, the way my IT team explained it, I don't think that authorities have cracked it either.”
Levin also said that “the letter even says ‘the police will be no help to you.” He theorized that the level of sophistication in covering up any digital tracks was another signal to authorities that the ransom letter could be legitimate. He also said he thinks Nancy is likely still in the Tucson area.
He explained, “I've been reading this letter over and over, and I now feel more strongly than ever, based on something that's in this letter — I believe there's a radius around Tucson of where this person may be. And if this person really does have Nancy Guthrie … I think there is a radius around Tucson that they kind of disclose in this demand letter. I mean, they say as much — say that she is within a certain radius.”
Anyone with information on the case is encouraged to call 1-800-CALL-FBI or to email online@tips.fbi.gov.
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The Super Bowl halftime show has become one of the most watched and culturally iconic stages in live entertainment— now it's time to find out what it really takes to make it happen. Marketing executive Bozoma Saint John joins Kristin Robinson on Billboard On The Record to pull back the curtain on the Super Bowl halftime show, from booking superstar talent like Beyoncé and negotiating with artists and brands to coordinating with the NFL and Roc Nation. Saint John shares how she convinced Beyoncé to take the stage and reflects on her experience blending music, sports and culture to create unforgettable moments. She breaks down the logistics and precision required to deliver those 13 unforgettable minutes—from rehearsals and stage builds to balancing sponsorships and artist priorities — offering a rare inside look at what it takes to make the Super Bowl Halftime show a spectacle of music, culture and strategy.
Love what you hear? Follow Billboard On The Record on Instagram, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Youtube @billboard so you never miss an episode.
Billboard On The Record is a podcast in partnership with SickBird Productions.
Kristin Robinson:
What does it take to book a Super Bowl halftime show? Every year, superstar talent has taken the stage during the 30 minute break in the middle of the big game, and it's seen as the crowning achievement in an artist's career. And every year, it feels like the spectacle seems to get bigger and better than ever. So in this special episode of the podcast, we'll be talking about all things music in the Super Bowl, from the planning of the halftime show to getting music placed in the biggest ads of the entire year. Bozoma Saint John, thank you so much for coming to On the Record.
Bozoma Saint John:
Yay!
How are you?
I'm great. I'm really good.
Well, thank you for coming, because this is our very special Super Bowl episode, and I felt like you were the perfect person to ask, because it's widely reported that you're one of the people who convinced Beyonce to do the Super Bowl halftime show once upon a time. And on top of that, you've worked at so many different iconic brands who have had ties to the Super Bowl in some way or another. Over time, you've worked at Pepsi, Uber, Apple Music, Beats, Endeavor, etc, etc, etc. So thanks for coming and doing this.
Yeah, this is so exciting. I mean, first of all, I love sports and I love music, and so it's like the perfect, like, combination of those two things, yeah.
And I feel like recently, like at Billboard, my coworkers and I have been leaning more into covering the intersection of sports and music because I feel like it only increases over time.
Yes, yes.
But that's actually one thing that I wanted to talk to you about before we get into Super Bowl stuff. I mean, you worked at Beats, and when I think of a company that did the sports and music thing, right, I think of Beats.
Keep watching for more!
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With apologies to Mr. Wizard's apprentices and the residents of Beakman's World, the National Academy Of Television Arts And Sciences has voted to celebrate the life and achievements of Bill Nye, science person, with a lifetime achievement award. Per Variety, Nye will receive the award—recognizing a career spent as a scientific educator, TV host, environmental advocate, and guy getting blown around in a wind tunnel in a funny way—at this year's installment of the Children's & Family Emmy Awards in March.
Nye, who spent six seasons as the star and co-creator of Bill Nye The Science Guy, was originally an engineer for Boeing before moving into comedy and TV in the 1980s, eventually successfully pitching (along with co-creators James McKenna and Erren Gottlieb) a show that updated Watch Mr. Wizard with editing and energy more akin to MTV. Nye has continued to make science-minded TV shows with some regularity in the intervening years, most recently for Netflix in 2017, when Bill Nye Saves The World ran for three seasons on the streamer.
The TV host gave a statement in response to the award, writing, in endearingly dorky fashion, that:
This is quite an honor. Thank you. As you may know, I pretty much put my heart and soul into all the shows I've worked on. I believe that the process of science is the best idea humans have ever had. I loved making shows that encouraged kids of all ages to embrace the P, B, and J—the Passion, Beauty, and Joy—of science, while also showing that you, the viewer, can change the world. I've spent my life doing what I love, and this award is not only a celebration of my past work, but a reminder of the impact we can have if we choose to invest in science education and the next generation of leaders.
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"Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven't heard anything directly," Camron Guthrie says on Instagram.
By
Carly Thomas
Associate Editor
Savannah Guthrie‘s brother, Camron Guthrie, has a direct message for those suspected of abducting their mother, Nancy Guthrie.
In a new video posted on Savannah's Instagram page on Thursday, Camron, a retired F-16 fighter pilot, pleads for those responsible “to reach out.” Investigators have said Nancy was likely taken against her will in a “possible kidnapping or abduction.”
“This is Camron Guthrie. I'm speaking for the Guthrie family,” he said in the new video. “Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven't heard anything directly. We need you to reach out and we need a way to communicate with you so we can move forward. But first, we have to know that you have our mom. We want to talk to you and we are waiting for contact.”
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Camron's new comments came a day after he, Savannah and their sister, Annie Guthrie, shared an emotional video on social media, where they addressed media reports about an alleged ransom letter.
“Our mom is our heart and our home. She's 84 years old. Her health, her heart, is fragile. She lives in constant pain. She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive, and she needs it not to suffer,” the Today show co-host said on Wednesday. “We, too, have heard the reports about a ransom letter in the media. As a family, we are doing everything that we can. We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you and we are ready to listen. Please. Reach out to us.”
A ransom letter hasn't been directly confirmed by authorities, but the Pima County Sheriff's Department acknowledged the reporting of a ransom note, obtained by TMZ and at least two local news outlets in Arizona on Tuesday, saying that investigators are “following all leads.”
Nancy, who takes essential medications and has mobility issues, was last seen by Annie's husband, Tommaso Cioni, when he dropped her off at her home in Tucson, Arizona, on Saturday night. The following day, she was reported missing by family members after she didn't show up for church service.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department is investigating her disappearance, calling it a “possible kidnapping or abduction.” Nancy's home was also being treated as a crime scene, as blood discovered on the porch of her home tested positive as her own, authorities confirmed.
Earlier on Wednesday, Sheriff Chris Nanos shot down reports that Cioni had been identified as a possible suspect, scolding members of the media who reported him as a person of interest without confirming it with investigators. He said in a statement shared on the sheriff's department's Facebook page, “At this point, investigators have not identified a suspect or person of interest in this case.”
Nanos also said in an interview with NBC News' Liz Kreutz on Wednesday that he remains hopeful that Nancy is still alive. “We have nothing else to go on but the belief that she is here,” he shared. “She's present. She's alive, and we want to save her.”
In an update on Thursday, the FBI announced a $50,000 reward for information that leads to Nancy's discovery.
”We believe Nancy is still out there,” Nanon added. “We want her home. The sheriff's department, along with all of our partners at the FBI, has been working around the clock, and we just want her home and to find a way to get to the bottom of all of this.”
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Hollywood unions tend to enter the public consciousness only when something goes wrong. Maybe strikes shut down production on your favorite film or TV show. Then, you see actors who aren't allowed to promote their own work on the red carpet or to the press. Suddenly, release calendars are collapsing left and right, and hungry audiences in theaters and at home are abruptly left with nothing to watch.
These calamitous moments of industry friction aren't so much disruptions to the movie and TV pipelines as they are rare glimpses into how the entertainment business actually works. As an indie film artist, understanding entertainment unions and their function matters — even if you never plan on joining one. Because, for all its self-aggrandizing mythology, the modern studio system is just a labor force, and like any workplace, when its employees cease doing their jobs, that's when the product stops coming.
