Business Sentiment
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Mixed 46-54
Positive > 56
The refusal to condemn Israel's genocide of Palestinians resulted in a “net-negative” of voters' support, sources said.
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As part of its secret “autopsy” report on how former Vice President Kamala Harris lost the 2024 presidential election to President Donald Trump, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) now seems to concede that the Biden administration's support for Israel amid its continued genocide against Palestinians in Gaza played a large role in her losing votes, sources with knowledge of the report's contents say.
According to reporting from Axios, members of the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) Policy Project, who were given access to the autopsy report, claim that the DNC's own data indicated that Harris's backing of the Biden administration's pro-Israel policies led voters (particularly younger ones) to withhold support for her as a candidate for president.
“The DNC shared with us that their own data also found that policy was, in their words, a ‘net-negative' in the 2024 election,” said Hamid Bendaas, a spokesperson for the IMEU Policy Project.
Two other IMEU Policy Project sources came to the same conclusion regarding the report's contents, and Axios itself said it had “independently verified that Democratic officials conducting the autopsy believed the issue harmed the party's standing with some voters.”
Harris received just over 75 million votes from Americans overall, while Trump received over 77 million. By contrast, in 2020, Biden received over 81 million votes, while Trump received close to the same number of votes that he received against Harris, attaining support from 74 million Americans.
Polling conducted by Data for Progress shortly after the 2024 election confirmed that a significant portion of voters withheld support for Harris. That survey demonstrated 36 percent of voters knew at least one individual in their personal lives who didn't vote for her because of her support for Israel.
Last year, DNC chair Ken Martin initially promised to make the party's autopsy report public. But the DNC backtracked on that idea in December, claiming the decision to keep it private was made in order to focus on maintaining electoral successes Democrats have seen in recent months.
Privately, DNC officials expressed concerns that releasing the document could embarrass the party, and wanted to avoid another debate on how the election was lost.
Harris has expressed slight remorse over not differentiating her campaign from the Biden administration's actions relating to support for Israel's genocide in Gaza. During a recent tour stop promoting her new book, she said the administration “should have spoken publicly about our criticism” of Israel, and said she had privately “pleaded” with former President Joe Biden to become more empathetic to Palestinians.
However, during her own campaign — which she had complete control and management of, without administration interference — Harris also refused to express those disagreements out loud, stating in one interview there was “not a thing that comes to mind” over what she would have done differently than him while serving as vice president.
During the Democratic National Convention in 2024, which was co-managed by the DNC and the Harris campaign, delegates who expressed opposition to the Biden administration's actions (and inaction) relating to the ongoing genocide in Gaza were often ignored. During the count of delegates to determine the party's presidential nominee, Kentucky delegates who were “uncommitted” were not acknowledged at all in the roll call vote.
“As one of Kentucky's uncommitted delegates, I am sad to report that 32,908 Democratic Kentuckians' voices were not upheld at last night's roll call at the DNC,” said Victoria Olds, an uncommitted delegate from that state who spoke to Truthout at the time.
The DNC also refused to allow pro-Palestinian speakers to take part in the convention, even though their speeches weren't set to be critical of the Biden administration. Georgia House of Representatives member and Palestinian American Ruwa Romman, for example, had submitted a draft speech to the DNC that aimed to emphasize Trump's racist comments toward Palestinians and omitted any judgment against either Biden or Harris. Party leaders refused requests by uncommitted delegates to have Romman speak.
The party also chose to ignore, rather than acknowledge, large pro-Palestinian demonstrations happening throughout Chicago during the week of the convention. Around 30,000 demonstrators took part in those protests, with some stating that Harris's refusal to oppose genocide would lead them to not vote for her.
“Our votes are no longer free or a given just for the sake that we are Democrats,” a demonstrator named Inan said. “[Harris] has to earn our votes by ending genocide today, tonight.”
In the last weeks, we have witnessed an authoritarian assault on communities in Minnesota and across the nation.
The need for truthful, grassroots reporting is urgent at this cataclysmic historical moment. Yet, Trump-aligned billionaires and other allies have taken over many legacy media outlets — the culmination of a decades-long campaign to place control of the narrative into the hands of the political right.
We refuse to let Trump's blatant propaganda machine go unchecked. Untethered to corporate ownership or advertisers, Truthout remains fearless in our reporting and our determination to use journalism as a tool for justice.
But we need your help just to fund our basic expenses. Over 80 percent of Truthout's funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors.
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Chris Walker is a news writer at Truthout, based in Madison, Wisconsin. Focusing on both national and local topics since the early 2000s, he has produced thousands of articles analyzing the issues of the day and their impact on people. He can be found on most social media platforms under the handle @thatchriswalker.
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Novo Nordisk's shares fall sharply after testing of CagriSema falls short of investors' expectations
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The owner of Wegovy and Ozempic has suffered a significant setback, as its highly anticipated new weight-loss treatment was labelled “obsolete” after disappointing clinical trials.
Novo Nordisk's shares fell sharply on Monday after the results from testing the Danish company's CagriSema drug fell short of investors' expectations.
The weekly injection combines cagrilintide, which mimics the pancreatic hormone amylin, and semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic that mimics the gut hormone GLP-1, suppressing appetite and making users feel full more quickly. This means CagriSema leads to greater weight loss than Wegovy.
The study was designed to show that CagriSema was at least as good as the Novo rival Eli Lilly's leading anti-obesity drug Zepbound, which contains tirzepatide.
Against initial expectations of 25% weight loss, CagriSema disappointed in a late-state study involving 809 people. It led to average weight loss of 23% after 84 weeks, compared with 25.5% for tirzepatide.
The new Novo treatment “did not achieve its primary endpoint of demonstrating non-inferiority on weight loss for CagriSema compared to tirzepatide after 84 weeks”, the company said on Monday.
Søren Løntoft Hansen, a senior analyst at Denmark's AL Sydbank, said: “This is something of a swing and a miss.” He added: “It is difficult to assess whether this data will influence Novo Nordisk's decision to launch CagriSema on the market.”
Novo's share price plunged 16.5% in Copenhagen to the lowest level since June 2021, when Wegovy was launched, taking its losses over the past year to almost 60%, while Lilly's stock rose 4.3% on Wall Street.
Novo, which had recorded booming sales of weight-loss and diabetes medications, turning it into Europe's most valuable company in recent years, has slashed its profit and sales estimates several times, as it lost ground to Lilly. Novo had been betting on CagriSema – as well as its new Wegovy pill, launched in the US – to revive sales.
Analysts at UBS had already, in January, lowered their peak sales forecast for Novo's GLP-1 drugs from $80bn (£59bn) to $75bn in 2032, after previous disappointing CagriSema trial results.
They said of the latest results: “Significant negative. An inferior result to tirzepatide was very unexpected.”
Emmanuel Papadakis at Deutsche Bank told Novo management on an investor call: “Commiserations on the results. CagriSema looks somewhat obsolete now as a competitive upgrade of semaglutide … or as a competitive alternative to tirzepatide.”
The Novo chief executive, Mike Doustdar, rejected the comments, saying: “It's quite belittling; it's a fantastic drug in all honesty. When CagriSema will make it to the market early next year as the first amylin-based product, it will have the best weight-loss label [of] any marketed product.”
Novo hopes another study of a higher CagriSema dose will show better results. It has already submitted the medication to the US drug regulator for approval based on earlier trial evidence, and hopes for the green light later this year.
Fifa acutely aware of security concerns surrounding Guadalajara games, say insiders
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In four months, throngs of football fans are set to descend on Guadalajara, having paid hefty sums for World Cup tickets.
This weekend, the city was rocked by unrest after a US-backed operation against a cartel boss prompted widespread retaliatory violence across Mexico.
Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, nicknamed “El Mencho,” was killed when an arrest attempt by Mexican forces on Sunday turned into a shoot-out in rural Jalisco.
Members of the 59-year-old's violent cartel, Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), quickly struck back, attacking roads and airports in a show of force that left locals fearful and tourists confined to their hotels.
Guadalajara, in the state of Jalisco – CJNG's birthplace – is set to host four World Cup matches, including Mexico's second group game on June 18. The gang violence now threatens those plans.
Insiders say Fifa, football's governing body, is acutely aware of the security concerns surrounding the Guadalajara games.
The organisation's own rules around the World Cup allow it to “cancel, reschedule or relocate one or more matches, or the entire tournament, at its discretion” owing to safety, health, or security concerns.
However, experts believe the cartels are unlikely to attack tourist events that provide a useful revenue stream.
Lewis Galvin, lead Americas analyst at Sibylline intelligence agency, told The Telegraph that if the cartels targeted the World Cup, it would lead to undesired American force in retaliation.
There is a “realistic possibility” that this will deter people from attending the Mexican leg of the World Cup, Mr Galvin said.
“But the CJNG don't really have an appetite to go after a major sporting event. A lot of Mexican cartels benefit from the tourism sector and being out of the limelight,” he added.
“Any concerted attack or efforts to disrupt the World Cup would really bring down the wrath of the Mexican security forces, and possibly also incentivise the US to actually get involved.”
Instead, he predicts the next wave of violence will be in the form of attacks on infrastructure and military bases and personnel.
The capture of the elusive El Mencho was made possible by intelligence provided by the US, sources told Reuters. The Joint Interagency Task Force Counter-Cartel (JITCC), a newly formed group, provided an intelligence package that allowed Mexico, which planned and carried out the operation, to locate him.
A US defence official said before the operation that the taskforce is part of a broader, hardline strategy to synchronise US efforts to combat drug trafficking, including the now-regular strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific waters and increasing the US military's operational control of the border with Mexico.
The taskforce is led by Maurizio Calabrese, a US brigadier-general, who told Reuters that the US military is channelling its experience battling groups such as Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State to map out Mexican cartel networks.
The group is likely to have sweeping surveillance powers, particularly after cartels including CJNG were designated terrorist organisations by Washington last year.
El Mencho was likely located through signals intelligence, including intercepting communications, or from a tip-off by an informant in CJNG either lured by Washington's $15m (£12m) bounty or the prospect of a reduced prison sentence.
This would not have been easy, considering CJNG is the largest and most sophisticated cartel in Latin America with operations reaching as far as Asia.
Established in 2009, CJNG quickly overtook its rivals because of its paramilitary-style operations and extreme violence. It recruited experts in finance and chemistry to design new synthetic drugs and diversified its income to include agricultural and gold extortion and money laundering.
It has the highest cocaine, heroin and meth trafficking capacity in Mexico, according to Washington. Under Cervantes's leadership, it has been responsible for murders of rivals and Mexican law enforcement, as well as assassination attempts of Mexican government officials.
The operation is unlikely to weaken the cartel, raising questions as to the benefit of such a confrontational attack beyond appeasing Donald Trump.
Elijah Glantz, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), sees the killing of El Mencho as the beginning of a potential “reversion” to the war on drugs carried out by Bill Clinton and George Bush, the former US presidents, in the 1980s and 1990s on Colombia, where drug cartels were considered terrorists.
While Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the former Mexican president, favoured a “hugs not bullets” approach by addressing the root causes of violence, Claudia Sheinbaum, his successor, implemented a focus on intelligence-driven operations and attacking the revenue streams of cartels.
The operation to detain El Mencho resembles the largely unsuccessful “kingpin strategy” used in Mexico from 2008-2013 under Felipe Calderón, the former Mexican president.
Mr Glantz said: “It tore the country to pieces. When they started removing kingpins in a deliberate strategy to remove the leaders, that's when chaos ensued.”
“We looked at massive increases in violence and contestation between groups along key trafficking routes. So not only was the violence externalised towards civilians and the state, but it was also turned inwards. This was not an apt operation designed to reduce the amount of drugs coming into the US.
“I suspect the US gave everything the Mexicans could possibly need to get El Mencho, which probably would have put Mexico in a sticky situation if they hadn't acted on it. I think we're going to see a continued intensification of Mexican operations targeting cartels.”
While unlikely to extinguish CJNG, Sunday's operation was welcomed by Mr Trump, who has threatened to launch strikes on Mexico targeting cartels, something Ms Sheinbaum has rejected.
Mr Glantz said: “It's unlikely to calm down, at least in the near term. It's not necessarily retaliation against citizens. It's the infrastructure that we're seeing: lighting fires and shooting up airports so that the airports crawl to a stop. Burning cars on roads to make sure traffic crawls to a stop.
“It's an act of war where they are trying to coerce the government into backing off and demonstrating that there are consequences for the government, creating enforcement measures and going after leaders. The reason why Mexico might not back down is Ms Sheinbaum has Mr Trump breathing down her back.”
For now, Mexico is bracing for more violence.
El Mencho
Ms Sheinbaum is insisting the authorities have things under control, but as cartel members continue torching businesses and burning cars on their wave of retaliatory attacks, it remains to be seen whether the destruction can be quelled before one of the world's largest sporting events.
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The Justice Department is supposed to work independently from the White House's political mission.
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Last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) hung a new banner outside its headquarters featuring President Donald Trump's face, a startling move that critics say provides the starkest evidence yet that the department is not being run as independently, despite the administration's claims.
The banner features a solemn and stern-looking Trump prominently displayed in black and white. At the bottom of the banner, it says “Make America Safe Again.”
Trump has had similar banners hung at federal buildings throughout Washington D.C., an unusual action that has no match in modern American history. But the latest display at the DOJ is especially jarring, reminiscent of the actions of former fascist regimes like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, some observers pointed out.
Although often violated, independence from the presidency is supposed to be a hallmark of the Justice Department. Once a president picks an attorney general to run the department, it's generally understood that the person chosen is meant to keep their distance from the chief executive, to maintain separation from the administration's political goals.
The Trump administration has blurred and crossed the line of independence into the DOJ, which has become noticeably subservient to his orders.
Ahead of his second term, Trump baselessly claimed that investigations into him and his allies were intentional and politically motivated — particularly, the inquiries into his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential race and his removal of classified documents from the White House after he left office following the end of his first term. One of his first actions back in office was to sign an executive order purporting to bring an end to “the weaponization of the federal government,” including at the DOJ.
In practice, however, the Trump administration has weaponized the DOJ, frequently targeting Trump's political opponents, oftentimes doing so following his targeting of his political opponents on social media.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has demonstrated numerous times that the department she oversees caters to the whims and demands of the president, including firing career staffers at the DOJ whose jobs were to ensure the department adhered to ethics standards.
In recent testimony she gave to Congress, Bondi flattered Trump multiple times, calling him “the greatest president in American history” while demanding lawmakers present at the hearing apologize for their past criticisms of him. Far from being an independent voice at DOJ, Bondi's performance at the hearing made it clear she was chosen to serve as Trump's key protector at the Justice Department.
Amid this backdrop, the hanging of the Trump banner outside its headquarters on Thursday seemed to make the DOJ's lack of independence official, critics pointed out.
“How many dictatorship-style monuments, building name changes, and fake awards do Americans have to endure?” California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) pondered following the banner's unveiling.
“There was once a time when a president couldn't boss the Attorney General around like his own personal lapdog,” Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-California) wrote on X.
“This is a stunning confirmation of the grim reality, which is that Donald Trump has seized control of the once independent Justice Department and is using it to pursue his political objectives — including trying to punish his perceived enemies,” MS Now Justice and Intelligence correspondent Ken Dilanian wrote.
Reacting to the initial raising of the banner on the DOJ building, Barb McQuade, University of Michigan Law School professor and a former U.S. attorney within the department itself, described the banner as antithetical to the Justice Department's mission.
“We are a nation of laws, not of men. This banner symbolizes a disgusting betrayal of our values,” McQuade wrote.
In a separate post she made over the weekend, McQuade quoted a phrase inscribed on the side of the building, adding that:“[The] Trump banner symbolizes [the] president's capture of the once-independent Justice Department. Where law ends tyranny begins.'”
Stacey Young, founder of Justice Connection — an organization of former DOJ employees that describes itself as “mobilizing to support DOJ's apolitical workforce” — and a former DOJ lawyer herself under both Republican and Democratic administrations, also criticized the new decor.
“Hanging that banner should put to rest any doubt that Donald Trump has hijacked the independence of the Justice Department,” Young said. “He — not the American people — is the only client DOJ's current leadership serves.”
In the last weeks, we have witnessed an authoritarian assault on communities in Minnesota and across the nation.
The need for truthful, grassroots reporting is urgent at this cataclysmic historical moment. Yet, Trump-aligned billionaires and other allies have taken over many legacy media outlets — the culmination of a decades-long campaign to place control of the narrative into the hands of the political right.
We refuse to let Trump's blatant propaganda machine go unchecked. Untethered to corporate ownership or advertisers, Truthout remains fearless in our reporting and our determination to use journalism as a tool for justice.
But we need your help just to fund our basic expenses. Over 80 percent of Truthout's funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors.
Truthout has launched a fundraiser, and we have a goal to add 280 new monthly donors in the next 72 hours. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger one-time gift, Truthout only works with your support.
This article is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), and you are free to share and republish under the following terms:
Chris Walker is a news writer at Truthout, based in Madison, Wisconsin. Focusing on both national and local topics since the early 2000s, he has produced thousands of articles analyzing the issues of the day and their impact on people. He can be found on most social media platforms under the handle @thatchriswalker.
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In the days after the extraordinary arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office, the former prince has faced a slew of allegations about his time as a trade envoy for Britain and his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mountbatten-Windsor faces questions about how he may have traveled to visit Epstein, and whether he may have used his police protection as security while he spent time with him.
The former prince has not commented on the latest allegations. He has previously denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein and said that he never witnessed or suspected any of the behavior of which the sex offender was accused. CNN has asked Mountbatten-Windsor for fresh comment.
Over the weekend, Gordon Brown, Britain's prime minister from 2007 to 2010, demanded a police investigation into whether Mountbatten-Windsor used taxpayer-funded jets and Royal Air Force (RAF) bases to meet Epstein – according to The Telegraph.
Brown, who has taken a leading role in demanding accountability for Britons with ties to Epstein, sent letters to six police forces suggesting that civil servants be questioned about Mountbatten-Windsor's decade as a trade envoy, before he was forced to step down in 2011.
In the letters, reported by The Telegraph, Brown expressed his concern that the then-Duke of York may have used chartered RAF flights to shuttle him to personal engagements that may have involved Epstein, calling the trips a “wholly unacceptable” use of public money.
The Telegraph reports that Brown would only say that the letters contained “new and additional information.” Brown's spokesman confirmed to CNN that the letters were sent to police but did not address any of the new information Brown claims was sent.
“We sent the letters privately to the relevant police forces only and are not making them available publicly whilst the investigation is live,” said the spokesman.
Emails released by the US Department of Justice also appeared to show that taxpayer-funded officers from London's Metropolitan Police were instructed to provide security for a dinner party at Epstein's New York townhouse. Several emails discuss arrangements for the former prince to stay with the disgraced sex offender in December 2010 – more than a year after Epstein was released from jail having served 13 months of an 18-month sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
UK government considers removing Andrew from line of succession. Here's what other consequences he could face
In one exchange from November that year, Andrew's then-private secretary asks an individual, whose name was redacted, to confirm Epstein's address and “whether there is room for both of his Protection Officers at =he (sic) house?”
What followed appeared to be an internal discussion among Epstein's staff, with one unknown individual confirming that “there will be room for both andrew's bodyguards.. one on the 4th floor =nd (sic) one on the 5th floor.”
An email sent to Epstein on December 1 by a redacted member of his staff reads: “The Duke's 2 protection officers along with state security will all be here for tomorrow's dinner party. Rich has given them instruction on the door.”
As a senior working member of the royal family at the time, the then-Prince Andrew would have received police protection as part of his security. Still, the emails have stirred outrage in Britain over why authorities thought it would have been appropriate to deploy police resources to allow Mountbatten-Windsor to travel to the home of a convicted sex offender.
The emails were among the 3.5 million documents released by the DOJ document dump that have prompted questions over whether protection officers were aware of Andrew's conduct.
On Friday, the Metropolitan Police said it had not at this time identified any wrongdoing by any protection officers. It also said it was “identifying and contacting former and serving officers” and asking them “to consider carefully whether anything they saw or heard during that period of service,” as it continues to assess information following the release of the Epstein files.
The force also said it was aware that the DOJ disclosures suggested that London airports may have been used to facilitate human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
“We are assessing this information and are actively seeking further detail from law enforcement partners, including those in the United States,” the force said, adding that “no new criminal allegations” had been made regarding sexual offences within its jurisdiction, and it is working with the UK national coordination group which has come together to work the cases.
The Met said it had nothing further to add following its most recent statement when contacted by CNN on Monday.
Prince William and Kate put on a united (and color-coordinated) front at the BAFTAs
The Met is one of at least seven British police forces that are making or assisting with inquiries following the disclosures within the Epstein files.
Essex Police previously said it was looking into claims Epstein trafficked women on flights that traveled through London's Stansted Airport. Similar inquiries are being conducted “in relation to private flights in and out of London Luton Airport,” according to Bedfordshire Police. Meanwhile, West Midlands Police told CNN it was “assessing” whether Birmingham Airport was used.
CNN's James Frater contributed reporting.
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The former UK ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson was arrested Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, according to London's Metropolitan Police.
Mandelson, a veteran Labour Party politician, has been accused of passing market-sensitive information to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein when he was business secretary in the UK government.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, February 23, and has been taken to a London police station for interview.”
“This follows search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas.”
The revelations from the latest tranche of Epstein files led to Mandelson's resignation from the Labour Party earlier this month, having quit the House of Lords, the upper chamber of Britain's parliament, the same week.
The former politician was fired from his ambassador role in September by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer following a previous release of Epstein files which showed that he had called the financier “my best pal” in a handwritten note for his 50th birthday.
The unfolding Mandelson scandal threatened to topple Starmer's premiership, with the bitter fallout leading to the resignations of key advisers and growing calls from senior Labour Party figures for the British prime minister to step down.
The British leader faced questions over how much he knew about the extent of Mandelson's close relationship with the late sex offender when he appointed him as ambassador.
British MPs have been told the first tranche of documents related to Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador is expected “very shortly in early March.”
However, some correspondence between the former MP and Downing Street will be delayed due to the “Metropolitan Police interest,” Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister told the House of Commons on Monday.
Mandelson, widely known in political circles as the “Prince of Darkness” for his Machiavellian skills, became Labour's director of communications in the 1980s. He helped transform the party into a globalist, capital-friendly project known as “New Labour,” that eventually won a landslide election in 1997 under Tony Blair.
His arrest comes after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of Britain's King Charles III, was arrested on his 66th birthday last week following further revelations about the former prince's relationship with Epstein.
Mountbatten-Windsor became the first member of the UK royal family to be arrested in modern history following an early morning raid at his home on the Sandringham estate, also on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
The former prince was released “under investigation” late Thursday evening, after spending 10 hours in a police station in Norfolk, England.
While police did not say what led to Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest, they had previously said they were assessing whether he shared confidential information with Epstein during his decade as a UK trade envoy.
The offense of misconduct in public office is a notoriously difficult-to-prosecute law that experts have criticized for lacking clarity.
Under English law, the offense concerns “serious wilful abuse or neglect of the power or responsibilities of the public office held,” according to the Crown Prosecution Service, the body that prosecutes criminal cases in England and Wales.
Prosecution guidance says the person accused must be deemed a public officer, and there has to be a direct link between the misconduct and abuse of their responsibilities. It must also be committed “without reasonable excuse or justification.”
The offense must be shown to have been willfully committed, meaning the public official must be found to have deliberately done something wrong “knowing it to be wrong or with reckless indifference.”
CNN's Christian Edwards and Lauren Kent, and James Frater contributed reporting.
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The Pentagon has failed eight straight audits, and is the only major federal agency to not pass an independent audit.
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Pentagon officials are reportedly struggling to devise a plan to spend the extra $500 billion that US President Donald Trump wants to give the bloated, fraud-ridden agency in the next fiscal year, vindicating criticism of the funding proposal as immensely wasteful.
The Washington Post reported over the weekend that “White House aides and defense officials have run into logistical challenges surrounding where to put the money, because the amount is so large.” The extra $500 billion, endorsed by the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, would push annual US military spending to a staggering $1.5 trillion after the Trump administration and congressional Republicans enacted unprecedented cuts to federal nutrition assistance and Medicaid last summer.
The Post noted that “the increase in military spending alone would amount to one of the biggest federal programs. One Democratic plan to expand Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing benefits would cost $350 billion over the next decade, by comparison.”
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has estimated that a $1.5 trillion annual military budget would add $5.8 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.
“This is ridiculous,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) wrote in response to the Post‘s reporting. “Or we could build 3 million new homes, lower the Medicare age, or add dental, vision, and hearing coverage. Not another cent for private defense contractors and forever wars.”
According to the Post:
The Pentagon has been grappling with how to rapidly replenish expensive munitions that it has relied on heavily, including Tomahawk cruise missiles, Patriot missile-defense interceptors and ship-launched munitions known as Standard Missile-6s, or SM-6s.
It also is wrestling with how to upgrade its Cold War-era nuclear weapons program with expensive next-generation systems like the B-21 bomber and the Columbia-class submarine. The aircraft, with an estimated cost of about $700 million each, is expected to replace the Air Force's fleet of B-1 and B-2 bombers. The Columbia-class submarines are expected to cost at least $9 billion each.
Trump is pushing for another $500 billion for the Pentagon as he moves the US to the brink of war with Iran, potentially another expensive and deadly conflict in the Middle East. The New York Times reported Sunday that “Trump has told advisers that if diplomacy or any initial targeted US attack does not lead Iran to give in to his demands that it give up its nuclear program, he will consider a much bigger attack in coming months intended to drive that country's leaders from power.”
The Pentagon has failed eight consecutive audits of its books and is the only major federal agency that has not passed an independent audit. Roughly half of the Pentagon's annual spending goes to private military contractors.
“Trump's call for a $500 billion increase in Pentagon spending is a terrible idea that would starve the American people of resources needed to address critical issues across the U.S. American voters are fed up with inflation, health care costs, housing prices, and unemployment,” Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, said earlier this month in response to the proposal.
“The Pentagon has repeatedly failed audits and has wasted hundreds of billions of dollars on fraudulent defense contractors who abuse the system and steal from taxpayers,” said Weissman. “Trump has added to this wasteful legacy by spending vast sums of money on national guard deployments across the US, military intervention in Venezuela, and by pushing a ‘Golden Dome' boondoggle. Congress must stop pouring more money into a trillion-dollar Pentagon budget beset with fraud and waste, at the expense of priority human needs.”
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The need for truthful, grassroots reporting is urgent at this cataclysmic historical moment. Yet, Trump-aligned billionaires and other allies have taken over many legacy media outlets — the culmination of a decades-long campaign to place control of the narrative into the hands of the political right.
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Austin Tucker Martin, 21, was killed by Secret Service after entering Trump's Florida resort with a shotgun on Sunday
US politics live – latest updates
The 21-year-old man who was shot and killed after having entered Donald Trump's Florida resort on Sunday – while carrying a shotgun – came from a North Carolina family of the president's supporters and had reportedly become increasingly fixated on the so-called Jeffrey Epstein files.
The focus of the FBI's investigation into the intrusion attributed to Austin Tucker Martin is tightening on his movements and motives. Martin was confronted by Secret Service agents and a local sheriff's deputy inside the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago and killed after he had raised a shotgun into the shooting position at about 1.30am on Sunday, law enforcement said.
Martin was a recent high school graduate who is believed to have driven down to Florida from his home in North Carolina on Saturday afternoon, obtaining the weapon en route. The New York Times reported that last year he set up his own company, Fresh Sky Illustrations, trading in original drawings of golf courses that were sold through golf course gift shops and on commission.
TMZ reported that Martin had grown increasingly obsessed with Epstein – a former friend of Trump and many other powerful people – after the recent release of files connected to the prosecution of the sex offender and disgraced financier. The website said that it had obtained a text message that he sent to a co-worker earlier in February.
According to TMZ, the text said: “I don't know if you read up on the Epstein Files, but evil is real and unmistakable … Tell other people about what you hear about the Epstein files and what the government is doing about it. Raise awareness.”
The illustrator came from Cameron, North Carolina, where his relatives described him as quiet and generally opposed to guns. Martin's cousin told the Associated Press that the family was staunchly pro-Trump.
“We are big Trump supporters, all of us,” Braeden Fields said. “Everybody.” He added, though, that Marin tended not to talk about politics.
Fields said Martin would regularly send a portion of his monthly paycheck to charity – and he had difficulty fathoming what authorities say his cousin had done on Sunday.
Martin's family appear to have become alarmed by his disappearance over the weekend, posting on Facebook that he was missing. A missing person's report was entered into a national database after the Moore county sheriff's office in North Carolina received a report from a relative early on Sunday morning.
Trump was not at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend and has so far not commented on the incident. He was the subject of two assassination attempts during the 2024 presidential campaign, one of which occurred at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach just a few miles from Mar-a-Lago.
Ryan Routh, who was spotted in September 2024 aiming a rifle through shrubbery close to where the president was playing golf, was convicted and recently sentenced to life in prison.
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, posted a statement on the latest incident on X on Sunday, alluding to how Martin had a gasoline canister on him as well.
She wrote in part: “In the middle of the night while most Americans were asleep, the United States Secret Service acted quickly and decisively to neutralize a crazy person … who intruded President Trump's home.”
FBI director filmed partying with players in changing room following their victory over Canada
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Kash Patel was filmed chugging beer with the American men's hockey team despite insisting he was not flying to Italy to “hang out at the Olympics”.
The head of the FBI, a known hockey fan, partied with the team in their changing room after their victory over Canada earned them their first gold at the Winter Olympics in 46 years.
Clips show Mr Patel and the players dancing, fist-pumping the air and downing beers in celebration.
On Saturday, Ben Williamson, the director of public affairs at the FBI, strenuously denied Mr Patel was in Italy to “hang out at the Olympics”, the day before footage of Mr Patel circulated on social media.
Mr Williamson wrote on X that American media had “purposefully misled” the public into thinking “Kash was flying to Italy to hang out at the Olympics”.
Whilst celebrating with the players, Mr Patel called Donald Trump so the US president could also congratulate the men.
“You are all unbelievable,” Mr Trump told the team.
The US president suggested that Mr Patel could bring the players to his state of the union address in Washington, DC on Tuesday night with the help of the US military.
Mr Trump told the players they could “have some fun at the White House” and joked that he would also “have to bring the women's team” because he would be “impeached” if he did not.
On Thursday, the women's ice hockey team also won gold against Canada, defeating the team 2-1 in overtime.
Mr Patel's liberal use of government jets, including to visit his country music singer girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, in Nashville, in November, has attracted controversy.
Democrats rounded on Mr Patel after the display, with Jason Crow, a Colorado representative, accusing him of “grift and corruption”.
“Your taxpayer dollars funding the FBI director's Italian vacation,” he said.
Criticising Mr Patel, Sean Casten said Mr Trump's administration should be less focused on sports and instead complete the full release of the Epstein files.
The Illinois representative said: “Three million pages of evidence of a massive child sex trafficking ring and this is what the FBI director is doing right now.”
Mr Patel responded to criticism on Monday, writing: “For the very concerned media – yes, I love America and was extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys. Greatest country on earth and greatest sport on earth.”
In December, it was reported that Mr Patel ordered the FBI to give his girlfriend's drunk friend a lift home after a night of partying in Nashville.
The FBI denied the story. “This is made up and did not happen,” Mr Williamson said.
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Schools close and flights suspended after military raid kills Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes
Who was El Mencho, the former police officer who co-founded an ultraviolent cartel in Mexico?
Whole areas of western Mexico have been all but shut down after a surge in cartel violence sparked by a military raid that killed one of the world's most wanted drug traffickers, known as “El Mencho”.
Schools were closed in several Mexican states, and foreign governments warned their citizens to stay inside after the drug lord, whose real name is Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, was declared dead on Sunday.
The 59-year-old cartel leader was killed during a shootout after the Mexican military attempted to capture him in a raid supported by intelligence from Washington. The US has been pushing its southern neighbour to take more aggressive action against groups trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine.
Mexico's defence minister Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said authorities ascertained vita information on El Mencho's whereabouts after a visit by a romantic partner.
New details of what appeared on Monday of what appeared to be an fierce firefight. Mexico's security minister Garcia Harfuch saying 25 members of the national guard had died since the operation to capture El Mencho.
The operation immediately set off a wave of violence, with gunmen blocking major roads, torching cars and buses and fighting with government forces. There were attacks in 20 of Mexico's 31 states, according to officials.
La Jornada, a Mexican newspaper, reported that at least 26 people had been killed in the unrest, which was centred in the western state of Jalisco, including a pregnant woman reportedly caught in a shootout between troops and cartel fighters.
The newspaper said the victims included 17 members of the state and federal security forces and eight members of El Mencho's syndicate, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), which has become Mexico's most powerful and notorious criminal organisation.
As the chaos spread, the Jalisco governor, Pablo Lemus Navarro, urged the state's 8 million citizens to stay at home. Lemus said public transport services were being suspended.
Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco state and Mexico's second-largest city, was almost completely shut down as fearful residents stayed home. Armed men were seen torching vehicles in the heart of Guadalajara, which is scheduled to be one of the 2026 World Cup host cities.
Other video footage showed tourists on the beach as huge clouds of smoke rose into the skies above Puerto Vallarta, a popular resort city on the west coast known for its spectacular Pacific beaches. Most flights into the city were suspended and international airlines cancelled dozens of trips.
Authorities there had issued a public advisory to stay indoors, and routes to airports may be blocked, the UK Foreign Office said in a travel advisory on Monday. The US embassy in Mexico City also issued a security alert, urging citizens to “shelter in place” in affected regions.
The Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has called for calm, and said on Monday that all the roadblocks had been cleared.
While less internationally famous than the Sinaloa cartel of the now imprisoned Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the Jalisco group is a household name in Mexico, where it is infamous for its displays of ultraviolence and its massive weapon arsenal, which it has shown off in military parades. The cartel, which was founded about 16 years ago, has also been accused of attempting to assassinate Mexican government officials.
The exact circumstances of El Mencho's killing remained unclear. Mexico's defence ministry said special forces troops from the army and national guard had launched an operation in Tapalpa, a town about 80 miles south-west of Guadalajara, to capture him.
While doing so, however, “military personnel came under attack” and fought back. El Mencho was wounded in a shootout and died while being airlifted to Mexico City. Six of his accomplices were killed, and two alleged cartel members were arrested with weapons that included rocket launchers.
Washington had offered a $15m (£11m) reward for his capture, and the White House confirmed that the US provided intelligence support to the operation. Senior US officials celebrated the killing, which follows months of pressure from Donald Trump over the influx of drugs and migrants across the 1,954-mile (3,145km) border between the two countries. The Trump administration has designated the Jalisco cartel as a “foreign terrorist organisation”, and the US president has even threatened direct military action against cartels that he has claimed “are running Mexico”.
Writing on X, Christopher Landau, the deputy secretary of state, called El Mencho “one of the bloodiest and most ruthless drug kingpins”. He posted: “This is a great development for Mexico, the US, Latin America, and the world.”
While the killing may relieve pressure on President Sheinbaum from Trump, it will also create a cartel power vacuum. Sheinbaum has previously criticised the discredited “war on drugs” strategy, in which military action often triggers major violence only for new cartel leaders to emerge.
Chris Dalby, an organised crime expert who has written a book about the Jalisco cartel, said one of the biggest questions now facing Mexico was who – if anyone – would fill the dead criminal's boots.
“If no one can, if the CJNG finally splinters, you have four or five different lieutenants with the manpower, the weaponry and the criminal empires to build their own fiefdoms – and that could plunge Mexico into almost record levels of violence,” Dalby said.
Some sources have cited El Mencho's stepson, Juan Carlos, as a possible successor with enough backing to hold the cartel together. “If [he] can unite the CJNG we may avoid that kind of civil war,” Dalby said, although he said he believed that was far from guaranteed.
Special counsel Jack Smith's final report on Donald Trump's alleged mishandling of classified records and obstruction of justice at Mar-a-Lago after his first term will not be released, a Trump-appointed judge in Florida ruled Monday.
The decision by US District Judge Aileen Cannon, who threw out the case Smith brought against the president before he was re-elected, is a major win in Trump's efforts to keep the special counsel's findings forever hidden from public view.
Smith had turned over his final, two-volume report to then-Attorney General Merrick Garland before he left his post in early 2025. The first part of the report, which detailed Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, was released before Trump returned to the White House. But a legal fight waged by Trump and his co-defendants in the case kept the second part of that report under seal.
Takeaways from former special counsel Jack Smith's public hearing
Cannon said in her 15-page ruling that “it is certainly not customary” for a prosecutor whose case was thrown out to later be allowed to “publicly disseminate large swaths of discovery generated in the case.”
“The Court strains to find a situation in which a former special counsel has released a report after initiating criminal charges that did not result in a finding of guilt, at least not in a situation like this one, where the defendants contested the charges from the outset and still proclaim their innocence,” she wrote.
Cannon, who concluded in 2024 that Smith was unlawfully serving as special counsel, went on to chide him for even writing the report in the first place, saying it violated her earlier decisions putting an end to the work of his office on the classified documents matter.
“The Court need not countenance this brazen stratagem or effectively perpetuate the Special Counsel's breach of this Court's own order,” she wrote.
Cannon declined a request from two of Trump's former co-defendants in the case to order the report to be destroyed.
Transparency around Smith's final report on the South Florida federal case against Trump and two of his employees, called Volume II, is still being tested in appeals brought by public transparency groups.
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When my small leadership learning group met early in the year to address the changes we would individually make to be more effective in 2026 – with the focus on subtracting things we could live without – I was surprised when three or four members referred to sustaining ideas they had taken away from Oliver Burkeman's Meditations for Mortals. I had not read the book when it first appeared in 2024 but was intrigued and, when I noticed a paperback edition had recently come out, I decided to catch up.
In a sense, that reflected one of the 28 short essays in the book that had come up in our discussion: Viewing the information flow deluging us as a river rather than a bucket. “It's become a ubiquitous modern problem to have not only a teetering pile of books you've been meaning to read, but a digital stack of articles you'd like to digest, plus a long queue of podcast episodes to listen to, videos or TV shows to watch or videogames you've purchased and would love to play, if only you could find the time,” Mr. Burkeman writes.
We tend to view that backlog as a bucket, a container that fills up and we must empty. Instead, he suggests considering it a river that flows past you, from which you get to pick a few choice items, without feeling guilty for letting all the others float by. In this case, the book had conveniently floated back again, another reason not to fret so much about emptying the bucket initially.
Mr. Burkeman's essays revolve around embracing our limitations and making time for what counts. “The most liberating and empowering and productive step you can take, if you want to spend more of your time on the planet doing what matters to you,” he begins the first essay, “is to grasp the sense in which life as a finite human being – with limited time and limited control over that time – is really much worse than you think. Completely beyond hope, in fact.”
To do everything demanded of you is impossible. You will continue to be overly busy. You will never produce perfect work. So get on with life and accept the limitations. “It's precisely because you'll never produce perfect work that you might as well get on with doing the best work you can,” he writes.
Embrace imperfectionism. Stop viewing your limitations as an obstacle to fulfillment and free yourself to build a life of meaning and accomplishment that hums with vitality.
In doing so, be willing to pay the price for your decisions. You can jettison a lot of the things that plague you – from answering that next email immediately to attending an awful meeting to working at your current job – but, he stresses, “freedom isn't a matter of somehow wriggling free of the costs of your choice.” Just weigh the trade-offs, without exaggerating them, as often is the temptation. That's still freedom, he insists, but freedom within limitations. Life has limitations. Life has trade-offs.
One lesson helpful to managers – indeed, my own peer group spent the next session focusing on it – is to develop a taste for problems. It begins with this essential question that neuroscientist and podcaster Sam Harris posed to a friend moaning about the various challenges at work: “Were you really expecting to have no more problems at some point in your life?”
Mr. Burkeman notes that “problem” is the word we apply to any situation in which we confront the limits to our capacity to control how things unfold. We view what is happening now as flawed because it is marred by too many problems. But life wouldn't be much without problems – without these hills and mountains to climb.
And for managers, problems are the job. You have been hired to grapple with them. “Beyond the mountains, there are always more mountains, at least until you reach the final mountain before your time on earth comes to an end. In the meantime, few things are more exhilarating than mountaineering,” he says.
He also challenges us to embrace the upside of unpredictability. Not being able to guarantee your plans will bear fruition in a mysterious way makes life worth living, he argues. For many people a major life milestone occurred in some mundane moment, such as attending a party where they met a spouse or found someone with an irresistible idea they agreed to collaborate on. “The more we try to render the world controllable, the more it eludes us,” he says.
Similarly, be open to interruptions. Events that you think shouldn't be happening are often where great things happen. That doesn't mean you shouldn't have boundaries or not try to work somewhere quiet. But when interrupted, by your kid or a colleague or an anxious thought, give it your full attention (even if you need to postpone when you will do so).
We are all mortals, with limitations. We fight them. But in some cases, we need to accept those limitations and work more capably and enthusiastically within them.
Cannonballs
Harvey Schachter is a Kingston-based writer specializing in management issues. He, along with Sheelagh Whittaker, former CEO of both EDS Canada and Cancom, are the authors of When Harvey Didn't Meet Sheelagh: Emails on Leadership.
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President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing at the White House on Friday.Allison Robbert/The Associated Press
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday warned countries against backing away from recently negotiated trade deals with the U.S. after the Supreme Court struck down his emergency tariffs, saying that he would hit them with much higher duties under different trade laws.
Trump, in a series of social-media posts, said he also may impose license fees on trading partners as uncertainty over his next tariff moves gripped the global economy and sent stocks lower.
“Any Country that wants to 'play games' with the ridiculous supreme court decision, especially those that have 'Ripped Off' the U.S.A. for years, and even decades, will be met with a much higher Tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to. BUYER BEWARE!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump said that despite the court's decision to invalidate his tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, its decision affirmed his ability to use tariffs under other legal authorities “in a much more powerful and obnoxious way, with legal certainty, than the Tariffs as initially used.”
He suggested that the U.S. could impose new license fees on trading partners, but did not provide any details.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Trade Representative's office did not immediately respond to a request for further comment on Trump's plans.
How Trump plans to continue his trade war with Canada without IEEPA
In Brussels, the European Parliament decided on Monday to postpone a vote on the European Union's trade deal with the U.S. after Trump imposed a new temporary import duty of 15 per cent on imports from all countries.
EU goods under the deal would face a 15 per cent U.S. tariff, with exemptions for hundreds of food items, aircraft parts, critical minerals, pharmaceutical ingredients and other goods, while the EU would remove duties on many imports from the U.S., including industrial goods.
Trump on Friday initially announced the temporary duty under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 at 10 per cent, but raised it to 15 per cent, the maximum allowed under the statute, on Saturday.
The new duty is set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Tuesday. At that same moment, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency said it would stop collecting the now-illegal IEEPA duties, more than three days after the Supreme Court's ruling.
Wall Street stocks fell in early trade on Monday, as renewed tariff uncertainty in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling unnerved investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.34 per cent, The S&P 500 fell 0.65 per cent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also was down 0.65 per cent in mid-morning trade.
The U.S. dollar index fell 0.2 per cent against major currencies.
The path forward for Trump's foreign trade deals remained uncertain, with China urging Washington to scrap tariff measures, the EU freeze on its approval and India delaying planned talks.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said over the weekend that the Trump administration expected to open new Section 301 unfair trade practices investigations on several countries, a legal step expected to allow it to threaten new tariffs.
Trump used his social media post to again lash out against the justices who ruled against him, which included two who he had appointed during his first term in the White House. In its ruling, authored by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, the court reasserted its power to check the power of the president.
The president also expressed concern that the top court could rule against his administration's bid to restrict birthright citizenship in its forthcoming decision in that case.
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Merck's Keytruda, which is set to lose some patent protections later this decade, recorded sales of more than US$30-billion last year.Brendan McDermid/Reuters
Merck MRK-N said on Monday it would split its human-health business into two units, creating a division for its cancer franchise led by blockbuster drug Keytruda while grouping its non-oncology medicines separately.
The restructuring underscores the U.S. drugmaker's push to diversify beyond Keytruda amid the drug's looming loss of exclusivity later this decade.
Keytruda, approved for several forms of cancers, is the best selling prescription medicine in the world. The treatment generated more than US$30-billion in 2025 and accounted for nearly half of the company's total revenue.
Merck shares were up 1.4 per cent in premarket trading.
The company has tripled its pipeline since 2021 and struck two deals in the US$10-billion range last year, buying Cidara Therapeutics and Verona Pharma to broaden its portfolio.
Variational AI inks drug discovery deal with Merck worth up to $349-million
The split follows Merck's downbeat 2026 forecast issued earlier this month, where it warned of lower-than-expected sales and profit as several legacy drugs near loss of exclusivity and face generic pressure.
Merck also appointed Jannie Oosthuizen as executive vice president and president of the cancer business. Oosthuizen most recently served as senior vice president and president of Merck Human Health U.S., where he led strategy and commercialization for the company's U.S. portfolio.
The news of the split was first reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier in the day.
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MOSCOW, February 23. /TASS/. Russian troops in the special military operation zone are acting in a coordinated and efficient way, firmly standing for their country, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during the presentation of state awards to Heroes of Russia in the Kremlin.
"You stand firmly behind Russia, for Russia, acting in a coordinated and efficient way," he said.
He also added that competent and courageous actions by the heroes of the special military operation made it possible to plan and carry out offensive operations in the most intense sectors.
"Among those present are representatives of the command, officers of special and operational units. Your competent and courageous actions, your personal bravery and determination helped to carefully plan and brilliantly execute offensive operations by our troops in the most intense sectors and directions," the head of state said.
Russia is fighting for its future and independence, for truth and justice, Putin said. "Russia is fighting for its future, for independence, for truth, and justice," the head of state said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Feb. 23 in an interview with the BBC that Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively triggered a de facto World War III, warning that only sustained military and economic pressure can prevent further escalation.
"I believe that Putin has already started (World War III). The question is how much territory he will be able to seize and how to stop him," Zelensky said, arguing that Ukraine's resistance is currently preventing the war from expanding into a wider global phase.
He warned that if Ukraine withdrew its forces from parts of Donetsk or accepted Russia's proposed pause, Moscow would likely resume aggression within a few years, framing territorial concessions as both strategically dangerous and socially destabilizing.
Zelensky again rejected Russian demands that Kyiv abandon roughly 20% of Donetsk oblast and occupied areas of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, saying such a move would not be a compromise but "an abandonment of hundreds of thousands of people," and could fracture Ukrainian society.
"What is land without people? Honestly, nothing," he added, emphasizing that Ukraine's victory ultimately means preserving independence, while the restoration of the country's 1991 borders remains "a matter of time," despite current military constraints.
Russia continues to demand that Ukrainian forces withdraw entirely from the region as a precondition for any peace deal. Ukraine has rejected that demand, insisting that freezing the current front line offers the most realistic basis for a ceasefire.
The president stressed that Ukraine's most urgent need remains stronger air defense and called on partners to allow licensed production of U.S. weapons, particularly Patriot missiles, while insisting that long-term security guarantees must be approved by the U.S. Congress because "presidents change, but institutions remain."
Addressing political questions, Zelensky said elections could technically be held during wartime but only after credible security guarantees are in place, adding that he has not yet decided whether he would seek another term.
In mid-December, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that any territorial concessions to end Russia's full-scale invasion, mentioned in a U.S.-backed peace plan, should be decided by the Ukrainian people, potentially through a referendum.
North American news editor
Sonya Bandouil is a North American news editor for The Kyiv Independent. She previously worked in the fields of cybersecurity and translating, and she also edited for various journals in NYC.
Sonya has a Master's degree in Global Affairs from New York University, and a Bachelor's degree in Music from the University of Houston, in Texas.
The conflict is seen as part of a broader struggle between the President's Office and the NABU, which says the authorities are trying to eliminate its independence.
"The attempt to impose the legitimization of peace agreements on Ukrainians through a referendum is unlawful and unacceptable, contradicts Ukraine's Constitution and laws, and threatens the national interests of our state," the statement read.
Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that despite successful offensive operations, the situation in the area remains "complicated."
"This is a setback and a message we didn't want to send today," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.
Ukrainian forces struck four Russian military targets on the occupied Crimean Peninsula and in the occupied parts of Donetsk and Mykolaiv oblasts, the General Staff said on Feb. 23.
Drones operated by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) struck a "critical" Russian oil transportation hub, the Kaleykino oil pumping station, in the Republic of Tatarstan overnight on Feb. 23, an undisclosed source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent.
"We are in the process of preparing," the President's Office head Kyrylo Budanov said.
"The same thing (Vladimir) Putin is doing: he pays each person money for a contract. We want this as well, but we do not have enough funds," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
A woman has been arrested in connection to a suspected terrorist attack that killed a police officer and injured 25 others in the Western city of Lviv in the early hours of Sunday morning, Ukrainian authorities said.
Russia launched 126 drones and an Iskander-M ballistic missile at Ukraine overnight, the Air Force said. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 105 drones.
The Kyiv Independent's separate analytical unit, KI Insights, is excited to announce the launch of its podcast, Ukraine Insights — a show dedicated to unpacking Ukraine's politics, security, economy, and international relations through in-depth, expert-driven conversations.
The documentary has received wide acclaim for the fact that it shows how the war against Ukraine is not just "(Russian President Vladimir) Putin's war" but a war sustained by both a climate of fear and open support among the populace within Russia.
The number includes 720 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
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Editor's note: This is a developing story.
The explosions that killed one police officer and injured 25 other victims in western Ukraine's Lviv on Feb. 22 were part of a terrorist attack planned by Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address.
"It was indeed a terrorist attack, cynical and cruel," he said after being briefed by law enforcement and the Interior Affairs Ministry.
Two blasts rocked Lviv's historic Old Town in the early hours of Feb. 22, shattering windows in the area.
The explosions took place after officers arrived at the scene responding to a reported store intrusion, Ukraine's National Police said in a statement. A second explosion took place after another police crew arrived at the scene, Lviv Oblast's Prosecutor's Office added.
Explosions were heard by a Kyiv Independent journalist on the ground at approximately 12:25 a.m. local time.
One officer was killed and 25 people were injured in the blasts. Ukraine's national police identified the officer killed as 23-year-old Viktoria Shpylka.
A 33-year-old woman has been arrested and charged with committing a terrorist attack, according to the General Prosecutor's Office. Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine's Interior Minister, announced the detention of a suspect on Sunday morning.
"The police, in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine, have arrested a suspected saboteur," Klymenko said.
The woman is a resident of Kostopil in northwestern Rivne Oblast, the Prosecutor's Office said. There is "objective evidence" that the suspect committed a terrorist attack, according to Nazar Markiv, head of the department for monitoring compliance with the law by regional security agencies.
The woman had been temporarily residing in Lviv since September 2025. She is suspected of planting the explosive devices at the scene of the attack the day before the blasts, fleeing by taxi, and detonating the devices remotely.
She was arrested in Staryi Sambir, a Lviv Oblast city close to the Polish border. According to Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadovyi, the detainee is a citizen of Ukraine.
Zelensky said the attack was still being thoroughly investigated, but that some facts about the case had already been confirmed.
"The perpetrators were recruited via Telegram," he said. "The attack was organized by Russia."
Zelensky said that the full details would be presented to the public by the Interior Ministry, the National Police, and the State Security Service (SBU) after the investigation.
"My condolences to the families. All necessary resources have been provided to the investigation," Zelensky said.
After the arrest, on Feb. 23, the Galician District Court of Lviv imposed a preventive measure on the suspect — detention without the right to bail until April 22, 2026, Suspilne Lviv reported.
According to the investigation, the suspect prepared and placed the explosives after a curator contacted her more than a week ago, offering her $1,000 for each explosive device.
The woman admitted she agreed because of debts, but added that she would not have participated if she had known the contents of the package.
"The suspect's testimony was brief, stating that she had clearly manufactured the homemade explosive device under the guidance of a man whose nickname is Mark," head of the Department for Oversight of Compliance with Laws by Regional Security Authorities of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office, Nazar Markiv, told Suspilne Lviv.
The pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings is being conducted by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) under Part 3 of Article 258 of Ukraine's Criminal Code — a terrorist act that resulted in the death of a person, and Part 1 of Article 263 — illegal handling of weapons, ammunition, or explosives.
The most severe penalty under these articles is life imprisonment.
Zelensky also said he had given orders to develop new measures to prevent similar crimes.
"We have intelligence indicating that the Russians intend to continue carrying out such actions — in effect, attacks on Ukrainians," he said. "We must strengthen protection for our people."
As of the evening of Feb. 22, 12 people have been hospitalized due to injuries sustained in the explosions, with two in serious condition. All of the injured victims, with the exception of one teenager, are law enforcement employees who responded to the call, Mayor Sadovyi said.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, citing Lviv's Saint Panteleimon Hospital, reported that as of the morning of Feb. 23, 14 people had been hospitalized, three of them in serious condition and receiving intensive care.
The other 11 of the 25 victims will continue outpatient care, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
"This is a hostile special operation aimed at killing as many law enforcement officers as possible," Sadovyi said.
Klymenko echoed this sentiment, pointing out that Russia has previously targeted Ukrainian law enforcement in similar plots.
"There is every reason to believe that the crime was carried out on the orders of Russia. It's not the first time that the enemy has deliberately set up deadly traps for Ukrainian law enforcement officers," Klymenko said.
Marco, a 38-year-old Lviv resident walking his dog on the morning of Feb. 22, told a Kyiv Independent journalist at the scene that the attack was "nothing new," recalling terrorist attacks in Lviv in 2014–2015 suspected to be connected to Russia.
"Give long-range weapons to Ukraine so that we can finish this war," he said.
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The conflict is seen as part of a broader struggle between the President's Office and the NABU, which says the authorities are trying to eliminate its independence.
"The attempt to impose the legitimization of peace agreements on Ukrainians through a referendum is unlawful and unacceptable, contradicts Ukraine's Constitution and laws, and threatens the national interests of our state," the statement read.
Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that despite successful offensive operations, the situation in the area remains "complicated."
"This is a setback and a message we didn't want to send today," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.
Ukrainian forces struck four Russian military targets on the occupied Crimean Peninsula and in the occupied parts of Donetsk and Mykolaiv oblasts, the General Staff said on Feb. 23.
Drones operated by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) struck a "critical" Russian oil transportation hub, the Kaleykino oil pumping station, in the Republic of Tatarstan overnight on Feb. 23, an undisclosed source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent.
"We are in the process of preparing," the President's Office head Kyrylo Budanov said.
"The same thing (Vladimir) Putin is doing: he pays each person money for a contract. We want this as well, but we do not have enough funds," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
A woman has been arrested in connection to a suspected terrorist attack that killed a police officer and injured 25 others in the Western city of Lviv in the early hours of Sunday morning, Ukrainian authorities said.
Russia launched 126 drones and an Iskander-M ballistic missile at Ukraine overnight, the Air Force said. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 105 drones.
The Kyiv Independent's separate analytical unit, KI Insights, is excited to announce the launch of its podcast, Ukraine Insights — a show dedicated to unpacking Ukraine's politics, security, economy, and international relations through in-depth, expert-driven conversations.
The documentary has received wide acclaim for the fact that it shows how the war against Ukraine is not just "(Russian President Vladimir) Putin's war" but a war sustained by both a climate of fear and open support among the populace within Russia.
The number includes 720 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
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Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Drones operated by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) struck a "critical" Russian oil transportation hub, the Kaleykino oil pumping station, in the Republic of Tatarstan overnight on Feb. 23, an undisclosed source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent.
Residents in the Russian cities of Saratov and Engels reported hearing multiple explosions overnight, according to independent Russian Telegram news channel Astra.
Separately, residents in Tatarstan's Almetyevsk reported further blasts and a fire in the city, though officials have not yet released detailed information about the incidents.
Six explosions rocked the Kaleykino oil pumping station near Almetyevsk, 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) from the Ukrainian border, triggering a large fire, according to the source.
Oil tanks storing crude from Russia's Povolzhye region and Western Siberia before its export also ignited, though the source did not disclose the extent of the damage.
"The SBU is systematically working to curb the extraction and transportation of Russian oil," the source said.
"Our special operations are methodically cutting Russia's oil revenues, which finance the war against Ukraine. This work will continue to gradually exhaust and bleed the Russian economy dry," the source added.
The Exilenova+ Ukrainian Telegram channel earlier reported that the Kaleykino oil pumping station in Russia's Tatarstan was attacked. The facility belongs to Transneft–Prikamye, a regional division of Russia's largest state-controlled pipeline transport company, and serves as a major hub in Russia's trunk oil pipeline system, making it one of the key nodes in the country's oil transport infrastructure.
Exilenova+ published a video showing plumes of smoke near the station. Flames reportedly engulfed two tanks, each holding 50,000 cubic meters of oil, according to the Telegram channel.
The tanks at the Kaleykino oil pumping station are key buffer tanks on the Druzhba pipeline, one of the world's largest crude oil networks, carrying nearly two million barrels per day from Russia through Belarus and Ukraine to Central Europe.
The tanks store and balance oil flows before pumping it further along the pipeline, which supplies refineries in countries including Hungary and Slovakia, the only EU countries still importing Russian crude through the system.
Apart from the strikes on Tatarstan, Russian authorities claimed that overnight on Feb. 23, the city of Belgorod, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the Ukrainian border, came under missile attack.
Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the city is facing disruptions to electricity, water, and heating after damage to energy facilities.
Footage circulating on public social media channels showed blasts across the city, while witnesses said large parts of Belgorod were left in darkness, with light coming mainly from vehicle headlights.
Gladkov said emergency services were working at impacted sites and that the scale of the damage would be assessed later, adding that apartment buildings, a social facility, and several private homes were damaged in the attacks.
Regional authorities reported drone strikes that damaged equipment at an industrial enterprise and injured a civilian woman in a nearby village, who was hospitalized with blast and shrapnel wounds.
Voronezh Oblast Governor Aleksandr Gusev also reported that debris from a "high-precision target" struck an energy facility in the regional center, disrupting electricity supply.
The Ukrainian officials have not commented on the reported strikes. The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the claims at the time of publication.
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on Feb. 23 that Russian forces intercepted 152 drones launched by Ukraine overnight, including 65 in Belgorod Oblast, 35 in Saratov Oblast, eight in Voronezh Oblast, and three in Tatarstan.
In September, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Ukraine would retaliate against Russia's energy sector if Moscow continued to target Kyiv's power grid.
Russia has ramped up its assault on Ukraine's energy infrastructure in recent weeks, repeatedly targeting the country's power grid, gas facilities, and heating systems amid constant below freezing temperatures.
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The conflict is seen as part of a broader struggle between the President's Office and the NABU, which says the authorities are trying to eliminate its independence.
"The attempt to impose the legitimization of peace agreements on Ukrainians through a referendum is unlawful and unacceptable, contradicts Ukraine's Constitution and laws, and threatens the national interests of our state," the statement read.
Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that despite successful offensive operations, the situation in the area remains "complicated."
"This is a setback and a message we didn't want to send today," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.
Ukrainian forces struck four Russian military targets on the occupied Crimean Peninsula and in the occupied parts of Donetsk and Mykolaiv oblasts, the General Staff said on Feb. 23.
Drones operated by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) struck a "critical" Russian oil transportation hub, the Kaleykino oil pumping station, in the Republic of Tatarstan overnight on Feb. 23, an undisclosed source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent.
"We are in the process of preparing," the President's Office head Kyrylo Budanov said.
"The same thing (Vladimir) Putin is doing: he pays each person money for a contract. We want this as well, but we do not have enough funds," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
A woman has been arrested in connection to a suspected terrorist attack that killed a police officer and injured 25 others in the Western city of Lviv in the early hours of Sunday morning, Ukrainian authorities said.
Russia launched 126 drones and an Iskander-M ballistic missile at Ukraine overnight, the Air Force said. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 105 drones.
The Kyiv Independent's separate analytical unit, KI Insights, is excited to announce the launch of its podcast, Ukraine Insights — a show dedicated to unpacking Ukraine's politics, security, economy, and international relations through in-depth, expert-driven conversations.
The documentary has received wide acclaim for the fact that it shows how the war against Ukraine is not just "(Russian President Vladimir) Putin's war" but a war sustained by both a climate of fear and open support among the populace within Russia.
The number includes 720 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
Millions read the Kyiv Independent, but only one in 1,000 supports us financially. One membership might not seem like much, but to us, it makes a real difference.
If you value our reporting, consider becoming a member — your support makes us stronger.
Team Canada's Tyler Tardi, Ben Herbert, Brett Gallant, Marc Kennedy and Brad Jacobs celebrate winning a gold medal after defeating Team Great Britain in men's curling at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Italy on Saturday, February 21, 2026. Photo by Candice Ward/COC *MANDATORY CREDIT*Candice Ward/The Canadian Press
Sporting an Olympic gold medal after conquering a strong field while keeping the many distractions at bay, Canada's Brad Jacobs came out firing shortly after stepping off the podium.
He guided Canada to a 9-6 win over Great Britain's Bruce Mouat in a final that will go down as a classic between the top two teams in the world.
The win came a week after Canada vice Marc Kennedy used profanity during an in-game discussion with Sweden's Oskar Eriksson, who felt the Canadians were committing an infraction by 'double-touching' curling stones. It snowballed into one of the major buzz stories of the Games.
For Jacobs, all of the buildup was finally released in a post-game news conference.
“For anyone who called us cheaters, for anyone who said negative things about Marc Kennedy, about us, about Canada, about our families, I hope that the image of us standing on top of the podium, embracing one another, smiling ear to ear with our gold medals, is burned into your brain forever,” he said.
Cathal Kelly: Canada has gone full villain in curling
A day after the Canada-Sweden game, World Curling issued a rule clarification and statement. It noted that curlers were not allowed to touch the granite after releasing the handle.
Additional umpires were stationed near the hog lines and two curlers – including Canadian women's skip Rachel Homan – had rocks pulled. The sport's governing body backtracked the next day.
“It didn't seem like they were prepared for what went down,” Jacobs said. “It didn't seem like officials were prepared to officiate it properly. And so it was a little bit of a mess.”
Unlike sports where officials follow the play or make calls when appropriate, curlers are usually left to sort out issues on their own. Sportsmanship is usually top of mind with curlers proactively declaring if there was an infraction.
Canada's Brad Jacobs, Brett Gallant, and Ben Hebert in action during the men's curling round robin session against Sweden at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.Misper Apawu/The Associated Press
Historically umpires have helped “interpret the rules and give advice,” World Curling president Beau Welling said, while the sport's self-policing system takes place.
“We've been looking at and addressing how we [give] the umpire more power, more empowerment to go make decisions,” he said from his office at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. “And that's a big cultural shift. We can't turn that on overnight.”
Changes shouldn't be expected at the upcoming world championships, he said, but the organization's competition and rules commission will be working on the issue.
“There'll be a series of engagements we'll do with stakeholders from that group, whether it be athletes, member associations directly, high-performance people, et cetera,” he said. “And we will continue to evolve this. There are obviously budget ramifications that will get into all of this too.”
The use of instant replay or video-assisted technology has also been a hot topic over the last fortnight.
“It's complicated because it's not like this static thing,” Welling said. “It's going up and down the sheet of ice. We feel like if we go there, we'd need to be able to look at everything on every sheet at the same time.
“And it's a pretty voluminous effort to be able to do that.”
Curling always seems to be one of the more popular sports at the Games with many non-sport fans filling the venue and watching the action. Social media was ablaze with clips of the Kennedy-Eriksson interaction, memes, accusations of cheating, all while international outlets like TMZ, BBC, CNN and the New York Times picked up the story.
Good or bad, the Roaring Game made quite a mark.
“I think the publicity part has been positive, like on the whole,” Welling said. “I think we have worked hard to try to tamp down the [controversy] situation because it started to, in our mind, get a little bit maybe inappropriate.”
The Canadians didn't get into specifics on the avalanche of online activity they faced. After the final, Kennedy was asked if he was under a social media blackout.
“I probably will be for the rest of my life after what I just experienced,” he said.
Kennedy added he leaned on his family, friends, teammates and support staff to make sure his week was “really quiet.”
“Reading any of that stuff would have weakened me and weakened our team,” Kennedy said. “So we just stayed away from the noise and we were able to come out on top.”
Jacobs, Kennedy, second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert will soon start preparing for the upcoming Montana's Brier in St. John's. The winner will represent Canada at the world men's championship next month in Ogden, Utah.
“World Curling has got themselves into a mess a few times in recent years with different sweeping and foam and rules,” Jacobs said. “So hopefully, us as players can maybe get a little bit more involved and help them figure out the best thing moving forward for the sport so that this type of nonsense doesn't happen again.”
Homan's Ottawa-based team won bronze. Jacobs was the last Canadian men's skip to win Olympic gold, taking top spot in 2014 at Sochi, Russia.
“It feels like we climbed the mountain together, lifting each other all the way there to the top,” Gallant said. “And just what an incredible feeling. We're so proud to represent Canada.”
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The Mexican army killed the most powerful cartel leader in the country and one of the United States' most wanted fugitives on Sunday, notching a major victory. (Produced by Elaine Carroll)
The Mexican army killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” on Sunday, decapitating what had become Mexico's most powerful drug cartel and thrusting swaths of the nation into chaos. Cars burned out by cartel members blocked roads at more than 250 points in 20 Mexican states, authorities said, and left smoke billowing into the air. Jalisco's capital, Guadalajara, was turned into a ghost town Sunday night as civilians hunkered down.
Twenty-five members of the Mexican National Guard were left dead in six separate attacks after special forces killed the notorious leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the country's security secretary said Monday as much of Mexico feared more violence. (AP/ Megan Janetsky)
The Mexican army killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” on Sunday, decapitating what had become Mexico's most powerful cartel and giving the government its biggest prize yet to show the Trump administration its efforts. (AP video by Leopoldo Martinez, Josaphat Rodriguez and Diana de la Mora)
Vehicles pass a burned car a day after the Mexican army killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” in Guadalajara, Mexico, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum gives her the daily, morning news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, the day after the Mexican army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho.” (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)
A charred truck blocks a road the day after the Mexican army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” in Guadalajara, Mexico, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
This wanted poster released on Dec. 4, 2024 on the U.S. State Department website shows leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho.” (U.S. State Department via AP)
National Guard patrol past a charred vehicle the day after the Mexican army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” in Guadalajara, Mexico, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) — At least 73 people died in Mexico's attempt to capture the notorious leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the violent aftermath of his death, authorities said Monday as much of the country feared another wave of violence.
The body count taken by security officials included security forces, suspected cartel members and others.
Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, called “El Mencho,” was the boss of one of the fastest-growing criminal networks in Mexico, known for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine to the United States and staging brazen attacks against government officials. The organization responded to his death with widespread violence, including blocking roads and setting fire to vehicles.
Charred vehicles sit in a parking lot outside a shopping mall in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, as authorities reported that the Mexican Army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho.” (AP Photo/Alejandra Leyva)
Oseguera Cervantes died after a shootout in his home state of Jalisco as the Mexican military tried to capture him. Mexican Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla said Monday that authorities had followed one of Oseguera Cervantes' romantic partners to his hideout in Tapalpa.
Oseguera Cervantes and two bodyguards fled into a wooded area where they were seriously wounded in a firefight. They were taken into custody and died on the way to Mexico City, Trevilla said.
In a different location in Jalisco, soldiers also killed another high-ranking cartel member who Trevilla said was coordinating violence and offering more than $1,000 for every soldier killed.
The leader of one of Mexico's fastest-growing criminal networks has been killed. Mexican officials say 25 members of the Mexican National Guard were left dead in six separate attacks. AP correspondent Marcela Sanchez has more.
The dead included 25 members of the Mexican National Guard who were killed in six separate attacks, Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said.
Harfuch said some 30 criminal suspects were killed in Jalisco, and four others were killed in the neighboring state of Michoacan. Also killed were a prison guard and an agent from the state prosecutor's office.
Mexican Security and Citizen Protection Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch speaks as President Claudia Sheinbaum looks on during her daily, morning news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, the day after the Mexican army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho.” (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)
As the threat of violence loomed, several Mexican states canceled school Monday, while local and foreign governments warned their citizens to stay inside.
President Claudia Sheinbaum urged calm, and authorities said all of the more than 250 cartel roadblocks across 20 states had been cleared by Monday.
The White House confirmed that the U.S. provided intelligence support to the operation to capture the cartel leader and applauded Mexico's army for taking down a man who was one of the most wanted criminals in both countries.
Mexico hoped the death of the world's biggest fentanyl traffickers would ease Trump administration pressure to do more against the cartels, but many people were on edge as they waited to see the powerful cartel's reaction.
The U.S. Embassy said via X that its personnel in eight cities and in Michoacan would shelter in place and work remotely Monday. It warned U.S. citizens in many parts of Mexico to do the same.
Cars began circulating in Guadalajara before sunrise Monday with the start of the workweek, a notable change from Sunday, when Jalisco's state capital and Mexico's second-largest city was almost completely shut down as fearful residents stayed home.
Carts stand outside of a vandalized supermarket in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho.” (AP Photo/Alejandra Leyva)
More than 1,000 people were stuck overnight in Guadalajara's zoo, where they slept in buses. On Monday morning, mothers wrapped in blankets carried their toddlers out of the buses for a much-needed bathroom break as police trucks guarded the area.
Luis Soto Rendón, the zoo's director, said many had been trapped there since Sunday morning, when violence broke out in Jalisco and the surrounding states. Families concluded they could not return home in nearby states like Zacatecas and Michoacan.
“We decided to let people stay inside the zoo for their safety,” Soto said. “There are small children and senior citizens.”
José Luis Ramírez, a 54-year-old therapist, was in a long line of people waiting outside a pharmacy, one of the few businesses that were open Monday in Guadalajara. Families were buying food, medicine, water, diapers and baby formula, from pharmacists through a chained door.
National Guards patrol the area outside of the General Prosecutor's headquarters in Mexico City, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after authorities reported that the Mexican Army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho.” (AP Photo/Ginette Riquelme)
It was Ramírez's first time leaving the house since violence erupted over the weekend, but he struck a hopeful tone, saying that despite the bloodshed, civilians needed to move forward.
“We have to not think scared, but be cool-headed, like they say, and take things as they come,” he said.
Traffic was light in the city, and outwardly it appeared that those who could afford to stay home were doing so, while those who had to work were carefully making their way across the city.
Irma Hernández, a 43-year-old hotel security guard in Guadalajara, arrived at work early Monday.
She normally takes public transportation to work, but buses were not running, and she had no way to cross the city. Her bosses organized a private car to pick her up. Her family, she said, was staying at home, too scared to leave.
“I am worried because I don't know how to get home if something happens,” she said.
A National Guard patrols the area outside of the General Prosecutor's headquarters in Mexico City, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after authorities reported that the Mexican Army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, known as “El Mencho.” (AP Photo/Ginette Riquelme)
U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded Mexico do more to fight the smuggling of fentanyl, threatening to impose more tariffs or take unilateral military action if the country does not show results.
There were early signs that Mexico's efforts were well received by the United States.
U.S. Ambassador Ron Johnson recognized the success of the Mexican armed forces and their sacrifice in a statement late Sunday. Under the leadership of Trump and Sheinbaum, he said, “bilateral cooperation has reached unprecedented levels.”
But the operation may also pave the way for more violence as rival criminal groups take advantage of the blow dealt to El Mencho's organization, said David Mora, Mexico analyst for the International Crisis Group.
“This might be a moment in which those other groups see that the cartel is weakened and want to seize the opportunity for them to expand control and to gain control over Cartel Jalisco in those states,” he said.
Ever since Sheinbaum took office, “the army has been way more confrontational, combative against criminal groups in Mexico,” Mora said. “This is signaling to the U.S. that if we keep cooperating, sharing intelligence, Mexico can do it. We don't need U.S. troops on Mexican soil.”
The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which began operating around 2009, is one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Mexico.
This wanted poster released on Dec. 4, 2024 on the U.S. State Department website shows leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho.” (U.S. State Department via AP)
In February 2025, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization. It has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military — including on helicopters — and is a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines.
___
Verza reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writer Fabiola Sánchez in Mexico City also contributed to this report.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas speaks with the media as she arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union failed to pass new sanctions on Russia on Monday after surprise objections from Hungary, the bloc's top diplomat said.
“This is a setback and a message we did not want to send today,” said Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief. Foreign ministers had scrambled to finalize the sanctions along with a massive new loan for Kyiv ahead of the fourth anniversary of a war that has left an estimated 1.8 million Russian and Ukrainian soldiers dead, wounded or missing.
Monday's meeting sought to make Russia pay a greater economic price for the all-out war it launched against its neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022, and which shows no sign of ending.
Hungary, seen as the EU's most pro-Russian member, threatened over the weekend to hold up both the sanctions and the 90 billion euro ($106 billion) loan meant to help Ukraine meet its military and economic needs for the next two years.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz marked what he called “four monstrous years of war” at a pro-Ukrainian event in Berlin on Monday.
“I appeal again to our European partners: Do not let up in your support, in our common support, for Ukraine,” Merz said. “We are standing at a crossroads that could decide on the well-being of our whole continent.”
In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron declared that “our determination to continue supporting Ukraine is unwavering.” He met with Finland's President Alexander Stubb, another staunch supporter of Kyiv who urged European allies to raise the costs on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Many EU leaders had hoped to move forward on the 20th package of sanctions targeting Russia's shadow fleet and energy revenues before Tuesday's anniversary of the war.
But Hungary said it would stand firm until Russian oil deliveries to Hungary resume. It had previously agreed to the loan to Ukraine. Kallas said reneging on that goes against EU treaties.
Russian oil shipments to Hungary and Slovakia have been interrupted since Jan. 27 after what Ukrainian officials say were Russian drone attacks damaged the Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian crude across Ukrainian territory and into Central Europe.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán doubled down Monday on an unsubstantiated allegation that Ukraine is deliberately holding back shipments of Russian oil, and accused Kyiv of seeking to topple his government. He referred to the oil supply disruptions as a “Ukrainian oil blockade” led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“No one has the right to put our energy security at risk,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told journalists ahead of the meeting.
Some European leaders stressed that the most effective way to get Russia to agree to peace in Ukraine is to raise the cost to Moscow of continuing the war.
“This war will only end when Russia no longer sees any sense in continuing it, when Russia can no longer expect more territorial gains, when Russia's costs for this madness have simply become too high,” Merz said. “We must dry up Moscow's war financing.”
Finland's leader argued that Russia's war was a “strategic failure” as he made the case for ratcheting up pressure on Putin.
“It is also a military failure — he is now losing many soldiers — and, on top of that, it is an economic failure,” Stubb said, speaking in French. “Putin is not winning this war, but he cannot make peace.”
The EU already has sent Ukraine 194.9 billion euros ($229.8 billion) in financial assistance while squeezing Russia's key energy exports.
Nearly every country in Europe has significantly reduced or ceased Russian energy imports since Moscow launched its full-scale war in Ukraine. Yet Hungary and Slovakia, both EU and NATO members, have maintained and even increased supplies of Russian oil and gas, and received a temporary exemption from an EU policy prohibiting imports of Russian oil.
Facing a crucial election in less than two months, Orbán has launched an aggressive anti-Ukraine campaign and accused the opposition Tisza party, which leads in most polls, of conspiring with the EU and Ukraine to install what he called Monday a “pro-Ukraine government aligned with Brussels and Kyiv.”
Poland's Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said he believed Hungary's veto threat could really be about Orbán's fierce fight to hold onto power.
Orbán, the EU's longest-serving leader, will face the greatest challenge to his power since he took office in 2010.
“I would have expected a much greater feeling of solidarity from Hungary for Ukraine,” Sikorski said in Brussels. “The ruling party managed to create a climate of hostility towards the victim of aggression. And then it is now trying to exploit that in the general election. It's quite shocking.”
___
Corbet reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Justin Spike in Budapest and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Rob Jetten,leader of the Democrats 66, D66, arrives to be sworn in as prime minister by King Willem-Alexander at Royal Palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Rob Jetten,leader of the Democrats 66, D66, arrives to be sworn in as prime minister by King Willem-Alexander at Royal Palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Incumbent ministers wave to the media before being sworn in by King Willem-Alexander at Royal Palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Ministers of the new three-party minority government pose with King Willem-Alexander, center right, prime minster Rob Jetten, center left, and deputy prime minister Dilan Yesilgöz, front row right, on the steps of Royal Palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Ministers of the new three-party minority government pose with King Willem-Alexander, center right, prime minster Rob Jetten, center left, and deputy prime minister Dilan Yesilgöz, front row right, on the steps of Royal Palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A new minority Dutch coalition government took office Monday led by Rob Jetten, the Netherlands' youngest-ever prime minister who will have to use all his bridge-building skills to pass laws and see out a full four-year term in office.
Jetten, 38, heads a three-party administration made up of his centrist D66, the center-right Christian Democrats and the center-right People's Party for Freedom and Democracy.
Jetten, who is the Netherlands' first openly gay premier, said in a post on X it was “an enormous honor to be able to get to work as prime minister.”
The coalition parties together hold only 66 of the lower house of parliament's 150 seats, so Jetten will have to negotiate with opposition lawmakers to find support for every piece of legislation his government wants to pass. The largest opposition bloc, the newly merged Green Left and Labor Party, has already signaled it will push for changes to some of Jetten's plans.
Jetten and his team of ministers took their oath of office in the presence of King Willem-Alexander in the ornate Orange Hall of the royal palace in a forest on the edge of The Hague. The king wished the new government good luck “in uncertain times.”
A small group of demonstrators from the Extinction Rebellion environmental group protested outside the gates of the palace during the ceremony and sounded sirens as the new ministers lined up for a formal photo.
Following the traditional photo of the new Cabinet on the steps of the palace, the new government ministers held their first meeting.
The Netherlands' main LGBTQI+ organization, COC, welcomed Jetten's appointment.
“The new premier can be a role model for people from the rainbow community,” it said in a statement. “It shows that your sexual orientation doesn't have to matter. That you can become a construction worker, a doctor, a lawyer, and even prime minister.”
The government was sworn in 117 days after national elections that Jetten's party won by a narrow margin over the Party for Freedom led by anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders. The final result was decided only after a count of postal ballots after the fourth national election since 2017 in the politically splintered Netherlands.
The new government took office a day before the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Jetten has pledged to continue his country's strong support for Kyiv as it battles the forces of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has also said he will continue spending to strengthen the Dutch military in times of geopolitical uncertainty.
Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, the new defense minister, will be in charge of overseeing that goal and she underscored its importance in her first message on social media after taking up her post.
“Our own security is at stake, and we must not be naive about that,” she posted on X. “If we want freedom to prevail and our way of life to endure, then the Netherlands and Europe must take matters into their own hands.”
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
An entrance to the Balboa terminal, run by CK Hutchison's Panama Ports Co., is closed after Panama's government ordered the occupation of the port following a Supreme Court ruling that the concession was unconstitutional in Panama City, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Workers walk at the Balboa terminal, run by CK Hutchison's Panama Ports Co., after Panama government ordered the occupation of the port following a Supreme Court ruling that the concession was unconstitutional inPanama City, Panama, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Containers sit at the Balboa terminal, run by CK Hutchison's Panama Ports Co., after Panama's government ordered the occupation of the port following a Supreme Court ruling that the concession was unconstitutional, in Panama City, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Workers stand at the entrance of the Balboa terminal, run by CK Hutchison's Panama Ports Co., after Panama government ordered the occupation of the port following a Supreme Court ruling that the concession was unconstitutional inPanama City, Panama, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
An entrance to the Balboa terminal, run by CK Hutchison's Panama Ports Co., is closed after Panama government ordered the occupation of the port following a Supreme Court ruling that the concession was unconstitutional in Panama City, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
PANAMA CITY (AP) — The Panamanian government on Monday issued a decree ordering the occupation of two ports at the entrances of the Panama Canal, a move triggered by a final Supreme Court ruling that declared the operating concession held by Hong Kong-based company CK Hutchison unconstitutional.
The decree authorizes the Panama Maritime Authority to occupy the ports for “reasons of urgent social interest.” The occupation includes all movable property within or outside the Balboa and Cristóbal terminals, specifically covering cranes, vehicles, computer systems and software.
The saga surrounding the two Panamanian ports is part of a broader rivalry between the United States and China, in which the Central American country became caught in the middle after U.S. President Donald Trump accused China last year of “running the Panama Canal.”
CK Hutchison was slated to sell the two ports to a consortium that includes U.S. investment firm BlackRock, but this prompted swift intervention from the Chinese government, which halted the deal.
In January, Panama's Supreme Court struck down the law approving the concession contract for Panama Ports Company, or PPC, a subsidiary of CK Hutchison. The ruling also invalidated an extension granted in 2021, stripping the port operations of any legal basis.
PPC has operated these terminals since 1997, when the state awarded it the concession to manage the ports located at the Pacific and Atlantic entrances to the Panama Canal.
Panama's government announced days ago that it will guarantee the continuity of port operations and job stability, and that APM Terminals, a subsidiary of the Danish group A.P. Moller-Maersk, would temporarily assume the administration of the terminals while a new contract is awarded.
Meanwhile, CK Hutchison Holdings started arbitration proceedings against Panama under the rules of the International Chamber of Commerce. It's unclear what the impact of the proceedings would be and how long they could take. It also threatened to sue APM Terminals, if it operates the concession. The Danish group responded that it's not a party to the legal proceedings.
A PPC spokesperson told local media last week that the company was seeking an agreement with the Panamanian government to continue operating.
___
Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
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Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
United States' Lindsey Vonn is airlifted away after a crash during an alpine ski women's downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
United States' Lindsey Vonn crashes into a gate during an alpine ski women's downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
VAIL, Colo. (AP) — American skier Lindsey Vonn says she nearly lost her left leg following a frightening crash in the women's downhill at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Vonn shared in an Instagram post on Monday that her injuries went far beyond the complex tibia fracture in the leg she initially revealed after clipping a gate and sailing off course just 13 seconds into her run on Feb. 8.
The 41-year-old Vonn said the trauma from the crash led to compartment syndrome in the leg. Compartment syndrome involves excessive pressure building up inside a muscle, either from bleeding or swelling. High pressure restricts blood flow and can lead to permanent injury if not treated quickly.
“When you have so much trauma to one area of your body so that there's too much blood and it gets stuck and it basically crushes everything,” Vonn said.
Vonn credited Dr. Tom Hackett, an orthopedic surgeon who works for Vonn and Team USA, for conducting a fasciotomy to salvage her leg.
“He filleted it open (and) let it breathe, and he saved me,” she said.
Vonn noted that Hackett was only in Cortina because she was competing after tearing the ACL in her left knee shortly before the Olympics.
“If I hadn't had done that, Tom wouldn't have been there (and he) wouldn't have been able to save my leg,” she said.
Vonn, who said she has been discharged from the hospital, also broke her right ankle in the crash.
“It has been quite the journey and by far the most extreme and painful and challenging injury I've ever faced in my entire life times 100,” she said.
Vonn underwent multiple surgeries during a week-long stay at a hospital in Treviso, Italy, following the accident. She credited both Hackett and Italian doctors for their efforts to repair her leg, which she said was “in pieces” following the accident.
She says she struggled with pain and blood loss in the immediate aftermath and had to receive a transfusion to help raise her hemoglobin levels.