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For impassioned viewers trying to make sense of why movies take so long to fund and to mak, or for fanatical TV experts wondering why seasons keep getting shorter (even on streaming), the transparency provided by unions frequently offers a clearer explanation than the average C-suite press release. Comprised of internally elected union representatives, and nonprofit employees, for the most part, labor leadership broadly shapes how on-set film and TV production work is structured in “mainstream” Hollywood. In theory, using the feedback of these unions' own members sets cultural standards for artists across the world and ensures creative employment remains a sustainable way to live in the U.S.
The legal protections afforded to entertainment labor unions protect not just the professionals in them, but also the institutional knowledge that can only be accrued by staying in an unstable industry for the long haul. Learning from patterns of abuse and past mistakes has only grown more essential as modern technology redraws the economics of film, television, and digital content in real time.
Revenue models have shifted faster than even A-lister contracts can accommodate, and data privacy remains contested in a fast-evolving landscape that's increasingly fearful of — and reliant on — A.I. Positions once rooted in Los Angeles are now scattered across continents, but in that churn, several Hollywood unions still function as connective tissue between departments and generations of workers.
Preserving standards that didn't appear by accident, but through decades of collective negotiation and volunteer works, this IndieWire's 101 guide to the seven core entertainment labor unions: Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA); Writers Guild of America (WGA); Directors Guild of America (DGA); the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE); the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (Local 399); the American Federation of Musicians (AFM); and the Animation Guild (TAG, Local 839 of IATSE).
As film and TV productions decentralize, and individual career paths fragment, now is the moment to understand the Hollywood infrastructure as it once existed — and where it's being tested in 2026.
A union film or TV show operates under a collective bargaining agreement negotiated between its producers and an official Hollywood labor union, while non-union productions do not. In practice, that distinction shapes nearly every aspect of an artist's professional experience working on a project — from who can actually be hired, to how long people work, and even who's at fault in an emergency.
Union productions must follow established legal minimums for pay, overtime, meal breaks, safety standards, and contributions to professional benefits. These rules exist to prevent a race to the bottom between studios, which was an exploitative pattern that long defined Hollywood as an industry where sixteen-hour workdays were common and job security did not exist.
Union contracts also provide grievance procedures, meaning entertainment workers have recourse if the conditions of their employment are violated. To be clear, non-union projects are not inherently exploitative, but they frequently rely on individual creative's skill for negotiation and a sense of communal goodwill — rather than enforceable legal standards. This can allow for flexibility on ultra-low budget or auteur passion projects, but it also places the burden of protection on the workers themselves.
With studios taking more risks to stay relevant, the key distinction here isn't creative freedom but scale and sustainability. Note that union agreements can include low-budget tiers designed to accommodate indie efforts, while maintaining their cast and crew's basic protections. For directors, understanding when a project crosses into union territory can prevent costly mistakes and help you plan ahead.
There is no single pathway into a Hollywood union, but most follow the same basic principle: You don't join first, but instead qualify for admittance through your body of work. Meaning, union membership is often triggered by your employment on a union project — not by paying dues or passing an exam.
For cast and crew, this typically means qualifying through a low-budget agreement, waiver, or trainee classification program that you find through your own circumstance. Then, only after a required number of workdays or credits do you become eligible to join your respective union. (Note: Writers and directors generally join once hired on a signatory production, at which point membership becomes mandatory.)
That said, initiation fees and annual dues can be significant, which is why many workers delay joining until it becomes professionally necessary. Joining a union too early can restrict access to non-union work as well — but joining too late can also mean missing benefits that keep you in the game longterm. Ultimately, unions are less about “getting in” than staying in, but luck and timing are always a factor.
SAG-AFTRA (aka the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) represents performers across film, television, streaming, radio, voice acting, stunts, and other on-camera media. Its membership spans A-list movie stars, background actors, social media influencers, and recording artists. Think anyone whose embodied physical labor is reproduced or broadcast for profit.
SAG was founded in 1933 during the Golden Age of Hollywood, when studio contracts often bound actors to strict schedules with limited financial leverage. AFTRA followed in 1937 to represent radio performers, and the two finally merged in 2012 — effectively acknowledging the collapse of traditional media silos and the reality that modern performers typically work across formats.
From stunt regulations to AI protections around digital replicas, the SAG-AFTRA union negotiates minimum rates, residuals, health and pension plans, and safety standards among other issues. Its unified actions tend to be the most visible because actors have a public face, but the SAG-AFTRA influence is deeply structural. Without SAG-AFTRA contracts, productions can struggle to find talent and relevance.
SAG-AFTRA's tiered agreements are often the first point of union contact for indie filmmakers. They offer lower-budget pathways that still provide protections for actors, while encouraging directors and producers to engage seriously with the ways performance labor is being devalued and threatened.
Read more on the official SAG-AFTRA website.
The Writers Guild of America represents film and TV writers, through both its East and West Coast branches. The WGA covers film screenwriters, televisions staff writers, showrunners, and anyone else whose primary contribution is the scripted blueprint of an entertainment project.
Founded in 1933, the WGA emerged alongside the Hollywood studio system itself, as writers pushed back against employers who treated their creativity as disposable raw material. Over the decades, the WGA has been at the center of major philosophical battles defending the importance of art and storytelling — often forecasting cultural upheaval before it became visible elsewhere.
The WGA negotiates minimum compensation, residuals, credit determination, and creative rights when it comes to written work. Its jurisdiction over credits is especially powerful, arbitrating decisions that can shape careers, reputations, and earnings. The guild also administers health and pension plans that help make writing a viable long-term profession. Recent WGA actions have focused on streaming economics, the explosion of mini-rooms, and the erosion of stable TV employment.
Read more on the official WGA website.
The Directors Guild of America represents directors, assistant directors, unit production managers, and stage managers who work in the production of movies, TV shows, commercials, and other live media projects. Unlike some creative guilds, the DGA encompasses both artistic leadership and key logistical professionals — reflecting how directing bridges both skills of craft and management.
Founded in 1936, the DGA emerged from concerns over creative control and credit attribution amid the growing power of producers. Its agreements then established minimum salaries for filmmakers, as well as working conditions and the now-standard role of the director as the primary artistic authority on set. The union is known for its relative stability (it rarely strikes), but its contracts are often bellwethers for broader negotiations ramping up… or going south.
The DGA has historically influenced other entertainment unions' bargaining strategies, and for indie directors, reaching DGA status can mark a serious transition into higher-budget or studio-backed work. Of course, directors' authority is still contested as production timelines compress in a stressed economy — and creative decision-making become even more data-driven in the era of streaming.
Read more on the official DGA website.
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees represents the vast network of behind-the-scenes talent that makes production possible. IATSE encompasses cinematographers, editors, costume designers, makeup artists, grips, electricians, set builders, and dozens of other filmmaking crafts — all organized into local union representations specialized to those departments.
Founded in 1893, IATSE predates Hollywood, having originated in live theater before having its practices adapted for film and television. The union's jurisdiction grew alongside technological innovation, absorbing new responsibilities as film and TV productions evolved on and off screen. Today, IATSE negotiates wages, hours, safety standards, and career benefits, often fighting against the punishing schedules and burnout that doesn't always register with more public-facing employees at the top.
In 2021, the IATSE contract standoff brought unprecedented attention to working conditions below the line and revealed how unsustainable demands had become normalized across Hollywood sets. The group continues to shape budgets, crew expectations, and timelines — drawing out why entertainment labor issues that aren't visible to viewers can sometimes be the most urgent and dire.
Read more on the official IATSE website.
Teamsters Local 399 represents drivers and transportation professionals in Hollywood, including set drivers, location managers, and casting associates. Though smaller in public profile, its impact on the daily world of Hollywood is immense. Without transportation, the show can't go… anywhere.
Founded as part of the broader Teamsters union, Local 399 became indispensable as productions expanded across Los Angeles and into the broader U.S. Its members move cast, crew, and filmmaking equipment, while their union representatives negotiate pay, hours, turnaround times, and safety regulations. That's crucial especially when it comes overnight shoots.
Read more on the official Teamsters Local 399 website.
The Animation Guild, Local 839 of IATSE, represents artists, writers, directors, and technicians who create through animation. Its members include storyboard artists, character designers, animators, animation writers, and more people whose work straddles visual art and technology.
Founded in 1952, during a period of employee unrest at Disney, TAG emerged to protect creative workers who were too often dismissed as technicians or low-level laborers. Over time, the guild became a crucial advocate for animation as a distinct artistic discipline — negotiating wages, benefits, and work classifications (which became particularly vital as animation expanded across streaming and gaming).
TAG members have been at the forefront of debates around labor outsourcing, as well as AI-assisted productions workflows, and the erosion of personal IP ownership. For indie artists, there's a growing overlap between animation and live-action production that's worth watching closely.
Read more on the official Animation Guild website.
The American Federation of Musicians represents instrumental musicians — who work not only in recording sessions but also on film and television scores, live performances, and digital media. Its members range from orchestra players to celebrity composers.
AFM was founded in 1896, fighting early battles over recorded music as it swiftly surpassed live performance labor. That concern echoes loudly in today's union debates as the group negotiates session fees, reuse payments, and residuals tied to infinitely re-playable musical performances. AFM contracts govern film and TV scoring, making it central to how music is produced and compensated for productions. Union scoring can elevate professionalism, but its music requires indie projects to budget.
Read more on the official American Federation of Musicians website.
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Margot Robbie drew direct inspiration from the Brönte sisters for Thursday's “Wuthering Heights” UK premiere in London.
The actress walked the wildflower-lined red carpet wearing a head-turning Dilara Findikoglu corset gown finished with faux blond braids, along with Manolo Blahnik heels.
But it was the hairwork bracelet on her left wrist that instantly caught our eye: a perfect replica of a 175-year-old mourning bracelet once owned and worn by Charlotte Brönte.
Mourning jewelry dates back as far as the 16th century, but became particularly popular during the Victorian era. Rings, bracelets, pendants and other pieces were crafted in memorial of deceased loved ones, often incorporating their locks.
“Wuthering Heights” author Emily Brönte and her sister Anne died five months apart, in December 1848 and May 1849, respectively.
Upon the death of her siblings, Charlotte Brönte commissioned the original bracelet fashioned from their hair, woven together and intertwined for all eternity.
The historic piece is finished with a gold clasp set with garnets. Charlotte is said to have worn the special bracelet every day, and it has been owned by the Brontë Parsonage Museum since 1923.
Robbie's replica was created by Wyedean Weaving, a fourth-generation, family-owned West Yorkshire manufacturer based in Haworth, where the Brönte sisters lived.
“The [Brönte Parsonage Museum] holds the world's largest collections of Brontë manuscripts, clothing and personal possessions and we take our responsibility as custodians extremely seriously,” the institution's director, Rebecca Yorke, shared in a press release.
“This event has offered us an unprecedented opportunity to share an item from our collection and tell its story with a global and contemporary audience, and we are delighted that, thanks to director Emerald Fennell, Margot Robbie and everyone involved with the film, Emily Brontë and her masterpiece continue to be part of popular culture almost 200 years after her death.”
Even Robbie's dress — constructed from sheer silk chiffon, fitted with a fully boned corset bodice and crisscrossed with golden braids from top to toe — was inspired by the mourning jewelry.
The synthetic hair incorporated into the design was hand-dyed to precisely match the Brontë sisters' locks.
Around Robbie's neck was a braided choker that echoed the look of the one-of-a-kind bracelet, and she and stylist Andrew Mukamal turned to Jessica McCormack for some additional sparkle, choosing garnet, diamond and pearl earrings along with a 4-carat ruby ring.
A duo of archival Boucheron brooches set with glimmering red stones — one from 1900, the other from 1920 — finished Robbie's regal look.
In a press conference on February 5, 2026, local and federal authorities revealed new details about the search for Nancy Guthrie, and announced a $50,000 reward for anyone who leads them to the 84-year-old mother of “Today” host Savannah Guthrie, who disappeared from her home in Tucson, Arizona, overnight on February 1.
Savannah and her siblings — sister Annie and brother Camron — released a heartbreaking video via social media on the evening of February 4, tearfully reading messages for their mom and those authorities believe abducted her. Midday on February 5, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos led a press conference in which he made it clear they have not named any suspects. Meanwhile, FBI Special Agent in Charge Heith Janke, Phoenix Division, announced a new reward of up to $50,000, increased from a reward of $2,500 offered earlier in the week.
Anyone with information on where Nancy might be has been encouraged to call 1-800-CALL-FBI or by emailing online@tips.fbi.gov.
Janke said the FBI is now working closely with the Pima County Sheriff Department, noting, “We're going to start today by announcing a $50,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of Nancy Guthrie and or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance.”
An updated reward poster issued by the FBI states, “The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Phoenix Field Office and the Pima County Sheriff's Department in Arizona are investigating the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, last seen at her residence in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona, on the evening of January 31, 2026. She is considered to be a vulnerable adult who has difficulty walking, has a pacemaker, and needs daily medication for a heart condition.”
The ransom notes that have been emailed to several media outlets did include deadlines, including 5 p.m. Eastern time on February 5, and Janke noted that typically, in a “kidnapping” situation, they would have received direct contact from abductors sooner when a deadline is involved.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos began by telling press members of the family's video, “We saw last night the family, you know they just hurt, understandably so. I really want you to know this entire team, those behind me and our community, are hurting with you. We really just want mom back.”
“Right now, we believe Nancy is still out there,” he continued. “We want her home. Our department, the sheriff's department, along with all of our partners at the FBI have been working around the clock. We just want her home.”
When Janke stepped up to the podium, he said, “First, I want to let the Guthrie family know that our hearts are heavy for them. After seeing your message last night, it is clear that you and your family are in pain. Please know that we are doing everything to bring your mother home.”
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Prosthetic pasties & mesh were also involved, according to makeup artist Sasha Glasser.
By
Hannah Dailey
If there were a Grammy Award for most shocking red-carpet look, Chappell Roan almost definitely would have won with her daring, gravity-defying Mugler nipple-ring dress. But how did her team pull off the faux piercings while keeping the pop star relatively covered up?
Gum wrappers — in part. Makeup artist and prosthetics expert Sasha Glasser revealed as much in an interview with Allure published a few days after the Sunday awards show, also sharing that she attached the gown's nipple rings to special-grade prosthetic nipple coverings painted to match Roan's exact skin tone. “The idea was for her to not be so naked,” Glasser told the publication of why they went with the blurred-out nipple look.
Roan's styling team also layered small pieces of a stretchy nude mesh behind the prosthetics to pull off the illusion. And because they had to pierce the mesh and prosthetics with the nipple rings before they could paint them, Glasser says she and the musician's stylist, Genesis Webb, used gum wrappers to keep the rings clean.
“Genesis and I tested it,” Glasser recalled. “We'd put the ring in the prosthetic and tug, and it would rip out, so that was scary.”
By the time the red carpet came along, the team had pulled it off — and the result was jaw-dropping. Billboard‘s Instagram video of the look alone garnered more than 50 million views in just 24 hours alone.
Later, Roan posted about the discourse on Instagram, sharing photos of her look and writing, “Giggling because I don't even think this is THAT outrageous of an outfit.”
“The look's actually so awesome and weird,” she added. “I recommend just exercising your free will it's really fun and silly … Thank you for having me @grammys and those who voted for me!!”
After walking the red carpet, Roan changed outfits to a cream-colored dress to present the best new artist award, which she won in 2025. The prize went to Olivia Dean this year.
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The Exorcist meets Training Day? We're sold.
Karen Gillan is currently filming the long-awaited new Jumanji movie, reuniting with Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black and Kevin Hart, ahead of its release this December. She's keeping even busier though by already lining up her next project.
She's been confirmed to star in new supernatural thriller Blasphemous alongside Josh Hutcherson and Clive Owen, based on a 2023 Black List script by Luke Piotrowski who is also making his directorial debut on the movie.