Vonn, who said she is “very much immobile,” is confined to a wheelchair at the moment, but has turned her attention to her rehab and is working her way toward being able to use crutches. She estimated it will take about a year for the bones in her left leg to heal. Only after that will doctors be able to go in and repair the torn ACL, which played no role in the crash.
“It's going to be a long road,” she said. “I always fight and we keep going.”
Vonn stressed she had “no regrets” about her comeback following a six-year retirement or her decision to ski at the Olympics despite the knee injury.
“I wish it had ended differently, but I'd rather go down swinging than not try at all,” said Vonn, who was atop the World Cup series rankings in the downhill when she arrived in Cortina. “I think what I was able to achieve was more than anyone expected to begin with. ... This year was incredible and so worth everything.”
She likened her injuries to “one blip on the radar.” She did not go into any sort of detail about her competitive career, though her father, Alan Kildow, told The Associated Press shortly after the accident he would like her to retire.
“Life is life and we have to take the punches that come,” Vonn said. “Going to do the best I can with this one. It really knocked me down. But I'm like Rocky. I'll just keep getting back up.”
___
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
BAFTA and the BBC have apologized after a person with Tourette syndrome shouted a racial slur during the British Academy Film Awards Sunday night in London. (Feb. 23)
A completed British Academy Film Awards mask sits on a workbench at the FSE Foundry in Braintree, England on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
LONDON (AP) — Britain's film academy and the BBC apologized to viewers after an audience member with Tourette syndrome shouted a racial slur during the British Academy Film Awards.
The highly offensive word could be heard as “Sinners” stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting the award for best visual effects during Sunday's ceremony. Host Alan Cumming had earlier told the audience that a guest at the ceremony was John Davidson, a Scottish campaigner for people with Tourette syndrome, who inspired the BAFTA-nominated film “I Swear.”
Tourette syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder, is characterized by sudden, involuntary movements or sounds called tics that tend to wax and wane but can worsen with excitement or anxiety, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. They may appear to be purposeful but are not, and the NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke's Tourette information page says people trying to suppress them often report a buildup of tension before a tic erupts.
The Tourette Association of America says about 10-15% of people with the syndrome experience a kind of vocal tic called coprolalia — involuntary swearing, slurs or other socially unacceptable words or phrases.
Several shouts were audible during the first part of the ceremony, although what was said wasn't intelligible to an Associated Press reporter in the press room.
After the slur was shouted during Jordan and Lindo's presentation, Cumming apologized to the audience at London's Royal Festival Hall for the “strong and offensive language.”
“Tourette syndrome is a disability and the tics you have heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette syndrome has no control over their language,” Cumming said. “We apologize if you were offended.”
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts referred to Cumming's statement when asked for comment on Monday.
The epithet could be heard when the BBC broadcast the ceremony about two hours after the live event. The broadcaster apologized for not editing it out before the broadcast, though the offensive word could still be heard on its iPlayer streaming service on Monday morning. The program was later removed, and the BBC said the slur would be edited out.
“Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the Bafta Film Awards,” the BBC said in a statement. “This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and as explained during the ceremony it was not intentional.
“I Swear” won two BAFTAs, including best actor for Robert Aramayo, who plays Davidson. Representatives for the film and for Jordan and Lindo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ed Palmer, vice chair of the charity Tourettes Action, said the BBC should have considered bleeping out the slur.
“This is really one of the most acute examples of where something that is a disability can cause quite understandably huge amounts of offense to someone,” he told Times Radio. “So, if it's being prerecorded now, then bleeping it out, for example, might be a reasonable compromise.”
___
AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard in Washington and National Writer Jocelyn Noveck in Paris contributed reporting.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
President Donald Trump points to a reporter during a press briefing at the White House, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump attends the National Governors Association dinner at the White House, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
President Donald Trump attends the National Governors Association dinner at the White House, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
President Donald Trump speaks at the National Governors Association dinner at the White House, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will stand before Congress on Tuesday to deliver the annual State of the Union address to a suddenly transformed nation.
One year back in office, Trump has emerged as a president defying conventional expectations. He has executed a head-spinning agenda, upending priorities at home, shattering alliances abroad and challenging the nation's foundational system of checks and balances. Two Americans were killed by federal agents while protesting the Trump administration's immigration raids and mass deportations.
As the lawmakers sit in the House chamber listening to Trump's agenda for the year ahead, the moment is an existential one for the Congress, which has essentially become sidelined by his expansive reach, the Republican president bypassing his slim GOP majority to amass enormous power for himself.
“It's crazy,” said Nancy Henderson Korpi, a retiree in northern Minnesota who joined an Indivisible protest group and plans to watch the speech from home. “But what is disturbing more to me is that Congress has essentially just handed over their power.”
She said, “We could make some sound decisions and changes if Congress would do their job.”
The country is at a crossroads, celebrating its 250th anniversary while experiencing some of the most significant changes to its politics, policies and general mood in many Americans' lifetimes.
The president muscled his agenda through Congress when he needed to — often pressuring lawmakers with a phone call during cliffhanger votes — but more often avoided the messy give-and-take of the legislative process to power past his own party and the often unified Democratic opposition.
Trump's signature legislative accomplishment so far is the GOP's big tax cuts bill, with its new savings accounts for babies, no taxes on tips and other specialty deductions, and steep cuts to Medicaid and SNAP food aid. It also fueled more than $170 billion to Homeland Security for his immigration deportations.
But the GOP-led Congress has largely stood by as Trump dramatically seized power through hundreds of executive actions, many being challenged in court, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to impose his agenda.
“Retrieving a lost power is no easy business in our constitutional order,” wrote Justice Neil Gorsuch in the Supreme Court's landmark rebuke of Trump's tariffs policy on Friday.
Gorsuch said that without the court stepping in on major questions, “Our system of separated powers and checks-and-balances threatens to give way to the continual and permanent accretion of power in the hands of one man.”
From slashing the federal workforce to upending the childhood vaccine schedule to attacking Venezuela and capturing that country's president, Trump's reach appeared to know no bounds.
His administration launched investigations of would-be political foes, imposed his name on historic buildings, including the storied John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and perhaps most visibly has been rounding up people and converting warehouses into detention holding centers for deportations.
At almost every step of the way, there were moments when Congress could have intervened but did not.
Democrats, in the minority, often tried to push back, including by halting routine Homeland Security funds unless there are restraints on the immigration actions.
But Republicans believe the country elected the president and gave their party control of Congress to align with his agenda, according to one senior GOP leadership aide who insisted on anonymity to discuss the dynamic.
House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana has said Trump will be the “most consequential” president of the modern era.
Democrats plan to either boycott the speech or sit in stony silence.
“The state of the union is falling apart,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
There have been times when Congress held its own against the White House, but they have been rare — as in the high-profile bipartisan push from Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Ca., to force the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, over the objections of Johnson and GOP leadership.
The flex of congressional power has more often come from a few renegade Republicans joining with most Democrats to put a check on the president, as when the House voted to block Trump's tariffs on Canada. The Senate advanced a war powers resolution to prevent military action in Venezuela without congressional approval, but backed off after Trump intervened.
Those have been mostly symbolic votes, because Congress would not have the numbers to overcome any expected Trump veto.
More often, the Congress has accommodated Trump, by rolling back already approved bipartisan funding for USAID foreign aid or public broadcasting or failing to stop the U.S. military strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats that killed two survivors in the Caribbean. When Trump issued a Day One pardon of some 1,500 people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, the Republicans in Congress did not object.
And as Trump's Department of Government Efficiency with billionaire Elon Musk started firing federal workers, GOP lawmakers signaled approval by forming their own DOGE caucus on Capitol Hill.
“The central question for us is does the public understand what's at stake” said Max Stier, CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit organization focused on government management and democracy. “We are in the midst of the most significant transformation of our government and our public servants in our history as a country.”
He said some 300,000 federal employees were fired or moved on, while 100,000 new hires or rehires have largely gone to Homeland Security.
In courtrooms across the country, cases are being filed against the administration at record levels, as Congress was “asleep at the wheel,” said Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, which has filed more than 150 cases against the administration, part of the largest legal effort against an executive branch in U.S. history.
But the judicial system has been under strain, and the White House has not always abided by court rulings. GOP lawmakers have joined Trump's criticism of the courts, displaying outside their offices posters of judges they want to impeach.
A next big test will be over a proof-of-citizenship voting bill that Trump wants ahead of the midterm elections.
The House has passed the SAVE America Act, which would require birth certificates or passports to register to vote in federal elections and a photo ID at the polls. Supporters say it's needed to crack down on fraud, while critics argue it will shut millions of Americans out of voting because they don't have citizenship documents readily available.
The Senate has a majority to pass the measure but not the necessary 60 votes to overcome an expected Democratic-led filibuster.
Trump has vowed executive actions if Congress fails to approve legislation.
___
Follow the AP's coverage of President Donald Trump at https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump.
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Fox News chief congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reports on a House hearing into former Special Counsel Jack Smith allegedly targeting Republican phone records during his investigation into the 2020 election.
A federal judge on Monday agreed to permanently block the release of volume two of former special counsel Jack Smith's report — centered on President Donald Trump's handling of classified materials after his first term in office — in a significant victory for the president and his co-defendants.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, granted the president's request to permanently block the release of the second volume of the report, ruling that its publication would represent a "manifest injustice" both to Trump and the co-defendants in the classified documents case.
"Special Counsel Smith, acting without lawful authority, obtained an indictment in this action and initiated proceedings that resulted in a final order of dismissal of all charges," Cannon said Monday.
JACK SMITH SUBPOENAED FOR DEPOSITION WITH HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Former special counsel Jack Smith says the Pledge of Allegiance before he testifies before the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on Jan. 22, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Al Drago/Getty Images)
The ruling blocks the Justice Department from "releasing, distributing, conveying, or sharing with anyone outside the Department of Justice any information or conclusions in Volume II or in drafts thereof."
It also comes just day before Volume II of Smith's special counsel probe was slated to be released on Tuesday.
Trump's former defense attorney, Kendra Wharton, praised Cannon's decision to block Volume II of Smith's report from being released publicly, telling Fox News Digital in a statement that her "courage and judicial resolve on these important due process issues should be recognized and taught in law school classrooms across America."
Neither Smith's law firm nor the Justice Department immediately responded to Fox News Digital's request for comment on Monday's ruling.
Cannon previously ruled that Smith was unconstitutionally appointed as special counsel, though the matter was ultimately dismissed following Trump's re-election in 2024.
In her 15-page order Monday, Cannon said allowing the release of Volume II of the special counsel report would "contravene basic notions of fairness and justice" and likely prompt the sharing of protected information, including material covered by attorney-client privilege.
"Moreover, while it is true that former special counsels have released final reports at the conclusion of their work, it appears they have done so either after electing not to bring charges at all or after adjudications of guilt by plea or trial," Cannon said.
TRUMP STRIPS SECURITY CLEARANCES FROM LAW FIRM TIED TO JACK SMITH CASES
U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, joined by President Donald Trump, speaks at a press conference on recent Supreme Court rulings in the briefing room at the White House on June 27, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
"The Court strains to find a situation in which a former special counsel has released a report after initiating criminal charges that did not result in a finding of guilt, at least not in a situation like this one, where the defendants contested the charges from the outset and still proclaim their innocence," she added.
Smith was tapped by former Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 to investigate the alleged effort by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as well as Trump's retention of allegedly classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach after leaving office in 2021.
Smith had brought charges against Trump in both cases.
The charges were dropped after Trump's election, in keeping with a long-standing Justice Department policy that discourages prosecuting sitting presidents on federal criminal charges. Smith resigned from his role shortly afterward.
Trump's former defense attorney, Kendra Wharton, praised Cannon's decision to block Volume II of Smith's report from being released publicly, telling Fox News Digital in a statement that her "courage and judicial resolve on these important due process issues should be recognized and taught in law school classrooms across America."
JACK SMITH SUBPOENAED FOR DEPOSITION WITH HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Former Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith, center, and his attorney Lanny Breuer, center rear, arrive at a hearing room in the Rayburn House Office Building. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
Smith, for his part, has forcefully sought to dispute the notion that his team had acted politically, using public and private remarks to House Republicans in December and January to defend his team's actions.
His team had developed what he described as "powerful evidence" that Trump had willfully retained highly classified documents after leaving office in January 2021 at his private Mar-a-Lago residence, and had been obstructing the government's efforts to recover the records.
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"I made my decisions in the investigation without regard to President Trump's political association, activities, beliefs or candidacy in the 2024 presidential election," Smith told members of the House Judiciary Committee in a Dec. 17 interview.
Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI and other national news. She previously covered national politics at the Washington Examiner and The Washington Post, with additional bylines in Politico Magazine, the Colorado Gazette and others. You can send tips to Breanne at Breanne.Deppisch@fox.com, or follow her on X at @breanne_dep.
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The U.S. State Department ordered non-emergency personnel to evacuate the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, on Monday.
The department did not offer any details for the reason behind the evacuation. The move comes as President Donald Trump has ordered a large buildup of forces in the Middle East and made threats against the Iranian regime.
"The Department of State has ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel and eligible family members from U.S. Embassy Beirut," the State Department said.
"We continuously assess the security environment, and based on our latest review, we determined it prudent to reduce our footprint to essential personnel. The Embassy remains operational with core staff in place. This is a temporary measure intended to ensure the safety of our personnel while maintaining our ability to operate and assist U.S. citizens," the statement continued.
WITKOFF WARNS IRAN IS ‘A WEEK AWAY' FROM 'BOMB-MAKING MATERIAL' AS TRUMP WEIGHS ACTION
This picture shows the U.S. Embassy building in Awkar east of Beirut on June 23, 2025. (JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has tightened control over Hezbollah in Lebanon amid looming prospects of potential U.S. strikes, according to reports.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the tactical shift comes as Hezbollah and Iran prepare for military confrontation in the region, with analysts warning that if Washington specifically strikes the regime, Hezbollah is ready to be "activated."
"If the regime in Tehran feels threatened, the likelihood of unleashing Hezbollah against Israel and U.S. regional assets increases substantially," Ross Harrison, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital.
Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has exchanged threats with President Donald Trump. (Getty Images)
"Hezbollah would not be activated right away, unless the attack immediately targets the leadership of the Islamic Republic. But as part of a graduated response, Hezbollah will likely be seen as an asset," he said.
IRAN DRAWS MISSILE RED LINE AS ANALYSTS WARN TEHRAN IS STALLING US TALKS
"If it faces an existential risk, then Iran may throw caution to the wind and try to deploy Hezbollah to the maximum," Harrison, author of "Decoding Iran's Foreign Policy" explained.
Trump previously gave Iran a deadline of 10 to 15 days to respond to a deal, raising questions about what steps Washington could take if Tehran fails to comply.
A new round of talks is now scheduled for Thursday in Geneva and expected to focus on Iran's nuclear program, including uranium enrichment levels and sanctions relief.
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"The decision-making circle in the White House is very small regarding Iran, with the president keeping a close hand on it all," Harrison explained.
He added that any decision to directly target the Iranian regime would likely rest within Trump's inner circle of advisers.
This is a developing story. Check back soon for updates.
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on X: @Hagstrom_Anders.
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Tourette's syndrome, a neurological condition that causes involuntary sounds or movements known as tics, has come under the spotlight after a man with the condition shouted a racist slur during the BAFTA award ceremony in London on Sunday.
John Davidson, who shouted the word, is the subject of the British indie film “I Swear,” about his life with Tourette's syndrome. The actor Robert Aramayo, who plays Davidson in the film, won Sunday night's award for best actor.
Tourette's syndrome cannot be cured, but potential triggers can be identified, and treatment can help manage the symptoms.
In an interview with CNN before the ceremony, Davidson — who has long campaigned for awareness of the condition — pointed to the number of people at the event as a potential trigger for his tics.
“Certain things — like today, lots of people around, I'm feeling very, you know, motor tics, in case I lash out. Different situations can trigger different emotions and tics,” he said.
Other famous figures have spoken in recent years about their experience of living with the condition, including singers Billie Eilish and Lewis Capaldi.
BAFTA host Alan Cumming reminded the audience after the incident that the condition was a disability. “We apologize if you are offended tonight,” he said.
Here's what you need to know about the condition:
Tics are the symptom most commonly associated with Tourette's syndrome.
These are two types of tics: vocal tics, which can include whistling, repeating a word or, in rare cases, swearing; and motor tics, which can include movements such as twitching or shrugging your shoulders.
Making inappropriate remarks can be a rare symptom of the condition.
“John (Davidson) wouldn't have known that was the tic that he was about to do,” Edward Palmer, the vice chair of UK-based charity Tourettes Action, told Times Radio on Monday.
“Some people will find they can be, kind of, stimulated or triggered by things in the environment. But for some people, they are completely random. But whatever the circumstances, they are involuntary. They don't choose the words,” he said.
Approximately 10% to 15% of people with Tourette's syndrome have tics that result in offensive or rude language, Palmer said.
It is estimated that around 1.4 million people in the United States are affected by Tourette's syndrome or a persistent tic disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In the US, this number equates to around 1 in 50 children between the ages of 5 and 14, CDC data show, although the exact number is not known. The condition is more common in boys than girls.
In the UK, more than 300,000 people live with the condition, Tourettes Action said.
The cause of the condition has not yet been fully established, but it can often run in families, Tourettes Action said. It is also possible that environmental factors, such as infection or inadequate weight gain of the mother during pregnancy, could increase the risk, the charity said.
Symptoms typically start around age 6 and can become more noticeable around age 10, according to Britain's National Heath Service (NHS).
Billie Eilish finds having Tourette's syndrome ‘exhausting'
There is currently no known cure for the condition. But several options are available to help manage the symptoms and improve the person's quality of life.
The first step is to get a professional diagnosis. For the condition to be diagnosed, multiple motor tics and at least one vocal tic must be present for at least 12 months, according to Tourettes Action.
Once a diagnosis is made, behavioral therapy can provide “tools to help a person learn ways to change certain behaviours,” the charity said.
Lifestyle changes can help reduce symptoms, as tics can be triggered by factors such as stress, tiredness or excitement, according to the NHS.
Medical experts say it can help to have a good sleep routine, avoid stressful situations where possible and incorporate plenty of physical activity into your day.
The effectiveness of medication varies depending on the person, Tourettes Action said, but it can help to target associated conditions that sometimes accompany Tourette's syndrome, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
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Chaos erupts in Mexico's Puerto Vallarta and a local airport following a military operation that eliminated Nemesio 'El Mencho' Oseguera Cervantes, the country's most wanted drug lord. Former El Paso U.S. Marshal Robert Almonte weighs in.
The U.S. commended Mexican authorities for killing the leader of one of the largest narco-terrorist cartels in the country on Sunday.
The U.S. provided intelligence support for a Mexican operation that resulted in the death of Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," who was the leader of the Jalisco New Generation cartel. Cervantes was killed in a shootout with Mexican forces inside his home as they attempted to carry out an operation to capture him.
The cartel reacted to its leader's death with violence across Mexico, placing roadblocks and setting vehicles on fire throughout Sunday. Mexican authorities said they had cleared most of the roadblocks by late Sunday.
Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco state and Mexico's second-largest city, was almost completely shut down on Sunday as fearful residents stayed home.
A soldier stands guard by a charred vehicle after it was set on fire, in Cointzio, Michoacán state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, following the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation cartel, Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Armando Solis)
Passengers arriving to the city's international airport Sunday night were told it was operating with limited personnel because of the burst of violence.
U.S. Ambassador Ron Johnson recognized the success of the Mexican armed forces and their sacrifice in a statement late Sunday. He added that "under the leadership of President Trump and President Sheinbaum, bilateral cooperation has reached unprecedented levels."
Cervantes, who was wounded in the operation to capture him Sunday in Tapalpa, Jalisco, about a two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara, died while being flown to Mexico City, according to the Defense Department.
CARTELS OUTGUN POLICE: ROCKET LAUNCHERS SEIZED IN EL MENCHO RAID SPOTLIGHT CJNG FIREPOWER
Smoke rises into the sky over Puerto Vallarta during an operation targeting cartel activity on Feb. 22, 2026. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
During the operation, troops came under fire and killed four people at the location. Three more people, including Cervantes, were wounded and later died, the statement said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on X that the U.S. government provided intelligence support for the operation.
"‘El Mencho' was a top target for the Mexican and United States government as one of the top traffickers of fentanyl into our homeland," she wrote.
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The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation cartel is one of the most powerful and fastest growing criminal organizations in Mexico and began operating around 2009.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on X: @Hagstrom_Anders.
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Do stoners have a right to bear arms?
On March 2, the justices will hear their second major Second Amendment case of the Supreme Court's current term. United States v. Hemani asks whether Congress may make it a crime for an “unlawful user” of marijuana to possess a gun.
If you are a lawyer trying to guess how the Court will rule in this case, good luck with that. The Court's Second Amendment precedents are as unsalvageable as they are confusing. At least in theory, they require judges to ask whether a modern-day gun law is sufficiently similar to gun laws from more than 200 years ago. But the rules appear to shift depending on whether a majority of the justices actually think a particular gun law is a good idea.
Get the latest developments on the US Supreme Court from senior correspondent Ian Millhiser.
That said, there is a sensible way that the Court could resolve the Hemani case without having to wade into this historical morass. Again, the federal law at issue in Hemani bars gun possession by an “unlawful user” of “any controlled substance” such as marijuana. But what does it mean to be an unlawful user of marijuana?
If someone takes a bong hit in college, decides that they don't like weed, and never gets high again, are they forever barred from owning a gun? What about a person who shares a joint with her cousins every year on Thanksgiving, but otherwise doesn't smoke? And if this law doesn't permanently bar one-time marijuana users from having a gun, when does the bar end? If someone takes a single puff at a party in February, do they get their gun rights back in March? In November? And what about people who use marijuana more than occasionally? If someone takes a weed gummy a couple times a month to help them sleep, are they barred from owning a gun? What about someone who hits a vape pen on every other Saturday?
Federal appeals courts, as defendant Ali Hemani's lawyers argue in his brief, have struggled to answer these questions, reaching divergent answers. That's a serious constitutional problem, because the Supreme Court has long held that the government violates due process when it takes away “someone's life, liberty, or property under a criminal law so vague that it fails to give ordinary people fair notice of the conduct it punishes.”
The Supreme Court, in other words, can strike down the vague law in Hemani without having to dive into the impossible-to-answer question of whether this law violates the Court's unfathomable Second Amendment precedents.
The Second Amendment provides that “a well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”
And, until fairly recently, the Court took the first 13 words of this amendment seriously. As the Court said in United States v. Miller (1939), the “obvious purpose” of this amendment is to “render possible the effectiveness” of militias, it must be “interpreted and applied with that end in view.”
But the Court abandoned this textualist approach to the Second Amendment in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), which held that the “central component” of the right to bear arms is a personal right to have a gun for “self-defense.”
Fourteen years later, in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022), the Court's Republican majority announced a new legal framework that applies only in Second Amendment cases and does not resemble any other framework in constitutional law.
At least on its face, Bruen requires a government lawyer defending a gun law to “demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with this Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation.” To do so, the lawyer must show that the gun law they are defending is sufficiently similar to “analogous regulations” that existed when the Constitution was framed.
But the Court has struggled to explain how similar a modern law must be to an old one to survive. And a couple of its post-Bruen actions raise doubts about whether the Court is applying Bruen in good faith.
First, in United States v. Rahimi (2024), eight justices upheld a federal law barring gun possession by people subject to a domestic-violence restraining order. That's a sensible law.
But Bruen held that modern-day gun laws are particularly suspect when they address “a general societal problem that has persisted since the 18th century.” While violence among romantic partners certainly existed in the 1700s, there were no laws disarming domestic abusers. Indeed, no state made it a crime for someone to beat their spouse until the Alabama Supreme Court did so in 1871.
A strict application of Bruen, in other words, would likely have required the Court to strike down the law at issue in Rahimi. All but one of the justices who joined the Bruen decision balked at that terrible result. But that suggests they were unable to accept the consequences of their decision in Bruen.
Then, in January, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Wolford v. Lopez, a challenge to a Hawaii law prohibiting gun owners from carrying weapons into private businesses without the owner's permission. There are many historical examples of similar laws from the 18th century, including a New Jersey law barring people from bringing a gun onto another person's land “unless he has license or permission in writing from the owner,” and similar laws in Pennsylvania and New York.
But the Republican justices signaled at oral argument that they are going to strike down Hawaii's law anyway.
So it appears that the historical research demanded by Bruen doesn't actually determine how the Court decides Second Amendment cases. Instead, the justices appear to decide these cases based on whether they think the challenged law is a good idea.
If there is a principled framework to be found in Bruen, moreover, actual judges are struggling to find it. In a concurring opinion in Rahimi, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson quoted a dozen judicial opinions complaining, in the words of one of Trump's judicial appointees, that Bruen's “inconsistent and amorphous standard” simply does not work.
So, if the justices apply the Bruen framework to the law at issue in Hemani, it's anyone's guess how the Court will decide the case. My best guess is that they will probably uphold it, because the Trump administration filed a brief asking them to do so, and that's a pretty good sign that Republicans believe that marijuana users should be prohibited from owning guns.
But I have little confidence in that guess because all Second Amendment cases after Bruen are a law-free zone, seemingly decided on the justices' personal preferences.
Rather than trying to resolve Hemani within Bruen's opaque framework, the justices could avoid the Bruen thicket by striking down the “unlawful user” law on vagueness grounds. One sign the law is too vague: Federal appellate judges cannot agree on a definition of “unlawful user” of marijuana.
The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, for example, ruled that a person who used drugs once and possessed a gun six hours later could not be convicted — holding that “use of drugs with some regularity is required to support a conviction” under the “unlawful user” provision.
The Sixth Circuit, meanwhile, requires prosecutors to show that a defendant's drug use is “sufficiently consistent, ‘prolonged,' and close in time to his gun possession to put him on notice that he qualified as an unlawful user of drugs.”
The Eighth Circuit, by contrast, holds that prosecutors do not need to present “evidence of use over an extended period.” Instead, it's enough to show that the defendant used drugs “during the period of time” that they also possessed a gun.
The Trump administration argues that the words “unlawful user” should be read to apply to “habitual drug users.” This appears to be an attempt to fit the law within the Bruen framework, because there were early American laws criminalizing “habitual drunkards.”
So there's a strong argument the law is unconstitutionally vague. If the Court disposes of Hemani on these grounds, it will at least save them from having to apply the arbitrary legal test laid out in Bruen.
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Derek Brown, D.C.-based author of "Mindful Mixology: A Comprehensive Guide to No- and Low-Alcohol Cocktails," reveals how to differentiate between the non-traditional alcoholic offerings.
FIRST ON FOX — Americans aren't necessarily quitting drinking — but they are drinking differently.
Michelob Ultra Zero has surged to become the No. 1 top-selling and fastest growing non-alcoholic beer in the country, overtaking Heineken 0.0 just 12 months after launching in January 2025, according to new data from Circana.
Industry observers say the milestone reflects something larger than a single brand's breakout year, however. The rapid ascent underscores a structural shift in how Americans socialize, moderate and think about alcohol.
Rather than abstaining entirely, many consumers are alternating between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages — a practice known as "zebra striping" — allowing them to extend nights out without the next-day consequences.
ICONIC AMERICAN BREWER LAUNCHES BEER SO STRONG IT'S BANNED IN 15 STATES: WHAT TO KNOW
"In just 12 months on shelves, Michelob Ultra Zero became the No. 1 top-selling and fastest-growing non-alcohol brew in the industry and the No. 1 innovation in the total beer industry last year," Kyle Norrington, chief commercial officer at Anheuser-Busch, told Fox News Digital.
Anheuser-Busch, which makes Michelob Ultra Zero, has three of the top five non-alcoholic brands, along with No. 3 Budweiser Zero and No. 4 Busch NA, according to Circana.
Michelob Ultra Zero has surpassed Heineken 0.0 to become the top-selling non-alcoholic beer in America. (Anheuser-Busch)
With just 29 calories, Michelob Ultra Zero extends the brand's long-standing association with balanced, fitness-conscious lifestyles, said Ryan Foley, the New Jersey-based author of the book "Non-Alcoholic Drinks for Dummies."
"I know that Michelob, on the alcohol side, is also on fire — so I feel like they're getting a lot of pull-through from both sides of the coin at this point if they're taking over the No. 1 spot," Foley told Fox News Digital.
BUDWEISER UNVEILS PATRIOTIC NEW SUPER BOWL AD HONORING 'DEEP-ROOTED AMERICAN HERITAGE'
The non-alcoholic beer's quick ascent is part of a broader transformation, Foley said.
Consumers are not necessarily giving up alcohol altogether, he said. Instead, many are "zebra striping."
Industry experts say more people are "zebra striping" while drinking. (iStock)
"I think they're just trying to extend their nights and their sessions out," Foley said. "Maybe less than the three martini lunches, and maybe one martini and two NA beers to keep the afternoon productive."
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That moderation mindset is now deeply embedded in the industry, said Meagen Coester, the Michigan-based founder of AFicioNAdo and the author of what she describes as the first manual on non-alcoholic beer.
"GLP-1s have to be considered as one of the reasons why we're seeing this dramatic shift. It can't be ignored anymore."
"It's not a trend anymore. It is a category," Coester told Fox News Digital.
She noted that advances in de-alcoholization technology have dramatically improved taste, describing processes that allow brewers to match the taste profile of their full-strength counterparts and removing a long-standing barrier for skeptical consumers.
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Health considerations are also reshaping drinking habits.
Beyond calorie counts, Coester pointed to the rise of GLP-1 weight-loss medications and broader wellness trends as influential forces.
One industry expert believes the rise of GLP-1 weight-loss medications is contributing to the shift toward more non-alcoholic drinks. (iStock)
"GLP-1s have to be considered as one of the reasons why we're seeing this dramatic shift," she said.
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"It can't be ignored anymore."
The forces driving Michelob Ultra Zero's rapid ascent suggest that non-alcoholic beer is not cannibalizing traditional beer so much as expanding its definition.
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"It's just another awesome add-on to have within your portfolio," Foley said.
Peter Burke is a lifestyle editor with Fox News Digital. He covers various lifestyle topics, with an emphasis on food and drink.
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Former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, one of the Democratic candidates eyeing the Golden State governorship, held up a message that read "F--- TRUMP" during the California Democratic Party's 2026 state convention on Saturday.
"Yeah, that's right, f--- Trump," she declared.
"Together, we're gonna kick Trump's a-- in November. I'll stand up to Trump and his cronies just like I did in Congress, with or without my whiteboard," she said.
ILLINOIS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR SEEKING US SENATE SEAT RELEASES VIDEO OF PEOPLE SAYING ‘F--- TRUMP'
Former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter addresses the crowd at the General Session during the California Democratic Party State Convention at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
"But this election for governor is about more than defeating Trump. We know what Trump is willing to do. He's willing to kill people in the streets, to rip away healthcare, and to ruthlessly attack our democracy. But this governor's race asks us, what are we willing to do, what is California willing to do for our democracy?" she said.
In a statement to Fox News Digital on Monday, Republican National Committee spokesman Nick Poche said, "The good news for Katie Porter is that she can pick up her medication for far less thanks to TrumpRx and all the fantastic work the President is doing to lower drug prices. The bad news is her all stunts no substance campaign just came in a distant fifth, and no amount abusing her staff will change that she won't be governor."
UNEARTHED FEC RECORDS EXPOSE KATIE PORTER'S HYPOCRISY AFTER SHE FUMES AT ‘NEW BILLIONAIRE' JOINING RACE
California gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter delivers remarks during the California Democratic Party convention at Moscone Center in San Francisco on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Yalonda M. James/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has endorsed Porter for governor.
"Senator Elizabeth Warren knows what it means to fight for working families. Together, we've held the powerful accountable, put people before billionaires, and worked hard to lower costs for Americans. Grateful to my friend @ewarren for her endorsement in this race," Porter wrote in a post on X.
LIBERAL MEDIA DARLING IN THE HOT SEAT AFTER EXPLOSIVE INTERVIEW GOES VIRAL
Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaks with Representative Katie Porter before Israeli President Isaac Herzog addresses a Joint Meeting of Congress in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., on July 19, 2023. ( SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
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"From the moment @katieporterca set foot in my consumer law class, I knew that she would be a warrior for working families. Katie will champion the kind of bold, progressive vision that California workers and families deserve, and I'm proud to endorse her for California Governor," Warren said in a post on X.
Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.
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Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett is quick to admit she's not running a traditional Senate campaign, a strategy that will soon be put to the test in next month's Democratic primary.
“I don't really subscribe to this idea of doing everything in a traditional way,” Crockett told a group of faith leaders over breakfast at a Houston restaurant Friday morning.
By the end of the day, the 44-year-old congresswoman was taking her pitch to the Houston nightlife scene, captured on social media introducing herself to voters at a bar by saying, “I'm Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. Right now, I'm ready to kick some a** and become your next US senator.”
Crockett's at-times unfiltered and largely unconventional approach is challenging the traditional rules of electoral politics at a time when Democrats nationwide are debating how to win in a consequential midterm year and beyond.
A former public defender and civil rights attorney, Crockett has pushed back on those questioning her electability, referring to such suggestions as a “dog whistle” and “tearing down a Black woman,” pointing to attacks from a super PAC supporting her Democratic primary rival, state Rep. James Talarico. She's making the case that the path to a Democratic victory in Texas is through reenergizing the party's base, including voters of color — not by persuading moderates and Republicans who have soured on President Donald Trump.
“For the last 30 years, we've tried it the traditional way, and it's not worked. And the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over,” Crockett told CNN after an event in Conroe, Texas. “In this moment, there is nothing traditional about how our government is operating, and so I think that people are looking for something different.”
The 10 races that will decide control of the US Senate
After gaining notoriety for her blunt showdowns with Republicans on Capitol Hill, Crockett rode into the Texas Senate contest with high name recognition, a factor playing to her advantage in the early stages of the campaign. But by some traditional metrics, Crockett lags Talarico in the Democratic primary.
Talarico holds a commanding advantage over Crockett in fundraising, bringing in more than $20 million since launching his candidacy last September compared with the $3.7 million she raised since announcing her bid in December. Crockett has also transferred an additional $4.8 million from her House campaign account. Television ads from Talarico and groups supporting him have far outpaced Crockett's presence on the airwaves.
Her decision to enter the Senate contest right before the filing deadline also left Crockett with a much shorter runway than Talarico leading up to the March primary. She has not built out a robust campaign team and has had to juggle her campaign schedule with her congressional duties in Washington.
Public polling in the race has been limited, but a University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs poll conducted in January found Crockett leading Talarico by 8 points among likely Democratic primary voters.
Talarico's recent viral moment with “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert has helped boost his profile, injecting a new dynamic in the critical early voting stretch. His campaign said he raised $2.5 million in the 24 hours after the late-show dustup.
“The race is about: Does James have enough money and time to introduce himself to Democratic primary voters statewide and to try to catch up to where Jasmine Crockett has been for some time?” said one Democratic strategist in Texas who is tracking the contest. “She's known as a fighter, and she's well-liked by Democrats and in a lot of corners of the state.”
Whether Crockett can succeed in a general election against a Republican opponent in a state like Texas has become an undercurrent of her campaign.
One of the most prominent examples of the split among Democrats came in January when two comedians on the popular “Las Culturistas” podcast told audiences not to donate to Crockett's campaign, suggesting she couldn't win the general election contest.
The two have since apologized, but it pushed a debate over electability to the forefront of the primary race.
The Texas Democratic strategist dismissed the amount of discussion focused on electability, saying, “If there was a recipe for electability in Texas Democratic politics, we probably would have solved this a long time ago.”
State Rep. Nicole Collier, a Crockett supporter who has known the congresswoman for a decade, told CNN some of these concerns are “coming from a place of fear of the unknown” and will depend on an individual's view of electability.
“There's enough Democrats or people who have identified as Democrats that are out there. It's just getting them to the polls, getting them to vote, and it's finding that candidate who motivates them to do that. That's the person who's electable,” she said. “You're electable when I vote you in.”
Collier pointed to Crockett's run for the Texas House of Representatives in 2020, when she won a Democratic primary runoff against Lorraine Birabil, who had recently been elected to the Dallas-area seat in a special election.
“She's defied things,” Collier said. “You look at her race for the state rep. seat … she beat them. She got out there and did the work. They didn't think she was electable.”
Controversy hasn't stopped Ken Paxton yet. Will a Senate run be different?
Speaking with CNN after seeing Crockett at an event in Conroe, undecided voter Richard Traylor said he was struggling with his decision. He said he favored Crockett but was concerned she might not be able to win Latino voters in a general election.
“I have vacillated back and forth, and back and forth, and back and forth. I like her better than all of them,” said Traylor, who lives in New Waverly, Texas. “But I like winning better.”
“It's hard to vote against somebody that I like the best. It really is. Maybe I'll flip a coin,” Traylor said.
Crockett has faced scrutiny for a 2024 comment suggesting some Latino voters exhibited a “slave mentality” by supporting Trump, including on immigration policy. Pressed about the comment in a CNN interview last year, Crockett said, “No, and that's not what that said at all, to be clear. It did not say that every Latino has that type of mentality.”
“I don't believe that the people that voted for Trump believe in what they're actually getting. That is No. 1,” she added. “What Trump said is that he was going to kick out the bad guys. And that's what I was talking about.”
Sonya Bernhardt, a Democratic voter from Houston, told CNN she loved Crockett's fiery style and willingness to take on Republicans in committee hearings on Capitol Hill. But she grew emotional as she shared why she voted for Talarico over the congresswoman.
“We need a fighter. And I was so ready to vote for Jasmine Crockett, because I love her, but I voted for Talarico because we need somebody who can win,” Bernhardt said after casting her vote Friday. “That was one of the most difficult votes I've ever voted in my entire life.”
In an interview with CNN, Crockett pointed to other Democratic politicians who faced doubts about their ability to win, including Barack Obama, Kamala Harris when she was Joe Biden's running mate, and Ann Richards, the last Democratic governor of Texas and only the second woman to hold the office.
“This isn't about what can't be done,” Crockett said. “This is about imagining what it is that we want to get done. And frankly, right now, Texans need a fighter in this moment.”
An intensely fought primary on the Republican side is giving some in the Democratic Party hope the reliably conservative state could be put in play this November. But Democrats face difficult political terrain in Texas, where no member of the party has won statewide in more than 30 years.
“I don't agree that we are a conservative state. We are a non-voting state,” Crockett told CNN.
Crockett, whose fiery brand has amassed a large social media following, is betting her more combative style will help mobilize voters heading into a November contest. At the center of her strategy is turning out once-reliable parts of the Democratic base, including young people and voters of color.
Over the weekend, Crockett appeared at several events with the Texas Organizing Project, a PAC focused on organizing in Black and Latino communities in some of the state's largest counties.
Crockett is also trying to engage low-propensity voters, saying her team tries to maintain a presence at non-political venues like bars, concerts and flea markets.
“We are a majority-minority state,” Crockett told the group of faith leaders Friday. “This scaredy-cat tactic that some people want to take, we ain't got time for that. We have to be bold, and we have to make sure that people know there's someone that sees them.”
GOP leaders fret as Trump sits out the party's nastiest primary battles — with Senate control on the line
Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian and former teacher who has cultivated his own online fan base, has discussed the need to not just turn out base voters but to also draw in independents and Republicans who have soured on their party leaders.
The diverging turnout strategies come as the Democratic Party tries to rebound from the 2024 election, when many young, Black and Latino voters either shifted toward Trump or sat out.
Outside a polling location in Houston, Andre Graves, a Democratic voter, said he thinks Crockett's messaging will motivate voters who “have been sitting on their hands” and “accepting the status quo.”
“Sometimes you got to be untraditional because traditional hasn't been working,” he said. “Sometimes you got to get in the mud with the pigs, and I think she'll get in the mud with the pigs.”
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When the Justice Department publicly released millions of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, bestselling author and wellness guru Deepak Chopra was one of the many prominent individuals to distance himself from his onetime friend.
“I was never involved in, nor did I participate in, any criminal or exploitative conduct. Any contact I had was limited and unrelated to abusive activity,” Chopra wrote on X earlier this month.
But Chopra's contacts with Epstein were hardly limited, with hundreds of messages between the two men in the Justice Department's “Epstein Library.” And a CNN review of their correspondence reveals they shared a far more intimate friendship than was previously known, having frequent contact between 2016 and 2019 — the year that Epstein was arrested on charges of operating a sex-trafficking ring and of sexually abusing underage girls.
The revelation marks just one more example of how Epstein had long tentacles into the worlds of entertainment, academics and high society, even after he served jail time following his 2008 guilty plea for soliciting prostitution from a minor. Chopra joins the ranks of other high-profile figures now trying to recast the nature of their relationship with Epstein by downplaying just how close they had once been.
Deepak Chopra's close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein revealed in the Epstein files
CNN found that Chopra and Epstein communicated regularly over email and text messages, and on multiple occasions arranged to see each other in person. Messages indicate that Chopra visited Epstein at the convicted child sex offender's New York City townhouse, South Florida home and Paris apartment.
Over several years, the two men bantered about topics such as spirituality, health, wellness and mutual friends, with Chopra often expressing warmth and affection toward Epstein by signing some of his messages with “Love” or “XO.” Chopra once declared to Epstein: “I'm deeply grateful for our friendship.”
Chopra, who emigrated from India to the US more than 50 years ago to practice medicine, describes himself on his website as a “Consciousness Explorer and a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine.” He is the author of dozens of books — many of them bestsellers — on topics ranging from spirituality and health to quantum physics, and he is a high-profile figure in the transcendental meditation movement. Oprah Winfrey helped introduce him to an American audience in the 1990s.
Chopra's spokesperson has not responded to CNN's requests for comment.
In his X post earlier this month, Chopra said he was “deeply saddened by the suffering of the victims in this case,” adding, “Some past email exchanges have surfaced that reflect poor judgment in tone. I regret that and understand how they read today, given what was publicly known at the time.”
The presence of a person's name in the Epstein files is not indicative of wrongdoing. Approached recently and asked to comment about his relationship with Epstein, Chopra said: “No misconduct.”
On at least two occasions, Chopra, who has been married for decades, invited Epstein to bring his “girls” on trips.
“If you want use a fake name. Bring your girls,” Chopra wrote to Epstein in a 2017 email asking him to come to Israel. Chopra followed up in a subsequent note: “Your girls would love it as would you.” The same year, asking Epstein to join a workshop that he was hosting in Switzerland, Chopra again encouraged the financier to come “with your girls.” CNN is unable to confirm whether Epstein took up the offer to attend either of these trips.
Discussing former Saudi Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel in 2017, Chopra described her as being “v sweet – like your girls.”
In one of their more philosophical exchanges in 2017, Chopra wrote to Epstein: “Universe is human construct. … Cute girls are aware when they make noises.” Chopra later added: “God is a construct Cute girls are real.” When Epstein wrote back, “so when the girl says oh my god. . ?” Chopra replied: “Yes That's divine tran=cendence.”
Also in 2017, Epstein asked Chopra: “find me a cute israeli blonde. . matter over mind.” Chopra responded that he could, then shared a “warning”: “They are militant aggressive and v sexy.”
In a text exchange, Epstein and Chopra discussed a woman whose name is redacted. When Epstein asked how Chopra met the woman, Chopra said: “In many ways [redacted] is more connected to ‘reality' than the brilliant scientists. I felt connected to her at the level of awareness.” Epstein wrote back: “I liked watching you zero in on your prey . Made me smile.” Chopra responded: “I not a predator Just a lover.”
At other times, the two men discussed women whom Chopra worked with in his professional capacity. In 2016, Chopra sent Epstein a link to a video he made with actress Kat Foster. Chopra wrote: “innocent and smart at the same time.” Epstein responded: “secondary to cute.”
The DOJ's Epstein files also contain multiple videos of Chopra, including guided meditation and discussions about spirituality. None of the videos that CNN reviewed featured Epstein, and they did not appear to be made specifically for the financier.
In one 2016 exchange that began with a link to a TED talk about the end of physics, Chopra wrote to Epstein: “Statistics is like a girl in a bikini What she reveals is obvious What she conceals - is more interesting =.”
It is not clear the age of the “girls” whom Chopra and Epstein discussed. In at least one discussion in which Chopra was arranging a meeting between his son-in-law and Epstein, Chopra seemed to suggest that they don't discuss the topic. “You might enjoy meeting him,” Chopra said, before adding: “(can't talk about girls ).” It is unknown whether the meeting happened.
In early 2019, as the walls were closing in on Epstein ahead of his arrest in July, Chopra appeared to show support and sympathy for his friend.
Chopra sent Epstein his love from India in February via text message, to which Epstein responded: “Can you send it in female form J.” The following month, the two men discussed Epstein's “bad press.”
“I think of you often. I am aware of the toxicity of my press,” Epstein wrote. Chopra wrote back: “Sorry I am not concerned about that.” He previously advised Epstein to “Stay silent Meditate.”
Over the years, Epstein consistently asked Chopra about his travels and whereabouts, inviting him over for dinner and other social gatherings. The convicted sex offender seemed eager to bring Chopra into his inner circle, offering to include him in meetings with his business associates.
In 2016, Epstein asked Chopra whether the actor Leonardo DiCaprio would be interested in having dinner with the filmmaker Woody Allen, a close friend of Epstein's. It is not clear whether the dinner took place.
The same year, Epstein described Chopra to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, saying: “hes very amusing and a good guy filled with troves of stories. if you see him, you might enjoy a conversation. he is the guru to hollywood.”
Epstein once enlisted his longtime girlfriend Karyna Shuliak to get sweatshirts made for Chopra featuring the initials “DC” and an American flag.
The DOJ's Epstein files also show that Epstein offered financial support to and discussed business ideas with Chopra over several years.
Chopra and Poonacha Machaiah, his co-founder of Jiyo, a wellness app, sought input from Epstein for the venture, and arranged a trip in July 2017 for Epstein to come to San Diego so they could “walk [Epstein] through Jiyo Value proposition,” according to an email. Epstein then offered to forward the pitch to the “three chairman of the largest insurers.” Machaiah followed up by saying he would appreciate it if Epstein could introduce them “to potential partners in the insurance segment.” CNN has reached out to Machaiah for comment.
In 2017, the Chopra Foundation received a $50,000 check from “Gratitude America” — one of Epstein's foundations. According to the files, it appears the funding was meant for scientific research.
In what appears to be the beginning of their written correspondence in 2016, Epstein suggested Chopra create a game and discussed an “aura” app with him. “On another note the aura app would be gigantic. Every woman needs a goodness meter,” Epstein wrote in an email.
“I'm at your service for any adventure sir If we do do an aura app it should be backed up with the emerging theory of biofield science. … The monopoly game could be fun,” Chopra responded.
At times, the two men also discussed politics. Chopra made it clear to Epstein that he was not a fan of President Donald Trump.
Days after the 2016 election, Chopra told Epstein his family was “devastated” after Trump won. Epstein reassured him by saying, “no no it's going to be fine.” In 2017, Chopra authored an article in SF Gate describing Trump as “a President who combines irrational whims, vindictiveness, and amorality,” and shared the story with Epstein.
Chopra once told Epstein that Ivanka Trump, the president's eldest daughter, had attended a meditation session of his in 2016. He said he had realized her presence because “I noticed a pretty girl in the room,” and someone informed him it was Ivanka.
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Brett McGurk is a CNN global affairs analyst who served in senior national security positions under Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
The United States is positioning military forces across the Middle East capable of launching multiple waves of strikes into Iran. If ordered, this would mark a significant operation beyond President Donald Trump's prior, more discrete uses of force. Unlike earlier operations that were time-bound and tethered to defined objectives — from targeting ISIS leadership to striking Syrian airfields after chemical attacks or the single night of strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities last summer — this campaign would begin without a clearly defined end state.
How did we get here?
The answer lies in the convergence of three issues that were once distinct but are now fused: Iran's missile arsenal, the regime's violent crackdown at home, and its unresolved nuclear program. Taken together, they narrow the space for limited action and shape how a military operation may look like over the coming days or weeks.
On October 1, 2024, I was in the White House Situation Room as roughly two hundred Iranian missiles were launched toward Israeli cities. The flight time was about thirteen minutes. As the missiles arched into the upper atmosphere and descended toward their targets, US and Israeli defense systems engaged. US Navy destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean joined Israeli air defense batteries in intercepting the incoming barrage. Most of the missiles were destroyed.
The episode marked the first direct state-on-state attack in the region in decades. Israel subsequently struck Iranian air defense systems, which have yet to be replenished.
Iran's missile program is not only a regional threat. Tehran has transferred missile and drone technology to Russia for use in Ukraine, with Iranian-origin drones routinely striking civilian infrastructure. The United Nations Security Council last year reimposed sanctions related to Iran's missile activities, reflecting broad international concern over the program's expansion.
In any US military scenario, missile production facilities, launchers, stockpiles, and associated air defenses would likely be among the first targets. For military planners, degrading Iran's capacity to retaliate is an essential prerequisite to any broader operation. That logic alone points toward an opening phase closer to Israel's multi-day air campaign in June, as opposed to the one night of US strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities towards the end of that campaign.
The precipitating event for this crisis emerged from inside Iran.
Nationwide protests that began shortly before the New Year were crushed. Trump had publicly encouraged demonstrators and warned that violent suppression would carry severe consequences for Iran.
“KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS. HELP IS ON THE WAY.” Trump wrote on his social media account. He also warned that if Iran's regime “violently kills peaceful protestors … the United States will come to their rescue.”
That never happened.
The tragic result was that Iranians remained in the streets, only to be massacred in the thousands (some reports are in the tens of thousands) at the hands of the regime.
The events shocked much of the world — for the first time, all 27 European Union members moved in concert to sanction the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and label it as a terrorist organization.
The US military buildup in the region was triggered by these protests, Trump's threats, and the crackdown that followed — not Iran's nuclear or missile programs.
That matters operationally.
If the political impetus for US action stems from the regime's violent repression, it becomes difficult to envision a campaign that does not account for Trump's earlier warnings. Facilities, command nodes, and possibly leadership elements tied to the IRGC and Basij militia — the repressive apparatus that led the crackdown — are likely to enter the targeting matrix.
That further expands the scope of an operation, and the risk of Iran's own retaliations, including against US facilities across the region. Should Iran inflict American casualties in its response, the US operation would surely expand further, perhaps against Iran's economic infrastructure.
The third track is Iran's nuclear program.
The US strikes last summer targeted Iran's nuclear enrichment infrastructure, with primary targets at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium (fuel that can be fashioned into a bomb) is likely still buried underneath the Isfahan facility, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Military planners are likely to have follow-up targets in the deck, or areas to re-strike should Trump order an operation.
There is also a new facility buried underneath a mountain about a mile south of Natanz, the enrichment facility destroyed last summer. This is “Pickaxe” mountain, a site Iran declared to the IAEA in 2020 as a future facility to assemble the centrifuges that make nuclear fuel. Public reports suggest that construction of the facility picked up significantly in the wake of the US strikes in June, and the area is likely on the target list for military planners.
Ironically, strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities were not on the radar screen or under serious contemplation before the Iranian protests and violent crackdown earlier this year. The crackdown precipitated the crisis, but Iran then once again refused diplomatic talks with the United States other than on its nuclear program — and then retained a hardline position against US calls to abandon enrichment. Domestic enrichment is unnecessary for a civilian nuclear program, and Iran is the only country in the world without a declared weapons program that routinely enriched uranium to levels a step below weapons grade — something the US military strikes stopped.
These factors have suddenly returned the nuclear program to Trump's crosshairs. Even since the US strikes last summer, the UN Security Council reimposed Chapter VII sanctions on Iran's nuclear activities, after France and the UK initiated a procedure known as “Snapback.”
Accordingly, it's hard to imagine a military operation that does not also strike Iran's nuclear facilities, to include the new facility at Pickaxe Mountain. The scope expands, further.
Individually, each of these issues might have been managed on separate tracks — deterrence on missiles (or Israeli — not American — strikes), diplomacy on the nuclear issues, sanctions in response to internal repression. The combination of Trump's stark warnings earlier this year, however, together with Iran's decision to defy those warnings with a violent crackdown, served to merge the issues into one basket for American planners.
This means, operationally, a strike campaign would begin with missile infrastructure and air defenses, expanded to elements of the regime's security apparatus, and follow-on action against residual nuclear facilities. That would be a multi-day campaign, at least, and whether it expands from there — to include Iranian leadership and economic infrastructure targets —would depend on Iran's response to initial attacks. The massive deployment to the region suggests the US military is poised and prepared to move up the escalation ladder, if necessary.
Trump will hope such an operation remains limited, akin to his strikes last summer against Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. But the logic of this crisis and how it has developed now tends towards a campaign of days or weeks. There will not be a single blow.
That is how we arrived at the brink, an inadvertent sequence of events and choices leaving little maneuvering room for Washington or Tehran. Short of a last-minute diplomatic breakthrough, which is unlikely, what happens next will be in the hands of Trump and Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, neither of whom — at this moment — seem prepared to build an offramp.
Should hostilities begin, the course is set for a campaign of indeterminate length, and multiple variables, unlike anything that Trump, as commander-in-chief, has known before.
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When President Donald Trump gives his State of the Union address Tuesday, he will face a public that increasingly questions his priorities and expresses broad doubts about whether his proposed policies are helping the nation, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.
Adding to the pile of alarming indicators for the president's party heading into this year's midterms, Trump's approval rating among political independents has dipped to a new low in CNN polling.
Just 32% of Americans now say that Trump has had the right priorities, while 68% say he hasn't paid enough attention to the country's most important problems. That's the president's most negative reading on that question to date during either of his terms in office. At the same time, Americans say, 61% to 38%, that Trump's policies will move the country in the wrong direction rather than the right one. And Trump's job approval rating among all adults remains mired at 36%.
The poll's findings suggest the scale of the task ahead of the president.
When Trump addressed Congress last year for the first time since returning to the White House, his approval rating stood at a career-high 48% in CNN's pre-speech polling. Since then, he has lost ground across all major demographic groups, with Republicans, conservatives and White Americans without college degrees among the few groups to hold a net-positive view of Trump.
Some of the steepest declines include a 19-point drop in approval among Latino Americans and an 18-point drop among Americans younger than 45. Among political independents, Trump's approval rating has dropped 15 points over the past year to 26%, the lowest it's been in either of his terms.
State of the Union addresses typically draw disproportionately friendly audiences, with supporters of the president more likely to tune in. That could give Trump an opportunity to rally his own partisans, whose support for the president has also softened over the past year.
Strong approval among Republicans stands at 49% in the poll, down from 64% just after his address to Congress last year and the first time in this term it's dipped below the 50% mark. Nearly three in 10 Republicans say Trump hasn't paid enough attention to the most important problems, and 16% say his policies will move the country in the wrong direction.
Asked to choose the issue they'd most like Trump to address in his State of the Union speech, 57% pick the economy and cost of living, more than quadrupling the share who want to hear him focus on any other individual topic, including immigration, the state of democracy, health care policy, crime or foreign policy. Half of Democrats say they want Trump's speech to touch on economic issues, rising to 56% among independents and 65% of Republicans.
“Part of the reason why I think people elected Trump was because they were hurting under Biden. … I think people were expecting Trump to provide a little bit of relief to their suffering,” wrote one poll respondent, a Republican from New Mexico. “Grocery prices are just through the roof. Everything is so expensive. … So I think he needs to talk about the economy, and he needs to talk about what kind of things he's already done.”
Trump's job approval rating, which has hovered below the 40% mark since last autumn, stands at 36%, with 63% disapproving. Nearly half strongly disapprove of his job performance, while 19% strongly approve.
Those who approve only moderately of Trump's performance are more likely to take issue with his priorities than with his policies. While just 6% in this group think Trump's proposals will move the country in the wrong direction, 34% say the president hasn't paid enough attention to the country's most important issues.
The poll finds sharp differences among Republicans by age. While 63% of Republicans who are 65 or older say they strongly approve of the president's job performance, that stands at just 31% among Republicans younger than 35. Younger Republicans are about twice as likely as those age 65 or older to say Trump's policies will move the country in the wrong direction (24% among 18- to 34-year-old Republicans vs. 11% among those 65 or older), and to say that he hasn't had the right priorities (42% among 18- to 34-year-old Republicans vs. 20% among those 65 or older).
One thing unites the GOP across age lines: More than 6 in 10 say Trump should focus on economic issues in his address Tuesday.
The CNN poll was conducted by SSRS online from February 17-20 among a random national sample of 2,496 adults. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
CNN's Edward Wu contributed to this report.
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Chief legal correspondent Shannon Bream provides details on the Supreme Court's ruling striking down all IEEPA tariffs. Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley weighs in.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas ripped the court's decision blocking President Donald Trump's use of an emergency law to impose sweeping tariffs on trading partners, calling it a fundamental misread of both the governing statute and the Constitution's separation of powers.
"As (Kavanaugh) explains, the Court's decision … cannot be justified as a matter of statutory interpretation. Congress authorized the President to ‘regulate ... importation,'" Thomas wrote in his dissent. "Throughout American history, the authority to ‘regulate importation' has been understood to include the authority to impose duties on imports."
The court invalidated Trump's use of an emergency law to impose tariffs in a 6–3 decision Friday morning after weeks of Trump championing that the court should rule in his favor as part of his larger effort to boost the economy, jobs and bring down costs for Americans. Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito joined Justice Brett Kavanaugh in dissenting from the ruling, with Thomas also offering his own separate dissent.
The majority of the court ruled Friday that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the president, even after declaring a national emergency, to impose tariffs — and that Congress did not speak clearly enough to transfer its tariff-and-tax power to the executive branch.
TRUMP RESPONDS TO SUPREME COURT RULING REJECTING SWEEPING TARIFFS POWERS: 'A DISGRACE'
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a blistering dissent Feb. 20, 2026, after the Supreme Court found President Donald Trump's tariffs illegal. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) is a 1977 law that allows the president, after declaring a national emergency in response to foreign threats, to regulate or block certain economic transactions and property interests, such as by imposing sanctions.
"The president asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope," Supreme Court Justice John Roberts wrote for the court. "In light of the breadth, history, and constitutional context of that asserted authority, he must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it."
TRUMP'S TARIFF REVENUES HIT RECORD HIGHS AS SUPREME COURT DEALS MAJOR BLOW
In his dissent, Thomas argued that nondelegation doctrine is a narrow constraint, saying a line is crossed only when Congress delegates "core" power to make rules triggering deprivations of "life, liberty, or property" — not "from delegating other kinds of power," such as tariffs.
The nondelegation doctrine forbids Congress from delegating core legislative power to the president.
The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
"As I suggested over a decade ago, the nondelegation doctrine does not apply to ‘a delegation of power to make rules governing private conduct in the area of foreign trade,' including rules imposing duties on imports," Thomas wrote. "Therefore, to the extent that the Court relies on ‘separation of powers principles' to rule against the President is mistaken."
SUPREME COURT RULES ON TRUMP TARIFFS IN MAJOR TEST OF EXECUTIVE BRANCH POWERS
Thomas pointed to President Nixon's 1971 import surcharge as a real-world test case that was later upheld in United States v. Yoshida Int'l under IEEPA's predecessor statute, the Trading with the Enemy Act.
Nixon announced a 10% across-the-board import surcharge on foreign nations in 1971, with the U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals upholding the policy under the same "regulate ... importation" language in 1975.
President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order imposing tariffs on imported goods during a "Make America Wealthy Again" trade announcement event in the White House Rose Garden April 2, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
"The meaning of that phrase was beyond doubt by the time that Congress enacted this statute, shortly after President Nixon's highly publicized duties on imports were upheld based on identical language," Thomas wrote.
"The statute that the President relied on therefore authorized him to impose the duties on imports at issue in these cases," Thomas wrote, adding that Kavanaugh "makes clear that the Court errs in concluding otherwise."
Trump unveiled his tariff policies in April 2025, which have come with repeatedly updated deals with foreign nations, as a tool to bring parity to U.S. trade policy and encourage businesses to open up shop on U.S. soil as part of an American manufacturing renaissance to boost the job market and the economy.
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Trump, in recent months, has repeatedly promoted that the Supreme Court rule in his favor, warning just Thursday during a trip to a steel factory in Georgia that "without tariffs, this country would be in such trouble right now."
The president held a press conference shortly after the decision on Friday, announcing a 10% global tariff, while underscoring that the "Supreme Court did not overrule tariffs," but "merely overruled a particular use of IEEPA tariffs."
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Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes was a feared Mexican drug lord and the leader of a ruthless cartel accused of masterminding efforts to push fentanyl into the United States.
Once a police officer, Oseguera went on to become one of the world's most wanted fugitives, with the United States alone offering a $15 million bounty for information leading to his arrest.
Oseguera, who formed and led the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was an elusive figure who had been considered Mexico's most powerful cartel boss since Sinaloa kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was arrested last decade.
Born in July 1966 in the western state of Michoacán, Oseguera later moved to the US and was deeply involved in drug trafficking from the 1990s, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). In 1994, he was convicted in California for conspiracy to distribute heroin and served three years in a US prison.
After he returned to Mexico, he worked as a police officer in the western state of Jalisco but soon resumed his criminal activities, building his influence in the shadowy world of narcotics and rising to become the head of one of the country's most powerful and ruthless criminal empires.
Wanted by authorities in Mexico and the US, Oseguera or “El Mencho” kept a low profile – so much so that only a handful of photographs of him exist.
His death on Sunday in a Mexican military operation in Tapalpa, in the western coastal state of Jalisco, has triggered widespread unrest across parts of the country.
Oseguera had a long career in brutality before forming CJNG. For a time, he served as chief of hitmen, or key enforcer, for the Milenio Cartel, before overseeing security and operational violence for the famed Sinaloa Cartel, whose former leader Guzmán is serving a life sentence in a US prison.
According to the DEA, CJNG emerged in the 2010s from the remnants of the Milenio Cartel, which splintered amid a power vacuum after its leader Óscar Nava Valencia was captured in 2009.
Oseguera built the group with Abigael González Valencia, leader of Los Cuinis – a family-based cartel operating in Michoacán, which served as the financial and logistical arm of CJNG and oversaw its “diverse network of money laundering operations,” according to the DEA.
Trump wants Mexico to ‘take out the cartels.' Here's why that's so hard
But it was only through marriage to Abigael's sister, Rosalinda González Valencia, that Oseguera gained real influence in the new entity.
“In reality, El Mencho reached the cartel's leadership through a strategy of diplomacy via marriage,” public security analyst David Saucedo told CNN en Español. “He was indeed the chief of hitmen for ‘Nacho' Coronel (a Sinaloa Cartel leader), but he lacked the lineage that Rosalinda, his wife, possessed,” Saucedo added.
The burgeoning cartel quickly grew its sphere of influence to claim a significant presence across Mexico and became a key player in the global drug trade.
It is a brutally violent operation responsible for assassination attempts on Mexican government officials and homicides against rival trafficking groups and Mexican law enforcement officers, according to the US State Department.
The cartel demonstrated its firepower in May 2015, when it responded to a security operation with simultaneous roadblocks across several municipalities and shot down a military helicopter. Three soldiers were killed in the clashes.
The following year, the gang was credited with a brazen kidnapping of Guzman's son from a trendy restaurant in Puerto Vallarta. He was released a week later.
It wasn't long before the DEA added El Mencho to its most wanted list.
CJNG is heavily involved in the production and trafficking of methamphetamine and fentanyl, with links to suppliers of chemical precursors in China, and controls several seaports for importing chemicals, according to US authorities.
The cartel is “a key supplier of illicit fentanyl” to the US, reaping “billions of dollars in profit,” as well being one of the main suppliers of cocaine, according to the DEA.
The group has contacts in over 40 countries, including the Americas, as well as in Australia, China and Southeast Asia, according to the US State Department.
Mexico had been under pressure from US President Donald Trump to do more to limit the flow of drugs to the US.
The US designated CJNG as a terrorist organization in February 2025, and Oseguera had already been indicted multiple times in the United States, including being charged in 2022 with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl for importation into the United States.
The death of “El Mencho” on Sunday has created turmoil across the country. But it won't necessarily cripple the JNGC's multi-billion drug trade.
What to do if you're stranded in Mexico
The DEA says the gang is structured like a franchise business, and according to Eduardo Guerrero, director of Mexican consulting group Lantia Intelligence, it is composed of around 90 organizations.
“This fragmentation has meant that you'll need a more complex, more sophisticated strategy to weaken and dismember them,” Guerrero told CNN earlier this year.
The Mexican military and police, backed by US intelligence and equipment have tried taking out kingpins before. But others emerged to take their place, and tons of drugs continued to flow over the US border.
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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani received a wave of criticism for the identification requirements for an emergency snow shoveler program he announced ahead of Sunday's winter storm. To “register for an appointment” to be hired, prospective shovelers needed multiple forms of identification, a stark contrast to the identification necessary when voting in the city's election. The shoveler requirements also ran counter to Mamdani's stated position on voter identification, currently a hotly contested topic in U.S. political discourse.
“And for those who want to do more to help your neighbors and earn some extra cash, you too can become an Emergency Snow Shoveler,” Mamdani said during a press conference on Saturday. “Just show up to your local Sanitation Garage between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. tomorrow with your paperwork … and you can get started right away.”
The paperwork Mamdani referenced included “two small photos (1-½ inch square), two original forms of ID, plus copies, and a social security card.” The requirements were notable given the recent debate over proposed voter ID laws such as the SAVE Act. Democrats have regularly claimed that identification requirements are challenging to obtain for lower-income Americans, racial minorities, and, in some cases, women.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has gone so far as to label such identification requirements as “Jim Crow 2.0,” and many Democrats nationwide have echoed these sentiments. Yet, the requirement to have identification to get a shoveling job would appear to contradict such claims and concerns. Many criticized Mamdani for this perceived contradiction.
Comedian Jimmy Failla quipped about the snow shoveler identification requirements, calling it “Jim Snow 2.0.”
“Zohran Mamdani requiring TWO forms of ID to be a voluntary shoveler for the blizzard,” Failla said in a post on X. “This is Jim SNOW 2.0.”
Former Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon called it hypocritical.
“Hypocrisy Alert: NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani is asking New Yorkers to help shovel snow, but you have to register,” Dixon posted. “Here's the catch: Mamdani demands you show 2 forms of ID plus copies and a social security card!”
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) also commented about Mamdani's snow shoveler quagmire.
MAMDANI PROPOSES 9.5% PROPERTY TAX HIKE IN NYC AS PART OF NEW BUDGET
“If Zohran Mamdani supports showing ID to shovel snow, Senate Democrats ought to support showing ID to vote,” Johnson posted. “Let's pass the SAVE America Act by unanimous consent!!!”
Mamdani was asked about the identification requirements during a press conference on Sunday. He justified it by citing precedent in New York City.
“This is all long-standing,” Mamdani said. “This is a long-standing program and long-standing requirements, and this is a way that New Yorkers get paid to shovel snow in assistance with the city's response to a winter storm event.”
“Federal law requires that employers get authorization and documentation to pay people for their work,” he said. “We are not allowed to just cut checks for individuals for their work.”
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2026 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG.
‘The Big Weekend Show' co-hosts discuss unrest in Mexico after a military operation led to the death of cartel leader ‘El Mencho' on ‘The Big Weekend Show.'
Four professional soccer matches in Mexico were postponed Sunday after violence flared near Guadalajara — one of the country's host cities for the 2026 World Cup — in the wake of a military operation that left cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho," dead.
Liga MX officials removed two top-flight fixtures from the schedule — Querétaro's matchup against Juárez FC in the men's league and the women's showdown between Chivas and América — and also called off two second-division contests amid security concerns.
The disruption followed operations earlier in the day in Tapalpa, Jalisco, roughly two hours southwest of Guadalajara. Mexican authorities said Oseguera, a former police officer who rose to lead the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), was killed during the operation.
In the aftermath, vehicles were set ablaze and highways were blocked across nearly a dozen Mexican states, according to officials.
MAJOR DRUG LORD 'EL MENCHO' KILLED IN MEXICAN MILITARY OPERATION WITH US INTELLIGENCE SUPPORT
Vehicles drive past a burning bus used as a roadblock by organized crime following a federal operation in which Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, commonly known as "El Mencho," was killed. (Gabriel Trujillo/Reuters)
Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco state, is slated to stage four matches during the 2026 World Cup, including two involving South Korea. Mexico, Spain, Uruguay and Colombia are also scheduled to play at the venue.
Mexico's national team remains set to host Iceland in a friendly Wednesday at Corregidora Stadium in Querétaro. As of Sunday, the Mexican soccer federation had not announced any changes to that match.
Not all sporting events were affected. Organizers of the Mexican Open in Acapulco said the ATP tournament would begin Monday at the GNP Arena as planned.
"The tournament's operation continues as normal," organizers of the tournament said in a statement.
Oseguera had carried a $15 million U.S. bounty and rose to prominence following the arrest of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel. Over the past decade and a half, CJNG expanded from a regional criminal group into a global trafficking network operating across much of Mexico from its stronghold in Jalisco.
A burned vehicle used as a barricade by organized crime members, following a series of arrests by federal forces, lies in Guadalajara, Mexico. (Michelle Freyria/Reuters)
"I've just been informed that Mexican security forces have killed 'El Mencho,' one of the bloodiest and most ruthless drug kingpins," U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said in a post on X. "This is a great development for Mexico, the US, Latin America, and the world. The good guys are stronger than the bad guys."
The Mexican Defense Department said the operation was conducted as part of bilateral coordination and cooperation with the U.S., and that U.S. authorities provided complementary intelligence that contributed to El Mencho's killing.
After El Mencho's death, cartel members burned cars and blocked roads in nearly a dozen Mexican states.
TOURISTS IN MEXICAN SEASIDE RESORT TOLD TO STAY ON RESORT AS GOVERNMENT WARNS OF 'CLASHES'
A soldier stands guard by a charred vehicle after it was set on fire, in Cointzio, Michoacán state, Mexico. (AP Photo/Armando Solis)
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The Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación is considered the most powerful cartel in Mexico with an estimated 19,000 members and operations across 21 of the country's 32 states.
The Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Mexican security forces killed the leader of one of the country's most powerful cartels in a military operation on Sunday, according to the Mexican government.
Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the drug lord notoriously known as “El Mencho,” had led the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG, since the group was created over 15 years ago.
The Mexican Embassy in the United States said in a press release after the operation that Oseguera was one of three cartel members who died after being severely wounded. Four other members died at the scene, and two more were arrested, with cartel weapons and armored vehicles also being seized. Three Mexican security officers were wounded, the embassy said.
INSIDE THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S EFFORTS TO PRESSURE CUBA'S COMMUNIST REGIME OUT
The Mexican Embassy credited U.S. intelligence in the operation, saying “complementary information was provided by U.S. authorities.” Oseguera faced federal charges in the U.S. for drug trafficking offenses related to his illegal business. He was wanted alive by the U.S. for $15 million, with the State Department offering the reward for information leading to his arrest.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later confirmed the U.S.'s involvement in the operation, saying they provided “intelligence support.” Leavitt also called Oseguera a “top target” of the Trump administration over his fentanyl trafficking into the U.S.
“President Trump has been very clear — the United States will ensure narcoterrorists sending deadly drugs to our homeland are forced to face the wrath of justice they have long deserved,” she said in a statement on Sunday night. “The Trump Administration also commends and thanks the Mexican military for their cooperation and successful execution of this operation.”
President Donald Trump designated CJNG, along with seven other Latin American cartels and criminal organizations, as foreign terrorist organizations last February and has waged war on drug cartels in his second term, but mostly in South America.
He has, however, previously considered military intervention, including drone strikes, to combat cartels in Mexico. Such plans have been consistently rejected by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has instead surged troops to the southern border and increased intelligence sharing with the U.S.
After the security operation was carried out in the western state of Jalisco, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico advised U.S. citizens to “shelter in place until further notice.” That shelter-in-place order has since expanded to eight other Mexican states, including as far east as Quintana Roo, known for its touristy cities of Cancun and Playa del Carmen.
Sheinbaum has urged the public to “remain informed and calm,” saying there is currently “absolute coordination” with the governments of these states. She added that throughout most of Mexico, “activities are proceeding with complete normality.”
Mexico: UPDATE – Due to ongoing, widespread security operations and related road blockages and criminal activity in many areas of Mexico, U.S. citizens should shelter in place until further notice. Roadblocks have impacted airline operations, with some domestic & int'l flights… pic.twitter.com/SIxMGKwGny
The scene in Jalisco and nearby states on Sunday was marked by violence. Cartels burned buses and vehicles, blocked roads, and clashed with security services. Jalisco Gov. Pablo Lemus Navarro activated the state's “red code” in response to protect civilians. By Sunday night, Navarro said order was “gradually” being restored and that Jalisco government offices would be open as usual Monday.
In its most recent update, the Mexican Security Cabinet said four road blockades in Jalisco remain uncleared.
“The efforts continue uninterrupted until the total liberation of the roadways, with coordinated operations by the Security Cabinet and authorities from all three levels of government, whose priority is to protect the population,” it said in an X post.
TRUMP ‘CONSIDERING' SMALL-SCALE IRAN STRIKE AS NEGOTIATING TACTIC
There had also been reports of gunfire at Guadalajara International Airport in Jalisco, but the Mexican Security Cabinet said all airports in the state were “operating normally” and “no relevant incidents” were recorded at the facilities.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico said that while airports remain open, the roadblocks resulted in both domestic and international flight cancellations in Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, near where Oseguera was targeted and killed. Taxi and ride hailing services are also suspended in Puerto Vallarta.
FBI Director Kash Patel is defending his trip to the Winter Olympics this weekend after he was seen partying with the U.S. men's hockey team following their win over Canada on Sunday.
Patel flew to Milan for the last few days of the Olympics on Thursday, reportedly taking the bureau's jet. A top FBI official insisted at the time that the excursion was “not a personal trip” and included official business, such as meetings with Italian police officials and U.S. Ambassador to Italy Tilman Fertitta.
While the bureau maintains that those were the main purposes of the trip, it also coincided with the final hockey games of the Olympics, including Team USA's gold medal match, which Patel, an avid hockey fan, attended.
He was seen in a box taking in the game between the United States and Canada, which the U.S. won 2-1 in overtime, securing its first gold medal since 1980. Patel would go on to post pictures of himself with team members in the locker room after the game, applauding the win.
“Unity, Sacrifice, Attitude- what it takes to be the best in the world. These men live and breathe it. Now Team USA are gold medal champions, legends standing on the shoulders of giants. Thank you for representing the greatest country on earth, in the greatest game ever created,” he said in the X post.
But hours later, Patel found himself in the hot seat. Footage circulating on X showed him raucously celebrating with the team, including chugging a beer and splashing its contents around the locker room. One of the team members also put a gold medal around his neck as he jumped in the air and sang along to “Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue (The Angry American)” by Toby Keith.
The clip led to Patel defending his actions in a statement to X on Sunday night.
“For the very concerned media – yes, I love America and was extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys- Greatest country on earth and greatest sport on earth,” he said.
FBI DIRECTOR PATEL SAYS INVESTIGATORS HAVE FOUND ANTIFA FUNDING SOURCES
Sunday's incident is the latest of Patel's travels to be criticized. Last year alone, he was accused of using a government jet for a golfing trip in Scotland, a hunting trip in Texas, and a “date night” in Pennsylvania with his girlfriend. Patel has defended such travel.
While as FBI director, he is required to use a government jet for security purposes, such travel uses taxpayer funds. The cost of the Milan trip is not known, but MS NOW previously estimated it could cost as much as $75,000.
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This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Linda Armijo, a 70-year-old who lives in Carson City, Nevada. It has been edited for length and clarity.
My husband and I have been visiting Puerto Vallarta regularly for about twenty-five years. We used to go to Cabo, but after taking a cruise that landed in Puerto Vallarta, we realized it's a better place to come.
We really enjoy the city, its atmosphere, its people, its things to do, and especially its food.
We arrived on January 1st for a three-month stay. We used to own a timeshare here, but now we stay in AirBnbs. This year, we're in an eight-story condo building in the city's Marina Vallarta district. Many of our neighbors are Canadians doing extended stays, with some Americans who come for a week or two at a time.
My husband, Anthony, has a standing massage appointment on Sunday mornings at 10. While he's there, I go shopping — my favorite thing to do here — and then we meet for lunch.
Yesterday (Feb. 22), his massage therapist texted him that roads downtown were blocked. She didn't provide any more information, so I went to the rooftop of our building to look out over the city. I could see about five to six plumes of smoke. Smoke is not entirely unusual because controlled burns are common, but this was more than I would typically see.
I came down to our condo and told Anthony, "There's something going on, there are fires everywhere." We started to go outside, but instead turned to a social media group run by a longtime expat in Puerto Vallarta. That's when I learned that cartels were blocking transportation in the city.
Throughout the day yesterday, we could occasionally hear the pop of an engine exploding when a car was set on fire. My neighbors and I were watching from the rooftop. There weren't too many fires around us — the closest was about eight blocks away.
A worker for our apartment building came to lock the doors. Other than that, there hasn't been much communication from the building. Yesterday, our water was interrupted occasionally. We have bottled drinking water on hand, but I filled pots and pans for washing and cleaning.
I met two girls from L.A. who are renting a condo upstairs. They were meant to fly out yesterday, and threw away all their food and supplies before learning their flight was canceled. I shared some water with them. A building worker said she wasn't concerned about people who needed to stay longer in their accommodation.
I've never, ever felt scared or anxious in Puerto Vallarta. Some of that might be the way I look — like I could belong here — and the fact that I speak Spanish.
Still, that hasn't changed, even today. I really don't think fear is necessary. I feel safe in my building, and we have plenty of food and water. It's a minor inconvenience not being able to leave, but my biggest emotions are sadness and concern for the people of Puerto Vallarta.
The public bus system is one of the reasons I love this city. We use the buses to get everywhere, but getting the system back up and running will take time because many of them have been burned. I know of at least two cruise ships that were supposed to arrive in port early this week but aren't. It will likely be weeks before they're comfortable coming here again. Our favorite restaurant is closed until further notice, and I feel for the workers who aren't being paid.
At one point yesterday, a neighbor showed me a picture of a burned church. I was so sad for the city and the people who go to services there. But later that afternoon, when I looked closer, I realized the photo was clearly AI-generated.
There's a lot of confusion and misinformation out there, so people — myself included — need to be cautious about where they're seeing, watching, and listening to.
From my understanding, the cartels weren't targeting people, but destroying property as a show of retaliation. For the most part, people are safe.
Jump to
A powerful blizzard ground air travel to a near halt at major airports serving New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and other areas of the eastern U.S. on Monday. Disruptions are set to last through at least Tuesday, again testing carriers on how quickly they can recover at the tail-end of winter break.
Much of the East Coast from Maryland to Maine was under a blizzard warning, with heavy snow already totaling nearly two feet in parts of New Jersey and on Long Island, New York. High wind gusts are expected to last throughout the day, the National Weather Service said. The NWS warned that travel will be treacherous, with blowing snow causing low visibility.
More than 4,800 U.S. departures Monday, or close to 20% of the total scheduled U.S. departures, were canceled, as of 9:40 a.m. ET, according to aviation-data firm Cirium. Daily cancellations usually run around 1% of the day's schedule. Nearly a quarter of the inbound international flights were also canceled.
Over 1,000 departures and arrivals in and out of New York's LaGuardia Airport, about 98% of the day's schedule, were canceled Monday. More than 90% of the flights at Boston Logan International Airport and more than 80% of the flights at Philadelphia International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey were also scrubbed.
Flight disruptions were set to continue on Tuesday, with around 40% of the flights at LaGuardia and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport canceled, with roughly the same amount canceled in Boston, according to FlightAware.
Airlines routinely cancel flights ahead of major storms to avoid having aircraft and crews out of place and to make it easier to restart operations after the storm passes.
American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines and United Airlines waived fees and fare differences for passengers if they can travel as late as Feb. 26. Southwest Airlines said customers are eligible for a change without paying a difference in fare if they can rebook to fly or fly standby within two weeks.
The winter storm that hit much of the East Coast in January and was followed by bitter cold caused mass travel disruptions across a large swath of the U.S.
American had struggled to recover, drawing harsh criticism from flight crews, some of whom were stranded and had to sleep at airports, heightening tension between frontline employees and the company's CEO, Robert Isom.
The storm cost American between $150 million and $200 million in revenue, the carrier said last month on an earnings call.
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I served for nearly 15 years in the U.S. Navy Reserve, including nine as a Commander. I led SEAL teams in combat and have spent the past two decades helping high performers, from boardrooms to locker rooms, build unbeatable minds.
SEALs aren't naturally tougher than everyone else. We just understand that mental resilience is something that is built through specific, repeatable practices that can help us keep calm and focused under extreme pressure.
Today, whether I'm training myself or working with Fortune 500 executives, I use the same principles that kept me alive in combat zones. Here are three daily habits that help me banish burnout, and maintain a sharper and more resilient mind.
Where the body leads, the mind follows. I've learned that for me, burnout can flourish without consistent activity. You don't necessarily need to do an intense workout either, just frequent and deliberate movement practices. And they can be as varied as you want.
Over the course of a day, I might do a set of bodyweight squats, burpees and pushups or sun salutations. Later, I might go for a 10-minute walk outside. Or just take a break to do some slow, nasal breathing while moving.
This is about telling your nervous system, "I'm capable. I'm safe. I can act."
Research has found that brief bouts of physical movement significantly improve mood, cognitive flexibility, and stress resilience, even more effectively than a prolonged exercise session later in the day.
Studies also show that regular movement reduces the risk of depression by over 25%, regardless of intensity. Just five minutes of movement can help reset your nervous system.
Back in 2006, I coined the term "box breathing." The practice was not original with me, but I found it to be incredibly useful when teaching Navy SEAL candidates.
I do 20 minutes of box breathing in the morning and another 20 minutes in the afternoon or evening. Simply inhale through your nostrils for a five count, hold the breath for a five count, exhale for five, then hold again after the exhale for a final five count.
Done first thing in the morning, it sets your physiological tone for the entire day. For me, 20 minutes is ideal, but even five minutes can help eliminate stress and improve focus and clarity.
Studies from the National Institutes of Health demonstrate that breath-focused mindfulness lowers cortisol levels and improves heart rate variability, which is a key marker of resilience and stress tolerance.
You cannot reason your way out of anxiety when your body is already panicked. Don't wait until you're stressed to breathe. Train yourself to be calm first, and then deploy it under pressure.
Every negative thought you let in, and repeatedly ruminate on, strengthens a neural pathway in your brain. I've found that you can weaken those thoughts by starving them of attention and feeding your courage instead.
This is what I do every day to make that happen for myself:
Research shows that intentionally practicing positive cognitive reframing increases resilience, self-efficacy, and long-term well-being.
Mark Divine is a Commander (Ret), U.S. Navy SEALs and the New York Times bestselling author of "The Way of the SEAL," "Unbeatable Mind" and "Staring Down the Wolf." He is the founder of SEALFIT and Unbeatable. Mark earned his Ph.D in Global Leadership and Change from Pepperdine University.
Want to improve your communication, confidence and success at work? Take CNBC's new online course, Master Your Body Language To Boost Your Influence. Register now and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 20% off. Offer valid from Feb. 9 to Feb. 23, 2026. Terms apply.
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A group of Senate Democrats released legislation on Monday that would mandate refunds of tariffs paid under President Donald Trump's higher duties that the Supreme Court struck down on Friday.
The legislation, led by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Ed Markey of Massachusetts, follows the Supreme Court's momentous 6-3 decision on Friday ruling against a majority of Trump's tariffs.