It follows a rookie priest (Hutcherson) and his devout mentor (Owen) as they transport a possessed young woman (Gillan) to a secure location for an exorcism. Unfortunately for them, she unexpectedly escapes which puts their lives on the line and their faith to the ultimate test.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Blasphemous has described as a mix between The Exorcist and Training Day. Filming is planned to start this August in New York, but no release date has been confirmed yet.
"Blasphemous is one of the best scripts the collective producer group has ever read," said Scott Strauss of Badlands, who produces alongside Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee of Thunder Road, Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia of Seven Bucks Productions, and Gillan and Jess Biddle of Red Riot Pictures.
Related: Here's your first look at long-delayed new Jumanji movie
"It's a one-of-a-kind genre ride that features sharp dialogue, compelling characters, and powerful ideas. We can't wait to watch Clive, Karen, and Josh help Luke bring this unique vision to life."
Following the announcement, Gillan shared her excitement at the new role on Instagram, posting: "Can't wait to raise some hell for you…"
As well as the upcoming Jumanji sequel, Gillan was also confirmed to star in the Highlander reboot, alongside Henry Cavill, Russell Crowe and Dave Bautista. It's currently filming and has yet to confirm a release date.
We do know though that the next Jumanji movie is set to land in cinemas on 11 December 2026, barring any production delays. It started filming in November 2025 when we were treated to a first-look at the cast's return.
The new edition of Living Legends, a 100-page all-colour celebration of Taylor Swift, is here! Buy Taylor in newsagents or online, priced at just £8.99.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
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Veteran Bible teacher and author Victoria Harr announces the release of her new book, Awakening Your Spiritual Senses, a faith centered work that invites readers to move beyond surface level belief and into a deeper experiential relationship with God through the Holy Spirit.
In Awakening Your Spiritual Senses, Harr explores the idea that just as God created humans with five natural senses of hearing, seeing, touching, tasting, and smelling, He has also given believers spiritual senses. These spiritual senses often remain unnoticed until God activates them. When awakened, they intersect with the natural realm and allow believers to experience God's presence and the spiritual realm in fresh and transformative ways.
This book reflects Harrs personal journey and decades of teaching on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. She explains how spiritual senses operate and how God desires to reveal Himself through them. Each chapter introduces a spiritual sense and includes teaching followed by impartation and activation exercises that encourage direct interaction with God. The goal is not only understanding, but transformation and deeper intimacy with Him.
Victoria Harr is a mother, grandmother, and great grandmother who has taught the Bible for over forty years. She has served in a wide range of ministry and outreach roles including Shiloh Youth Revival Centers Inc., World Wide Pictures, the Salvation Army, and BLAST, an after school program serving low income families. While working as a legal secretary, she also led weekly Bible studies in a corporate environment for twenty years.
Her ministry lifestyle includes mentoring women, one on one discipleship, and speaking in churches, classrooms, retreats, and seminars. She leads prayer teams that focus on listening prayer and operates in the prophetic, particularly through Words of Knowledge. Based in San Diego, California, Harr remains active in her home church where she creates and teaches curriculum with a strong emphasis on spiritual gifts and spiritual senses.
Awakening Your Spiritual Senses adds to Harrs collection of published works, which include Spiritual Gifts, A Grandmother's Legacy to Her Grandchildren, A Grandmother's Life as Told to Her Grandchild, and Single Mom What Now.
Harr hopes this book will inspire believers to pursue spiritual growth and refuse to settle for ordinary faith. Once you have experienced Him, you will never be satisfied to look back.
More information about Victoria Harr and her books can be found at
https://www2.grandmotherslegacy.com/
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Global Book Network - Victoria Harr, Author of Awakening Your Spiritual Senses
Media ContactCompany Name: Global Book NetworkContact Person: Henry ZaneEmail: Send EmailCountry: United StatesWebsite: https://www.globalbooknetwork.tv/
By CHRIS MELORE, US ASSISTANT SCIENCE EDITOR
Published: 21:55 EST, 5 February 2026 | Updated: 08:40 EST, 6 February 2026
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The Trump Administration has given the green light to reveal the secret UFO facilities to one of the leading voices in Congress calling for full disclosure of alien life.
US Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri revealed that he has requested and been granted access to secure locations, such as Area 51, which have decades-old ties to UFOs and secret government projects.
Speaking on the ALN Podcast, Burlison added that the request to President Trump and his staff included visiting US military bases and facilities where evidence suggests unidentified craft, materials, bodies, or archives allegedly exist.
Burlison is a member of the congressional oversight committee involved in the ongoing investigation into Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs), commonly known as UFOs.
Although the US government and the Pentagon have officially denied that there has been any physical evidence of UFOs or alien life ever recovered, Congress has heard from multiple whistleblowers claiming secret programs have covered up the truth.
In fact, Burlison has previously claimed President Trump has been 'fully briefed' on the existence of aliens, UFOs recovered by the military since the 1940s, and alien-human hybrids allegedly living on Earth today.
Now, as Trump insiders have allegedly leaked that the White House is planning to reveal what America knows about extraterrestrials by July, the UAP committee may soon have the physical proof of non-human intelligence in their hands.
The congressman revealed: 'The White House has told the DoD to make it happen. The extent to which they've been involved is literally just saying to the Department of Defense that "we're backing his request. Do what you can to make it happen."'
Area 51 (Pictured) has been tied to UFO encounters and advanced military aircraft since the 1950s
US Congressman Eric Burlison (Pictured) has claimed that he has received approval from the White House to visit classified US facilities allegedly tied to evidence of alien life
Over the years, multiple US military sites have been linked to non-human craft, including facilities, anonymous sources have said, that were housing crashed spaceships and experimental aircraft constructed using reverse-engineered alien technology.
These include Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, the Atlantic Undersea Testing and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) in the Bahamas, and the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR), home to Area 51.
'There is reportedly an object that is not in this country that is so large it cannot be moved, that they've built an entire building around it,' Burlison said during the January 30 podcast.
The congressman noted that this facility outside the US was classified so he was unable to reveal its exact location, but it was on his list of places he had requested to visit as part of the committee's investigation.
'It's going to involve a lot to make that happen, but that may be the final destination.'
Burlison said during the interview that he started as a UFO skeptic but was convinced these phenomena were real after listening to whistleblower David Grusch's public interview shortly after entering Congress in early 2023.
The Missouri Republican reached out to Grusch, connected him to the House Oversight Committee, and helped facilitate the string of public hearings that have revealed shocking evidence of alien encounters from respected military officials.
Most of the current evidence has taken the form of images and videos of alleged non-human craft captured by both civilians and military personnel. Many have been leaked to the public after being classified by the Pentagon for years.
President Trump (Pictured) expressed skepticism that reports of UFOs were real during a June 2024 interview but has allegedly granted access to secret bases tied to such claims
The November 2025 documentary 'The Age of Disclosure' alleged that there's been an 80-year cover-up on UFOs and alien technology
Burlison himself revealed never-before-seen video of a US military drone striking an orb-shaped UFO with a Hellfire missile during a September 2025 UAP hearing.
The shocking footage from October 30, 2024 revealed that the unidentified craft not only survived the missile strike, but continued to fly away at extreme speed as the 100-pound, air-to-ground precision weapon simply bounced off the UFO's hull.
The congressman added that access to government records on UAP has been intentionally made difficult to obtain and convoluted to research, with some agencies allegedly failing to report their data properly to Congress.
'We created government, and it's not the right of any government to withhold from you and I the truth about reality,' Burlison declared.
'No government has the right to withhold from you and I that we might be alone or not alone in the universe. That is not their right. That is not classified. That's a truth that humanity deserves to know.'
Burlison has previously claimed to have 'a lead' on new UFO whistleblowers. However, he said during the new interview that it's been difficult to convince potential witnesses to risk losing their government clearances in retaliation, comparing these individuals to 'guinea pigs' in terms of how the Pentagon would respond.
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Mystery grows after six members of 'cosmic cult' vanish in Missouri
In this story:
SAN FRANCISCO — Consider this Seahawks season an exercise in exorcisms. All ghosts—Sam Darnold's reference to seeing them in 2019, Russell Wilson's Super Bowl XLIX interception, lingering organizational tension from then to now, to cite just three examples—have been busted or can be, in two days, at Super Bowl LX.
This is where Keith Linder enters the conversation. In 2011, he moved from Austin to Seattle, for a job as a software engineer at Microsoft. He rented a house in Bothell, Wa., which is located northeast of downtown. He chose from the offerings on Craigslist. At that point, neither Linder, nor his girlfriend, Tina, knew anything about paranormal activity.
“No,” Linder tells Sports Illustrated in a phone interview last week. “We got baptized.”
The strange started on May 1, 2012. They started hearing this sound, like a baby was coughing, incessantly, day and night. Maybe, they thought, those noises were coming from their neighbors. They were not. They searched every inch of their rental home. And, still, cough-cough-cough.
Then their car keys started to mysteriously vanish. Silverware disappeared. Then the knocking started. Then it really got weird. While they watched television on the couch, a potted plant levitated off the ground, spun in a circle and dropped back in place. Then what Linder describes as a “demonic drawing” suddenly appeared on one wall.
This forced Linder to consider a notion he had never considered previously. Was this house—safe neighborhood, five bedrooms, 2-1/2 baths, constructed only six years earlier—actually … haunted? He thought so. Tina agreed. “But I didn't want to run,” Linder says. “I felt I deserved this house. I worked hard to acquire it.”
He chose, at that moment, to do what many Seahawks players and coaches have done over the past 11 years. He chose to live with his ghosts. Perhaps then he could understand them.
Where might he go for help? Linder wondered that every single day. There wasn't an 800 number to call. Real-life Ghostbusters didn't exist. There was no “I'm haunted” support group.
This club, Linder says, is a tiny one. It's divided between charlatans and people who sound like charlatans. The latter believe they experienced paranormal activity, and they tell their ghost stories while realizing they sound farfetched. Those stories sound farfetched to them, even.
Linder is a Seahawks fan and a football fan, and after I reached out to him, he did some research in relation to Seattle's ghosts. He found several instances of Darnold using that phrase, seeing ghosts, that dated back to high school. He figured Darnold wasn't even aware of that apparent subconscious theme. He also saw Darnold living with the ghosts he saw, in theoretical senses, on football fields.
“I was trying to rationalize [my experience],” Linder says. “Darnold must have felt like that. He was there. He couldn't make sense of it. But it builds you, internally.”
He also wondered if Darnold would follow the same stages that he did.
One: Deny.
Two: Hunt—for the cause of this activity, for any noise, in any corner of the house; and, soon, for answers, to rid the space of paranormal happenings or reduce them or anything that might end the madness he experienced daily.
Three: Fight.
Four: Flight.
Linder didn't know that the greater-Seattle area marked something of a haven for paranormal activity, at least for those who believe in that kind of thing. Several companies run “ghost” tours that ferry tourists around downtown. There's also an underground city, a series of interconnected tunnels, built after a major, crippling fire in 1889. There have been reports of ghost sightings or paranormal activity since then.
The paranormal activity inside that Bothell Hell House picked up, anyway. Loud bangs. Louder crashes. Slamming doors. Flying scissors and airborne kitchen knives, some of which lodged into walls after slicing through them. More violence, the screams closer to existential. Pages torn from Bibles and scattered all over. A burning Bible after that. Plates falling to the ground and breaking. Forks levitating off the table. Blaring fire alarms. Lights all turning off at the same time. Every lightbulb in the house, exploding, at the same time. And that plant! It levitated on a schedule, almost, multiple times a day. Even when they hosted, guests believed they had been touched or grabbed or had their hair pulled by unseen forces.
What else could he do? Linder continued fighting. He hired an exorcist to bless the space and rid it of any evil spirits. This ritual came with two warnings: It might not work and it could anger the very spirits it was supposed to banish. That worked—for all of two days. Then they reached out to Ghost Adventures, a popular reality show on the Travel Channel. That film crew investigated what's now known as the Bothell Hell House for most of a day, using machines to search for electromagnetic pulses which, for paranormal believers, often identify the presence of ghosts. They found none.
Linder became increasingly, deeply and darkly depressed. He found another paranormal investigator online. Everyone in that world knew Don Phillips, a United Kingdom–based paranormal investigator. He flew to Seattle immediately, with a crew, and lived in the house for roughly a month. He caught—again, there's no way to prove this in an objectively verifiable sense—more than 400 recordings of … ghosts. Of that tally, 28 recordings were direct responses to the investigator's questions. Phillips told Linder he made eye contact with the spirits who, yes, haunted his home. One was a small child. Another poltergeist led all the others—an elderly woman, believe it or not. She was a mess—hair pointing in every direction, torn clothes, confused, angry, fearful.
Soon, they uncovered another piece of critical info. There had been Irish settlement near that property more than 100 years earlier, and many families that called that settlement home had also buried their dead nearby. This is where the ghosts—again, can't prove it!—came from.
At that point, much like Darnold departing the Jets, Panthers, 49ers and Vikings before landing in Seattle, with the Seahawks, Linder chose the flight option. Sometimes, he regrets that decision. He doesn't regret the alternative reality, worst-case: him, living in a mental institution, his room padded and his food slipped under the door.
This is his advice to those Seahawks who have or are exorcising ghosts: They have two options. They can fly. Or they can fight. They can bury their demons. But it works far better, he says, to reason with them, understand them and work toward resolutions.
In many, significant ways, that is the story of this Seahawks season. Linder now works downtown, where Lumen Field looms outside the window of his office. He says he grew up in a spiritual household but didn't believe in ghosts at all until he met the ones that haunted him. Now, he says, about half of him believes in the paranormal. “I like that,” he says. “A season of exorcisms.”
I ask to visit the Bothell Hell House. Linder says the current residents do not want visitors, which is understandable, given the wide berth of humanity that shows up at that door. He says not to park too close, which could anger or awaken the spirits that remain inside. He says one person who called him said their car broke down on that block. Others got flat tires, blown-out engines or experienced paranormal activity themselves. He doubted that would happen. But he said that ghosts that haunt houses like the one he rented are always there. They might be dormant more often than not. But they're there, and they're there for a reason.
The eerie realization dawned the moment I turned onto the Hell House's street. You can't make this up. It's located on Stafford Way. The Seahawks had vanquished their hated rival, the Los Angeles Rams, twice in the previous five weeks. Another ghost, slayed. Just like the symbols of stick figures that showed up on Linder's walls, drawn but upside down, Linder could flip “way” and get close to Maye, as in Drake, the Patriots quarterback—the ghost ahead.
“It's their duty to test you,” Linder says. “The Seahawks have embraced their tests. That's why they're in this Super Bowl.” Because of Exorcism Season.
Mike Vrabel's playing days: “The thing that amazed me is we would have a period for special teams. Mike was on a lot of [special teams units]. But for the ones he wasn't on, he and Rodney Harrison wanted to be on the ‘look teams' for those, for [units] that they weren't going to be involved in. That's Mike.”
Vrabel's personality: “He knew I hated it when he would do this. In OTAs or at minicamps, [the defense] would run line stunts. And Mike would always grab one of the offensive linemen, so the defensive tackle could come around them, and we couldn't get our tackle off of Mike. So he's grabbing the heck out of our tackle, and he's looking right at me and just smiling like a Halloween pumpkin, knowing it's gonna drive me crazy. And I would be like, F—ing Vrabel.”
Bill Belichick assistants or former players and their collective struggles as head coaches: “With Mike right now, it's original. It's not Belichick, O.K.? And it's not anyone else he ever played for. He's his own guy. He's not the reincarnation of Belichick at all.”
Vrabel's softer side: “My first exposure to Mike in his playing career was when we went to West Virginia during training camp and worked against the Houston Texans. Mike was coaching the outside linebackers. And I would look over, across the field, look at him, and he was over there, and they would play this game with a big ball, almost like Four Square. And the next thing I'd see was Mike, out there, with his players. He would take this kind of chest protector, strap it to his body and a rusher or a blocker. Me? I'd get slaughtered.”