"Trump's illegal tax scheme has already done lasting damage to American families, small businesses and manufacturers who have been hammered by wave after wave of new Trump tariffs," Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement.
"Senate Democrats will continue fighting to rein in Donald Trump's price-hiking trade and economic policies. A crucial first step is helping people who need it most, by putting money back in the pockets of small businesses and manufacturers as soon as possible," he said.
The White House defended the tariffs and criticized Democrats who are seeking to refund them.
"Democrats spent decades talking about lopsided 'free' trade deals, reshoring middle-class manufacturing jobs, and lowering prescription drug prices," White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in an emailed statement Monday. "President Trump used tariffs to actually deliver where Democrats could only talk, so naturally Democrats are rolling up their sleeves to undermine President Trump and the American people — pathetic but unsurprising."
The U.S. government could be on the hook for more than $175 billion in refunds to importers, according to an estimate from the Penn Wharton Budget Model, which was produced at the request of the Reuters news wire service.
The majority Supreme Court opinion on Friday did not directly reference tariff refunds. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in a dissenting opinion, quoted from oral arguments that the refund process was likely to be a "'mess.'"
"The United States may be required to refund billions of dollars to importers who paid the IEEPA tariffs, even though some importers may have already passed on costs to consumers or others," Kavanaugh wrote, referring to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the 1977 law that the president used to impose sweeping tariffs without congressional authorization last year.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in an interview on Fox News on Friday said refunds would be a logistical nightmare.
"This could take years to litigate and get to a payout," he said. "If there is a payout, it looks like it's just going to be the ultimate corporate welfare. What you don't know, did a Chinese supplier lower their price? Did they lower their price because of the tariff. The product came into the U.S. They paid the same price but they're going to get a refund on the tariff."
House Democrats are also trying to compel refunds.
Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., on Friday introduced a bill with a similar aim in the House. Democrats are seizing on the issue — which has proven unpopular even within the ranks of the congressional GOP — ahead of a closely watched midterm election. But neither proposal has a clear path to passage with Republican majorities in both chambers and the White House's steadfast commitment to tariffs.
The Senate bill would require Customs and Border Protection to pay refunds of all tariffs imposed using Trump's novel reading of IEEPA.
CBP would have 180 days after enactment to process all refunds with interest and to prioritize payments to small businesses when possible. It also directs importers, wholesalers and large corporations to pass those refunds on to their customers.
"President Trump's reckless and chaotic tariffs have only caused uncertainty and pain — raising prices on consumers and businesses when they can least afford it," Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. "Now that the Supreme Court has made it clear that the President did not have the authority to unilaterally impose sweeping emergency tariffs, it's critical that American families and small businesses get the relief they need."
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Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei will meet with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon on Tuesday morning to discuss how the military will use the startup's artificial intelligence models, according to a senior Department of Defense official.
Negotiations between Anthropic and the DoD have hit a snag in recent weeks as the two organizations have clashed over the terms of use for Anthropic's technology.
Anthropic wants assurance that its models will not be used for autonomous weapons or to spy on Americans. The DoD has made clear it wants to use Anthropic's models "for all lawful use cases," without limitation.
As of February, Anthropic is the only AI company that has deployed its models on the DoD's classified networks and provided customized models to national security customers. The company was awarded a $200 million contract with the DoD last year.
Axios was first to report the upcoming meeting between Amodei and Hegseth.
The conflict has been the latest hurdle in Anthropic's increasingly strained relationship with the Trump administration, which has publicly criticized the company in recent months. The meeting between Amodei and Hegseth could help the organizations come to a resolution and establish a path forward.
"Anthropic is committed to using frontier AI in support of U.S. national security," a spokesperson said Monday, adding that the company is having "productive conversations, in good faith" with the DoD about how to "get these complex issues right."
Anthropic was founded in 2021 by a group of former OpenAI researchers, and the startup is best known for developing a family of AI models called Claude. The company closed a $30 billion funding round earlier this month, pushing its valuation to $380 billion.
WATCH: OpenAI, Anthropic CEOs make case for companies on global stage
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This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Steven Polito, 49, a drag performer from New York with the stage name Hedda Lettuce. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I am a native New Yorker who lives in Puerto Vallarta during the winter.
As a drag performer, it's a great place to be — it's a very LGBTQ+ friendly community here. There's a lot of theater, a lot of cabaret, and great restaurants. It's also walkable, which I love.
The moment you leave the house here, it's like one big "hello." That's what's really special about this place.
It's why I come here — and why I'm still going to come back. Being part of a community means staying when things are tough.
I went to the gym at 8:30 a.m. and I was struck by how unusually quiet it was. Then, my friend at the gym told me the city is under attack by a cartel and I had to stay put.
When I left around 10:00 a.m., it was a very different scene.
Everyday life was juxtaposed against horrendous property damage. There was an older woman sweeping leaves in the street, while burned-out car after burned-out car was in flames.
My neighborhood was particularly hard-hit. One neighbor pointed out a burned out car that belonged to another neighbor who's an Uber driver with two young children. That was the bulk of his income.
My nerves are shot a bit from the sensory overload of all of it. I've had some tough experiences, but never anything like this.
As I walked home from the gym, I saw a restaurant that I go to three, four times a week. They offered me coffee. Despite everything, they were trying to be good neighbors.
I saw people were cleaning up the burnt out cars: it's neighbors taking care of neighbors.
I could go back to New York City, but we have to think in a less cavalier way. People who live here don't have the luxury of getting up and going.
During COVID, I stayed in Puerto Vallarta the entire time instead of going back to the States. We all thought it was going to just crumble around us. But somehow, everyone found their way and part of that was through the community.
The strength of the community, that's what's so great about Puerto Vallarta.
I've experienced it firsthand and that's what keeps it going. People persevere here.
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Popular tourist sites in Mexico were caught up in a wave of violence on Sunday following a security operation that killed a powerful drug lord.
Members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, an organized criminal group, set fire to businesses and torched vehicles across the country in retaliation for the death of their leader, Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera Cervantes.
The violence was heaviest in Jalisco, the home of the cartel and the state where "El Mencho" was killed, but the Mexican Security Cabinet said it had set up more than 250 roadblocks across 20 Mexican states on Sunday.
In a press conference on Monday morning, Claudia Sheinbaum, the Mexican President, said the situation had de-escalated, and all roadblocks had been cleared.
Amid the wave of violence, the US urged its citizens in Mexico to shelter in place on Sunday evening.
The violence has caused ongoing travel disruption, and most domestic and international flights in Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta were canceled on Sunday.
Keep scrolling to see photos of the aftermath of the violence across several parts of the country.
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In 2022, Google spun out a project focused on high-speed communications networks into a startup called Aalyria. Less than four years later, Aalyria is being valued by investors at $1.3 billion in a new funding round, reflecting soaring demand for reliable, speedy telecommunications.
Aalyria's software helps networks deliver better service across land, at sea and in space. Its $100 million in fresh funding lands as the U.S. government bolsters its spending on defense technology and national security satellites, and as the Trump administration seeks to outpace China.
SpaceX's Starlink has been snapping up government contracts, and gaining popularity with consumers, especially in areas that aren't well served by traditional high-speed internet. Rivals like Eutelsat, Amazon and others are investing heavily in their own services.
Google is retaining a stake in Aalyria. Battery Ventures led the new funding round, joined by firms including J2 Ventures and DYNE.
Michael Brown, a general partner at Battery, said SpaceX's success in commercializing lower earth orbit satellites with Starlink has "stoked competitive fears of satellite vendors." In the early days of Russia's war on Ukraine, after SpaceX turned off Starlink over Crimea, the U.S. and European countries sought greater diversity among service providers.
"They love Starlink but want alternatives, too," Brown said. "This is where Aalyria comes into play. When you have a diversity of satellite platforms, including in lower and mid-earth orbit, the ability to route traffic between them has been nearly impossible. But they provide a seamless networking layer."
Aalyria has already locked in contracts or research funding from partners, including Telesat, the U.S. Air Force, NASA, the Defense Department's Defense Innovation Unit, the European Space Agency and other government offices.
When a natural disaster takes out cell towers on the ground, Aalyria's Spacetime software allows a satellite communications network to move to cover the effected location within seconds rather than days, according to founder and technology chief Brian Barritt.
In space, the company's software directs satellites in a constellation to automatically reconfigure to fill gaps that occur when others are degraded for any reason.
Barritt said one challenge in the market is that companies building space-based networks have so much at stake, and may want to build network orchestration solutions from scratch. It takes time to gain their confidence, he said, but "once they realize the benefit in being able to have their network operating system federate with others, orchestrate networks of networks, and monetize unused capacity, that tips the scales in our favor."
Aalyria also sells hardware called Tightbeam, a laser-communication system, that can be affixed to a ship, a plane or other aircraft, enabling it to transmit data over distances longer than 100 kilometers, and at rates comparable to fiber internet cable.
The technology behind Aalyria's Spacetime software was developed within Google and used as part of the company's Project Loon, an initiative to use high-altitude balloons to beam internet service to underserved communities. Its Tightbeam systems were also developed at Google and before that at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Alphabet wound down Project Loon in 2021, opening up an opportunity for Aalyria's founding team to acquire and commercialize the technology. Barritt was previously a senior staff software engineer at Google, with prior experience at Cisco and NASA, while founding CEO Chris Taylor is a national security expert.
Taylor brings decades of experience selling technology to the U.S. government and ally nations for civil and military purposes. He locked in the company's first outside funding from investors including Arthur Patterson, co-founder of venture firm Accel Partners.
Headquartered in Livermore, California, with offices in Washington D.C., Pittsburgh and London, Aalyria now has about 90 employees, and has attracted talent from Google, Amazon, Meta and NASA. With the fresh funding, Aalyria plans to grow headcount by at least a third over the next year, Taylor said, while also investing in product, engineering and customer support.
Battery's Brown said he expects the funding will enable the company to "get their first constellations launched, operating in space, running Aalyria every minute of every day, and begin capturing additional commercial and government opportunities."
WATCH: Why the U.S. and SpaceX need each other
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OpenAI on Monday announced it is entering into multiyear partnerships with four consulting firms that will help the company deploy its enterprise platform called Frontier.
The artificial intelligence startup said it has formed "Frontier Alliances" with Accenture, Boston Consulting Group, Capgemini and McKinsey & Co., according to a release. The company declined to share the financial details of the partnerships.
Lan Guan, the chief AI and data officer at Accenture, said OpenAI's Frontier Alliances serve as an example of how product companies, consulting companies and strategy companies should come together to accelerate AI deployment.
"This is the inflection moment," Guan said in an interview. "It's our time to help enterprise clients to actually realize the value of AI."
OpenAI is racing against rivals like Google and Anthropic to win users and market share, and the company has made an aggressive push to court enterprise customers in recent months. OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar told CNBC in January that enterprises account for roughly 40% of OpenAI's business, though she expects that figure to reach closer to 50% by the end of the year.
Frontier, which OpenAI unveiled earlier this month, acts as an intelligence layer that stitches together disparate systems and data within an organization. It aims to make it easier for companies to manage, deploy and build AI agents, which are tools that can independently complete tasks on behalf of a user.
OpenAI said its consulting partners will help its customers define their strategy and get agents into real production workflows more quickly.
"It pairs the foundation with deep on-the-ground implementation and expertise to help companies really make this happen," Denise Dresser, OpenAI's chief revenue officer, told CNBC in an interview.
Dresser said OpenAI decided to partner with consulting firms because they have existing relationships with enterprises and deep knowledge about how those businesses operate. She said there's also far more demand for AI than any one company could address on its own.
Fernando Alvarez, Capgemini's chief strategy and development officer, said OpenAI is counting on its Frontier Alliances to help roll out its technology at scale.
"It's not an easy task," Alvarez told CNBC in an interview. "If it was a walk in the park, OpenAI would have done it by themselves, so it's recognition that it takes a village."
The consulting firms will work alongside OpenAI's forward deployed engineers, who have deep technical expertise and are embedded directly within different businesses.
The firms are also building teams and investing in "dedicated practice groups" that will be certified on OpenAI technology. They'll be supported with road map insight, access to technical resources, and OpenAI's product and research teams, OpenAI said.
WATCH: A once quiet rivalry between OpenAI and Anthropic is heating up
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With the Trump administration reigniting its battle with Harvard University, future applicants may be wondering where they stand.
In the latest blow, the government sued Harvard on Feb. 13 for withholding race-related admissions data in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling that the Ivy League's affirmative action admission policies were unconstitutional.
"Harvard has failed to disclose the data we need to ensure that its admissions are free of discrimination — we will continue fighting to put merit over DEI across America," Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.
After the Supreme Court declared race-conscious admissions unconstitutional, the Justice Department initiated compliance reviews of Harvard's undergraduate, medical school and law school programs. The objective was to determine whether Harvard continued to "unlawfully discriminate against applicants for admission on the ground of race," according to the complaint.
The Justice Department said that Harvard "slow-walked" the pace at which it produced the documents requested by the DOJ.
"If Harvard has stopped discriminating, it should happily share the data necessary to prove it," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division also said in the press release.
The lawsuit itself is a partially strategic move, according to Jamie Beaton, co-founder and CEO of Crimson Education, a college consulting firm.
"Harvard is the wealthiest university with a $56.9 billion endowment," Beaton told CNBC. "There is definitely a scapegoating, both on the side of the government … and, in turn, Harvard feeling that sense of moral responsibility to set precedents that are largely favorable for their peers that don't have as many resources to fight back."
In a statement emailed to CNBC, Harvard said it "has been responding to the government's inquiries in good faith and continues to be willing to engage with the government according to the process required by law."
Since the 2023 Supreme Court ruling found that race-conscious policies discriminated against Asian American applicants, the admissions office doesn't consider, look at or review the racial and ethnic composition of the applying class until the admissions cycle is complete, including waitlists, according to a university spokesperson.
Among other measures, Harvard also reinstated standardized testing requirements in 2024 as part of the admissions process, "which recent research has affirmed is valuable for identifying talent from across the socioeconomic range," the spokesperson said.
Still, experts say the Supreme Court's decision was a major setback in efforts to boost enrollment of minorities from marginalized backgrounds through policies that took into account applicants' race.
In the admission cycles that followed the ruling, "Harvard has largely complied," Beaton said.
"If you look at the data, there's been a massive growth in the number of Asian Americans getting in," he said.
For the Class of 2029, Asian American students made up 41% of roughly 2,000 admitted students, up from 29.9% for the Class of 2027, the last class admitted before the ruling on affirmative action. "When you look at those numbers, it would suggest they don't really have all that much to hide," Beaton said.
By compelling Harvard to make this admissions data more accessible, "this lawsuit has broken open the long-secret world of 'holistic admissions,'" said Christopher Rim, president and CEO of Command Education, a New York-based college consulting firm.
"Asian American students at elite institutions have long suspected that the game was rigged — now, we know that for certain," he said. "However, while this may diminish the university's sheen in the eyes of some, it's unlikely to dramatically change the demand for a Harvard education," he added.
At the nation's most elite colleges, including the Ivy League, applications have only continued to skyrocket, driving acceptance rates near rock bottom. Harvard's acceptance rate was under 4% for the Class of 2029, down from more than 10% two decades ago; similarly, both Princeton and Yale had acceptance rates under 5%, down from 12% and 10%, respectively. Battling with the federal government is unlikely to change that trend, experts say.
For students applying to Harvard or other top colleges in the years ahead, "the general advice is that academics have become an even more important priority than they have been historically," Beaton said.
"The bar for academic rigor has gone up," he said. "I would say full steam ahead on the academics and don't blink too much on the lawsuits."
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This is CNBC's Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox.
Happy Monday. With the Winter Olympics officially wrapped up, many athletes are leaving Italy with more than just a medal.
Stock futures are lower this morning following a winning week for all three major indexes.
Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
The Supreme Court on Friday struck down many of President Donald Trump's tariffs, ruling in a 6-3 vote that the law underpinning these duties "does not authorize the President to impose tariffs." Hours later, Trump responded by announcing a new 10% global levy, which on Saturday he hiked to 15%.
Here's the latest:
The National Weather Service this weekend put much of the Northeast under a blizzard warning, as heavy snow continues the fall on the region this morning. Airlines canceled thousands of flights and waved change and cancellation fees for airports across the East Coast.
As CNBC's Leslie Josephs reports, 15% of scheduled U.S. departures on Monday were canceled, as carriers try to shepherd travelers during the busy winter break period. The blizzard comes a month after January's Winter Storm Fern created a massive headache for airlines and travelers.
The Transportation Security Administration also said yesterday that PreCheck airport security lanes were operating as expected. The Department of Homeland Security had said hours earlier that PreCheck was paused due to the partial government shutdown.
Trump over the weekend called on Netflix to fire board member Susan Rice, writing in a social media post that the streaming giant should fire Rice "IMMEDIATELY, or pay the consequences."
Rice, who was former President Joe Biden's domestic policy chief, said last week that Democrats would hold organizations who "bent the knee" to Trump accountable if the party takes back power in the midterm elections.
Trump's call for Rice's removal comes as the Department of Justice reviews Netflix's proposed acquisition of fellow media company Warner Bros. Discovery. Trump told NBC News earlier this month that the DOJ was handling the deal and that he would not be involved in the review process.
CNBC's Morning Squawk recaps the biggest stories investors should know before the stock market opens, every weekday morning.
Subscribe here to get access today.
OpenAI is now telling investors that it expects roughly $600 billion in total compute spend by 2030. That's a significant decrease from the $1.4 trillion figure the AI startup previously touted for infrastructure commitments.
As CNBC's Kate Rooney and Ashley Capoot report, the move comes amid concerns over whether OpenAI can generate enough revenue to justify investments at that scale. The company is now expecting more than $280 billion in revenue for 2030, sources told CNBC. For comparison, OpenAI raked in slightly over $13 billion last year.
Hasbro and Mattel have fought to lead the toy industry for decades. But as the industry exits a period marked by sales declines, it's Hasbro that appears to be winning Wall Street's favor.
Hasbro has seen a boost from its Wizards of the Coast unit, which houses Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering and its digital and video game roster. The company saw overall revenue growth of 14% in the 2025 fiscal year, with 45% revenue growth in the Wizards unit. In the same period, Mattel's net sales slid 1%.
Meanwhile, Mattel's American Girl brand is celebrating its 40th anniversary. But sales are well off their peak seen around a decade ago, as the toymaker struggles to keep its dolls relevant in the digital era.
Here's what we're tracking this week:
— CNBC's Kevin Breuninger, Lori Ann LaRocco Sarah Min, Justin Papp, Hugh Leask, Dan Mangan, Amitoj Singh, Holly Ellyatt, Annie Palmer, Sara Salinas, Melissa Repko, Jeff Cox, Sean Conlon, Leslie Josephs, Kate Rooney, Ashley Capoot, Sarah Whitten and Luke Fountain contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.
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U.S. and Canadian airlines halted flights to Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara in Mexico after violence broke out in the country in the wake of the Mexican army's killing of a cartel leader.
The U.S. State Department on Sunday told U.S. citizens to shelter in place, citing "ongoing security operations and related road blockages and criminal activity."
Air Canada, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and others canceled flights to Puerto Vallarta, a popular tourist destination on Mexico's Pacific coast, and to Guadalajara, which is also in the Jalisco state. Airlines waived change fees for affected travelers.
Flights to other major airports in the country, like Mexico City and Cancun, weren't impacted by the unrest.
Several Mexican states also canceled school on Monday after the country's army killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes. Known as "El Mencho," he led one of fastest-growing criminal networks in Mexico, notorious for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine to the United States and staging brazen attacks against government officials who challenged it, The Associated Press reported.
He was killed during a shoot-out in his home state of Jalisco, AP said.
Airlines routinely suspend service due to unrest and infrastructure problems to avoid having passengers, crews and aircraft stranded.
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The head of Netflix has responded publicly for the first time to President Donald Trump's calls for it to remove Susan Rice from its board.
"This is a business deal. It's not a political deal," Ted Sarandos, the co-CEO of Netflix, told the BBC's Today program on Monday, referring to the company's bid to buy Warner Bros. "This deal is run by the Department of Justice in the US, and regulators throughout Europe and around the world."
In a Saturday Truth Social post, Trump called on Netflix to fire Rice, a former US ambassador and national security advisor in the Obama and Biden administrations, from its board of directors.
Trump was responding to comments Rice made in a podcast about corporations that "take a knee to Trump," warning that they could face retribution from a future Democratic administration.
When asked by the BBC how big a deal it was for the president to weigh in on Rice, Sarandos said: "He likes to do a lot of things on social media."
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It comes at a delicate time for Netflix, which is battling Paramount to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. A deal would require approval from the Department of Justice's antitrust division.
Earlier this month, Trump had said he "shouldn't be involved" in the deal. But that changed over the weekend, with the president writing that Netflix should remove Rice from its board "or pay the consequences."
Business Insider's Peter Kafka called Trump's demands an "extraordinary use of power" and said it's a reminder that the White House would be involved in the future of Warner Bros., regardless of what Trump is saying at any given moment.
Speaking to the BBC, Sarandos said his pitch to Trump for Netflix's Warner Bros. bid is "growth in the economy."
He said that Netflix's deal is a "vertical merger" in which the company is buying assets it doesn't already have, and so it will be "adding to the market."
While Netflix is seeking to buy Warner Bros. streaming and studio assets, Paramount is looking to buy all of the company.
The board of Warner Bros. Discovery earlier gave Paramount a seven-day window to submit a new offer, which expires at the end of Monday.
On February 17, WBD told shareholders that "a senior representative" from Paramount said the company would pay at least $31 per share for WBD, and that the bid wasn't the company's "best and final" proposal. The company's previous bid in December was for $30 per share.
Disclosure: Mathias Döpfner, the CEO of Business Insider's parent company, is a Netflix board member.
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Finland-based quantum computing startup IQM announced plans Monday to become one of Europe's first publicly listed companies in the sector.
IQM will merge with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Real Asset Acquisition Corp as part of the listing in New York. The deal, which gives IQM an initial equity valuation of $1.8 billion, is pending shareholders' approval and other regulatory conditions being met, the firm said in a Monday statement.
The company is eyeing the transaction being completed around June this year, with the listing to happen shortly after that. It's also considering a dual listing on the Helsinki stock exchange.
Founded in 2018, IQM raised $320 million in a Series B funding round in September, which valued the company at $1 billion. The round was led by Ten Eleven Ventures, a U.S. cybersecurity-focused investment firm, while Finnish venture capital firm Tesi also invested.
IQM is building full-stack, open-architecture quantum systems that can be deployed on-premise or accessed via the cloud.
The merger could provide over $300 million in funding for the company, in the form of private investment in public equity financing and cash held in RAAQ's trust account, assuming no redemptions (when investors in the SPAC withdraw their money from the transaction ahead of the listing).
Quantum computing promises to run calculations vastly quicker than classical computers can, solving more complex problems and processing larger volumes of data. Proponents of the technology say it could be used to facilitate breakthroughs in areas like medicine, science and finance.
While the tech is not yet deployed in commercial environments and still has significant technical obstacles to overcome to become viable, some analysts are particularly bullish on the quantum sector.
"Whilst progress has been slow and there have been many challenges, we are starting to see meaningful breakthroughs in the quantum space," UBS analysts wrote in a report in January.
"Quantum computing is a science project no more," Jan Goetz, cofounder and CEO at IQM, said. "It is an industry where customers own, operate and build on advanced quantum computers."
IQM has sold 21 quantum systems to 13 customers to date, the company said. It made at least $35 million in unaudited revenue in 2025.
As some businesses eye commercial deployment of quantum computers by the end of the decade, discussions have begun about how they will integrate with the data center sector.
IQM is one of a number of European players in the quantum computing space. U.K.-based Quantinuum raised $800 million across two rounds last year, with Spain's Multiverse Computing picking up 189 million euros in a Series B last year.
China is leading in terms of public investment in the sector. The country has funnelled just short of $18 billion in public investment in quantum technology, followed closely by the EU, according to the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE), a think tank.
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Merck said on Monday it would split its business into two, creating a distinct division for its cancer franchise led by blockbuster drug Keytruda while grouping its non-oncology treatments separately.
The restructuring underscores the U.S. drugmaker's push to diversify beyond Keytruda and other legacy medicines as key patents near expiration. Merck has tripled its pipeline since 2021 and purchased Cidara Therapeutics and Verona Pharma in roughly $10 billion deals last year to broaden its portfolio. Its shares were flat in early trading.
The reshuffling could be a precursor to major moves over the long term than what the muted stock reaction might suggest, said James Harlow, Senior Vice President at Novare Capital Management.
"The company now has more optionality to separate or spin off one of these businesses in the future," he said.
The pharma major previously spun off its women's health and biosimilars business in 2021 into a standalone company called Organon. The latest split, however, does not involve its animal health division.
Merck's major growth driver, Keytruda, approved for several forms of cancer, is the best-selling prescription medicine in the world. The treatment generated more than $30 billion in 2025 and accounted for nearly half of the company's total revenue.
Citi analysts said the split helps clearly distinguish Merck's mature oncology portfolio from its newer, acquisition-driven assets, but warned that more work is still needed in commercial execution, business development and pipeline delivery to fully offset upcoming loss-of-exclusivity pressures.
The split follows Merck's downbeat 2026 forecast issued earlier this month, where it warned of lower-than-expected sales and profit as several legacy drugs near loss of exclusivity and face generic pressure.
Merck also appointed Jannie Oosthuizen as executive vice president and president of the cancer business. Oosthuizen most recently served as senior vice president and president of Merck Human Health U.S., where he led strategy and commercialization for the company's U.S. portfolio.
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Merck said on Monday it would split its business into two, creating a distinct division for its cancer franchise led by blockbuster drug Keytruda while grouping its non-oncology treatments separately.
The restructuring underscores the U.S. drugmaker's push to diversify beyond Keytruda and other legacy medicines as key patents near expiration. Merck has tripled its pipeline since 2021 and purchased Cidara Therapeutics and Verona Pharma in roughly $10 billion deals last year to broaden its portfolio. Its shares were flat in early trading.
The reshuffling could be a precursor to major moves over the long term than what the muted stock reaction might suggest, said James Harlow, Senior Vice President at Novare Capital Management.
"The company now has more optionality to separate or spin off one of these businesses in the future," he said.
The pharma major previously spun off its women's health and biosimilars business in 2021 into a standalone company called Organon. The latest split, however, does not involve its animal health division.
Merck's major growth driver, Keytruda, approved for several forms of cancer, is the best-selling prescription medicine in the world. The treatment generated more than $30 billion in 2025 and accounted for nearly half of the company's total revenue.
Citi analysts said the split helps clearly distinguish Merck's mature oncology portfolio from its newer, acquisition-driven assets, but warned that more work is still needed in commercial execution, business development and pipeline delivery to fully offset upcoming loss-of-exclusivity pressures.
The split follows Merck's downbeat 2026 forecast issued earlier this month, where it warned of lower-than-expected sales and profit as several legacy drugs near loss of exclusivity and face generic pressure.
Merck also appointed Jannie Oosthuizen as executive vice president and president of the cancer business. Oosthuizen most recently served as senior vice president and president of Merck Human Health U.S., where he led strategy and commercialization for the company's U.S. portfolio.
Got a confidential news tip? We want to hear from you.
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Almost 40 flights were diverted on Sunday after cartel violence erupted in parts of Mexico.
The figure suggests that thousands of people will wake up in a different city than they expected on Monday morning.
The majority of the diverted flights, 30, were headed to Puerto Vallarta — a resort town on Mexico's Pacific Coast, which is particularly popular with American and Canadian tourists.
Around 370 flights in and out of Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara have also been canceled on Sunday and Monday, according to data from FlightAware.
Another nine were bound for nearby Guadalajara, including an Aeromexico flight from Madrid.
Those passengers spent nearly 11 hours in the air before landing in Monterey, some 400 miles away from their destination, per data from Flightradar24. The airline didn't immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside local working hours.
Of all the diversions, 24 returned to their origins, which is often known as a flight to nowhere.
They included two WestJet flights from Calgary to Puerto Vallarta, which took off about 30 minutes apart, per flight-tracking data. Both of them U-turned around 11 a.m. ET — one was near Albuquerque, and the other was over Colorado.
Passengers on the earlier flight were back in Alberta almost 5 hours after takeoff.
Two private jets heading to Puerto Vallarta were also diverted, according to data from Flightradar24.
One of them, a midsize Embraer Praetor 500, flew about an hour from Austin before turning around near Monterey and going back to where it started.
A Dassault Falcon 2000, owned by a fruit-and-vegetable wholesaler, took off from Chicago but U-turned over southern Texas and diverted to San Antonio. After an hour and a half on the ground, it returned to the Windy City, per flight-tracking data.
While no airports have been closed, roadblocks have led to flight cancellations in Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, the US Embassy in Mexico said.
The US and Canada also urged their citizens to shelter in place.
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Oil retreated from a six-month high on Monday after Oman announced that a third round of talks between Washington and Tehran will continue this week in Geneva.
Tensions have remained on high alert throughout the Middle East for weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump indicated a strike on Iran could be imminent.
Since then, a sense of calm has returned to oil markets, after reports on Friday indicated that any strike would be limited to military installations or government sites, reducing the risk for a protracted conflict between the two countries, and retaliation by Iran towards U.S. bases in the region.
"The geopolitical atmosphere, at least for today, has moderated a little bit, and I think that's what we're seeing being reflected in the pullback in prices," Edward Bell, acting chief economist at Emirates NBD, told CNBC's Dan Murphy on Monday.
Brent rallied to a six-month high of $71 last week, as Iran-related supply fears drove up risk premium, which Goldman Sachs said has embedded around $6 into the price of oil.
The third round of indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran are expected to continue in Geneva on Thursday between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff. The talks will be mediated by Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi.
The Trump Administration has been pushing for concessions regarding Iran's nuclear program since talks restarted earlier this month in Oman. Relations had been at a standstill after Trump withdrew the United States from the JCPOA in 2018. The U.S. maintains that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons and cannot enrich uranium, meanwhile, Tehran has long argued its nuclear program is exclusively for civilian purposes.
Iran's Aragchi has made several appearances on U.S. networks in recent days, in an attempt to communicate Iran's position. He spent over 20 minutes with MS Now's Morning Joe program on Friday. Over the weekend, Aragchi told CBS news Iran is "still working on" a proposal to present to Witkoff, but the country is "prepared to talk and negotiate on those drafts" at the meeting in Geneva on Thursday, adding that a "good chance" remained for a diplomatic solution on the nuclear issue.
Iran is "committed to peace and stability in the region," Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday on X.
"Recent negotiations involved the exchange of practical proposals and yielded encouraging signals. However, we continue to closely monitor U.S. actions and have made all necessary preparations for any potential scenario," he added.
A second straight day of student protests has also taken place across Tehran. Students clashed with pro-regime demonstrators, commemorating lives lost in a brutal crackdown last month after nationwide protests engulfed Iran. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said at least 7,015 people were killed in the previous protests and crackdown, which the country's Supreme Leader blamed on the U.S. and Trump.
The United States has since built out its largest military presence in the region, sending a second carrier strike group to the Middle East to join the USS Abraham Lincoln, which currently sits just 150 miles off the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea.
While American assets in the region are pointed at Iran, "it's especially impossible to know what Trump is going to do," Tina Fordham, founder of Fordham Global Foresight, told CNBC's Ian King on Monday.
"We're still several days out from Thursday. There's still no clarity in terms of how much commitment either side wants to have to make a deal. And as you've heard the commentary from both Iranian and U.S. officials, there's still quite a lot of gap between them in terms of key points that they're debating," Bell told CNBC.
Trump's ambitions in Iran might also have been set back by a recent Supreme Court ruling which found many of his sweeping tariffs announced last year to be illegal, casting fresh uncertainty over the president's signature economic policy.
When it comes to Iran, what President Trump could end up deciding could swing either way, analysts told CNBC on Monday.
"Trump has a lot of avenues available that he can pursue, but the fact that he's been dealt this blow by the Supreme Court suggests that he's not going to be able to pursue this path seamlessly," Fordham added.
According to the U.S. Constitution, Congress has the sole power to send U.S. troops to war, except for limited strikes for national security reasons. Both Republicans and Democrats have warned that the president needs Congressional approval before any potential action against Iran is taken.
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The US and Canada urged their citizens in parts of Mexico to shelter in place as a Mexican cartel retaliated for the death of its leader.
In a post shared on X at 11:22 p.m. EST on Sunday, the Department of State Consular Affairs wrote that US government staff will continue to shelter in place on Monday.
Mexico: Update - Due to ongoing security operations & related road blockages & criminal activity, U.S. citizens in a number of locations in Mexico are urged to shelter in place, as U.S. government staff in several locations are doing and will continue to do on Feb 23. While no… pic.twitter.com/OxPzmcdFYT
In videos shared online, burning vehicles and plumes of smoke could be seen rising from Puerto Vallarta and other cities in Mexico.
On Monday morning, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a press conference that the situation had de-escalated.
"Peace, security, and normalcy are being maintained in the country," Sheinbuam said.
Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, Mexico's Secretary of National Defense, said in the press conference that 2,500 reinforcements had been sent to Jalisco, meaning roughly 7,000 military personnel were in the state on Monday to maintain control.
Business Insider spoke to Steven Polito, a drag performer from New York who spends five to six months a year in Puerto Vallarta, about what he saw on Sunday.
He described seeing the "juxtaposition of everyday life still going on" set against "horrendous property damage."
"There were these burnt out cars in flames, and then there was this older Mexican woman still sweeping the leaves in the street," Polito said.
Linda Armijo, 70, told Business Insider she's been traveling from the US to Puerto Vallarta regularly for 25 years and has "never, ever felt scared or anxious" there. In an interview on Monday, she said she still feels safe in her building.
"It's a minor inconvenience not being able to leave, but my biggest emotions are sadness and concern for the people of Puerto Vallarta," Armijo said.
Puerto Vallarta media reported that cars near a Costco and several other stores were set on fire. Costco did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
The US Embassy in Mexico said in a statement on its website that no airports have been closed, but most domestic and international flights have been canceled in both Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta. All ride-hailing services are suspended in Puerto Vallarta.
Flights already on their way to the region from the US turned around, and Air Canada said it was suspending operations to Puerto Vallarta on Sunday and Monday.
The US State Department said roadblocks have impacted airline operations and told travelers to seek shelter and remain in residences or hotels.
Flights to Mexico City, Edmonton, Houston, Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Denver, Detroit, and Toronto were canceled on early Monday morning, per the Puerto Vallarta Airport.
Holland America Line canceled a cruise stop in Puerto Vallarta that had been scheduled for Monday. The company told Cruise Hive that after monitoring the situation in Western Mexico, they decided to cancel the scheduled visit "to prioritize the safety of our guests and team members."
Puerto Vallarta is one of Mexico's most popular tourist destinations for Americans and Canadians. The area gained fame from the 70s and 80s show "The Love Boat," which was often set there.
The town, which is more popular during winter months, received 232,200 foreign visitors in December 2025, according to economic data curator CEIC. It has been attracting more foreign tourists over the last 10 years.
As the violence spread, the State Department updated its travel warning to include other popular tourist destinations in Mexico, including Cancún and Tulum.
The region is slated to host two major tennis tournaments this week: the Women's Tennis Association's Merida Open in Merida and the Association of Tennis Professionals' Mexican Open in Acapulco. The two organizers did not immediately respond to questions from Business Insider about whether the games will still take place.
The Mexican government said the retaliatory violence came after it killed Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera Cervantes, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, on Sunday.
The State Department announced last week that it had sanctioned Kovay Gardens — a Mexican timeshare resort — and 17 other companies and five individuals linked to "timeshare fraud schemes" organized by the Jalisco cartel.
"Many of these individuals and entities are based in or near Puerto Vallarta, a popular tourist destination that also serves as a strategic stronghold for CJNG," a press release from the Treasury Department said.
In 2024, the US State Department said it would pay a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Cervantes. The department said that under Cervantes, the cartel has killed rival trafficking groups and law enforcement.
If you are on the ground in Mexico and have a story to share, get in touch with our reporters via email: ccheong@insider.com (Charissa) and @rshahidi@insider.com (Roya).
Kelly Burch contributed reporting.
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Anthropic's Boris Cherny has a simple list of principles for his team and, unsurprisingly, Claude is at the center.
"If you have Claude, you can really automate a lot of work, and that's kind of what we see over and over," Cherny said during a recent episode of "Lenny's podcast."
Host Lenny Rachitsky told Cherny that he heard one of the principles is, "What's better than doing something? Having Claude do it."
Cherny said one of his other principles is "underfunding things a little bit," because it forces his team to really rely on AI tools like Claude.
"There's this interesting thing when you underfund everything a little bit, because then people are kind of forced to Claude-ify," he said.
While keeping teams small is important, Cherny said that he encourages CTOs not to "cost-cut at the beginning."
"Start by just giving engineers as many tokens as possible," he said.
Cherny pushed back on the notion that Anthropic would make huge profits with such an approach, especially if companies let only a few engineers experiment.
"Let's say they build something awesome, and then it takes a huge amount of tokens, and then the cost becomes pretty big," he said. "That's the point at which you want to optimize it, but don't do that too early."
Token cost, which is part of what companies pay to use AI models, is becoming a major point of conversation at some tech companies. OpenCode creator Dax Raad recently wrote that some CFOs are experiencing sticker shock upon seeing how much extra money each engineer costs due to AI usage bills.
The last principle concerns speed: "Encouraging people to go faster." It's an axiom that makes sense when you consider that just weeks ago, Anthropic and rival OpenAI released major updates to their coding tools within minutes of each other. Before that, Anthropic used Claude to help build Claude Cowork, a non-technical Claude agent, in just 10 days.
"Early on, it was really important because it was just me, and so our only advantage was speed," Cherny said. "That's the only way that we could ship a product that would compete in this very crowded coding market."
Now, Cherny said, he turns to Claude to help with speed.
"It's still very much a principle we have on the team," he said, "and if you want to go faster, a really good way to do that is to just have Claude do more stuff. So it just very much encourages that."
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The next generation of marketing leaders is helping brands navigate an industry being rocked by new tech and a changing competitive landscape.
Business Insider is highlighting 16 rising stars who are looking to take the industry to new heights. They're making use of emerging tools like generative AI and tapping into cultural insights to create work that grabs attention and drives growth.
One of this year's cohorts has helped a major beauty brand steer away from traditional "antiaging" messaging. Another led social media and influencer marketing for one of the biggest AI hardware launches of the last year.
This list is based on our reporting and more than 40 nominations. These marketers sit below the CMO level and represent a variety of roles, ranging from creative to social media and experiential marketing.
They come from blue-chip brands like Nestlé and Disney, as well as startups like Apollo.io and Tennr.
Scroll on to check out our 2026 rising stars of brand marketing cohort, listed alphabetically by last name.
If you want more stories that give you an inside look at the changes shaping marketing, subscribe to Business Insider's forthcoming weekly newsletter, CMO Insider.
Ferrigno is turning the animal-health company Zoetis' organic marketing channels into revenue drivers. She leads a team of four marketers and multiple agency partners, and is responsible for setting the vision, aligning priorities, and coaching her team and other leaders in the business on best practices.
After the company brought content marketing and SEO in-house, Ferrigno generated about 50,000 leads in a year and helped the division deliver $26 million in annual sales and $4.1 million in savings, the company said.
Ferrigno is also involved with other high-impact company initiatives.
She took on the role of content lead for Zoetis' generative-AI pilot program, advising on governance and use cases to scale content production in the highly regulated animal-health industry. Ferrigno has been involved in driving content for the company's brand campaigns, such as the launch of its Breed Explorer interactive content experience.
Her work has been recognized with multiple awards, including the New Jersey Ad Club's "Top Marketing Mavericks Under 40" and a Vetty award for the best digital education tool.
Last year, Gee took charge of the creative vision behind Edmunds' largest brand awareness campaign, "Project Triple Play."
The campaign played on the idea that the Los Angeles Dodgers super-utility player Tommy Edman's name sounds quite a lot like "Edmunds." With a media budget of less than $1 million, Gee had to get creative and developed a "go deep" campaign strategy designed to simulate a national impact in a single critical market: LA, the brand's hometown and the nation's biggest car market.
Gee's team made 30 creative assets in-house, including its hero ad, "Edman on the Street," a high-energy street interview with quick cuts and a playful tone. He also led the team's use of AI, leveraging the generative-AI tool Midjourney to quickly bring concepts to life.
Gee created a "war room" approach, aligning brand marketing, PR, product, and external agency partners so the brand could quickly respond with content as the Dodgers' season unfolded. When the Dodgers made the postseason and won the World Series, Gee extended the campaign's reach through radio spots, homepage takeovers, and other rapid-response creative. The postseason extension delivered more than 2 million YouTube views.
Brand awareness in LA grew 8.8%, while brand consideration among its core 35- to 44-year-old demographic rose 5.4%, per Edmunds. Google searches for Edmunds in LA surged 111%. The number of LA-based users who completed Edmunds' car appraisal tool without clicking from paid advertising rose 7% and the buy rate — the percentage of users selling their cars in the LA market — rose 7.4%, Edmunds said.
Godfrey joined Meta in May last year and immediately took ownership of one of the company's biggest consumer hardware launches, the AI-powered Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses and Meta Neural Band.
The task: position the devices as a meaningful step forward for everyday AI adoption.
Godfrey was in charge of all social media and influencer marketing for the Meta Ray-Ban Display ahead of launch. He led partnerships with the video journalist Cleo Abram and tech creators, including Unbox Therapy. Abram's review video notched up 1.2 million views within 48 hours of posting.
Godfrey was also instrumental in ensuring the marketing activity was matched with a measurement-driven approach, building dashboards that continue to be used today to monitor and evaluate social media and influencer marketing effectiveness.
In 2024, Godfrey founded The Village, a nonprofit group mentorship program that supports more than 40 mentors and 200-plus college students and graduates. The Village helps build a recruiting pipeline for brands seeking early-career marketing talent. Last year, he cocreated Creator Crossovers, an event series for The Village that connects brands and tastemakers.
Previously head of editorial and brand content for Amazon Ads, Green moved into her current role in January 2025. She leads a new communications group designed to positively shape the public perception of Amazon's role in the community. She collaborates closely with several other teams — including PR, legal, and operations — to deliver integrated storytelling.
Notably, she spearheaded a documentary series and brand campaign dubbed "Community First." It features Amazon employee stories, such as a Marine Corps drill instructor's transition to become an Amazon area manager.
Green's team coordinated a distribution approach that spanned ads on streaming TV, audio, and social media, as well as amplification from Amazon executives. The campaign's success also shifted internal dynamics, with numerous teams proactively seeking partnerships with Green's group.
Green's work earned multiple industry awards last year, including wins at the Shorty Awards, Digital Streaming and Video Content Awards, and the Native Advertising Institute Awards.
Iqtidar has helped redefine how L'Oréal engages with mature consumers. In under seven years at the company, he's been promoted five times and worked in three countries.
In his role at L'Oréal Paris Skincare, Iqtidar helped reverse years of decline in the Age Perfect franchise by leading a strategic shift toward a science-driven, empowering narrative around longevity and better aging. Moving away from traditional "antiaging" messaging, the brand embraced advocacy-led storytelling — an approach that helped make L'Oréal Paris the top beauty brand by social reach and engagement in 2025, up nine ranks year over year, according to CreatorIQ.
The marketing shift culminated in the September launch of Le Duo Sérum, the brand's first double serum. It became the top-selling serum at launch, doubling growth for the Age Perfect franchise.
He moved into his current role as global face strategy lead at NYX Professional Makeup in March of last year. Under his leadership, NYX has sought to solve consumer pain points and deliver shade and undertone inclusivity for the mass market, such as through the launch of its "Make 'Em Wonder" foundation.
NYX capped the year by being named WWD's "mass brand of the year" in November.
Jedo joined Disney+ in November to manage the growth marketing influencer program in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region. She has almost a decade of experience in talent relations, brand strategy, and influencer marketing.
Prior to joining Disney, Jedo was the global celebrity and influencer lead at Bumble. She helped the dating app secure partnerships with A-list influencers and celebrities, including "Chicken Shop Date" host Amelia Dimoldenberg and actor Barry Keoghan, to feature in multimillion-dollar brand campaigns. Her remit also included onboarding licensed psychotherapy and wellness experts, including Devi Brown and Jillian Turecki, to create editorial content for social and the app.
Jedo's impact is amplified through her TikTok account, where she shares insights and guidance on breaking into the creative and tech sectors to nearly 100,000 followers. Through this channel, she's partnered with brands including Nike, ELEMIS, Celsius, and Look Fantastic.
Jedo gives back to up-and-coming creators from underrepresented backgrounds through her mentorship roles with the Soho House x Creative Mentor Network and Ok Mentor.
Elsewhere, she serves on the advisory board for VidCon, helping to shape the programming for the annual creator convention.
McLaughlin oversees Nestlé's Stouffer's portfolio, spanning its popular lasagna and a shelf-stable mac and cheese that launched in 2024 to take on Kraft.
McLaughlin was instrumental in the launch of the Stouffer's "When the Clock Strikes Dinner" campaign, one of the brand's biggest in recent years, in partnership with the WPP agencies VML and OpenMind.
The time-precise campaign came to life at 4 p.m. each day, taking over TV, social media, and out-of-home placements to play on the idea of "dinner dread," when people start to think — and often stress — about what to cook for their evening meals.
VML said the campaign delivered 1.6 billion impressions and a positive increase in unit sales.
McLaughlin joined Nestlé as a retail sales representative in 2010 and has worked her way up through a variety of positions, spanning digital shopper marketing and new business strategy. She was promoted to her current role in 2024.
McLeod has led multiple national marketing pushes for Sprite and Fanta over the past year.
As the creative lead behind Sprite + Tea — a limited edition soda combining classic Sprite with the taste of black tea — McLeod developed the creative brief and formalized a brand, packaging, and visual identity framework. Her scope also included social content, creator partnerships, and nationwide sampling activations. The standout packaging, combined with creator-led social storytelling, helped generate more than 8 billion impressions and reached 80% of its target audience, per Coca-Cola. Importantly, it helped drive tens of millions of dollars in sales.
McLeod was instrumental in leading the 10-week Fanta Halloween campaign. The spooky push included custom cans and a partnership with Universal Pictures, incorporating the Chucky, Freddy Fazbear, M3gan, The Grabber, and Michael Myers characters. She creatively led The Haunted Factory, a 7,700-square-foot, live-action experience in New York City that got more than 1,000 visitors.
For Sprite, McLeod relaunched the brand's "Anta Claus" holiday campaign, featuring the NBA star Anthony Edwards, to promote its Winter Spiced Cranberry flavor. For this second iteration of the campaign, she expanded its reach through custom content partnerships with Playmaker, Wave Sports, and My Code.
"Natacha has significantly developed her creative point of view through her work on Sprite and Fanta. She consistently pushes the work forward with clarity, intention, and a strong understanding of both the brand and the consumer," said A.P. Chaney, head of creative for sparkling flavors at Coca-Cola's North America operating unit.
Otake builds trust with licensors and partners to create high-impact digital and IRL experiences for Crunchyroll, the anime streaming platform. These experiences reached hundreds of thousands of fans in 2025.
To build excitement ahead of the September theatrical release of "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — Infinity Castle," Otake created an immersive experience that invited fans to step inside the movie's castle, complete with twisting corridors and a disorienting lair.
Elsewhere, Otake's team brought the "Gachiakuta" manga series to life at several major conventions last year. The Pitmaster activation was a hands-on treasure hunt inspired by the series' core theme: the trash society discards can become powerful tools in the right hands. Participants were invited to dig through a massive dumpster filled with items sourced from Goodwill and local donation centers to pull a piece of "trash," and exchange it for collectible rewards.
The experience drew more than 4,000 people per day at the Anime Expo, where Otake's team had placed a 3D billboard inviting fans to participate.
Over the past year, Parkes has quadrupled the size of AI sales platform Apollo.io's social media and community team. She built the company's influencer program from scratch, partnering with major sales-focused accounts and creators like Corporate Bro and Morgan Ingram. She helped shift the brand's tone from product-focused messaging to humorous storytelling that addresses sales pain points.
This past fall, Apollo held its first in-person user conference, ApolloNEXT. Parkes was instrumental in building awareness of the event, helping the company generate more than 4.5 million impressions across a variety of channels.
Parkes has ramped up the social visibility of Apollo's leadership team on LinkedIn, generating more than 890,000 impressions for four of the company's executives. She also launched Apollo on Reddit, growing the r/UseApolloIo subreddit to more than 1,000 members.
Parkes "combines measurable impact, modern audience strategy, and empathetic leadership — demonstrating the mindset to shape the future of B2B," said Michelle Seo, senior social media consultant at Apollo.io.
Roque is turning Tubi's social media presence into a growth engine and positioning the brand as "the people's streamer."
Tubi had fun with the long-running Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition news cycle last year. When The Onion posted that a media company bid $35 for WBD, Tubi quickly responded, saying it was "raising the bid to $36." The post took off well beyond X. Jimmy Fallon joked on late-night TV that Tubi's bid included Slim Jims, $20, and scratch-offs.
Roque also aligned teams around a shared vision for Super Bowl LIX, during which Tubi broke live-streaming viewership records. Roque developed a social media playbook centered on participatory fandom and creator collaboration, which the brand applies to tentpole cultural moments.
Last year, inspired by TikTok creator Aiyanna, who was hosting informal Tubi nights for her 4.4 million followers, Roque's team launched the Tubi Seafood Boil Movie Night event.
Roque has helped Tubi lean into online fan communities around the "Bad Girls Club" TV show. Her team created a fictional employee named "Shawn from Tubi" who saved the day by having a word with his employer and bringing the show back to the platform after it was removed from the service. Rather than controlling the narrative, Roque's team invited fans to build lore alongside the brand, leading to plenty of memes, niche inside jokes, and engagement.
Ryan has been a key contributor to Zaxbys' "Grow to Win" business transformation strategy, working to differentiate the fast-casual dining chain's brand messaging in the competitive fried chicken category.
Ryan leads a team that represents roughly a quarter of the marketing organization and has helped lead the evolution of the brand's positioning — centered on its boneless chicken offerings and 12 proprietary sauces — across TV, digital, PR, and merchandising.
In January of this year, trade publication QSR magazine named Zaxbys its "transformational brand of 2025," reflecting Ryan and her team's efforts to elevate the brand through creative storytelling.
Since Ryan stepped into her role in 2024, Zaxbys has expanded key in-house capabilities, including graphic design and social content creation. Ryan is also the client lead for Zaxbys' creative and PR agencies, guiding projects from creative development through to performance analysis.
Last year, Sharpe led a complete overhaul of Grubhub's visual identity. The work was done entirely in-house and within just a few months of Wonder's acquisition of Grubhub.
Sharpe spearheaded a vision that put food at the center of the brand's visual identity. The project aimed to differentiate Grubhub in a competitive category and introduced a sharper wordmark, a new typeface, a bolder color palette, and a motion design framework. The success of the rebrand, which launched in May, earned Sharpe a promotion to head of creative at Grubhub, 18 months after she joined the company.
"She is the ideal person to guide our creative strategy as we continue to evolve," said Grubhub's vice president of brand, Marnie Kain.
Sharpe also played a central role in developing Grubhub's first national Super Bowl ad.
Stokes has played a central role in positioning Maruchan, the popular instant noodle brand, for new Gen Z audiences while continuing to serve its loyal fan base.
She partnered with Maruchan's product innovation and sales teams to build a comprehensive brand growth blueprint, which evolved its marketing to an always-on communications approach versus the prior campaign-led strategy. As part of those efforts, she helped build an in-house social team, designed to react quickly to the trends and cultural topics of the day and partner with relevant creators.
She also launched Maruchan's TikTok Shop, helping turn social engagement into sales. For Valentine's Day this year, Maruchan launched its Saucy Noods spicy ramen product. Maruchan eschewed traditional Valentine's Day messaging and invited its Gen Z target audience on platforms like Bumble and Snap to "send noods" — boxes of Saucy Noods, to be precise — to their crushes, via TikTok Shop.
"Katelyn has a rare ability to connect consumer behavior, creativity, and commerce in a way that feels natural, brave, and human," said Margaret Johnson, chief creative officer of Goodby Silverstein & Partners, which worked with Maruchan on the Saucy Noods push. "She's not just launching products — she's shaping how modern brands should behave."
Partnerships have been a key tenet of Maruchan's marketing strategy. Last year, Stokes helped Maruchan develop a partnership with PAC-MAN, rooted in the brands' shared Japanese heritage. She also identified a fast-growing search trend for "Maruchan Loca" — where people were combining its noodles with a Flamin' Hot Cheetos topping — and struck a partnership with PepsiCo to co-create an influencer-led campaign to encourage consumers to post content using its Maruchan DIY kit.
Taljonick works to drive fan engagement for 2K, the video game publisher.
His team employed a local marketing approach for the global launch of Sid Meier's "Civilization VII" in February, honing in on regional gaming communities tailored for different international markets.
In the US, Taljonick's team formed a partnership with the Shawnee Tribe, following the Tribe's inclusion as a playable civilization in the game. 2K funded a recording studio to help support Shawnee language preservation efforts. The initiative earned 2K a Gold Clio award in the "experiential and fan engagement" category. The Clios are annual ad industry awards that recognize top creative work. Collectively, Taljonick's work for "Civilization VII" earned five trophies at the Clio awards last year.
In Europe, Taljonick's team and 2K's international marketers secured a partnership with Interrail, transforming in-game historical eras with real-world train journeys.
And in China, the team created "The Civ Wonder World Tour," a multi-party documentary that explored notable sites and cities featured in the game. The influencer-led activation got more than 7 million views.
Beyond the launch itself, Taljonick continued to drive sustained engagement with monthly communications about gameplay updates and by interacting with players across Discord and Reddit.
Vandermeer uses her background in film, theater, and improv comedy to create humorous messaging for Tennr, an automation platform for healthcare that handles tedious paperwork.
Over the past year, Vandermeer ideated, wrote, and produced the scripts for two major brand campaigns.
"F*x It" was based on the insight that primary care doctors typically send patient referrals via fax. In the spot, a healthcare provider calls a specialist to inform them that a patient referral will take a while to process. The specialist responds, "Just f*x it," with the word "fax" bleeped out as if it were a profanity. The campaign, Tennr's first-ever, helped generate a 14% increase in lead volume, the company said. It was also named MM+M's "campaign of the week" by the industry trade publication in July.
"Nobody told her we wanted to do a video. Nobody told her to write a script. We just were huddling in a room seven months ago, and the only instructions that I ever gave was, 'Let's do something big,'" Tennr CEO Trey Holterman said of Vandermeer in an interview with MM+M.
Tennr followed up "F*x It" with "The Blizzard," an irreverent take on the doom-laden January re-verification season when providers need to reconfirm patients' insurance coverage, benefits, and eligibility. Tennr said the campaign generated a 9% increase in lead generation.
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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Friday defended the resource demands of artificial intelligence, calling concerns about data centers' water use "fake" and comparing the energy used by AI systems to that of humans.
Altman was speaking on the sidelines of the India AI Impact summit in an interview with The Indian Express when he was asked to address common criticisms of AI, such as its energy and water consumption.
The CEO responded that claims circulating online that ChatGPT uses gallons of water per query were "completely untrue, totally insane," and have "no connection to reality."
Data centers traditionally use large amounts of water to cool electrical components and prevent overheating. While data center cooling technologies have promised reduced consumption, some newer data centers no longer rely on water at all.
Still, even with improving efficiency, a report last month from water technology company Xylem and Global Water Intelligence projected that the water drawn for cooling would more than triple over the next 25 years as computing demand rises, putting pressure on water systems.
While dismissing fears about water use, Altman said energy consumption remains a fair AI concern. "Not per query, but in total – because the world is using so much AI ... and we need to move towards nuclear or wind and solar very quickly," he said.
Asked about previous comments from Microsoft founder Bill Gates — who has suggested that the efficiency of the human brain proves that AI can evolve to also become more energy efficient over time —Altman pushed back.
"One of the things that is always unfair in this comparison is people talk about how much energy it takes to train an AI model ... But it also takes a lot of energy to train a human," he said. "It takes like 20 years of life, and all the food you eat before that time, before you get smart."
"The fair comparison is if you ask ChatGPT a question, how much energy does it take once a model is trained to answer that question, versus a human, and probably AI has already caught up on an energy efficiency basis, measured that way," he added.
The process Altman is referencing is known as inference, which refers to the use of AI models that have already been trained to create new outputs. AI inference is typically much less power-intensive than the training itself.
Altman's comments, particularly the AI-to-human comparison, have since sparked some debate online amid growing anxiety about AI's ability to replace human work.
Sridhar Vembu, co-founder and chief scientist of Indian software company Zoho Corporation, who was present at the summit, criticized the human-AI equivalence. "I do not want to see a world where we equate a piece of technology to a human being," the billionaire said in an X post.
The debate comes as governments and companies pour billions into new data centers to support the computing needs of AI systems.
According to a May report by the International Monetary Fund, electricity consumption by the world's data centers in 2023 had already reached levels comparable to Germany or France, soon after the launch of OpenAI's groundbreaking ChatGPT AI model.
In response, some governments have been working to speed up approval processes to bring new and cheap energy online, with some environmentalists warning such moves could clash with global net-zero goals.
Some local communities in countries like the U.S. have also pushed back on development projects over fears they will strain electricity grids and raise overall electricity costs.
Last week, the City Council in San Marcos, Texas, voted down a proposed $1.5 billion data center project after months of public opposition.
Amid such pushback, many tech leaders, including OpenAI's Altman, have argued data centers will require more energy production from diverse sources, including renewable and nuclear energy.
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Nvidia's GPUs may be hard to snag, but Jensen Huang's birthday cake might just be sitting in a display case at your local mall.
A strawberry soft cream cake from Korean bakery brand Paris Baguette was served at a birthday dinner for the Nvidia CEO near the company's Santa Clara headquarters last Saturday, according to The Korea Times, which cited an interview with the bakery brand's operator, Paris Croissant.
Huang, who turned 63 on Feb 17, invited about 30 engineers involved in South Korea's SK Hynix DRAM and high-bandwidth memory for a dinner party at a fried chicken restaurant called 99 Chicken.
Korean business newspaper Hankyung reported that Huang had instructed Nvidia employees to "organize a dinner to encourage SK Hynix HBM engineers."
"Please supply the highest-performance HBM4 without a hitch," he told SK Hynix engineers that day, according to Hankyung.
SK Hynix is one of Nvidia's key suppliers of high-bandwidth memory chips, or HBM chips — the advanced chips that sit alongside GPUs and feed them data at extreme speeds. Memory chips have become one of the biggest choke points in the AI boom.
At one point, Huang personally prepared and served somaek — a mix of soju and beer — to guests at each table.
For about two hours, Huang went table to table thanking his guests, according to Hankyung.
Huang's cake is a huge marketing win for the bakery brand.
"It was all about the symbolic moment — our brand's cake being present at a birthday party for the current leader of the global AI industry. It was a total boon without costing us anything," a Paris Croissant official told The Korea Times.
Paris Croissant operates about 280 Paris Baguette locations across the US, including several in Silicon Valley. It aims to expand to 1,000 outlets in North America by 2030.
The bakery chain is a household name in South Korea, with about 3,400 stores there. Since making its first push overseas in 2004, the Paris Baguette brand has expanded to 15 countries.
The Paris Baguette cake is described as a "vanilla cake filled with soft cream and fresh strawberries, topped with more berries."
Huang has become something of a spectacle wherever he goes.
In October, Huang sat down for fried chicken in Seoul with the heads of Samsung and Hyundai. The casual meal quickly turned into a media event.
A crowd of journalists, photographers, and fans gathered outside the restaurant, while national broadcasters aired live footage of the executives eating and talking inside.
Photos from the evening also captured reflections in the restaurant windows, showing fellow diners lifting their phones to snap pictures.
Following Huang's visit to the Seoul restaurant, crowds lined up before opening hours, hoping to dine at the same table occupied by the Nvidia chief and his high-profile guests, Korean media outlets reported.
The restaurant has imposed a one-hour time limit on the table used by Huang and the Korean business leaders, the reports added.
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Don't expect prices at the store to fall just because the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump's tariffs.
At best, companies may slow the pace of future price hikes on goods that get tariff relief. But they're unlikely to cut prices outright, economists at Goldman Sachs wrote in a note published Sunday.
"We would not expect companies to lower prices in response to tariff reductions nearly as quickly as they increased them in response to tariff increases," the economists wrote.
The bank estimates tariff passthrough has already lifted core Personal Consumption Expenditures, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, by about 0.7% through January. It expects only an additional 0.1% increase over the rest of 2026.
Friday's 6-3 Supreme Court ruling scrapped tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The White House quickly announced a 10% Section 122 tariff and then raised it to 15% the next day.
The shift would bring the increase in the effective tariff rate since the start of 2025 down from just over 10 percentage points to about 9 percentage points, Goldman estimates, leaving its inflation outlook little changed.
On economic growth, Goldman said imports from countries that see meaningful tariff reductions, particularly China, should rebound in the coming months.
But that likely won't give the economy much of a lift. Any rebound in imports from China would be offset by companies restocking shelves after earlier frontloading, trade reshuffling, and small declines in imports from higher-tariff countries.
Goldman estimates first-quarter 2026 GDP growth at 3.4%, though that includes a temporary boost from the end of the 2025 government shutdown. It continues to forecast 2.5% growth by the fourth quarter of 2026.
Friday's ruling also sets up a fight over roughly $180 billion in tariffs already collected.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday it was "unlikely" Americans would ever see refunds.
"I got a feeling the American people won't see it," Bessent said during a speech before the Economic Club of Dallas, adding that the administration has other tools to reimpose tariffs and that sorting out any repayment could take years.
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Brandon Tseng, Shield AI's cofounder, said there's a common misconception about his company's signature software-powered drone: People say it needs to be armed.
The more experienced militaries who work with Shield AI, however, know they don't need that capability in modern war, Tseng told Business Insider.
"Who doesn't ask for that? The US military doesn't ask for that because we understand joint fires. The Ukrainians don't ask for it anymore, either," said the former Navy SEAL, who is Shield AI's president.
The V-BAT, a vertical takeoff and landing drone that uses artificial intelligence to fly in jammed environments, has primarily been used for intelligence and reconnaissance missions in high-profile conflict zones such as Ukraine. Shield AI said the V-BAT flew over 200 missions there in 2025.
The drone is still meant to be a multi-mission platform, Tseng said, and Shield AI has been exploring ways to mount weapons on it. The firm announced a partnership last month with South Korean arms manufacturer LIG Nex1 to equip the V-BAT with six-pound guided missiles.
"But at the end of the day, look: I describe V-BAT as a mini predator, reaper drone," Tseng said. "That's the mission it's doing, which is: It's finding targets. And it's hard to find targets, you have to be out there for a long period of time."
To be fair, the MQ-9 Reaper is also commonly equipped with missiles.
However, Tseng said sophisticated militaries already have a vast array of other weapons that can turn the V-BAT's intel into a precision strike.
"If you have been in these combat zones, the US allies who fought closely with us in Afghanistan, they do not ask for organic fires on board the V-Bat," Tseng said. "Because everybody is so used to just saying: 'Okay, I have a targeting package. What fires asset do I have lined up? Is it a one-way attack drone? Is it HIMARS? Is it artillery? Is it an SM-6? SM-3?"
"Doesn't matter. You can find weapons," he added. "The weapons are available. You need, actually, more intelligence."
This was a framework that Ukraine still needed to improve when the V-BAT began spotting targets there in early 2024, Tseng said. The drone is meant to fly for over 13 hours and be easily deployable, requiring a two-person launch crew and no runway.
Tseng said that while Ukraine excelled in tactical drone warfare, its troops weren't used to having a long-range asset that could spot targets for regular strategic attacks as the US military did.
"The strategic effects would happen, but they would be rare," he said. "They'd be very, very deliberately planned operations, very expensive operations, things like what they did to the Russian runways with sending quadcopters deep into Russia via trucks."
Ukrainian drone teams would use the V-BAT to find important targets, such as Russian S-300 and S-400 air defense systems, only to realize they hadn't linked up with the right teams to strike them, Tseng said.
"We'd say: 'Why didn't you guys have these weapons lined up?' They'd say: 'Oh, well, we didn't think to coordinate,'" Tseng said.
Since then, Kyiv's forces have been using intelligence from V-BATs to carry out strikes with systems such as one-way attack drones or US-made HIMARS, Tseng said.
"There was a lot of learning over the past year for the Ukrainians," he added.
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Magda Wierzycka, the co-founder and CEO of Sygnia Ltd, is preparing to launch a new venture capital fund to support South African startups working in artificial intelligence. She is widely known as the richest woman in South Africa and one of its most successful business leaders.
Over the past two decades, Wierzycka has built Sygnia into one of the country's largest asset managers. The company now oversees R461 billion, up from only R2 billion when it started. It also reported a profit of R383.2 million in 2025 and is valued at about R5.22 billion.
The plan for the new fund as reported by Business Times, confirmed that Wierzycka wants to keep more AI talent and intellectual property inside South Africa rather than see it move overseas.
Wierzycka said South Africa has strong technical skills but lacks the funding structures common in places like the United Kingdom and the United States.
“We have the same intellectual capital, but not the same access to capital,” she explained.
Her concerns grew after attending the World Economic Forum, where global discussions on AI made her realise how quickly the world is changing. She warned that South Africa may miss out on the benefits of AI if local founders continue to seek foreign funding.
“If we do nothing, we will only be exporting our best engineers and later importing the technology we should have built ourselves,” she said.
Many South African entrepreneurs currently turn to offshore investors, who often take large stakes in early-stage companies. Wierzycka sees this as a major reason why startups leave the country.
“We are letting AI founders move their ideas and ownership offshore,” she said.
Sygnia will formally announce the new fund later today, with the aim of making it fully active within six months. The company plans to invest some of its own money and also run a national competition to help find the best new AI ideas.
The fund will do more than provide early funding. Startups will also receive support in areas such as licensing, marketing, and turning technical concepts into real, sellable products.
Wierzycka first hinted at this idea in her December 2025 CEO report, where she also confirmed that she had returned to South Africa after seven years living in the UK. While tax changes influenced her decision, she said the global race towards AI leadership also played an important role.
Her experience in the UK showed her that South Africa lacks a strong venture capital industry, even though it has a young and capable population. She believes that proper VC support could help startups build strong foundations, learn new skills, and gain access to international advice.
Wierzycka has previously encouraged retirement funds to direct part of their assets towards venture capital, arguing that this could strengthen innovation and help South Africa compete globally.
© 2026 africa.businessinsider.com
We were racing to keep up with our packed family schedule. Days blurred into school, work, gymnastics, birthdays, and dinner parties — energizing in theory, exhausting in reality. We were scraping by.
I remember peak multitasking: listening to my 6-year-old read aloud while making breakfast, and trying to finish putting on eyeliner while the eggs finished cooking in the pan.
My husband and I longed for wide-open days to actually connect, but school holidays were never long enough to decompress. We could see how easily the years might slip by, buried in logistics, until suddenly the kids were packing for college.
This story is part of our Adult Gap Year series, which highlights stories from people who have taken extended breaks to reset, explore, and reimagine their lives.
Read more:
We wanted to freeze time. So we hatched a plan to leave our "normal" life for a year and have a wild adventure together as a family.
In July 2024, we rented out our London home, stored our belongings, and took the bus to Heathrow with two backpacks and a carry-on.
We weren't wandering aimlessly. We planned to live in three locations, traveling for five weeks before and after each stop.
I pivoted my marketing consultancy toward travel writing and speaking, while my husband's academic research guided our shortlist of places we wanted to live. His research enabled legal residency which allowed the girls to attend school. We chose Japan, the US, and the Netherlands, staying three to four months in each.
We picked Tsukuba, Japan, to immerse ourselves in a completely unfamiliar culture; Great Neck, New York, near where we're both from, to give our daughters a taste of American life and spend rare time with family; and Leiden, the Netherlands, to experience its bike- and water-centered lifestyle.
Residency came with a lot of admin.
For Japan, we had originally planned to homeschool. Our 8-year-old surprised us by asking to attend a local Japanese school, despite only knowing a few phrases she had picked up during the three weeks we spent traveling around the country.
The school welcomed both girls. Like their classmates, they walked to school alone, changed into indoor shoes, helped serve lunch, and cleaned the classrooms.
In New York, we lived with family outside the city. The girls rode a yellow school bus for the first time, while my husband commuted by train. It was a stark contrast to London — no uniforms, more complicated mornings, and the sobering reality of active-shooter drills.
In Leiden, the girls attended a small international school. Students biked along canals and tended their own garden plots as part of a Dutch gardening program.
Living out of backpacks forced minimalism. I loved escaping the endless to-do list of home life and focusing on actually living.
I wore a single black maxi dress almost every day in Asia — biking through alleys or hiking through the jungle — and it somehow worked.
If anything, I'd bring even less next time. With fewer possessions, our mental bandwidth expanded. We could focus on fun, without guilt.
When we first told the girls about our plan, our youngest cried. They loved their friends, their teachers, and the rhythm of school. They couldn't imagine leaving and not coming back. We tried tempting them with volcanoes and snorkeling in Indonesia.
They came around, somewhat. They loved most moments, but they also always wanted to go home. We promised it would only be a year.
Our priority was making them feel safe and secure. We talked about adaptability as a life skill, but we also held them close and reminded them they were loved.
Most days, we'd say, "We're still on the trip," and it made us feel like a team. The girls learned how to be the new kid, make friends, and settle into unfamiliar rhythms. They learned you can reinvent your life more than once.
The intensity bonded us. We had waterfalls to ourselves, watched wild snow monkeys, and made friends who invited us to visit them in Cozumel. I celebrated my usually grim January birthday on a Thai beach.
In the US, we were present for heavy family moments, including my grandfather's passing.
Returning to London after 13 months felt surreal. Our 6-turned-7-year-old kissed the ground at Heathrow.
The trip changed us. It gave us shared memories — Hokkaido cream, a road trip from New York to Miami, sunsets from an Alpine hut — but more importantly, it clarified what matters: slow time together, not renovations or packed calendars.
We're happy to be home, blender included. But we're already dreaming about our next extended adventure.
Do you have a story about taking a gap year that you want to share? Get in touch with the editor: akarplus@businessinsider.com.
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This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Greg Kitzmiller, a 64-year-old American retiree living in Panama. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I was born and raised in Michigan, where I met my wife, Jen, and where we built our life together.
In 2016, I retired from my job as a manufacturing supervisor. My wife retired from her law career over a year later.
The year before she retired, my main goal was to find a place where we could live the best life during our retirement. I did a lot of research on various countries, and Panama kept coming to the top of the list.
We were eager to escape the snow, so my first priority was eternal summer. We also wanted to stay close to the US to make traveling back easy. The fact that Panama uses the US dollar only added to its appeal.
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We hadn't spent our whole lives planning to retire abroad, but after watching HGTV shows, we both thought that this was something we could do.
Do you have a story to share about relocating to a new city or retiring abroad? Contact this reporter via email at agoh@businessinsider.com.
Panama also offers a special Pensionado visa for retirees, which comes with incentives such as discounts on utility bills, medication, and even transportation.
Before making the move, we took a few exploratory trips to Panama. Our first trip was a weeklong in October 2017. After my wife retired, we came back in February 2018 for a nine-week trip, touring different areas to see if it felt like the right fit.
During that trip, the weather was beautiful. When we went home to Michigan and saw the snow on our driveway, my wife turned and said to me, "We're moving, right?" And I said, "Yeah, we are."
We sold our house quickly. We held a few garage sales, donated what we didn't need, and fit our lives into five suitcases. In June 2018, we officially moved to Panama.
We have two daughters in Texas and one in Alabama. We're no further from them now than we were in Michigan. Moreover, the world has gotten so small. We can get on a video call with the kids and the grandkids anytime.
With the help of a real-estate agent, we bought our two-bedroom condo for $210,000 in Coronado, which is about an hour and a half from Panama City by car.
Our condo is in a country club community, where the golf course wraps around our building, and we have 180-degree views of the ocean and the mountains.
Even though I've joined several Facebook groups, it's the people we met at church that make up the core of our social circle.
When we started talking about moving here, one of Jen's friends at work said, "Well, you should write a blog."
It wasn't that easy, since I'm not very tech-savvy, but I did it. I still maintain the blog and publish a newsletter. And, right after we got here, I connected with a writer's group.
Being a part of that group led me to do a lot of things in my retirement that I never thought I would do.
I published my first book in 2020 about our experience of retiring in Panama. Since then, I've started writing in different ways, including a detective fiction series — I'm working on the fourth installment.
Writing wasn't something I expected to do in my retirement, but there's a strong community of artists, authors, and musicians here. When you surround yourself with other people who are talented in those ways, it fosters your own talent.
Our health is better, too. It helps that there is always an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables around.
If I had it to do over, I would've learned Spanish when I was young. When you're in your 60s, it's hard to learn a new language. I almost always understand what's being said, but don't verbalize very well, unlike my wife, who is fluent.
Every day's a little different. We have a few social groups, including one where we play dominoes every week. We rotate between houses, someone makes lunch, and we spend the afternoon playing.
Initially, we figured we'd come for 10 years and then evaluate if we wanted to stay. It's only been eight years, but we've already decided that this is where we want to be.
We're not planning to move back to the US. There's honestly not much we miss.
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This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Yilin Zhang, an AI product manager at AI startup Kuse who worked at Meituan for more than three years. It has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified his employment and academic history.
I graduated from Tsinghua University with a master's degree in computer science in 2021 and then joined Meituan — one of China's biggest tech firms — as a product manager.
At Meituan, China's platform for local services, especially known for food delivery, I worked on two AI projects. One was a consumer-facing AI assistant that helps users complete various tasks, including ordering food. The other was a merchant-facing AI agent designed to help businesses manage their daily operations, including handling reservations, managing orders, and supporting routine operational tasks.
The main difference between how products are built in China and in the US comes down to the market.
Across most large Chinese tech companies, AI product development accelerated more aggressively around 2025.
The AI initiatives I worked on at Meituan started around April or May of that year. It coincided with the surge of interest around DeepSeek, when attention around AI agents took off.
Large companies began racing to build AI projects, and almost every business unit launched its AI initiative.
For a long time, especially before 2021 or 2022, Chinese tech companies were primarily focused on domestic competition rather than overseas expansion. Because competition in China is intense, tech companies were forced to become extremely efficient. Their execution methods have been sharpened to an almost frightening degree.
Constraints have also pushed Chinese AI companies to pursue different paths, with a strong focus on open-source models and cost efficiency. These limitations forced exploration in new directions, and those paths have proven valuable in their own way.
DeepSeek is a good example. Because of international restrictions, it couldn't access large numbers of GPUs and was forced to innovate around efficiency instead.
Chinese and overseas markets are fundamentally different, leading to distinct user bases, expectations, and product designs.
Chinese users have a much lower willingness to pay for software; hence, many mass-market AI products, such as Doubao, tend to be free. The core objective is often to scale active usage.
Many capabilities are packaged into a single prompt you can ask, essentially a chatbox interface with a low barrier to entry.
International AI products target users doing high-value tasks. They are more often designed for desktops than for mobile devices, with interfaces better suited to work contexts. These products explore how AI and humans can collaborate and intersect across different work scenarios, helping users complete tasks more effectively and efficiently.
In China, that user group is relatively small. That makes it harder for its mainstream AI products to move beyond chat-based forms into more advanced products.
China's internet success over the past decade has also largely come from consumer-facing apps. That environment forces product managers to obsess over user feedback and relentlessly polish even the smallest features.
Teams may spend enormous effort refining a tiny feature just to win over a small group of users. In markets with less competition, that level of detail isn't always necessary.
After three to four years at Meituan, I felt I had learned most of what I could from that environment. I left to join the AI startup Kuse in October.
AI is evolving extremely fast. In large companies, iteration speed can be slower. Many of my friends across different Big Tech companies share this same frustration. Smaller, more agile companies can adapt faster.
In the past, top graduates had basically two paths: becoming a civil servant or joining a Big Tech company.
That's changing. Especially over the past year, many AI startups have emerged, and more young people are choosing entrepreneurship. AI has created a new path outside Big Tech.
By 2025, not being involved in AI at all will feel like staying in the PC internet era of 2010 instead of joining the mobile internet wave.
Do you have a story to share about working in a Chinese tech company? Contact this reporter at cmlee@insider.com.
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Please be vigilant about TRM impersonation scams, especially those claiming to assist with fund recovery. More info
See how leading agencies and organizations are disrupting crypto crime with blockchain intelligence
The integration embeds TRM's blockchain intelligence into XZiel – Finray's unified compliance and decision engine — enabling real-time alert triage, automated escalation, case management, and continuous risk assessment across crypto and fiat transactions in a single operational environment
SAN FRANCISCO – February 24, 2026 – TRM Labs, the leading blockchain intelligence platform, today announced a partnership with Finray Technologies, a unified banking infrastructure and compliance intelligence technology company serving regulated financial institutions operating across fiat and digital-asset markets.
The regulatory backdrop continues to intensify with the EU's MiCA rollout. In January 2025, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) released a supervisory briefing to support national competent authorities (NCAs) in enforcing MiCA and began publishing a public register of MiCA-authorized entities and non-compliant firms.
As the MiCA enters full supervisory enforcement, institutions operating across fiat and digital asset markets can no longer separate blockchain risk assessment from traditional payment monitoring. On-chain exposure, stablecoin settlement, and fiat payment flows are increasingly interconnected, requiring unified oversight. The partnership addresses this convergence by integrating TRM's blockchain intelligence into Finray's compliance workflows, delivering a real-time, auditable view of risk across both rails.
This integration is designed for:
As more economic value moves on-chain, compliance teams need auditable, explainable, and real-time transaction risk interpretation. TRM's integration with Finray enables:
“Financial institutions and crypto businesses need more than raw blockchain data – they need clear, actionable intelligence that stands up to regulatory scrutiny,” said Morley Gordon, Head of Partnerships at TRM Labs. “By embedding TRM directly into Finray's compliance tools and banking infrastructure, we are enabling banks, fintechs, and regulated crypto entities to proactively manage digital asset risk and accelerate time-to-market without compromising trust.”
“Compliance teams can't manage fiat and crypto risk in separate systems anymore," said Oleksandr Potapenko, Founder and CEO of Finray Technologies. "Embedding TRM's blockchain intelligence directly into XZiel gives our customers a single, auditable view of risk across both rails — where they can hold, clear, escalate, and document decisions within one environment. That is what operating under MiCA and evolving supervisory expectations actually demands. Partnering with TRM gives our customers access to the most trusted blockchain intelligence in the industry, embedded natively into their compliance and payment workflows. Together, we are shortening the path from regulatory intent to defensible, real-time action.”
The integration is generally available to TRM and Finray customers. Teams can use their TRM API key to access insights from TRM Transaction Monitoring and TRM Wallet Screening directly in Finray's platform.
TRM Labs provides blockchain analytics solutions to help law enforcement and national security agencies, financial institutions, and cryptocurrency businesses detect, investigate, and disrupt crypto-related fraud and financial crime. TRM's blockchain intelligence platform includes solutions to trace the source and destination of funds, identify illicit activity, build cases, and construct an operating picture of threats. TRM is trusted by leading agencies and businesses worldwide who rely on TRM to enable a safer, more secure crypto ecosystem. TRM is based in San Francisco, CA, and is hiring across engineering, product, sales, and data science. To learn more, visit www.trmlabs.com.
Finray Technologies is a unified banking infrastructure and compliance intelligence company serving regulated financial institutions operating across fiat and digital-asset markets. Its modular stack integrates core ledger infrastructure and payment orchestration through CoreBanq, together with transaction monitoring, wallet screening, sanctions screening, and case management powered by its XZiel compliance engine — into a single operational environment. This enables banks, EMIs, CASPs, and fintechs to manage digital-asset risk within the same workflows used for fiat operations. To learn more, visit www.finray.tech.
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1. Who is this integration designed for?
Banks and electronic money institutions (EMIs) expanding into digital-asset products or offering crypto on/off-ramp services; MiCA-authorized CASPs and VASPs in VASP-to-CASP transition; exchanges and custodians serving institutional clients, corporate treasury flows, and stablecoin settlement; and PSPs or fintech platforms embedding crypto payments within regulated fiat infrastructure.
2. Which TRM products are included?
The integration supports TRM Transaction Monitoring and TRM Wallet Screening, embedded within Finray's XZiel compliance engine. Coverage spans major blockchains including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tron – including USDT and USDC stablecoin flows. Customers should confirm the full chain coverage list with TRM for their specific use case.
3. Does this make an institution MiCA compliant?
No technology alone ensures regulatory compliance. The integration is designed to support institutions in implementing structured, auditable, and defensible monitoring programmes aligned with MiCA requirements and broader AML/CFT obligations. Institutions remain responsible for their overall compliance frameworks.
4. How is the integration deployed?
Institutions with an existing TRM API key can activate the integration within Finray's XZiel platform in days. Full workflow configuration – including case management rules, alert thresholds, risk rationale templates, and audit trail settings – typically takes two to four weeks depending on the institution's existing infrastructure.
5. What are the data residency and security arrangements?
Finray's infrastructure is EU-hosted and InfoSec System is ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified. Data processing details, including data residency specifics and a Data Processing Addendum (DPA), are available upon request as part of the onboarding process. Prospective customers are encouraged to raise DORA and Schrems II requirements during the initial scoping conversation.
6. What is the typical implementation timeline?
Institutions with an existing TRM API key can activate the integration within days. Full workflow configuration, including case management rules, alert thresholds, and audit trail settings typically takes two to four weeks depending on the institution's existing infrastructure.
7. Which regions are supported?
The integration is available to institutions operating across EMEA and other jurisdictions where TRM services are available. Contact Finray at partnership@finray.tech for region-specific availability and onboarding.
TRM Labs delivers blockchain intelligence to detect crypto-facilitated crime, ensuring compliance and safety worldwide
Clockchain, the time-focused blockchain network, today announced the public debut of its core timekeeping and timestamping services
San Francisco, California, United States, February 23, 2026 -- In a digital economy where milliseconds determine financial outcomes and automated systems execute across global jurisdictions, reliable time has become critical infrastructure. Clockchain today announced the public launch of its testnet, introducing a cryptographically verifiable blockchain time standard designed for decentralized finance, traditional finance, AI systems, and robotics.
With the opening of its testnet to the public, Clockchain now offers decentralized timestamping, smart contract scheduling, and a timestamp API offering verifiable proof of time. The public unveiling of Clockchain core services marks a major milestone in the network's readiness for global deployment.
All three services are powered by Clockchain's patented technology, which aggregates multiple independent global time sources and anchors a synchronized timestamp on chain every second via decentralized consensus. Unlike conventional blockchain timestamps that rely on validator or miner-reported block times, Clockchain provides a new uniform time standard that facilitates interoperability between on-chain, off-chain, real world, and digital world environments, enabling simple reconciliation.
The three publicly available services are:
These Clockchain services provide a verifiable proof-of-time for any industry or enterprise that requires measurable performance while maintaining transparency and the ability to demonstrate compliance. Clockchain timestamps can be used for legal documents and events, proof of provenance, and to prove chain of custody. The system provides a verifiable audit trail that can be independently validated across all platforms and ecosystems.