One point of clarification on this game that I hadn't heard, despite years and years of reporting on Wilson's interception, before. The Seahawks head coach that game, Pete Carroll, has been criticized ever since that attempt left Wilson's right hand for not taking accountability in the aftermath, whether immediate or long-term. But according to three people who were in the Seahawks locker room that night before it opened to the media, Carroll said the following: “If you're going to point fingers at anyone, point them at me. I'm sorry.”
Carroll didn't call the play, throw the pass, run the wrong route or fail to account for Malcolm Butler. Yet he has borne the brunt of the torrent of criticism that resulted from that INT. He should be credited for that. He did take accountability—and he did absorb far more blame than he deserved. His former players, though, see that moment in the locker room as in contrast with every other action or statement that came from Carroll in the aftermath. They see accountability—but only to a point.
Two related nuggets I haven't seen before. One comes from one of those sources, who voiced what many in the organization felt: That the Seahawks defense should have taken more accountability for that defeat. They gave up a 10-point lead with 10 minutes left, after all.
The other: after the XLIX loss but before the start of the next season, assistant coach Tom Cable had apparently had enough. He called out the defense in one team meeting. Told them to stop complaining. Told them they hadn't played perfectly that night, either.
When Cooper Kupp tore through his final training session in Southern California last spring, before he would head to Seattle and join his Rams' division rival Seahawks, the depth of his impact on Los Angeles and the Rams' Super Bowl team from the 2021 was fully revealed.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford dropped by, as did wideout Puka Nacua, as did retired franchise cornerstone Andrew Whitworth. “That just shows you what kind of impact he has had on all these people, man,” says Ryan Sorensen, the trainer who led that session and has worked with Kupp since the 2020 season. “You could tell he just knew. He was going to use all that energy and just completely, utterly dominate.”
Even if Seattle wins this Super Bowl, Sorensen and other members of Kupp's tight inner circle don't believe, not for a second, that he will retire.
Before Canaan Smith-Njigba became a professional baseball player and Jaxon Smith-Njigba became a professional football player, they grew up in Rockwall, Texas. Their father, Maada, loved to “knock out all the sports in one day,” Canaan says. That meant football, basketball, baseball, development for all three and forays into other athletic endeavors.
It also led to what Canaan describes as no less than his brother's destiny, to do what Jaxon has done this season. Canaan says he knew Jaxon would enter the all-time greats conversation when Jaxon was 3 or 4. “As a toddler, he was able to run, catch, throw early on,” Canaan says. “Always been advanced. Always loved football. You could see it.”
Sources remain all over the place on the ankle injury Seahawks do-everything safety Nick Emmanwori suffered in Wednesday's practice, per the pool report that day. Best I can tell: He'll play Sunday but not at full health.
The teams participating in this Super Bowl are staying in Santa Clara and San Jose. The vast majority of the media hoard is bunking in San Francisco. Interviews force long bus rides from one place to the other. If anyone needs an expert on 101-S between those locations …
“My dad—that'd be the dream guy to block.”
That's from Grey Zabel, the Seahawks left guard. He's close with his father, Mark, who played outside linebacker at the Division II college level.
Greg Bishop is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who has covered every kind of sport and every major event across six continents for more than two decades. He previously worked for The Seattle Times and The New York Times. He is the co-author of two books: Jim Gray's memoir, "Talking to GOATs"; and Laurent Duvernay Tardif's "Red Zone". Bishop has written for Showtime Sports, Prime Video and DAZN, and has been nominated for eight sports Emmys, winning two, both for production. He has completed more than a dozen documentary film projects, with a wide range of duties. Bishop, who graduated from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, is based in Seattle.
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President Donald Trump has reportedly approved a request that could open up some of America's most secretive UFO-linked facilities, in a move that will raise hopes among those in search of long-sought-after answers to the existence of alien life.
While the Pentagon and US government have consistently denied recovering any physical evidence of extraterrestrial visitors, multiple whistleblowers have told Congress that secret programs have long covered up the truth.
Missouri Congressman Eric Burlison, a member of the congressional oversight committee investigating Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs), said he has been granted permission to visit the nation's most secretive UFO-related facilities. This includes highly secure military bases and other locations with decades-long ties to unidentified flying objects and classified government programs. Among them, the infamous Area 51 which has been the subject of decades of speculation over the existence of aliens.
In addition to Area 51, multiple US military sites have long been associated with claims of non-human craft, including Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and AUTEC in the Bahamas.
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Speaking on the ALN Podcast, Burlison explained that his request to President Trump and his team included visits to facilities where evidence of unusual craft, materials, bodies, or archived records is believed to exist. "The White House has told the DoD to make it happen,” he said. “The extent at which they've been involved is literally just saying to the Department of Defense that ‘we're backing his request. Do what you can to make it happen.'" Burlison told the podcast, highlighting official support for his mission.
Burlison also mentioned an object housed outside the US so large a building had been constructed around it, though he could not reveal the site due to classification. "It's going to involve a lot to make that happen, but that may be the final destination," he said.
In previous statements, Burlison has claimed President Trump was "fully briefed" on the existence of aliens, recovered UFOs dating back to the 1940s, and alleged alien-human hybrids currently living on Earth, reports the Daily Mail.
Now, with alleged leaks suggesting the White House may reveal what it knows about extraterrestrials by July, the UAP committee could soon be in possession of tangible proof of non-human intelligence.
Initially a skeptic, Burlison said he became convinced of the reality of UFOs after hearing whistleblower David Grusch's public testimony in early 2023. He later connected Grusch with
Congress, helping facilitate hearings that have featured dramatic evidence from military personnel.
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The Ukrainian military recently released photos and videos showcasing one of Russia's most recent attempts at breaking Ukraine's defenses – quirky camouflage costumes designed to make the wearer harder to detect against the white backdrop of the snow-covered battlefield. Only they don't seem to be working very well. If anything, they only make the wearer easier to spot.
Clips of Russian soldiers wearing white thermal ponchos that, at first glance, make them look like giant penguins have been doing the rounds on social media, inspiring all sorts of hilarious comments. The bulky camouflage comes complete with beak-like hoods designed to complete the giant penguin look, even though penguins are not native to Ukraine.
The bizarre camouflage is reportedly very cheap, but that is the one positive thing that can be said about it. Even though it might help make wearers harder to detect by the naked eye in snow-covered environments, modern military rarely relies on simple human vision. Drones equipped with thermal cameras and motion detectors patrol disputed battlefront lines, making it very hard for camouflaged soldiers to sneak through.
Ukrainian intelligence claims at least two Russian giant penguins were neutralized by drones as they were trying to traverse open fields wearing the goofy costumes. Nighttime might have given them an advantage, but in broad daylight, they stood out like a sore thumb, even against the snowy backdrop.
The giant penguin camouflage suits have been getting a lot of attention in the media, but experts say that they are just another attempt by the Russian military to field-test new equipment without prolonged testing or refinement, at the cost of conscript lives.
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The internet erupted this week after a physicist with past NASA ties claimed astronauts may have witnessed strange objects in space, including snake-like shapes seen by a shuttle pilot. Supporters say the comments expose years of hidden UFO encounters, while critics warn the stories remain unverified anecdotes rather than confirmed science.
The controversy has revived decades-old mission transcripts, astronaut interviews and conspiracy theories that suggest NASA downplayed unusual sightings to avoid public panic. So what is actually behind the viral claims, and do they truly prove a cover up?
The debate began after a podcast interview featuring a physicist who previously worked with NASA resurfaced online. During the discussion, he alleged that some astronauts had witnessed unexplained objects in orbit and claimed certain reports were ignored by official investigations. He also questioned why astronaut experiences were not heavily discussed in past NASA commissions.
According to the physicist, several individuals with aerospace backgrounds privately shared stories of unusual encounters. He claimed some had seen mysterious crafts or lights moving in ways that did not resemble known satellites or space debris. While he admitted that many accounts came from personal conversations rather than official reports, supporters quickly framed his remarks as proof of a long-running suppression effort.
One of the most viral claims involved shuttle pilot Story Musgrave, who reportedly described seeing snake-like shapes moving through space. Online commentators interpreted this as evidence of unknown life forms or advanced technology. However, experts note that visual illusions in space are common due to lighting effects, floating debris and reflections from spacecraft surfaces.