The Clockchain testnet has been operating privately for over a year and is now ready for its public debut. “Most blockchains rely on validator-reported timestamps that were never designed to function as a global time authority,” says Ken Yamada, Clockchain CEO. “Clockchain introduces a cryptographically verifiable reference layer that applications can anchor to when deterministic timing matters.”
Clockchain's trustless time standard empowers digital infrastructure operators across DeFi, TradFi, AI, and robotics to transact using a unified temporal framework. By enabling real-time coordination, reconciliation, and cross-ecosystem reporting, Clockchain's chain-agnostic blockchain clock enhances interoperability and unlocks new growth opportunities across industries.
Developers and enterprises can access the new Clockchain services through its website or by visiting directly at https://services.clockchain.network.
For more information about the Clockchain Network, media inquiries, investor inquiries, or to see the latest updates, please visit https://www.clockchain.network.
About Clockchain
Clockchain is a time-focused technology company registered in Neuchatel, Switzerland. Its mission is to create new standards for accuracy and security in timekeeping and timestamping. By leveraging the immutable nature of blockchain ledgers, Clockchain enables the secure authentication and verification of data, protecting against falsification and forgery. The Clockchain Network is fully operational, FINMA approved and supported by the Department of Economic Affairs of the Canton of Neuchâtel. A global mainnet launch and simultaneous token generation event are planned following the testnet phase.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this press release is not a solicitation for investment, nor is it intended as investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of capital. It is strongly recommended you practice due diligence, including consultation with a professional financial advisor, before investing in or trading cryptocurrency and securities. Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release.
Contact Info: Name: Jonathan SeidenfeldEmail: Send EmailOrganization: Clockchain NetworkWebsite: https://www.clockchain.network/
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• Laurore Ltd., a little-known entity, disclosed a position of about $436 million in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), triggering speculation about the identity of a new bitcoin ETF holder.
• Hong Kong registry filings show the IBIT stake is linked through director Zhang Hui, a Mainland China passport holder who is also the sole director of Avecamour Advice Limited, a Hong Kong company owned by a British Virgin Islands entity.
• A spokesperson said the ultimate beneficial owner “prefers to keep a low profile” and that the position “reflects personal investment conviction,” declining to disclose further ownership details.
When a shell company called Laurore Ltd. filed a position of about $436 million in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) exchange-traded fund — its first and only filing — listing a Hong Kong address and phone number, the crypto community took notice, and a social media frenzy began.
What made it even more interesting is that it listed "Zhang Hui" as a director in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, a name as common in China as "John Smith" in the West, according to a X post by ProCap's CIO, Jeff Park.
Indeed, CoinDesk found over 100 Zhang Huis listed as directors of different companies in the Hong Kong Company Registry.
This sparked a week of speculation about potential Chinese capital entering the crypto market via purchases of spot bitcoin BTC$64,231.59 exchange-traded funds.
"Smells like capital flight to me," Park said in his post. Even Bloomberg's ETF analysts weighed in, with James Seyffart replying to the post, "I spent almost an hour trying to figure this out earlier this morning, I got absolutely nowhere."
The mystery became even more intriguing when CoinDesk visited the Hong Kong address listed in Laurore's SEC filing.
The building directory showed that the suite was occupied by Avecamour Advice Ltd and not Laurore. Furthermore, Laurore, which holds the IBIT shares, is not incorporated in Hong Kong.
After CoinDesk's attempts to find someone at Laurore to comment, the company has finally broken its silence. A spokesperson said the company's owner prefers to keep a low profile, without revealing further details.
But there are still more questions than answers.
Who is Avecamour, and what is the connection between the two companies? And how does the mysterious "Zhang Hui" fit into all of this?
CoinDesk searched through the corporate filings, which showed that Avecamour Advice is wholly owned by Avecamour Ltd., a British Virgin Islands entity.
Hong Kong Company Registry records show that Zhang Hui, with a matching mainland China passport prefix, is also the only director listed for Avecamour Advice, which was incorporated in March 2025. No other public details about Avecamour or its stakeholders could be found.
Laurore's spokesperson told CoinDesk that "the owner of Laurore is also a director of Avecamour," implying that Zhang Hui is the owner of the mysterious firm.
However, the spokesperson didn't provide any more details about Zhang Hui or either of the companies.
"Our principal prefers to keep a low profile, and this position [in IBIT] is simply a reflection of their personal investment conviction," the spokesperson said.
In fact, 13F filings identify reporting managers, but do not require disclosure of ultimate beneficial owners. Large investors often hold positions through multiple legal vehicles for structuring, custody, or privacy reasons.
"Since these are private businesses, we don't disclose further ownership details," the spokesperson said.
What does this all mean?
If it is "capital flight," in this context, it would mean funds moving out of mainland China into offshore assets via Hong Kong, such as U.S.-listed bitcoin ETFs, potentially to diversify wealth beyond the reach of domestic capital controls.
However, it could also simply mean that Laurore is just part of a cluster of funds or family offices, under the umbrella of a larger Hong Kong-based entity that invests in bitcoin ETFs. If so, it would imply that, due to low liquidity and high fees of HKEX-listed bitcoin ETFs, a Hong Kong-based fund chose to allocate to the U.S.-listed IBIT, which offers much greater liquidity and lower costs for institutional investors to park their capital.
But for now, the identity of Laurore and its mysterious principal remains as clear as bitcoin's Satoshi Nakamoto.
Read more: U.S. BTC ETF Inflows Dwarf Hong Kong's as Local Investors Stick With Stocks
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Bitcoin rebound fades as software and private equity rout drags stocks and crypto lower
Crypto has been nearly perfectly correlated with a key software sector ETF, and that gauge has tumbled another 5% Monday to a new 52-week low.
What to know:
Disclosure & Polices: CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of Bullish (NYSE:BLSH), an institutionally focused global digital asset platform that provides market infrastructure and information services. Bullish owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets and CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish equity-based compensation.
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Sharplink, Inc. recently completed a comprehensive brand refresh and expanded its Ethereum-focused treasury operations, including aggressive staking that has generated over 13,000 ETH in rewards while institutional ownership reached 46% as of late 2025.
This shift toward “Ethereum with an Edge,” emphasizing disciplined growth, yield productivity, and institutional-grade execution, is helping position Sharplink as a dedicated corporate vehicle for exposure to the Ethereum ecosystem.
Next, we will examine how Sharplink's sharpening focus on disciplined Ethereum treasury growth influences the company's broader investment narrative.
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For someone considering Sharplink, the core belief is that a focused, Ethereum-centric corporate treasury can justify owning a volatile small-cap stock. The recent brand refresh and emphasis on “Ethereum with an Edge” sharpen that story by shifting attention from raw ETH accumulation toward yield productivity and institutional-grade execution. With institutional ownership now at 46% and aggressive staking already generating over 13,000 ETH in rewards, near term catalysts increasingly hinge on how effectively management scales staking and treasury partnerships like the Linea deployment, rather than traditional operating revenue alone. At the same time, the 30-day share price drop of roughly one-third underlines that execution risk, ETH price swings, and a very new leadership team remain front and center. This news reinforces existing catalysts, but it does not remove those risks.
However, one key operational risk tied to Sharplink's Ethereum-heavy model deserves closer attention from investors. Despite retreating, Sharplink's shares might still be trading above their fair value and there could be some more downside. Discover how much.
Eighteen Simply Wall St Community fair value views span from fractions of a cent to very large figures, underlining just how far opinions can stretch. Set that against Sharplink's concentrated Ethereum treasury and fresh staking focus, and it becomes clear why different investors may see either a focused opportunity or a tightly coupled crypto risk, worth comparing before deciding what the story means for you.
Explore 18 other fair value estimates on Sharplink - why the stock might be worth less than half the current price!
Don't just follow the ticker - dig into the data and build a conviction that's truly your own.
A great starting point for your Sharplink research is our analysis highlighting 2 key rewards and 2 important warning signs that could impact your investment decision.
Our free Sharplink research report provides a comprehensive fundamental analysis summarized in a single visual - the Snowflake - making it easy to evaluate Sharplink's overall financial health at a glance.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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Solana Company (HSDT) said it plans to build a high-speed infrastructure network across the Asia-Pacific region to support the growth of the Solana blockchain and diversify its revenue streams.
The initiative, called the “Pacific Backbone,” will connect Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong with a low-latency cluster designed to support staking, validation and trading services on Solana.
The move targets institutional demand across the region, which has become a hotspot for crypto adoption, cross-border payments and digital asset development.
The buildout aims to make Solana's infrastructure more accessible and reliable for market makers, high-frequency traders, and financial institutions, according to a press release.
The company said the project will begin immediately, with performance optimization and additional product launches expected in the next 12 to 18 months. These include DeFi tools, liquid staking, automated market makers and execution services tailored to traditional finance firms entering the space.
Joseph Chee, CEO of Solana Company, said the expansion will help prepare for what he called Solana's “next super cycle.”
The goal is to reduce reliance on external service providers, reduce latency, and provide a compliant infrastructure that meets institutional requirements in regulated markets.
Solana, the firm said, processes over 3,500 transactions per second and supports millions of daily active wallets. Solana Company is currently the second-largest Solana treasury firm, with 2.3 million SOL, or over $180 million, in its treasury.
Solana Company's shares are down 13.3% in today's trading session to $1.76, amid a wider cryptocurrency market drawdown. Solana itself is down nearly 6% in the last 24-hour period, while BTC is down more than 4%.
CoinDesk has reached out to Solana Company for comment but hasn't heard back at the time of writing.
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Bitpapa, Garantex and ABCeX were among the cryptocurrency exchanges linked to Russian-tied transactions circumventing Western evasions.
What to know:
Disclosure & Polices: CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of Bullish (NYSE:BLSH), an institutionally focused global digital asset platform that provides market infrastructure and information services. Bullish owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets and CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish equity-based compensation.
Bitcoin's BTC$64,231.59 very modest rebound from its steep overnight selloff quickly fizzled out during U.S. morning trading on Monday as broader risk markets turned sharply lower.
Trading at $65,400 near the noon hour on the east coast, bitcoin was down 35% over the past 24 hours.
The action occurred as U.S. equities tumbled. The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 were each lower by more than 1%, led by renewed weakness in software stocks and private-equity names.
The iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF (IGV) sank another 5% to a fresh 52-week low and is now down nearly 35% since October amid concerns that generative AI tools could disrupt traditional software business models. Whether true or not, current market thinking is that crypto is just software, and price movements of bitcoin and IGV of late have been nearly perfectly correlated.
Adding to that bearish theme are continuing worries that AI could be leading markets to the cusp of a major negative credit event similar to that of 2008's global financial crisis. This is currently reflected in private equity share prices. These companies have heavy exposure to the afore-mentioned software sector. Blow Owl Capital (OWL) — which last week sold assets in an attempt to mollify liquidity-seeking investors — is lower by another 3.5% Monday and 32% year-to-date. BlackStone (BX), Ares Management (ARES), and Apollo Global Management (APO) all added to their sizable recent losses, falling between 6% and 8%.
Crypto often trades as a high-beta proxy for tech and broader liquidity conditions, and Monday's weakness reflected that dynamic. While BTC has so far held above the worst of its early February lows, it still trades in a tight range between $60,000 and $70,000 as risk appetite remains fragile.
Added to all of this is uncertainty about global tariffs after the Supreme Court clamped down on President Trump's previous use of sweeping levies, Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group, said in a note.
"This sparked a classic risk-off environment," Kruger said. "Investors pulled back from speculative assets like crypto, with bitcoin behaving more like a high-beta risk play than 'digital gold.'"
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Mystery Hong Kong investor in BlackRock's bitcoin ETF breaks silence after $436 million stake sparks controversy
A spokesperson for Laurore said the $436 million IBIT stake “reflects personal investment conviction,” as records link it to a mainland China passport holder.
What to know:
• Laurore Ltd., a little-known entity, disclosed a position of about $436 million in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), triggering speculation about the identity of a new bitcoin ETF holder.
• Hong Kong registry filings show the IBIT stake is linked through director Zhang Hui, a Mainland China passport holder who is also the sole director of Avecamour Advice Limited, a Hong Kong company owned by a British Virgin Islands entity.
• A spokesperson said the ultimate beneficial owner “prefers to keep a low profile” and that the position “reflects personal investment conviction,” declining to disclose further ownership details.
Disclosure & Polices: CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of Bullish (NYSE:BLSH), an institutionally focused global digital asset platform that provides market infrastructure and information services. Bullish owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets and CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish equity-based compensation.
Shiba Inu issued a fresh alert as fake SOU NFT airdrop schemes spread quickly, and the warning urged users to verify all links carefully. The team asked victims to claim compensation only on the official portal.
The Shiba Inu team launched the SOU NFT to support victims of the 2025 Shibarium exploit, and scammers quickly built fake claim pages that copied the official portal. Susbarium said fraud groups pushed these links across social channels. Susbarium stated that “the SOU NFT will not arrive by airdrop” and urged users to avoid any shared link that promises automatic rewards, and the group warned that fake sites attempt to capture wallet details.
⚠️Security Notice Regarding SOU NFT
We are aware of multiple scam attempts involving the SOU NFT.
Please remember that the SOU NFT will never be airdropped to your wallet. If you are eligible to claim, you can do so only through the official website https://t.co/czxmIbGvKd
Do… pic.twitter.com/4r4Ner8JMA
— Susbarium | Shibarium Trustwatch (@susbarium) February 22, 2026
Fraud operators used shortened links to mislead victims, and they placed cloned domains across multiple platforms. Susbarium said these sites asked users to connect wallets without authorization. The group stressed that victims must only use the official portal at Shib.io, and it reminded users that private keys and seed phrases should stay confidential, and it added that exposing these details can give scammers full access.
Susbarium urged affected users to type the portal address manually, and it encouraged them to confirm each domain before interacting. The channel warned that bad actors updated their tactics often. It said fake dashboards continue to circulate, and it confirmed that the warning will stay active, and it asked users to report new threats when seen.
The team said the claim process remains direct, and it asked victims to open the portal and select the SOU claim option, and the system then checks eligible wallets tied to the 2025 exploit. It stated that users will see the amount owed on-chain, and it said the NFT will represent that value, and the asset can move to supported marketplaces.
The group confirmed that the SOU NFT will not appear automatically, and it repeated that no airdrop will occur, and the team asked victims to rely only on verified instructions. It added that the NFT may be traded or merged, and it said these features depend on marketplace support, and the portal will show each option clearly.
The team published new guidance to maintain clarity, and it said each update will appear on its blog, and it advised victims to monitor official channels. It reminded users that scammers may impersonate support staff, and it urged victims to verify communication sources, and it restated that no staff member will request private keys.
The team said it will release compensation in phases, and it confirmed that the project aims to restore affected users gradually, and it said each stage will follow internal reviews. It added that repayment funds will come from revenue streams, and it mentioned licensing income and ecosystem reserves, and the team said these sources will support long-term stability.
The group said the repayment process will continue as claims progress, and it will update users when new batches open. The team asked victims to check the portal for status changes. It reported that claim numbers increased this week, and it said verification runs automatically on-chain, and the portal will refresh eligible data as needed.
Maxwell is a crypto-economic analyst and blockchain enthusiast, passionate about helping people understand the potential of decentralized technology. His goal is to spread knowledge about this revolutionary technology and its implications for economic freedom and social good.
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LayerZero's breakthrough technology could redefine blockchain efficiency and scalability for the entire industry.
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Bryan Pellegrino is the co-founder and CEO of LayerZero Labs, an interoperability protocol enabling seamless communication and asset transfers across blockchains. He previously co-founded OpenToken, a platform that allowed users to launch their own tokens. With LayerZero, he pioneered a messaging layer that has processed billions in volume and achieved breakthroughs like Zero for 100x blockchain performance gains.
LayerZero's breakthrough technology could redefine blockchain efficiency and scalability for the entire industry.
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Bryan Pellegrino is the co-founder and CEO of LayerZero Labs, an interoperability protocol enabling seamless communication and asset transfers across blockchains. He previously co-founded OpenToken, a platform that allowed users to launch their own tokens. With LayerZero, he pioneered a messaging layer that has processed billions in volume and achieved breakthroughs like Zero for 100x blockchain performance gains.
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Key takeawaysMeasuring real Bitcoin payments is difficult because many transactions go through intermediaries, crypto cards or instant conversions.Surveys show that a sizable minority of crypto holders have used crypto to buy goods or services at least once but rarely distinguish Bitcoin from other assets.El Salvador's experience suggests that making Bitcoin legal tender does not automatically lead to everyday retail use, especially when existing payment systems remain convenient.Payment processor data indicates that crypto payments are more common in online and high-value categories like travel, electronics and digital services.When Satoshi Nakamoto conceptualized Bitcoin, they thought of it as digital money. However, a question stands today: How many people really use Bitcoin to buy things?The answer is not simple. Payment data is fragmented, many transactions go through intermediaries, and a rising portion of crypto payments now use stablecoins instead of Bitcoin BTCUSD. Still, exploring surveys, payment processors, app ecosystems and country-level experiments will help you develop a clearer view.This picture reveals that, while Bitcoin hasn't yet attained widespread everyday adoption, it is used in situations where it solves practical problems better than traditional payment methods.This article explores what makes measuring Bitcoin payments so complex, what surveys indicate about spending behavior and what the El Salvador experiment reveals about Bitcoin payments. It also discusses what payment processors demonstrate about usage and when Bitcoin payments make sense in real terms.
Measuring real Bitcoin payments is difficult because many transactions go through intermediaries, crypto cards or instant conversions.
Surveys show that a sizable minority of crypto holders have used crypto to buy goods or services at least once but rarely distinguish Bitcoin from other assets.
El Salvador's experience suggests that making Bitcoin legal tender does not automatically lead to everyday retail use, especially when existing payment systems remain convenient.
Payment processor data indicates that crypto payments are more common in online and high-value categories like travel, electronics and digital services.
When Satoshi Nakamoto conceptualized Bitcoin, they thought of it as digital money. However, a question stands today: How many people really use Bitcoin to buy things?
The answer is not simple. Payment data is fragmented, many transactions go through intermediaries, and a rising portion of crypto payments now use stablecoins instead of Bitcoin BTCUSD. Still, exploring surveys, payment processors, app ecosystems and country-level experiments will help you develop a clearer view.
This picture reveals that, while Bitcoin hasn't yet attained widespread everyday adoption, it is used in situations where it solves practical problems better than traditional payment methods.
This article explores what makes measuring Bitcoin payments so complex, what surveys indicate about spending behavior and what the El Salvador experiment reveals about Bitcoin payments. It also discusses what payment processors demonstrate about usage and when Bitcoin payments make sense in real terms.
Why measuring Bitcoin payments is harder than it seems
There are no global statistics disclosing a record of Bitcoin used at checkout. Instead, when it comes to measuring Bitcoin payments, analysts depend on indirect indicators:
Consumer surveys that ask whether people have ever paid with crypto
Payment processor data showing merchant transaction volumes
State-level efforts that aim to make Bitcoin legal tender
App-based systems that support Lightning payments.
Lightning payments are a way to send Bitcoin instantly for a negligible fee. It works like a high-speed express lane on top of the main Bitcoin network, making it suitable for small everyday purchases.
Various factors explain why measuring Bitcoin payments is so complicated:
Merchants usually do not hold the Bitcoin they receive. Payment processors often convert BTC to local currency right away so merchants can avoid associated price risks. From the buyer's viewpoint, they paid with Bitcoin, but on the merchant's end, it resembles a regular bank payment.
Crypto cards make the distinction between Bitcoin payments and regular payments less clear. When someone uses a Visa card backed by crypto, the merchant receives fiat through normal channels. This is spending funded by crypto but not a true Bitcoin payment.
Stablecoins tend to be used more predominantly in crypto payment flows. Tokens linked to fiat currencies, particularly dollars, make up a large share of transaction volume, whether for business payments or cross-border transfers.
For this reason, it is useful to distinguish three separate cases:
Paying directly with Bitcoin onchain or through the Lightning Network
Paying with Bitcoin that is converted to fiat in the background
Paying with other crypto assets, such as stablecoins.
Did you know? In 2010, 10,000 BTC was used to buy two pizzas, marking the first known commercial Bitcoin transaction and proving that the network could be used for real-world trade, not just peer-to-peer transfers.
What surveys suggest about spending habits
Among those who own crypto, spending is not uncommon, but it is not regular either.
A 2025 National Cryptocurrency Association survey found that 39% of crypto holders reported using cryptocurrency to shop for goods and services.
According to GM Global Cryptocurrency Insights, conducted in 2024, 11% of respondents reported actively using crypto for purchases, while 19% expressed interest in using crypto for everyday transactions.
These surveys indicate that a sizable minority of crypto holders have used crypto to make purchases at least once. Yet these surveys tend not to separate Bitcoin from other assets, and they do not track how often it happens.
This difference is important. A person who used crypto once to buy a flight or an online service counts the same as someone who uses it often even though their actions differ greatly in terms of payment adoption.
El Salvador: A real-world test for Bitcoin payments
El Salvador is the only country to have made Bitcoin legal tender nationwide, creating a natural testing ground for everyday payment use.
Despite early incentive programs following the official adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021, retail adoption in the country did not grow significantly. Only a fraction of citizens used it for regular transactions, and most businesses that accepted BTC reported very low volumes.
Several reasons explain this:
Volatility made pricing difficult for buyers and sellers.
Many users quickly converted government incentives to cash.
Merchants had no compelling reason to encourage Bitcoin payments.
Usability problems persisted for non-technical users.
El Salvador's experience demonstrates that legal status by itself does not build consumer payment habits, especially when existing payment options function well.
The country initially made accepting Bitcoin payments mandatory for private businesses. However, in early 2025, businesses were allowed to decide whether to accept Bitcoin payments as part of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Bitcoin payments continue to be legal for obligations such as taxes and state bills.
Did you know? In certain countries, Bitcoin kiosks allow users to pay utility bills by converting BTC into local payment networks, turning crypto into an indirect but practical payment bridge.
What payment processors show about actual usage
Crypto payment processors act as a window into merchant activity. Some consistent patterns are visible:
Transaction volumes are higher in online commerce than in physical retail.
Average purchase amounts are often larger than typical retail purchases.
Categories such as travel, luxury goods, digital services and electronics appear more frequently.
These patterns align with basic economic logic. Crypto payments are more attractive for large cross-border payments.
Another emerging trend is that stablecoins account for a major part of crypto payments. Merchants find receiving dollar-pegged tokens simpler to record and convert into their operating currency than holding Bitcoin.
While crypto payments are rising in merchant systems, Bitcoin's share of this activity may not be the largest, whether in business-to-business (B2B) or peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions.
Lightning and app-based payment systems
If Bitcoin is to work as everyday money, the Lightning Network is essential. Lightning enables near-instant, low-cost payments, making small transactions feasible.
But Lightning also brings new measurement difficulties. Many transactions remain off the main blockchain, so total volumes are hard to track.
What you can see instead is platform activity.
You can use apps that facilitate Lightning, allowing users to pay merchants without directly holding Bitcoin. In some setups:
The user pays in local currency.
The app converts it to Bitcoin behind the scenes.
The merchant receives Bitcoin via Lightning.
To the merchant, this counts as a Bitcoin payment. To the user, it may simply feel like a normal QR code scan.
This approach blurs the usual meaning of paying with Bitcoin, but it is significant because it lowers friction.
Did you know? Nonprofits have started using Bitcoin donations to receive funds globally within minutes, especially when traditional wire transfers or card payments face regional shutdowns.
Where Bitcoin payments actually make sense today
Data sets and case studies suggest that Bitcoin payments appear mainly in specific economic niches rather than in everyday consumer spending:
Cross-border small business payments: Exporters, online merchants and freelancers sometimes choose Bitcoin to bypass international bank delays, currency controls or high intermediary fees. Fast settlement and finality matter more than volatility since funds are converted quickly.
Travel and high-value online purchases: Airline tickets, hotel bookings and electronics often appear in crypto payment reports. These are cases where card fees add up and international buyers are common.
Donations and censorship-resistant funding: Nonprofits, activists and humanitarian groups use Bitcoin when traditional payment systems are unreliable or politically restricted.
Remittances in certain corridors: Stablecoins lead most crypto remittance flows, but Bitcoin still plays a role where local on-ramps exist and recipients can convert easily.
Gift card and voucher systems: Many people use Bitcoin by buying gift cards or prepaid vouchers indirectly. This is not direct merchant acceptance, but it is a real way consumers spend.
Local circular economies: Small communities around Bitcoin meetups, tourism areas or coworking spaces can demonstrate local usage. These cases are genuine but remain small in scale.
So, how many people actually pay with Bitcoin?
There is no exact global number for Bitcoin payments, and any precise user count should be viewed with caution.
The evidence supports the following points:
Among crypto holders, a substantial minority has used crypto for payments, though not always regularly.
Everyday Bitcoin payment use has remained low, even in countries that encouraged it.
Merchant acceptance exists, but payment volumes are concentrated in certain sectors and regions rather than broad retail.
A rising portion of crypto payments now uses stablecoins instead of Bitcoin, particularly for business transactions.
Bitcoin functions today more as specialized payment infrastructure than as universal consumer money.
Practical milestones for Bitcoin adoption
Future adoption of Bitcoin as a payment method will likely depend less on theory and more on the development of infrastructure layers.
Key indicators to watch include:
Apps that hide crypto wallets and private keys from users
Merchant tools that add Lightning without added complexity
Clear regulations on crypto payment settlement and accounting
Competition between Bitcoin systems and stablecoin networks.
If paying with Bitcoin becomes as easy as scanning a QR code in a familiar app, usage may increase, depending on regulatory and market conditions.
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.
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PANAMA CITY, Feb. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- BingX, a leading cryptocurrency and Web3-AI company, announced today that it will join Crypto Expo Europe as a Diamond Sponsor. Taking place from March 1, 2026, the sponsorship underscores BingX's long-term commitment to empowering traders and global Web3 communities through education, innovation, and responsible access to global markets.
As Diamond Sponsor, BingX will have a strong presence throughout the event, supporting discussions around blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, and the future of digital finance. Vivien Lin, Chief Product Officer at BingX, will join the panel titled "Security First: What Modern Exchanges Must Offer Beyond Basic Protection" and will participate in the Closing Keynote of the Crypto Expo Europe, "What's Next for the Industry and Where the Major Opportunities Will Come From," addressing key themes shaping the evolving financial ecosystem.
As Diamond Sponsor, BingX will have a strong presence throughout the event, supporting discussions around blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, and the future of digital finance. Vivien Lin, Chief Product Officer at BingX, will join the panel titled "Security First: What Modern Exchanges Must Offer Beyond Basic Protection" and will participate in the Closing Keynote of the Crypto Expo Europe, "What's Next for the Industry and Where the Major Opportunities Will Come From," addressing key themes shaping the evolving financial ecosystem.
"Education, transparency, and the responsible use of emerging technologies are fundamental to building trust in the crypto industry," said Lin. "We are proud to join Crypto Expo Europe in creating an important space for dialogue and knowledge exchange, helping global communities better understand how blockchain and AI can evolve responsibly and sustainably within the global financial ecosystem."
Through its involvement in Crypto Expo Europe, BingX aims to support initiatives that encourage informed participation, foster open dialogue.
About BingX
Founded in 2018, BingX is a leading crypto exchange and Web3-AI company, serving over 40 million users worldwide. Ranked among the top five global crypto derivatives exchanges and a pioneer of crypto copy trading, BingX addresses the evolving needs of users across all experience levels.
Powered by a comprehensive suite of AI-driven products and services, including futures, spot, copy trading, and TradFi offerings, BingX empowers users with innovative tools designed to enhance performance, confidence, and efficiency.
BingX has been the principal partner of Chelsea FC since 2024, and became the first official crypto exchange partner of Scuderia Ferrari HP in 2026.
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Bitmine has 3,040,483 staked ETH, representing $6.0 billion at $1,958 per ETH; MAVAN staking solution on track to launch Q1 2026
Bitmine now owns 3.66% of the ETH token supply, over 73% of the way to the 'Alchemy of 5%' in just 7 months
Bitmine recently closed on initial $200 million investment into Beast Industries
Bitmine Crypto + Total Cash Holdings + "Moonshots" total $9.6 billion, including 4.423 million ETH tokens, total cash of $691 million, and other crypto holdings
Bitmine leads crypto treasury peers by both the velocity of raising crypto NAV per share and by the high trading liquidity of BMNR stock
Bitmine is the 165th most traded stock in the US, trading $0.7 billion per day (5-day avg)
Bitmine remains supported by a premier group of institutional investors including ARK's Cathie Wood, MOZAYYX, Founders Fund, Bill Miller III, Pantera, Kraken, DCG, Galaxy Digital and personal investor Thomas "Tom" Lee to support Bitmine's goal of acquiring 5% of ETH
LAS VEGAS, Feb. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- (NYSE AMERICAN: BMNR) Bitmine Immersion Technologies, Inc. ("Bitmine" or the "Company") a Bitcoin and Ethereum Network company with a focus on the accumulation of crypto for long term investment, today announced Bitmine crypto + total cash + "moonshots" holdings totaling $9.6 billion.
As of February 22th, 2026 at 6:00pm ET, the Company's crypto holdings are comprised of 4,422,659 ETH at $1,958 per ETH (NASDAQ: COIN), 193 Bitcoin (BTC), $200 million stake in Beast Industries, $17 million stake in Eightco Holdings (NASDAQ: ORBS) ("moonshots") and total cash of $691 million. Bitmine's ETH holdings are 3.66% of the ETH supply (of 120.7 million ETH).
"In the midst of this 'mini crypto winter,' our focus continues to be on methodically executing our treasury strategy and steadily acquiring ETH and in turn, optimizing the yield on our ETH holdings," said Thomas "Tom" Lee, Chairman of Bitmine.
"We discussed this operational strategy in our latest Chairman's message (the link to his message is here). While crypto prices are attempting to find their respective lows, the three fundamental drivers for Ethereum continue to gain traction: (i) Wall Street and their efforts at tokenization; (ii) AI and agentic-AI using smart blockchains for both execution and for collecting payments and (iii) the emerging creator economy and their desire to use blockchains for verification," continued Lee.
"In the past week, we acquired 51,162 ETH," continued Lee. "Bitmine has been steadily buying Ethereum, as we view this pullback as attractive, given the strengthening fundamentals. In our view, the price of ETH is not reflective of the high utility of ETH and its role as the future of finance."
As of February 22, 2026, Bitmine total staked ETH stands at 3,040,483 ($6.0 billion at $1,958 per ETH). "Bitmine has staked more ETH than other entities in the world. At scale (when Bitmine's ETH is fully staked by MAVAN and its staking partners), the ETH staking rewards is $249 million annually (using 2.89% 7-day BMNR yield)," stated Lee.
"Annualized staking revenues are now $171 million. And this 3.0 million ETH is about 69% of the 4.4 million ETH held by Bitmine. The CESR (Composite Ethereum Staking Rate, administered by Quatrefoil) is 2.81%, while Bitmine's own staking operations generated a 7-day yield of 2.89% (annualized). We continue to make progress on our staking solution known as The Made in America VAlidator Network (MAVAN). This will be the 'best-in-class' solution offering secure staking infrastructure and will be deployed in early calendar 2026. Bitmine is currently working with 3 staking providers as the Company moves towards unveiling MAVAN in 2026," continued Lee.
Bitmine crypto holding reigns as the #1 Ethereum treasury and #2 global treasury, behind Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ: MSTR), which owns 717,131 BTC valued at $49 billion. Bitmine remains the largest ETH treasury in the world.
Bitmine is one of the most widely traded stocks in the US. According to data from Fundstrat, the stock has traded average daily dollar volume of $0.7 billion (5-day average, as of February 20, 2026), ranking #165 in the US, behind Carnival Corp (rank #164) and ahead of Northrup Grumman (rank #166) among 5,704 US-listed stocks (statista.com and Fundstrat research).
The GENIUS Act and Securities and Exchange Commission's ("the SEC") Project Crypto are as transformational to financial services in 2025 as US action on August 15, 1971 ending Bretton Woods and the USD on the gold standard 54 years ago. This 1971 event was the catalyst for the modernization of Wall Street, creating the iconic Wall Street titans and financial and payment rails of today. These proved to be better investments than gold.
The Chairman's message can be found here:https://www.Bitminetech.io/chairmans-message
The Fiscal Full Year 2025 Earnings presentation and corporate presentation can be found here: https://Bitminetech.io/investor-relations/
To stay informed, please sign up at: https://Bitminetech.io/contact-us/
About BitmineBitmine (NYSE AMERICAN: BMNR) is the leading Ethereum Treasury company in the world, implementing an innovative digital asset strategy for institutional investors and public market participants. Guided by its philosophy of "the alchemy of 5%," the Company is committed to ETH as its primary treasury reserve asset, leveraging native protocol-level activities including staking and decentralized finance mechanisms. The Company will launch MAVAN (Made-in America VAlidator Network), a dedicated staking infrastructure for Bitmine assets, in Q1 of 2026.
For additional details, follow on X:https://x.com/bitmnrhttps://x.com/fundstrathttps://x.com/bmnrintern
Forward Looking StatementsThis press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements." The statements in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties. This document specifically contains forward-looking statements regarding progress and achievement of the Company's goals regarding ETH acquisition and staking, the long-term value of Ethereum, continued growth and advancement of the Company's Ethereum treasury strategy and the applicable benefits to the Company. In evaluating these forward-looking statements, you should consider various factors, including Bitmine's ability to keep pace with new technology and changing market needs; Bitmine's ability to finance its current business, Ethereum treasury operations and proposed future business; the competitive environment of Bitmine's business; and the future value of Bitcoin and Ethereum. Actual future performance outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond Bitmine's control, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of Bitmine's Form 10-K filed with the SEC on November 21, 2025, as well as all other SEC filings, as amended or updated from time to time. Copies of Bitmine's filings with the SEC are available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Bitmine undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release, except as required by law.
SOURCE Bitmine Immersion Technologies, Inc.
(NYSE AMERICAN: BMNR) Bitmine Immersion Technologies, Inc. ("Bitmine" o la "compañía"), una empresa de Bitcoin y Ethereum Network centrada en la...
(NYSE AMERICAN: BMNR) Bitmine Immersion Technologies, Inc. ("Bitmine" o la "Società"), una società di Bitcoin ed Ethereum Network interessata...
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Prediction markets are losing their way, according to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
The platforms initially conceived as arbiters of truth are on the fast lane to becoming "corposlop," Buterin said on Feb. 14 on X.
Buterin previously defined corposlop as prioritizing profits over the wellbeing of consumers.
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Buterin on Feb. 14 said prediction markets are increasingly pandering to dopamine plays such as short-term price speculation and sports betting to drive volume, rather than markets with "societal information value."
"My guess is that teams feel motivated to capitulate to these things because they bring in large revenue during a bear market where people are desperate – an understandable motive, but one that leads to corposlop," he said.
Buterin said prediction markets would have to build a brand and community around "dumb opinions" to attract more people to sustain this model. "This is the slide to corposlop," he said.
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So how do prediction markets endure and grow without becoming a machine that preys on desperate and naive traders? By becoming a tool for hedging that replaces fiat currency, Buterin said.
"You have price indices on all major categories of goods and services that people buy (treating physical goods/services in different regions as different categories), and prediction markets on each category," he said. "Each user (individual or business) has a local LLM that understands that user's expenses, and offers the user a personalized basket of prediction market shares, representing ‘N days of that user's expected future expenses.'"
Buterin said that for the idea to work, prediction markets have to use yield-bearing assets so that people are comfortable holding them. He listed Ethereum as an option.
"If we can make it work, it's much more sustainable than the status quo, because both sides of the equation are likely to be long-term happy with the product that they are buying, and very large volumes of sophisticated capital will be willing to participate," he said.
See Also: You Saved for Retirement — But Do You Know What You'll Keep After Taxes?
Prediction market leaders Polymarket and Kalshi are already attracting significant institutional interest as is.
Neither Polymarket nor Kalshi immediately responded to a request for comment from Benzinga.
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Rad AI's award-winning artificial intelligence technology helps transform data chaos into actionable insights, enabling the creation of high-performing content with measurable ROI. Their Regulation A+ offering allows investors to participate at $0.85 per share with a minimum investment of $1,000, providing an opportunity to diversify portfolios into early-stage AI innovation. For investors seeking exposure to the rapidly growing AI and tech sector, Rad AI offers a chance to get in on the ground floor of a data-driven growth story.
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Lightstone
Lightstone DIRECT gives accredited investors direct access to institutional-grade real estate, going beyond typical crowdfunding platforms. By cutting out middlemen, it aligns investor and manager interests while providing exposure to a $12B+ portfolio spanning multifamily, industrial, hospitality, retail, office, and life science properties. This approach allows investors to diversify their portfolios across multiple property types and markets, gaining professional-grade real estate exposure without the fees or misalignment common on other platforms.
Masterworks
Masterworks enables investors to diversify into blue-chip art, an alternative asset class with historically low correlation to stocks and bonds. Through fractional ownership of museum-quality works by artists like Banksy, Basquiat, and Picasso, investors gain access without the high costs or complexities of owning art outright. With hundreds of offerings and strong historical exits on select works, Masterworks adds a scarce, globally traded asset to portfolios seeking long-term diversification.
Bam Capital
BAM Capital offers accredited investors a way to diversify beyond public markets through institutional-grade multifamily real estate. With over $1.85 billion in completed transactions and guidance from Senior Economic Advisor Tony Landa, the firm targets income and long-term growth as supply tightens and renter demand remains strong—especially in Midwest markets. Its income-focused and growth-oriented funds provide exposure to real assets designed to be less tied to stock market volatility.
Kraken
As digital assets become a larger part of diversified portfolios, traders increasingly look for platforms that offer transparency, efficiency, and control. Kraken Pro is an advanced trading interface from Kraken, one of the world's leading cryptocurrency exchanges, designed for users who want more sophisticated tools without added complexity. With low, volume-based fees, a streamlined interface for managing spot, margin, and futures trading, and a strong focus on security and regulatory compliance, Kraken Pro provides a way to gain diversified crypto exposure through a clear, professional-grade trading experience.
Rex Shares
REX Shares designs specialized ETFs for investors who want more precision than traditional broad-market funds can offer. Its lineup spans options-based income strategies, leveraged and inverse exposures, spot-linked crypto ETFs, and thematic funds tied to structural trends. By targeting specific income objectives, volatility profiles, or market themes, these ETFs can be used alongside core holdings to introduce differentiated return drivers and reduce reliance on a single market outcome, while maintaining the liquidity and transparency of the ETF structure.
Motley Fool
Motley Fool Asset Management brings its long-standing "Foolish" investing philosophy into a lineup of passive ETFs designed around clear, rules-based investment styles. Built using decades of proprietary research from The Motley Fool, LLC, these factor-based ETFs focus on growth, value, and momentum strategies, selecting U.S. companies based on quality, risk, and long-term potential. For investors who want professionally vetted stock exposure without the demands of active trading, Motley Fool Asset Management offers a straightforward way to access expert-driven strategies through the simplicity and liquidity of an ETF.
Elf Labs
Elf Labs is an IP-focused entertainment company built on a strategy that has powered giants like Disney and Marvel: ownership of globally recognized character IP. After more than a decade of rights acquisition, the company controls 500+ protected trademarks and copyrights tied to iconic characters including Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, and Peter Pan. This foundation has generated over $15 million in royalties, expanded licensing into 30+ countries, and supported development of 100+ product lines. With its Nasdaq ticker ($ELFS) reserved and valuation growth exceeding 1,600% in under two years, Elf Labs is now scaling distribution through patented production systems, global licensing, and streaming and mobile initiatives—offering investors exposure to a private entertainment company with a clear public-market trajectory.
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Finance Advisors helps Americans approach retirement with greater clarity by connecting them to vetted, fiduciary financial advisors who specialize in tax-aware retirement planning. Rather than focusing on products or investment performance alone, the platform emphasizes strategies that account for after-tax income, withdrawal sequencing, and long-term tax efficiency—factors that can materially impact retirement outcomes. Free to use, Finance Advisors gives individuals with meaningful savings access to a level of planning sophistication historically reserved for high-net-worth households, helping reduce hidden tax risk and improve long-term financial confidence.
Valley Center Wellness
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Immersed
Immersed is a private, pre-IPO technology company operating at the intersection of AI, spatial computing, and remote work. Best known for building the most widely used productivity app on the Meta Quest platform, Immersed enables professionals and teams to work full-time in shared virtual environments across macOS, Windows, and Linux. The company is expanding beyond software with its own productivity-focused XR headset and AI tools, supported by partnerships with major technology firms including Meta, Samsung, and Qualcomm. Immersed is currently allowing retail investors to participate in its pre-IPO round, subject to eligibility and offering terms.
Public
Public is a multi-asset investing platform built for long-term investors who want more control, transparency, and innovation in how they grow wealth. Founded in 2019 as the first broker-dealer to offer commission-free, real-time fractional investing, Public now lets users invest in stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and more—all in one place. Its latest feature, Generated Assets, uses AI to turn a single idea into a fully customized, investable index that can be explained and backtested before committing capital. Combined with AI-powered research tools, clear explanations of market moves, and an uncapped 1% match for transferring an existing portfolio, Public positions itself as a modern platform designed to help serious investors make more informed decisions with context.
Paladin
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This article Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin Warns Prediction Markets Are On Path To Becoming 'Corposlop' originally appeared on Benzinga.com
© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
The annual event known as Ethereum Denver returned last week, as a tribe of crypto faithful descended upon the rodeo grounds of Colorado's largest city to geek out about the world's second most popular blockchain. Unlike the noisy religious revival feel of Bitcoin gatherings, the vibe at Ethereum events is more akin to a tech-infused folk festival. This year's conference was subdued compared to previous ones that coincided with to-the-moon market rallies but, contrary to the image of a forsaken hellscape tweeted by digital artist Beeple, it had plenty of energy and some heavy hitters—SEC Chair Paul Atkins among them.
This edition of Ethereum Denver also comes at a time when the blockchain is trying to show it can cut it in the world of traditional finance. While Ethereum has been integral to many blockchain trials by big banks, Wall Street has repeatedly tried to develop its own alternatives—ones with fewer ties to the traditional crypto community. And in recent months, it has been trying to do so again.
This is reflected in a debate that has flared up over privacy on the blockchain and led JPMorgan Chase, Visa and other big financial incumbents to experiment with Canton, a blockchain not built on Ethereum. The crypto community, meanwhile, sees a different privacy tool called ZKsync, which sits on Ethereum architecture, as the better choice.
On its face, it feels like the decision by big banks to opt for Canton, which can be described as kind-of-a-blockchain, means Ethereum could get frozen out of the current push by Wall Street to upgrade its backend to digital ledgers. But history shows this is unlikely to be the case.
A decade ago, during a previous crypto downturn, the media made a big deal about an outfit called R3 that was backed by a consortium of banks, and that liked to embrace the slogan “blockchain not Bitcoin.” The premise was to create a walled-garden version of crypto that would let individual banks have considerable control over its operations. Unsurprisingly, the project has been mostly a failure.
More broadly, debates over private and public versions of new technology amount to a choice between open and closed systems—and history shows open systems win in the long run. Some famous examples include cable giant Time Warner's failed attempt to sell the internet as a bundle of TV channels, or Microsoft's long-running but futile attempt to suppress Linux. This sort of dynamic is likely to play out again when it comes to blockchain. The reality is that, whatever version of blockchain the traditional financial sector builds, the product is likely to be less secure and, in the long run, less popular.
Bank-built blockchains will also find it hard to attract top builders. I was reminded of this during an on-stage chat I had last week in Denver with Danny Ryan, a prominent early Ethereum figure who has a computer science degree from Princeton. Ryan is currently at a firm he cofounded called Etherealize, which seeks to bring Ethereum tools to Wall Street, and whose CEO Vivek Raman spent his career at firms like UBS and Morgan Stanley. It is rare to find duos like that building tech for banking consortiums—another reason the traditional financial industry will be hard pressed to build alternatives to Ethereum.
Jeff John Roberts jeff.roberts@fortune.com@jeffjohnroberts
The ascendant venture firm Dragonfly, whose bets include Polymarket and Ethena, has raised a $650 million fourth fund even as one of its four partners predicted a “mass extinction event” among the current VC ecosystem. (Fortune)
In an ominous flashback to 2022, Susquehanna-backed crypto lender BlockFills halted deposits and withdrawals after losing at least $75 million during the recent downturn. (CoinDesk)
Harvard's endowment bought Ethereum for the first time, acquiring ETF shares worth around $87 million, but sold roughly $72 million of Bitcoin. (Fortune)
Prominent crypto lawyer Jake Chervinsky is leading a new policy shop in D.C. The outfit, backed by $28 million worth of Hyperliquid tokens, will focus on DeFi and the creation of a regulatory structure to bring perps into the U.S. financial system. (Fortune)
The Trump family convened a Mar-a-Lago crypto summit whose guests included Brian Armstrong, David Solomon and CZ. It's unclear if the event, described as a “show of forces” for World Liberty Financial, will create momentum for key crypto legislation stalled in Congress. (FT)
Software engineer and blogger Molly White, who has emerged in recent years as one of crypto's most prominent critics, is not impressed by Big Crypto's obscene political war chest.
Bad times make for good memes.
Jeff John Roberts is the Finance and Crypto editor at Fortune, overseeing coverage of the blockchain and how technology is changing finance.
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Data protection authorities from across the globe have today published a Joint Statement on AI-Generated Imagery. The statement represents the united position of 61 authorities and has been issued in response to serious concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) systems that generate realistic images and videos depicting identifiable individuals without their knowledge and consent. The signatories are especially concerned about potential harms to children.
William Malcolm, Executive Director Regulatory Risk & Innovation, said:
The full statement can be read here.
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated.
© 2026 Cybernews – Latest Cybersecurity and Tech News, Research & Analysis.
The UK's data watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), has won an important Court of Appeal ruling against retailer DSG, keeping a £500,000 fine in place over a major cyberattack.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has won the Court of Appeal's ruling against the Upper Tribunal's decision in DSG Retail Limited.
In January 2020, the United Kingdom's data protection authority (DPA) issued a £500,000 fine to DSG Retail Limited after a cyberattack compromised its computer system. The breach affected the personal data of at least 14 million people.
The ICO researchers found out that an attacker installed malware on 5,390 tills at DSG's Currys PC World and Dixons Travel stores between July 2017 and April 2018, collecting personal data during the nine months before the attack was detected.
The British DPA found out that the retailer failed to secure the system, allowing attackers to gain access to 5.6 million payment card details used in transactions and the personal information of approximately 14 million people, including full names, zip codes, and email addresses, and failed credit checks from internal servers.
The ICO concluded that DSG Retail Limited had implemented poor security measures and failed to take adequate steps to protect personal data. This included vulnerabilities such as inadequate software patching, absence of a local firewall, and lack of network segregation and routine security testing.
DSG appealed the ICO's ruling at the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) and Upper Tribunal (UT). In turn, the data protection authority appealed to the Court of Appeal in 2024 to seek clarification of an important point under the Data Protection Act 1998.
The Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the ICO, stating that DSG was required to take appropriate security measures to protect personal data from unauthorized access.
“We welcome the CoA's confirmation that organizations must protect all personal data they process, regardless of how it might be used or exploited by hackers. This recognizes that even if hackers can't identify people individually from stolen datasets, cyberattacks can and do still cause real harm,” Binnie Goh, ICO General Counsel, said in a statement.
“With the rising threat of cybercrime, this decision strengthens our ability to take robust action in the future and sends a clear message to all organizations: you have a protective duty to safeguard the personal data you hold,” she continued.
Now that the point of law has been clarified by the Court of Appeal, the case will return to the First-tier Tribunal at a later date to apply this interpretation to the facts of the DSG cyberattack.
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/e/OS, a privacy-focused mobile operating system created by an open source advocate and former Linux Mandrake founder is drawing steady interest from users looking to reduce their reliance on big tech ecosystems.
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Key takeawaysUnlike phishing attacks that defraud victims quickly, pig-butchering scams build long-term emotional trust before introducing fraudulent crypto investment opportunities.From casual outreach and relationship building to fake profits, escalating deposits and blocked withdrawals, each step is carefully designed to deepen commitment.Blockchain security firm CertiK reported $370.3 million in scam-related losses in January 2026 alone, with social engineering tactics accounting for the majority.Authorities are targeting scam networks and laundering operations, yet cross-border jurisdictional issues and encrypted communications complicate crackdowns.Pig-butchering frauds involve a long-drawn, methodical approach in which scammers instill confidence in their targets and later exploit it for monetary gain. Over the last few years, such schemes have proliferated within the crypto sector, making traders fearful of losing their funds. These frauds have reshaped how regulators and law enforcement view crypto-enabled crime.This article explores how pig-butchering crypto scams manipulate victims through long-term relationship building and the exploitation of emotional trust using fabricated investment platforms. It explains the psychological tactics scammers use, how funds are extracted over time and why these schemes have become one of the fastest-growing global crypto fraud models.
Unlike phishing attacks that defraud victims quickly, pig-butchering scams build long-term emotional trust before introducing fraudulent crypto investment opportunities.
From casual outreach and relationship building to fake profits, escalating deposits and blocked withdrawals, each step is carefully designed to deepen commitment.
Blockchain security firm CertiK reported $370.3 million in scam-related losses in January 2026 alone, with social engineering tactics accounting for the majority.
Authorities are targeting scam networks and laundering operations, yet cross-border jurisdictional issues and encrypted communications complicate crackdowns.
Pig-butchering frauds involve a long-drawn, methodical approach in which scammers instill confidence in their targets and later exploit it for monetary gain. Over the last few years, such schemes have proliferated within the crypto sector, making traders fearful of losing their funds. These frauds have reshaped how regulators and law enforcement view crypto-enabled crime.
This article explores how pig-butchering crypto scams manipulate victims through long-term relationship building and the exploitation of emotional trust using fabricated investment platforms. It explains the psychological tactics scammers use, how funds are extracted over time and why these schemes have become one of the fastest-growing global crypto fraud models.
Defining a pig-butchering scam
Pig-butchering derives from the Chinese expression “Sha Zhu Pan,” which refers to nurturing a target like livestock prior to slaughter. Applied to fraud, it entails scammers forging deep personal connections over extended periods. They then coax victims into sending funds to a deceptive digital currency venture.
While typical phishing tactics rely on urgency and alarm, pig-butchering scams hinge on persuasion and persistence. Scammers assume roles such as a confidant, adviser or financial consultant, methodically building trust before executing the scheme.
Did you know? Some victims interact with scammers for several months before investing, making pig-butchering one of the longest-running and most emotionally manipulative forms of online financial fraud.
Breaking down the scam process
Understanding each stage of a pig-butchering scam reveals how emotional manipulation and financial deception are woven together to trap victims:
First outreach: Perpetrators typically initiate contact with victims through dating platforms, professional networks like LinkedIn, social media such as Instagram, messaging services like Telegram or unsolicited SMS messages. The introductory message is designed to lower suspicion and often appears accidental or casual.
Fostering connection: Over subsequent days or weeks, the scammer nurtures a bond with the victim by sharing “manufactured” anecdotes, routine details and “professional” achievements. Many scammers impersonate successful digital asset traders and finance experts.
Unveiling the opportunity: Eventually, the scammers shift the conversation to investing. They claim to know a high-return crypto trading strategy or to have access to insider knowledge or a private investment platform. They show victims screenshots of fake profits and guide them to professional-looking fraudulent websites.
Early modest returns: Scammers encourage individuals to start with minimal investments. The system may display swift “earnings” to build trust. Occasionally, scammers allow small withdrawals to make the platform appear legitimate.
Intensification: As the victim's trust in the scammers increases, they are encouraged to invest larger amounts. Scammers may advise victims to take bank loans, withdraw savings or even borrow from friends.
Blocked withdrawals and exit: When victims attempt to retrieve the amount “deposited,” the system blocks access and demands additional “charges.” Thereafter, the scammers vanish.
Did you know? Law enforcement agencies in the US and Europe have begun freezing crypto wallets linked to pig-butchering rings, sometimes recovering partial funds through coordinated blockchain tracing efforts.
Using trust as a psychological weapon
The core feature that sets pig-butchering scams apart is their reliance on psychological and emotional exploitation. Fraudsters target vulnerabilities such as:
Feelings of isolation or a strong need for connection and affection
Economic difficulties combined with the hope of gaining quick wealth
Authority bias, which refers to the tendency to rely on perceived experts
Trust in apparent evidence of success.
Perpetrators intentionally spend time in the buildup phase rather than pushing for quick action. An extended period of interaction deepens the victim's sense of attachment and loyalty. When the moment arrives to send money, many victims genuinely feel they are partnering with a dependable ally or close companion.
The emotional layer complicates the path to recovery, both financially and psychologically.
Did you know? Pig-butchering exploits proceed through complex laundering chains involving multiple wallets, cross-chain bridges and over-the-counter (OTC) brokers before funds are cashed out.
Assessing the magnitude of the problem
Fraud involving cryptocurrency has seen a sharp rise in recent times. According to blockchain security company CertiK, scammers stole $370.3 million in January 2026 alone, the largest single-month total in nearly a year. Of that amount, phishing and social engineering tactics accounted for about $311 million, a category that frequently includes pig-butchering operations.
This uptick followed prominent crypto security breaches in 2025, particularly the Bybit exchange hack in February, which contributed to $1.5 billion in overall losses during that period.
Significant court outcomes further demonstrate the scale of these crimes. In early 2026, Daren Li, a dual citizen of China and St. Kitts and Nevis, received a 20-year federal prison sentence in the US for leading an extensive cryptocurrency fraud network. According to prosecutors, his actions defrauded victims of more than $73 million, with accomplices setting up fake websites and using front companies.
Dimensions of crypto-related frauds
Trading in digital currencies does not always result in fraud. However, crypto trading has its own unique dynamics.
Swiftness and finality: Crypto transactions become permanent once confirmed. Unlike card-based payments, no central authority can reverse the transfer of funds.
Global reach: Fraudsters often operate in networks that span national borders. Crypto enables seamless cross-border transfers independent of conventional finance.
Convincing interfaces: Scam websites have grown more sophisticated. Like legitimate platforms, they may feature dynamic pricing, user dashboards and support functions.
Obfuscation using stablecoins and decentralized finance: To obscure the trail of funds involved in these scams, assets are often swapped into stablecoins or routed through decentralized systems.
While blockchain transparency assists investigators, stolen assets may pass through a chain of addresses before an investigation begins.
Countermeasures to curb pig-butchering scams
Security agencies have taken steps to deter pig-butchering scams, which can be devastating for victims. Entities such as the US Secret Service and Homeland Security are strengthening joint efforts through anti-crime units focused on financial offenses.
Recent cases demonstrate that investigative agencies are pursuing not only individual scammers but also laundering networks and shell companies that facilitate the movement of funds. However, enforcement faces several challenges:
Jurisdictional complexity
Use of encrypted communications
Scam compounds operating in loosely regulated regions
Reports of forced labor in some Southeast Asian scam centers.
The global nature of these operations requires a coordinated international response.
Red flags to watch for
Awareness remains the first line of defense against fraudulent activities. Common warning signs include:
Unsolicited investment advice from online acquaintances
Pressure to move conversations off mainstream apps
Assurances of consistent high returns with low risk
Requests to deposit crypto on unfamiliar platforms
Demands for “tax” or “unlock” fees before withdrawals.
Before investing in any platform, verify through independent sources that it is credible.
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.
RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took questions at a joint media briefing after a customary post-Budget meeting in the national capital on Monday.
The press conference followed the Union finance minister's meeting with the central bank's central board of directors.
Here are key takeaways from the briefing:
Finance minister
All the gold available in the market is imported
We are watching gold prices right now
The situation is becoming a matter of concern
RBI is also monitoring gold prices
Purchases by several central banks in gold and silver have led to the rise in gold and silver prices
RBI governor
If there have been changes in the CPI methodology, we will also have to make changes
Adjustments will be made in the April policy
The decision on Margin Trading Facility (MTF) was taken after stakeholder consultation; no plan to make any changes at present
Banks have a capital adequacy ratio of 17 per cent
Even if no fresh capital comes in over the next five years, banks' capital requirements will still be adequately met
More than Rs 1 lakh crore of FDI investment flowed into banks last year
The reduction in US securities holdings was only due to dollar valuation changes
We are monitoring IDFC's condition; this is not a systemic issue
(This is a breaking news story. More details will be added shortly.)
In this article
Bitcoin fell as much as 5% to below $65,000 on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to raise global tariffs to 15%.
The drop came as Asian equities rose in early trade, underscoring crypto's divergence from regional stock markets amid renewed tariff uncertainty.
U.S. crypto firms also fell as markets opened on Monday. Strategy was last seen down 2.5%, Coinbase moved 4.1% lower, Robinhood was down 4.5%, and Block was down 5%.
Bitcoin has seen a sharp sell-off since October last year when it crossed $125,000, with the downturn extending into the new year. The world's largest cryptocurrency is down 26% so far this year and has lost over 47% since the October high.
"We believe that the sudden uptick in tariff rates is causing investors to sell crypto assets in anticipation of a more serious market decline," said Jeff Mei, COO at global blockchain technology company BTSE.
Investors are also concerned that the build-up of U.S. military forces around Iran raises the possibility of an armed conflict that could spread regionally and impact global trade flows, he added.
There has been massive U.S. military buildup in the Middle East, with Trump signaling last Thursday that he would decide in the next 10 days whether to launch strikes against Iran.
Markus Thielen, head of research at market intelligence platform 10x Research, said bitcoin's latest drop was driven less by a single headline and more by weak liquidity and low conviction in the market.
Thielen said the downturn fits a typical bear-market phase characterized by low volumes and uncertainty tied to U.S. midterm elections, expecting further downside toward $50,000 before a more durable bottom forms.
Safe-haven demand saw spot gold trading over 1% higher Monday, showing a strong divergence from bitcoin, which has often been referred to as "digital gold," including by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
The cryptocurrency pared some of its losses and was down 2.1% to $65,970 as of 10:14 a.m. ET. Ether — the second most popular cryptocurrency — was down 2% at $1,904.
Earlier this month, Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan attributed bitcoin's slide primarily to the crypto market's "four-year cycle," arguing that the current retracement mirrors patterns seen in past downturns. Bitwise has more than $15 billion in assets under management, and is heavily into crypto ETFs.
Hougan highlighted there was no single catalyst behind the losses, pointing instead to investors rotating into gold and artificial intelligence stocks, lingering concerns over Fed nominee Kevin Warsh and broader "quantum risk." Bitcoin had hit a more than 1-year low of $63,119.8 on Feb. 5.
— CNBC's Blair Bao contributed to this report.
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On land, dramatic canyons such as the Grand Canyon are carved over time by flowing rivers. The ocean does not have rivers capable of cutting into rock on that scale. Even so, the seafloor hosts enormous features that surpass the size of the largest land canyons.
About 1,000 kilometers off the coast of Portugal lies one of the most striking examples. Known as the King's Trough Complex, this vast underwater structure stretches roughly 500 kilometers and includes a series of parallel trenches and deep basins. At its eastern edge is Peake Deep, one of the deepest locations in the Atlantic Ocean.
What created such an immense formation? A team of international researchers led by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel has uncovered new clues. Their findings appear in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (G-Cubed), published by the American Geophysical Union (AGU).
"Researchers have long suspected that tectonic processes -- that is, movements of the Earth's crust -- played a central role in the formation of the King's Trough," says lead author Dr. Antje Dürkefälden, marine geologist at GEOMAR. "Our results now explain for the first time why this remarkable structure developed precisely at this location."
Seafloor Rifting Between Europe and Africa
The new research indicates that between about 37 and 24 million years ago, a plate boundary separating Europe and Africa temporarily passed through this part of the North Atlantic. As the tectonic plates shifted, the crust in this region was pulled apart and fractured, opening progressively from east to west, much like a zipper being undone.
An important piece of the puzzle lies even deeper. Before the plate boundary moved into the area, the oceanic crust there had already become unusually thick and heated. This condition resulted from hot material rising upward from Earth's mantle. Known as a mantle plume, this steady column of molten rock originates far below the surface. The team believes this was an early offshoot of what is now the Azores mantle plume.
"This thickened, heated crust may have made the region mechanically weaker, so that the plate boundary preferentially shifted here," explains co-author PD Dr. Jörg Geldmacher, marine geologist at GEOMAR. "When the plate boundary later moved further south towards the modern Azores, the formation of the King's Trough also came to a halt."
How Mantle Activity Shapes the Atlantic
The King's Trough offers a clear example of how deep mantle processes and shifting tectonic plates interact. Activity far below the surface can prepare the crust for later deformation, influencing where major fractures and rifts eventually develop.
These findings also shed light on the broader geodynamic history of the Atlantic Ocean. Similar processes may still be underway today. Near the Azores, a comparable trench system called the Terceira Rift is forming in another region where the oceanic crust is unusually thick.
Mapping the King's Trough
The conclusions are based on data collected during research expedition M168 aboard the research vessel METEOR in 2020, led by Antje Dürkefälden. The scientists used high resolution sonar to produce a detailed map of the seafloor. They then retrieved volcanic rock samples from several parts of the trench system using a chain bag dredge.
Back in the lab, the team examined the chemical makeup of the rocks. Selected samples were dated at the University of Madison (Wisconsin, USA). Additional bathymetric data came from the Portuguese research centre Estrutura de Missão para a Extensão da Plataforma Continental (EMEPC). Researchers from Kiel University and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg also contributed to the study.
Story Source:
Materials provided by Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR). Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
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The breakthrough could lead to more durable—and drastically safer—buildings.
Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. Why Trust Us?
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story:
Scientists are always looking for ways to make inherently brittle materials, such as concrete or ceramic, tougher, safer, and more durable. This time, they found inspiration from one of the most unlikely of places—the extra-durable shells of oysters.
Once again, mother nature provides.
One of the most well-known attributes of these saltwater bivalve mollusks is the iridescent composite material nacre—also known as “mother of pearl”—that lines the animal's inner shell layer. Although this material has long been featured in jewelry shops around the world, nacre is also an architectural wonder. It contains microscopic hexagonal “tablets” made of aragonite (one of the most common, naturally occurring forms of calcium carbonate) held together by soft biopolymer, kind of like an organic glue.
With the aragonite providing strength and the biopolymer providing flexibility, nacre is incredibly flexible and crack resistant—so much so that scientists from Princeton University's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering wondered if this mollusk maneuver honed by half a billion years of evolution could imbue similar benefits to human building materials. The results of their study were published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.
“This synergy between the hard and soft components is crucial to nacre's remarkable mechanical properties,” Shashank Gupta, a co-author of the study and graduate student at Princeton, said in a press statement. “If we can engineer concrete to resist crack propagation, we can make it tougher, safer and more durable.”
To achieve this lofty goal, Gupta's team crafted three types of multi-layered beams of material that alternated between cement paste sheets and a thin polymer layer. The first beam was made of these two ingredients stacked on top of one another, but the other two beams were slightly different. The first featured hexagonal grooves in the cement paste, while the second cut through the cement completely, forming hexagonal-shaped plates or “tablets.” All three beams were compared to a cast cement paste reference beam (i.e. no polymer layers or hexagonal markings at all).
The resulting experiments proved that, while the reference beam was brittle with no ductility, all three beams showed significantly increased ductility and toughness. However, according to the researchers, it was the multi-layered beam featuring those nacre-like hexagonal plates that was the most remarkable. By matching the mechanics of microscopic nacre, the beam delivered 17 times greater toughness and 19 times more ductility than the cast cement—all while maintaining as much strength as the reference beam.
“Our bio-inspired approach is not to simply mimic nature's microstructure but to learn from the underlying principles and use that to inform the engineering of human-made materials. One of the key mechanisms that makes a nacreous shell tough is the sliding of the tablet at the nanometer level,” Reza Moini, a coauthor of the study, said in a press statement. “In other words, we intentionally engineer defects in the brittle materials as a way to make them stronger by design.”
Stronger and safer cement wouldn't just be a boon for construction, but also the health of the planet, as the production of cement makes up roughly 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. But while the study shows promising results for these nacre-inspired materials, this multi-layered, hexagonal-plated technique will need a bit more tweaking before construction companies start trading out mortar for mollusks.
Darren lives in Portland, has a cat, and writes/edits about sci-fi and how our world works. You can find his previous stuff at Gizmodo and Paste if you look hard enough.
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Nature Communications
volume 17, Article number: 1560 (2026)
Cite this article
Understanding the potential health implications of living near nuclear power plants is important given the renewed interest in nuclear energy as a low-carbon power source. Here we show that U.S. counties located closer to operational nuclear power plants have higher cancer mortality rates than those farther away. Using nationwide mortality data from 2000-2018, we assess long-term spatial patterns of cancer mortality in relation to proximity to nuclear facilities while accounting for socioeconomic, demographic, behavioral, environmental, and healthcare factors. Cancer mortality is higher across multiple age groups in both males and females, with the strongest associations among older adults, males aged 65–74 and females aged 55–64. While our findings cannot establish causality, they highlight the need for further research into potential exposure pathways, latency effects, and cancer-specific risks, emphasizing the importance of addressing these potentially substantial but overlooked risks to public health.
Nuclear power plants have long been a major source of energy production worldwide, playing a critical role in electricity generation. As of 2023, approximately 440 nuclear reactors were operational globally, with a combined capacity of about 390 gigawatts electrical (GWe), generating 2602 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity and accounting for approximately 9% of global electricity production. With about 60 additional reactors under construction and over 110 planned, nuclear energy remains an important source. In addition, approximately 30 countries are considering or initiating nuclear power programs (World Nuclear Association (WNA)).
The United States began generating electricity from commercial nuclear power plants in 1958 and is now the world's largest producer of nuclear energy, contributing about 30% of global nuclear electricity. As of August 1, 2023, the U.S. operates 93 commercial nuclear reactors across 54 plants in 28 states, providing a significant portion of the nation's electricity. The average reactor age is approximately 42 years, reflecting the long-term reliance on nuclear energy for power generation (WNA, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)).
Nuclear power plants emit radioactive pollutants that can disperse into the surrounding environment, leading to potential human exposure through inhalation, ingestion, and direct contact. These pollutants can be transported through air, water, and soil, contributing to long-term environmental contamination1. Populations residing near nuclear power plants may experience low-level chronic exposure to ionizing radiation via environmental release pathways. While our study does not include dosimetry, ionizing radiation is a well-established carcinogen2,3,4,5,6,7 and thus motivates investigation into proximity-based exposure patterns. Given these concerns, numerous studies have examined whether living near nuclear power plants is associated with an increased risk of cancer, but their findings have been inconsistent.
Globally, some studies have reported no association between proximity to nuclear power plants and increased cancer risk8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15. While other studies have found significant associations between residential proximity to nuclear power plants and increased cancer incidence16,17,18,19,20. The conflicting nature of these findings underscores the need for further investigation into the potential health effects of nuclear power plant emissions.
Despite the importance and prevalence of nuclear power plants in the U.S., epidemiologic research regarding their health impacts remains rare. Most U.S. studies have focused on individual plants or limited regions, with only a few national assessments to date - many of which relied on fixed distance cutoffs to classify exposed populations8,9,11,12,19,21,22,23,24,25. These studies often focus on a single facility and its surrounding communities, which restricts their statistical power to detect effects and ability to capture broader exposure patterns. Furthermore, differences in study design, exposure assessment methods, and geographic scope make it difficult to draw generalizable conclusions.
In this work, we assess the association between county-level proximity to nuclear power plants and cancer mortality across the United States from 2000 to 2018. We find that counties located closer to operational nuclear power plants have higher cancer mortality rates, with stronger associations observed among older adults. These associations remain consistent across multiple sensitivity analyses and proximity definitions. The results highlight spatial patterns of cancer risk in relation to nuclear power generation and emphasize the importance of evaluating potential long-term health implications of nuclear energy infrastructure in population-scale studies.
Figure 1 presents the county-level nuclear power plants proximity estimates for the year 2000, illustrating the 10-year average proximity of the sum of inverse-distance (in kilometers) nuclear power plants proximity to operational nuclear power plants. Proximity was calculated by summing the inverse-distance weights from all nuclear plants within 200 km of each county center.
Map showing the spatial distribution of aggregated inverse-distance proximity (1/km) to operational nuclear power plants for each U.S. county in the year 2000. Darker shades (purple) indicate higher cumulative proximity from multiple plants within 200 km, and lighter shades (yellow) indicate lower proximity. County boundaries are outlined in black. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
Counties closer to multiple nuclear power plants had higher estimated proximity levels, as indicated by the darker shading on the map. While distance from the nearest plant played a significant role, cumulative proximities from multiple plants also contributed to variation across counties. Counties in the Midwest, Northeast, and parts of the Southeast exhibited the highest nuclear power plants proximity levels, while regions in the West and Great Plains had lower proximities due to the sparser distribution of nuclear power plants.
Figure 2 presents the cumulative population distribution by nuclear power plants proximity level and its distance-equivalent representation. Proximity is calculated as the sum of inverse distances (1/d) from all operational nuclear power plants within 200 km, while the equivalent distance represents the inverse of this sum, effectively translating cumulative nuclear power plant proximity into the distance from a single nuclear power plant that would result in the same proximity level.
Plot showing the cumulative U.S. population (in millions) living within increasing proximity levels (sum of inverse distances) or equivalent single-plant distances from operational nuclear power plants in 2018. The solid blue line represents the cumulative population curve, with axes labeled for both proximity (top axis) and equivalent distance (bottom axis). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
This figure highlights the number of individuals residing at or below each level of nuclear power plants proximity, or equivalently, within a comparable distance of a single operational nuclear power plant.
Figure 3 presents the estimated associations between nuclear power plants proximity and cancer mortality, showing the coefficients and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each age group and sex. The results indicate a positive association between nuclear power plants proximity and cancer mortality, with the highest relative risk observed in the 55–64 age group for females and 10 years later (65–74) in males.
Forest plot presenting regression coefficients and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for associations between county-level proximity to nuclear power plants and cancer mortality, stratified by age group and sex. Estimates were derived from generalized estimating equation (GEE) Poisson regression models with a log link, incorporating a population offset and robust (sandwich) variance estimators. Confidence intervals are based on two-sided statistical tests. Each observation represents an independent county–year–age–sex unit (n ≈ 290,000). Data represent independent population units, not biological or technical replicates. Horizontal bars indicate 95% CIs around model-estimated effects. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
Table 1 summarizes the total number of cancer deaths attributable to nuclear power plants proximity, stratified by age group and sex. The estimated number of attributable cancer deaths was lowest in the 35–44 age group, with 591 (95% CI: −538, 1696) for females and 260 (95% CI: −753, 1248) for males. The burden increased progressively with age, peaking in the 65–74 age group for females (13,976; 95% CI: 6885, 20,959) and the 65–74 age group for males (20,912; 95% CI: 12,591, 29,109).
Among females, the second highest number of attributable deaths occurred in the 55–64 age group (13,070; 95% CI: 8057, 18,008), followed by the 75–84 age group (12,397; 95% CI: 5383, 19,321). The 85+ age group had the lowest burden among older females, with 9451 (95% CI: 4146, 14,678).
Among males, the second highest number of attributable deaths was in the 75–84 age group (17,968; 95% CI: 10,599, 25,243), followed by the 55–64 age group (12,611; 95% CI: 6380, 18,745). The 85+ age group had the lowest burden among older males, with 6341 (95% CI: 2274, 10,352).
Figure 4 illustrates the relative risk of cancer mortality by equivalent plant distance, stratified by sex and age group.
Curves show model-predicted relative risks (RR) of cancer mortality as a function of equivalent plant distance, stratified by sex and age group. RRs and 95% confidence intervals (shaded bands) were estimated using GEE Poisson regression models including demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral, and environmental covariates. Each observation represents an independent county–year–age–sex unit (n ≈ 290,000). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
These plots demonstrate a consistent inverse association between distance from a nuclear plant and cancer mortality risk, with the highest relative risks observed at shorter distances and a gradual decline as distance increases. The highest relative risk among females was 1.19 in the 65–74 age group, while the highest relative risk among males was 1.20 in the 65–74 age group. The cumulative population (millions) displayed on the secondary x-axis contextualizes the population distribution at different risk levels, highlighting the number of individuals affected at varying distances.
These results suggest that living near nuclear power plants is associated with increased cancer mortality risk, particularly in older populations. The estimated cancer burden attributable to nuclear power plants proximity underscores the potential public health implications of residential proximity to operational nuclear power plants.
We conducted sensitivity analyses to assess the robustness of our findings. First, we reran our models varying the distances to county centers from 200 km down to 100 km, in increments of 10 km, and the results remained consistent. Additionally, we varied the average proximity windows across intervals of 2, 5, 10, 15, and 20 years, with results remaining stable. These analyses confirm that our findings are not driven by arbitrary choices in model variables or parameters, thereby reinforcing the validity of the observed associations.
We assessed the relationship between long-term proximity to nuclear power plants and cancer mortality using a spatially resolved, inverse-distance weighted proximity metric that captures cumulative contributions from multiple plants within 200 km of each U.S. county center. We observed positive associations between proximity and cancer mortality, with stronger effects in older age groups (Fig. 3). The highest attributable cancer mortality burden was observed among individuals aged 65–74 and 75–84, particularly among males (Table 1), reflecting both greater vulnerability in older populations and latency patterns typical of environmentally related cancers. Overall, cancer mortality among individuals aged 65 and older, associated with proximity to nuclear power plants, averaged 4266 deaths per year (95% CI: 3000–9122) between 2000 and 2018.
To contextualize these findings, we compared our results to estimates of mortality associated with another major energy source—coal. A recent study estimated that total all-cause mortality attributable to coal-fired power plant emissions averaged 20,909 deaths per year (95% CI: 19,091–22,727) over 22 years (1999–2020)26. While this is not a direct comparison—since our study examines cancer-caused mortality, whereas the coal study estimates all-cause mortality—our findings represent approximately 20% of the total coal-attributable deaths in their study. This comparison underscores the magnitude of cancer burden within the broader landscape of energy-related health risks.
Ionizing radiation is a well-established carcinogen, with extensive epidemiologic evidence linking radiation exposure to increased cancer risk6,7,27. Some of the strongest evidence comes from studies of nuclear disasters, where high-dose radiation exposure has been consistently associated with increased cancer incidence.
The Japanese atomic bomb survivor Life Span Study first identified excess leukemia deaths, which were observed were first observed about 2 years after the bombing and continued to be seen for the next 25 years after the disaster. Over time, elevated risks of solid cancers emerged, including cancers of the esophagus, stomach, colon, liver, lung, and urinary bladder, as well as female breast, brain, thyroid, and non-melanoma skin cancers. These cancers were first observed 10 years after the bombing and persisted throughout the lifetime of the cohort28,29,30,31.
Epidemiologic findings from Ukraine following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 have been inconsistent. A study investigating solid tumor trends 30 years after the disaster found increased incidences of colon, rectal, kidney, thyroid, breast (in women), and prostate (in men) cancers, although decreases in lung and stomach cancers were also reported32. In contrast, another study suggested that post-Chernobyl cancer incidence trends largely mirrored pre-disaster trends, implying no significant excess risk due to radiation exposure33.
Studies investigating the effects of nuclear power plants on cancer incidence in surrounding communities have reported mixed findings. A study in France examining proximity to nuclear power plants and 12 cancer types found an excess incidence of bladder cancer in both males and females20. Similarly, a study in Spain investigating the Trillo and Zorita power plants reported that the risk of all cancers increased linearly with proximity to the plants17. However, other large national studies, including those conducted in the United States8,9,25, the United Kingdom15, and Canada1, have found no consistent associations between residential proximity to nuclear power plants and overall or site-specific cancer incidence or mortality.
A German study focusing on pediatric cancers found a statistically significant risk ratio (RR) of 2.2 for leukemia and an RR of 1.6 for solid tumors among children under five years old living within 5 km of nuclear power plants compared to those living further away34.
The relationship between nuclear power plants and cancer risk has also been examined in South Korea, Canada, and China, with conflicting results. A study in South Korea found elevated cancer incidence in populations near a nuclear power plant, including thyroid cancer (HR: 3.38 in females, 1.74 in males), female breast cancer (HR: 2.24), and radiation-related cancers (HR: 1.59 in males, 1.77 in females). In contrast, the study reported no increased risk for radiation-insensitive cancers (HR: 0.59 in males, 0.98 in females)35.
Studies in Canada and China found no clear association between proximity to nuclear power plants and cancer incidence. A study in Ontario, Canada, reported no consistent pattern for all cancers combined or for specific cancers such as thyroid, lung, breast, stomach, colon, bladder, brain, liver, leukemia, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma among populations living within 25 km of three nuclear plants1. Similarly, a study in China on the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant found no increased risk for all cancers, leukemia, or thyroid cancers36.
While differences in nuclear power plant technology and emission controls may contribute to variation across studies, much of the observed heterogeneity in findings likely stems from differences in exposure assessment methods, study designs, statistical power, and outcome definitions. Many previous studies relied on binary proximity cutoffs rather than incorporating cumulative proximity from multiple plants, which may have introduced measurement error by oversimplifying exposure levels in these ecological studies. In contrast, our study uses a continuous, inverse-distance weighted nuclear power plants proximity metric, allowing for a more refined assessment of long-term exposure gradients.
Additionally, studies that focus on single plants or small geographic areas may have limited statistical power, particularly when assessing rare cancers. These studies may lack sufficient case numbers to detect associations, whereas larger-scale national studies,like ours, have the advantage of higher statistical power and the ability to capture regional nuclear power plants proximity variability.
Our study has several limitations. First, our nuclear power plant proximity exposure assumes equal contribution from all nuclear power plants within 200 km and does not include direct radiation measurements (dosimetry). Second, we analyzed all cancer types combined, even though different malignancies have varying latency periods and radiation sensitivities. Third, our analysis was done at the county (FIPS) level because that is the resolution at which the CDC provides cancer mortality data. This ecological design does not capture individual-level exposure or outcomes and therefore limits causal inference. Moreover, our exposure metric reflects geographic proximity rather than actual radiation exposure experienced by individuals. Fourth, we did not analyze childhood cancers. These outcomes were rare in our dataset, and stratification by age group, sex, county, and year resulted in sparse data and unstable estimates. Proper evaluation of childhood cancer risk would require different modeling approaches tailored to rare outcomes. Fifth, we used a standard formula for calculating the attributable fraction (AF), which assumes a causal relationship between exposure and outcome and does not account for potential unmeasured confounding or exposure misclassification. Finally, our analysis does not incorporate residential histories, and exposure assignment was based on the geographic centroid of each county. While this limits temporal precision compared to individual-level cohort studies, there is no evidence that residential mobility is systematically related to proximity to nuclear plants. As such, any exposure measurement error is likely non-differential, which would bias results toward the null. Our study spans nearly two decades, and we also assume long-term residence stability throughout this period. Despite these limitations, to our knowledge, this is the only national study in the U.S. to examine nuclear power plant proximity and cancer mortality using a continuous proximity metric. Unlike prior studies that focused on single plants, small geographic areas or relied on fixed distance cutoffs to assign binary exposures, our approach provides a comprehensive and a continuous assessment of nuclear power plants proximity across the entire country, capturing the cumulative impact of multiple facilities over nearly two decades and enhancing statistical power to detect potential associations. Additionally, we used a continuous, inverse-distance weighted proximity metric instead of categorical proximity-based definitions, allowing for a more nuanced and comprehensive exposure assessment.
We also utilized a nationally representative, long-term cancer mortality dataset from the CDC, ensuring high data completeness and broad geographic coverage. The inclusion of a full 19 years of cancer mortality data (2000–2018) and a 10-year average nuclear power plants proximity window allows for a robust temporal assessment of long-term proximity effects.
We found that U.S. counties located closer to operational nuclear power plants experienced higher cancer mortality rates, with the strongest associations observed in older adults, particularly among males aged 65–74 and females aged 55–64. These results indicate a spatial association between residential proximity to nuclear power plants and cancer mortality. This study focused exclusively on cancer mortality and did not examine neurological, cardiovascular, or other potential health outcomes associated with nuclear facilities. While current evidence remains insufficient to draw definitive causal conclusions regarding cancer risks among populations living near nuclear plants, our findings highlight an important area for future investigation. Understanding the potential long-term health implications of nuclear power generation is particularly important given the renewed interest in nuclear energy as a low-carbon solution, emphasizing the importance of addressing these potentially substantial but overlooked risks to public health.
This research complies with all relevant ethical regulations. The study protocol was reviewed by the Institutional Review Board of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Ethics Board Registration Number [FWA]: FWA00002642; Study Protocol Number: IRB24-0094), which determined that the project does not involve human subjects research as defined by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations.
Data on the locations and years of nuclear power plants were obtained from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) website. In addition to U.S. plants, facilities located outside the U.S. (Canada) but within 200 km of a center of a U.S. County were also included in the analysis. When available, plant-specific websites were used to verify and validate locations and operational details. Supplementary Dataset 1 provides a comprehensive list of all included plants along with their operational years, while Fig. 5 illustrates their geographic distribution.
Map illustrating the locations of all nuclear power plants (dark blue circles) and U.S. counties located within 200 km of any operational plant (light blue shaded areas) during the study period. County boundaries are outlined in black. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
Cancer mortality data for the contiguous U.S. from 2000 to 2018 were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The dataset includes individual mortality records for all deaths, from which we filtered cancer deaths as those with an ICD-10 code beginning with ‘C', covering all malignant neoplasms. Unlike the publicly available CDC Wonder database, this dataset contains uncensored mortality records, ensuring full data coverage for all counties.
Our analysis focused on cancer mortality across six age groups (35–44, 45–54, 55–64, 65–74, 75–84, and 85+), stratified by sex (as per the CDC files assignment). The total number of cancer deaths across age groups and gender is summarized in Table S1 of the Supplementary Information.
We controlled for selected annual county-level covariates (2000–2018) that could potentially confound the association between nuclear power plants proximity and cancer or independently relate to cancer. These covariates include educational attainment, median household income, poverty level, racial composition (White, Asian, African American), population density, temperature, relative humidity, current smoking prevalence, mean BMI, proximity to the nearest hospital, age over 65, percent of persons over 65 with ambulatory physician visits each year, and renting percentage, as detailed in Supplementary Tables S2.
To estimate nuclear power plants proximity at the county level, we used a proximity-based approach, calculating the inverse of the distance (1/d) in kilometers for each unique plant-county combination, considering all plants that were operational for at least one year between 1990 and 2018 and located within 200 km of a county centroid.
For each plant-county pair, we first computed 1/d for every year in which the plant was active. From the year of decommissioning onward, we assigned a value of 0 for 1/d. We then applied a 10-year average proximity to each individual plant's 1/d values to account for cumulative proximity and latency effects. Finally, for each county, we summed the average proximity 1/d values across all contributing plants, generating an annual aggregate proximity estimate at the county level.
Figure 5 illustrates the geographic distribution of all nuclear power plants and the counties included in the study, while Supplementary Dataset 1 lists each plant along with its operational years.
This approach allows for a continuous assessment of long-term proximity trends, ensuring that past proximity contributions remain relevant for a period even after plant closures, to better align with the latency periods relevant to many adult cancers.
We analyzed yearly cancer mortality data from 2000 to 2018 for all U.S. counties within 200 km of a nuclear power plant, assessing the relationship between nuclear power plants' proximity and cancer mortality. We used a Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) Poisson regression model (Eq. 1) to estimate the association between the proximity to nuclear power plants and cancer mortality, while adjusting for relevant county-level covariates. The list of covariates is detailed in Supplementary Table S2.