The physicist also referenced conversations with Apollo era astronauts who allegedly observed flashing lights or unidentified objects. In one story, a red light photographed near a space station sparked speculation because satellites rarely display visible lights. Yet no official NASA confirmation links these incidents to extraterrestrial activity, and alternative explanations such as equipment reflections remain possible.
Another key part of the viral narrative involves Gemini era mission transcripts, which conspiracy theorists say describe a UFO passing near astronauts and interfering with instruments. The physicist suggested that such events deserved more scientific scrutiny. Online forums quickly amplified the idea that NASA deliberately omitted certain details from public reports.
Space historians caution that mission transcripts often contain references to unknown objects that were later identified as debris or natural phenomena. Equipment malfunctions were also common during early spaceflight, making it difficult to separate technical issues from alleged encounters. No publicly verified document confirms deliberate UFO interference with astronaut systems.
Despite the intense online reaction, many scientists argue the claims do not prove a cover up. They emphasise that anecdotal stories, personal memories and second hand accounts cannot replace peer reviewed research or physical evidence. NASA has consistently stated that it investigates unexplained aerial and space phenomena using scientific methods and that most sightings eventually receive conventional explanations.
Analysts say the viral reaction highlights how quickly sensational claims can spread when combined with nostalgia for past missions and growing public fascination with UFOs. They add that astronauts often witness unusual visual effects in space, which can appear mysterious without proper context. While the stories remain intriguing, there is currently no confirmed evidence that NASA suppressed proof of alien encounters or hidden space creatures.
The renewed controversy shows that the mystery of unidentified objects continues to capture the public imagination. For now, the explosive headlines may grab attention, but the evidence behind them remains uncertain and heavily debated.
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Area 51 and other facilities rumoured to be holding alien spacecraft and bodies of extraterrestrial creatures have been opened for investigation. This means the Trump administration is ready for a tell-all about aliens at a time when the Epstein Files have angered people.
Donald Trump has reportedly allowed the release of all information linked to secret UFO facilities in the United States, such as Area 51. This pertains to all such places that are rumoured to be hiding bodies of aliens, and where alleged sightings of unidentified spacecraft have been made. US Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri had requested the president to grant him access to secure locations, which are tied to UFOs and secret government projects. He told the ALN Podcast that he has been permitted to visit these places, which could be hiding archives and other material linked to these "extra-terrestrial" visitors. Several people have told Congress at hearings that the government has known about alien visits for decades and has covered up everything about them. They say there are alien spacecraft and even dead bodies of these space visitors at particular places in the US. The congressional oversight committee has been investigating these claims linked to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs). Burlinson is a member of this committee.
The congressman has in the past claimed that alien-human hybrids are living on Earth today, and Trump has been briefed about them. He says the president also knows about UFOs recovered by the military since the 1940s and kept at these secret facilities. There have been reports in the past weeks that the White House is preparing to release information on everything linked to aliens on Earth. Burlinson said, "The White House has told the DoD to make it happen. The extent at which they've been involved is literally just saying to the Department of Defense that 'we're backing his request. Do what you can to make it happen."'
Also Read: THIS is what the first alien meeting would be like - VERY LOUD and crying for…
The Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR), where the infamous Area 51 exists, is the most well-known place often linked to aliens. It is primarily a classified United States Air Force (USAF) facility where top-secret weapons and aircraft are tested. People have often reported seeing strange objects in the air hovering over this place, making it one of the most talked-about places linked to aliens. Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, the Atlantic Undersea Testing and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) in the Bahamas, and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio are the other places where alleged extraterrestrial activities have been reported.
Also Read: British space scientist is sure alien life will be discovered by THIS year: ‘Why would it just...'
This green light to release all information about aliens comes at a time when not just the US, but the entire world is shocked to learn about the horrible details in the Epstein Files. Trump has also been named in the files, with extreme allegations being made that he auctioned off young girls at Mar-a-Lago. A victim in the papers also claimed that he killed his newborn baby. Many more high-profile names have been revealed in the new Epstein papers, including Bill Gates, Bill Clinton and Elon Musk. The timing of this announcement on alien facilities clashes with the rage over the gory details in the Epstein Papers.
Anamica Singh holds expertise in news, trending and science articles. She has been working at WION as a Senior News Editor since 2022. Over this period, Anamica has written world n...Read More
A bank account named for an ancient god in Israel. A “synagogue of Satan.” References to “goyim” that hint at a Jewish-run global cabal. The mystery of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's alleged visit to China.
These are among the latest antisemitic conspiracy theories to be born from the Jeffrey Epstein files, following the document dump that has occupied online commentators for days.
Since the financial advisor and sex trafficker's arrest by federal authorities in July 2019 and death by suicide a month later, antisemitic conspiracy theories about him have circulated widely, often invoking his Jewish identity and connections with Jewish and Israeli leaders.
But the Justice Department's newly released batch of Epstein files on Friday, which contained over 3 million pages of documents, has taken things to a new intensity.
“If you think Epstein was just some rich pedo, you're missing the big picture,” wrote the X/Twitter account Clandestine, which has more than 734,000 followers. “Epstein was part of the satanic global elite that pull the strings from the shadows. Epstein was a Deep State puppet master.”
Mike Rothschild, a writer who researches antisemitic conspiracy theories on the far right, said the amount of material available in the files made them fertile ground for misinterpretation and confirmation bias.
“Whatever your particular brand of conspiracy theory is, there's something in the files for you,” Rothschild told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “One of the problems that we're having is that there is so much information and there's no filter for it.”
Among the real revelations in the documents are a variety of exchanges of relevance to the broader Jewish world. Those include revelations that various Jewish nonprofits had courted Epstein for donations even after his conviction, evidence of Epstein's financial ties with several Orthodox yeshivas, and new details about his well-known relationship with former prime minister Ehud Barak.
Some of the emails also show Epstein referencing the High Holidays and deploying Jewish phrases like “goyim” in a disparaging manner.
“This is the way the jew make money.. and made a fortune in the past ten years„ selling short the shippping futures„ let the goyim deal in the real world,” wrote Epstein in a 2009 email to the cognitive psychologist and onetime Trump University executive Roger Schank.
In another email dated August 2010 to Jewish entertainment publicist Peggy Siegal, discussing a party guest list, Epstein wrote, “No, goyim in abundance- jpmorgan execs brilliant wasps.”
Some of the largest conspiracist personalities seized on the new document dump, claiming that it confirmed their longstanding beliefs about secret Jewish control.
“Remember the end of last year when I was called antisemitic for telling you this is the literal, religious worldview of many people in power?,” Candace Owens, right-wing commentator turned conspiracist, wrote in a post on X responding to a photo of an email where Epstein used the term. “Type in ‘goy' or ‘goyim' in the Epstein files and be sure to tag a Christian who needs to wake up and leave the Zionist cause.”
In an hour-long livestream titled “BAAL SO HARD: The Epstein Files,” Owens referred to Jews as “pagan gypsies” and repeated the neo-Nazi conspiracy that B'nai Brith was behind the “ritualistic murder” of Mary Phagan, whose killing sparked the antisemitic lynching of Leo Frank in 1915.
“The Epstein files create an opportunity for us to discuss this, to hear the way they speak about us behind closed doors exactly how Sigmund Freud spoke, it's racist,” said Owens during the stream, which had reached 2 million views on YouTube Thursday. “I want to make it clear that this is for them a religious philosophy, a racist perspective that we are goyim, meaning cattle, that are meant to be herded and ruled over.”
On Sunday, Owens posted on X, “Yes, we are ruled by satanic pedophiles who work for Israel,” adding “This is the synagogue of Satan we are up against.”
It isn't just leading antisemitic personalities but rank-and-file social media users who have sought to paint the data dump as an indictment of Jewish power.
“Normies: ‘let's not jump to any antisemitic conclusions, we don't know why Epstein did these terrible things.' Epstein: ‘I love trafficking children, manipulating markets, and don't believe goyim are human. Also this is all because I am Jewish,'” wrote an Eastern Orthodox Christianity influencer on X.
The Nexus Project, an antisemitism watchdog group, condemned the proliferation of antisemitic Epstein conspiracy theories in a series of posts on X, writing, “The Epstein files are real. The antisemitism they're fueling is also real. And right now, the second part is getting almost no attention.”
“Jeffrey Epstein was a monster. His crimes were real. His victims deserve justice and are being revictimized right now by the DOJ,” the Nexus Project wrote. “Turning his private emails into proof of a Jewish conspiracy is pure antisemitism. And it is spreading faster than anyone is willing to say.”
Rothschild said he believed the files were “reinforcing stuff that these people already are pushing out.”
“If you are predisposed to believe Candace Owens' theory that Israel is behind everything bad that's ever happened, you're going to find it in the Epstein files, even if it's not there, because there's so many mentions and there's so much intrigue swirling around about it, because it's just all this raw material you can kind of use it to make whatever you want,” said Rothschild.
New conspiracy theories also stemmed from an email exchange where Epstein requested money be wired to a bank account that some concluded was titled “Baal,” the name of an ancient Canaanite god.
“BREAKING: 🇺🇸 🇮🇱 EPSTEIN NAMED HIS BANK ACCOUNT BAAL,” wrote AdameMedia, a popular right wing X account that frequently posts conspiratorial content. “Baal is a demonic being that was worshipped in ancient israel by some hebrews before they converted to Judaism. Child sacrifice is a ritual of Baal worshippers, usually through burning, like lsraeI did to Gaza. Archaeological discoveries have found thousands of urns with cremated infant and small children remains. Now we have evidence of Epstein's circle kiIIing and even eating children.” (Similar files say “bank name” where this one says “baal,” suggesting an error.)
Others across the ideological spectrum extended longstanding theories about Epstein's ties to Israel.
On Friday, the right-wing anti-Israel personality Tucker Carlson hosted Cenk Uygur, the progressive co-creator of The Young Turks, for a podcast interview titled “Cenk Uygur: Epstein, JFK, 9-11, Israel's Terrorism and the Consequences of Opposing It,” during which the pair claimed that Epstein was an agent of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. (In July, Carlson received pushback from former prime minister Naftali Bennett after he said Epstein worked for Mossad.)
“Jeffrey Epstein was much more powerful than we realized. He could set up a meeting with almost any world leader. He can get almost anyone into the White House. Again, Ehud Barak has trouble getting into the White House, Epstein makes a call, boom, he's in the White House. Israeli spy stays over at Epstein's house,” said Uygur. “There's just no question about it. He is definitely intelligence and in every turn he's looking to help one country and it's Israel. American media says shut up.”
Left-wing Twitch streamer Hasan Piker also repeated the claim that Epstein was working for Israel in a post on X Sunday.
“Benjamin netenyahu [sic] is in the files and former pm ehud barak has such an extensive relationship w esptein [sic] they might as well call it the israel files what the fuck are you talking about,” wrote Piker in another post on X, responding to influencer Eyal Yakoby's claims that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not named in the files.
The DOJ's Epstein database includes 659 search results for “Netanyahu,” but the vast majority of the documents that appear under the search include news articles forwarded to and from Epstein relating to the Israeli leader.
“Going by sort of the raw number of mentions in an email database is not helpful, because there's no context for it,” said Rothschild. “If there's 630 mentions of Netanyahu, but 100 of them are just forwarded articles, and 100 of them are people responding to Epstein saying how much they hate Netanyahu, that doesn't mean anything. It just means that you have this number and people run with it, because people are taking these things and turning them into proof for whatever conspiracy they already believe in.”
On X, another conspiracy theory took hold after users claimed that an email sent from China to Epstein in April 2009 coincided with a trip by Netanyahu that same month. (The article cited said Netanyahu met with the Chinese foreign affairs minister in Jerusalem, not China.)
“Benjamin Netanyahu was in China and it seems likely that he was the man sending Jeffrey Epstein torture videos,” wrote Jake Shields, a far-right influencer and former MMA champion, in a post on X.
Other emails appeared to tie Epstein to Russia, leading to speculation that he had provided intelligence to the country and prompting calls for an investigation by the Polish prime minister.
Some conspiracy theorists online rejected the idea that Epstein might have been a Russian asset, instead suggesting it is a distraction being offered to take the heat off Israel.
“The memo went out, and the media is trying to say that Jeffrey Epstein worked for the KGB,” said the TikTok influencer “contraryian” in a video posted Tuesday that has amassed more than 30,000 likes. “He might have had multiple passports, but he talked to Israeli politicians, Jewish businessmen, and repeatedly invokes his Jewish identity.”
In response to a New York Post article about Epstein's alleged Russian affiliations, one X user with 300,000 followers and a stream of antisemitic posts claimed that the coverage was evidence of a “Jewish controlled media.”
“Jeffrey Epstein- ‘I work for the Rothschilds, Israel, and world Jewry.' Jew York Post- ‘Epstein probably worked for the Russians….,'” the post, read. “You don't hate the Jewish controlled media enough.”
In a podcast episode Monday, Jewish conservative pundit Ben Shapiro, who has previously criticized conservative rivals for linking Epstein with Mossad, said there was not evidence in the files that Epstein was blackmailing people “on behalf of a foreign power or a cadre of powerful people who are attempting to shape global policy.”
Rothschild, the conspiracy theory expert, said everything he has seen reflects deep-seated antisemitic animus among conspiracy theorists.
“Antisemitism is huge in these circles, it always has been,” he said. “Whether it's just outright attacks on Jews, or the sort of more crouched globalists, European bankers, you know, antisemitism is a huge part of that world.”
But he emphasized that not all claims about Epstein amount conspiracy theories — which is why the drumbeat of antisemitism can continue unabated.
“Jeffrey Epstein was part of a cabal. I mean, it's not like the Elders of Zion sitting around in a dark room, you know, deciding on the fates of nations, but it's pretty clear that Epstein was at the center of a gigantic conspiracy,” said Rothschild. “That's not a theory. That has nothing to do with Judaism. It has everything to do with greed and perversion.”
The consequences, he said, are bad for the Jews and for everyone else.
“Anything that calcifies our politics and our discourse even more, I think is very dangerous,” Rothschild said. “Certainly there's always going to be a danger that it falls disproportionately on the Jewish community. I think it's probably making life difficult for actual survivors of trauma like this to get people to pay attention to them.”
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BUTTE -Here on the campus of Montana Tech, you can study science, mathematics, engineering, biology, even nursing, but here in the Chemistry Biology Building in this classroom, you can learn about UFOs. Yeah, I'm serious, and so is Dr. Michael Masters, so let's go check out his class.
“Fiber optics technology may have come from reverse engineering these craft,” Montana Tech Professor Michael Masters told his class Thursday morning.
WATCH: Montana Tech joins a select group of universities offering academic courses on UFO phenomena
The Butte university is one of only a handful of colleges around the country with a class on unidentified flying objects.
“One of my students was very honest and said that she saw the posters and thought it was a joke and registered to see if it was actually a joke," Masters said.
It's no joke. The anthropology class studies the history and science behind the UFO phenomenon.
"This is a real phenomenon happening, whether you believe in UFOs or not, it's not a belief system anymore, it's an evidence-based inquiry, and the more we take it seriously,” he said.
Masters earned his doctorate in anthropology from Ohio State University and has written several books about UFOs. Students in this new class are challenged to research and examine the topic through credible sources.
“I don't know, I've kind of mixed feelings about it, but after taking this class, I've kind of shifted toward, yeah, there could be something out there,” student Izzy Arave said.
Student Nate O'Neil added, “We couldn't have had this class 10 years ago; we would have all been called crazy for just taking it, probably.“
Masters said Montana Tech has been very supportive of his class and believes this subject is not just for the fringe and should be a topic of serious study.
“We have whistleblowers, we have intelligence insiders coming out and saying there is a legacy program, there are craft, there are bodies, they are reverse engineering these craft, and when people are saying that under oath in front of the United States Congress, we need to pay attention to that and we need to take it seriously,” Masters said.