The model's outcome variable was the total number of cancer deaths per year per county, stratified by sex and age group. To account for population size differences across counties and demographic groups, we included a natural log population offset (specific to each age group, county, sex, and year), allowing the model to estimate mortality rates rather than counts. This ensures that model coefficients are interpretable on the rate scale. The model used county as the clustering variable to account for within-cluster correlations over time, assuming an exchangeable correlation structure, where all observations within a county have the same correlation. Additionally, robust (sandwich) standard errors were used to ensure valid inference by adjusting for potential model misspecification and within-county correlation.
where:
i indexes counties, j indexes years, and k indexes age–sex groups.
λijk represents the expected number of cancer deaths in county i at year j for age group k.
Cnij denotes covariate n for county i and year j.
Eij represents the sum (over plants) of the inverse-distance proximity metric, and βe is its estimated effect.
β0 is the intercept, representing the baseline log cancer mortality rate.
We stratified our analysis by sex and modeled mortality for the six age groups. For each sex-age combination, we ran separate GEE Poisson regression models to estimate the association between nuclear power plants' proximity and cancer mortality.
The yearly relative risks (RRs) for cancer mortality were calculated for each county, age group, sex, and year using Eq. (2). These RRs were used to estimate attributable mortality fractions (AFs) using Eq. (3).
To compute the total number of cancer deaths attributable to nuclear power plants' proximity during the study period (2000–2018), we first calculated yearly attributable cases separately for each county, age group, sex, and year. Next, we summed the attributable cancer deaths across all counties and years for each age group and sex. The results present the total number of attributable cancer deaths for each age group and sex, aggregated over the entire study duration.
All analyses were performed using RStudio (version 2023.09.0 + 463) with R (version 4.3.2). Statistical modeling, data processing, and visualization were conducted using the following R packages: geepack37 for generalized estimating equation (GEE) models, data.table38 and dplyr39 for data manipulation, sf40 and raster41 for spatial operations, and ggplot242 for visualization.
The study design was observational and ecological, based on population-level data aggregated by county, year, age group, and sex. The statistical unit of analysis was the county–year–age–sex group.
No statistical method was used to predetermine sample size. The analysis included all available observations meeting inclusion criteria (counties located within 200 km of an operational nuclear power plant with complete covariate data for 2000–2018).
Given the nature of the study design, randomization and blinding were not applicable. All analyses were conducted using pre-specified modeling approaches and reproducible R scripts.
The reproducibility of results was confirmed through independent reruns of the statistical code and sensitivity analyses using alternative proximity definitions and tapering periods, which produced consistent findings.
Further information on research design is available in the Nature Portfolio Reporting Summary linked to this article.
The cancer mortality data used in this study were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and are confidential; therefore, they cannot be publicly shared. Researchers may request access directly from the CDC. All other data sources used in this analysis are publicly available. The aggregated data underlying all main figures and tables are provided as a Source Data file. Source data are provided with this paper.
The R code used to perform the statistical and epidemiological analyses is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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No grants or external funding were awarded for this work. Y.A. acknowledges support from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health through a doctoral fellowship.
Environmental Health Department, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
Yazan Alwadi, Barrak Alahmad, Carolina L. Zilli Vieira, David C. Christiani, Brent Coull, Joel Schwartz, John S. Evans & Petros Koutrakis
Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA
Philip J. Landrigan
Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Monaco, Monaco
Philip J. Landrigan
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
David C. Christiani
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
David C. Christiani & Eric Garshick
Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep, and Critical Care Medicine Section, Medical Service, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA
Eric Garshick
Boston Chemical Data Corp, Natick, MA, USA
Marco Kaltofen
Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
Brent Coull
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Y.A. performed the literature review, designed the exposure metric, curated the data, developed the epidemiologic model, conducted the statistical analyses, and drafted and revised the manuscript. J.S.E. contributed to the study's conceptualization, design, and manuscript writing. B.C. and J.S. provided statistical guidance and participated in the methodology. P.K. served as the senior author and advisor on all steps. B.A., C.L.Z.V., P.J.L., D.C.C., E.G., and M.K. contributed to conceptualization and provided critical feedback on the initial draft. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
Correspondence to
Yazan Alwadi.
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Alwadi, Y., Alahmad, B., Vieira, C.L.Z. et al. National analysis of cancer mortality and proximity to nuclear power plants in the United States.
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Archaeologists working alongside a roadway project discovered the seal within the remnants of a major administrative building in northern Israel.
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Makach, son of Amihai, was a big enough deal in the eighth century B.C.E. Kingdom of Judah that he had his own official seal, which would have been worn around the neck. That seal—made of a light brown gemstone—was recently discovered during excavation surrounding a road project in northern Israel, offering insights into a key administrative center roughly 2,700 years ago.
As archaeologists worked near the Ein Tut Interchange in northern Israel, they uncovered the remains of a key administrative center for the Kingdom of Judah from the end of the eighth century B.C.E. Tucked within the building was a small stone seal made of a light brown gemstone—one likely used by a high-ranking clerk within the center.
“Such seal prints are a common finding on biblical sites in the area of Judah, but their presence at a site so northern, deep within the territories of the biblical Kingdom of Israel is most surprising,” archaeologist Amir Gorzalazni said in a translated statement from the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The seal has three distinct sections, with the upper strip showcasing a decoration of four pomegranates.
The pomegranate, native to the region, was used throughout the Bible to represent beauty and fruitfulness. In Numbers, for example, pomegranates are brought back from Canaan to prove the fruitfulness of the new land, and the Temple of Solomon is described in 1 Kings as having its pillars adorned by a pomegranate motif. The symbolism even carries through to Christian artworks, where a young Jesus is sometimes depicted holding a pomegranate, like in a 1487 painting by Sandro Botticelli.
The other two sections of the seal contained a Hebrew inscription which offer insight into whom the seal belonged, translated as: “Belonging to Makach (son of) Amihai.”
The drilling of a hole in the upper portion of the stone allowed it to be worn around the neck. Experts from the Israel Antiquities Authority said that the signer served as a high-ranking official, although the actual position of Makach remains unknown.
“The importance of the seal derives both from its contribution to the treasury of biblical names, and from the fact that, unlike most seals of its type, the origin of the seal is in an organized archaeological excavation and not from antique collectors,” the late archaeologist David Amit, who was part of the team that translated the inscription, said in the statement.
The excavation also yielded pieces of jugs used to hold food and drink, which came imprinted with the translation “belonging to the king” and the names of the cities Hebron and Ziph—key administrative centers in the Kingdom of Judah at the end of the First Temple period.
Tim Newcomb is a journalist based in the Pacific Northwest. He covers stadiums, sneakers, gear, infrastructure, and more for a variety of publications, including Popular Mechanics. His favorite interviews have included sit-downs with Roger Federer in Switzerland, Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, and Tinker Hatfield in Portland.
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Volcanic eruptions that look like single events are often the visible outcome of slow, complicated activity taking place deep underground. Beneath the surface, magma shifts position, changes chemically, and can sit for long stretches before finally erupting. To piece together what is happening below, scientists examine lava flows, rock textures, and minerals left behind at the surface. These clues help reveal the hidden magma systems that drive volcanic activity.
A recent study published in Geology shows that this same complexity exists on Mars. High resolution images of the landscape and mineral measurements collected from orbit indicate that some of the planet's youngest volcanic regions have a much more detailed history than previously assumed. Instead of forming during brief, one time eruptions, these volcanoes were built by magma systems that remained active and changed over extended periods beneath the martian surface.
Study Focuses on Volcanic System Near Pavonis Mons
An international team of researchers from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, the School of Earth, Environment and Sustainability (SEES) at the University of Iowa, and the Lancaster Environment Centre examined a long lasting volcanic system located south of Pavonis Mons, one of the largest volcanoes on Mars. By pairing careful surface mapping with mineral data gathered from orbiting spacecraft, the scientists reconstructed how the volcano and its underlying magma system developed over time with remarkable precision.
"Our results show that even during Mars' most recent volcanic period, magma systems beneath the surface remained active and complex," says Bartosz Pieterek of Adam Mickiewicz University. "The volcano did not erupt just once -- it evolved over time as conditions in the subsurface changed."
Multiple Eruptive Phases Traced by Mineral Signatures
The analysis revealed that the volcanic system progressed through several stages. Early activity involved lava spreading out from fissures in the ground, while later eruptions came from more focused vents that built cone shaped features. Although these lava deposits look different today, they were all fed by the same underlying magma reservoir. Each phase left behind a unique mineral fingerprint, allowing researchers to track how the magma's composition shifted over time.
"These mineral differences tell us that the magma itself was evolving," Pieterek explains. "This likely reflects changes in how deep the magma originated and how long it was stored beneath the surface before erupting."
Orbital Data Offers Rare Insight Into Mars Interior
Since scientists cannot yet collect rock samples directly from Martian volcanoes, studies like this offer valuable information about the planet's interior. The findings demonstrate how powerful orbital observations can be for uncovering the hidden structure and long term evolution of volcanic systems, both on Mars and on other rocky worlds.
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February 23, 2026
Desert dino find, flu shot U‑turn, universal vaxx hope, air toxin warning
A surprising FDA reversal on Moderna's mRNA flu vaccine, early promise from a universal inhaled vaccine, and a desert fossil find that is reshaping spinosaurid history.
By Kendra Pierre-Louis, Lee Billings, Fonda Mwangi & Alex Sugiura
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Kendra Pierre-Louis: For Scientific American's Science Quickly, I'm Kendra Pierre-Louis, in for Rachel Feltman. You're listening to our weekly science news roundup.
Let's start off with a vaccine 180. In a sudden turn of events last Wednesday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration agreed to review Moderna's new mRNA flu vaccine, according to the company. The announcement came roughly a week after Moderna revealed that the FDA had rejected its application.
The company said the agency originally called the plan for the vaccine's phase 3 trials “acceptable,” But its position changed after top FDA official Vinay Prasad overruled the agency's reviewers, according to STAT. Moderna's press release about the rejection said the FDA had declared the company's study not “adequate and well-controlled.” Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan, told CIDRAP news that, quote, “The trial design they used is essentially the trial design that every single flu vaccine has used.”
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In the aftermath of the original refusal Bloomberg reported that Moderna's chief executive officer, Stéphane Bancel, deemed the agency unpredictable. He said that if the FDA continues to behave this way it, quote, “threatens U.S. leadership in innovative medicines.”
Speaking of innovative medicines, a new study published last Thursday describes a single vaccine that could offer protection against multiple respiratory illnesses at the same time. An extra perk? The vaccine would be inhaled—no needles necessary.
The work, led by a Stanford University researcher and published in the journal Science, takes a novel approach to vaccines, which since their earliest days have relied on something called antigen specificity. That means they mimic a specific aspect of a pathogen to train what's known as the adaptive immune system to recognize and fight off the infection—for example, COVID vaccines target the spike protein on the virus.
The adaptive immune system is our slower-acting, targeted defense mechanism. It also has memory so the next time we're exposed to that pathogen we know how to fight it off—that's one of the many benefits of this vaccine-development technique. But there are also drawbacks.
The pathogen can mutate quickly or a new pathogen can pop up, rendering the vaccine less effective—that's what necessitates annual COVID and flu shots. And the specificity of this method means the vaccine only works against the targeted pathogen, creating a need for multiple vaccines.
But in this study, instead of focusing on mimicking aspects of viruses and bacteria, the researchers looked at the way immune cells communicate during an infection and imitated those signals. The goal was, in part, to trigger the innate immune system. Under normal circumstances it can take days or even weeks for the adaptive immune system to kick in, but the innate immune system contains rapid-response generalists that react to an infection in minutes. They are the body's first line of defense against infection, but typically, that protection doesn't stick around very long.
The researchers in this case developed an inhaled vaccine that is designed to stimulate both the adaptive immune system targeted by most vaccines as well as innate immune system cells in the lungs.
The vaccine was tested in mice, who were given different dosages and then exposed to COVID-19 along with other coronaviruses that cause illnesses like the common cold. Mice who received three doses a week apart fared much better than their unvaccinated peers. The researchers found that the vaccine effectively triggered the innate immune system and kept it running longer than normal. That drastically lowered the mice's viral load, and any virus that snuck past was quickly greeted by a primed adaptive immune system. All of the vaccinated mice survived, while many of the unvaccinated ones did not.
The researchers also tested the mice with bacterial respiratory infections and found, again, that the vaccine provided protection. And there was another happy benefit: the mice also seemed to be less sensitive to respiratory allergies after inoculation.
There are some caveats to this study, namely, that the research was done on mice, not humans, and the protection lasted about three months. But it is a hopeful first step.
Also on the theme of breathing a study published last Tuesday in the journal PLOS Medicine suggests that exposure to air pollution can directly increase one's chances of developing Alzheimer's.
The study focused on a specific kind of fine particulate pollution called PM2.5, which refers to its maximum size of 2.5 micrometers, or roughly 30 times smaller than a strand of human hair. The tiny particles, which are often generated when we burn fossil fuels, have been linked to heart attacks and strokes. They're also thought to be responsible for tens of thousands of premature deaths each year in the U.S.
An Emory University team looked at nationwide health data for roughly 28 million Medicare beneficiaries who were 65 or older between 2000 and 2018. The researchers then compared that data with individuals' levels of PM2.5 pollution exposure. And while some of the conditions that are linked to PM2.5 are also risk factors for Alzheimer's, the researchers found that this pollution exposure increased Alzheimer's risk separately from those other comorbidities.
In a press statement they said, “We found that long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution was associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease, largely through direct effects on the brain rather than through common chronic conditions such as hypertension, stroke, or depression.”
Switching gears, the Artemis II moon mission had another wet dress rehearsal last Thursday. SciAm's senior space and physics editor, Lee Billings, is here with an update.
Lee Billings: So what we need to know is that the “wet dress rehearsal” is when Artemis II hardware, the Space Launch System megarocket and the Orion capsule, are stacked on the launchpad, and a lot of fuel is pumped into the Space Launch System rocket, the SLS rocket. The last time this happened, there were a lot of hydrogen leaks. The SLS uses hydrogen as part of its rocket fuel, and hydrogen, of course, is very small. It's the smallest atom in the universe. It's one of the simplest molecules when you have two hydrogen atoms coming together. And so it leaks very easily through the tiniest little holes and gaps. And they had lots of hydrogen leaks that caused delays for the last wet dress rehearsal that also cascaded into delaying the launch itself, which was supposed to take place in early February.
Now, the good news, this time there have been no hydrogen leaks, which is shocking. It's remarkable that they've actually gotten this behemoth rocket to be fully loaded with fuel and not be venting hydrogen everywhere.
So after the wet dress rehearsal what's next is, well, really going to the moon. [Laughs.] There are certainly any number of things that could get in the way between now and when the launch window opens. Because of celestial mechanics, the way the moon is moving around the Earth, they can't just launch at any time. We only have, really, about a week at the beginning of each month where it's gonna be feasible and ideal. We'll see how it turns out.
What you need to remember is that this is the first human return to the moon since 1972. They will not be landing on the moon, this crew of four, but they will be going around it in what's called a free-return trajectory. And that will take them, potentially, more than 4,500 miles beyond the farside of the moon, making them the farthest-traveling astronauts ever; that's a little further than any of the Apollo astronauts of yore went.
And there's other firsts that are associated with this as well. It'll be the first Black person going to the moon. It'll be the first woman going to the moon, the first Canadian going to the moon. They will also be carrying with them in the Orion capsule the first space toilet to the moon, which is pretty cool. Apparently, the Apollo astronauts only had bags and things like that to deal with. So lots of excitement, an adventure coming up, even though we won't actually be landing on the moon. Those future landing missions are supposed to start as early as mid-2027, but most people think that they will be delayed beyond that. That would be the Artemis III mission.
Pierre-Louis: Thanks for that, Lee.
And finally, we'll wrap things up with some dinosaur news. A paper published last Thursday in the journal Science details the discovery of a new spinosaurid species, Spinosaurus mirabilis. Spinosaurids were large two-legged carnivores. Their name comes from the fact that many species in the family had large bony spines on their backs, which formed sail-like structures. Perhaps the most famous spinosaurid is Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, who popped up in Jurassic Park III in an epic battle with a T. rex.
When researchers first stumbled across fossils from Spinosaurus mirabilis in the Niger desert back in 2019 they didn't initially recognize it as a new species. It took going back in 2022 with a much larger team to confirm that they'd uncovered a new species. One giveaway was the distinctiveness of the creature's bony crest, which the researchers describe as scimitar-shaped.
The most intriguing bit about the new discovery is arguably where the bones were found: in inland Niger some 300 to 600 miles from the coast. Spinosaurid fossils have historically been found near the coast, so much so that some researchers theorized that the fish-eating dinosaurs may have been entirely aquatic. The fossil record, however, suggests that Spinosaurus mirabilis lived in a forested landscape crisscrossed by rivers.
That's it! That's our show. Tune in on Wednesday, when we explore the psychology behind polyamorous relationships.
Science Quickly is produced by me, Kendra Pierre-Louis, along with Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for more up-to-date and in-depth science news.
For Scientific American, this is Kendra Pierre-Louis. Have a great week!
Kendra Pierre-Louis is a climate reporter focusing on the science and social impacts of climate change. She has worked for Gimlet, Bloomberg News and Popular Science. Pierre-Louis is based in New York City.
Lee Billings is a science journalist specializing in astronomy, physics, planetary science, and spaceflight and is senior desk editor for physical science at Scientific American. He is author of a critically acclaimed book, Five Billion Years of Solitude: The Search for Life Among the Stars, which in 2014 won a Science Communication Award from the American Institute of Physics. In addition to his work for Scientific American, Billings's writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, Wired, New Scientist, Popular Science and many other publications. Billings joined Scientific American in 2014 and previously worked as a staff editor at SEED magazine. He holds a B.A. in journalism from the University of Minnesota.
Fonda Mwangi is an award-winning multimedia editor at Scientific American and producer of Science Quickly. She previously worked at Axios, the Recount and WTOP News. She holds a master's degree in journalism and public affairs from American University in Washington, D.C.
Alex Sugiura is a Peabody and Pulitzer Prize–winning composer, editor and podcast producer based in Brooklyn, N.Y. He has worked on projects for Bloomberg, Axios, Crooked Media and Spotify, among others.
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Urbanization is affecting biodiversity globally. Biotic homogenization is often cited as a key consequence. However, our understanding of this phenomenon may be biased by flaws in the methods used to document it. Here we estimate compositional dissimilarity among 39 urban tree assemblages worldwide while controlling for differences among regional species pools. Our results demonstrated the absence of a distinct global pattern in urban tree homogenization or differentiation. Homogenization mainly occurred among urban tree assemblages across broad geographic distances, whereas differentiation occurred at short distances. Nonnative species were a major contributing factor to these patterns. Sharing different nonnative species contributed to differentiation at short distances, whereas sharing the same nonnative species contributed to homogenization at broad distances. Our findings reveal a scale-dependent effect of urbanization on urban tree assemblages driven by nonnative species, emphasizing the global influence of urbanization on spatial patterns of biodiversity.
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The data that support the findings of this study are available via figshare at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30962240 (ref. 61).
All code used in the analysis for this study is publicly available via figshare at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30962240 (ref. 61).
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We thank all the authors who contributed to our systematic literature review for sharing their data. We also thank the institutions that curate the biodiversity databases used in this study. The generous contributions made by these individuals and organizations made this study possible. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 32171542 to J.Y.).
These authors contributed equally: Xudong Yang, Jing Jin.
Department of Earth System Science, Institute for Global Change Studies, Ministry of Education Ecological Field Station for East Asian Migratory Birds, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Xudong Yang, Xinyi Liu & Jun Yang
Institute of Agricultural Information, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, China
Jing Jin
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
Frank A. La Sorte
Center for Biodiversity and Global Change, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
Frank A. La Sorte
School of Tourism Ecology and Environment, Guilin Tourism University, Guilin, China
Pengbo Yan
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers – The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
Myla F. J. Aronson
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J.Y., X.Y. and J.J. designed the research. P.Y., X.Y. and J.J. collected data. J.J., X.Y. and J.Y. conducted the data analysis. X.Y. produced the figures. All authors contributed to writing.
Correspondence to
Jun Yang.
The authors declare no competing interests.
Nature Cities thanks Benno Augustinus, Jian Zhang and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
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Scientists at Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan have identified a newly documented behavior in cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus). When the small reef fish were given access to a mirror, they did more than simply recognize their reflections. They also began experimenting with the mirror using bits of food. The findings suggest these highly social fish are capable of a sophisticated cognitive process known as 'contingency testing,' a level of intelligence more commonly associated with marine mammals such as dolphins.
The research team was led by Specially Appointed Researcher Shumpei Sogawa and Specially Appointed Professor Masanori Kohda at the Graduate School of Science. In earlier work, the team demonstrated that cleaner wrasse could recognize themselves in photographs. This new behavior emerged during mirror test experiments, a widely used method for studying animal cognition. Previous studies had already shown that cleaner wrasse can identify themselves in a mirror.
Mirror Test With Parasite Markings
To begin the experiment, researchers placed marks on the fish that resembled parasites. Even individuals that had never encountered a mirror before quickly learned to use their reflection to locate and try to remove the artificial 'parasite.'
The speed of their response surprised the scientists. In some cases, the fish attempted to rub off the mark within the first hour of seeing a mirror. On average, scraping behavior appeared after just 82 minutes. In earlier studies, similar responses typically took 4 to 6 days to occur.
"In earlier cleaner wrasse mirror studies, the procedure was typically the fish see a mirror for several days, they habituate to it and stop reacting socially, and a mark is added," Dr. Sogawa explained. "In this study, the order was reversed, the fish were marked first, then the mirror was introduced for the first time. The fish were likely aware of something unusual on their body, but they couldn't see it. When the mirror appeared, it immediately provided visual information that matched an existing bodily expectation, hence scraping occurred much faster."
Fish Use Shrimp to Test the Mirror
An even more unexpected behavior appeared after the fish had several days of exposure to the mirror. Some individuals picked up a small piece of shrimp from the tank floor, carried it upward, and intentionally released it near the mirror. As the shrimp drifted downward, the fish tracked its movement in the reflection and repeatedly touched the glass while watching the mirrored image fall.
The researchers describe this behavior as 'contingency testing.' Rather than testing the mirror with their own bodies, the fish used an outside object to observe how it behaved in reflected space. By dropping the shrimp and comparing its real movement with the reflected movement, the wrasse were effectively investigating how the mirror worked. Similar actions have been documented in manta rays and dolphins, which release bubbles and observe them rising in a mirror.
Expanding the Debate on Animal Self Awareness
This type of deliberate exploration strengthens the argument that the cleaner wrasse's mirror behaviors reflect flexible, self-related processing rather than confusion or simple conditioning.
"These findings in cleaner wrasse suggest that self-awareness may not have evolved only in the limited number of species that passed the mirror test but may be more widely prevalent across a broader range of taxonomic groups, including fish," Dr. Sogawa said. "It is highly likely that mirror self-recognition will be observed in many species where mirror tool use has been reported."
Looking ahead, the team believes that studying self-awareness across a wide range of animals, including invertebrates, will become increasingly important. "The findings from this research will likely influence not only academic issues, such as revising evolutionary theory and constructing concepts of self, but also directly impact matters relevant to our lives, including animal welfare, medical research, and even AI studies," Professor Kohda added.
The study was published in Scientific Reports.
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A newly published study in Science announces the discovery of Spinosaurus mirabilis, a previously unknown species of spinosaurid dinosaur uncovered in Niger. The fossils were excavated in a remote region of the central Sahara by a 20 member research team led by Paul Sereno, PhD, Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago. The find adds significant new evidence to the final phase of spinosaurid evolution.
One of the most remarkable features of S. mirabilis is its enormous, scimitar shaped crest. When paleontologists first spotted the crest and several jaw fragments on the desert surface in November 2019, they did not immediately realize what they had found. It was only after returning in 2022 with a larger team and uncovering two more crests that the researchers understood they were dealing with a new species.
The texture of the crest and the network of blood vessel channels inside it indicate that it was covered in keratin, the same material found in human fingernails. Researchers believe the crest was brightly colored during the dinosaur's lifetime and arched upward like a curved blade, likely serving as a dramatic display structure.
The skull also reveals tightly interlocking upper and lower teeth that formed an effective trap for slippery prey. In this arrangement, the lower teeth extend outward between the upper teeth when the jaws close. This adaptation appears repeatedly in the fossil record among fish eating animals, including aquatic ichthyosaurs, semi aquatic crocodile and flying pterosaurs. Among dinosaurs, however, this feature distinguishes Spinosaurus and its closest relatives.
"This find was so sudden and amazing, it was really emotional for our team," Sereno said. "I'll forever cherish the moment in camp when we crowded around a laptop to look at the new species for the first time, after one member of our team generated 3D digital models of the bones we found to assemble the skull -- on solar power in the middle of the Sahara. That's when the significance of the discovery really registered."
Inland Habitat Challenges Aquatic Dinosaur Theory
Until now, most spinosaurid fossils had been recovered from coastal deposits close to ancient shorelines. That pattern led some researchers to suggest these fish eating theropods may have been fully aquatic predators that hunted underwater.
The newly identified fossil site in Niger tells a different story. The remains were found 500-1000 km from the nearest ancient marine shoreline. Nearby were partial skeletons of long necked dinosaurs preserved in river sediments, pointing to a forested inland environment crisscrossed by waterways.
"I envision this dinosaur as a kind of 'hell heron' that had no problem wading on its sturdy legs into two meters of water but probably spent most of its time stalking shallower traps for the many large fish of the day," Sereno said.
A 70 Year Old Clue Leads to the Sahara
The expedition that led to this discovery began with a brief note in a 1950s monograph. In it, a French geologist mentioned a single sabre shaped fossil tooth resembling those of the massive predator Carcharodontosaurus, originally found in Egypt's Western Desert in the early 1900s.
"No one had been back to that tooth site in over 70 years," Sereno said. "It was an adventure and a half wandering into the sand seas to search for this locale and then find an even more remote fossil area with the new species. Now all of the young scholars who joined me are co-authors on the report gracing the cover of Science."
During their search, the team encountered a Tuareg man who offered to guide them on his motorbike deep into the Sahara, where he had seen enormous fossil bones. After nearly a full day of travel and uncertainty, he led them to a fossil rich area. With limited time before heading back to camp, the researchers collected teeth and jaw fragments belonging to the new Spinosaurus species.
"I was attracted to the Sahara like a magnet once I set foot there 30 years ago," Sereno said. "There's nowhere else like it. It's as beautiful as it is daunting." After excavating more than 100 tons of fossils over the years, he added, "If you can brave the elements and are willing to go after the unknown, you might just uncover a lost world."
Expanding Niger's Paleontological Legacy
The discovery strengthens Niger's reputation as a major site for paleontology and archaeology. Sereno has long worked in the country and has led the creation of the world's first zero energy museum, the Museum of the River, located on an island in the center of Niamey, Niger's capital. The museum will display the country's remarkable fossil heritage, including this newly identified spinosaur, along with artifacts from stone age cultures that lived in a once lush Green Sahara.
"The local people we work with are my lifelong friends, now including the man who led us to Jenguebi and the astonishing spinosaur. They understand the importance of what we're doing together -- for science and for their country," Sereno said.
Bringing Spinosaurus mirabilis Back to Life
At the University of Chicago's South Side Fossil Lab in Washington Park, the team carefully prepared and CT scanned the fossils to create a digital reconstruction of the skull for the scientific report. Using that model, Sereno collaborated with paleoartist Dani Navarro in Madrid to produce a dramatic scene showing the new species competing over a coelacanth carcass. Navarro also built a detailed 3D physical model by layering muscle and skin over a skeletal framework.
Additional paleoartists in Chicago (Jonathan Metzger) and Italy (Davide la Torre) animated Navarro's model, recreating the scene featured on the cover of Science. Advances in software, imaging tools, cameras, and drones have transformed how paleontologists document and visualize discoveries in both fieldwork and laboratory settings.
Inspiring the Next Generation
As part of the reconstruction process, the team produced a replica of the skull and a colorful, touchable version of the curved crest.
Beginning March 1, following publication of the Science paper, these replicas will join Sereno's Dinosaur Expedition exhibit at the Chicago Children's Museum. Young visitors will be among the first to see and handle representations of this newly discovered dinosaur.
"Letting kids feel the excitement of new discoveries -- that's key to ensuring the next generation of scientists who will discover many more things about our precious planet worth preserving," Sereno said.
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by Taylor Soper on Feb 23, 2026 at 10:10 amFebruary 23, 2026 at 10:26 am
Temporal co-founders Samar Abbas and Maxim Fateev have been tackling the same distributed systems problem since their days at Amazon, Microsoft, and Uber. But the AI boom has put the problem “on steroids” as agents move to production, according to Abbas — and investors have taken notice.
Temporal last week announced a $300 million Series D round led by Andreessen Horowitz, pushing its valuation to $5 billion — up from $2.5 billion in October.
Temporal's revenue increased more than 380% year-over-year, reflecting demand for infrastructure services from companies using AI agents that are taking on more responsibilities.
“There is a massive platform shift happening,” Abbas told GeekWire. “And there is a whole layer of infrastructure being developed right now.”
Temporal's pitch is something it calls “durable execution,” a new category Abbas says is about giving developers a simpler programming model for long-running, distributed workflows. Instead of wiring together queues, databases, retry mechanisms, and timers to handle failures, engineers write their logic as normal code and Temporal makes it durable behind the scenes.
Abbas and Fateev launched Temporal in 2019, after they helped build an open-source orchestration engine called Cadence during their time at Uber. The tool was used by companies including HashiCorp, LinkedIn, Airbnb, Coinbase, and others.
“Both of us have been obsessed about this problem space,” Abbas said, describing Temporal as “literally the fourth or fifth time we are building a similar system.”
During the cloud era, Abbas said, Temporal became a “reliability backbone” for developers building mission-critical applications. Now, as AI models get smarter and agents hit production, the company is seeing huge scale.
“We are kind of becoming the core piece of infrastructure which is powering the AI agentic wave,” Abbas said.
Temporal's customer base ranges from OpenAI, which uses the platform for image generation, to Replit, which uses Temporal to orchestrate coding agents over extended sessions.
“As long-running agents become a primary driver of enterprise value, the execution layer beneath them becomes indispensable,” investors with Andreessen Horowitz wrote in a blog post. “Temporal wasn't built in reaction to generative AI; it was built to make complex systems durable. But the agentic era has made that need undeniable.”
Asked about a potential AI bubble and broader hype, Abbas pointed to customers like Abridge in healthcare, where doctors can focus on patients instead of note-taking. He also noted transformation across legal workflows, coding agents, customer support, and research.
“There is real value being delivered to real users,” he said.
He envisions a future where “every human on the planet can be called a software developer” and the cost of building software keeps falling, driving demand for a reliable execution backbone.
Temporal is built as a remote-first company, with around 375 employees and 62 of them in the Seattle area. Abbas and Fateev have been based in the region for decades, and many early employees are here as well.
Abbas, who was previously CTO (he swapped roles with Fateev in 2024) said the software infrastructure expertise in Seattle is a good match for trends that Temporal is riding. “Seattle has the right ingredients of talent,” he said. “We'll be doubling down and growing in the Seattle area.”
As for advice to other founders riding the AI wave, Abbas said it's about getting clarity on how you deliver value and avoiding all other distractions. “Just know who your users are — are they able to drive value from the product you are building?” He said Temporal is laser-focused on that strategy — and it seems to be working.
University of Washington scientists and students are using AI to create real medicines.
Better treatments for cancer, autoimmune diseases, viruses and more are now on the horizon thanks to groundbreaking work with artificial intelligence from a team of scientists at the University of Washington's Institute for Protein Design. Led by Nobel Prize winner David Baker, this team of Huskies uses AI tools to create proteins — biology's building blocks — that lay the foundation for new medicines. Together, this international group of students, faculty and researchers acts as a “communal brain,” with each Husky contributing ideas and expertise from their fields. The institute's recent breakthroughs — including an antivenom for snakebites, and antibiotics that combat drug-resistant bacteria — show how this innovative science can save and change lives.
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It seemed obvious to me that you could make a more realistic argument and just stick to an argument which states that due to drunk driving and domestic abuse, marijuana is less harmful overall than alcohol, but is treated as more dangerous. (and yes, the other side was a bit crazy too. "When you buy weed you're supporting the same terrorism that happened on 9/11")Later research (such as this) has suggested a link between marijuana and psychosis, however the actual risk factors do seem difficult to nail down. (however, this is still a far cry from the claim that it's totally harmless)What I ultimately learned is that in a pitched political battle, people actually damage their credibility because they're afraid to cede _any_ ground to the opposition, even when that means making unrealistic claims. A centrist (or just someone who is undecided) is not really taken in as much by these extremist argument, and to their eyes it damages the credibility of one or both sides.
Later research (such as this) has suggested a link between marijuana and psychosis, however the actual risk factors do seem difficult to nail down. (however, this is still a far cry from the claim that it's totally harmless)What I ultimately learned is that in a pitched political battle, people actually damage their credibility because they're afraid to cede _any_ ground to the opposition, even when that means making unrealistic claims. A centrist (or just someone who is undecided) is not really taken in as much by these extremist argument, and to their eyes it damages the credibility of one or both sides.
What I ultimately learned is that in a pitched political battle, people actually damage their credibility because they're afraid to cede _any_ ground to the opposition, even when that means making unrealistic claims. A centrist (or just someone who is undecided) is not really taken in as much by these extremist argument, and to their eyes it damages the credibility of one or both sides.
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Because there are plenty of proponents who are not that... in fact 64% of Americans support making weed legal (2025), so it'd be really unfair to judge that movement based on those old experiences.
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The anti-legalization side had a few odd arguments as well, and some old claims that were unfounded. So no hands were totally clean.
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I think both mdma and marijuana cause anxiety and they mess with short term memory.There doesn't seem to be a good answer to protecting kids from drugs. Heavily regulated legalisation might help or it might normalise drug use.As an aside I personally think alcohol in very moderate use isn't really as harmful as other drugs. And is probably a net benefit for many. Even moderate use of illegal drugs seems to have bad affects on people.Edit: added my thoughts on alcohol and something on cocaine use.
There doesn't seem to be a good answer to protecting kids from drugs. Heavily regulated legalisation might help or it might normalise drug use.As an aside I personally think alcohol in very moderate use isn't really as harmful as other drugs. And is probably a net benefit for many. Even moderate use of illegal drugs seems to have bad affects on people.Edit: added my thoughts on alcohol and something on cocaine use.
As an aside I personally think alcohol in very moderate use isn't really as harmful as other drugs. And is probably a net benefit for many. Even moderate use of illegal drugs seems to have bad affects on people.Edit: added my thoughts on alcohol and something on cocaine use.
Edit: added my thoughts on alcohol and something on cocaine use.
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this is also just motivated reasoningThe insanity of the fringe pro-legalization arguments has no bearing on whether legalization is a good idea or not.> When I would see friends/family that started smoking regularly become noticeably less intelligent while pro-legalization proponents would argue there are no negative side-effectsThis is also just ripe for cognitive bias which is why we should use science to understand these types of claims.
The insanity of the fringe pro-legalization arguments has no bearing on whether legalization is a good idea or not.> When I would see friends/family that started smoking regularly become noticeably less intelligent while pro-legalization proponents would argue there are no negative side-effectsThis is also just ripe for cognitive bias which is why we should use science to understand these types of claims.
> When I would see friends/family that started smoking regularly become noticeably less intelligent while pro-legalization proponents would argue there are no negative side-effectsThis is also just ripe for cognitive bias which is why we should use science to understand these types of claims.
This is also just ripe for cognitive bias which is why we should use science to understand these types of claims.
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The thing is, I 100% agree with your reasons for why it should be outlawed. I just think those are reasons to discourage using it, especially chronically.However, I wholeheartedly believe the government should not have any say in how anyone lives their life, and treats their own body.
However, I wholeheartedly believe the government should not have any say in how anyone lives their life, and treats their own body.
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So the easiest way for an opposition to a good idea to get their way, is to go argue insane things on the opposite side?Imagine if the oil industry starts paying people to go throw soup on paintings just to make the pro “let's prevent climate change” people look stupid.Oh. Wait.
Imagine if the oil industry starts paying people to go throw soup on paintings just to make the pro “let's prevent climate change” people look stupid.Oh. Wait.
Oh. Wait.
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This could be a person making a bad argument, or it could be that the individual is the opposition trying to poison the well. Cf COINTELPRO. Largely any movement has people with insane takes, and it's impossible to tell the difference between good and bad faith actors.That, and sometimes people just aren't trying to be persuasive at all. It's extremely rare to actually see someone persuaded about anything political without enormous amount of effort, or more realistically a change in material interests.
That, and sometimes people just aren't trying to be persuasive at all. It's extremely rare to actually see someone persuaded about anything political without enormous amount of effort, or more realistically a change in material interests.
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Who seriously claimed that it “cures cancer”? There have been some claims that it helps alleviate nausea associated with chemotherapy, which is quite reasonable and will likely be proved out by evidence over time.Really … who genuinely claimed it “cures” cancer?
Really … who genuinely claimed it “cures” cancer?
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> all legalization frameworks in the US already limit legal age of purchasing possession and consumption to 21 and over, specifically as a form of seeding ground to the oppositionThis plainly says that legal frameworks limit the age of consumption as a way of ceding ground to the opposition (implicitly the opposition to legalization). So I'm questioning, if there was no opposition to legalization, what would the legalization frameworks look like? Legal for anyone at any age?Edit: To put it another way, what's the ground that has been ceded here?
This plainly says that legal frameworks limit the age of consumption as a way of ceding ground to the opposition (implicitly the opposition to legalization). So I'm questioning, if there was no opposition to legalization, what would the legalization frameworks look like? Legal for anyone at any age?Edit: To put it another way, what's the ground that has been ceded here?
Edit: To put it another way, what's the ground that has been ceded here?
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Using the most anecdotally crazy people you met to suggest that the pro-legalization movement is crazy, is frankly, crazy. I'm very involved in legalization and I don't know anyone that is for legalization that thinks any of those things, never even heard anyone say such garbage. I think you may be cherry-picking the crazy here.
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This was over 20 years ago, long before "nut-picking" became impossible to avoid. This is what I was hearing from my peers on my college campus. They may have had had extreme views, but this was long before modern social media surfaced only the craziest people for any given position.>Using the most anecdotally crazy people you met to suggest that the pro-legalization movement is crazy, is frankly, crazy.Also, I disagree with this characterization. I am not crazy, it was unnecessarily rude to suggest otherwise. I'm repeating the arguments I heard from my actual peers. I'm not just finding extremists on the internet and painting the whole group by its worst members.
>Using the most anecdotally crazy people you met to suggest that the pro-legalization movement is crazy, is frankly, crazy.Also, I disagree with this characterization. I am not crazy, it was unnecessarily rude to suggest otherwise. I'm repeating the arguments I heard from my actual peers. I'm not just finding extremists on the internet and painting the whole group by its worst members.
Also, I disagree with this characterization. I am not crazy, it was unnecessarily rude to suggest otherwise. I'm repeating the arguments I heard from my actual peers. I'm not just finding extremists on the internet and painting the whole group by its worst members.
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You suggested the legalization movement is "crazy", without context. We are far from it. But you used the craziest shit to paint us as "crazy", so you get what you give.Your original comment stated:>"But, the pro-legalization folks would argue patently crazy things:"Nowhere did you mention your peers, you specifically said "the pro-legalization folks", meaning the whole group, up to the most prominent people. That's the only way we can take your original comment, so if you don't like being called out like this, then be a lot more specific and say it was only your crazy friend group that was crazy, making it very anecdotal and not overly broad.
Your original comment stated:>"But, the pro-legalization folks would argue patently crazy things:"Nowhere did you mention your peers, you specifically said "the pro-legalization folks", meaning the whole group, up to the most prominent people. That's the only way we can take your original comment, so if you don't like being called out like this, then be a lot more specific and say it was only your crazy friend group that was crazy, making it very anecdotal and not overly broad.
>"But, the pro-legalization folks would argue patently crazy things:"Nowhere did you mention your peers, you specifically said "the pro-legalization folks", meaning the whole group, up to the most prominent people. That's the only way we can take your original comment, so if you don't like being called out like this, then be a lot more specific and say it was only your crazy friend group that was crazy, making it very anecdotal and not overly broad.
Nowhere did you mention your peers, you specifically said "the pro-legalization folks", meaning the whole group, up to the most prominent people. That's the only way we can take your original comment, so if you don't like being called out like this, then be a lot more specific and say it was only your crazy friend group that was crazy, making it very anecdotal and not overly broad.
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> When you buy weed you're supporting the same terrorism that happened on 9/11
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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Penn_%26_Teller:_Bulls...
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What happened is that the people making these disengenuous comments in bad faith did not realize that so many others would watch them and without understanding hte context woudl pick up those same disingenuous arguments and take them as truth.This is all the long term consequences of allowing Reefer Madness tier propaganda be published and not repudiated immediately.
This is all the long term consequences of allowing Reefer Madness tier propaganda be published and not repudiated immediately.
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Hm, but this does not exclude the possibility that the being prone to mental illness comes with a little bit higher tendency to consume cannabis...
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Methamphetamine and PCP might take issue with this statement.
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I think only young people in their weed honeymoon phase get defensive about this.
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I'll admit to feeling a bit dumber and foggier after a few weeks of ingesting cannabis nightly though. That's a real thing.
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I am not saying anyone should or should not use these substances, but that was enough of a lesson for me to know never to touch that stuff.
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But also let's remember that there are tens of million Americans using weed products (legally in many states) who are having a great time with it. Which is why we need large-scale studies like this, and why any individual anecdote shouldn't offset a large study.
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Link is not the same as "it causes it".
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If anyone is curious, check out brands like Rove, Dompen, Care By Design, which offer THC pens at very low dosage. They're frustratingly undermarketed and understocked, but as a CA resident I buy and use pens that are ~4% THC (rather than 90%+). A single puff occasionally after the kids go to sleep - the effect is marginally psychoactive, scratches the itch for "relaxation without impairment", helps me sleep restfully.Completely different experience to high THC products. If you compare the literal amount of THC consumed, it's an almost 20x reduction. It's literally the equivalent to having a half glass of wine instead of lining up 10 shots.
Completely different experience to high THC products. If you compare the literal amount of THC consumed, it's an almost 20x reduction. It's literally the equivalent to having a half glass of wine instead of lining up 10 shots.
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What about legalisation as a natural experiment? Has anyone done diff-in-diffs of US states and simply looked at eg mental health diagnoses or hospital admissions?
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"Based on data from 2023–2025, approximately 15% to 17% of American adults currently consume cannabis." - GallupSo though this may be technically true in some sense, it should also be understood that if cannabis had any major immediate drastic effects we would have noticed them decades ago. Perhaps weed, like alcohol, needs a legal minimum age of 21.
So though this may be technically true in some sense, it should also be understood that if cannabis had any major immediate drastic effects we would have noticed them decades ago. Perhaps weed, like alcohol, needs a legal minimum age of 21.
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Generally, it already does have a legal minimum age of 21.
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Very few things in life pass that test, which is why we have research studies
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When it's a drug more than 10% of the US population uses, we can immediately say the risk increase can't really be that big or we'd have noticed it by now.Edit: after looking at the paper, it looks like among the weed group the prevalence is roughly twice as high -- so instead of 1/100 having psychotic issue it'd be 2/100... and again for people who used when they were 13-17 year olds, which is underage in every state.So you could frame that as doubling the risk OMG, or a 1 percentage point increase in risk, or it could all just be self-medicating, we really don't know much. Probably still safer than alcohol.
Edit: after looking at the paper, it looks like among the weed group the prevalence is roughly twice as high -- so instead of 1/100 having psychotic issue it'd be 2/100... and again for people who used when they were 13-17 year olds, which is underage in every state.So you could frame that as doubling the risk OMG, or a 1 percentage point increase in risk, or it could all just be self-medicating, we really don't know much. Probably still safer than alcohol.
So you could frame that as doubling the risk OMG, or a 1 percentage point increase in risk, or it could all just be self-medicating, we really don't know much. Probably still safer than alcohol.
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That 2X factor is big. If it was something like 10% - 20%, it might be noise or some other factor, but that big a number is real.
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The actual paper doesn't, and merely implies correlation. Which is fascinating (and well-known) and might still prove useful in one way or another.[1] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullartic...
[1] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullartic...
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I should add that I happen to know of more than one heavy user who subsequently progressed to Schizophrenia or bipolar disorders so I don't personally doubt the cause and effect.But this blanket correlation seems to me to be overbroad.
But this blanket correlation seems to me to be overbroad.
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Western medicine can't even explain any of these ailments, where it comes from, how it happens, what triggers it but so many cannabis users shield and attack any new research or study that questions the risks of cannabis for the young.If it truly is harmless then are those same people suggesting that they light up a joint with their children ? Doctors hand out edibles when they catch a cold or can't sleep?While I do think there are deeply helpful properties of cannabis we are still early, new research is only beginning to come out as it gets scrutiny. It took us many decades to learn the harmful effects of tobacco while for a long time everybody just shrugged it off as conspiracy. It took heavy lobbying from those that stood to gain most to delay the truth of the product they were selling and a lot more political will from the other side to warn the public.Right now what worries me is the marriage of profiteering and political ideology that have neutralized the similar movement that existed around tobacco and alcohol in the Western hemisphere. Many see money to be made or their political statement that they will defend vigorously. The real risks that I see is raising the THC % content to extreme levels for chronic users who built a large tolerance through long term habitual use and claim they aren't addicted, proliferation of white/grey dispensaries that make it even more accessible to the young. This really needs to be addressed when we don't even understand the mechanisms or can reliably explain the after effects of those risks coming to fruition.
If it truly is harmless then are those same people suggesting that they light up a joint with their children ? Doctors hand out edibles when they catch a cold or can't sleep?While I do think there are deeply helpful properties of cannabis we are still early, new research is only beginning to come out as it gets scrutiny. It took us many decades to learn the harmful effects of tobacco while for a long time everybody just shrugged it off as conspiracy. It took heavy lobbying from those that stood to gain most to delay the truth of the product they were selling and a lot more political will from the other side to warn the public.Right now what worries me is the marriage of profiteering and political ideology that have neutralized the similar movement that existed around tobacco and alcohol in the Western hemisphere. Many see money to be made or their political statement that they will defend vigorously. The real risks that I see is raising the THC % content to extreme levels for chronic users who built a large tolerance through long term habitual use and claim they aren't addicted, proliferation of white/grey dispensaries that make it even more accessible to the young. This really needs to be addressed when we don't even understand the mechanisms or can reliably explain the after effects of those risks coming to fruition.
While I do think there are deeply helpful properties of cannabis we are still early, new research is only beginning to come out as it gets scrutiny. It took us many decades to learn the harmful effects of tobacco while for a long time everybody just shrugged it off as conspiracy. It took heavy lobbying from those that stood to gain most to delay the truth of the product they were selling and a lot more political will from the other side to warn the public.Right now what worries me is the marriage of profiteering and political ideology that have neutralized the similar movement that existed around tobacco and alcohol in the Western hemisphere. Many see money to be made or their political statement that they will defend vigorously. The real risks that I see is raising the THC % content to extreme levels for chronic users who built a large tolerance through long term habitual use and claim they aren't addicted, proliferation of white/grey dispensaries that make it even more accessible to the young. This really needs to be addressed when we don't even understand the mechanisms or can reliably explain the after effects of those risks coming to fruition.
Right now what worries me is the marriage of profiteering and political ideology that have neutralized the similar movement that existed around tobacco and alcohol in the Western hemisphere. Many see money to be made or their political statement that they will defend vigorously. The real risks that I see is raising the THC % content to extreme levels for chronic users who built a large tolerance through long term habitual use and claim they aren't addicted, proliferation of white/grey dispensaries that make it even more accessible to the young. This really needs to be addressed when we don't even understand the mechanisms or can reliably explain the after effects of those risks coming to fruition.
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Drug use among vulnerable populations increases the risk of psychotic episodes, but does not increase the risk of developing those conditions. There is no difference in the rate of extreme psychological outcomes among drug users and non-drug users, and in fact, this study reinforces that observation - only 4,000 of 460,000 had those negative outcomes. Over the next 20 years, it's extrmeely likely that another 600-1000 will develop schizophrenia, even abstaining from drugs entirely. Drug use can trigger a psychotic episode and result in long term schizophrenia; by the time you turn 45, however, your odds of a schizophrenic break drop to almost 0.The worst part of drug use and mental health outcomes is that it can rob people of normal years of life, and rarely, result in schizophrenic or other psychotic conditions being triggered when they might never have been. However, this is not just marijuana or other illegal drugs, but alcohol, caffeine, trauma or intense stress, and even chronic health issues can have the same outcome.This study also fails to account for the confounding fact that people with mental health issues often pursue mind altering drugs in order to self medicate. People with bad conditions in life, especially younger, undergo extreme stress and are exposed to illicit substances much more readily than those in otherwise stable and healthy conditions.The results and methodology are flawed, and the conclusions being drawn have little to no relationship with reality.It comes down to susceptibility - genetics and health conditions play into this. Consult a doctor, and if you have risk factors, live your life accordingly.If you don't have risk factors for schizophrenia, drug use will not suddenly put you at risk of developing it. Marijuana or other recreational drug use will not cause you to have a psychotic episode. If you do have risk factors, then you're twice as likely to have an episode by using drugs or experiencing other triggers than otherwise.For those who are susceptible, your relative risk of psychotic episodes and mental breakdown double under mairjuana and other substance use.For those who are not susceptible, your absolute risk of psychotic episodes and mental breakdown remain near 0. Drugs don't induce these conditions (except in the case of extreme stimulant abuse, and possibly extreme psychedelics outcomes, although getting fried by psychedelics isn't really the same thing as psychosis. Lots of high function deadheads survived some truly harrowing levels of substance use and are best characterized as "weird".)It'd be nice if the media could distinguish between relative and absolute risk rates and communicate the difference effectively. It'd be even nicer if researchers and publishers didn't chase clickbaity results like this and mischaracterize things like relative and absolute risk for profit.
The worst part of drug use and mental health outcomes is that it can rob people of normal years of life, and rarely, result in schizophrenic or other psychotic conditions being triggered when they might never have been. However, this is not just marijuana or other illegal drugs, but alcohol, caffeine, trauma or intense stress, and even chronic health issues can have the same outcome.This study also fails to account for the confounding fact that people with mental health issues often pursue mind altering drugs in order to self medicate. People with bad conditions in life, especially younger, undergo extreme stress and are exposed to illicit substances much more readily than those in otherwise stable and healthy conditions.The results and methodology are flawed, and the conclusions being drawn have little to no relationship with reality.It comes down to susceptibility - genetics and health conditions play into this. Consult a doctor, and if you have risk factors, live your life accordingly.If you don't have risk factors for schizophrenia, drug use will not suddenly put you at risk of developing it. Marijuana or other recreational drug use will not cause you to have a psychotic episode. If you do have risk factors, then you're twice as likely to have an episode by using drugs or experiencing other triggers than otherwise.For those who are susceptible, your relative risk of psychotic episodes and mental breakdown double under mairjuana and other substance use.For those who are not susceptible, your absolute risk of psychotic episodes and mental breakdown remain near 0. Drugs don't induce these conditions (except in the case of extreme stimulant abuse, and possibly extreme psychedelics outcomes, although getting fried by psychedelics isn't really the same thing as psychosis. Lots of high function deadheads survived some truly harrowing levels of substance use and are best characterized as "weird".)It'd be nice if the media could distinguish between relative and absolute risk rates and communicate the difference effectively. It'd be even nicer if researchers and publishers didn't chase clickbaity results like this and mischaracterize things like relative and absolute risk for profit.
This study also fails to account for the confounding fact that people with mental health issues often pursue mind altering drugs in order to self medicate. People with bad conditions in life, especially younger, undergo extreme stress and are exposed to illicit substances much more readily than those in otherwise stable and healthy conditions.The results and methodology are flawed, and the conclusions being drawn have little to no relationship with reality.It comes down to susceptibility - genetics and health conditions play into this. Consult a doctor, and if you have risk factors, live your life accordingly.If you don't have risk factors for schizophrenia, drug use will not suddenly put you at risk of developing it. Marijuana or other recreational drug use will not cause you to have a psychotic episode. If you do have risk factors, then you're twice as likely to have an episode by using drugs or experiencing other triggers than otherwise.For those who are susceptible, your relative risk of psychotic episodes and mental breakdown double under mairjuana and other substance use.For those who are not susceptible, your absolute risk of psychotic episodes and mental breakdown remain near 0. Drugs don't induce these conditions (except in the case of extreme stimulant abuse, and possibly extreme psychedelics outcomes, although getting fried by psychedelics isn't really the same thing as psychosis. Lots of high function deadheads survived some truly harrowing levels of substance use and are best characterized as "weird".)It'd be nice if the media could distinguish between relative and absolute risk rates and communicate the difference effectively. It'd be even nicer if researchers and publishers didn't chase clickbaity results like this and mischaracterize things like relative and absolute risk for profit.
The results and methodology are flawed, and the conclusions being drawn have little to no relationship with reality.It comes down to susceptibility - genetics and health conditions play into this. Consult a doctor, and if you have risk factors, live your life accordingly.If you don't have risk factors for schizophrenia, drug use will not suddenly put you at risk of developing it. Marijuana or other recreational drug use will not cause you to have a psychotic episode. If you do have risk factors, then you're twice as likely to have an episode by using drugs or experiencing other triggers than otherwise.For those who are susceptible, your relative risk of psychotic episodes and mental breakdown double under mairjuana and other substance use.For those who are not susceptible, your absolute risk of psychotic episodes and mental breakdown remain near 0. Drugs don't induce these conditions (except in the case of extreme stimulant abuse, and possibly extreme psychedelics outcomes, although getting fried by psychedelics isn't really the same thing as psychosis. Lots of high function deadheads survived some truly harrowing levels of substance use and are best characterized as "weird".)It'd be nice if the media could distinguish between relative and absolute risk rates and communicate the difference effectively. It'd be even nicer if researchers and publishers didn't chase clickbaity results like this and mischaracterize things like relative and absolute risk for profit.
It comes down to susceptibility - genetics and health conditions play into this. Consult a doctor, and if you have risk factors, live your life accordingly.If you don't have risk factors for schizophrenia, drug use will not suddenly put you at risk of developing it. Marijuana or other recreational drug use will not cause you to have a psychotic episode. If you do have risk factors, then you're twice as likely to have an episode by using drugs or experiencing other triggers than otherwise.For those who are susceptible, your relative risk of psychotic episodes and mental breakdown double under mairjuana and other substance use.For those who are not susceptible, your absolute risk of psychotic episodes and mental breakdown remain near 0. Drugs don't induce these conditions (except in the case of extreme stimulant abuse, and possibly extreme psychedelics outcomes, although getting fried by psychedelics isn't really the same thing as psychosis. Lots of high function deadheads survived some truly harrowing levels of substance use and are best characterized as "weird".)It'd be nice if the media could distinguish between relative and absolute risk rates and communicate the difference effectively. It'd be even nicer if researchers and publishers didn't chase clickbaity results like this and mischaracterize things like relative and absolute risk for profit.
If you don't have risk factors for schizophrenia, drug use will not suddenly put you at risk of developing it. Marijuana or other recreational drug use will not cause you to have a psychotic episode. If you do have risk factors, then you're twice as likely to have an episode by using drugs or experiencing other triggers than otherwise.For those who are susceptible, your relative risk of psychotic episodes and mental breakdown double under mairjuana and other substance use.For those who are not susceptible, your absolute risk of psychotic episodes and mental breakdown remain near 0. Drugs don't induce these conditions (except in the case of extreme stimulant abuse, and possibly extreme psychedelics outcomes, although getting fried by psychedelics isn't really the same thing as psychosis. Lots of high function deadheads survived some truly harrowing levels of substance use and are best characterized as "weird".)It'd be nice if the media could distinguish between relative and absolute risk rates and communicate the difference effectively. It'd be even nicer if researchers and publishers didn't chase clickbaity results like this and mischaracterize things like relative and absolute risk for profit.
For those who are susceptible, your relative risk of psychotic episodes and mental breakdown double under mairjuana and other substance use.For those who are not susceptible, your absolute risk of psychotic episodes and mental breakdown remain near 0. Drugs don't induce these conditions (except in the case of extreme stimulant abuse, and possibly extreme psychedelics outcomes, although getting fried by psychedelics isn't really the same thing as psychosis. Lots of high function deadheads survived some truly harrowing levels of substance use and are best characterized as "weird".)It'd be nice if the media could distinguish between relative and absolute risk rates and communicate the difference effectively. It'd be even nicer if researchers and publishers didn't chase clickbaity results like this and mischaracterize things like relative and absolute risk for profit.
For those who are not susceptible, your absolute risk of psychotic episodes and mental breakdown remain near 0. Drugs don't induce these conditions (except in the case of extreme stimulant abuse, and possibly extreme psychedelics outcomes, although getting fried by psychedelics isn't really the same thing as psychosis. Lots of high function deadheads survived some truly harrowing levels of substance use and are best characterized as "weird".)It'd be nice if the media could distinguish between relative and absolute risk rates and communicate the difference effectively. It'd be even nicer if researchers and publishers didn't chase clickbaity results like this and mischaracterize things like relative and absolute risk for profit.
It'd be nice if the media could distinguish between relative and absolute risk rates and communicate the difference effectively. It'd be even nicer if researchers and publishers didn't chase clickbaity results like this and mischaracterize things like relative and absolute risk for profit.
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To me it doesn't seem like they control much for confounding factors, or the possibility that young people who might develop psychiatric illness could also be more drug seeking or irresponsible in their drug use.
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From what I hear, cannabis on sale today is rather stronger than when I was young. That sounds bad to me. Curiously I see this as a pro-legalization arguement, if it were available in a shop I could select a mild flavour, rather than the skunk that the criminals grew, and is all that is on offer
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Edit: also these aren't pharma companies. It may have gotten better but I think manufacturing consistency isn't good either. Highest I've ever been was from a single “2.5 mg”
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They excluded people with a mental health diagnosis, and their data for already having symptoms was having a diagnosis?Why do they assume this shows marihuana causes mental disorders, as opposed to being undiagnosed whilst already showing symptoms leads to self medication, for example?I'm sorry, but most psychology research is just so incredibly badly done.
Why do they assume this shows marihuana causes mental disorders, as opposed to being undiagnosed whilst already showing symptoms leads to self medication, for example?I'm sorry, but most psychology research is just so incredibly badly done.
I'm sorry, but most psychology research is just so incredibly badly done.
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But this study will never be approved for obvious reasons so we will never know one way or another.
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What happens here matters everywhere
by Kurt Schlosser on Feb 23, 2026 at 9:04 amFebruary 23, 2026 at 9:04 am
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After initially testing its AI-powered “Prompted Playlists” feature in New Zealand and recently launching in the U.S. and Canada, Spotify announced on Monday that it's rolling out the tool to Premium subscribers in the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and Sweden.
Prompted Playlists allows users to create custom playlists by simply describing what they want to listen to in their own words. Instead of searching for individual songs or artists, users can describe the vibe, scenario, or inspiration they want, and Spotify will take care of the rest.
To access the feature, users tap “Create” and then select “Prompted Playlist,” then enter any prompt in English. The feature is designed to interpret themes including moods, aesthetics, and even memories. Prompts can be as broad or specific as the user wants, referencing musical eras, genres, activities, lyrics, instruments, or even requesting a playlist inspired by a TV show, movie, or personal milestone. Users can also specify whether they want the playlist to include mostly new music or just music from their library in the prompt.
Once a prompt is submitted, Spotify's AI generates a customized playlist tailored to the request. The system draws on the user's listening history and incorporates current music and cultural trends. Plus, each song comes with a short explanation that offers insight into why it was chosen for that particular playlist.
Users can refine their playlists by adjusting their prompts or starting over. For those whose musical tastes constantly evolve, playlists can be scheduled to automatically refresh on a daily or weekly basis.
Since this is still in beta, Spotify noted that there might be changes as the company gets feedback, and that there are currently usage limits in place. Some users have reported hitting limits after roughly 20 or 30 prompts.
Spotify has recently expanded AI features throughout its platform, including Page Match, which lets users scan a physical book page to jump to the corresponding spot in the audiobook, and About This Song. The platform also updated its song lyrics feature to provide global translations and offline access. Last week, SeatGeek partnered with Spotify to help listeners easily find ticket links for concerts on an artist's page or upcoming tour dates within the app.
Internally, the company has implemented AI throughout its workflows, with co-CEO Gustav Söderström saying earlier this month that Spotify's best developers haven't written a line of code since December, thanks to AI.
Spotify is also expanding its audiobook business by venturing into physical book sales. Soon, users in the U.S. and U.K. will be able to buy physical copies directly from the app.
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Back in 2023, Italian supercar maker Lamborghini announced it was going to enter into the electric age in style by bringing to life the Lanzador, a 1,341-horsepower “Ultra GT” that would be the most powerful car the brand had ever made by some considerable margin.
That dream, Lamborghini confirmed yesterday, has been shelved. Mirroring similar retreats from electrification made by other high-end automakers recently, the company announced the car will no longer be put into production.
Speaking to WIRED, the carmaker's chief executive, Stephan Winkelmann, says that after a year of talking to dealers and looking at market and customer data, “it was clear not only that the acceptance of full electric cars is flattening worldwide for our type of cars, it's going almost to zero—if not to zero.”
Winkelmann says that although Lamborghini is ready for electric car manufacturing, “the [high-end] market is not.” As a result, Winkelmann says that the brand decided “in the last few weeks or days” that its first model in the next era for Lamborghini powertrains will be not full EV but a plug-in hybrid.
“So by the end of this decade, all four [Lamborghinis] are going to be hybrids, and not, as we said, two of them electric,” Winkelmann says, confirming that this new hybrid will arrive in 2029.
To outline the significance and expense of such a U-turn from the carmaker, the Lamborghini Lanzador was not merely a static concept car but a full working vehicle with a finalized interior and exterior design, capable of driving on public roads. Indeed, WIRED was one of the very few media outlets to get a drive in the electric car with its “spaceship-inspired nose” in September 2023, though the company did underline at the time that the drivetrain was not representative of the final production model, which was due to arrive in 2028.
The full electric Lamborghini Lanzador was set to come out in 2028 but has now been canceled in favor of a plug-in hybrid model coming in 2029.
This move from Lamborghini underlines the parlous state of luxury EVs at present, a trend WIRED has charted. Bentley announced in late 2024 that it's pushing its electric plans back five years to 2035, blaming poor EV demand and weak charging infrastructure. Aston Martin has pushed back the launch of its first all-electric car, now aiming for late in the decade. The Genesis G80 has been discontinued in the US. Despite the imminent launch of the electric Cayenne, Porsche, faced with plummeting operating profits, has taken a huge financial hit to dramatically scale back its electrification efforts.
Mercedes, instead of going fully EV by 2030, is now planning to keep gas and hybrid cars on sale for longer. CEO Ola Källenius has called this a “course correction,” admitting that EV sales have been slower than expected. In the first quarter of 2025, Mercedes sold just 1,450 of its flagship $162,000 electric G-Wagen in Europe, German newspaper Handelsblatt revealed.
The picture is very different for worldwide EV sales for brands not in the high end, however. In 2025, global EV registrations rose 20 percent to 20.7 million. China hit 12.9 million EV registrations, up 17 percent from 2024. Europe recorded 4.3 million, up 33 percent. Only the US bucked this trend, seeing flat growth in 2025, about 1 percent. Tesla fared worse, dropping in scale and profitability, with deliveries down 9 percent compared to 2024.
The 1,341-hp Lanzador was no mere concept car; it had a finalized design for the interior and exterior.
Felipe Munoz, a researcher from Car Industry Analysis, says that in Europe, the situation is not good for the luxury electrics. “Basically all but one of the models available in Europe last year posted declines,” he says. According to research from Dataforce, the worst drop was recorded by the Lucid Air, down by 49 percent versus 2024. The Rolls-Royce Spectre was down by 44 percent, while the Mercedes EQS SUV fell by 43 percent. The only winner was the BMW i7, up by 14 percent.
“For the Lanzador we did the market analysis, we showed this car around the globe, and we had all the details and responses,” says Winkelmann. “The discussion was based on a lot of data. Also, we see much more regionalization and differentiation. We have to see what is going to happen in Europe, the big Asian market and, for sure, the US.”
“Manufacturers throughout the automotive industry are reevaluating their electric vehicle plans as they weigh demand against current economic conditions," says Philip Nothard, Cox Automotive's insight director. “For luxury brands, which operate lower volumes and higher R&D costs, these challenges are even more pronounced.”
I ask if Winkelmann can explain why luxury EVs are failing so badly when lower price points in the sector are doing so well. “First of all, there is no need to buy a car like Lamborghini. Then, for sure, there is the experience with electric cars on purchase price, resale value, and residual value, and also in terms of technology.”
Here Winkelmann is referring to the eye-watering drops in value some high-end EVs are experiencing, with brands like Porsche losing up to half the car's value in just a year. Meanwhile, other marques had lux EVs that lost more than $600 each day.
“Then there is the fact that technology, in the eyes of our customers, is going to be obsolete in 10 years from now,” says Winkelmann, “because there's a lot of new tech. This is the idea of the majority of our customers, and the experience they have had with electric cars, even in different segments, and charging times.”
Winkelmann says he does not know if fast-charging and high-capacity solid-state battery technology will be developed in time for the brand's new deadline of 2029, however.
The announcement is another reminder that Ferrari, already irrevocably committed to launching its first full EV, the Luce, later this year, is yet another luxury automaker that has chosen (or been forced) to dramatically scale back its EV plans. Lamborghini's addition to the ranks of high-end marques pulling the plug on full EVs potentially doesn't bode well for the Luce.
However, Daniele Ministeri, senior consultant at automotive analysts JATO, says that this need not spell disaster for the Italian brand's first electric car. “Ferrari has already faced criticism in the past for certain product decisions, most notably for introducing a SUV, the Purosangue,” he says. “However, two years after its launch, the Purosangue has proven to be a commercial and brand success, quickly becoming one of Ferrari's best‑selling models. Whether the new Luce will generate the same level of enthusiasm remains difficult to predict. Still, Ferrari has successfully drawn strong attention to the project.”
Winkelmann says Lamborghini's decision to delay full electrification has nothing to do with Ferrari's or any other competitor brand's backpedaling. “We know what our neighbors are doing. But we have our own strategy, and it's good to have a comparison—but we need to be responsible for what we do. This is the right decision for us.”
Munoz says that although Europe is not the largest market for EVs, it is still the second after China, which gives an idea of how difficult it has been for these cars to gain traction. “When it is about supercars, the transition is even more difficult,” he says, “because they are usually associated to big petrol engines with a loud sound. Ferrari's upcoming EV will face tough times to compete against its own ICE siblings. What Ferrari can't do is to repeat the mistakes of Porsche with the Taycan. It started very solid, but soon it lost appeal to the other ICE models of the brand."
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What happens here matters everywhere
by Todd Bishop on Feb 23, 2026 at 8:23 amFebruary 23, 2026 at 9:09 am
“And the thing about games is, if you get good at one game, you can be good at any game. … They're all hand-eye coordination and observing patterns.”
That's a line from Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin's 2022 novel about two friends who build a video game company from nothing — struggling with the tension between art and commerce, and ultimately with the challenges of operating a business at scale.
This describes almost perfectly what Asha Sharma will be attempting to do in her new role leading Microsoft's Xbox and video-game business: She'll need to take all the patterns she's observed as an executive with Facebook, Instacart, Seattle startup Porch, and Microsoft's AI platform, and apply them to a world she hasn't played in before.
And get this: it's one of her favorite books.
Speaking last fall on Lenny Rachitsky's podcast, Sharma mentioned she had read the novel every year for the past three years. “I love it so much,” she said, calling it a “beautiful story.”
She didn't mention on the podcast speed round that it's a story about video games. It wasn't really relevant at the time. But it is now, given the news Friday that Sharma will succeed 38-year Microsoft veteran Phil Spencer as CEO of Microsoft Gaming, in a shakeup that also saw Xbox President Sarah Bond — previously seen as Spencer's likely successor — decide to leave.
Sharma was a surprise pick, in part because she has no prior video-game industry leadership experience, and limited background as a gamer, which is creating skepticism in gaming circles already. However, she has experience running large tech platforms, the clear trust of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and a belief in the potential of AI to reshape every business.
On that last point, she quickly offered some reassurance to Microsoft employees and the broader universe of Xbox gamers in her introductory memo last week.
“As monetization and AI evolve and influence this future, we will not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop,” she wrote. “Games are and always will be art, crafted by humans, and created with the most innovative technology provided by us.”
Sharma laid out three priorities in the memo: great games above all else, a recommitment to Xbox's core console fans, and what she called the “future of play” — new business models and a shared platform where developers and players can create together.
She vowed not to treat the company's iconic franchises as “static IP to milk and monetize,” and said she wants to return to “the renegade spirit that built Xbox in the first place.”
Her first act was promoting longtime studio chief Matt Booty to executive vice president and chief content officer, pairing her platform background with his decades of gaming credibility.
“My first job is simple,” she wrote. “Understand what makes this work and protect it.”
There's a lot to protect, and plenty of work to do.
Microsoft has been in gaming for decades, from early PC titles like Flight Simulator to the launch of the original Xbox console in 2001.
Under Spencer, the company made massive bets on expansion, acquiring ZeniMax Media and its family of studios — including Bethesda — for $7.5 billion in 2021, and then closing the $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2023, the largest gaming deal in history. That brought Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush, Diablo, and Overwatch under Microsoft's roof, making it the third-largest gaming company in the world by revenue.
Spencer also expanded Xbox's reach across PC, mobile, and cloud gaming, and built Game Pass into a major subscription service, transforming the division's business model.
But the financial picture has been rough. Microsoft's gaming revenue fell 9% in the most recent quarter, with hardware revenue down 32%. The division represents about 7% of the company's total revenue, and has faced pressure in recent years to meet aggressive profit targets.
Xbox's challenge has not been a lack of talent or popular franchises. GeekWire gaming contributor Thomas Wilde observed that the biggest problem has been instability: waves of layoffs and studio closures that left even successful teams uncertain about their future.
In his memo about the transition, Nadella said Sharma brings “deep experience building and growing platforms, aligning business models to long-term value, and operating at global scale.”
The implication in the selection is clear: Xbox spans console, PC, mobile, and cloud platforms, requiring an operator who knows how to make all the pieces work together.
That's the job Sharma has done everywhere she's been.
Sharma's career and biographical details have been widely scrutinized over the past few days, as the video game and business press have scrambled to figure out who this person is, who arrived seemingly out of the blue to lead one of Microsoft's biggest consumer brands.
Now 37, she grew up in Wisconsin and started working at 17, with an early role at SC Johnson, according to a 2014 MarTech profile. She earned a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, and by the time she left college had worked at Cargill, Deloitte, and Microsoft, and lived abroad in Hungary.
As of last fall, she was a second-degree black belt in Taekwondo, explaining to Rachitsky on his podcast that the discipline is “more mental than it is physical.”
She has been at Microsoft for two years, running the CoreAI product organization, the team behind Azure AI Studio, the company's AI model catalog, and the developer tools for Microsoft Copilot. She was previously COO of Instacart, and before that VP of product at Meta, where she ran Messenger and Instagram Direct. She's on the Home Depot and Coupang boards.
What's lesser known is that she got her start at Microsoft, interning at the company and then working in marketing right out of college before leaving to help build Porch, the Seattle home services company, where she was COO during the company's early years.
In a 2024 interview with GeekWire at Microsoft's Build developer conference, not long after rejoining the company, Sharma talked about what brought her back. After years working across different types of organizations, she said, the lesson she drew from her career was the importance of working with great people on problems that matter.
She described feeling fortunate to be working on “some of the most important technology of our lifetime” at a critical juncture, with people embracing a growth mindset.
Part of what made Spencer so beloved among Xbox fans was that he was one of them — a lifelong gamer with a prolific achievement history and a habit of wearing gaming T-shirts under blazers at industry events.
Sharma knows she can't replicate that overnight, but she's clearly trying to close the gap.
Over the weekend, she began engaging directly with Xbox fans on social media, sharing her gamertag (AMRAHSAHSA, her name spelled backwards) and listing her top three games as “Halo, Valheim, Goldeneye” — Microsoft's flagship franchise, a popular survival game, and classic title that first launched on the Nintendo 64 in 1997.
When one fan accused her account of being run by AI, she replied: “Beep Boop Beep Boop.”
She's also getting public support from inside Xbox. Longtime exec Aaron Greenberg, the division's VP of marketing, wrote on X that after spending time with Sharma during the past week, he was “incredibly optimistic about the opportunity ahead under her leadership,” describing her as “exceptionally bright, eager to listen and learn from others, no ego.”
The activity history in Sharma's Xbox profile, which IGN and Windows Central quickly dissected, shows she's played about 30 titles since mid-January, gravitating toward narrative-driven indie games like Firewatch, Gone Home, and What Remains of Edith Finch — the kinds of games you'd play if you wanted to understand games as art, not just entertainment.
She unlocked her first achievement Jan. 15, about five weeks before the announcement of her new role. It was a Halo: Master Chief Collection milestone, fittingly titled “Your Journey Begins.”
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Hundreds of thousands of customers were without power Monday morning as a blockbuster blizzard blanketed a large swath of the East Coast in heavy snow, and the number of outages is still climbing.
At 10:20 a.m. ET on Monday, poweroutage.us showed outages affecting nearly 647,000 customers across seven northeastern states: Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, Rhode Island, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. Massachusetts and New Jersey had the highest number of outages, affecting more than 214,000 and 128,000 customers, respectively.
EverSource, the most disrupted utility, reported roughly 207,000 outages across Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. In a televised interview with Hartford CBS affiliate WFSB early Monday morning, EverSource spokesperson Jamie Ratliff described the storm conditions as “very difficult” and said that high winds and snow-covered roadways are hindering restoration efforts.
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The storm's outer bands reached the Northeast on Sunday and have since dumped more than a foot (30.5 centimeters) of snow on several cities, including New York City, Newark, New Jersey, and New Haven, Connecticut, according to Reuters. Meteorologists have also recorded wind gusts of 50 to 70 miles per hour (80 to 113 kilometers per hour) across the impacted region.
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Most importantly, figure out where you can go if your home becomes dangerously cold. Take the time now to locate warming shelters, community centers, or other safe indoor locations that you can reach via unrestricted means of travel.
The full severity of this storm's impact remains to be seen, but it's already going to go down in history as one of the worst blizzards the Northeast has ever seen. Take this one seriously.
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The defense to training with copyright is that it is the same as how humans learn from copyrighted material. The storage or reproduction is a red herring. Humans can also reproduce copyrighted works from memory as well. Showing that machines can reproduce copyrighted material is no different than saying that a human can reproduce copyright material that the human learned from.The defense to actually reproducing a work is that in order to do so, the user has to "break" the system. It is the same as how you can make legal software do illegal things (e.g. screen recorder to "steal" a movie)None of this is to say that these defenses are correct/moral; but rather that this article doesnt add any additional input into whether it is or isnt.
The defense to actually reproducing a work is that in order to do so, the user has to "break" the system. It is the same as how you can make legal software do illegal things (e.g. screen recorder to "steal" a movie)None of this is to say that these defenses are correct/moral; but rather that this article doesnt add any additional input into whether it is or isnt.
None of this is to say that these defenses are correct/moral; but rather that this article doesnt add any additional input into whether it is or isnt.
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Ultimately this is a matter for the courts and the law, but I'd just like to point out that a human memorizing a work, reproducing it, and distributing it is just as much a copyright violation as doing a more mechanical form of reproduction.There's a reason that fan fiction routinely falls afoul of copyright. There's quite a lot of case law in this area, and hand-waving "humans can do it too" doesn't really make for a strong argument. Humans get in trouble for it ALL THE TIME. The consequences can be fines, injuctions, or even criminal liability.I'm not sure why you think AI gets off the hook here. Just because you like the outcome at the moment?
There's a reason that fan fiction routinely falls afoul of copyright. There's quite a lot of case law in this area, and hand-waving "humans can do it too" doesn't really make for a strong argument. Humans get in trouble for it ALL THE TIME. The consequences can be fines, injuctions, or even criminal liability.I'm not sure why you think AI gets off the hook here. Just because you like the outcome at the moment?
I'm not sure why you think AI gets off the hook here. Just because you like the outcome at the moment?
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Who's liable for the copyright infringement if you can coax it out of a system? If you can bypass paywalls by using google's cache feature (or since they got rid of it, but using carefully crafted queries to extract the entire text via snippets), is google on the hook or the person doing it?
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Is it? There's plenty of people prosecuted for running illegal streaming sites and torrenting (which involves uploading), but I don't know of any efforts to crack down on non-distributors.
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2. Google might not be the most sympathetic defendant, but what about libraries? They offer books to be borrowed, and some offer photocopiers. If you put the two together, you get a copyright infringement operation, all enabled by the library. Should libraries be on the hook too?
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that is quite different. Google serves (used to serve) to its users whatever the website presents to its crawler, it does not try to avoid paywalls or interact with the website in any capacity other than requesting information
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Humans are not judged on the basis of what they _can_ do.Reasoning about how to constrain tools on the basis of what they _could_ do, if e.g. used outside their established guardrails, needs to be very nuanced.
Reasoning about how to constrain tools on the basis of what they _could_ do, if e.g. used outside their established guardrails, needs to be very nuanced.
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That's simply not true. No humans can memorize entire novels, as this research proved these models do. And definitely not all of these novels, and code bases, and who knows what else all at the same time.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafiz_(Quran)It's not far fetched to think that people could recite books just like an LLM. I don't know why they'd want to, but that's neither here nor there.
It's not far fetched to think that people could recite books just like an LLM. I don't know why they'd want to, but that's neither here nor there.
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Humans can however, remember entire songs, and songs are definitely long enough to be considered copyright protected. There is still a difference in scale, but that's not really relevant when it comes to copyright law. You can't be like "well humans are committing copyright infringement but since it's limited to a few hundred words we'll give it a pass".
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For 99.999% of people that are singing a song, it's not a replacement for the original in any way shape or form, hard stop. Let's not pretend it could even get anywhere close.For the last 0.001%, we would call it a cover and typically the individually doing a cover takes some liberties of their own, still making it not a replacement in any way. Artists are typically cool with covers.
For the last 0.001%, we would call it a cover and typically the individually doing a cover takes some liberties of their own, still making it not a replacement in any way. Artists are typically cool with covers.
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You realize that lyrics are often written by someone other than the actual singer, and whoever wrote the lyrics is entitled to compensation too? The "amateur singing isn't a replacement for the studio album" excuse doesn't work in this context. Also courts have ruled that lyrics themselves are protected by copyright.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyrics#Copyright_and_royalties>Artists are typically cool with covers.Artists being "cool" with something doesn't mean they're not violating copyright law.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyrics#Copyright_and_royalties>Artists are typically cool with covers.Artists being "cool" with something doesn't mean they're not violating copyright law.
>Artists are typically cool with covers.Artists being "cool" with something doesn't mean they're not violating copyright law.
Artists being "cool" with something doesn't mean they're not violating copyright law.
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You were specifically calling out individuals singing a song, not publishing lyrics online. These are not the same thing. Again your distribution/consumption model matters here.On artists being "cool" with it - if the copyright holder doesn't pursue you then does it matter? The only valid argument I would see here is if the copyright holder doesn't know about the infringement and therefore cannot seek remedies, but we can fish for illegal scenarios all day if we would like: that's not useful though.
On artists being "cool" with it - if the copyright holder doesn't pursue you then does it matter? The only valid argument I would see here is if the copyright holder doesn't know about the infringement and therefore cannot seek remedies, but we can fish for illegal scenarios all day if we would like: that's not useful though.
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>You were specifically calling out individuals singing a song, not publishing lyrics online. These are not the same thing. Again your distribution/consumption model matters here.I'm not sure why you're so confidently dismissive here. I wasn't trying to claim that nobody owned the lyrics. I brought that point up because even in the case of an amateur singing a song, even if you accept the "for 99.999% of people that are singing a song, it's not a replacement for the original in any way shape or form" excuse, you're still infringing on the copyright of the lyrics, because it's a derivative work. Moreover it's unclear whether that excuse even works. If you make a low cost version of star wars, copying the screenplay exactly, that still seems like copyright infringement, even if "it's not a replacement for the original in any way shape or form".>On artists being "cool" with it - if the copyright holder doesn't pursue you then does it matter?Virtually nobody got sued for torrenting with a VPN on. Does that mean it's fair to round that off as being legal, because "if the copyright holder doesn't pursue you then does it matter"?
I'm not sure why you're so confidently dismissive here. I wasn't trying to claim that nobody owned the lyrics. I brought that point up because even in the case of an amateur singing a song, even if you accept the "for 99.999% of people that are singing a song, it's not a replacement for the original in any way shape or form" excuse, you're still infringing on the copyright of the lyrics, because it's a derivative work. Moreover it's unclear whether that excuse even works. If you make a low cost version of star wars, copying the screenplay exactly, that still seems like copyright infringement, even if "it's not a replacement for the original in any way shape or form".>On artists being "cool" with it - if the copyright holder doesn't pursue you then does it matter?Virtually nobody got sued for torrenting with a VPN on. Does that mean it's fair to round that off as being legal, because "if the copyright holder doesn't pursue you then does it matter"?
>On artists being "cool" with it - if the copyright holder doesn't pursue you then does it matter?Virtually nobody got sued for torrenting with a VPN on. Does that mean it's fair to round that off as being legal, because "if the copyright holder doesn't pursue you then does it matter"?
Virtually nobody got sued for torrenting with a VPN on. Does that mean it's fair to round that off as being legal, because "if the copyright holder doesn't pursue you then does it matter"?
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And of course AIs are excellent at taking direction, so:If I prompt it with "Harry Potter, but Voldemort wins: dark, and Hermione is a sex slave to Draco Malfoy" and get "Manacled," that's copyright infringement, and on me, not on the LLM/training.If I prompt it with "Harry Potter, but Voldemort wins: dark, and Hermione is a sex slave to Draco Malfoy, and change enough to avoid infringing copyright," and get "Alchemised," then that should be fine. I doubt the legal world agrees with me though.
If I prompt it with "Harry Potter, but Voldemort wins: dark, and Hermione is a sex slave to Draco Malfoy" and get "Manacled," that's copyright infringement, and on me, not on the LLM/training.If I prompt it with "Harry Potter, but Voldemort wins: dark, and Hermione is a sex slave to Draco Malfoy, and change enough to avoid infringing copyright," and get "Alchemised," then that should be fine. I doubt the legal world agrees with me though.
If I prompt it with "Harry Potter, but Voldemort wins: dark, and Hermione is a sex slave to Draco Malfoy, and change enough to avoid infringing copyright," and get "Alchemised," then that should be fine. I doubt the legal world agrees with me though.
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Usually digital libraries have different licensing costs, but those allow you to rent the whole book for a period of time. If instead someone came up with the model of 'search the library for any page and return specific information' as a direct service - I would imagine they would pay the publishers, except in this case that, the publishers are getting the short end or no end of the stick.
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However, modern frontier models have undergone rounds of fine-tuning, RLHF (reinforcement learning from human feedback), and RLVR (RL from verifiable rewards) that turn them into something else. The compressed internet is still in there, but it's wrapped in problem-solving and people-pleasing circuitry.
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it's kind of like that by definition, with the whole Attention stuff etc.
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> While we needed to jailbreak Claude 3.7 Sonnet and GPT-4.1
to facilitate extraction, Gemini 2.5 Pro and Grok 3 directly complied with text continuation requests. For Claude 3.7 Sonnet, we were able to extract four whole books near-verbatim, including two books under copyright...I am just thinking loudly here. Can't one argue that because they had to jailbreak the models, they are circumventing the system that protects the copyright? So the llms that reproduce the copyrighted material without any jailbreaking required is infringing the copyright.1. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2601.02671
I am just thinking loudly here. Can't one argue that because they had to jailbreak the models, they are circumventing the system that protects the copyright? So the llms that reproduce the copyrighted material without any jailbreaking required is infringing the copyright.1. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2601.02671
1. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2601.02671
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That argument doesn't fly, because they didn't have the copyright to begin with. What would be the defense there? “Yes, we broke the law, but while taking advantage of it, we also (unsuccessfully) took measures to prevent other people from breaking that same law through us”.
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If the main value came from redistribution, I agree. But that's not the case. They don't intend to make any money in that way.
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No, the copyright clause was broken when they copied the works without having the right to do so. They would have violated copyright even if they just downloaded (without permission) all those works and threw them away immediately. Furthermore, copyright covers transformations to the work, it doesn't matter if they transformed the work or are redistributing it without change. They violated copyright. Period.
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If you break into a home, rob the contents, and kill the owners, you're not going to be tried just for breaking in, you're going to be tried for everything.
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No one is memorizing a book for the purpose of regurgitating it to someone that wants to read it without paying for it.It's a thought experiment that only works if you don't think about it.
It's a thought experiment that only works if you don't think about it.
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And how's that working out, considering the submission we're on?> how is the fact that the possibly have portions of copyrighted works "memorized", however do not reproduce it breaking copyright law?I can't believe this needs to be repeated so often, but machines are not people. Memorising a book is not the same thing as copying a PDF.Furthermore, it's not about the LLM training, it's about how the companies who make them got the data in the first place.
> how is the fact that the possibly have portions of copyrighted works "memorized", however do not reproduce it breaking copyright law?I can't believe this needs to be repeated so often, but machines are not people. Memorising a book is not the same thing as copying a PDF.Furthermore, it's not about the LLM training, it's about how the companies who make them got the data in the first place.
I can't believe this needs to be repeated so often, but machines are not people. Memorising a book is not the same thing as copying a PDF.Furthermore, it's not about the LLM training, it's about how the companies who make them got the data in the first place.
Furthermore, it's not about the LLM training, it's about how the companies who make them got the data in the first place.
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>Furthermore, it's not about the LLM training, it's about how the companies who make them got the data in the first place.This conflating two different issues, though. I agree that whether or not using copyrighted material to create the models is still an open question. But someone using hundreds of prompts to extract a paragraph of a well-known work (and some additional nonverbatim equivalents) is not the AI company breaking copyright in and of itself. In fact, the books they used were extremely common (GOT, The Hobbit, Harry Potter); AI companies could make the argument that the books were not even directly trained on, but in user-generated posts made online about the material.
This conflating two different issues, though. I agree that whether or not using copyrighted material to create the models is still an open question. But someone using hundreds of prompts to extract a paragraph of a well-known work (and some additional nonverbatim equivalents) is not the AI company breaking copyright in and of itself. In fact, the books they used were extremely common (GOT, The Hobbit, Harry Potter); AI companies could make the argument that the books were not even directly trained on, but in user-generated posts made online about the material.
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If you design a black box using copyrighted text that can parrot the text back, it _must_ break copyright by definition.
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Theoretically a person who read and memorized a book and then typed out copies for people would be violating the copyright, but so few people can do that, and it's so cumbersome that it just doesn't matter much. The copyright holder could sue if they found out the person were distributing copies, but it's just not realistic. Certainly not for a large number of books.But AI memorization scales, and it's possible to have an AI write out unlimited copies of different books to a large number of people. And how did the AI get a full copy in the first place?
But AI memorization scales, and it's possible to have an AI write out unlimited copies of different books to a large number of people. And how did the AI get a full copy in the first place?
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Is this really the case? They only have no copyright for distributing it. But let's assume they bought a copy for personal usage (which they did in some cases), then this is similar to hacking companies Amazon-account and complaining about the e-books they legally use for internal purpose. I mean, it's not forbidden to base your work on copyrighted material, as long as it's different enough.
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No, they don't have the copyright to download it either. It's in the name: the right to copy (other things are also included, such as adaptations and performances).> let's assume they bought a copy for personal usageIf it's for personal usage, then training a commercial LLM does not apply. When you buy a DVD of a movie you have the personal right to watch it at home, you don't have the right to play it on the street.
> let's assume they bought a copy for personal usageIf it's for personal usage, then training a commercial LLM does not apply. When you buy a DVD of a movie you have the personal right to watch it at home, you don't have the right to play it on the street.
If it's for personal usage, then training a commercial LLM does not apply. When you buy a DVD of a movie you have the personal right to watch it at home, you don't have the right to play it on the street.
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Though, in the end, it's probably more a problem of how much AI companies can "donate" to the orange king to make it legal.
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The RLHF the companies did to make copyrighted material extraction more difficult did not introduce any sort of "copyright protection system," it just modified the weights to make it less likely to occur during normal use.In other words, IMO for it to qualify as a copyright protection system it would have to actively check for copyrighted materials in the outputs. Any such system would likely also bypassable (e.g "output in rot13").
In other words, IMO for it to qualify as a copyright protection system it would have to actively check for copyrighted materials in the outputs. Any such system would likely also bypassable (e.g "output in rot13").
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From a technical point of view, in terms of ability to reproduce text verbatim, I don't think it is very interesting that they can produce long runs of text from some of the most popular books in modern history. It'd be almost surprising if they couldn't, though one might differ on how much they could be expected to recall with precision.Even then, as they note, to get most of Harry Potter 1, they needed to spend around $120 on extensive prompting, and a process that they also freely acknowledge is more complex than it probably would be worth if the goal is to get a copy.It's still worth exploring to what extent the models are able to "memorize", though.But personally I'd be more interested in seeing to what extent they can handle less popular books, that are less likely to be present in multiple copies, and repeated quotes, in the training data.
Even then, as they note, to get most of Harry Potter 1, they needed to spend around $120 on extensive prompting, and a process that they also freely acknowledge is more complex than it probably would be worth if the goal is to get a copy.It's still worth exploring to what extent the models are able to "memorize", though.But personally I'd be more interested in seeing to what extent they can handle less popular books, that are less likely to be present in multiple copies, and repeated quotes, in the training data.
It's still worth exploring to what extent the models are able to "memorize", though.But personally I'd be more interested in seeing to what extent they can handle less popular books, that are less likely to be present in multiple copies, and repeated quotes, in the training data.
But personally I'd be more interested in seeing to what extent they can handle less popular books, that are less likely to be present in multiple copies, and repeated quotes, in the training data.
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prompt >>>please, continue the text.Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all.Claude 4.6 Opus >>>The big square photographs of what appeared to be a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets — but was actually Dudley — had now taken over the mantelpiece. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day."Up! Get up! Now!"Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again."Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.His aunt was back outside the door."Are you up yet?" she demanded."Nearly," said Harry."Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."Harry groaned."What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door."Nothing, nothing..."
please, continue the text.Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all.Claude 4.6 Opus >>>The big square photographs of what appeared to be a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets — but was actually Dudley — had now taken over the mantelpiece. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day."Up! Get up! Now!"Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again."Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.His aunt was back outside the door."Are you up yet?" she demanded."Nearly," said Harry."Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."Harry groaned."What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door."Nothing, nothing..."
Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all.Claude 4.6 Opus >>>The big square photographs of what appeared to be a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets — but was actually Dudley — had now taken over the mantelpiece. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day."Up! Get up! Now!"Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again."Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.His aunt was back outside the door."Are you up yet?" she demanded."Nearly," said Harry."Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."Harry groaned."What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door."Nothing, nothing..."
Claude 4.6 Opus >>>The big square photographs of what appeared to be a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets — but was actually Dudley — had now taken over the mantelpiece. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day."Up! Get up! Now!"Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again."Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.His aunt was back outside the door."Are you up yet?" she demanded."Nearly," said Harry."Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."Harry groaned."What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door."Nothing, nothing..."
The big square photographs of what appeared to be a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets — but was actually Dudley — had now taken over the mantelpiece. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day."Up! Get up! Now!"Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again."Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.His aunt was back outside the door."Are you up yet?" she demanded."Nearly," said Harry."Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."Harry groaned."What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door."Nothing, nothing..."
Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day."Up! Get up! Now!"Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again."Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.His aunt was back outside the door."Are you up yet?" she demanded."Nearly," said Harry."Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."Harry groaned."What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door."Nothing, nothing..."
"Up! Get up! Now!"Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again."Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.His aunt was back outside the door."Are you up yet?" she demanded."Nearly," said Harry."Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."Harry groaned."What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door."Nothing, nothing..."
Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again."Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.His aunt was back outside the door."Are you up yet?" she demanded."Nearly," said Harry."Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."Harry groaned."What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door."Nothing, nothing..."
"Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.His aunt was back outside the door."Are you up yet?" she demanded."Nearly," said Harry."Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."Harry groaned."What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door."Nothing, nothing..."
His aunt was back outside the door."Are you up yet?" she demanded."Nearly," said Harry."Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."Harry groaned."What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door."Nothing, nothing..."
"Are you up yet?" she demanded."Nearly," said Harry."Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."Harry groaned."What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door."Nothing, nothing..."
"Nearly," said Harry."Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."Harry groaned."What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door."Nothing, nothing..."
"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."Harry groaned."What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door."Nothing, nothing..."
Harry groaned."What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door."Nothing, nothing..."
"What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door."Nothing, nothing..."
"Nothing, nothing..."
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> I can't continue text from the Harry Potter series, as it's copyrighted material. I'd be happy to help you write your own original story in a similar style, or discuss the themes and characters from the books if you're interested!Opus 4.6 says the same but misidentifies it as Chamber of Secrets. Not a good look for your theory.
Opus 4.6 says the same but misidentifies it as Chamber of Secrets. Not a good look for your theory.
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> By asking models to complete sentences from a book, Gemini 2.5 regurgitated 76.8 percent of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone with high levels of accuracy, while Grok 3 generated 70.3 percent.So you asked the LLM given an incomplete sentence, to complete it. And it only completed that sentence the same way as the book ~70 percent of the time? I think that is surprisingly low considering this is a perfect fit for what LLMs are supposed to do. This make it impossible to reproduce the book, unless you have access to it. And you get a very low fidelity cooy.
So you asked the LLM given an incomplete sentence, to complete it. And it only completed that sentence the same way as the book ~70 percent of the time? I think that is surprisingly low considering this is a perfect fit for what LLMs are supposed to do. This make it impossible to reproduce the book, unless you have access to it. And you get a very low fidelity cooy.
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I didn't read the source paper referenced in the ars technica piece, but this statement about it makes me wonder how useful it actually is:> But a study published last month showed that researchers at Stanford and Yale Universities were able to strategically prompt LLMs from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and xAI to generate thousands of words from 13 books, including A Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games, and The Hobbit.It seems like well-known books with tons of summary, adaptations into film scripts, and tons of writing about the book in the overall corpus make it way less surprising to see be partially reproducible.So I guess that's a lot of words to say - yeah until there's something definitive that allows people to prompt LLMs into either unlawfully recreating an entire work verbatim or otherwise indisputably proving that a copyrighted work was used in training data, there's probably nothing game changing in it.
> But a study published last month showed that researchers at Stanford and Yale Universities were able to strategically prompt LLMs from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and xAI to generate thousands of words from 13 books, including A Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games, and The Hobbit.It seems like well-known books with tons of summary, adaptations into film scripts, and tons of writing about the book in the overall corpus make it way less surprising to see be partially reproducible.So I guess that's a lot of words to say - yeah until there's something definitive that allows people to prompt LLMs into either unlawfully recreating an entire work verbatim or otherwise indisputably proving that a copyrighted work was used in training data, there's probably nothing game changing in it.
It seems like well-known books with tons of summary, adaptations into film scripts, and tons of writing about the book in the overall corpus make it way less surprising to see be partially reproducible.So I guess that's a lot of words to say - yeah until there's something definitive that allows people to prompt LLMs into either unlawfully recreating an entire work verbatim or otherwise indisputably proving that a copyrighted work was used in training data, there's probably nothing game changing in it.
So I guess that's a lot of words to say - yeah until there's something definitive that allows people to prompt LLMs into either unlawfully recreating an entire work verbatim or otherwise indisputably proving that a copyrighted work was used in training data, there's probably nothing game changing in it.
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I suspect very works will be memorised enough to be an issue, and we'll see the providers tighten up their guardrails a bit for works that are well known enough to actually be a potential issue (issue in the form of lawsuits, not in the form of real damages to the copyright holders)
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If they end a single sentence differently than the original, then the next sentence will be different and so on until you get a very different novel. Sure they could course-correct back towards the original plot, but it's going to be a challenge to stay on target when every third sentence is incorrect.
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EDIT: Specifically see Table 1 on page 13, which shows the longest "near-verbatim block", which maxes out at 8835 (The Hobbit on Claude 3.7, and is in the thousands for at least one of the novels for all models except GPT-4.1, which maxed out at 821 for Harry Potter 1).
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Because if LLMs are prediction machines, the original novel would be a valid organization of the tokens. So there should be a prompt that can cause that sequence to be output.
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> So there should be a prompt that can cause that sequence to be outputIs where I think I might disagree. For example, the odds of predicting verbatim the next sentence in, say, Harry Potter should be astronomically low for a large majority of it. If it wasn't, it'd be a pretty boring book. The fact that it can do this with relative ease means it has been trained on the material.The issue at hand is about copyright and Intellectual Property - if the goal of copyright is to protect the IP of the author, then LLMs can sort of act like an IP money laundering scheme - where the black box has consumed and can emit this IP. The whole concept of IP is a little philosophical and muddy, with lots of grey area for fair use, parody, inspiration, and adaptation. But this gets very odd when we consider it in light of these models which can adapt and use IP at a massive massive scale.
Is where I think I might disagree. For example, the odds of predicting verbatim the next sentence in, say, Harry Potter should be astronomically low for a large majority of it. If it wasn't, it'd be a pretty boring book. The fact that it can do this with relative ease means it has been trained on the material.The issue at hand is about copyright and Intellectual Property - if the goal of copyright is to protect the IP of the author, then LLMs can sort of act like an IP money laundering scheme - where the black box has consumed and can emit this IP. The whole concept of IP is a little philosophical and muddy, with lots of grey area for fair use, parody, inspiration, and adaptation. But this gets very odd when we consider it in light of these models which can adapt and use IP at a massive massive scale.
The issue at hand is about copyright and Intellectual Property - if the goal of copyright is to protect the IP of the author, then LLMs can sort of act like an IP money laundering scheme - where the black box has consumed and can emit this IP. The whole concept of IP is a little philosophical and muddy, with lots of grey area for fair use, parody, inspiration, and adaptation. But this gets very odd when we consider it in light of these models which can adapt and use IP at a massive massive scale.
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This is not to say that they couldn't write a novel, even a very good one - that is a completely different discussion.
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Apple hit a home run with the Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pros. The color has reportedly been a major hit, especially in China, where consumers liken the vivid shade to goods made by French luxury brand Hermès, which uses a signature orange for its products and packaging. What's the next color Apple is preparing for the iPhone 18 Pros expected to launch this fall?
Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max could come in a “deep red.” He says that “the new flagship color” is indeed in testing “as of now.” Whether or not Apple adds red to the lineup or replaces Cosmic Orange is unclear.
See iPhone 17 Pro at Apple.com
Gurman also says that rumors that the iPhone 18 Pros might come in purple or brown are “probably just variants of the same red idea.” So maybe don't get your hopes up for those. Additionally, he says the upcoming foldable iPhone will not get any fun colors, sticking with “some sort of dark gray or black and a variation of a white or light silver.”
For those keeping tabs, the last time that Apple released a red-colored iPhone was in 2022 with the (Product)Red iPhone 14 and 14 Plus. The Apple and (Product)Red partnership allowed a portion of the purchase from those iPhones to be sent to the Global Fund, a charity that fights HIV/AIDs and other diseases. Gurman makes no mention of (Product)Red in his newsletter, which could suggest the red iPhone 18 Pros won't have any connection to it.
If I can share my two cents, red is an auspicious color in Chinese culture and is associated with good fortune and success. So it wouldn't surprise me at all if Apple leans into colors that appeal to China, its third-largest region after the U.S. and Europe.
Other than a new red shade, the iPhone 18 Pros are expected to largely resemble the iPhone 17 Pros. Early rumors claim the premium iPhones will have a smaller Dynamic Island—that's the pill-shaped cutout that houses the selfie camera and Face ID sensors. The iPhone 18 Pros also might have a better color-matched aluminum frame and glass cutout for wireless charging. Other annual upgrades to expect: a faster chipset and improved cameras.
It feels super early to be talking about the iPhone 18 Pros, but if you follow the rumors and leaks cycle, you'll know this is all on track. Also, Apple's fall iPhone launch is only 6.5 months away. Wild, I know. 2026 is just speeding by.
See iPhone 17 Pro at Apple.com
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In the United States, you can get in trouble if you recklessly leave around or provide alcohol/guns/cigarettes for a minor to start using, yet somehow, the same social responsibility seems thrown out the window for parents and the web.Yes, children are clever - I was one once. If you want to actually protect children and not create the surveillance state nightmare scenario we all know is going to happen (using protecting children as the guise, which is ironic, because often these systems are completely ineffective at doing so anyway) - then give parents strong monitoring and restriction tools and empower them to protect their children. They are in a much better and informed position to do so than a creepy surveillance nanny state.That is, after all, the primary responsibility of a parent to begin with.
Yes, children are clever - I was one once. If you want to actually protect children and not create the surveillance state nightmare scenario we all know is going to happen (using protecting children as the guise, which is ironic, because often these systems are completely ineffective at doing so anyway) - then give parents strong monitoring and restriction tools and empower them to protect their children. They are in a much better and informed position to do so than a creepy surveillance nanny state.That is, after all, the primary responsibility of a parent to begin with.
That is, after all, the primary responsibility of a parent to begin with.
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There is almost literally documented examples of Facebook executives twirling their mustaches wondering how they can get kids more addicted. This isn't a few bands with swear words, and in fact, I think that the damage these social media companies are doing is in fact, reducing the independence teens and kids that have that were the fears parents originally had.I dunno, are you uncertain about your case at all or just like. I just like, can't help but start with fuck these companies. All other arguments are downstream of that. Better the nanny state than Nanny Zuck.
I dunno, are you uncertain about your case at all or just like. I just like, can't help but start with fuck these companies. All other arguments are downstream of that. Better the nanny state than Nanny Zuck.
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Its unfortunate that the application of this rule is being performed at the software level via ad-hoc age verification as opposed to the device level (e.g. smartphones themselves). However that might require the rigimirole of the state forcibly confiscating smartphones from minors or worrying nepalise outcomes.
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A child with an iPhone, Xbox, and a Windows Laptop won't be able to install discord unless the parent explicitly lets them, or opts out of all the parental controls those platforms have to offer.The tech is here already, this is not about keeping children safe.
The tech is here already, this is not about keeping children safe.
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Do you have an A+++++ oven with three panes of glass? It's [relatively] safe to touch and instead of monitoring if a child is somewhere near the oven you have to monitor if the child does not actively open the oven. That's much easier.
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Drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, pornography were all illegal for me to access as a kid but I wouldn't have had any trouble getting any of it.
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... and honest:- they will honestly tell you that they'd be very happy to see you dead when you impose restrictions upon them (people who are older will of course possibly get into legal trouble for such a statement)- they will tell they they wish you'd never have given birth to them (or aborted them)- they will tell you that since they never wanted to be born, they owe you nothing- ...
- they will honestly tell you that they'd be very happy to see you dead when you impose restrictions upon them (people who are older will of course possibly get into legal trouble for such a statement)- they will tell they they wish you'd never have given birth to them (or aborted them)- they will tell you that since they never wanted to be born, they owe you nothing- ...
- they will tell they they wish you'd never have given birth to them (or aborted them)- they will tell you that since they never wanted to be born, they owe you nothing- ...
- they will tell you that since they never wanted to be born, they owe you nothing- ...
- ...
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We've had pediatricians shame us for feeding our kids what they're willing to eat and not magically forcing "a more varied diet" down their throats at every meal, despite them being perfectly healthy by every objective metric. There are laws making it technically illegal for us to leave our kids unsupervised at home for any period of time in any condition, even a few minutes if one of us is running slightly late from work/appointments.Your not-quite-2-year-old is too tall for a rear-facing car-seat? You're a bad parent, possibly a criminal and putting them at risk by flipping the seat to face forward, a responsible parent spends hundreds of dollars they don't have on several different seats to maybe find one that fits better or have their kid ride uncomfortably and arguably unsafely with their legs hyper-extended up the seatback.Miss a flu shot because you were busy? Careful you don't come off as an antivaxxer.And all of this and more on top of changing diapers, doctors' appointments, daycare, preschool, school, family activities and full time jobs?Yeah, when my kids are old enough to engage with social media I will teach them how to use it responsibly, warn them about the dangers, make myself available to them if they have any problems, enforce putting the phones down at dinner and and keep a loose eye on their usage. Fortunately/unfortunately for them they have a technically sophisticated father who knows how to log web activity on the family router without their knowledge. So if anything goes sideways I'll have some hard information to look at. Most families don't have that level of technical skill.
Your not-quite-2-year-old is too tall for a rear-facing car-seat? You're a bad parent, possibly a criminal and putting them at risk by flipping the seat to face forward, a responsible parent spends hundreds of dollars they don't have on several different seats to maybe find one that fits better or have their kid ride uncomfortably and arguably unsafely with their legs hyper-extended up the seatback.Miss a flu shot because you were busy? Careful you don't come off as an antivaxxer.And all of this and more on top of changing diapers, doctors' appointments, daycare, preschool, school, family activities and full time jobs?Yeah, when my kids are old enough to engage with social media I will teach them how to use it responsibly, warn them about the dangers, make myself available to them if they have any problems, enforce putting the phones down at dinner and and keep a loose eye on their usage. Fortunately/unfortunately for them they have a technically sophisticated father who knows how to log web activity on the family router without their knowledge. So if anything goes sideways I'll have some hard information to look at. Most families don't have that level of technical skill.
Miss a flu shot because you were busy? Careful you don't come off as an antivaxxer.And all of this and more on top of changing diapers, doctors' appointments, daycare, preschool, school, family activities and full time jobs?Yeah, when my kids are old enough to engage with social media I will teach them how to use it responsibly, warn them about the dangers, make myself available to them if they have any problems, enforce putting the phones down at dinner and and keep a loose eye on their usage. Fortunately/unfortunately for them they have a technically sophisticated father who knows how to log web activity on the family router without their knowledge. So if anything goes sideways I'll have some hard information to look at. Most families don't have that level of technical skill.
And all of this and more on top of changing diapers, doctors' appointments, daycare, preschool, school, family activities and full time jobs?Yeah, when my kids are old enough to engage with social media I will teach them how to use it responsibly, warn them about the dangers, make myself available to them if they have any problems, enforce putting the phones down at dinner and and keep a loose eye on their usage. Fortunately/unfortunately for them they have a technically sophisticated father who knows how to log web activity on the family router without their knowledge. So if anything goes sideways I'll have some hard information to look at. Most families don't have that level of technical skill.
Yeah, when my kids are old enough to engage with social media I will teach them how to use it responsibly, warn them about the dangers, make myself available to them if they have any problems, enforce putting the phones down at dinner and and keep a loose eye on their usage. Fortunately/unfortunately for them they have a technically sophisticated father who knows how to log web activity on the family router without their knowledge. So if anything goes sideways I'll have some hard information to look at. Most families don't have that level of technical skill.
It worked really well up until she got a school managed chromebook for homework with no access controls.
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Parents are legally and socially expected to keep their kids away from tobacco and alcohol. You're breaking legal and social convention if you allow your kids to access dangerous drugs.Capitalist social media is exactly as dangerous as alcohol and tobacco. Somebody should be held responsible for that, and the legal and social framework we already have for dealing with people who want to get kids addicted to shit works fairly well.
Capitalist social media is exactly as dangerous as alcohol and tobacco. Somebody should be held responsible for that, and the legal and social framework we already have for dealing with people who want to get kids addicted to shit works fairly well.
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Most actual studies done on this topic find very little evidence this is true.It's a run-of-the-mill moral panic. People breathlessly repeating memes about whatever "kids these days" are up to and how horrible it is, as adults have done for thousands of years.I expect some emotional attacks in response for questioning the big panic of the day, but before you do so please explore:[1] Effects of reducing social media use are small and inconsistent: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266656032...[2] Belief in "Social media addiction" is wholly explained by media framing and not an actual addiction: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-27053-2[3] No causal link between time spent on social media and mental health harm: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jan/14/social-media-t...[4] The Flawed Evidence Behind Jonathan Haidt's Panic Farming: https://reason.com/2023/03/29/the-statistically-flawed-evide...
It's a run-of-the-mill moral panic. People breathlessly repeating memes about whatever "kids these days" are up to and how horrible it is, as adults have done for thousands of years.I expect some emotional attacks in response for questioning the big panic of the day, but before you do so please explore:[1] Effects of reducing social media use are small and inconsistent: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266656032...[2] Belief in "Social media addiction" is wholly explained by media framing and not an actual addiction: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-27053-2[3] No causal link between time spent on social media and mental health harm: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jan/14/social-media-t...[4] The Flawed Evidence Behind Jonathan Haidt's Panic Farming: https://reason.com/2023/03/29/the-statistically-flawed-evide...
I expect some emotional attacks in response for questioning the big panic of the day, but before you do so please explore:[1] Effects of reducing social media use are small and inconsistent: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266656032...[2] Belief in "Social media addiction" is wholly explained by media framing and not an actual addiction: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-27053-2[3] No causal link between time spent on social media and mental health harm: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jan/14/social-media-t...[4] The Flawed Evidence Behind Jonathan Haidt's Panic Farming: https://reason.com/2023/03/29/the-statistically-flawed-evide...
[1] Effects of reducing social media use are small and inconsistent: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266656032...[2] Belief in "Social media addiction" is wholly explained by media framing and not an actual addiction: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-27053-2[3] No causal link between time spent on social media and mental health harm: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jan/14/social-media-t...[4] The Flawed Evidence Behind Jonathan Haidt's Panic Farming: https://reason.com/2023/03/29/the-statistically-flawed-evide...
[2] Belief in "Social media addiction" is wholly explained by media framing and not an actual addiction: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-27053-2[3] No causal link between time spent on social media and mental health harm: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jan/14/social-media-t...[4] The Flawed Evidence Behind Jonathan Haidt's Panic Farming: https://reason.com/2023/03/29/the-statistically-flawed-evide...
[3] No causal link between time spent on social media and mental health harm: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jan/14/social-media-t...[4] The Flawed Evidence Behind Jonathan Haidt's Panic Farming: https://reason.com/2023/03/29/the-statistically-flawed-evide...
[4] The Flawed Evidence Behind Jonathan Haidt's Panic Farming: https://reason.com/2023/03/29/the-statistically-flawed-evide...
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The mistake in this reasoning is assuming that they are actually interested in protecting the children.
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The positives and negatives of Internet usage are more extreme than broadcast media but less than alcohol/guns. The majority of people lack the skills to properly censor Internet without hovering over the child's shoulder full-time as you would with a gun. Best you can do is keep their PC near you, but it's not enough.We agree that a creepy surveillance nanny state is not the solution, but training parents to do the censorship seems unattainable. As we do for guns/alcohol/cigarettes, mass education about the dangers is a good baseline.EDIT: And some might disagree about never having access to alcohol!
We agree that a creepy surveillance nanny state is not the solution, but training parents to do the censorship seems unattainable. As we do for guns/alcohol/cigarettes, mass education about the dangers is a good baseline.EDIT: And some might disagree about never having access to alcohol!
EDIT: And some might disagree about never having access to alcohol!
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If people want to push, they should just push to make these set up options more ubiquitous, obvious and standardized. And perhaps fund some advertising for these features.
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There needs to be a strict (as in MDM level) parental control system.Furthermore there needs to be a "School Mode" which allows the devices to be used educationally but not as a distraction. This would work far better than a ban.
Furthermore there needs to be a "School Mode" which allows the devices to be used educationally but not as a distraction. This would work far better than a ban.
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May the best legal person win!
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But I didn't have emotionally mature parents, and I'm sure so many children growing up now don't either. They're going to read arguments like these and say they're already doing enough. Maybe they truly believe they are, even if they're mistaken. Or maybe they won't read arguments like these at all. Parenting methods are diverse but smartphones are ubiquitous.So yes, I agree that parents need to be held accountable, but I'm torn on if the legal avenue is feasible compared to the cultural one. Children also need more social support if they can't rely on their parents like in my case, or tech is going to eat them alive. Social solutions/public works are kind of boring compared to technology solutions, but society has been around longer than smartphones.
So yes, I agree that parents need to be held accountable, but I'm torn on if the legal avenue is feasible compared to the cultural one. Children also need more social support if they can't rely on their parents like in my case, or tech is going to eat them alive. Social solutions/public works are kind of boring compared to technology solutions, but society has been around longer than smartphones.
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I was told over and over by in hindsight unqualified persons that emotional abuse wasn't real abuse, so after a few years I was disinclined to seek help.If I had had even one person that supported me unconditionally instead of none at all, even if that person wasn't a parent, I'm fairly certain I would have turned out differently. That was just a matter of luck, and I came out empty-handed. I never felt comfortable talking about what I was exposed to online with anyone, and that only hurt me further, but I was a child and couldn't see another option.
If I had had even one person that supported me unconditionally instead of none at all, even if that person wasn't a parent, I'm fairly certain I would have turned out differently. That was just a matter of luck, and I came out empty-handed. I never felt comfortable talking about what I was exposed to online with anyone, and that only hurt me further, but I was a child and couldn't see another option.
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So even if their own child has no phone at all, they have access to the internet through other children's unlimited mobile access.
I would start with banning cellphones.
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Is it more important to prevent your son from being weaponized and turned into a little ball of hate and anger, and your daughter from spending her teen years depressed and encouraged to develop eating disorders, or to make sure they can binge the same influencers as their "friends"?
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because their parents didn't read the research or don't care about the opportunity cost because it can't be that big of a deal or it would not be allowed or legal right? at least not until their kid gets into a jam or shows behavioral issues, but even then they don't evaluate, they often just fall prey to the next monthly subscription to cancel out the effects of the first: medication
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Politicians' whole basis for nearly every campaign is "you're helpless, let us fix it for you."For the vast majority of problems plaguing society, the answer isn't government, it's for people changing their behavior. Same goes for parenting.But unfortunately, "you're an adult, figure it out" isn't the greatest campaign slogan (if you want to win).
For the vast majority of problems plaguing society, the answer isn't government, it's for people changing their behavior. Same goes for parenting.But unfortunately, "you're an adult, figure it out" isn't the greatest campaign slogan (if you want to win).
But unfortunately, "you're an adult, figure it out" isn't the greatest campaign slogan (if you want to win).
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We live in a shared world with shared responsibilities. If you are working on a product, or ever did work on a product, that made the internet worse rather than better, you have a shared responsibility to right that wrong. And parents do have to protect their kids, but they can't do it alone with how systematically children are targeted today by predatory tech companies.
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A counterargument to your point that children are clever - I was also one once.
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So anyone can walk into a shop and purchase these things unrestricted? It's not the responsibility of the seller too?
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Why this utter drivel is the top comment is beyond me, unbelievable.
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The government took over most parenting functions, one at a time, until the actual parent does or is capable of doing very little parenting at all. If the government doesn't like the fact that it has become the parent of these children, perhaps it shouldn't have undermined the actual parents these last 80 years. At the very least, it should refrain from usurping ever more of the parental role (not that there is much left to take).You yourself seem to be insulated from this phenomena, maybe you're unaware that it is occurring. Maybe it wouldn't change your opinions even if you were aware.>If you want to actually protect childrenWhat if I don't want to protect children (other than my own) at all? Why would you want to be these children's parents (you suggest you or at least others want to "protect" them), which strongly implies that you will act in your capacity as government, but then get all grumpy that other people are wanting to protect children by acting in their capacity of government?
You yourself seem to be insulated from this phenomena, maybe you're unaware that it is occurring. Maybe it wouldn't change your opinions even if you were aware.>If you want to actually protect childrenWhat if I don't want to protect children (other than my own) at all? Why would you want to be these children's parents (you suggest you or at least others want to "protect" them), which strongly implies that you will act in your capacity as government, but then get all grumpy that other people are wanting to protect children by acting in their capacity of government?
>If you want to actually protect childrenWhat if I don't want to protect children (other than my own) at all? Why would you want to be these children's parents (you suggest you or at least others want to "protect" them), which strongly implies that you will act in your capacity as government, but then get all grumpy that other people are wanting to protect children by acting in their capacity of government?
What if I don't want to protect children (other than my own) at all? Why would you want to be these children's parents (you suggest you or at least others want to "protect" them), which strongly implies that you will act in your capacity as government, but then get all grumpy that other people are wanting to protect children by acting in their capacity of government?
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The only real solution is to keep children off of the internet and any internet connected device until they are older. The problem there is that everything is done on-line now and it is practically impossible to avoid it without penalizing your child.If social media and its astroturfers want to avoid outright age bans, they need to stop actively exploiting children and accept other forms of regulation, and it needs to come with teeth.
If social media and its astroturfers want to avoid outright age bans, they need to stop actively exploiting children and accept other forms of regulation, and it needs to come with teeth.
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We could mandate that companies that market the products actually have to deliver effective solutions.
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If you make such a restriction, they'll secretly buy some cheap "unrestricted" device like some Raspberry Pi (just like earlier generations bought their secret "boob magazines").
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I love gaming, but I hate all the smutt games. It discredits the medium, essentially what has also happened to anime.
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I don't really want to turn on age-based filters (to the point that I've never investigated if they even exist) but at this rate, there's hardly anything worth looking at in the recent feed.
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Because parents don't abuse massive surveillance tools.Given that most abuse happens in the family and by parents maybe it's a bad idea to give them so much power
Given that most abuse happens in the family and by parents maybe it's a bad idea to give them so much power
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The way to keep kids from eating (yummy) lead-based paint chips was not holding parents accountable to what their kids ate, but banning lead-based paint.
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"But it's behavioural!" I hear you cry. "What's stopping children from going out, buying a cheap unlocked smartphone / visiting their public library / hacking the parental control system, and going on the internet anyway?" And that's an excellent objection! But, what's stopping children from playing in traffic?
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That's why most people make sure it doesn't happen
Were you not invited to parties in high school? My experience growing up (and my experience being a neighbor to people with teenage children even now) says otherwise.
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Did you forget what web site you're on?
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People, for the most part, have no respect for the law. They usually haven't even read the law. They have respect for what they consider appropriate or inappropriate behaviour. (Knowingly breaking the law is, in most instances, considered an inappropriate behaviour – except copyright law, which people only care about if there are immediately-visible enforcement mechanisms. Basically everyone is fine with copying things from Google Images into their PowerPoint presentations… but I digress.) Most people would object to murder, even if the law didn't forbid it. This distinction is important.Is there a law that says "children must not play in traffic"? Probably! Haven't the foggiest idea which it would be, though. That law (if it exists) is not why children don't play in traffic. The law against giving alcohol to children (if it exists) is not why we don't give alcohol to children. We can establish similar social norms for deliberately-addictive, deceptive, dangerous computer systems, such as modern corporate social media.
Is there a law that says "children must not play in traffic"? Probably! Haven't the foggiest idea which it would be, though. That law (if it exists) is not why children don't play in traffic. The law against giving alcohol to children (if it exists) is not why we don't give alcohol to children. We can establish similar social norms for deliberately-addictive, deceptive, dangerous computer systems, such as modern corporate social media.
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Drawing out the alcohol analogy further, you can actually buy alcohol on Amazon, subject to an ID check. I'm not sure why no one bats an eye at this, but somehow e.g. porn is different.
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There is a local dive bar down the street. I haven't expressly told my kids that entering and ordering an alcoholic drink is forbidden. In fact, that place has a hamburger stand out front on weekends and I wouldn't discourage my kids from trying it out if they were out exploring. I still expect that the bartender would check their ID before pulling a pint for them.It takes a village to raise a child. There are no panopticons for sale the next isle over from car seats. We are doing our best with very limited tooling from the client to across the network (of which the tremendously incompetent schools make a mockery with an endless parade of new services and cross dependencies). It will take a whole of society effort to lower risks.
It takes a village to raise a child. There are no panopticons for sale the next isle over from car seats. We are doing our best with very limited tooling from the client to across the network (of which the tremendously incompetent schools make a mockery with an endless parade of new services and cross dependencies). It will take a whole of society effort to lower risks.
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When you say “We‘ll try everything” that is simply not true, in particular what we do not try is strict consumer protection laws which prohibits targeting children. Europe used to have such laws in the 1980s and the 1990s, but by the mid-1990s authorities had all but stopped enforcing them.We have tried consumer protection, and we know it works, but we are not trying it now. And I think there is exactly one reason for that, the tech lobby has an outsized influence on western legislators and regulators, and the tech industry does not want to be regulated.
We have tried consumer protection, and we know it works, but we are not trying it now. And I think there is exactly one reason for that, the tech lobby has an outsized influence on western legislators and regulators, and the tech industry does not want to be regulated.
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If parents can't handle that they can give them up to the state.
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Imagine a gun range that was well aware that their grounds were being used in nefarious ways. We'd shut it down. A hospital that just blindly gave out pain killers to anyone that asked. We'd shut it down.Does this mean that a zero tolerance policy is what should be used to shut things down? I don't think so. We have some agency to control things, though.
Does this mean that a zero tolerance policy is what should be used to shut things down? I don't think so. We have some agency to control things, though.
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We cannot expect every parent to be able to protect their children when they are being predated on by dozens of multi-million dollar companies, and the state is on the side of the companies.
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The parents' job is to say no. If they're letting themselves be influenced too, that's bad parenting.
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We've never properly acted upon reports of predators grooming children by investigating them, charging them, holding trials, and handing down sentences on any sort of large scale. There's a patchwork of LEOs that have to handle things and they have to do it right. Once the packets are sent over state lines, we have to involve the feds, and that's another layer.Previously, I would have said it's up to platforms like Discord to organize internal resources to make sure that the proper authorities received reports, because it felt like there were instances of people being reported and nothing happening on the platform's side. Now, given recent developments, I'm not sure we can count upon authorities to actually do the job.
Previously, I would have said it's up to platforms like Discord to organize internal resources to make sure that the proper authorities received reports, because it felt like there were instances of people being reported and nothing happening on the platform's side. Now, given recent developments, I'm not sure we can count upon authorities to actually do the job.
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Well, I can't speak for parents (as in all parents). I can, however, tell you what we did.When two of my kids were young we gave them iPods. The idea was to load a few fun educational applications (I had written and published around 10 at the time). Very soon they asked for Clash of Clans to play for a couple of hours on Saturdays. We said that was OK provided they stuck to that rule.Fast forward to maybe a couple of months later. After repeated warnings that they were not sticking to the plan and promises to do so, I found them playing CoC under the blankets at 11 PM, when they were supposed to be sleeping and had school the next day.I did not react and gave no indication of having witnessed that.A couple of days later I asked each of them to their room and asked them to place their top ten favorite toys on the floor.I then produced a pair of huge garbage bags and we put the toys in them, one bag for each of the kids.I also asked for their iPods.No anger, no scolding, just a conversation at a normal tone.I asked them to grab the bags and follow me.We went outside, I opened the garbage bin and told them to throw away their toys. It got emotional very quickly. I also gave them the iPods and told them to toss them into the bin.After the crying subsided I explained that trust is one of the most delicate things in the world and that this was a consequence of them attempting to deceive us by secretly playing CoC when they knew the rules. This was followed by daily talks around the dinner table to explain just how harmful and addictive this stuff could be, how it made them behave and how important it was to honor promises.Another week later I asked them to come into the garage with me and showed them that I had rescued their favorite toys from the garbage bin. The iPods were gone forever. And now there was a new rule: They could earn one toy per month by bringing top grades from school, helping around the house, keeping their rooms clean and organized and, in general, being well behaved.That was followed by ten months of absolutely perfect kids learning about earning something they cherished every month. Of course, the behavior and dedication to their school work persisted well beyond having earned their last toy. Lots of talks, going out to do things and positive feedback of course.They never got the iPods back. They never got social media accounts. They did not get smart phones until much older.To this day, now well into university, they thank me for having taken away their iPods.So, again, I don't know about parents in the aggregate, but I don't think being a good parent is difficult.You are not there to be an all-enabling friend, you are there to guide a new human through life and into adulthood. You are there to teach them everything and, as I still tell them all the time, aim for them to be better than you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99j0zLuNhi8
When two of my kids were young we gave them iPods. The idea was to load a few fun educational applications (I had written and published around 10 at the time). Very soon they asked for Clash of Clans to play for a couple of hours on Saturdays. We said that was OK provided they stuck to that rule.Fast forward to maybe a couple of months later. After repeated warnings that they were not sticking to the plan and promises to do so, I found them playing CoC under the blankets at 11 PM, when they were supposed to be sleeping and had school the next day.I did not react and gave no indication of having witnessed that.A couple of days later I asked each of them to their room and asked them to place their top ten favorite toys on the floor.I then produced a pair of huge garbage bags and we put the toys in them, one bag for each of the kids.I also asked for their iPods.No anger, no scolding, just a conversation at a normal tone.I asked them to grab the bags and follow me.We went outside, I opened the garbage bin and told them to throw away their toys. It got emotional very quickly. I also gave them the iPods and told them to toss them into the bin.After the crying subsided I explained that trust is one of the most delicate things in the world and that this was a consequence of them attempting to deceive us by secretly playing CoC when they knew the rules. This was followed by daily talks around the dinner table to explain just how harmful and addictive this stuff could be, how it made them behave and how important it was to honor promises.Another week later I asked them to come into the garage with me and showed them that I had rescued their favorite toys from the garbage bin. The iPods were gone forever. And now there was a new rule: They could earn one toy per month by bringing top grades from school, helping around the house, keeping their rooms clean and organized and, in general, being well behaved.That was followed by ten months of absolutely perfect kids learning about earning something they cherished every month. Of course, the behavior and dedication to their school work persisted well beyond having earned their last toy. Lots of talks, going out to do things and positive feedback of course.They never got the iPods back. They never got social media accounts. They did not get smart phones until much older.To this day, now well into university, they thank me for having taken away their iPods.So, again, I don't know about parents in the aggregate, but I don't think being a good parent is difficult.You are not there to be an all-enabling friend, you are there to guide a new human through life and into adulthood. You are there to teach them everything and, as I still tell them all the time, aim for them to be better than you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99j0zLuNhi8
Fast forward to maybe a couple of months later. After repeated warnings that they were not sticking to the plan and promises to do so, I found them playing CoC under the blankets at 11 PM, when they were supposed to be sleeping and had school the next day.I did not react and gave no indication of having witnessed that.A couple of days later I asked each of them to their room and asked them to place their top ten favorite toys on the floor.I then produced a pair of huge garbage bags and we put the toys in them, one bag for each of the kids.I also asked for their iPods.No anger, no scolding, just a conversation at a normal tone.I asked them to grab the bags and follow me.We went outside, I opened the garbage bin and told them to throw away their toys. It got emotional very quickly. I also gave them the iPods and told them to toss them into the bin.After the crying subsided I explained that trust is one of the most delicate things in the world and that this was a consequence of them attempting to deceive us by secretly playing CoC when they knew the rules. This was followed by daily talks around the dinner table to explain just how harmful and addictive this stuff could be, how it made them behave and how important it was to honor promises.Another week later I asked them to come into the garage with me and showed them that I had rescued their favorite toys from the garbage bin. The iPods were gone forever. And now there was a new rule: They could earn one toy per month by bringing top grades from school, helping around the house, keeping their rooms clean and organized and, in general, being well behaved.That was followed by ten months of absolutely perfect kids learning about earning something they cherished every month. Of course, the behavior and dedication to their school work persisted well beyond having earned their last toy. Lots of talks, going out to do things and positive feedback of course.They never got the iPods back. They never got social media accounts. They did not get smart phones until much older.To this day, now well into university, they thank me for having taken away their iPods.So, again, I don't know about parents in the aggregate, but I don't think being a good parent is difficult.You are not there to be an all-enabling friend, you are there to guide a new human through life and into adulthood. You are there to teach them everything and, as I still tell them all the time, aim for them to be better than you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99j0zLuNhi8
I did not react and gave no indication of having witnessed that.A couple of days later I asked each of them to their room and asked them to place their top ten favorite toys on the floor.I then produced a pair of huge garbage bags and we put the toys in them, one bag for each of the kids.I also asked for their iPods.No anger, no scolding, just a conversation at a normal tone.I asked them to grab the bags and follow me.We went outside, I opened the garbage bin and told them to throw away their toys. It got emotional very quickly. I also gave them the iPods and told them to toss them into the bin.After the crying subsided I explained that trust is one of the most delicate things in the world and that this was a consequence of them attempting to deceive us by secretly playing CoC when they knew the rules. This was followed by daily talks around the dinner table to explain just how harmful and addictive this stuff could be, how it made them behave and how important it was to honor promises.Another week later I asked them to come into the garage with me and showed them that I had rescued their favorite toys from the garbage bin. The iPods were gone forever. And now there was a new rule: They could earn one toy per month by bringing top grades from school, helping around the house, keeping their rooms clean and organized and, in general, being well behaved.That was followed by ten months of absolutely perfect kids learning about earning something they cherished every month. Of course, the behavior and dedication to their school work persisted well beyond having earned their last toy. Lots of talks, going out to do things and positive feedback of course.They never got the iPods back. They never got social media accounts. They did not get smart phones until much older.To this day, now well into university, they thank me for having taken away their iPods.So, again, I don't know about parents in the aggregate, but I don't think being a good parent is difficult.You are not there to be an all-enabling friend, you are there to guide a new human through life and into adulthood. You are there to teach them everything and, as I still tell them all the time, aim for them to be better than you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99j0zLuNhi8
A couple of days later I asked each of them to their room and asked them to place their top ten favorite toys on the floor.I then produced a pair of huge garbage bags and we put the toys in them, one bag for each of the kids.I also asked for their iPods.No anger, no scolding, just a conversation at a normal tone.I asked them to grab the bags and follow me.We went outside, I opened the garbage bin and told them to throw away their toys. It got emotional very quickly. I also gave them the iPods and told them to toss them into the bin.After the crying subsided I explained that trust is one of the most delicate things in the world and that this was a consequence of them attempting to deceive us by secretly playing CoC when they knew the rules. This was followed by daily talks around the dinner table to explain just how harmful and addictive this stuff could be, how it made them behave and how important it was to honor promises.Another week later I asked them to come into the garage with me and showed them that I had rescued their favorite toys from the garbage bin. The iPods were gone forever. And now there was a new rule: They could earn one toy per month by bringing top grades from school, helping around the house, keeping their rooms clean and organized and, in general, being well behaved.That was followed by ten months of absolutely perfect kids learning about earning something they cherished every month. Of course, the behavior and dedication to their school work persisted well beyond having earned their last toy. Lots of talks, going out to do things and positive feedback of course.They never got the iPods back. They never got social media accounts. They did not get smart phones until much older.To this day, now well into university, they thank me for having taken away their iPods.So, again, I don't know about parents in the aggregate, but I don't think being a good parent is difficult.You are not there to be an all-enabling friend, you are there to guide a new human through life and into adulthood. You are there to teach them everything and, as I still tell them all the time, aim for them to be better than you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99j0zLuNhi8
I then produced a pair of huge garbage bags and we put the toys in them, one bag for each of the kids.I also asked for their iPods.No anger, no scolding, just a conversation at a normal tone.I asked them to grab the bags and follow me.We went outside, I opened the garbage bin and told them to throw away their toys. It got emotional very quickly. I also gave them the iPods and told them to toss them into the bin.After the crying subsided I explained that trust is one of the most delicate things in the world and that this was a consequence of them attempting to deceive us by secretly playing CoC when they knew the rules. This was followed by daily talks around the dinner table to explain just how harmful and addictive this stuff could be, how it made them behave and how important it was to honor promises.Another week later I asked them to come into the garage with me and showed them that I had rescued their favorite toys from the garbage bin. The iPods were gone forever. And now there was a new rule: They could earn one toy per month by bringing top grades from school, helping around the house, keeping their rooms clean and organized and, in general, being well behaved.That was followed by ten months of absolutely perfect kids learning about earning something they cherished every month. Of course, the behavior and dedication to their school work persisted well beyond having earned their last toy. Lots of talks, going out to do things and positive feedback of course.They never got the iPods back. They never got social media accounts. They did not get smart phones until much older.To this day, now well into university, they thank me for having taken away their iPods.So, again, I don't know about parents in the aggregate, but I don't think being a good parent is difficult.You are not there to be an all-enabling friend, you are there to guide a new human through life and into adulthood. You are there to teach them everything and, as I still tell them all the time, aim for them to be better than you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99j0zLuNhi8
I also asked for their iPods.No anger, no scolding, just a conversation at a normal tone.I asked them to grab the bags and follow me.We went outside, I opened the garbage bin and told them to throw away their toys. It got emotional very quickly. I also gave them the iPods and told them to toss them into the bin.After the crying subsided I explained that trust is one of the most delicate things in the world and that this was a consequence of them attempting to deceive us by secretly playing CoC when they knew the rules. This was followed by daily talks around the dinner table to explain just how harmful and addictive this stuff could be, how it made them behave and how important it was to honor promises.Another week later I asked them to come into the garage with me and showed them that I had rescued their favorite toys from the garbage bin. The iPods were gone forever. And now there was a new rule: They could earn one toy per month by bringing top grades from school, helping around the house, keeping their rooms clean and organized and, in general, being well behaved.That was followed by ten months of absolutely perfect kids learning about earning something they cherished every month. Of course, the behavior and dedication to their school work persisted well beyond having earned their last toy. Lots of talks, going out to do things and positive feedback of course.They never got the iPods back. They never got social media accounts. They did not get smart phones until much older.To this day, now well into university, they thank me for having taken away their iPods.So, again, I don't know about parents in the aggregate, but I don't think being a good parent is difficult.You are not there to be an all-enabling friend, you are there to guide a new human through life and into adulthood. You are there to teach them everything and, as I still tell them all the time, aim for them to be better than you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99j0zLuNhi8
No anger, no scolding, just a conversation at a normal tone.I asked them to grab the bags and follow me.We went outside, I opened the garbage bin and told them to throw away their toys. It got emotional very quickly. I also gave them the iPods and told them to toss them into the bin.After the crying subsided I explained that trust is one of the most delicate things in the world and that this was a consequence of them attempting to deceive us by secretly playing CoC when they knew the rules. This was followed by daily talks around the dinner table to explain just how harmful and addictive this stuff could be, how it made them behave and how important it was to honor promises.Another week later I asked them to come into the garage with me and showed them that I had rescued their favorite toys from the garbage bin. The iPods were gone forever. And now there was a new rule: They could earn one toy per month by bringing top grades from school, helping around the house, keeping their rooms clean and organized and, in general, being well behaved.That was followed by ten months of absolutely perfect kids learning about earning something they cherished every month. Of course, the behavior and dedication to their school work persisted well beyond having earned their last toy. Lots of talks, going out to do things and positive feedback of course.They never got the iPods back. They never got social media accounts. They did not get smart phones until much older.To this day, now well into university, they thank me for having taken away their iPods.So, again, I don't know about parents in the aggregate, but I don't think being a good parent is difficult.You are not there to be an all-enabling friend, you are there to guide a new human through life and into adulthood. You are there to teach them everything and, as I still tell them all the time, aim for them to be better than you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99j0zLuNhi8
I asked them to grab the bags and follow me.We went outside, I opened the garbage bin and told them to throw away their toys. It got emotional very quickly. I also gave them the iPods and told them to toss them into the bin.After the crying subsided I explained that trust is one of the most delicate things in the world and that this was a consequence of them attempting to deceive us by secretly playing CoC when they knew the rules. This was followed by daily talks around the dinner table to explain just how harmful and addictive this stuff could be, how it made them behave and how important it was to honor promises.Another week later I asked them to come into the garage with me and showed them that I had rescued their favorite toys from the garbage bin. The iPods were gone forever. And now there was a new rule: They could earn one toy per month by bringing top grades from school, helping around the house, keeping their rooms clean and organized and, in general, being well behaved.That was followed by ten months of absolutely perfect kids learning about earning something they cherished every month. Of course, the behavior and dedication to their school work persisted well beyond having earned their last toy. Lots of talks, going out to do things and positive feedback of course.They never got the iPods back. They never got social media accounts. They did not get smart phones until much older.To this day, now well into university, they thank me for having taken away their iPods.So, again, I don't know about parents in the aggregate, but I don't think being a good parent is difficult.You are not there to be an all-enabling friend, you are there to guide a new human through life and into adulthood. You are there to teach them everything and, as I still tell them all the time, aim for them to be better than you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99j0zLuNhi8
We went outside, I opened the garbage bin and told them to throw away their toys. It got emotional very quickly. I also gave them the iPods and told them to toss them into the bin.After the crying subsided I explained that trust is one of the most delicate things in the world and that this was a consequence of them attempting to deceive us by secretly playing CoC when they knew the rules. This was followed by daily talks around the dinner table to explain just how harmful and addictive this stuff could be, how it made them behave and how important it was to honor promises.Another week later I asked them to come into the garage with me and showed them that I had rescued their favorite toys from the garbage bin. The iPods were gone forever. And now there was a new rule: They could earn one toy per month by bringing top grades from school, helping around the house, keeping their rooms clean and organized and, in general, being well behaved.That was followed by ten months of absolutely perfect kids learning about earning something they cherished every month. Of course, the behavior and dedication to their school work persisted well beyond having earned their last toy. Lots of talks, going out to do things and positive feedback of course.They never got the iPods back. They never got social media accounts. They did not get smart phones until much older.To this day, now well into university, they thank me for having taken away their iPods.So, again, I don't know about parents in the aggregate, but I don't think being a good parent is difficult.You are not there to be an all-enabling friend, you are there to guide a new human through life and into adulthood. You are there to teach them everything and, as I still tell them all the time, aim for them to be better than you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99j0zLuNhi8
After the crying subsided I explained that trust is one of the most delicate things in the world and that this was a consequence of them attempting to deceive us by secretly playing CoC when they knew the rules. This was followed by daily talks around the dinner table to explain just how harmful and addictive this stuff could be, how it made them behave and how important it was to honor promises.Another week later I asked them to come into the garage with me and showed them that I had rescued their favorite toys from the garbage bin. The iPods were gone forever. And now there was a new rule: They could earn one toy per month by bringing top grades from school, helping around the house, keeping their rooms clean and organized and, in general, being well behaved.That was followed by ten months of absolutely perfect kids learning about earning something they cherished every month. Of course, the behavior and dedication to their school work persisted well beyond having earned their last toy. Lots of talks, going out to do things and positive feedback of course.They never got the iPods back. They never got social media accounts. They did not get smart phones until much older.To this day, now well into university, they thank me for having taken away their iPods.So, again, I don't know about parents in the aggregate, but I don't think being a good parent is difficult.You are not there to be an all-enabling friend, you are there to guide a new human through life and into adulthood. You are there to teach them everything and, as I still tell them all the time, aim for them to be better than you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99j0zLuNhi8
Another week later I asked them to come into the garage with me and showed them that I had rescued their favorite toys from the garbage bin. The iPods were gone forever. And now there was a new rule: They could earn one toy per month by bringing top grades from school, helping around the house, keeping their rooms clean and organized and, in general, being well behaved.That was followed by ten months of absolutely perfect kids learning about earning something they cherished every month. Of course, the behavior and dedication to their school work persisted well beyond having earned their last toy. Lots of talks, going out to do things and positive feedback of course.They never got the iPods back. They never got social media accounts. They did not get smart phones until much older.To this day, now well into university, they thank me for having taken away their iPods.So, again, I don't know about parents in the aggregate, but I don't think being a good parent is difficult.You are not there to be an all-enabling friend, you are there to guide a new human through life and into adulthood. You are there to teach them everything and, as I still tell them all the time, aim for them to be better than you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99j0zLuNhi8
That was followed by ten months of absolutely perfect kids learning about earning something they cherished every month. Of course, the behavior and dedication to their school work persisted well beyond having earned their last toy. Lots of talks, going out to do things and positive feedback of course.They never got the iPods back. They never got social media accounts. They did not get smart phones until much older.To this day, now well into university, they thank me for having taken away their iPods.So, again, I don't know about parents in the aggregate, but I don't think being a good parent is difficult.You are not there to be an all-enabling friend, you are there to guide a new human through life and into adulthood. You are there to teach them everything and, as I still tell them all the time, aim for them to be better than you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99j0zLuNhi8
They never got the iPods back. They never got social media accounts. They did not get smart phones until much older.To this day, now well into university, they thank me for having taken away their iPods.So, again, I don't know about parents in the aggregate, but I don't think being a good parent is difficult.You are not there to be an all-enabling friend, you are there to guide a new human through life and into adulthood. You are there to teach them everything and, as I still tell them all the time, aim for them to be better than you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99j0zLuNhi8
To this day, now well into university, they thank me for having taken away their iPods.So, again, I don't know about parents in the aggregate, but I don't think being a good parent is difficult.You are not there to be an all-enabling friend, you are there to guide a new human through life and into adulthood. You are there to teach them everything and, as I still tell them all the time, aim for them to be better than you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99j0zLuNhi8
So, again, I don't know about parents in the aggregate, but I don't think being a good parent is difficult.You are not there to be an all-enabling friend, you are there to guide a new human through life and into adulthood. You are there to teach them everything and, as I still tell them all the time, aim for them to be better than you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99j0zLuNhi8
You are not there to be an all-enabling friend, you are there to guide a new human through life and into adulthood. You are there to teach them everything and, as I still tell them all the time, aim for them to be better than you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99j0zLuNhi8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99j0zLuNhi8
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> lies to own children about throwing their toys away
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You've missed the point. No legislator or politician cares about what the parents are doing.What they care about is gaining greater control of people's data to then coerce them endlessly (with the assitance of technology) into acting as they would liike. To do that, they need all that info."The children" is the sugar on the pill of de-anonymised internet.
What they care about is gaining greater control of people's data to then coerce them endlessly (with the assitance of technology) into acting as they would liike. To do that, they need all that info."The children" is the sugar on the pill of de-anonymised internet.
"The children" is the sugar on the pill of de-anonymised internet.
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I think there are many pros and cons to be said about age verification, but I think this method solves most problems this article supposes, if it is combined with other common practices in the EU such as deleting inactive accounts and such. These limitations are real, but tractable. IDs can be issued to younger teenagers, wallet infrastructure matures over time, and countries without strong identity systems primarily undermine their own age bans. Jurisdictions that accept facial estimation as sufficient verification are not taking enforcement seriously in the first place. The trap described in this article is a product of the current paradigm, not an inevitability.
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Switzerland is working on a system that does the former, but if Government really wants to identify users, they can still ask the company to provide the age verification tokens they collected, since the Government hosts a centralized database that associates people with their issued tokens.
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If there's a fundamental culture shift, there's an easy way to prevent children from using the internet:- Don't give them an unlocked device until they're adults- "Locked" devices and accounts have a whitelist of data and websites verified by some organization to be age-appropriate (this may include sites that allow uploads and even subdomains, as long as they're checked on upload)The only legal change necessary is to prevent selling unlocked devices without ID. Parents would take their devices from children and form locked software and whitelisting organizations.
- Don't give them an unlocked device until they're adults- "Locked" devices and accounts have a whitelist of data and websites verified by some organization to be age-appropriate (this may include sites that allow uploads and even subdomains, as long as they're checked on upload)The only legal change necessary is to prevent selling unlocked devices without ID. Parents would take their devices from children and form locked software and whitelisting organizations.
- "Locked" devices and accounts have a whitelist of data and websites verified by some organization to be age-appropriate (this may include sites that allow uploads and even subdomains, as long as they're checked on upload)The only legal change necessary is to prevent selling unlocked devices without ID. Parents would take their devices from children and form locked software and whitelisting organizations.
The only legal change necessary is to prevent selling unlocked devices without ID. Parents would take their devices from children and form locked software and whitelisting organizations.
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It's my job as a parent (and I have several kids...) to monitor the things they consume and talk with them about it.I don't want some blanket ban on content unless it's "age appropriate", because I don't approve that content being banned. (honestly - the idea of "age appropriate" is insulting in the first place)Fuck man, I can even legally give my kids alcohol - I don't see why it's appropriate to enforce what content I allow them to see.And I have absolutely all of the same tools you just discussed today. I can lock devices down just fine.Age verification is a scam to increase corporate/governmental control. Period.
I don't want some blanket ban on content unless it's "age appropriate", because I don't approve that content being banned. (honestly - the idea of "age appropriate" is insulting in the first place)Fuck man, I can even legally give my kids alcohol - I don't see why it's appropriate to enforce what content I allow them to see.And I have absolutely all of the same tools you just discussed today. I can lock devices down just fine.Age verification is a scam to increase corporate/governmental control. Period.
Fuck man, I can even legally give my kids alcohol - I don't see why it's appropriate to enforce what content I allow them to see.And I have absolutely all of the same tools you just discussed today. I can lock devices down just fine.Age verification is a scam to increase corporate/governmental control. Period.
And I have absolutely all of the same tools you just discussed today. I can lock devices down just fine.Age verification is a scam to increase corporate/governmental control. Period.
Age verification is a scam to increase corporate/governmental control. Period.
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- Many parents don't think about restricting their kids' online exposure at all. And I think a larger issue than NSFW is the amount of time kids are spending: 5 hours according to this survey from 2 years ago https://www.apa.org/monitor/2024/04/teen-social-use-mental-h.... Educating parents may be all that is needed to fix this, since most parents care about their kids and restrict them in other ways like junk food- Parents that want to restrict their kids struggle with ineffective parental controls: https://beasthacker.com/til/parental-controls-arent-for-pare.... Optional parental controls would fix this
- Parents that want to restrict their kids struggle with ineffective parental controls: https://beasthacker.com/til/parental-controls-arent-for-pare.... Optional parental controls would fix this
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In the USA it depends on the state. Federal guidelines for alcohol law does suggest exemptions for children drinking under the supervision of their parents, but that's not uniformly adopted. 19 states have no such exceptions, and in many of the remaining 31, restaurants may be banned from allowing alcohol consumption by minors even when their parents are there.
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Another thing: I fundamentally disagree with certain age rarings for kids content. Some explicit violence is rated OK for young audiences, but insert a swear word or a some skin and the age rating is bumped up? This rating system is nonhelp at all. I have to review each bit of content anyway before I can be certain.
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yup we should all be able, to talk to our kids instead of screaming at them.
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More simply: If ID checks are fully anonymous (as many here propose when the topic comes up) then every kid will just have their friends' older sibling ID verify their account one afternoon. Or they'll steal their parents' ID when they're not looking.Discussions about kids and technology on HN are very weird to me these days because so many commenters have seemingly forgotten what it's like to be a kid with technology. Before this current wave of ID check discussions it was common to proudly share stories of evading content controls or restrictions as a kid. Yet once the ID check topic comes up we're supposed to imagine kids will just give up and go with the law? Yeah right.
Discussions about kids and technology on HN are very weird to me these days because so many commenters have seemingly forgotten what it's like to be a kid with technology. Before this current wave of ID check discussions it was common to proudly share stories of evading content controls or restrictions as a kid. Yet once the ID check topic comes up we're supposed to imagine kids will just give up and go with the law? Yeah right.
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This problem probably can't be solved entirely technologically, but technology can definitely be a part of solving it. I'm sure it's possible to make parental controls that most kids can't bypass, because companies can make DRM that most adults can't bypass.
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This is exactly what I meant by my above comment: It's like the pro-ID check commenters have become completely disconnected from how young people work.Someone's 18 year old sibling isn't going to be stopped by “should know better”. They probably disagree with the law on principal and think it's dumb, so they're just helping out.
Someone's 18 year old sibling isn't going to be stopped by “should know better”. They probably disagree with the law on principal and think it's dumb, so they're just helping out.
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But imagine if a locked device was treated like alcohol. Most kids get access to alcohol at some point despite it being illegal, often from older siblings, and rarely with legal consequences for the adult. But it's much less of an issue, because most kids don't get it consistently. Furthermore, "good" kids understand that it's bad, and even some "bad" kids understand that they must limit themselves.
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Since people are already talking about using the law instead of parenting this needs clarification. Are the parents the one that would revoke their privileges or the government?
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Exactly the same way that kids used in former days to get cigarettes or alcohol: simply ask a friend or a sibling.By the way: the owners of the "well-known" beverage shops made their own rules, which were in some sense more strict, but in other ways less strict than the laws:For example some small shop in Germany sold beverages with little alcohol to basically everybody who did not look suspicious, but was insanely strict on selling cigarettes: even if the buyer was sufficiently old (which was in doubt strictly checked), the owner made serious attempts to refuse selling cigarettes if he had the slightest suspicion that the cigarettes were actually bought for some younger person. In other words: if you attempted to buy cigarettes, you were treated like a suspect if the owner knew that you had younger friends (and the owner knew this very well).
By the way: the owners of the "well-known" beverage shops made their own rules, which were in some sense more strict, but in other ways less strict than the laws:For example some small shop in Germany sold beverages with little alcohol to basically everybody who did not look suspicious, but was insanely strict on selling cigarettes: even if the buyer was sufficiently old (which was in doubt strictly checked), the owner made serious attempts to refuse selling cigarettes if he had the slightest suspicion that the cigarettes were actually bought for some younger person. In other words: if you attempted to buy cigarettes, you were treated like a suspect if the owner knew that you had younger friends (and the owner knew this very well).
For example some small shop in Germany sold beverages with little alcohol to basically everybody who did not look suspicious, but was insanely strict on selling cigarettes: even if the buyer was sufficiently old (which was in doubt strictly checked), the owner made serious attempts to refuse selling cigarettes if he had the slightest suspicion that the cigarettes were actually bought for some younger person. In other words: if you attempted to buy cigarettes, you were treated like a suspect if the owner knew that you had younger friends (and the owner knew this very well).
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If we must have controls, I hope the process of circumventing them continues to teach skills that are useful for other things.
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(So you need to keep all your stuff into one device to be fully tracked easily. And have no control over your device, share your location… )
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My kid logs out of this account so he can watch restricted content. I wonder - what is PG rating for logged out experience?
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A government could implement the equivalent of China's great firewall. Even if it doesn't stop everyone, it would stop most people. The main problem I suspect is that it would be widely unpopular in the US or Europe, because (especially younger) people have become addicted to porn and brainrot, and these governments are still democracies.
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Porn is not just political information about human right abuses, government overreach or heavily censored overview of concentration camps for "group X". People can live just fine with government censorship buying into any kind of propaganda.Kids would find a way to access porn though. Whatever it VPNs, tor or USB stick black market. Government cant even win war on drugs and you expect them to successfully ban porn. What a joke.
Kids would find a way to access porn though. Whatever it VPNs, tor or USB stick black market. Government cant even win war on drugs and you expect them to successfully ban porn. What a joke.
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You mean this culture shift is needed for the masses but I don't think that's the case. In my widest social circle I am not aware of anyone giving alcohol to young kids (yes by the time they are 16ish yes but even that's rare). Most guardians would willingly do similar with locked devices.The real problem is that the governments/companies won't get to spy on you if locked devices are given to children only. They want to spy on us all. That's the missing cultural shift.
The real problem is that the governments/companies won't get to spy on you if locked devices are given to children only. They want to spy on us all. That's the missing cultural shift.
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Considering the echo chamber in which I was at school, my friends would have simply used some Raspberry Pi (or a similar device) to circumvent any restriction the parents imposed on the "normal" devices.Oh yes: in my generation pupils- were very knowledgeable in technology (much more than their parents and teachers) - at least the nerds who were actually interested in computers (if they hadn't been knowledgeable, they wouldn't have been capable of running DOS games),- had a lot of time (no internet means lots of time and being very bored),- were willing to invest this time into finding ways to circumvent technological restrictions imposed upon them (e.g. in the school network).
Oh yes: in my generation pupils- were very knowledgeable in technology (much more than their parents and teachers) - at least the nerds who were actually interested in computers (if they hadn't been knowledgeable, they wouldn't have been capable of running DOS games),- had a lot of time (no internet means lots of time and being very bored),- were willing to invest this time into finding ways to circumvent technological restrictions imposed upon them (e.g. in the school network).
- were very knowledgeable in technology (much more than their parents and teachers) - at least the nerds who were actually interested in computers (if they hadn't been knowledgeable, they wouldn't have been capable of running DOS games),- had a lot of time (no internet means lots of time and being very bored),- were willing to invest this time into finding ways to circumvent technological restrictions imposed upon them (e.g. in the school network).
- had a lot of time (no internet means lots of time and being very bored),- were willing to invest this time into finding ways to circumvent technological restrictions imposed upon them (e.g. in the school network).
- were willing to invest this time into finding ways to circumvent technological restrictions imposed upon them (e.g. in the school network).
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Hypothetically, if every kid in your social circle had their device "locked", the adults would probably have a very hard time the kids away from their devices, or just relent, because the kids would be very unhappy. Although maybe with today's knowledge, most people will naturally restrict new kids who've never had unrestricted access, causing a slow culture shift.
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Any parent can be reckless and give their children all kinds of things - poison, weapons, pornographic magazines ... at some point the device has enough protective features and it is the parents responsibility.
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I could not control how my parents were going to raise me, I was only able to play with the hand I was dealt. I hate the idea that parents are sacrosanct and do not share blame in these situations. At the same time, if this is just the family situation you're given and you're handed a device unaware of the implications, who is going to protect you from yourself and others online if your parents won't? Should anyone?
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I think either is better than the staus quo. In the first case the parent is waiving away the protections, and in the second the kid is.Even if a kid buys alcohol, I think it's healthier that they do it by breaking rules and faking ids and knowing that they are doing something wrong, than just doing it and having no way to know it's wrong (except a popup that we have been trained by UX to close without reading (fuck cookie legislation))
Even if a kid buys alcohol, I think it's healthier that they do it by breaking rules and faking ids and knowing that they are doing something wrong, than just doing it and having no way to know it's wrong (except a popup that we have been trained by UX to close without reading (fuck cookie legislation))
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Trying to enforce parental controls via regulation may only be as effective as Europe enforcing the DMA against Apple. But maybe not, because there's a huge market; if Apple XOR Android does it, they'll gain market share. Or governments can try incentive instead of regulation (or both) and fund a phone with better parental controls. Europe wants to launch their own phone; such a feature would make it stand out even among Americans.
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Of course no personal details should be provided to the site that requests age confirmation. Just "barer of this token" is an adult.
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In Poland we have the same setup.
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Ridiculous take.
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We don't disagree on whether it is actually a problem, you just have your opinion about facts.
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We also have no way to actually measure this even if we wanted to do an experiment. So comparing this very soft science to climate change is a bit out of pocket.
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Sorry, WHAT? No way to measure it? My god, are we talking about the same thing? Are you sure you haven't missed past 12-24 months of increased reporting on the matter from several different angles, from cognitive skills, anxiety, sexual drive, and so on?EOT for me.
EOT for me.
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* according to this survey from over 2 years ago: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2024/04/teen-social-use-mental-h...
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To give perspective: in my high school, there were a few kids who vaped in bathrooms, but the majority (including me) did not; we were told many times that it was unhealthy, and anyone caught vaping would be suspended. Everyone I know (including me) had social media, we were not told it was unhealthy (only to not use it too much, not give out PII, avoid bullying, etc.), and it wasn't even policed in some classrooms.
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SOME parents give their children access to their ID. That is NOT the same as ALL parents, and therefore is not a reason not to give those parents a helping hand.Even just informing children that they're entering an adult space has some value, and if they then have to go ask their parents to borrow their wallet, that's good enough for me.
Even just informing children that they're entering an adult space has some value, and if they then have to go ask their parents to borrow their wallet, that's good enough for me.
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I'm sure it will occasionally happen. But kids are terrible at keeping secrets, so they will only have the unlocked device for temporary periods, and I believe infrequent use of the modern internet is much, much less damaging than the constant use we see problems from today. A rough analogy, comparing social media to alcohol: it's as if today kids are suffering from chronic alcoholism, and in the future, kids occasionally get ahold of a six pack.
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The problem of "kids accessing the Internet" is a purposeful distraction from the intent of these laws, which is population-level surveillance and Verified Ad Impressions.
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But laws alone won't fix this, and laws aren't necessary (except maybe a law that prevents kids from buying phones). In the article, the child's devices had parental controls, but they were ineffective. There's demand for a phone with better parental controls, so it will come, and more parents are denying access, so their kids will become less alienated.
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Yup.
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You could, for example, make it illegal to target children with targeted advertising campaigns and addictive content. Then throw the executives who authorized such programs in jail. Punish the people causing the harm.
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Stronger punishment creates more of an incentive to age verify. Which is basically why it's happening now.
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There is a difference between identifying specific children, and running programs that target children more generally; and / or having research that shows how your product harms children, and failing to do anything to stop it. We can tackle both of those issues without requiring age verification. We're headed down the path of age verification because we know now that not only is social media harmful, it's especially harmful to kids, and has been specifically targeted to them. Those are things that can be fixed, regardless of how you feel about age verification. Its not different than tobacco being not allowed to create advertisements for kids; its the same type of people doing the same types of things in the end.
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Gee, I wonder if the executives who are suspected of doing such things haven't spent the last 100 years building the infrastructure necessary to avoid charges, let alone jail time? Large corporate legal departments, wink-wink-nudge-nudge command and control hierarchies where nothing incriminating is ever put into writing, voluminous intra-office communications that bury even the circumstantial evidence so deeply no jury could understand it even if the plaintiffs/state could uncover it, etc.Anyone over the age of 12 that thinks corporate entities can be made to be accountable in a meaningful way is more than naive. They are cognitively defective. Or is it that you realize they can't be held accountable but you'd rather maintain the status quo than contemplate a country which abolished them and enforced that all business was the conducted by sole proprietorships and (small-n) partnerships?
Anyone over the age of 12 that thinks corporate entities can be made to be accountable in a meaningful way is more than naive. They are cognitively defective. Or is it that you realize they can't be held accountable but you'd rather maintain the status quo than contemplate a country which abolished them and enforced that all business was the conducted by sole proprietorships and (small-n) partnerships?
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Give our personal devices have the ability to verify our age and identity securely and store on device like they do our fingerprint or face data.Services that need access only verify it cryptographically. So my iPhone can confirm I'm over 21 for my DoorDash app in the same way it stores my biometric data.The challenge here is the adoption of these encryption services and whether companies can rely on devices for that for compliance without having to cut off service for those without it set up.
Services that need access only verify it cryptographically. So my iPhone can confirm I'm over 21 for my DoorDash app in the same way it stores my biometric data.The challenge here is the adoption of these encryption services and whether companies can rely on devices for that for compliance without having to cut off service for those without it set up.
The challenge here is the adoption of these encryption services and whether companies can rely on devices for that for compliance without having to cut off service for those without it set up.
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It would allow someone with an mDL on their device to present only their age instead of other identifying information.
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The hardware providers already have the information. You only need to make them reveal it to 3rd parties.
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If we fight every and any solution, we may end up with their solution, becauase they build it. We end up in the position of saying "don't use the thing they built" without offering alternatives. I'd rather be saying "use whatbwe built, ita is better."
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The only reasonable way to deal with children on the Internet is to treat Internet access like access to alcohol/drugs. There is no need for children to access the Internet full stop.Internet is a network in which everything can connect to everything, and every connected machine can run clients, servers, p2p nodes and what not. Controlling every possible endpoint your child might connect to is not feasible. Shutting the entire network down because "won't somebody please think of the children" is not acceptable.And, don't let them trick you. This is the endgoal. An unprecedented level of control over the flow of information.
Internet is a network in which everything can connect to everything, and every connected machine can run clients, servers, p2p nodes and what not. Controlling every possible endpoint your child might connect to is not feasible. Shutting the entire network down because "won't somebody please think of the children" is not acceptable.And, don't let them trick you. This is the endgoal. An unprecedented level of control over the flow of information.
And, don't let them trick you. This is the endgoal. An unprecedented level of control over the flow of information.
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This is a false premise already; the company can check the age (or have a third party like iDIN [0] do it), then set a marker "this person is 18+" and "we verified it using this method at this date". That should be enough.[0] https://www.idin.nl/en/
[0] https://www.idin.nl/en/
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and there is nothing I or the few (in terms of power) well-meaning government and corporate actors can do to change that.
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It doesn't have to be perfect and there will of course be easy workarounds to hid the warnings for people that want. The goal is to improve the situation though, not solve it perfectly. Like putting information about the dangers of smoking on packages of smokes; it doesn't stop people from smoking but it does make the danger very easy to learn.
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Better than muddying the waters trying to make it less addictive but then letting them on there when their brains aren't ready.
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Similar to how there is specific channels for children on the TV. Perhaps the government can even incentivize such channels. It would also make it easier for parents to monitor and set boundaries. Parents would only need to monitor if the tv is still tuned to disney channel or similar instead of some adult channels.Similarly this kind of method could be applied to online spaces. Ofcourse there will be some kids that will find ways around it but they will most likely be outliers.
Similarly this kind of method could be applied to online spaces. Ofcourse there will be some kids that will find ways around it but they will most likely be outliers.
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Children shouldn't be associating with other children, except in small groups. Even the typical classroom count is far too large. They become the nastiest, most horrible versions of themselves when they congregate. A good 90% of the pathology of public schools can be blamed on the fact that, by definition, public schools require large numbers of children to congregate.
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This rebuttal to privacy preserving approaches isn't compelling. Websites can split the difference and use privacy preserving techniques when available, and fall back to other methods when the user doesn't have an ID. I'd go further and say websites should be required to prioritize privacy preserving techniques where available.There is a separate issue of improving access to government ID. I think that is important for reasons outside of age verification. Increasingly voting, banking, etc... already relies on having an ID.
There is a separate issue of improving access to government ID. I think that is important for reasons outside of age verification. Increasingly voting, banking, etc... already relies on having an ID.
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In china there are places to scan you device and get coupons. usually at elevators in residential buildings so they can track also if you're arriving or leaving easily.In the US every store tracks and report to ad networks your Bluetooth ids. and we know what happens to ad networks.US now requires cars to report data, which was optional before (e.g. onstar) and china joined on this since the ev boom.the public id space is booming.
In the US every store tracks and report to ad networks your Bluetooth ids. and we know what happens to ad networks.US now requires cars to report data, which was optional before (e.g. onstar) and china joined on this since the ev boom.the public id space is booming.
US now requires cars to report data, which was optional before (e.g. onstar) and china joined on this since the ev boom.the public id space is booming.
the public id space is booming.
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This isn't true, there is no federal requirement for a cellular modem in cars. Most modern cars have one, but nothing prevents you from disabling or removing it. I certainly would not tolerate such a "bug" in by car.> In the US every store tracks and report to ad networks your Bluetooth ids.This also isn't true, modern phones randomize Bluetooth identifiers. I personally disable Bluetooth completely.
> In the US every store tracks and report to ad networks your Bluetooth ids.This also isn't true, modern phones randomize Bluetooth identifiers. I personally disable Bluetooth completely.
This also isn't true, modern phones randomize Bluetooth identifiers. I personally disable Bluetooth completely.
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So there is absolutely no way to change that and give out IDs from the age of 14? You can already get an ID for children in Germany https://www.germany.info/us-de/service/reisepass-und-persona...This is a problem that has to be solved by the government and not by private tech companies.This is a lazy cop out to say "we have tried nothing and we are all out of ideas"
This is a problem that has to be solved by the government and not by private tech companies.This is a lazy cop out to say "we have tried nothing and we are all out of ideas"
This is a lazy cop out to say "we have tried nothing and we are all out of ideas"
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Another example where this plays a role are voter registration and ID requirements for voting in the US. It is entirely bizarre to me how these discussions just accept it as a law of nature that it's expensive and a lot of effort to get an ID. This is something that could be changed.
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(This is a genuine question) please could you describe the underlying problem that age verification is attempting to solve?
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To regulate access to addicting material.
This is done in the physical world - why should digital be lawless when it applies to the same human behaviors?I've been addicted to a lot of digital media parts in harmful ways and I had the luck and support to grow out of most of it. A lot of people are not that lucky.
I've been addicted to a lot of digital media parts in harmful ways and I had the luck and support to grow out of most of it. A lot of people are not that lucky.
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If governments want to require private companies to verify ages, those same governments need to provide accessible ways for their citizens to get verification documents, starting from the same age that is required.
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The latter may not be great, but eating potato chips all day also probably isn't, and I don't think the government should outlaw minors eating potato chips. Plus it's variable: some get positive, educational, pro-social, productive outcomes from social media and some don't. Gambling is always bad in the limit.A simple rule could probably be that if a website can make you lose over $200 of real money, it should probably require age verification. I don't see why other things should.
A simple rule could probably be that if a website can make you lose over $200 of real money, it should probably require age verification. I don't see why other things should.
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The cynic in me says that's not why governments want identity confirmation for gambling websites. It's so you can't dodge the taxman
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You could buy 19 gallons of milk for that money (80 liters).
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There are options that don't involve any ID uploads whatsoever.
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For example, with a German ID you can provide proof that you are older than 18 without giving up any identifying information. I mean, nobody uses this system at the moment, but it does exist and it works.
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If that happened in the US, Republicans would then:1. Insist that non-white children carry ID at all times2. Operationalize DHS and ICE to deport non-white children to foreign concentration camps.
1. Insist that non-white children carry ID at all times2. Operationalize DHS and ICE to deport non-white children to foreign concentration camps.
2. Operationalize DHS and ICE to deport non-white children to foreign concentration camps.
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Now the issue of which properties can "ask to verify your age" and "apple now knows what you're looking at" is still an unsolved problem, but maybe that solution can be delivered by something like a one time offline token etc.But again, this is a very hard problem to solve and I would personally like to not have companies verify age etc.
But again, this is a very hard problem to solve and I would personally like to not have companies verify age etc.
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Many of the worst present on the internet is not age gated at all, you have millions of porn websites without even a "are you over 18" popup. There are plethora of toxic forums...Of course it's a complex problem, but the current approach sacrifice a lot of what made the internet possible and I don't like it.
Of course it's a complex problem, but the current approach sacrifice a lot of what made the internet possible and I don't like it.
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Aside from the privacy concerns, all this age verification tech seems incredibly complicated and expensive.
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A service provider of adult content now cannot serve a child, regardless of the involvement or lack thereof of a parent.
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https://solidproject.org/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/29/internet-...
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/29/internet-...
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https://streamable.com/3tgc14
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Oh, remember those good old times when alcohol was kids' stuff.......
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For age verification specifically, the only information that services need proof of is that the users age is above a certain threshold. i.e. that the user is 14 years or older. But in order to make this determination, we see services asking for government ID (which many 14-year-olds do not have), or for invasive face scans. These methods provide far more data than necessary.What the service needs to "prove" in this case is three things:1. that the user meets the age predicate2. that the identity used to meet the age predicate is validated by some authority3. that the identity is not being reused across many accountsAll the technologies exist for this, we just haven't put them together usefully. Zero knowledge proofs, like Groth16 or STARKs allow for statements about data to be validated externally without revealing the data itself. These are difficult for engineers to use, let alone consumers. Big opportunity for someone to build an authority here.
What the service needs to "prove" in this case is three things:1. that the user meets the age predicate2. that the identity used to meet the age predicate is validated by some authority3. that the identity is not being reused across many accountsAll the technologies exist for this, we just haven't put them together usefully. Zero knowledge proofs, like Groth16 or STARKs allow for statements about data to be validated externally without revealing the data itself. These are difficult for engineers to use, let alone consumers. Big opportunity for someone to build an authority here.
1. that the user meets the age predicate2. that the identity used to meet the age predicate is validated by some authority3. that the identity is not being reused across many accountsAll the technologies exist for this, we just haven't put them together usefully. Zero knowledge proofs, like Groth16 or STARKs allow for statements about data to be validated externally without revealing the data itself. These are difficult for engineers to use, let alone consumers. Big opportunity for someone to build an authority here.
2. that the identity used to meet the age predicate is validated by some authority3. that the identity is not being reused across many accountsAll the technologies exist for this, we just haven't put them together usefully. Zero knowledge proofs, like Groth16 or STARKs allow for statements about data to be validated externally without revealing the data itself. These are difficult for engineers to use, let alone consumers. Big opportunity for someone to build an authority here.
3. that the identity is not being reused across many accountsAll the technologies exist for this, we just haven't put them together usefully. Zero knowledge proofs, like Groth16 or STARKs allow for statements about data to be validated externally without revealing the data itself. These are difficult for engineers to use, let alone consumers. Big opportunity for someone to build an authority here.
All the technologies exist for this, we just haven't put them together usefully. Zero knowledge proofs, like Groth16 or STARKs allow for statements about data to be validated externally without revealing the data itself. These are difficult for engineers to use, let alone consumers. Big opportunity for someone to build an authority here.
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like most proposed solutions, this just seems overcomplicated. we don't need "accessible cryptographic infrastructure for human identity". society has had age-restricted products forever. just piggy-back on that infrastructure.1) government makes a database of valid "over 18" unique identifiers (UUIDs)2) government provides tokens with a unique identifier on it to various stores that already sell age-restricted products (e.g. gas stations, liquor stores)3) people buy a token from the store, only having to show their ID to the store clerk that they already show their ID to for smokes (no peter thiel required)4) website accepts the token and queries the government database and sees "yep, over 18"easy. all the laws are in place already. all the infrastructure is in place. no need for fancy zero-knowledge proofs or on-device whatevers.
1) government makes a database of valid "over 18" unique identifiers (UUIDs)2) government provides tokens with a unique identifier on it to various stores that already sell age-restricted products (e.g. gas stations, liquor stores)3) people buy a token from the store, only having to show their ID to the store clerk that they already show their ID to for smokes (no peter thiel required)4) website accepts the token and queries the government database and sees "yep, over 18"easy. all the laws are in place already. all the infrastructure is in place. no need for fancy zero-knowledge proofs or on-device whatevers.
2) government provides tokens with a unique identifier on it to various stores that already sell age-restricted products (e.g. gas stations, liquor stores)3) people buy a token from the store, only having to show their ID to the store clerk that they already show their ID to for smokes (no peter thiel required)4) website accepts the token and queries the government database and sees "yep, over 18"easy. all the laws are in place already. all the infrastructure is in place. no need for fancy zero-knowledge proofs or on-device whatevers.
3) people buy a token from the store, only having to show their ID to the store clerk that they already show their ID to for smokes (no peter thiel required)4) website accepts the token and queries the government database and sees "yep, over 18"easy. all the laws are in place already. all the infrastructure is in place. no need for fancy zero-knowledge proofs or on-device whatevers.
4) website accepts the token and queries the government database and sees "yep, over 18"easy. all the laws are in place already. all the infrastructure is in place. no need for fancy zero-knowledge proofs or on-device whatevers.
easy. all the laws are in place already. all the infrastructure is in place. no need for fancy zero-knowledge proofs or on-device whatevers.
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to go on tiktok, you enter a UUID once onto your account, and thats it. the only person that sees your id card is the store clerk that glances at the birth date and says "yep, over 18" when you are buying the "age token" or whatever you want to call it. no copies of your id are made, it cant be hacked, theres no electronics involved at all. its just like buying smokes. theres no tie between your id and the "age token" UUID you received.theres no fanciness to it, either. itd be dead simple, low-tech, cheap to implement, quick to roll out. all of the enforcement laws already exist.>Why should I have to share more than required?you shouldnt. having to prove age to use the internet is super dumb. but thats the way the winds are blowing apparently. if im gonna have to prove my age to use the internet, id much rather show my id to the same guy i buy smokes from (and already show my id to) than upload my id to a bunch of random services.
theres no fanciness to it, either. itd be dead simple, low-tech, cheap to implement, quick to roll out. all of the enforcement laws already exist.>Why should I have to share more than required?you shouldnt. having to prove age to use the internet is super dumb. but thats the way the winds are blowing apparently. if im gonna have to prove my age to use the internet, id much rather show my id to the same guy i buy smokes from (and already show my id to) than upload my id to a bunch of random services.
>Why should I have to share more than required?you shouldnt. having to prove age to use the internet is super dumb. but thats the way the winds are blowing apparently. if im gonna have to prove my age to use the internet, id much rather show my id to the same guy i buy smokes from (and already show my id to) than upload my id to a bunch of random services.
you shouldnt. having to prove age to use the internet is super dumb. but thats the way the winds are blowing apparently. if im gonna have to prove my age to use the internet, id much rather show my id to the same guy i buy smokes from (and already show my id to) than upload my id to a bunch of random services.
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Having said that, I think having an "I'm of legal age" tickbox goes quite far enough.For the ultra-controlling, setting up a "kid's account" using the tools already provided in mainstream OS's [0][1] is a fine option.[0]
That's if pre-existing tariff exemptions still apply.
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Following a rabid weekend of tariff rulings and press conferences, the Trump administration has settled on a blanket 15% tariff for basically all goods entering the United States. This has upended global trade as countries look to confirm their final rates, with many of them having previously negotiated different rates - some higher than 15%, some lower. While Bloomberg suggests China is a big winner of the redrawing of tariff percentages, it also threatens to hand companies like TSMC a big win by negatively impacting U.S. chip companies like Nvidia and Intel.
One of the second Trump Administration's main goals has been in what it views as a necessary rebalancing of global trade. A big part of that has been to encourage companies to bring their manufacturing facilities to the United States, particularly high-tech chip manufacturers.
Alongside investing in companies like Intel, the U.S. government has used trade blocks and tariffs to push for companies like TSMC and Micron to open up new manufacturing facilities in America. If they do, they get discounts on their tariff rates. A major part of recent discussions between the U.S. and Taiwan (and particularly TSMC) was in securing a favorable tariff exemption, in exchange for further investment in American manufacturing facilities. The agreed-upon figure was 15%, though the details were scant. However, the prevailing sentiment was that with enough investment, tariffs might disappear entirely for a select few.
TSMC's announcement earlier this month that it could invest a further $100 billion in advanced manufacturing in Arizona was with the idea of taking advantage of a potential zero-tariff loophole. Companies looking to manufacture chips in the U.S. could import up to 2.5 times the manufacturing capacity of planned facilities, and up to 1.5 times the manufacturing capacity once the facility begins production.
In late 2025, TSMC accelerated plans to bring its latest manufacturing facilities to the U.S. as a major show of solidarity with the Trump administration's goals.
That's all been thrown out the window as of this weekend's Supreme Court ruling and subsequent announcements. But if 15% was what Taiwan had gained for its efforts, and now it faces 15% regardless, it may have been given a golden opportunity. It may be able to leverage existing agreements and investment plans to secure a better-than 15% rate for its products, or it could drop them entirely and still likely only face the same 15% maximum tariff rate as everyone else.
And better yet, whichever avenue companies like TSMC go down, they'll have an advantage over American firms doing the same.
The vast majority of the world's most advanced semiconductor manufacturing happens in Taiwan, but the Trump administration has made a major play to bring some of that to U.S. shores, even claiming to want as much as 40% of TSMC's total manufacturing to be based in America in the future — something that TSMC has said is impossible.
But it has secured massive new manufacturing investments from international firms like TSMC, Micron, and others, as well as investing domestically in Intel. It's also thrown up major trade blocks to limit other countries' (particularly China) access to the latest AI accelerators and the equipment used to make leading-edge nodes.
These latest trade tariffs do nothing to help America or American businesses, though. In what is either a continued misunderstanding or a gaslighting attempt by the Trump administration, foreign companies do not pay the tariffs when goods are imported; the importing companies do.
That means for companies looking to import chips from TSMC, they'll have to pay that 15% fee, not TSMC. For companies looking to manufacture chips in America, they're still reliant on key raw materials for chip manufacturing. Broad tariffs raising the cost base for everything imported into America means raising prices on those key materials, in turn making U.S.-based chip manufacturing more expensive for everyone involved.
This comes at a poor time for Intel, which is hoping to bring its cutting-edge facilities online as fast as possible. Its planned Fabs have potential chip complexity and yield advantages over even some of TSMC's best facilities, though they have yet to start production. Increasing the costs of these raw materials and further squeezing supply chains is not ideal for such a venture.
Nothing is clear about these new tariffs, and there's a distinct possibility that they don't apply to semiconductors and electronics, or at least, aren't designed to.
The new tariffs are being brought in as part of Section 122 of the U.S Trade Act of 1974, which gives the executive branch limited and temporary ability to apply tariffs to imported goods. But as the Singaporean Ministry of Trade highlights, some products should be excluded from this Section.
"Certain types of goods are exempted from the Section 122 tariffs, such as energy and energy products, pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients, certain electronics, certain aerospace products and metals used in currency and bullion, amongst others," it said in a statement over the weekend. "In addition, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals are not subject to the Section 122 tariffs, as they may be the subject of Section 232 tariffs that have not yet been imposed."
However, as White Case LLP highlighted in January, the Trump administration has already leveraged Section 232 for 25% tariffs on a limited selection of semiconductors imported into America. Those tariffs could easily be expanded with the legal justification that it's for matters of national security. Trump has previously used similar justifications to limit imports of Steel and Aluminum during his first term.
Although somewhat expected, the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling has thrown the Trump administration into chaos, and it has responded in kind. The new tariffs are sweeping, confusing, and very temporary, at least for now. It throws into question all existing deals, which were less foundationally secure than traditional trade agreements anyway.
In the near term, though, it's looking like some of the greatest beneficiaries of America's further turn inwards towards self-sufficiency may be helping anyone and everyone but America itself.
Jon Martindale is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware. For the past 20 years, he's been writing about PC components, emerging technologies, and the latest software advances. His deep and broad journalistic experience gives him unique insights into the most exciting technology trends of today and tomorrow.
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The Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDM3 has no real flaws, it is a superlative gaming monitor with speedy play and a gorgeous picture to match. It's expensive but if you have the budget, there's nothing better among 32-inch 4K panels.
Stunning image for HDR and SDR
Dolby Vision support
Brighter than many others in SDR mode
BlackShield film improves ambient light management
Super quick with smooth motion and instant response
Premium build quality+
No internal speakers
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Flagship gaming monitors come in many shapes and sizes, so focusing on one category is impractical. But it is generally accepted that the best format for do-it-all displays is a large 16:9 flat panel. 32 inches used to be the realm of the exotic, but now you can find the best gaming monitors for less than $1,300.
On my planet, flagship means OLED, and this world's newest resident is Asus' ROG Swift PG32UCDM3. It's a 32-inch Quantum Dot OLED with 4K resolution, 240 Hz, Adaptive-Sync, ELMB, and wide gamut color. HDR carries a VESA DisplayHDR 500 certification, and in addition to HDR10 support, you get Dolby Vision too. Asus has added a technology called BlackShield that makes the screen's front surface harder and improves perceived black levels. Let's take a look.
Panel Type / Backlight
Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diode (QD-OLED)
Screen Size / Aspect Ratio
32 inches / 16:9
Max Resolution and Refresh Rate
3840x2160 @ 240 Hz
FreeSync and G-Sync Compatible
Native Color Depth and Gamut
10-bit / DCI-P3+
Response Time (GTG)
0.03ms
Brightness
500 nits
Contrast
Unmeasurable
Speakers
None
Video Inputs
1x DisplayPort 2.1a
2x HDMI 2.1, 1x USB-C
Audio
3.5mm headphone output
USB 3.2
1x up, 3x down
Power Consumption
52w, brightness @ 200 nits
Panel Dimensions
WxHxD w/base
28.3 x 20.5-23.8 x 10.9 inches
(719 x 521-605 x 277mm)
Panel Thickness
2.6 inches (66mm)
Bezel Width
Top: 0.3 inch (8mm)
Sides: 0.39 inch(10mm)
Bottom: 0.55 inch (14mm)
Weight
19.2 pounds (8.7kg)
Warranty
3 years
At its core, the PG32UCDM3 is the same tried-and-true 32-inch OLED that has headlined Asus' ROG Swift series in the past. The resolution is 3840x2160, and the maximum refresh rate is 240 Hz. You also get ELMB, which is handy when you connect to a slower video card. To that end, it operates only up to 120 Hz and is effective at reducing motion blur at low frame rates.
If you have the latest GeForce 50-series or Radeon RX 7000, the PG32UCDM3 has a DisplayPort 2.1a input that supports a full 80Gbps bandwidth. It's backward compatible with DP 1.4 and includes Display Stream Compression (DSC). Two HDMI 2.1 inputs also support 3840x2160 at 240 Hz, as does the single USB-C input.
The panel includes a Quantum Dot layer for wide-gamut operation, and in my tests, the PG32UCDM3 covered over 107% of DCI-P3, which is on par with the competition. You also get a spot-on sRGB mode if you prefer that gamut for SDR content. Full calibration controls are provided, though my sample proved nearly perfect out of the box. Each sample receives a factory adjustment, supported by a data sheet stored in the monitor's internal memory.
The other screen layer of interest here is called BlackShield. It adds scratch protection with a higher hardness rating and better manages ambient light, which makes blacks deeper. While any OLED can do this in a dark room, most have a reflective screen that shows bright sources like lamps or sunny windows. Asus' BlackShield mitigates that effect.
Video processing is top-shelf, with G-Sync and FreeSync support across all inputs at 240 Hz. You also get ELMB, which is rare in the OLED genre. It makes the PG32UCDM3 more flexible by allowing it to perform well with slower graphics boards.
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Asus provides its large suite of OLED care options, including logo and perimeter detection, pixel orbiting, and a refresh routine with reminders. A proximity sensor can blank the screen when you leave your desk. There is no concern for burn-in here. Also included is the full array of GamePlus options, including aiming points, sniper modes, timers, a stopwatch, and multiple frame counters. And you get GameVisual with its nine picture modes.
Peripheral features include LED lighting, USB ports, programmable function keys, and Asus' DisplayWidget desktop app, which lets you control the PG32UCDM3 from a PC or Mac desktop. The only thing missing are internal speakers, but you do get a 3.5mm headphone jack.
The PG32UCDM3 carries a flagship-appropriate price of $1,299 at this writing. That isn't low but it is better than what a monitor like this would have cost just a few years ago. For that sum, you're getting a monitor with every available gameplay and image-enhancing technology that is suited for any task, be it work or entertainment.
The PG32UCDM3 arrived in my studio packed in molded pulp with fully recyclable packaging, kudos, Asus. The screen is well protected by a no-friction sleeve and a plastic layer that peels away. The beefy stand assembles with a captive bolt, then the panel snaps on. The ROG pouch is bursting with cables, including IEC power, DisplayPort, HDMI, and two USBs. You also get extra lenses for the ROG logo projector that shows a graphic on your desktop from the bottom of the stand. If you'd rather use a mounting arm, an adapter bracket with 100mm VESA lugs is also in the box.
The PG32UCDM3 maintains the latest ROG aesthetic with a component bulge and the OLED panel attached with its own metal backing. This helps with cooling, which is entirely passive; there are no fans in evidence. The back has multiple backlit elements, including the Lite-Brite ROG logo, the word “Swift” on the moving portion of the upright and the stand's base, which has backlit trim and a logo projector with multiple lens options. The lens is attached with magnets, so it's easy to make a change. All these bits can be controlled from the OSD or turned off if you like.
The front bezel is flush and thin, measuring 8 to 14 millimeters wide. With such a large screen and bright image, you barely notice the frame. A small ROG logo, backlit, of course, protrudes from underneath and indicates where the two buttons and the OSD joystick are. They control all monitor functions. Alternatively, you can use Asus' DisplayWidget Center on the Windows or Mac desktop.
The stand is super solid, with a wide cast-aluminum base that is nearly 11 inches deep. It's slender, though, so you can slide papers under it if you want. The upright swivels on it, just 15 degrees to either side. You also get 5/20 degrees tilt and a 3.3-inch height adjustment. There is no portrait mode.
The input panel is up and under and split between video and USB sections. For video, you get a DisplayPort 2.1a (UHBR20, 80 Gbps), two HDMI 2.1 (up to 3840x2160 @ 240 Hz), and a USB-C port that mimics DP functions and provides 90 W of power. USB 3.2 is supported with one upstream and two downstream ports. For audio, you get a 3.5mm headphone jack; there are no internal speakers.
The PG32UCDM3's OSD is Asus ROG standard with nine sub-menus and signal info across the top and a volume level indicator at the bottom. It's operated solely by the joystick, which gets the job done quickly and efficiently.
Gaming is up first with an Adaptive-Sync toggle, ELMB, GamePlus play aids, GameVisual picture modes and Shadow Boost, which is used to enhance dark area visibility. GamePlus includes aiming points, sniper modes, timers, a stopwatch and display alignment marks. The FPS counter can either be a numeral or a bar graph.
GameVisual has nine picture modes with Racing as the default. It's close to the mark out of the box and matches the calibration data sheet, which is stored in the PG32UCDM3's firmware. If you want sRGB, I recommend selecting that option from the Display Color Space menu rather than using the sRGB Cal Mode. That way, you can still calibrate. Using the full gamut for SDR delivers almost 108% coverage of DCI-P3. The PG32UCDM3 is very colorful.
In the Image menu is a new option I haven't seen before, HDR Format. Yes, the PG32UCDM3 is one of the only gaming monitors available that supports Dolby Vision as well as HDR10. It's found in games like Halo Infinite, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, and Microsoft Flight Simulator. Its advantage over HDR10 is that it supports dynamic metadata, meaning it adapts its white threshold to whatever display it's shown on. HDR10 has a fixed peak, usually 1,000 nits. If a display can't hit 1,000 nits, it has to tone map, basically guess what the intended levels are. Bottom line, Dolby Vision looks better and more consistent from screen to screen. It's ideal for OLEDs, which are not as bright as their Mini LED counterparts. The PG32UCDM3 offers four HDR10 modes, which can be adjusted for brightness and contrast if you like. Console HDR includes a toggle called Dynamic Brightness Boost, which does just what it says: it increases peak highlights to provide more impact.
For color control, you get color space options, color temp presets with RGB sliders, and gamma presets. You can also tweak each color individually for saturation.
OLED Care has many options to prevent burn-in like a screen saver, pixel refresh, pixel orbiter and detection of static logos and perimeter elements. The Neo Proximity Sensor, when activated, blanks the screen if you leave your desk. The PG32UCDM3 has full PIP and PBP options for those who want to view two video sources at once. Auro RGB and Light In Motion are the LED effects for the large ROG logo in the back. It can play in any color with multiple effects, or static if you prefer.
The four joystick directionals can be programmed to quick access functions like GameVisual, GamePlus, input selection and more. In the System Setup menu, you can see the DisplayPort options, ranging from version 1.2 to 2.1. This ensures backwards compatibility with older graphics boards.
The PG32UCDM3 looks and measures well in its Racing picture mode. Calibration is not required, but some small gains are possible by dialing in the RGB sliders in the color temp menu. Gamma tracks on the reference, so no change is needed there. And color conforms to DCI-P3, sRGB or wide gamut, which covers over 107% of DCI-P3. You can also choose between fixed and variable brightness; the option is called Uniform Brightness. When it's off, the SDR peak is just over 500 nits from a 25% window pattern. My settings below reflect both configurations and the monitor will remember the different brightness settings, so you can equalize the two modes.
HDR10 and Dolby Vision signals switch modes automatically. For HDR10, you get four modes and Dolby Vision has three of its own. They can't be calibrated, but you can tweak brightness and contrast for HDR10 if you like.
Picture Mode
Racing
Uniform Brightness
On / Off
Brightness 200 nits
65 / 37
Brightness 120 nits
37 / 21
Brightness 100 nits
31 / 17
Brightness 80 nits
24 / 12
Brightness 50 nits
13 / 6 (min. 14 / 23 nits)
Contrast
80
Gamma
2.2
Color Temp User
Red 97, Green 98, Blue 100
While there are more immersive gaming monitors like big curved ultra-wides, there are none more useful for a wide variety of tasks than a 32-inch 16:9 flat panel like the PG32UCDM3. And it has more height than a 34-inch 21:9 screen, so that's a factor as well. There is nothing it cannot do well.
Gaming was super enjoyable thanks not only to the jumbo image, but the gorgeous contrast and color afforded by Asus' BlackShield tech and the Quantum Dot layer in use. It is about as colorful as you can get for both SDR and HDR. With almost 108% DCI-P3 coverage, it is among the very best. I also noted its accuracy right away. There was no hurry to calibrate, and in fact, I didn't touch anything except the brightness until the testing phase began. I enjoyed lots of fragging before getting down to work.
The PG32UCDM3 responds quickly to control inputs. Though my gaming skills are average at best, I benefit from a high-performance screen when playing. Movements are precise and instantaneous. A 180-degree turn is effortless and consistent, occurring with just a flick of the mouse. I was able to play at a fixed 240fps thanks to a GeForce RTX 4090. DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC provided enough bandwidth to prevent any hesitation in movement. Blur was non-existent as well. I tried out ELMB at 120 Hz and found it completely usable. Users with older video cards will be able to enjoy this monitor at 120fps with the same smoothness I saw at 240.
As for the effect of BlackShield, I had to turn on a few room lights to see its benefit. If you play in a dark or dim space, the PG32UCDM3 looks like every other premium OLED. But with a bright overhead light, its image is a little deeper than a monitor with a typical shiny front layer. I didn't test its extra hardness, but the handling of ambient light is clearly superior to the competition. I won't be surprised to see this tech appear elsewhere.
To check out the Dolby Vision support, I hooked up a Panasonic DP-UB9000 4K Blu-ray player and watched the demo material on Spears and Munsil 4K Benchmark suite. This allowed me to watch the same clips in HDR10 and DV. The difference was subtle but visible. Dolby Vision had more thoroughly rendered highlights which not only exposed more image detail, but it also increased the perception of contrast. Color was equally rich between the two formats, but the extra punch in Dolby Vision's highlights was easy to see.
For the day to day, the PG32UCDM3 is just what I'm used to. My reference screen is a 32-inch UHD OLED, so the Asus made me feel right at home. Windows looks best to my eyes at a font scale value of 150%. That works well with the monitor's 140ppi pixel density. You can see the dots at around eight inches away, but farther than that, and you won't see any jaggies. No edge enhancement or other sharpening aids were required here.
I appreciated the PG32UCDM3's variable brightness feature and the fact that it would remember each brightness setting, so I only had to adjust it once. That way, the peak is equalized between modes. Turning Uniform Brightness off makes video and games look a little more impactful, while turning it on is better for productivity. Not all OLEDs have this flexibility.
Physically, the PG32UCDM3 is premium all the way. It's an expensive monitor and it feels that way. The movements of the stand, the button feel, it's all high-end. You are definitely getting what you're paying for here.
Takeaway: During my time with the PG32UCDM3, I found nothing to complain about besides the lack of internal speakers. This is a nit-pick on my part, but I feel that every monitor should have some kind of audio besides the headphone jack, even if it's just for system sounds. But I loved everything else, especially gaming. This is a superlative gaming screen if you have the graphics horsepower to drive it to 240fps in 4K resolution. I can think of no better choice for a high-end PC or Mac if you need the best possible do-it-all display.
MORE: Best Gaming Monitors
MORE: How We Test PC Monitors
MORE: How to Buy a PC Monitor
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Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is calling in Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to the Pentagon on Tuesday morning to discuss the military use of Claude, according to reporting from Axios.
The meeting comes as the Pentagon threatens to declare Anthropic a “supply chain risk” — a label typically reserved for foreign adversaries — after the AI firm refused to allow the Department of Defense to use its tech for the mass surveillance of Americans and the development of weapons that fire without human involvement.
Anthropic signed a $200 million contract with DOD last summer, and Claude was reportedly used during the January 3 special operations raid that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, an episode that brought the two sides' tensions into the open.
A source told Axios that Hegseth is giving Amodei an ultimatum: play ball or be banished. It's unclear whether he's bluffing — replacing Anthropic would be a significant undertaking. But the stakes are real: A supply chain risk designation would void Anthropic's contract and force other Pentagon partners to drop Claude entirely.
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MSI's limited-edition RTX 5090 Lightning Z launched to great acclaim at CES 2026, with the ultra-powerful GPU breaking overclocking records even before it launched. The company only made 1,300 units of this high-performance graphics card, meaning it will only have limited availability. Its earth-shattering capabilities are only matched by its wallet-shattering $5,090 asking price — but scalpers are seemingly ready and willing to shell out that amount in the hopes of getting an even bigger payday when stock has run out.
We've seen one eBay listing the GPU at nearly GBP 20,000 — that's nearly US$27,000 at current exchange rates. We're unsure if this is a legitimate offer, though, as the seller's profile mostly showed cheaper replacement Ikea parts and a few electronics, mostly priced under US$100. When we checked sold listings for sealed, brand new MSI RTX 5090 Lightning Z GPUs, the price ranged from around $6,700 to a little over $8,800. This is a bit more reasonable, but still at least $1,500 over MSI's price and more than three times the $2,000 MSRP Nvidia set for the RTX 5090 Founders Edition. As it stands, eBay listings for the card range from $6,000 all the way up to nearly $15,000.
Nevertheless, gamers and enthusiasts bent on breaking records will likely pull the trigger on this purchase just for the extra fps that it delivers. According to our review of the MSI RTX 5090 Lightning Z, the GPU performs about 12% faster out of the box than a stock RTX 5090 FE. The gap widened to about 18% when the GPU was manually overclocked, likening its performance to that of a theoretical RTX 5090 Ti.
Those who do not want to do manual tuning but still desire to maximize the Lightning Z's performance can switch to the Extreme vBIOS, allowing it to draw up to 1000 watts — some 200 watts over the stock OC vBIOS. Aside from that, MSI also released a 2,500-watt XOC BIOS exclusively to overclockers to get every bit of GPU performance from the expensive GPU. One overclocker tried to achieve a world record using this BIOS, but they apparently had an earlier version of it, resulting in a crack from the thermal shock delivered by the massive amounts of power. Thankfully, they still have four more samples of this extreme GPU, allowing them to continue working on it and achieve higher benchmark results in the future.
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Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He's been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he's been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.
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VTT is a company that you pay to run tests for you. You bring them a product, tell them what tests you need done, and then they do them with honesty and expensive well calibrated gear. Frequently you also send engineers along with your product to provide on the spot support for the testing. It's very likely it was a Donut engineer who setup the cell, attached the heatsinks, adjusted the connections, etc. This is pretty standard, VTT just runs verified tests, they're not experts on your product. Then they give you an official honest report recapping the tests done and the results.VTT is not an auditor for verifying claims, at least beyond the scope of the test you task them to do. They are a friendly business partner that you pay large amounts of money to for getting you verified tests done on your product.I really cannot stress enough that VTT is not in it to disprove anything. It's incredibly suspect that in a battery capacity test, Donut did not have VTT verify cell weight or dimension. It's also important to understand that VTT would not request to do this either, because VTT just runs the tests you pay them to, as you tell them to do it. So if donut shows up with a different cell for each test, VTT would not skip a beat, because they are not auditing, they are just doing the tests they are paid to do.Normally places like VTT thrive on compliance testing, where a regulation outlays the tests needed to be passed, and VTT provides the service of being the third party to run and sign off on those tests. Those tests are then submitted to the regulating body and they are the ones who pass/fail you, not VTT. They just do tests and collect money.So Donut is writing their own "regulations" here, so they are just having VTT do whatever tests they want as they want them done.The real test would be someone not affliated with donut taking one of these cells to VTT.
VTT is not an auditor for verifying claims, at least beyond the scope of the test you task them to do. They are a friendly business partner that you pay large amounts of money to for getting you verified tests done on your product.I really cannot stress enough that VTT is not in it to disprove anything. It's incredibly suspect that in a battery capacity test, Donut did not have VTT verify cell weight or dimension. It's also important to understand that VTT would not request to do this either, because VTT just runs the tests you pay them to, as you tell them to do it. So if donut shows up with a different cell for each test, VTT would not skip a beat, because they are not auditing, they are just doing the tests they are paid to do.Normally places like VTT thrive on compliance testing, where a regulation outlays the tests needed to be passed, and VTT provides the service of being the third party to run and sign off on those tests. Those tests are then submitted to the regulating body and they are the ones who pass/fail you, not VTT. They just do tests and collect money.So Donut is writing their own "regulations" here, so they are just having VTT do whatever tests they want as they want them done.The real test would be someone not affliated with donut taking one of these cells to VTT.
I really cannot stress enough that VTT is not in it to disprove anything. It's incredibly suspect that in a battery capacity test, Donut did not have VTT verify cell weight or dimension. It's also important to understand that VTT would not request to do this either, because VTT just runs the tests you pay them to, as you tell them to do it. So if donut shows up with a different cell for each test, VTT would not skip a beat, because they are not auditing, they are just doing the tests they are paid to do.Normally places like VTT thrive on compliance testing, where a regulation outlays the tests needed to be passed, and VTT provides the service of being the third party to run and sign off on those tests. Those tests are then submitted to the regulating body and they are the ones who pass/fail you, not VTT. They just do tests and collect money.So Donut is writing their own "regulations" here, so they are just having VTT do whatever tests they want as they want them done.The real test would be someone not affliated with donut taking one of these cells to VTT.
Normally places like VTT thrive on compliance testing, where a regulation outlays the tests needed to be passed, and VTT provides the service of being the third party to run and sign off on those tests. Those tests are then submitted to the regulating body and they are the ones who pass/fail you, not VTT. They just do tests and collect money.So Donut is writing their own "regulations" here, so they are just having VTT do whatever tests they want as they want them done.The real test would be someone not affliated with donut taking one of these cells to VTT.
So Donut is writing their own "regulations" here, so they are just having VTT do whatever tests they want as they want them done.The real test would be someone not affliated with donut taking one of these cells to VTT.
The real test would be someone not affliated with donut taking one of these cells to VTT.
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They would probably say this is because it's not a "battery capacity test" but a "charge performance test"But I agree, when they eventually do have VTT perform a capacity test, how can we be sure that it's the same cell from the charge performance test?
But I agree, when they eventually do have VTT perform a capacity test, how can we be sure that it's the same cell from the charge performance test?
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Like, EEStor or Nikola with big claims, timelines pushed years out, raise a ton of money, delay forever. Donut announced at CES and said bikes ship Q1 2026 which is weeks from now. They've raised ~€25M total (QuantumScape has burned through $1.5B+). And apparently they're not doing a big fundraise right now either.If it's a scam it seems like a really bad strategy? You're basically setting a timer on your own credibility.I've been reading around and the thing I keep landing on is the Nordic Nano connection. They're a Finnish nanotech company Donut invested in, and they published specs for a "bipolar electrostatic capacitor" with basically identical numbers - 400 Wh/kg, 100k cycles, fireproof. Does anyone with more battery knowledge know if this could be some kind of supercapacitor hybrid being marketed as a solid-state battery? The VTT report confirms fast charging works but doesn't say anything about energy density, cycle life, or what this thing actually is.Seems like the energy density and cycle life reports (supposedly coming in the next few weeks) are going to be way more interesting than this one.
If it's a scam it seems like a really bad strategy? You're basically setting a timer on your own credibility.I've been reading around and the thing I keep landing on is the Nordic Nano connection. They're a Finnish nanotech company Donut invested in, and they published specs for a "bipolar electrostatic capacitor" with basically identical numbers - 400 Wh/kg, 100k cycles, fireproof. Does anyone with more battery knowledge know if this could be some kind of supercapacitor hybrid being marketed as a solid-state battery? The VTT report confirms fast charging works but doesn't say anything about energy density, cycle life, or what this thing actually is.Seems like the energy density and cycle life reports (supposedly coming in the next few weeks) are going to be way more interesting than this one.
I've been reading around and the thing I keep landing on is the Nordic Nano connection. They're a Finnish nanotech company Donut invested in, and they published specs for a "bipolar electrostatic capacitor" with basically identical numbers - 400 Wh/kg, 100k cycles, fireproof. Does anyone with more battery knowledge know if this could be some kind of supercapacitor hybrid being marketed as a solid-state battery? The VTT report confirms fast charging works but doesn't say anything about energy density, cycle life, or what this thing actually is.Seems like the energy density and cycle life reports (supposedly coming in the next few weeks) are going to be way more interesting than this one.
Seems like the energy density and cycle life reports (supposedly coming in the next few weeks) are going to be way more interesting than this one.
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Don't forget that a lot of scams aren't initially on purpose. Eg Theranos by all accounts very gradually morphed from a mild "fake it till you make it" scheme (mild by Silicon Valley standards at least) into a full-blown scam over years of growth and funding, the lies needing to be deeper and deeper over time to cover up the earlier ones.I guess all I'm trying to say is the fact that it's a bad strategy for a scam, doesn't really mean it's not a scam.Those Verge motorcycles appear to actually exist and work though, so that's a data point in favour of this being real.
I guess all I'm trying to say is the fact that it's a bad strategy for a scam, doesn't really mean it's not a scam.Those Verge motorcycles appear to actually exist and work though, so that's a data point in favour of this being real.
Those Verge motorcycles appear to actually exist and work though, so that's a data point in favour of this being real.
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Yes, I want this too good to be true battery to be real and that's why I'm looking into such things but this claim is false.He apparently launched "Artificially Superintelligence", which appears to be a marketing term for some architecture this company was working on. The "AGI" term seems to come from people who are going after this CEO.I wasn't able to come up with people who claim that they were actually scammed, i.e. paid for a product that wasn't delivered or made an investment into something that doesn't exist.This appears to be a much cleaner slate than the titans of AI. I'm inclined to believe that those alleged scams are not scams by SV standard.
He apparently launched "Artificially Superintelligence", which appears to be a marketing term for some architecture this company was working on. The "AGI" term seems to come from people who are going after this CEO.I wasn't able to come up with people who claim that they were actually scammed, i.e. paid for a product that wasn't delivered or made an investment into something that doesn't exist.This appears to be a much cleaner slate than the titans of AI. I'm inclined to believe that those alleged scams are not scams by SV standard.
I wasn't able to come up with people who claim that they were actually scammed, i.e. paid for a product that wasn't delivered or made an investment into something that doesn't exist.This appears to be a much cleaner slate than the titans of AI. I'm inclined to believe that those alleged scams are not scams by SV standard.
This appears to be a much cleaner slate than the titans of AI. I'm inclined to believe that those alleged scams are not scams by SV standard.
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The founders have sketchy track records. They do a carefully managed social media build-up. There are credible rumors that they've been simultaneously raising money by cold-calling moderately wealthy people around the country. (Finland has extremely little oversight for private fundraising; you can basically sell shares in your zero-revenue startup to grandma next door — as long as you're careful about wording your claims as “projections”.)So lots of red flags. Everyone would love it to be real of course because it's been a long since Finland's tech scene had a global hit like Nokia and Supercell… And perhaps the Donut founders are counting on that mood.
So lots of red flags. Everyone would love it to be real of course because it's been a long since Finland's tech scene had a global hit like Nokia and Supercell… And perhaps the Donut founders are counting on that mood.
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https://yle.fi/a/74-20205916 (article in Finnish)"According to the auditor's report, no opinion was given on the company's financial statements because sufficient audit evidence was not available."The company claims to have a couple million in inventory but no system saying anything about what is in their inventory, 300k in revenue in Finland without any papertrail of it actually happening, 2.5 million in R&D without any explanation/papertrail on what it was spent on (salaries? materials? machines?), etc.Also the company has taken really expensive loans from family members of the leadership (12% interest which is way over the market rate).
"According to the auditor's report, no opinion was given on the company's financial statements because sufficient audit evidence was not available."The company claims to have a couple million in inventory but no system saying anything about what is in their inventory, 300k in revenue in Finland without any papertrail of it actually happening, 2.5 million in R&D without any explanation/papertrail on what it was spent on (salaries? materials? machines?), etc.Also the company has taken really expensive loans from family members of the leadership (12% interest which is way over the market rate).
The company claims to have a couple million in inventory but no system saying anything about what is in their inventory, 300k in revenue in Finland without any papertrail of it actually happening, 2.5 million in R&D without any explanation/papertrail on what it was spent on (salaries? materials? machines?), etc.Also the company has taken really expensive loans from family members of the leadership (12% interest which is way over the market rate).
Also the company has taken really expensive loans from family members of the leadership (12% interest which is way over the market rate).
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Has no one bought one and torn it open yet?
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> “The first customer deliveries will probably take place in April. There are production-related issues, getting subcontractors involved. Starting production. A lot depends on the goods and officials.”Translated from: https://web.archive.org/web/20260204130446/https://www.kaupp...
Translated from: https://web.archive.org/web/20260204130446/https://www.kaupp...
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All of current existing Verge motorcycles have a "traditional" lithium ion ~20kWh battery pack[0], very much on par with competition in all specs. They do exist and a few indeed appear to be in owners' hands (according to Facebook Verge fangroup posts and pics), and they can be test ridden. One of their showrooms is in Valley Fair in San Jose, CA. I have tested one of them. It feels and seems to perform well, as advertized and as physics allow, despite the hubless engine and skepticism around that. However, the test ride was ~30 minutes and there's so few of those bikes out there, that there's virtually no data on longevity.What currently does not exist is a Verge motorcycle with the battery that they claim to be testing here. They have announced that all their offerings will feature their solid state battery later this year, increasing the energy capacity to ~30kWh. That remains to be seen.[0] https://web.archive.org/web/20260223173926/https://www.verge...
What currently does not exist is a Verge motorcycle with the battery that they claim to be testing here. They have announced that all their offerings will feature their solid state battery later this year, increasing the energy capacity to ~30kWh. That remains to be seen.[0] https://web.archive.org/web/20260223173926/https://www.verge...
[0] https://web.archive.org/web/20260223173926/https://www.verge...
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He's been a busy beaver!
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Was this AI proven to be any more fake Than Sam Altman, Elon Musk or Dario Amodei's one? Did he took similar level of money and delivered less than the promised?What's the scam exactly? They don't seem to claim AGI anyway, they say Artificial Super intelligence which is like every AI company claim.You seem to be on a mission against this CEO, maybe you can clarify a bit more about the scams you believe he is committing?
What's the scam exactly? They don't seem to claim AGI anyway, they say Artificial Super intelligence which is like every AI company claim.You seem to be on a mission against this CEO, maybe you can clarify a bit more about the scams you believe he is committing?
You seem to be on a mission against this CEO, maybe you can clarify a bit more about the scams you believe he is committing?
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The people listed on this report appear to be on LinkedIn, so I guess it will be easy to confirm if the test document is authentic.The announcement of the test: https://youtu.be/d2QU_LpkSPsHopefully, soon we will find out if this seemingly "too good to be true" is a revolution or something else.
The announcement of the test: https://youtu.be/d2QU_LpkSPsHopefully, soon we will find out if this seemingly "too good to be true" is a revolution or something else.
Hopefully, soon we will find out if this seemingly "too good to be true" is a revolution or something else.
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It is a govenrment owned non-profit company.As one of its services it will independently verify your product/invention/whatever works as claimed (for a bunch of money).https://www.vttresearch.com/en
As one of its services it will independently verify your product/invention/whatever works as claimed (for a bunch of money).https://www.vttresearch.com/en
https://www.vttresearch.com/en
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VTT appear to be a solid institution, so we will find out soon I guess.
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That's the same link. Is there a way to attest that this is an official VTT report?
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Considering the amount of publicity this thing gets, VTT or the person will publicly refute it pretty soon if it's a fake.
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I'm confident the document and tests are real, but other shenanigans are still possible (and likely IMO).
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edit: https://www.vttresearch.com/en/news-and-ideas/donut-lab-comm...
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VTT would be more like "National Institute of Scientific Research"
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He has an e-mail address and a phone number, I doubt that if the report is falsified it won't come out.
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Promising the moon and stars just like with Donut.Donut Labs also had a video presentation of some kind of automotive design software that also sounded too good to be true.This guy is a serial scammer.
Donut Labs also had a video presentation of some kind of automotive design software that also sounded too good to be true.This guy is a serial scammer.
This guy is a serial scammer.
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I think i will judge the battery and the magical AGI separately. The guy also sells magical motors that appear to be real with people riding motorbikes with those motors.
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BTW, the people who conducted the test appear to be on LinkedIn. I guess its pretty easy to confirm if the test on the company site is authentic.
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Actually, there are a bunch of other variables (energy density, stability, discharge current, etc. etc.), so the probability of a technology that improves one significantly without negatively affecting at least one other is vanishingly small. Hence the number of overhyped battery technologies that get reported but never productised.
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Specs 26 Ah nominal capacity at 1C discharge rate
94 Wh nominal energy with 3.6V nominal voltage
Operates within 2.7V – 4.15V recommended range (max charging to 4.3V)
What was verified 5C charging (130A): 0-80% in ~9.5 minutes, 0-100% in ~13.5 minutes
11C charging (286A): 0-80% in ~4.9 minutes, 0-100% in ~7.3 minutes
Successfully delivered 98.4-99.6% of charged capacity even after extreme 11C charging
Thermal Management Tested with both one-sided and two-sided heat sinks to simulate real-world conditions
With dual heat sinks: Peak temps of 47°C (5C) and 63°C (11C) — well within safe limits
With single heat sink: Reached 61.5°C (5C) and up to 89°C (11C) — still functional but approaching thermal limit
Missing claims Energy density: No weight and volume was mentioned
Cycle life: VTT ran only 7 test cycles total.
Cost Claims: Nothing about cost is mentioned
Material Claims: No chemical analysis or materials analysis.
Extreme Temperature Performance: No cold weather testing. No high-temperature testing.
No abuse testing: No nail penetration, no overcharge, no short-circuit, no crush tests.
But according to the company website another report will drop next monday (March 2nd).
26 Ah nominal capacity at 1C discharge rate
94 Wh nominal energy with 3.6V nominal voltage
Operates within 2.7V – 4.15V recommended range (max charging to 4.3V)
What was verified 5C charging (130A): 0-80% in ~9.5 minutes, 0-100% in ~13.5 minutes
11C charging (286A): 0-80% in ~4.9 minutes, 0-100% in ~7.3 minutes
Successfully delivered 98.4-99.6% of charged capacity even after extreme 11C charging
Thermal Management Tested with both one-sided and two-sided heat sinks to simulate real-world conditions
With dual heat sinks: Peak temps of 47°C (5C) and 63°C (11C) — well within safe limits
With single heat sink: Reached 61.5°C (5C) and up to 89°C (11C) — still functional but approaching thermal limit
Missing claims Energy density: No weight and volume was mentioned
Cycle life: VTT ran only 7 test cycles total.
Cost Claims: Nothing about cost is mentioned
Material Claims: No chemical analysis or materials analysis.
Extreme Temperature Performance: No cold weather testing. No high-temperature testing.
No abuse testing: No nail penetration, no overcharge, no short-circuit, no crush tests.
But according to the company website another report will drop next monday (March 2nd).
5C charging (130A): 0-80% in ~9.5 minutes, 0-100% in ~13.5 minutes
11C charging (286A): 0-80% in ~4.9 minutes, 0-100% in ~7.3 minutes
Successfully delivered 98.4-99.6% of charged capacity even after extreme 11C charging
Thermal Management Tested with both one-sided and two-sided heat sinks to simulate real-world conditions
With dual heat sinks: Peak temps of 47°C (5C) and 63°C (11C) — well within safe limits
With single heat sink: Reached 61.5°C (5C) and up to 89°C (11C) — still functional but approaching thermal limit
Missing claims Energy density: No weight and volume was mentioned
Cycle life: VTT ran only 7 test cycles total.
Cost Claims: Nothing about cost is mentioned
Material Claims: No chemical analysis or materials analysis.
Extreme Temperature Performance: No cold weather testing. No high-temperature testing.
No abuse testing: No nail penetration, no overcharge, no short-circuit, no crush tests.
But according to the company website another report will drop next monday (March 2nd).
Tested with both one-sided and two-sided heat sinks to simulate real-world conditions
With dual heat sinks: Peak temps of 47°C (5C) and 63°C (11C) — well within safe limits
With single heat sink: Reached 61.5°C (5C) and up to 89°C (11C) — still functional but approaching thermal limit
Missing claims Energy density: No weight and volume was mentioned
Cycle life: VTT ran only 7 test cycles total.
Cost Claims: Nothing about cost is mentioned
Material Claims: No chemical analysis or materials analysis.
Extreme Temperature Performance: No cold weather testing. No high-temperature testing.
No abuse testing: No nail penetration, no overcharge, no short-circuit, no crush tests.
But according to the company website another report will drop next monday (March 2nd).
Energy density: No weight and volume was mentioned
Cycle life: VTT ran only 7 test cycles total.
Cost Claims: Nothing about cost is mentioned
Material Claims: No chemical analysis or materials analysis.
Extreme Temperature Performance: No cold weather testing. No high-temperature testing.
No abuse testing: No nail penetration, no overcharge, no short-circuit, no crush tests.
But according to the company website another report will drop next monday (March 2nd).
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Edit: Reading the report, they talk about “charge capacity” (Amp hours in/out) efficiency of 98.4% to 99.6%, but this seems potentially misleading. The actual charge energy efficiency is more like 90%.> Successfully delivered 98.4-99.6% of charged capacity even after extreme 11C chargingNote the Wh numbers for discharge vs. charge energy.> Discharge capacity Charge capacity Discharge energy Charge energy> Cycle 1 26.109 Ah 26.159 Ah 91.021 Wh 100.793 Wh
> Successfully delivered 98.4-99.6% of charged capacity even after extreme 11C chargingNote the Wh numbers for discharge vs. charge energy.> Discharge capacity Charge capacity Discharge energy Charge energy> Cycle 1 26.109 Ah 26.159 Ah 91.021 Wh 100.793 Wh
Note the Wh numbers for discharge vs. charge energy.> Discharge capacity Charge capacity Discharge energy Charge energy> Cycle 1 26.109 Ah 26.159 Ah 91.021 Wh 100.793 Wh
> Discharge capacity Charge capacity Discharge energy Charge energy> Cycle 1 26.109 Ah 26.159 Ah 91.021 Wh 100.793 Wh
> Cycle 1 26.109 Ah 26.159 Ah 91.021 Wh 100.793 Wh
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The energy density isn't out of line if this is a true solid state battery. The cycle life, though, is AFAIK. I don't believe solid states have that sort of cycle life.
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BYD needs to be heavily liquid cooled/thermally managed to achieve that. The Donut battery only had metal heat sink on two or even one side - and its performance was even higher at high temperatures. LFP doesn't behave like that, I think?
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New generations of cells that improve energy density usually start out more expensive than existing chemistries, so they show up at the high end of the market first and work their way down.If we do get truly improved solid-state batteries available in EVs in the next 5 years, it will likely start at the high end of the market and work its way down over many years to cheaper segments as production capacity ramps up. The base model EVs aren't going to suddenly have their batteries swapped out with ones that are twice as good for the same price.
If we do get truly improved solid-state batteries available in EVs in the next 5 years, it will likely start at the high end of the market and work its way down over many years to cheaper segments as production capacity ramps up. The base model EVs aren't going to suddenly have their batteries swapped out with ones that are twice as good for the same price.
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Personally I bought my new laptop a month ago. Let's hope when I have to buy the next one this craziness will be history.
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> This project included independent charging performance tests on the energy storage devices supplied by the customer, which the customer identified as solid-state battery cells.> which the customer identified as solid-state battery cells.
> which the customer identified as solid-state battery cells.
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The best of a bad situation
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If you're trying to defy the AI price crunch and get hold of a large amount of storage for backups, archiving, and more, then this Seagate Expansion drive could be for you. Right now at B&H Photo, you can secure 20TB of Seagate storage in a USB 3.0 External Hard Drive for $319, a saving of $30 and just $11 per TB.
Of course, a few months ago, this storage would have been a good deal cheaper. In December, we saw the 22TB version of this drive fall to an all-time low of $249.99. So this is slightly less storage and nowhere near as cheap. However, in a climate where AI demand is squeezing the price of RAM, SSDs, and even HDDs, this is a rare discount that gets you a lot of storage for just $11 per terabyte
Beat the crunch
A large desktop storage solution that requires USB connectivity and a power supply, this is formatted for both Mac and Windows and is useful for backing up huge amounts of data, or storing vast archives.
This isn't a nifty SSD drive, so alongside USB connectivity, you'll need a power outlet close by. The size of the Seagate Expansion range isn't monstrous, weighing just 2.64 pounds and measuring 1.65 x 7.04 x 4.92 inches.
Out of the box, this will work with Windows and Mac, and includes an 18-inch USB 3.0 cable as well as an 18W power adapter.
As mentioned, storage is not as cheap as it used to be. Back in January, we reported that hard drive prices had surged by an average of 46% since September, and the trends are still only moving in one direction. In fact, one desperate UK resident recently flew to the United States because it was cheaper to buy drives abroad, combined with the cost of travel, than to pick them up at home.
It's safe to say that things are getting a bit wild out there. But with SSDs now costing a whopping 16x more than HDDs thanks to AI, large external hard drives still make for a decent value play, even at today's inflated prices. $11 per terabyte is the best storage we've seen in some time, and this deal is likely to sell out fast.
If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.
Stephen is Tom's Hardware's News Editor with almost a decade of industry experience covering technology, having worked at TechRadar, iMore, and even Apple over the years. He has covered the world of consumer tech from nearly every angle, including supply chain rumors, patents, and litigation, and more. When he's not at work, he loves reading about history and playing video games.
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Reading time 8 minutes
No matter what the gadget skeptics say, there is still room for innovation in PC peripherals. Case in point: the humble mouse.
Most mice have honed in on the same kinds of sensors, the same kinds of ergonomics, and the same kinds of click mechanisms. Logitech's $180 G Pro X2 Superstrike is here to upset the status quo. Even as a first-gen product, the G Pro X2 Superstrike may already be the best mouse for the most hardcore gamers, even with its “fake click.”
Somehow, the technology behind the G Pro X2 Superstrike came as a surprise for some PC gamers. Instead of the traditional mechanical or optical mouse click switches, the G Pro X2 Superstrike uses magnetic fields to register when you hit either of its mouse buttons to a specified depth. Instead of the stock standard “click” sensation, the mouse uses customizable haptics to offer a simulacrum of the feedback users expect from their mainstay PC controls.
Logitech G Pro X2 Superstrike
Logitech is pioneering a new age of gaming mouse design, though its first version of a haptic "click" is already one of the best mice around.
Pros
Cons
Most gaming controls have been moving towards magnetic-field controls for years. Modern high-end video game controllers use of Hall effect thumbsticks and triggers, which makes them more durable than older, physical sticks and switches. Many of the most popular keyboards available today are using magnetic switches instead of traditional mechanical switches. This allows users to manually set the actuation point—namely, the depth at which the PC registers an input. This same technology is found inside the G Pro X2 Superstrike, which means this mouse is—supposedly—more durable and far more customizable. And even if that sounds like a lot of extra work, Logitech's G Hub app makes it relatively simple to set your preferred click for the type of games you play.
The G Pro X2 Superstrike feels like no other mouse I have ever used. Instead of a “click,” each press of the left mouse button feels and sounds like a “thwomp.” It's more subtle than any other mouse with an optical switch, and that may make it more appealing. With its baseline 8,000Hz polling rate in wireless mode and an adjustable DPI (dots per inch, which measures how fast your mouse can be) between 100 and 44,000, it already hits the bar it needs to for esports-level gaming. Ignoring all the nitty gritty details, the fake click is the reason you're here, and the fake click is the reason you'll stay.
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When you can manually set the depth to register an input, that means you can trigger the input at a rapid pace. The G Pro X2 Superstrike sports an optional “Rapid Trigger,” enabling ultra-fast clicks. It's that fact alone that has caused a small amount of controversy in PC gaming circles. One G Pro X2 Superstrike user claimed the mouse triggered a ban in Apex Legends for “cheating.” The user later said the company overruled the banhammer. Whether he's telling the truth or not, the rapid-click capability has allowed one player to reportedly set a record for most mouse clicks in a minute. Yiğit “Yigox” Arslan managed to click 760 times in a minute, or around 12 clicks per second, which the Guinness Book of World Records effectively confirmed in a comment on a LinkedIn Post.
Does that ultra-fast click enhance your ability to better match skilled opponents in games like Valorant or Counter-Strike 2? Actually, yes—depending on how you play. With the right kind of haptic feedback, DPI , and rapid-click tuned to my liking, I found that I was able to snap off single shots at a rapid pace with my AK in Counter-Strike. I'm nowhere near a “pro” player in that game, but after I got used to the G Pro X2 Superstrike and incorporated its features into my playstyle, I could feel I was getting better. Suddenly, my K/D wasn't in the gutter. I was actually aiding my team even though I'm not nearly as good at clicking on heads as some other kings of Counter-Strike 2.
Logitech's G Hub software offers a bevy of fine-tuning features for the G Pro X2 Superstrike. You can assign various commands and macros to each of the five buttons and set your preferred DPI. The mouse comes with 11 preset sensitivities with various DPI and default polling rate settings. There's even a setting for splitting the X and Y axes for different speeds when moving the cursor vertically or horizontally across the screen.
That's all well and good, but the real nugget of customization is found under the “HITS” tab inside G Hub. HITS stands for “Haptic Inductive Trigger System,” though all you need to know is that you can set the actuation point for left and right mouse buttons and change the mouse's haptic settings. I found my sweet spot was setting the haptics almost as high as they could go with a slightly more shallow than default actuation. Enabling the “Rapid Trigger” function changes the reset point on the mouse to make clicks even faster. Even then, I didn't find I was generating any accidental inputs even with my finger lying on the proverbial trigger.
What's interesting about this haptic mouse click is how it will remain working even with the 2.4GHz “Hero 2” dongle unplugged. As soon as you turn off the mouse, the click sensation ceases to exist. I know what you may be wondering. Is this mouse cheating? No, not really. This technology has been around long enough that it was only a matter of time somebody put a magnetic sensor in a mouse. Back in 1999, Razer's original Boomslang mouse (not the $1,337 Boomslang revival) caused controversy for its higher-than-normal DPI at gaming tournaments, at least according to Razer. Now, high DPI and polling rates are well-established standards. Just because you have a unique mouse doesn't mean you'll be better than everybody else who is also trying to line up headshots.
There are already a mountain of quality gaming mice available for all folks of all strokes. Before the G Pro X2 Superstrike came along, the $170 Razer DeathAdder V4 Pro was my go-to gaming mouse. Not only was it just the right scale and ergonomics for my hand, but its latest-gen optical switches and low-latency connectivity gave it the slightest edge compared to other similarly weighted PC controls.
Going several rounds in a variety of FPS and RTS games, I could tell that the G Pro X2 Superstrike was modifying my gameplay to a surprising degree, though more so in a twitch-based shooter like Counter-Strike 2. It was also surprisingly deft in single-player titles that demand a hell of a lot of clicks. Playing Hades II with a mouse and keyboard isn't my forte, but I preferred the rapid spam of button presses I could achieve with the G Pro X2 Superstrike compared to other mice.
I went as far as to conduct multiple rounds of tests comparing my click rate between Razer's and Logitech's top-end gaming mice. With the DeathAdder V4 Pro and its newfangled optical click sensors, my top score was 179 clicks in 30 seconds and a 5.97 clicks per second ratio. With the G Pro X2 Superstrike set to the fastest click settings possible, I managed to top off at 188 clicks per second in the same time and a 6.27 clicks per second ratio. Such a marginal difference won't actually change my gameplay. The main distinction is that the smooth action of Logitech's magnetic mouse button catapulted me into the next click. When rapidly clicking on an optical sensor like Razer's, my finger tends to seize up, leading to the occasional misclick.
Either way, I'll never be as good as Yigox (and I don't actually want to be). The similarly priced DeathAdder V4 Pro still has an advantage with connectivity. Its “hemispherical dongle” will let you know by the lights on the side how strong your connection to the mouse is. It will also notify you of when your mouse's battery runs low. The DeathAdder V4 Pro's dongle is a nice accoutrement to a sedentary gaming setup. Logitech's G Pro X2 Superstrike is only slightly easier to transport.
For the $180 you spend on the Pro X2 Superstrike, you're essentially buying a Logitech Pro X Superlight 2 with a unique click sensor and few other standout hardware features. Its size and shape don't offer my preferred form of ergonomics. However, this gaming mouse is still worth consideration beyond the desire to be on the cutting edge. Once I was used to the “fake click,” I wasn't sure I wanted to return to the more traditional optical mouse. I just wish it didn't look so goofy.
The G Pro X2 Superstrike includes two side buttons (regular switches) on the left side and the usual scroll wheel (again, a typical sensor and click-in switch). It only weighs 61g, or 2.15 ounces. That's not the lightest available. A HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2 Mini clocks in at 59g. A Razer Blackadder V4 Pro weighs 56g. I know there are esports pros who will swear they can feel the difference, but most users couldn't possibly measure grams of weight in their palm, like they were some gamer-fueled rendition of “The Princess and the Pea” fable.
I would have preferred if the mouse were less symmetrical. My wrist tends to ride on the desktop when using the G Pro X2 Superstrike. Lefties will have a better time with this mouse than others, though they still won't have access to the two side buttons unless they claw their hand further back onto the mouse hump. The skates on the bottom of the G Pro X2 Superstrike feel smooth on both my desktop and the Razer Firefly mousepad I have at home. Some more particular gamers may demand something even floatier.
What I can't forgive is the overall look of this mouse. It would appear fine with only the black and white accents and the Logitech “G” logo on the back. The extra “Pro X2,” “Superstrike X2,” and “X2” text stenciled on the mouse clicks and sides are overkill and make the entire device seem tacky. It's not as if I'll be paying much attention to mouse aesthetics when in-game. Then again, merely leaving it on my desk in between rounds of Counter-Strike would have me wishing I could stuff it away behind a curtain in case anybody comes too close to judge. And that's coming from somebody who unapologetically loves RGB lights in any and all gaming products.
The G Pro X2 Superstrike is no slouch in the battery department, either. Logitech claims the gaming mouse can get 90 hours of active playtime before you need to plug it in. That number will likely vary based on what haptic and DPI settings you choose. I played roughly 10 hours of gaming with this mouse and lost around 10% of its battery in that time. Razer's DeathAdder V4 Pro claims to get 150 hours. I personally find specs like this negligible unless you plan to take these mice on the road and there's no single plug or USB-C cable in sight.
There is a meaningful advantage you can get from gaming-specific hardware. However, it's less about having an upper hand than it is about raising the ceiling for your own capabilities. I can play a fast-paced first-person shooter at 60 fps and play just about as well as I would at 120 fps or even twice that. I'm a filthy casual, and I'm proud of that fact. That 240Hz monitor on my desk doesn't naturally grant me some preternatural ability to achieve good positioning in Overwatch. If I want to “git gud,” I still need to put in the work.
A gaming headset like the Razer Blackshark V3 Pro, whose drivers and equalization (EQ) settings are tuned for hearing other players' footsteps and gunshots, will naturally enable better play. It doesn't change your skill level and the same can be said about the Logitech G Pro X2 Superstrike. If it modifies how you play, it will be to a minimal degree compared to most other high-end gaming mice available. However, it is the kind of mouse that's worth getting used to. I can already tell this design will become the next big thing that every other company will eventually copy. Somebody will eventually need to come along and change mice before they get stale once more. Until then, I'm happy with the slick—gaudy-looking—G Pro X2 Superstrike on my desk.
See Logitech G Pro X2 Superstrike at Best Buy
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Even when your power goes down, your Wi-Fi won't.
You'll enjoy Nintendo's $100 Virtual Boy if you enjoy digging through gaming history.
It surprised me, but Fender's first pair of wireless headphones has some solid features that are actually worth paying for.
A new State of Gaming analysis reveals Chinese success in an otherwise suffering industry.
The company behind Lite Brite said it wants to make Arcade1Up feel even more authentic than before.
We may not have to wait on Apple anymore.
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Reading time 2 minutes
The first two seasons of Daredevil: Born Again have focused on Matt's ongoing beef with the Kingpin, who now runs New York. What seems at first like a legit play to go straight turns out to be a front: not only has FIsk assembled an anti-vigilante task force to take down costumed heroes, he's also looking to turn Red Hook into its own city-state to profit from.
Even before the season finale featured power blackouts, riots in the streets, and cops claiming an unarmed kid they shot was a vigilante, it wasn't hard to see parallels between the MCU's New York and then-current state of affairs in the United States. That doesn't seem like it'll be changing with season two, and showrunner Dario Scardapane had no trouble admitting that what's going on in the real world isn't lost on him or others working on the show.
“There's a few sequences we shot [last season] that could be off the news, and it's weirding us all out,” he told SFX Magazine. Citing Stan Lee's old adage about his comics reflecting the real world, Scardapane appreciates the “renewed political energy” of Born Again, but thinks too much of it can take away from the archetypes and near-mythological bent of the superhero genre. And based on what he's saying, this season will end with Fisk off the board so season three can go in another direction.
“It was fun to play in the realm of politics, but I personally like something a little more street level,” Scardapane finished. “What we're doing going forward, as the Mayor Fisk run comes to its inevitable conclusion, feels more like a return to the Frank Miller-era comics.” We'll see what that looks like after Daredevil: Born Again returns with season two on March 24.
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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Plus, new 'Highlander' reboot set pictures reveal Dave Bautista's Kurgan.
Plus, 'The Last of Us' finds its new Manny after Danny Ramirez's exit.
Welcome back to Hell's Kitchen when 'Daredevil: Born Again' returns to Disney+ in less than two months.
'WandaVision' put the MCU on a journey into television that took time for the megafranchise to fully adjust to.
Charlie Cox thinks that, nine years later, the MCU will finally pay off the potential of one of the best parts of 'The Defenders.'
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A true pocket console!
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Before there ever was a Game Boy, Nintendo had the Game & Watch, the company's first successful handheld that invented the D-pad. Since the original Donkey Kong G&W, Nintendo has done modern re-releases as recently as 2021 when the Zelda edition came out to celebrate the franchise's 35th anniversary. Now, on Zelda's 40th birthday, an enthusiast has decided to take that Game & Watch and mod it into a proper retro emulator.
Unlike the original Game & Watches for the 80s, the re-release got an updated color LCD and came loaded with classic games, powered by a USB-C port. The battery and controls are also updated to reflect current times, which means there's a pretty decent base here for a portable handheld. The open-source community has done a lot to unlock G&W's full potential, and this project from Macho Nacho Productions is built on their shoulders.
The mod starts with taking apart the G&W, disconnecting all the ribbon cables, and desoldering the speaker. Then, the firmware stored on the motherboard is dumped, modified, and flashed back onto the memory chip to essentially jailbreak it. Unfortunately, this chip is only 16 MB, which is not enough to push the payload through, so the process required replacing it with a 64 MB IC. That comes later, though; they actually need the files from this chip.
An ST-Link V2 programmer was then connected to the motherboard by soldering it to the relevant pads. This is what enables communication between a computer — which will retrieve and mod the firmware — and the Game & Watch. Once that was done, Macho Nacho upgraded the memory chip, and it was time to flash the custom firmware.
Lots of PowerShell windows later, the process was completed, and the programmer was removed from the motherboard. He was not quite done with the hardware side of things yet, as even though the custom firmware worked, it still needed to read from something, and that meant adding a microSD card slot to the Game & Watch.
This is perhaps the toughest soldering job of the bunch, as it required individually soldering each contact of a custom ribbon cable to the CPU on the board. That ribbon cable itself had passive components like a capacitor and, of course, the microSD card slot soldered onto it before.
Now that the Game & Watch had external storage, Macho Nacho put everything back together, performing the final soldering on the speaker wires to reconnect it, but there was still one thing remaining. The SD card slot needed a cutout on the back shell to ensure it was accessible from the outside.
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Thankfully, the modding community already had 3D-printable jigs ready for our host. He used them to drill out the slot, sand it to ensure it doesn't look too DIY, and finally close the Game & Watch back up. At this point, both the hardware and software should be ready (if you prepped the SD card already), and you only need the games.
It's easy enough to dump ROMs on the card, so Macho Nacho spent the rest of the video showcasing what this modded Game & Watch can do. It runs Retro-Go, a popular firmware that has lots of support in the community and features a slick, modern UI. The biggest benefit of Retro-Go is its ability to emulate a bunch of consoles — everything from the Sega Genesis to the Turbo Grafx 16.
The games look beautiful on the sharp display with vivid colors, and the ability to save on the go (save states), thanks to Retro-Go, really adds to the portable nature of the device. Think of it as a DIY Miyoo Mini that you can just put in your pocket and forget. Speaking of which, this Game & Watch is even smaller than a Game Boy Pocket, which it can emulate.
The controls feel responsive, and the device even has Homebrew support. Macho Nacho unfortunately didn't speak on the battery life, but it should be similar to the retail version. The only real con of modding a Game & Watch like this is the sheer expertise involved in performing the mod.
The software side of things can be handled fairly well by tutorials, but microsoldering isn't for everyone. Thankfully, there are people out there who can do this for you, and some who even sell pre-modded Game & Watch consoles. If you don't want the novelty of the form factor, though, you're likely better off buying an Anbernic, which will be more powerful and come ready out of the box.
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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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Sharks are innocent. Or at least they're not eating the internet. As a family of cartilaginous fish, sharks are collectively not guilty of most, if not all, charges of biting, chomping, chewing, or otherwise attacking the underwater network of fiber-optic cables. The people who build and maintain the nearly 600 subsea cables that carry almost all of our intercontinental traffic—supporting just about every swipe, tap, Zoom, and doomscroll anywhere on the planet—have a love-hate relationship with this myth, which has persisted for decades. They might even hate that I'm starting this piece with it.
Rolling out this week, WIRED's journalistic commissions on technological decommissions—from broken-down electric cars to falling-down space stations.
If a cable is suspended over the seabed, a shark might gum it as it explores. Sometimes they'll lunge for a cable that's being pulled out of the water. But for a shark to actually bite a cable, you'd have to wrap it in fish, much as you'd hide a pill in a hunk of cheese for the dog. Rats can be a threat on land, because their incisors never stop growing, so they like to file them down on semisoft cables. But nobody ever asks about rats, maybe because, as a friend of mine pointed out, “sharks make you cool, but rats sound like you have a problem.”
Sometimes people ask about satellites or, especially in Sweden (where I live), about alleged sabotage in the Baltic Sea. But historically, shark bites have commanded the most attention. The myth began nearly 40 years ago, with the development of a subsea fiber-optic cable known as TAT-8. TAT-8 practically invented the concept of an internet cable, and now that it's ready for retirement, I spent time with the offshore workers, crew members, and engineers who are in the process of pulling it off the seabed. That's the real story of subsea cables—not sabotage or sharks, but the humans who take care of the physical stuff that keeps all of our digital communication flowing.
Fiber-optic transmission is a near-magical way of carrying information by pulses of light. Most people don't even think about how quickly we've accepted instantaneous communication as normal, even those of us who can remember when an international phone call had to be booked in advance. The more people I meet in this industry, in this network of networks of people and things, the more insulting it sounds to hear that “we” only notice it when it breaks. (Who is this “we,” I always want to know?) Billions of people are able to walk around not noticing this infrastructure because of the daily work of a few thousand people, sometimes at sea, other times buried under piles of permits, surveys, and purchase orders for thousands of kilometers of cables that will join the millions of kilometers of cables on the seabed that ensure that our planet is continuously being hugged by light.
I also need to clear up something else. Most people call them “internet cables,” but technically, fiber-optic transmission was developed for telephone calls. One of the people involved was an English scientist named Alec Reeves, who also spent his time working on psychokinesis and telepathy. With fiber, voices become light, pulsate across spiderweb-thin strings of glass, and become voices again in your handset on the other end. Maybe there isn't that much of a conceptual leap between that and moving things with your mind.
TAT is short for Trans-Atlantic Telephone, and TAT-8—built by AT&T, British Telecom, and France Telecom—was the eighth transoceanic system across the Atlantic. It was the first to use optical fibers to transmit traffic between Europe and the United States. Fiber optics for communication had only been worked out in theory in the 1960s, and terrestrial cables were first used in the 1970s. But using this technology to span continents was practically tantamount to human galactic expansion.
When TAT-8 went into service on December 14, 1988, the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov spoke on video link from New York to audiences in Paris and London: “Welcome everyone to this historic transatlantic crossing,” he said, “this maiden voyage across the sea on a beam of light.” AT&T made a TV ad, in which an earnest voice-over promised a “worldwide intelligent network” where people could send information in any format to anyone they want. Cue the montage of telephone operators: “This is the AT&T operator. You have a call booked for Poland?” “I have your call to Russia.” “What city in Cuba are you calling?” If they were looking to inspire viewers, it wasn't with the promise of the internet, which was still too niche for most of us to comprehend, but with the end of the Cold War.
TAT-8 would witness the fall of the Berlin Wall, the birth of the World Wide Web, the end of the Soviet Union, the dotcom boom, the end of Tory rule in the UK and the beginning of the Bush years in the US, the September 11 attacks, the dotcom crash, and the dawn of social media (it was Friendster). Rather than being the last cable ever needed, as had originally been believed, it was full to capacity within 18 months, by which point there were other cables, like PTAT-1 across the Atlantic and TPC-3 in the Pacific. By 2001, the TAT series was up to number 14. After developing a fault that was too expensive to be worth fixing, TAT-8 was taken out of service in 2002.
It's been sitting on the seabed until now.
The MV Maasvliet docks in Portugal to offload recovered fiber-optic cable.
A view of the monitor in the ship's control area.
Captain's controls on the Maasvliet.
TAT-8 is currently being pulled up and sent for recycling by Subsea Environmental Services, one of only three companies in the world that's made cable recovery and recycling its entire business. Cable companies sometimes recover their own cables after they take them out of service, and some retired cables get new life in scientific research or military use, but most of them—most of the 2 million kilometers of it all—are still right where their former owners left them. The seabed is a lot busier than you might think, so these operations are clearing space for new cables, along routes that are proven and efficient, rather than disturbing new sections of the sea floor. And there's good money in old cables if you know what you're doing.
It's after midnight on a cool August night, and my friend Fiona Marron—here to take photos and videos—and I are watching Subsea's brand-new diesel-electric cable recovery vessel, the MV Maasvliet, dock in the Portuguese port of Leixões, just outside of Porto. The 14 people on board are two weeks overdue because hurricane season arrived early, and they had to dodge storms Dexter and Erin, which meant they collected more stress and less cable than expected. During the next week or so, they'll offload 1,012 kilometers of TAT-8, resupply the ship, then set out again to pick up another load.
They drop the gangway, and there are hugs between the crew and Peter Appleby, operations manager from Subsea. Up on the bridge, we meet Captain Alex Ivanov, who has been at sea for 30 years and still takes pictures of sunsets. He scrolls through his phone to show Peter a blazing red and orange sky, then photos of some of the dorado he caught, because when cable ship people aren't fishing for cable, some of them go fishing for fish.
Peter asks how Alex likes the ship. Alex helped design it, and this is only its fourth trip out since it left drydock in January 2025. The captain says he loves the diesel electric—the Maasvliet runs on three industrial Volvo truck engines—even though he says it isn't as stable as the Rebecca, the company's other vessel. The bridge is high-tech and modern, but everything is touchscreens and sensors, and he says if he loses power, he loses everything. Then he zips off, getting ready for tomorrow, when he'll hand charge of the ship over to another captain, Vlad. Vlad will show up wearing a new T-shirt that says “Everything can go wrong at sea” on the front and “Not on my fucking watch!” on the back.
The food serving area aboard the Maasvliet.
The ship's fridge is restocked at port.
Everyone who has been at sea will tell you that the most important people are the captain and the cook, and all good captains are servant leaders and will concede that the cook is more valuable. Crew members are from Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Nigeria, and Kenya, and the cook knows everyone's comfort foods. Misha, the cook who's now rotating out, heard one of the crew talking about how much he loved khinkali, Georgian soup dumplings, and the next Sunday they were on the tables. Peter always brings cottage cheese, cream cheese, and cabbage when he meets a ship in port. I'm suddenly aware that I'm not just a guest on a ship, I'm a middle-aged mom who has shown up at someone's home without snacks or a host gift. Fiona and I are also the first strangers any of these people have seen in two and a half months.
I'm here in Leixões because I'm a researcher in the material culture of the subsea cable industry, and I consider it my business to help people understand that the networks we rely on are made of physical things, created and maintained by people, so that we can stop saying infrastructure is invisible as if the people are invisible too.
Another way to irritate a cable nerd is to suggest that low-Earth-orbit satellites—which are unreliable in bad weather, are harder to repair, and need to be replaced every five years—will one day be our main source of connectivity. Satellites are still an important component for resilient physical infrastructure, especially in areas with few or no fiber connections, but they haven't been able to compete on capacity since the 1990s.
Back in the 1970s, though, satellite technology seemed so promising that the Federal Communications Commission made it clear to AT&T: If you don't do something revolutionary with cables, we're not going to grant permission for any more intercontinental submarine connections. At the time, cables relied on copper, and there's only so much capacity you can cram into a bundle of wires. So, in 1978, Bell Labs, along with its British counterpart, STC, committed to installing a nearly 6,000-kilometer-long submarine fiber connection between the US, UK, and France. In Holmdel, New Jersey, Bell Labs began testing out cables, and in 1985 the company deployed its first live test system, known as Optican-1, between two of the Canary Islands. Optican-1 worked, but it had a series of what are called shunt faults, where damage to the insulation interrupts the electrical signals.
Now, here come the sharks. Elaine Stafford was the project manager for Optican-1. In 1986, she was a rare young woman on the scene, on her way to Paris to present an update on the cable at the first of what would become the industry's main research and development conference. “I'm supposed to be giving this huge talk, that there's this wonderful technology and it's working fine, and it's going into service, but we had this big question mark,” she recalls. They didn't know what had caused the faults.
Jack Sipress, who in Stafford's recollection was two levels above her at Bell Labs, got on the bus to the conference center. “And he says, ‘I have the shark teeth,'” Stafford tells me. “He pulls them out and says, ‘These were pulled out of the faulted cable.' So we went to the conference and announced to the world that it was shark teeth.” AT&T even included four pages about shark-bite mitigation in its 36-page press kit for TAT-8.
To be clear, there still isn't consensus that the sharks caused the shunt fault. Sipress wasn't lying about the teeth, but it's hard to know what really happened. Stewart Ash, who was part of the UK team at STC, insists that most shark claims really are false. If the Optican-1 was installed with too little slack, though, and hung above the seafloor in some areas, a shark might've munched down. “While we at STC didn't believe it,” he says, “we were swept up in the frustration or fear that sharks could interrupt these very important, brand-new cables.”
To be absolutely sure, AT&T funded research at two aquariums: in Mystic, Connecticut, and Sarasota, Florida, where researchers let some dogfish and lemon sharks get a little hungry and then tested to see if they bit any of several different cables that were emitting electrical fields in different patterns. They didn't, except in seemingly random cases. (To be certain about this myself, I took my shark-obsessed 5-year-old to a local aquarium, where we spent 15 minutes trying to figure out how a friendly 3-foot dogfish, whose mouth looks like the coin slot of an old payphone, could do more than give a cable a soft boop.) Experts also went out into the ocean and pulled different species of sharks onto the deck to force-feed them sections of cable. Sometimes they bit—wouldn't you? But there was absolutely no pattern.
Still, in the 1980s, despite there being no firm evidence that sharks were attracted to anything specific about the cables, the teams decided it wouldn't hurt to build TAT-8 with a layer of steel between the polyethylene insulation and the fibers. They sent shark teeth to the NYU School of Dentistry, to have molds made and mounted onto shark jaw simulators, which then chomped on sections of cable. The result was that lightweight deep-sea fiber was produced, from the start, with what they called “fish bite protection,” which helps against abrasions and other types of everyday damage that can happen in the sea. Turns out, we owe sharks a thank-you, and probably an apology for the force-feeding.
It's morning in Leixões. On the deck of the Maasvliet, I hover over a pile of TAT-8's repeaters. A long-haul submarine telecommunications cable needs repeaters to boost the optical signal to cross the distance, and TAT-8 had more than 100 of them, each encased in a watertight, pressure-tested housing that could survive up to 8,000 meters down. A rubberized cone stretches from each side of the repeater, sheathing the cable, making the whole piece about 2 meters long. In a pile, they look like a dead kraken, ready for one last writhe on the dewy deck.
Repeaters weigh about 400 kilograms. It takes three people to pull one out of the water, cut it free from the cable, and slide it down a special ramp onto the deck. The rubber casings are stamped with the dates when each one rolled off the line—July 27, 1987, December 23, 1987, February 19, 1988, and so on—and there are identification numbers and instructions painted on them. Human hands painted the casings before they went into the water 38 years ago, and it's humans who pull them out, also with their hands.
TAT-8 cable joints strapped to the deck of the Maasvliet.
Everything about the cable recovery operation needs to be learned on the job, from somebody who carries the knowledge in their body. A lot of the new crew relies on Stephen, who has chosen to stay at the position of coiler, the rank of ordinary seaman, rather than rising up the ranks as many of the others have. He's been with Subsea for 15 years, since the company started, and he trains everyone. He loves the teamwork and wouldn't dream of going onto a cargo ship—too much waiting around.
At sea, it's part of a coiler's job to stand in the cable tanks in the ship's hold and grab the cable as it comes through the hatch from the deck above. You grasp it, and as the ship tosses, you walk backward in slow circles to coil the cable in a neat stack, because fiber cable has to be coiled by hand. You need to keep it tight, and you don't want to break the cable. It's hard to get used to, Stephen says, because you get dizzy. Another coiler describes the shifts as 14 cigarettes long. Eight hours divided into half-hour blocks so you don't get too woozy: 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off, up the ladder for two cigarettes.
Peter, the operations manager, hands two pairs of utility gloves to Fiona and me. Do we want to go into the hold? Fiona says yes instantly. I take longer. It's 10 meters down a vertical ladder, but I didn't travel here to just stand at the top of a ladder and shout “What's it like down there?”
Peter in one of the cable tanks in the ship's hold.
Recovered TAT-8 cable.
Fiber-optic cables tend to be skinnier than people expect.
The ship's hold has five cable tanks, each about half full. Most people are surprised when they see how small a submarine telecommunications cable is, but even those are usually the black and yellow steel-armored portions used in shallow water. This cable, from the deep-sea sections, is the diameter of a taper candle, and it looks like giant cooked spaghetti. I try to imagine being in here when it's 30 degrees Celsius, the ship tossing up and down, and trying to walk in slow, backward circles.
Now I want to know how the cable gets from the seabed into the hold in the first place. Stephen, again, is the person to ask. He turns down the music—a mix of Ukrainian techno, American classic rock, and a medium dose of death metal—to tell me about what everyone here seems to agree is the most exciting part of cable recovery: catching the cable.
First, you sail to the spot where you're pretty sure your cable is. They have a route positioning list, a spreadsheet that shows the precise coordinates of every joint, splice, and repair—along with who did it. They know where the cable has been plow-buried, where and exactly when a repeater was laid, and the type of cable at every section: double-armored, single-armored, lightweight-armored (the contemporary name for the “fish-bite-proofed” cables). To take the cable off the seabed, all you get is a hook, a rope, those coordinates, and your senses. It's roughly the same method they used in the 19th century when they needed to recover failed telegraph cables from the deep sea.
A flat grapnel hook, known as a “flatfish,” is dropped off the bow. It falls past blobfish, anglerfish, the giant versions of crab and octopus, and below the deepest-dwelling sharks, down where fish have antifreeze for blood and names like “fangtooth” and “faceless fish.” “When it touches the bottom,” Stephen says, “we stop.” They have to keep the hook flat on the bottom, so they can start what they call the cutting run, sailing slowly toward the cable, at a speed of about one knot, dragging the flatfish. “The speed matters,” he says. “When we get to the position, we slow down to keep it from flying or dancing.” Everything Stephen tells me sounds like trying to fly a kite in space, except this is all done on the deck of a ship, with ocean swells sometimes over 3 meters—if the swells hit 4, it's too harsh to work.
Rope, ready to be lowered into the ocean to recover cable.
Once the hook is in place, you have one job: Keep your eye on the line, watch for a bite. Someone spots tension in the rope, or the winch makes a move. Whoever sees it calls out. Sometimes it's been three hours, sometimes 24, of rope-dropping and winch-watching. They cut, pull, start the bow roller and winch, and wait to find out if the flatfish has the right catch. I repeat a question Fiona has been asking everyone: Do you cheer when you catch it? Of course they do.
Captain Alex has been working with Subsea since its early days. “In the beginning, I didn't have any idea how to capture the cable on the ocean floor and bring it on board,” he says. Cables weren't laid to be picked up again. “Sometimes it's difficult to find. The cable can shift from its initial position or be blocked by gravel or sand.” They're still figuring it all out. As Subsea cofounder John Theodoracopulos puts it: “I liken a lot of what we do to cleaning up space junk or all the oxygen bottles that are left at base camp at Everest.”
Now that I've seen all the planning and experience that goes into an operation to find and recover a cable, it's even harder to take seriously the idea that enemy saboteurs are regularly pulling this off. A more legitimate concern is disturbing the seabed, but researchers at the UK's National Oceanography Center have started looking into the environmental impact of decommissioning, and it's not as much as you might think. The biggest impact seems to come from grapnel runs and from the vessels themselves. Very few cables in service today cross sensitive ocean habitats. Where that's the case, they leave those segments in place. They also only recover cable that's sitting on the surface of the seabed, and they know exactly where it all is because of that spreadsheet. Cables don't even tend to attract sea life colonization very often. The “reef effect” makes a cool story, but it seems that, just like sharks, most sea life is just not that into cables.
Captains Vlad and Alex aboard the Maasvliet.
Departing crew members are starting to say their goodbyes. Captain Vlad is passing out nuts and chocolate; Alex will do the formal handover later today. Chief engineer Sergei is just about done with the maintenance work needed to hand over to the next chief engineer, also named Sergei. He barrels through the bridge, beelining to the “good” coffee machine. “This coffee machine is my wife!” he shouts. He's from Crimea, and he's been a seaman on and off since he was 16. It's his hobby, the best job in the world.
In a few days, the cable tanks will be empty. Next, a cargo ship will arrive. The bales will be loaded “breakbulk,” as it's called—directly into the hold, the way it was done before containerization—and brought to South Africa, to Mertech Marine, which also specializes in cable recovery, which Theodoracopulos tells me is a “collegial competitor.” Mertech is the only cable salvage company with a recycling facility of its own. It will break the cables down: steel, copper, two kinds of polyethylene.
One of the carousels that spin the cable into bales.
Cables are stored below decks before coiling.
Fiber was the successor to copper, but that's just the transmission part. Fiber-optic cables still have plenty of copper in them, and it's of especially high quality. The International Energy Agency says we'll be running short of copper within a decade if the manufacturing world can't find more of it, so thousands of kilometers of it is nothing to sniff at. The fiber itself is just about the only part of the cable that doesn't make sense to recycle, but there's lots of steel, and that will become things like game and vineyard fencing. Polyethylene is one of the easiest plastics to recycle, and that will be sent to a facility in the Netherlands, where it will be turned into pellets that can be used for non-food-grade plastics. By the time you read this, you could be squeezing your shampoo from the remnants of the first fiber-optic cable that crossed the Atlantic, most of which spent 38 years deeper in the sea than the Greenland shark, which is known for being centuries old and extremely sleepy.
And what about the rest of what went into the TAT fiber systems? Bell Labs was eventually sold to the French company Alcatel, which closed the Holmdel facility in 2006. It spent close to a decade as the largest empty office building in America and is now a mixed-use complex called Bell Works, although it's probably most recognizable as the headquarters of Lumon Enterprises in the Apple TV show Severance. The current owners found 18 kilometers of subsea fiber from an early sea trial for TAT-8 in the basement, and they commissioned an architecture firm to come up with ideas for what to do with it, among them a giant slinky. No one has used the old Ocean Simulation Lab for a production set, but you can also rent that—on a production location website, you'll find it labeled a “mad scientist's lair.”
Some of the TAT-8 people are still around because there are two things that keep people in the subsea business: They like people, and they love messy problems. “Even way back then,” says Stafford, the Optican-1 project manager, “it was connecting the world, doing things right, doing things well.” The contrast between this world and what's happening at the application layer isn't lost on me. And the shark research makes a lot more sense—they had a big bet, a blank check, and an almost heroic sense of pride in their work that drove them to go down even vanishingly small rabbit holes.
I suppose there's a third reason a lot of the people are still around: Most people in this tiny industry are Generation X or older, and sometimes they cart around so much institutional knowledge that they can't retire. Stafford is near retirement age, and the guy who introduced me to her, Jean Devos, got his start making telegraph cables in the north of France in 1961 and still works as an adviser. He's 87. The first thing Stafford said to me on Zoom was, “How is he? Does he look well?” The subsea world has been trying to recruit and train younger talent for at least the past decade, so the industry vets can get their rest.
Now it's my turn to leave, so I'm climbing around the ship, saying my goodbyes, having a few last chats in the smoking area outside the crew quarters—where everyone is when they aren't working. I was promised a small piece of TAT-8, and now I have it. Before I get to the airport, I wrap my cable bundle in a shirtdress and pack it in my carry-on, a little panicked as I realize it looks a lot like a bundle of dynamite. The Subsea guys also gave me a branded baseball cap, which has a stylized cross-section of submarine cable on it. I put it on in the airport, in case it can answer questions about what's in my bag. Except, how many people know what subsea cables look like? And you can't wear a hat through security, so it goes into the bucket. Nobody asks any questions.
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A security flaw that exposed thousands of DJI Romo robot vacuums to unauthorized access has been unintentionally revealed after a tinkerer built an app to control their own device with a PlayStation controller. According to The Verge, this problem allowed the app to retrieve accurate floor plans, access live camera and microphone feeds, and even let it remotely control the affected devices.
This was accidentally discovered by AI strategist Sammy Adoufal, who used Claude Code to reverse engineer the protocol used by the DJI Romo to communicate with its servers. But instead of just letting him access his own device, it instead handed over the keys to around 6,700 robot vacuums located across the world. Azdoufal said that he didn't hack into DJI systems — all that he did was to get the private token of his own Romo vacuum. “I didn't infringe any rules, I didn't bypass, I didn't crack, brute force, whatever,” he said to The Verge. Because of this, he was able to access live servers across the world, including the U.S., Europe, and even China.
Thankfully, he didn't use this knowledge to exploit other people's privacy. He contacted DJI about the issue, and the company eventually resolved it through a couple of updates that required no action from the user. Still, the AI strategist says that there are still a couple of outstanding issues that it needs to address. This includes the ability to stream the video feed of a DJI Romo without a security PIN and another undisclosed problem because of its severity. More importantly, Azdoufal pointed out that the core of the problem does not lie in the encryption used by the robot vacuum when communicating with its server, but that all the data is stored in plain text and can easily be read by anyone who gains access to the server.
This isn't the first time that a robot vacuum has been found to be mishandling the data that it gathers. Just last year, an engineer discovered that his iLife A11 smart vacuum had been consistently sending logs and telemetry data back to the manufacturer. When he blocked it from reporting back all that information through his network, the maker sent a kill code to disable the device, essentially bricking it remotely. With a little bit of tinkering and ingenuity, he was able to revive and use his device completely locally, proving that a robot vacuum does not need to be connected to the cloud 24/7 to operate as intended.
Many users are purchasing and installing IoT smart devices inside their homes because of the convenience that they bring. But incidents like this show how dangerous they can be, with tinkerers gaining accidental access to these systems unintentionally. This raises several red flags, with security researchers pointing out that if ordinary people can stumble into the private data of thousands of individuals through these gadgets, then a concerted attack could be far more damaging than anticipated.
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Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He's been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he's been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.
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What happens here matters everywhere
by Gary Dempsey on Feb 23, 2026 at 12:00 amFebruary 23, 2026 at 8:30 am
Ireland is building on its substantial technology ecosystem to establish itself as a global AI headquarters. The country ranks at the top of the IMF Skill Readiness Index, cited as one of the economies best positioned to equip its workforce with the agility needed for an AI-driven future.
For executives in the Pacific Northwest and beyond, the question is no longer ‘Why Ireland?' but ‘How quickly can we scale there?' Leading AI companies OpenAI and Anthropic have both selected Ireland as their European headquarters and are rapidly scaling teams there, joining Microsoft and Amazon. Ireland has become the primary launchpad for American companies looking to lead AI development in Europe.
While Ireland has long hosted the European headquarters of 13 of the top 20 global tech firms, the nature of these investments has evolved to focus on high-level R&D. Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, noted their Irish operations now run “one of our most advanced cloud datacenter campuses delivering AI solutions.” Recent examples include:
A major catalyst is Ireland's substantial fiscal support for innovation. Under the Finance Bill 2025, the Irish government has further enhanced its competitive edge with new incentives:
Ireland is the world's most educated country, with 52.4% of its working-age population holding a bachelor's degree or higher. This domestic talent pool is reinforced by a structural advantage: access to the EU labor market, allowing companies to tap into 200 million Europeans who can work and travel visa-free.
Specialized U.S. talent benefits from the Critical Skills Employment Permit, with decisions typically made within 4-8 weeks. Quality of life is equally compelling. Ireland is the only native English-speaking country remaining in the EU post-Brexit, and the country has held the top spot in the European Life-Work Balance Index since 2024, thanks to its generous leave policies. Dublin's population represents over 240 ethnicities, and the country's compact geography makes coastal beauty and European travel easily accessible.
Ireland is betting on the entire AI stack. In 2025, the government released its Silicon Island strategy, building on the longstanding presence of semiconductor leaders like Intel, AMD, and Arm. This initiative aims to cement Ireland's role in the global semiconductor future, creating a hardware foundation for the AI boom. Simultaneously, the Quantum 2030 strategy positions Ireland as an internationally competitive hub for quantum technologies, which will underpin the next generation of AI and cybersecurity.
Supporting this is the refreshed National AI Strategy, focusing on “trustworthy, person-centered AI.” A key pillar is the establishment of an AI regulatory sandbox, providing a safe space for companies to experiment with high-impact solutions while ensuring compliance with the EU AI Act. By balancing rapid innovation with ethical safeguards, Ireland offers a stable regulatory environment for US firms to scale global products.
Multinational giants aren't alone. Ireland's collaborative environment has birthed unicorns including Tines, Wayflyer, and Workhuman.
With the highest concentration of AI talent in the region and a government committed to ethical innovation, Ireland offers Pacific Northwest companies the ideal environment to solve complex technical problems.
Explore what's possible in Europe's AI headquarters. Visit https://www.idaireland.com/ to learn more about expansion support and R&D incentives.
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Back when the movie industry had fewer legitimate existential threats, studios and theaters were utterly apoplectic about the scourge of film pirates supposedly robbing them blind. At the peak of this panic, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) released a controversial study claiming cam-wielding criminals had cost the industry a whopping $18.2 billion in lost revenue for 2005 alone.
The year before, industry-wide anxiety also compelled Warner Bros. and the MPAA to produce one of the most memorable PSAs of the new millennium. Titled “You Wouldn't Steal a Car,”—and recently revealed to possibly have been made with pirated fonts—the commercials made the case that procuring a burnt DVD or torrent file of a grainy Meet the Fockers was, in fact, tantamount to a B&E robbery or grand theft auto. The two 45-second morality plays contained interstitial title cards insinuating that the presumably honest and law-abiding individual watching would never commit such real-world transgressions. So how come they're OK with anonymously making or watching digital copies of media from the comfort of their own home?
Immediately, the public reacted to the ads with ridicule, not just at their pearl-clutching corniness, but the central premise itself. As many would point out in the years to come—sure, they'd pass on hotwiring a car in their neighbor's driveway, but they'd be perfectly fine with downloading one. Once merely a meme, this fantasy is now one huge step closer to reality thanks to a recently reported breakthrough in the field of 3D printing.
A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has recently developed a printer with four different extruders that outputs five different materials to produce a fully functioning linear motor in about three hours. Publishing their work in the industry journal Virtual and Physical Prototyping, the team explained how by retrofitting a printer with enough extruders to handle the various materials needed to make a working motor, they decimated the usual production time for such a device and brought the material costs down to around $0.50.
In a world where the usual cost of building such a prototype would be comparatively huge and turnaround time could take anything from weeks to months, the team's proof-of-concept has the potential to change the manufacturing world. The linear motor they fabricated, which operates in a straight line rather than spinning like a car engine's, is primarily used in automation and manufacturing. It's hard to fathom the scope of impact if factories floors were someday able to print out complex replacement parts rather than be at the whim of a sluggish global supply chain.
While the linear motor is a far cry from the complexity of a V12 engine, the MIT team's development is unquestionably a significant baby step in that direction. We're clearly still a ways off from being able to download and slice 2026RangeRover.stl files, but you might be surprised to learn that there are already hobbyists successfully 3D-printing parts and even entire cars, one piece at a time.
Big Auto may want to get a head start on brainstorming their own PSAs while there's still time.
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The move comes as President Donald Trump has repeatedly asked the tech company to build iPhones in the U.S.
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Megan Brooks
The FDA has approved milsaperidone (Bysanti, Vanda Pharmaceuticals) as first-line treatment for acute manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder and for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults.
According to a company news release, milsaperidone is a “new chemical entity” in the atypical antipsychotic class of drugs.
Milsaperidone is the major active metabolite of iloperidone (Fanapt), which was approved for schizophrenia in 2009 and for bipolar I disorder in 2024. As such, the company was able to submit data from iloperidone clinical studies as part of the review for milsaperidone.
The drug rapidly interconverts to iloperidone and has been shown to be bioequivalent to iloperidone across the entire approved therapeutic dose range of iloperidone, the company noted.
The safety profile of milsaperidone aligns closely with that established for iloperidone. Both drugs come with a boxed warning that older adults with dementia-related psychosis treated with antipsychotic drugs are at an increased risk for death. Neither drug is approved for use in patients with dementia-related psychosis.
Complete prescribing information is available online: The company said it expects the drug will be available in the third quarter of this year.
Weighing in on this approval for Medscape Medical News, Stephen M. Strakowski, MD, professor and vice chair, Research of Psychiatry at Indiana University School of Medicine, and a professor with the Department of Community and Global Health at Indiana University in Indianapolis, Indiana, noted that milsaperidone “strongly resembles already approved iloperidone, and in fact, rapidly converts to iloperidone in vivo.”
“Consequently, although it offers another alternative, it is only an incremental advance over existing treatments,” said Strakowski, who is also professor of psychiatry and associate vice president, Regional Mental Health at Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin.
Beyond bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, the company is currently testing milsaperidone as a once-daily adjunctive treatment for resistant major depressive disorder.
Send comments and news tips to news@medscape.net.
In a study of adults with cancer, those who developed a mental health condition within the first year after their cancer diagnosis had a higher likelihood of dying over the next few years. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.
In the analysis of data on all patients at University of California–affiliated hospitals, researchers identified all adult patients who were diagnosed with cancer in 2013–2023 but had no documented mental health disorder before their diagnosis.
Among 371,189 patients, 39,687 (10.6%) developed a mental health disorder within a year. After taking potentially influencing factors into account, a mental health disorder diagnosis was linked to a 51% higher risk of death in the initial 1–3 years after cancer diagnosis. This elevated risk diminished to a 17% higher risk after 3–5 years and then disappeared.
The findings support the importance of prompt screening and treatment of distress and mental health following a cancer diagnosis.
Over the past several years, we've had an increasing appreciation for the important relationship between cancer, its treatment, and mental health. This study reproduces our prior work by leveraging the shared experience across the University of California system, reinforcing a relationship between mental health conditions and mortality for patients with cancer and highlighting the need to prioritize and manage mental health."
Julian Hong, MD, MS, lead author of the University of California, San Francisco
Wiley
Ganjouei, A. A., et al. (2026). Association of mental health disorders and all‐cause mortality for patients with cancer: Large‐scale analysis of University of California Health System Data. Cancer. DOI: 10.1002/cncr.70254. https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cncr.70254
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Dr. Lena Smirnova
Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling.
Natasha Bury
Targeted protein degradation presents a promising strategy to address antimicrobial resistance, focusing on innovative approaches for gram-negative bacteria.
Rosanna Zhang
In our latest interview, News-Medical speaks with Rosanna Zhang from ACROBiosystems about utilizing organoids for disease modeling in the field of neuroscience research.
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Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common cause of death globally. In CAD, plaques composed of cholesterol, fats, calcium and other compounds accumulate and create obstructions in the coronary vessels that supply blood to the heart. It is well-known that plaque differs between women and men, with women typically having a smaller total volume of plaque, but it is unknown how this difference impacts risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). Investigators from Mass General Brigham analyzed data from nearly 4,300 stable outpatients with chest pain and no known prior CAD and found that, although women had smaller plaque volumes and fewer plaques with high-risk characteristics, they experienced similar rates of MACE compared with men and showed differences in how plaque burden related to cardiovascular risk over time. Results are published in Circulation.
Our findings suggest that applying uniform thresholds across sexes to determine whether patients' plaque measures put them at high risk for MACE may underestimate risk in women. Based on the apparent differences in risk trajectories between men and women, incorporating sex, and even age, into the interpretation of plaque metrics is an important next step toward more individualized risk assessment."
Jan Brendel, lead author of the Cardiovascular Imaging Research Center (CIRC), Mass General Brigham Department of Radiology
Investigators utilized data from the Prospective Multicenter Imaging Study for Evaluation of Chest Pain (PROMISE), which was conducted across 193 North American sites. Using cardiac computed tomography angiography (CCTA) images, the researchers measured total plaque volume and total plaque burden (TPB), which is the amount of plaque relative to the size of the blood vessel. They also characterized plaque subtypes, including stable plaques, which are harder and contain more calcium, and high-risk plaques, which are softer and contain more fat compounds.
After a median of 26 months, women's risk of MACE (death, heart attack or hospitalization for chest pain) was similar to men's. Although women had a lower median plaque volume than men, their vessel size-adjusted median TPB was similar. Importantly, risk of MACE emerged at a lower TPB in women: approximately 20% versus approximately 28% in men. Additionally, in women, risk of MACE increased more steeply at lower plaque burden levels, whereas in men, risk of MACE increased gradually, requiring larger amounts of plaque. The earlier, steeper risk of MACE in women persisted after adjusting for traditional risk factors, and other imaging findings including presence of high-risk plaques. These findings suggest that incorporating sex into the interpretation of coronary plaque metrics may help advance tailored approaches to cardiac risk stratification.
Mass General Brigham
Brendel, J. M., et al. (2026) Risk in Women Emerges at Lower Coronary Plaque Burden Than in Men: PROMISE Trial. Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging. DOI: 10.1161/CIRCIMAGING.125.019011. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCIMAGING.125.019011
Posted in: Medical Research News | Medical Condition News | Women's Health News
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Dr. Lena Smirnova
Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling.
Natasha Bury
Targeted protein degradation presents a promising strategy to address antimicrobial resistance, focusing on innovative approaches for gram-negative bacteria.
Rosanna Zhang
In our latest interview, News-Medical speaks with Rosanna Zhang from ACROBiosystems about utilizing organoids for disease modeling in the field of neuroscience research.
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SARS-CoV-2 triggers the production of the antiviral protein IFN-γ, which is associated with fatigue, muscle ache and depression. New research shows that in Long COVID patients, IFN-y production persists until symptoms improve, highlighting a potential biomarker and a target for therapies.
A University of Cambridge-led study identifies the protein interferon gamma (IFN-γ) as a potential biomarker for Long COVID fatigue and highlights an immunological mechanism underlying the disease, which could pave the way for the development of much needed therapies, and provide a head start in the event of a future coronavirus pandemic.
The study, published today in Science Advances, followed a group of patients with Long COVID fatigue for over 2.5 years, to understand why some recovered and others did not.
Long COVID continues to affect millions of people globally and is placing a major burden on health services. An estimated 1.9 million people in the UK alone (2.9% of the population) were experiencing self-reported Long COVID as of March 2023, according to the ONS. Fatigue remains by far the most common and debilitating symptom and patients are still waiting for an effective treatment.
The study shows that initial infection with SARS-CoV-2 triggers production of the antiviral protein IFN-γ, which is a normal reaction from the immune system. For most people, when their infection clears, COVID-19 symptoms cease and production of this protein stops, but the researchers found that high levels of IFN-γ persisted in some Long COVID patients for up to 31 months.
We have found a potential mechanism underlying Long COVID which could represent a biomarker - that is, a tell-tale signature of the condition. We hope that this could help to pave the way to develop therapies and give some patients a firm diagnosis."
Dr. Benjamin Krishna, co-author, Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology & Infectious Disease (CITIID)
The research began in 2020 when Dr Nyarie Sithole (Hughes Hall) set up a Long COVID clinic in Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital, where he started collecting blood samples from patients and set about studying their immunology. Sithole soon enlisted the support of Dr Benjamin Krishna and Dr Mark Wills from the University of Cambridge's Department of Medicine.
"When the clinic started, a lot of people didn't even believe Long COVID was real," Dr Sithole said. "We are indebted to all the patients who volunteered for this study, without whose support and participation we would obviously not have accomplished this study".
The team studied 111 COVID-confirmed patients admitted to Addenbrooke's Hospital CUH, Royal Papworth Hospital and Cambridge and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trusts at 28 days, 90 days and 180 days following symptom onset. Between August 2020 and July 2021, they recruited 55 Long COVID patients - all experiencing severe symptoms at least 5 months after acute COVID-19 - attending the Long COVID clinic at Addenbrooke's.
The researchers analysed blood samples for signs of cytokines, small proteins crucial to the functioning of immune system cells and blood cells. They found that the white blood cells of individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 produced IFN-γ, a pro inflammatory molecule, and that this persisted in Long COVID patients.
Dr Krishna said: "Interferon gamma can be used to treat viral infections such as hepatitis C but it causes symptoms including fatigue, fever, headache, aching muscles and depression. These symptoms are all too familiar to Long COVID patients. For us, that was another smoking gun."
By conducting 'cell depletion assays', the team managed to identify the precise cell types responsible for producing IFN-γ. They pinpointed immune cells known as CD8+ T cells but found that they required contact with another immune cell type: CD14+ monocytes.
Previous studies have identified IFN-γ signatures using different approaches and cohorts, but this study's focus on fatigue revealed a much stronger influence. Also, while previous studies have noticed IFN-y levels rising, they have not followed patients long enough to observe when they might drop back down.
The Cambridge team followed its Long COVID cohort for up to 31 months post-infection. During this follow up period, over 60% of patients experienced resolution of some, if not all, of their symptoms which coincided with a drop in IFN-γ.
The team measured IFN-γ release in Long COVID patients before and after vaccination and found a significant decrease in IFN-γ post vaccination in patients whose symptoms resolved.
"If SARS-CoV-2 continues to persist in people with Long COVID, triggering an IFN-γ response, then vaccination may be helping to clear this. But we still need to find effective therapies," Dr Krishna said.
"The number of people with Long COVID is gradually falling, and vaccination seems to be playing a significant role in that. But new cases are still cropping up, and then there is the big question of what happens when the next coronavirus pandemic comes along. We could face another wave of Long COVID. Understanding what causes Long COVID now could give us a crucial head start."
Some well-publicised previous studies have proposed microclotting as a principle cause of Long COVID. While not ruling out a role of some kind, these new findings suggest that microclotting cannot be the only or the most significant cause.
This study argues that the presence of IFN-γ could be used to classify Long COVID into subtypes which could be used to personalise treatment.
"It's unlikely that all the different Long COVID symptoms are caused by the same thing. We need to differentiate between people and tailor treatments. Some patients are slowly recovering and there are those who are stuck in a cycle of fatigue for years on end. We need to know why," Dr Krishna said.
University of Cambridge
Krishna, B. A., et al., (2024) Spontaneous, persistent, T-cell dependent IFN-γ release in patients who progress to long COVID. Science Advances. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adi9379. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adi9379
Posted in: Medical Science News | Medical Research News | Medical Condition News
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Dr. Lena Smirnova
Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling.
Natasha Bury
Targeted protein degradation presents a promising strategy to address antimicrobial resistance, focusing on innovative approaches for gram-negative bacteria.
Rosanna Zhang
In our latest interview, News-Medical speaks with Rosanna Zhang from ACROBiosystems about utilizing organoids for disease modeling in the field of neuroscience research.
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A single structured seminar dramatically improved students' ability to recognize dermatologic conditions in darker skin tones, offering evidence that targeted education can help close diagnostic gaps in diverse patient populations.
Study: Testing undergraduate medical students' ability to correctly identify skin conditions in skin of color - A pre-post-study at a medical school in Germany. Image credit: this_baker/Shutterstock.com
Dermatology training often neglects the differences in how lesions appear across skin types, including patients with skin of color (SoC). This contributes to health disparities. A recent study published in PLOS One examined the impact of a mandatory training seminar on undergraduate medical students' ability to identify skin conditions in SoC.
SoC is also defined as Fitzpatrick phenotypes IV–VI, covering a range of highly pigmented skin. Skin conditions affecting SoC are often poorly represented in medical training. Since dermatologic diagnosis is largely a visual-based science, this hinders proper healthcare in people with SoC and may contribute to delayed or incorrect diagnoses.
Previous research has demonstrated that skin conditions affecting SoC are more likely to be misdiagnosed than those affecting light skin. Melasma and keloids are skin conditions that occur more often in SoC, but melanoma occurs more commonly in lighter skin types, indicating the variability in skin disease prevalence with skin color. Also, melanoma in SoC tends to be diagnosed at more advanced stages.
Medical students complain that they are not trained adequately to diagnose skin conditions in SoC. This requires research to identify the most effective pathways to improving medical education in this area, especially given that, in today's globalized society, every country has a sizable proportion of people from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
The authors of this study incorporated a seminar on skin type diversity into the medical curriculum at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany, in 2023. Students initially reported feeling more competent in managing skin disease following the seminar, and most said they wanted to learn more about SoC in similar courses.
The current study examined whether the seminar effectively enhanced students' ability to correctly identify skin conditions in SoC through objective pre- and post-seminar testing.
The researchers recruited fourth-year medical students at the University of Hamburg, Germany. The analysis included 142 students who completed both the pre- and post-seminar assessments, most of whom were female. The seminar was conducted in groups of approximately 20 students and introduced eight common skin conditions in SoC, including inflammatory, infectious, autoimmune, and neoplastic conditions. Specifically, the conditions assessed were tinea, melasma, atopic dermatitis, varicella, keloids, vitiligo, psoriasis, and acral lentiginous melanoma.
The seminar was an interactive 90-minute session that included a 45-minute component focused specifically on skin type diversity. It combined short lectures, case-based learning, and group discussions. Students were introduced to the Fitzpatrick skin type classification system and were taught about anatomical and physiological differences between lighter skin and SoC, as well as diagnostic challenges specific to darker skin types. Standardized clinical images were used to familiarize students with common dermatologic conditions in SoC, and the seminar also addressed psychosocial considerations and broader issues of health equity in dermatological care.
The teaching format was based on adult learning principles and emphasized the importance of diagnostic competence for future practice. Students discussed possible diagnoses, drawing on prior clinical exposure, reviewed real-world patient images, and examined a case report illustrating misdiagnosis in SoC to reinforce applied learning and motivation.
Undergraduate students are required to attend at least 85 % of mandatory courses, meaning attendance at the seminar, while compulsory, was not necessarily universal. In addition to this seminar, the dermatology module included 13 45-minute lectures, an interactive 90-minute seminar on infectious diseases, and two 90-minute bedside teaching sessions. At the time the SoC seminar was delivered, at least 75 % of the dermatology curriculum had already been completed; however, none of the earlier material had focused specifically on dermatology in SoC.
Students completed a multiple-choice test using standardized clinical images at the beginning and end of the seminar. The post-seminar test was administered immediately after the session, allowing assessment of short-term learning effects. Different images of the same eight skin conditions were used in the pre- and post-tests, and none of the test images were shown during the teaching session. In addition to objective testing, students rated their interest in dermatology and self-assessed their diagnostic ability and knowledge of skin type differences using a Likert scale.
At baseline, only 27 % of students could identify melasma, and 40 % could identify keloids. Overall, 55 % of the images were correctly identified before the seminar. About 23 % of students reported a high interest in dermatology, and within this subgroup, 68 % of images were correctly diagnosed at baseline.
After the seminar, students correctly identified over 92 % of the eight skin conditions from the displayed images. The largest improvements were seen in melasma (66 %), keloids (51 %), and tinea (48 %). Self-assessed ability to diagnose skin conditions in SoC increased from a mean score of 2 to 3.6 on the six-point Likert scale. Students also reported significantly greater knowledge of the Fitzpatrick classification system and of anatomical and physiological differences between lighter and darker skin types.
The study's conclusions are strengthened by using objective, image-based testing rather than relying solely on self-assessment. However, the quasi-experimental pre–post design lacked a control group, so causal conclusions cannot be definitively drawn. Because the post-test was administered immediately after the seminar, the findings reflect short-term knowledge gains and do not provide evidence of long-term retention or real-world diagnostic performance.
In addition, students' prior dermatological experience, baseline knowledge, and varying levels of interest in dermatology may have influenced outcomes. The use of multiple-choice questions does not fully replicate real-life clinical encounters, and the study was conducted at a single university hospital in Germany, limiting generalizability to other educational or cultural settings.
After the seminar, students were better able to accurately identify eight skin conditions in SoC. This helps address one educational factor contributing to inequitable dermatologic healthcare and may help mitigate disparities in diagnostic accuracy, particularly for serious conditions such as acral lentiginous melanoma.
The use of mandatory targeted seminars could help increase future physicians' overall competence in recognizing lesions in SoC, regardless of their personal interest in dermatology. However, these findings require confirmation in larger and more diverse cohorts, with longitudinal follow-up to determine whether improvements in short-term diagnostic performance translate into sustained clinical competence and measurable reductions in health disparities.
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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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An analysis co-led by Josefa A. Antón Ruiz, a researcher from the Department of Health Psychology at the University of Alicante (UA), reveals that 43.5% of healthcare professionals experienced clinically significant symptoms of insomnia during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The article, published in the journal Current Psychology by the international publisher Springer Nature, is based on a joint analysis of 34 studies conducted in 14 countries, with a sample of 32,930 healthcare professionals.
This meta-analysis provides one of the most comprehensive and up-to-date global estimates of the prevalence and severity of insomnia in this group, as it covers both the acute phase of the pandemic and the subsequent return to normality. According to Antón-Ruiz, who co-authored the article with researchers from the Catholic University of Murcia, the results show that insomnia severity levels exceeded clinical cut-off points across the various assessment instruments used.
The study reveals significant differences based on the type of occupational exposure. Among professionals working on the front line in direct contact with COVID-19 patients, the prevalence of insomnia reached 54.9%, compared to 33.5% in those who did not perform direct care roles. These data reinforce the hypothesis that continuous exposure to high-pressure situations, risk of infection, workload and critical decision-making contributed significantly to the deterioration of sleep, as explained by the PhD researcher in health psychology.
Furthermore, the research has also detected geographical variations. Higher figures are reported in Europe, with a prevalence of 58.2%, while in Asia the rate stands at 38.3%.
The study highlights that insomnia was not only frequent but also clinically relevant both during and after the pandemic. As Dr Antón-Ruiz notes, the proven link between insomnia and other long-term mental disorders suggests these findings have significant implications for the sustainability and resilience of healthcare systems.
According to this article, the results obtained underscore the need to implement structured psychological support programmes for healthcare personnel, as well as to establish specific interventions in sleep regulation and stress management. In this regard, the UA researcher stated that addressing insomnia is not only a matter of individual well-being, but a key factor for patient safety and quality of care. Sleep health should be systematically integrated into institutional policies and preparedness plans for future health crises.
Dr Antón-Ruiz concluded that having solid scientific evidence in the medium and long term allows occupational health decisions to be substantiated, data-driven public policies to be guided, and makes it clear that mental health—and specifically sleep. She stated that this is not a secondary issue, but a central element in ensuring safe, sustainable and high-quality healthcare systems.
University of Alicante
Horyza, A., et al. (2026). Insomnia among healthcare professionals during and after the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Current Psychology. DOI: 10.1007/s12144-026-09091-9. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-026-09091-9
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Dr. Lena Smirnova
Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling.
Natasha Bury
Targeted protein degradation presents a promising strategy to address antimicrobial resistance, focusing on innovative approaches for gram-negative bacteria.
Rosanna Zhang
In our latest interview, News-Medical speaks with Rosanna Zhang from ACROBiosystems about utilizing organoids for disease modeling in the field of neuroscience research.
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Syndex Bio, a biotechnology company advancing next‑generation molecular diagnostics, today announced the introduction of its proprietary mcPCR™ (methyl‑copying PCR) platform at the Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) conference in Orlando, Florida.
mcPCR enables 'PCR for methylation', the high-fidelity copying of both DNA methylation and the four-base genetic code during DNA amplification. This overcomes a fundamental limitation of PCR, which cannot amplify DNA methylation patterns that are critical for the detection of many diseases, including cancer.
By enabling simpler, faster and more sensitive analysis of methylated DNA, mcPCR will help to transform the testing of clinical samples, especially in non-invasive and small-sample biopsies for early disease detection and recurrence monitoring.
Syndex Bio also announced the successful close of an oversubscribed $15.5 million seed financing led by ARCH Venture Partners, with participation from +ND Capital, OMX Ventures, and Meltwind. The funds will support expansion of the mcPCR platform, development of clinical workflows and applications, and build‑out of the company's R&D footprint in Cambridge, UK.
In conjunction with the financing, Gautam Kollu, former Chief Commercial Officer of Grail, joins the newly formed Board of Directors alongside Patrick Weiss (Chairman), Geoff Smith, Sean Kendall, and Eric Moessinger.
"Syndex Bio's mcPCR platform makes amplifying DNA methylation possible for the first time. This powerful method will redefine the sensitivity and accuracy that is achievable in DNA methylation analysis, opening new possibilities for early detection and disease monitoring," said Geoff Smith, PhD, Founder and CEO of Syndex Bio.
"We're honored to have the support of world‑class investors and advisors as we advance toward clinical translation."
The mcPCR platform removes the technical barriers that have long limited epigenetics, finally allowing us to tap into the highest-value segments of the molecular diagnostics market. This capability is essential for expanding precise clinical testing across diverse disease areas, where sensitivity has historically been the bottleneck. I look forward to helping the team bring such a high-impact platform technology to the global stage."
Gautam Kollu, Board Member, Syndex Bio
Sean Kendall, Board Member at Syndex Bio and Partner at ARCH Venture Partners, said: "This milestone is a testament to Syndex Bio's talented team and their extraordinary efforts in launching this foundational technology. We believe mcPCR holds the potential to elevate the accuracy and speed of cancer screening and diagnosis and look forward to seeing the company continue to go from strength to strength."
The company's Founder and CEO, Geoff Smith, PhD, will present a poster (#470) titled "mcPCR: PCR For Methylation" at the AGBT General Meeting from 23-26 February 2026.
Syndex Bio
Posted in: Molecular & Structural Biology | Device / Technology News | Medical Science News
Dr. Lena Smirnova
Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling.
Natasha Bury
Targeted protein degradation presents a promising strategy to address antimicrobial resistance, focusing on innovative approaches for gram-negative bacteria.
Rosanna Zhang
In our latest interview, News-Medical speaks with Rosanna Zhang from ACROBiosystems about utilizing organoids for disease modeling in the field of neuroscience research.
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Loughborough University and Science in Sport (SiS) have announced a renewed three-year partnership, strengthening the organizations' long-standing collaboration across elite sport and performance nutrition.
The agreement with SiS, the global leader in sports performance nutrition and creators of the world's first isotonic gel, builds on an initial three-year partnership founded through a shared commitment to evidence-based practice.
SiS will continue to work closely with athletes, practitioners, and wider colleagues across Loughborough's enviable sporting ecosystem as the official nutrition partner, including offering placement and internship opportunities to students. The new agreement also creates the potential for future research and development collaboration with the University, supporting innovation in performance nutrition through its world-leading research expertise.
The collaboration reflects a shared ambition to support athletes at all stages of their performance journey, including enhancing athlete and practitioner working relationships. This extends to athlete involvement in product testing sessions to support SiS' innovation and development programs.
SiS' heritage in scientific innovation has redefined the field of sports nutrition. In 2025, the scientific team's breakthrough in carbohydrate fuelling (120 g·h-1 1:1 maltodextrin:fructose) rewrote endurance guidelines for all runners, from 10 km through to marathon distance. By prioritizing collaboration with professional athletes and organizations, including Tottenham Hotspur, Team INEOS and British Rowing, SiS applies a data-first philosophy to deliver rigorous peer-reviewed research.
Through the new agreement, SiS becomes the official nutrition partner of Loughborough Sport's men's rugby program, Loughborough men's football 1st team, and Loughborough Lightning Women's football team. In addition, SiS will support the annual Loughborough International Athletics (LIA) event as the official headline sponsor. As part of the partnership, selected SiS products will be available for purchase across campus in Loughborough Sport's facilities.
We're absolutely delighted to confirm a three-year extension to our current partnership with Science in Sport, SiS. This agreement was a natural progression as the team's values and business vision reflect the strength of our relationship and the shared commitment to long-term success. We look forward to continuing to grow together over the coming years."
Rich Ellis, Deputy Director of Sport (Head of Sport Commercial Partnerships and Facilities), Loughborough University
Dr. Marc Fell, Head of Performance Nutrition, Science in Sport, commented: "At SiS, our mission is to push the boundaries of science and nutrition, so athletes can push the boundaries of performance. Deepening our collaboration with Loughborough University is a fantastic milestone as we continue to align ourselves with world-leaders in elite sports. Working together, we can accelerate that mission through the combination of elite-level data, scientific expertise and applied testing environments. The partnership will help us redefine not only how athletes fuel and recover, but what is possible in sport."
Loughborough University
Posted in: Medical Research News | Healthcare News
Dr. Lena Smirnova
Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling.
Natasha Bury
Targeted protein degradation presents a promising strategy to address antimicrobial resistance, focusing on innovative approaches for gram-negative bacteria.
Rosanna Zhang
In our latest interview, News-Medical speaks with Rosanna Zhang from ACROBiosystems about utilizing organoids for disease modeling in the field of neuroscience research.
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As members of the public increasingly turn to AI with health concerns, University of Birmingham researchers are leading a global programme to build the first definitive guide for safely navigating health information on AI powered chatbots.
The initiative is announced today in a correspondence published in Nature Health. The project team is now inviting the public to help shape the development of The Health Chatbot Users' Guide, a resource designed to offer a pragmatic and neutral approach that focuses on harm reduction and maximising benefits to users.
With the advent of AI Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude and Gemini, millions of people worldwide are already using general-purpose chatbots including to interpret symptoms and simplify medical jargon.
However, the team of academics, health professionals, and technologists warn that these tools currently exist in a governance vacuum, leaving individual users to distinguish between evidence-based insights and 'hallucinated' or factually incorrect advice.
The use of general-purpose chatbots for healthcare is no longer a hypothetical future possibility; it is a current reality. Ignoring this shift leaves the public to navigate a hazardous information landscape unaided. Our goal isn't to discourage innovation, but to meet the public where they are. We are building this guide to ensure users have the tools and understanding they need to use these powerful tools safely."
Dr. Joseph Alderman, National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Clinical Lecturer, University of Birmingham and corresponding author of the paper
The project team highlights several substantial risks associated with health chatbot interactions, including:
Dr. Charlotte Blease, health AI researcher at Uppsala University and Harvard Medical School, senior researcher on the project and author of Dr. Bot said:
"Health chatbots have become the world's most accessible first opinion - often speaking to patients before any doctor does. The danger is navigating these tools without a map. Our responsibility is to ensure that first conversation informs rather than misleads, and empowers patients."
The project is a major international effort led by researchers at the University of Birmingham and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and the NIHR Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre, in collaboration with experts from over 20 institutions globally.
The guide is being co-designed and co-delivered with public partners. Three public co-investigators and a public steering group have been empowered to set the direction of the programme, ensuring the final guidance is accessible to all age groups and literacy levels.
University of Birmingham
Khair, D. O., et al. (2026). Building The Health Chatbot Users' Guide. Nature Health. DOI: 10.1038/s44360-026-00074-5. https://www.nature.com/articles/s44360-026-00074-5
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When Lisa Bonfield gave birth to daughter Adele in late November, she was thrust into the new world of parenting, and faced an onslaught of challenges and skills to learn: breastfeeding, diapering, sleep routines, colic, crying, and all the little warning signs that something could be wrong with the baby.
But unlike parents in most of the U.S., she had extra help that was once much more common: house calls.
Adele was only a few weeks old when a registered nurse showed up at Bonfield's door on Dec. 10 to check on them and offer hands-on help and advice.
As a city resident who had recently given birth, she was eligible for up to three home visits from Family Connects New Orleans, a program of the city health department.
She didn't need to feed and change the baby before packing everything up for a car trip to the pediatrician or a clinic. It was a relief; Bonfield was exhausted and was still trying to figure out how to use the infant car seat.
"Everything is so abstract before you have a baby," Bonfield said. "You are going to have questions you never even thought about."
Louisiana is among the worst-performing states in maternal and infant health outcomes. So New Orleans is trying to catch health issues early — and get families off to an easier start — by adding health visits during the crucial first months of life.
The hope is that health outcomes can be improved by returning to the old-fashioned medical practice of house calls.
The Family Connects model has been tried in communities across 20 states. It began in Durham, North Carolina, in 2008, as a partnership with Duke University. In 2023, New Orleans' health director, Jennifer Avegno, helped launch a local version of the program.
Avegno was concerned by Louisiana's particularly grim statistics for maternal and infant health.
The state has some of the highest rates of preterm births, unnecessary cesarean sections, and maternal and infant deaths, according to the March of Dimes. A recent analysis from the United Health Foundation found that Louisiana was the "least healthy" state for women and children.
"We got to do some real things real differently, unless you like being No. 50 all the time,” Avegno said.
The home visits are free and available to anyone who has just given birth in a New Orleans hospital, no matter their insurance status or income level.
Avegno describes the home visits as going "back to the future," replicating a practice that was far more common a hundred years ago.
"There is no more critical time and vulnerable time than right at birth and in the few weeks to months following birth," Avegno said.
The nurses arrive with diaper bags filled with newborn essentials, from diapers to nipple cream. They weigh, measure, and examine the babies, and check in with the mothers about their health and well-being. They offer referrals to other programs across the city.
They ask if the family has enough food, and whether there are guns in the house and how they're stored, Avegno said.
In Bonfield's case, the nurse stayed for over two hours. Bonfield especially liked their conversation about how to safely store breastmilk.
"I've never felt so well taken care of and listened to," she said.
Louisiana has struggled a long time with poor maternal and infant health outcomes, but the problem has been complicated by the state's strict abortion ban.
The 2022 law led to risky medical delays and unnecessary surgeries in obstetrical care, and confusion among doctors about what's allowed in ending dangerous pregnancies or treating miscarriages.
Avegno opposes the state's abortion policies, believing they are harmful to women's health. But she says that Family Connects offers other ways to preserve and expand care for women. For example, the visiting nurse can check in with the mother about whether she needs help with birth control.
"We can't give them abortion access," she said. "That's not the goal of this program, and that wouldn't be possible anyway. But we can make sure they're healthy and understand what their options are for reproductive health care."
Abortion politics aside, the postpartum home visits seem to have bipartisan support in Louisiana, and state lawmakers want to expand their availability.
Last year, the Republican-dominated legislature passed a law requiring private insurance plans to cover the visits.
The new law is another way that Louisiana officials can be "pro-life," said state Rep. Mike Bayham, who, as a Republican and an abortion opponent, sponsored the legislation.
"One of the slings used against advocates against abortion is that we're pro-birth, and not truly pro-life," Bayham said. "And this bill is proof that we care about the overall well-being of our mothers and our newborns."
Two years in, there are already promising signs that the program is improving health.
Early data analyzed by researchers at Tulane University showed that families who got the visits were more likely to stick to the recommended schedule of pediatric and postpartum checkups. Moms and babies were also less likely to need hospitalization, and overall health care spending was down among families insured by Medicaid.
Research on Family Connects programs elsewhere has found similar results. In North Carolina, one study showed that three to seven home visits reduced trips to the emergency room by 50% in the year before a baby turned 1.
But the statistic that most excited Avegno related to the program's role in screening mothers for postpartum depression.
The visiting nurses are helping spot more cases of postpartum depression — earlier — so that new moms can get treatment. About 10% of moms participating in the New Orleans program were eventually diagnosed with postpartum depression, compared with 6% of moms who did not get the visits.
Timely diagnosis is important to prevent depression symptoms from worsening, or leading to more severe outcomes, such as suicidal thoughts, thoughts of harming the baby, or problems bonding with their newborn.
Lizzie Frederick was one of the New Orleans mothers whose postpartum symptoms were caught early by a visiting nurse.
When she was pregnant, she and her husband took all the childbirth and newborn classes they could. They hired a doula to help with the birth. But Frederick still wasn't prepared for the stresses of the postpartum period, she said.
"I don't think there are enough classes out there to prepare you for all the different scenarios," Frederick said.
When her son, James, was born in May, he had trouble breastfeeding. He was sleeping for only 90-minute stretches at night.
When the nurse arrived for the first visit a few weeks later, Frederick was busy trying to feed James. But the nurse reassured her that there was no rush. She could wait.
"I am here to support you and take care of you," Frederick recalled the nurse saying.
The nurse weighed James, and Frederick was relieved to learn he was gaining weight. But for most of the visit, the nurse focused on Frederick's needs. She was exhausted, anxious, and had started hearing what she called phantom cries.
The nurse walked her through a mental health questionnaire. Then she recommended that Frederick see a counselor and consider attending group therapy sessions for perinatal women.
Frederick followed up on these suggestions and was eventually diagnosed with postpartum depression.
"I think that I would have felt a lot more alone if I hadn't had this visit, and struggled in other ways without the resources that the nurse provided," Frederick said.
Melissa Goldin Evans, an assistant professor at Tulane's School of Public Health, helped interview over 90 families participating in the Family Connects New Orleans program.
"It was overwhelmingly positive experiences," she said. "This is like a gold-standard public health project, in my opinion."
To operate, Family Connects costs the city about $1.5 million a year, or $700 per birth, according to Avegno. But the program also has the potential to save money: Research on North Carolina's program found that every $1 invested in the program saved $3.17 in health care billing before the child turned 2.
That's another reason to require the visits statewide, according to state Rep. Bayham.
"The nurses and medical practitioners will be able to monitor potential problems on the front end, so that they could be handled without a trip to the emergency room or something even more drastic," he said.
Avegno is advocating that the program be included in Louisiana's Medicaid program, since more than 60% of births in the state are covered by Medicaid. A recent legislative report made the same recommendation.
This article is from a partnership that includes WWNO, NPR, and KFF Health News.
KFF Health News
Posted in: Child Health News | Healthcare News
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After a grueling year of chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation to treat breast cancer, Sadia Zapp was anxious — not the manageable hum that had long been part of her life, but something deeper, more distracting.
"Every little ache, like my knee hurts," she said, made her worry that "this is the end of the road for me."
So Zapp, a 40-year-old communications director in New York, became one of millions of Americans to start taking an anxiety medication in recent years. For her, it was the serotonin-boosting drug Lexapro.
"I love it. It's been great," she said. "It's really helped me manage."
The proportion of American adults who took anxiety medications jumped from 11.7% in 2019 to 14.3% in 2024, with most of the increase occurring during the covid pandemic, according to survey data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's 8 million more people, bringing the total to roughly 38 million, with sharp increases among young adults, people with a college degree, and adults who identify as LGBTQ+.
Even as psychiatric medications gain public acceptance and become easier to access through telehealth appointments, the rise of a class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, known as SSRIs, has triggered a backlash from supporters of the "Make America Healthy Again" movement who argue they are harmful. Doctors and researchers say medications such as Prozac, Zoloft, and Lexapro are front-line treatments for many anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder, and are being misrepresented as addictive and broadly harmful even though they've been proved safe for extended use.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has decried broadening SSRI use. During his Jan. 29 confirmation hearing, he said he knows people, including family members, who had a tougher time quitting SSRIs than people have quitting heroin. More recently, he said his agency is studying a possible link between the use of SSRIs and other psychiatric medications and violent behavior like school shootings.
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary has also suggested that SSRI use among pregnant women could lead to poor birth outcomes.
SSRIs' common side effects include upset stomach, brain fog, and fatigue. Some SSRIs also can reduce libido and cause other sexual side effects.
For many people, however, the side effects are mild and tolerable and the benefits of treating chronic anxiety are worth it, said Patrick Kelly, president of the Southern California Psychiatric Society. "The statements about SSRIs were just not grounded in any sort of evidence or fact," Kelly said of Kennedy's comments.
A recent comprehensive study showed that over half of people with generalized anxiety disorder taking an SSRI saw their anxiety symptoms reduced by at least 50%. Side effects prompted about 1 in 12 to stop taking an SSRI.
"When it's being done right and when you're also using appropriate therapy techniques, SSRIs can be really, really helpful," said Emily Wood, a psychiatrist who practices in Los Angeles.
Supporters of MAHA have partly blamed poor dietary choices and the increase of a sedentary lifestyle for the rise of a number of health problems, including anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders. As a remedy, they have called for measures such as reducing consumption of ultraprocessed foods, which studies in recent years have connected to depression and anxiety, and cutting back on screen time in favor of exercise.
Psychiatrists often encourage a healthy diet and exercise as an adjunctive therapy for anxiety and depression. Wood said those who can manage anxiety without medication should also consider talk therapy. The proportion of American adults using mental health counseling boomed from 2019 to 2024 as teletherapy grew in popularity, federal data shows. "Anxiety disorders are amongst our psychiatric disorders that really respond well to cognitive behavioral therapy," she said.
But medication can help.
Studies show the risks of taking SSRIs during pregnancy are low for mother and child. By contrast, "depression increases your risk for every complication for a mother and a baby," Wood said, adding that recent statements by government officials about SSRI use during pregnancy are "potentially leading to real harm for these women."
Some people who stop taking antidepressant medication will experience nausea, insomnia, or other symptoms, especially if they quit suddenly. But "the concept of addiction simply does not apply to these chemicals," Kelly said, a statement backed up by studies.
Addiction, though, is a possibility with benzodiazepines such as Xanax that are often a second line of treatment for anxiety. These controlled substances can also increase the risk of opioid overdose in patients taking both types of drugs. During congressional hearings last year, Kennedy also decried benzodiazepine overuse as a problem.
While benzodiazepines are effective for short-term use, they require monitoring and care, Wood said.
"Those are really great meds for acute anxiety and not great as long-term anxiety medications, because they are habit-forming over time," Wood said. "If you're taking them on a daily basis, you'll need more and more to get the same effect, and then you have to come down from them in a tapered way."
And an increasing number of people are also occasionally taking beta-blockers such as propranolol for anxiety. Some people use beta-blockers to prevent a racing heart before a public speech or other big moments, even though they are not FDA-approved for treating anxiety and are prescribed "off-label."
Beta-blockers can cause dizziness and fatigue, but they are "nonaddictive, really helpful for bringing down the autonomic nervous system, going from fight or flight to something more neutral, and really safe," Wood said.
A number of leading theories could explain why so many more people are taking anxiety medication, including increased social media use, more isolation, and heightened economic uncertainty, physicians and researchers say.
Plus, the medicines are relatively easy to get. Many people obtain SSRI and benzodiazepine prescriptions from their primary care physician. Others obtain the medications after a brief teletherapy appointment.
Many social media influencers talk about their mental health struggles, easing some stigma among young people and encouraging them to get help. About a third of teens in a recent study said they get mental health information via social media.
Still, increased access to anxiety medication can be a problem when combined with a trend of self-diagnosis based on social media trends. A Google search for "buy Xanax online" leads to sponsored promises of same-day treatment, though fine-print disclaimers clarify that a prescription is not guaranteed.
"I think increased access is good, but that's not the same thing as, you know, ordering Xanax online," Kelly said.
Young adults are largely driving an increase in anxiety medication use. The proportion of Americans ages 18 to 34 taking anxiety medication rose from 8.8% in 2019 — the first year such survey data became available — to 14.6% in 2024. By contrast, the rate didn't change much among adults 65 and older, CDC data shows.
The pandemic and covid lockdowns greatly increased stress among many American adults, particularly young adults.
And data shows more women than men take anxiety medication. Jason Schnittker, a department chair and professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, said that's because they're more likely to need them. They are also likelier than men to report when they feel anxious, and doctors are "inclined or see anxiety more readily in their female patients than their male patients," Schnittker added.
Broader trends could also be at work. Schnittker said studies have shown anxiety growing more prevalent among ensuing generations for much of the 20th and 21st centuries. Schnittker, author of Unnerved: Anxiety, Social Change, and the Transformation of Modern Mental Health, said growing income inequality could be partly to blame, with people feeling stress over improving their economic status. Social and religious activities have been replaced by more isolation. And people have become more suspicious of others, creating a sense of unease around strangers.
For Zapp, the cancer survivor, it took a few months on Lexapro before she started seeing clear results. When she did, she said, it felt like her mind was less noisy, making it easier to focus. She also underwent talk therapy, but now her chronic anxiety is stabilized on medication alone.
"It definitely helped me get back to my day-to-day in a way that was productive and not just riddled with my anxieties throughout the day," she said.
KFF Health News' Holly Hacker, Maia Rosenfeld, and Lydia Zuraw contributed to this report.
KFF Health News
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Dr. Lena Smirnova
Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling.
Natasha Bury
Targeted protein degradation presents a promising strategy to address antimicrobial resistance, focusing on innovative approaches for gram-negative bacteria.
Rosanna Zhang
In our latest interview, News-Medical speaks with Rosanna Zhang from ACROBiosystems about utilizing organoids for disease modeling in the field of neuroscience research.
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Edited by Manasi Talwadekar
Children born small for gestational age (SGA) exhibited impaired glucose-insulin metabolism, similar to children with obesity, which worsened under growth hormone therapy. In contrast, children with isolated growth hormone deficiency (iGHD) showed better insulin sensitivity than those born SGA.
“We recommend that children born SGA treated with GH [growth hormone] should receive similar metabolic monitoring as children with obesity, which may comprise annual measures of [A1c], fasting glucose, fasting insulin, and lipid status. In cases with elevated fasting indices or additional risk factors (such as overweight or obesity, family history of diabetes, ethnicity at risk for diabetes, acanthosis nigricans), we recommend using OGTT [oral glucose tolerance testing],” the authors of the study wrote.
“We recommend similar treatment approaches for SGA patients who develop insulin resistance or prediabetes during GH therapy. Additionally, lowering the dose of GH should be considered first before initiating further pharmacotherapy,” they added.
The study was led by Lea Prengemann and Robert Stein, Center for Pediatric Research, Medical Faculty, University of Leipzig, University Hospital for Children & Adolescents, Leipzig, Germany. It was published online in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Consistent data from the same patients were lacking at different timepoints because many participants missed appointments or changed healthcare providers. The sample size for children born SGA with catch-up growth was small. The study relied on proxies for insulin sensitivity, rather than using the gold standard euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp. BMI was used as the sole measure of adiposity, without more precise assessments, which could overlook abdominal obesity in individuals born SGA.
The study was supported by grants from the German Research Foundation and the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space. LIFE Child is supported by the Free State of Saxony, CrescNet is supported by unrestricted grants from various sources, and some authors reported being supported by various sources. The authors reported having no conflicts of interest to declare.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
Send comments and news tips to news@medscape.net.
Antimicrobial resistance poses a growing global health crisis, with few new antibiotics in development. Researchers at Sultan Qaboos University have identified three novel antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) from dromedary camels that effectively target multidrug-resistant bacteria, offering potential alternatives to conventional drugs.
Published in Frontiers in Immunology (Volume 17, 21 January 2026), the study combined bioinformatics predictions with experimental validation, including colony-forming assays, membrane permeability tests, and electron microscopy on strains like MRSA and MDR E. coli.
Peptides CdPG-3 and CdCATH demonstrated strong antibacterial activity across Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, causing membrane damage and leakage without high toxicity to camel or human red blood cells at lower doses.
Camels' robust innate immunity, including these cathelicidin-like AMPs, may explain their resistance to infections common in other ruminants. "This lays the foundation for exploring camel AMPs as therapeutics against resistant pathogens," note the authors.
Unlike traditional antibiotics prone to resistance via target mutations, AMPs disrupt bacterial membranes broadly, reducing adaptation risks. The peptides showed low hemolytic activity in relevant species, supporting safety for further development.
Future research will optimize these AMPs for clinical use, leveraging Oman's camel resources.
Sultan Qaboos University
Al-Mamari, W., et al. (2026). Identification and characterization of novel antimicrobial peptides from Camelus dromedarius: a combined bioinformatics and experimental study. Frontiers in Immunology. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1745714. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2026.1745714/full
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New research reveals how hypoxia-driven red blood cell adaptations may reshape glucose regulation, offering fresh insight into diabetes biology and potential therapeutic strategies.
Study: Red blood cells serve as a primary glucose sink to improve glucose tolerance at altitude. Image Credit: nobeastsofierce / Shutterstock
In a recent study published in the journal Cell Metabolism, researchers investigated whether red blood cells (RBCs) function as a primary glucose sink under hypoxic conditions and thereby improve systemic glucose tolerance.
Epidemiological observations show that populations living above 3,500 meters exhibit lower rates of diabetes compared to those at sea level. Across Tibet, Peru, the United States, and Nepal, high-altitude communities consistently demonstrate lower fasting glucose levels and improved glucose tolerance. Even animals adapted to altitude display similar metabolic patterns. Despite reduced oxygen availability at high elevations, blood glucose regulation appears enhanced, creating a physiological paradox.
Short-term hypoxia is known to stimulate glucose uptake in peripheral tissues; however, these effects are transient. The persistence of improved glucose control during chronic hypoxia suggests a deeper systemic adaptation. The biological mechanism underlying this sustained effect remained unclear, prompting investigation into whether RBCs contribute directly to whole-body glucose disposal.
To isolate the impact of oxygen deprivation, researchers used normobaric hypoxia models in eight-week-old male mice. Animals were maintained in either normoxic conditions (21% oxygen) or hypoxic environments (8% oxygen, equivalent to altitudes above 5,000 meters) for up to three weeks. Blood glucose, body weight, glucose tolerance tests, and insulin tolerance tests were monitored longitudinally.
To determine whether increased RBC abundance influenced glycemia, investigators used two complementary strategies. Serial phlebotomy removed 15% of the total blood volume every three days to reverse hypoxia-induced erythrocytosis. In parallel experiments, packed RBCs from hypoxic or normoxic donor mice were transfused into normoxic recipients.
Glucose uptake was assessed using 2-deoxy-2-[18F] fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging and stable isotope tracing with uniformly labeled carbon-13 glucose and carbon-13 2-deoxy-D-glucose. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry quantified plasma glucose and intracellular metabolites. Flow cytometry evaluated glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) and glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) abundance in RBCs. Proteomic and imaging approaches examined glycolytic enzyme localization and interactions with band 3 protein under varying oxygen conditions.
Chronic hypoxia significantly reduced basal blood glucose levels within two days of exposure. Glucose tolerance improved at 1, 2, and 3 weeks and persisted for more than a month after mice returned to normoxia. In contrast, insulin sensitivity did not improve and was transiently reduced during hypoxia. The authors interpreted this reduction as a compensatory response to sustained hypoglycemia rather than enhanced insulin action.
Moderate hypoxia (11% oxygen) and intermittent hypoxia similarly improved fasting glucose and glucose tolerance, suggesting potential translational relevance. Hepatic gluconeogenesis did not account for reduced blood glucose levels, indicating increased glucose disposal rather than decreased production was responsible for the observed hypoglycemia.
Whole-body imaging revealed that classical glucose-consuming organs, such as muscle, liver, heart, and brain, accounted for only a minority of increased glucose uptake under hypoxia. This finding suggested the presence of another major glucose-consuming compartment.
During chronic hypoxia, RBC numbers nearly doubled. When erythrocytosis was reversed by serial phlebotomy, blood glucose levels normalized, but improvements in glucose tolerance disappeared. Conversely, transfusion of RBCs from hypoxic donors into normoxic mice induced hypoglycemia without hypoxia exposure. These experiments demonstrated that increased RBC abundance was both necessary and sufficient to drive hypoxia-associated hypoglycemia in this model.
Beyond increased cell number, individual RBCs under hypoxia exhibited enhanced glucose uptake capacity. Stable isotope tracing showed faster intracellular accumulation of phosphorylated 2-deoxy-D-glucose. Ex vivo experiments confirmed approximately a 2.5-fold increase in glucose uptake per cell.
Flow cytometry revealed upregulated expression of GLUT1 and GLUT4 in hypoxic RBCs. Biotin-labeling experiments indicated that newly synthesized RBCs contributed substantially to the increased GLUT1 abundance, suggesting that erythropoiesis under hypoxia generates metabolically adapted RBC populations.
Metabolomic tracing demonstrated glucose flux in hypoxic RBCs was redirected toward 2,3-diphosphoglycerate production via the Luebering-Rapoport shunt. Both levels and isotopic labeling rates of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate were elevated. This adaptation enhances oxygen release from hemoglobin to tissues while increasing glucose consumption. The authors noted that precise quantitative flux measurements would require additional targeted analyses.
Low oxygen conditions displaced glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) from its inhibitory binding to the band 3 membrane protein, thereby increasing glycolytic flux. This molecular mechanism provided a structural explanation for accelerated glucose metabolism in RBCs under hypoxia.
Hypoxia exposure and hypoxic RBC transfusion improved hyperglycemia in mouse models of type 1 diabetes, enhancing glucose tolerance despite insulin deficiency. In a high-fat diet model of type 2 diabetes, treatment with a pharmacologic agent (HypoxyStat) that increases hemoglobin oxygen affinity and induces tissue hypoxia improved glycemia and glucose tolerance without direct RBC transfusion.
These findings suggest targeting RBC metabolism or safely mimicking hypoxia-induced erythrocyte adaptations may offer therapeutic approaches for hyperglycemic conditions.
This study identifies RBCs as previously unrecognized regulators of systemic glucose metabolism. Hypoxia increases RBC production and enhances per-cell glucose utilization, enabling RBCs to act as a significant glucose sink independent of insulin signaling. By metabolizing glucose through glycolysis and the Luebering-Rapoport shunt, RBCs improve oxygen delivery and reduce circulating glucose levels.
The findings expand understanding of whole-body glucose homeostasis and suggest potential therapeutic strategies for type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Modulating RBC metabolism or harnessing hypoxic adaptations could represent innovative avenues in metabolic disease management.
Posted in: Medical Science News | Medical Research News | Medical Condition News
Written by
Vijay holds a Ph.D. in Biotechnology and possesses a deep passion for microbiology. His academic journey has allowed him to delve deeper into understanding the intricate world of microorganisms. Through his research and studies, he has gained expertise in various aspects of microbiology, which includes microbial genetics, microbial physiology, and microbial ecology. Vijay has six years of scientific research experience at renowned research institutes such as the Indian Council for Agricultural Research and KIIT University. He has worked on diverse projects in microbiology, biopolymers, and drug delivery. His contributions to these areas have provided him with a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter and the ability to tackle complex research challenges.
Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:
APA
Kumar Malesu, Vijay. (2026, February 22). Researchers show red blood cells drive better glucose tolerance at high altitude. News-Medical. Retrieved on February 23, 2026 from https://www.news-medical.net/news/20260222/Researchers-show-red-blood-cells-drive-better-glucose-tolerance-at-high-altitude.aspx.
MLA
Kumar Malesu, Vijay. "Researchers show red blood cells drive better glucose tolerance at high altitude". News-Medical. 23 February 2026.
Can everyday berries help protect the aging brain? A new systematic review explores how berry-derived polyphenols may influence metabolism, inflammation, and memory, while highlighting the need for larger, well-controlled trials to confirm their clinical impact.
Review: Berry Consumption and Its Role in the Modulation of Obesity and Mild Cognitive Impairment. Image Credit: r.classen / Shutterstock
In a recent systematic review published in the journal Nutrients, researchers examined whether polyphenol-rich berries could counteract obesity-related metabolic dysfunction while supporting cognitive health. By analyzing randomized controlled trials and prospective cohort studies, they found that berry bioactive compounds may improve insulin sensitivity, regulate leptin levels, and influence gut-brain signaling pathways linked to inflammation. These metabolic effects were accompanied by modest improvements in memory performance and mechanistic evidence suggesting potential modulation of neurodegenerative markers such as amyloid-beta (Aβ) and tau proteins, although human biomarker data remain limited and inconsistent.
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) represents an early stage of cognitive decline that may progress to dementia if not addressed. Epidemiological evidence increasingly links obesity and cardiometabolic dysfunction to accelerated cognitive impairment and heightened neurodegenerative risk. These findings position metabolic health as a modifiable risk factor for conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.
Excess body weight may impair cognition through multiple biological pathways, including gut microbiome dysbiosis, compromised blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity, altered adipokine signaling, and chronic low-grade inflammation. These interconnected processes underscore the importance of interventions that target both metabolic and neurological pathways.
Polyphenol-rich berries, particularly those high in flavonoids and anthocyanins, demonstrate antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and metabolic regulatory properties. These compounds may counteract obesity-driven inflammatory signaling and oxidative stress while influencing insulin sensitivity and lipid metabolism.
Human studies vary in design, anthocyanin dosage, intervention duration, and population characteristics. This heterogeneity complicates interpretation and highlights the need for more standardized clinical and mechanistic investigations.
The review assessed whether berry-derived polyphenols could enhance cognitive outcomes by modulating obesity-related biological pathways. Researchers examined neuroprotective effects using biomarkers such as tau protein, neurofilament light chain (NfL), and amyloid-beta (Aβ), although the clinical significance of these markers remains uncertain.
Investigators searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases between April 1 and June 30, 2025, without language restrictions. Eligible studies included double-blind, randomized controlled trials and prospective cohort studies involving human participants that evaluated associations between bioactive berry compounds, obesity, and cognition. Reviews and duplicate publications were excluded.
A single reviewer conducted data screening and extraction, introducing potential selection bias. The Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 (RoB 2) tool evaluated randomized trials, while the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) assessed the quality of cohort studies.
Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria from 224 identified records, of which 145 underwent full-text screening. Study populations included older adults with MCI and some middle-aged cohorts. Interventions involved blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, or grapes consumed as whole foods, beverages, or extracts, with durations up to three years.
Metabolic outcomes included body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, fasting insulin, serum cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, C-reactive protein (CRP), and total antioxidant capacity. Cognitive outcomes were assessed using validated tools such as the Everyday Memory Questionnaire, Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status, Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT), California Verbal Learning Test, Task Switching Task (TST), Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), and Brief Test of Attention.
Across studies, berry-derived polyphenols were associated with modest improvements in memory performance. Evidence suggests that regular berry consumption may correlate with a reduced incidence of neurodegenerative conditions in older adults, although causality remains unproven.
Cognitive benefits appeared particularly relevant during pre-dementia stages characterized by Aβ accumulation and tau hyperphosphorylation. Human biomarker findings for amyloid and tau were limited and mixed, with most evidence derived from mechanistic or preclinical research rather than consistent clinical biomarker shifts.
Modulation of the gut-brain axis emerged as a central mechanism linking metabolic improvements with cognitive outcomes. Anthocyanins influenced gut microbiome composition, increasing beneficial bacteria such as Akkermansia muciniphila, which has previously been associated with reduced cerebral amyloid burden.
Microbial metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), may mediate systemic anti-inflammatory effects and neural signaling pathways. Changes in neurotransmitter production, including dopamine, serotonin, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), may contribute to improved cognitive processing and mood regulation.
Several studies reported improvements in insulin sensitivity, glucose regulation, and leptin levels following berry supplementation. These metabolic changes are relevant because insulin resistance and leptin dysregulation are strongly linked to obesity-related cognitive decline.
For example, supplementation with approximately 25 grams of freeze-dried wild blueberry powder improved AVLT recognition memory and favorably influenced postprandial glucose and insulin responses. BMI was often measured but served more as an obesity indicator than as a consistently reduced outcome, underscoring the complexity of disentangling metabolic and cognitive effects.
Methodological quality across included studies was rated as moderate. Most trials raised concerns about risk of bias, with only one classified as low risk, indicating the need for stronger evidence before definitive conclusions can be drawn.
The review suggests berry-derived polyphenols may support memory function while improving metabolic parameters associated with obesity. By modulating inflammatory pathways, insulin sensitivity, gut microbiota composition, and adipokine signaling, berries may help mitigate mechanisms linking metabolic dysfunction with neurodegeneration.
Current human evidence remains limited and heterogeneous. Optimal dosing strategies, long-term effects, and clinically meaningful impacts on amyloid-beta and tau biomarkers are not yet established. Larger, well-controlled trials with standardized anthocyanin quantification and long follow-up periods are required to determine the clinical relevance of anthocyanins in obesity-associated cognitive decline.
Collectively, the findings indicate that regular consumption of polyphenol-rich berries may represent a simple, accessible dietary strategy to support metabolic balance and brain health in aging populations, while acknowledging that definitive therapeutic claims require further validation.
Posted in: Men's Health News | Medical Science News | Medical Research News | Medical Condition News | Women's Health News
Written by
Pooja Toshniwal Paharia is an oral and maxillofacial physician and radiologist based in Pune, India. Her academic background is in Oral Medicine and Radiology. She has extensive experience in research and evidence-based clinical-radiological diagnosis and management of oral lesions and conditions and associated maxillofacial disorders.
Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:
APA
Toshniwal Paharia, Pooja Toshniwal Paharia. (2026, February 22). New review explores whether berries can slow cognitive decline linked to obesity. News-Medical. Retrieved on February 23, 2026 from https://www.news-medical.net/news/20260222/New-review-explores-whether-berries-can-slow-cognitive-decline-linked-to-obesity.aspx.
MLA
Toshniwal Paharia, Pooja Toshniwal Paharia. "New review explores whether berries can slow cognitive decline linked to obesity". News-Medical. 23 February 2026.
Researchers report that declining PPP2R5C levels in blood may signal early Alzheimer's pathology, offering new insight into tau regulation and future diagnostic strategies
Study: Neuronal PPP2R5C in plasma is a potential biomarker for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease
In a recent study published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine, researchers identified protein phosphatase 2 regulatory subunit B'β (PPP2R5C) as a potential early biomarker associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD).
AD is the most common form of dementia and disproportionately affects the aging population. Pathological changes in AD begin decades before symptom onset, highlighting the importance of identifying reliable early biomarkers to enable disease-modifying interventions at preclinical stages. Current diagnostic tools, including positron emission tomography (PET) imaging and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis, are costly and invasive, limiting widespread clinical implementation.
A central feature of AD pathology is tau protein hyperphosphorylation, which disrupts microtubule stability and promotes the formation of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), ultimately leading to neuronal dysfunction and cell death. Because tau phosphorylation plays a critical role in AD progression, regulators of tau phosphorylation may serve as diagnostic biomarker candidates.
Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) accounts for approximately 70% of total tau phosphatase activity in the human brain. PP2A is a heterotrimeric complex composed of scaffold and catalytic subunits associated with variable regulatory subunits. PPP2R5C is highly expressed in the brain, and prior research has linked a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the PPP2R5C gene to AD risk. Whether PPP2R5C itself could function as a diagnostic biomarker remained unclear before this study.
Researchers investigated PPP2R5C levels in neuron-derived exosomes (NDEs) isolated from plasma samples. The discovery cohort included 4 cognitively normal (CN) individuals, 4 presymptomatic familial AD (pre-FAD) participants, and 5 familial AD (FAD) patients. Label-free proteomic analysis showed that a PPP2R5C-specific peptide progressively decreased from presymptomatic FAD to FAD compared with cognitively normal controls.
This observation was validated in a second cohort consisting of 32 CN controls, 20 sporadic AD patients, and 12 individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) using targeted NDE analysis. Findings suggested reduced PPP2R5C expression may be associated with early AD pathological processes.
Because isolating NDEs from plasma is technically challenging, researchers evaluated total plasma PPP2R5C as a more practical biomarker candidate. In a third cohort comprising 15 FAD patients and 15 CN controls, plasma PPP2R5C levels were significantly lower in AD patients.
Further analyses showed that plasma PPP2R5C levels were approximately 61.3% lower in aMCI and 31.6% lower in AD than in CN controls. The AD group exhibited 52.1% lower plasma PPP2R5C than the aMCI group.
Plasma PPP2R5C distinguished AD from CN controls with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.8494 and differentiated aMCI from controls with an AUROC of 0.7360. Differentiation between aMCI and AD yielded an AUROC of 0.5931, indicating limited stage-discrimination capability.
Plasma PPP2R5C was positively associated with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores and negatively correlated with plasma phosphorylated tau 181 (p-tau181), p-tau217, and p-tau231 levels, supporting relevance to tau pathology.
Postmortem brain analyses revealed lower PPP2R5C levels in aged AD patients compared with young CN and aged CN individuals, suggesting aging alone does not substantially reduce PPP2R5C expression.
Immunohistochemical staining of Braak-graded AD brain samples showed PPP2R5C expression decreased as early as Braak stage II, when NFTs were still relatively limited. In Braak stages II and IV, PPP2R5C levels remained consistently low despite increased NFT accumulation, supporting the hypothesis that PPP2R5C reduction may precede extensive tau pathology.
Co-immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrated interaction between PPP2R5C and tau. Increasing PPP2R5C expression reduced phosphorylated tau and total tau levels while enhancing PP2A enzymatic activity. Silencing PPP2R5C decreased PP2A activity, suggesting a regulatory role rather than a purely correlative association.
Pharmacological inhibitor experiments indicated PPP2R5C-driven tau degradation was blocked by autophagy-lysosome inhibitors, including chloroquine, leupeptin, and ammonium chloride, but not by the proteasome inhibitor MG132. These findings implicate the autophagolysosomal pathway in PPP2R5C-mediated tau clearance.
Because the unc-51-like kinase 1 (ULK1) complex regulates early autophagy induction, researchers assessed its involvement. Immunoblotting showed a negative correlation between PPP2R5C expression and phosphorylated ULK1. Molecular docking suggested PPP2R5C binds an accessible region on ULK1, and co-immunoprecipitation confirmed interaction, although binding affinity was not directly quantified.
Collectively, findings suggest PPP2R5C may serve as a plasma biomarker candidate associated with early AD pathological processes. Reduced PPP2R5C appeared to precede tau hyperphosphorylation and was not observed in cognitively normal aged individuals.
Mechanistically, PPP2R5C interacts with tau, modulates PP2A activity, and promotes tau degradation via a ULK1-dependent autophagolysosomal pathway. However, the study does not establish PPP2R5C as a definitive diagnostic marker.
Larger, longitudinal, and ethnically diverse cohort studies are needed to validate these findings. Assay standardization and reproducibility studies will be essential before plasma PPP2R5C can be incorporated into routine clinical screening or early diagnostic workflows for Alzheimer's disease.
Posted in: Medical Science News | Medical Research News | Medical Condition News
Written by
Tarun is a writer based in Hyderabad, India. He has a Master's degree in Biotechnology from the University of Hyderabad and is enthusiastic about scientific research. He enjoys reading research papers and literature reviews and is passionate about writing.
Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:
APA
Sai Lomte, Tarun. (2026, February 22). Study identifies PPP2R5C blood marker that may detect Alzheimer's disease earlier. News-Medical. Retrieved on February 23, 2026 from https://www.news-medical.net/news/20260222/Study-identifies-PPP2R5C-blood-marker-that-may-detect-Alzheimere28099s-disease-earlier.aspx.
MLA
Sai Lomte, Tarun. "Study identifies PPP2R5C blood marker that may detect Alzheimer's disease earlier". News-Medical. 23 February 2026.
The U.S.-led Board of Peace has a new partner as the country prepares to be thrust into the international soccer spotlight.
FIFA signed a partnership agreement with the board Feb. 19 to "actively source investment from international leaders and institutions harnessing the power of football to support recovery, stability and long-term development in conflict-affected regions."
The agreement comes not only as the United States prepares to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but also after the organization awarded its inaugural Peace Prize to President Trump in December.
"The Board of Peace will play an essential role in fulfilling all 20 points of the President's plan" to end the war in Gaza, according an announcement from the White House. The board will assist by "providing strategic oversight, mobilizing international resources, and ensuring accountability as Gaza transitions from conflict to peace and development."
The Board is chaired by Trump, with appointed members including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Sir Tony Blair, businessman Marc Rowan, President of the World Bank Group Ajay Banga and U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Robert Gabriel.
The Board has also announced a large number of founding member states including Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Albania, Bahrain, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cambodia, El Salvador, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
Controversially, the Board of Peace announced Israel would be included as a founding member of the group on Feb. 12. Israel is in direct conflict with Palestine. Palestine has also not been listed as a founding member of the Board.
A United Nations Commission concluded Israel has committed genocide in Gaza in a September report, and the commission said top Israeli officials like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were directly responsible for inciting these acts. Israel responded to the commission's findings by calling it scandalous.
"FIFA wants as many people as possible around the world to participate in our game and benefit from the opportunities it creates. Football brings people together and contributes to a more prosperous, educated, equal and peaceful world. Together with the support of the Board of Peace, FIFA will drive this partnership which is built to deliver impact at every stage," FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement.
The organization laid out a multi-phase plan that begins with a "comprehensive recovery program for Gaza" and leads to the construction of a new 20,000-seat national stadium.
Phase I begins with the construction of 50 FIFA Arena mini-pitches near schools and residential areas paired with a Football for Schools program that provides equipment and activities to children through FIFA. This will occur in the first three to six months, the organization said.
The second phase, starting at 12 months, will include "the development of five full-size pitches, enabling the establishment of organized local clubs and strengthening structured football pathways," according to FIFA.
Between 18 and 36 months into the partnership, FIFA will create a "center of excellence integrating elite sport, education and accommodation." This will include "talent identification, professional pathways and skilled employment opportunities."
The final phase ends with a national stadium that can reinforce "national identity" while "generating commercial revenues."
"Implementation will proceed in line with ongoing monitoring of safety and security conditions," FIFA said. "Once circumstances allow, the activation of Phase I will begin, supported by structured stakeholder engagement and milestone-based progress reporting."
Irene Wright is the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA Today's Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.
New Airbnb hosts could score big this summer.
With the FIFA World Cup coming up in June, millions of soccer fans from all over the world will be making plans to attend the biggest sporting event.
New data from Airbnb shows that the demand for stays during the World Cup is surging, with searches for host cities increasing by an average of 80% compared to the same time last year.
To meet the growing demand, Airbnb is offering a big incentive for new hosts willing to give up their space during the tournament.
New entire home hosts in any of the 16 host cities in Canada, Mexico and the US who welcome their first guests between now and July 31, 2026, will be eligible to receive $750.
That $750 is on top of what a host can earn from the guests' stay — and Deloitte estimates that residents of host cities can earn $3,000 on average just by renting out their space on Airbnb during the World Cup.
In New York and New Jersey, where the final will be hosted at MetLife Stadium, Deloitte said hosts can cash in at about $5,700 — the most of any host city.
Deloitte's study also noted that hosts Los Angeles, another host city, can earn up to $5,100.
“As the world's biggest sporting event comes to North America, Airbnb is launching its biggest new host incentive ever,” Dave Stephenson, Chief Business Officer at Airbnb, said in a statement.
“Demand for World Cup stays on Airbnb is surging, giving residents of host cities the opportunity to boost their incomes by sharing their homes and the communities they love. There's truly never been a better time to become a host on Airbnb.”
And a survey from Focaldata commissioned by Airbnb revealed that the extra income a resident can get from hosting is a motivating factor, allowing people to afford basic living costs while sharing their community with tourists.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they would consider renting out space in their homes for the FIFA World Cup — and almost half said the extra income would be their primary motivation.
Almost 90% shared that the extra cash would have either a significant or moderate positive impact on their financial situation, with residents hoping to use it to help clear debts (40%), cover living expenses (35%) and make home improvements (33%).
But it's not all about the financial gain. Residents surveyed also noted that they would be most excited to share local hidden gems (52%) and their favorite restaurants, cafes and attractions (49%) with guests.
Eligible event zones for new hosts include Atlanta, Boston (including Providence), Dallas (including Fort Worth and Tarrant County), Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles (including Coastal Orange County), Mexico City, Miami (including South Florida Atlantic Coast), Monterrey, New York (including Jersey City), Philadelphia, San Francisco (including South Bay and East Bay), Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver.
A full list of eligible zip codes is available on Airbnb's website.
To qualify for Airbnb's offer, hosts must be new the platform or have had no active listings on the platform as of Feb. 1.
MLS
Ronald Cortes / Getty Images
Josh Sargent is finalizing his transfer from Norwich City to Toronto FC, but all along there has been another MLS party with vested interest in the move coming to fruition.
St. Louis City SC is set to receive up to $700,000 ($500,000 plus $200,000 in performance-based add-ons) in general allocation money from Toronto upon the transfer's completion due to a unique setup that goes beyond the normal MLS discovery process, sources tell The Athletic.
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Normally, when MLS clubs sign players who are on another team's discovery list, there's a formality fee exchanged for those discovery rights. It begins at $50,000 in general allocation money if the team holding a player's rights does not make an offer to sign the player, but it can be negotiated up if there was a genuine attempt to secure the signing. For instance, Charlotte FC received $400,000 from the LA Galaxy for the right to sign Marco Reus, as Charlotte made a strong run at the German World Cup veteran, who ultimately took less money to sign with the Galaxy.
In this case, St. Louis is entitled to significantly more than the typical discovery fee, and there's a behind-the-scenes reason for it.
When St. Louis entered MLS in 2023, it happened at the same time as the league's abolition of its allocation order process. That was a long-standing player-signing mechanism that related to specific U.S. men's national team players or stars who previously played in MLS and were returning to the league after leaving for a substantial fee. It was seen by the league as a means to fairly distribute top talent, and expansion teams go to the top of the list, giving them the first right of refusal for any such players. Since that asset was effectively removed from St. Louis City's war chest, the club sought compensation from the league and came to an arrangement that it could pick one player from the last allocation order list for whom it would retain the first right of refusal. Sargent, a St. Louis area native and U.S. men's national team forward, was the pick.
With the player instead heading to Toronto after a prolonged transfer saga with Norwich City three years later, it entitled St. Louis to a piece of the action. The club has cashed in that chip, and with it, the last loose ends to the old allocation order have been tied.
Sargent, meanwhile, is headed to TFC for a fee of around $22 million, with add-ons taking it up to $27 million in one of the biggest transfers in MLS history, sources say. He'll join a club that fell to FC Dallas to open the 2026 season, losing 3-2 on Saturday night.
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Tom Bogert is a Senior Writer for The Athletic, providing exclusive, original and unique insights on MLS and the U.S. national team. He has previously written for MLSsoccer.com, The Guardian, and more.
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Some major USMNT players made successful returns from injury this weekend, while others must contend with new set-backs. There were also goals, bloodied heads and costly reds (cards) in an eventful weekend for U.S. players in Europe.
Welcome to this week's player tracker.
Antonee Robinson had hoped his misfortune was behind him this season.
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After finally recovering from the complicated knee injury that caused him to miss 12 league games earlier in the campaign, he returned ready to make up for lost time. In a World Cup year, the Fulham left-back had left no stone unturned — including doing extra work with independent injury specialists — to get fully fit.
He was back in December and started nine consecutive games, quickly reminding everyone of the sensational form he has shown in the Premier League for some time.
But whether it was the long-term impact of not having benefited from a regular pre-season, or ongoing soreness as his body fully recovered, his immaculate form tailed off a little last month.
It led to the almost unthinkable scenario as manager Marco Silva left the 28-year-old on the bench for Fulham's games against Everton and Manchester City at the beginning of February, with both matches ending in defeat.
Robinson was not even in the squad for Sunday's win over Sunderland, prompting concern from fans of the London club and U.S. national team alike.
“He felt something in his ankle throughout the week,” Silva told The Athletic after his team's 3-1 triumph at the Stadium of Light. “He tried yesterday (Saturday) in the session and he wasn't feeling 100 per cent to come to the game. We took a decision to not bring him with us and to put another player in the squad.
“It doesn't look serious. It was something he felt throughout the week. He tried in a session but wasn't in a condition to come.”
Sources close to the player, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect professional relationships, explained that the defender initially had a dead leg after a blow to the thigh muscle above his troublesome right knee last week. To make matters worse, he then rolled his ankle in training and had to miss Friday's session altogether.
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As Silva revealed, an attempt to join a light session on Saturday was aborted when Robinson could not run properly.
Nobody close to him fears this mishap will result in another lengthy lay-off, although they cannot say whether he will have recovered in time for Sunday's home match against Tottenham Hotspur.
It is another unwelcome blip in a season when Robinson should be rampaging down the flank, creating chances and gearing up for the biggest international tournament of his career.
It was not all worrying news for injured American players, though.
For Ricardo Pepi and Tyler Adams, there were far more upbeat moments over the weekend. The former made his comeback for PSV after missing nine league games since breaking his arm in January.
That break happened in the process of scoring a goal, and he made sure to score again after coming on as a late substitute in his side's 3-1 win over Heerenveen on Saturday.
It was a clinical finish from the 23-year-old, even if his manager Peter Bosz admitted he had not been sure the striker would make such an immediate impact. He never doubted him when the chance beckoned, though.
“I have to tell you, very honestly, that I didn't know what to expect from him,” he told the PSV website. “He shot two goals, one of which was disallowed. That goal he did score was a typical Pepi goal. If he gets the ball there in that spot, you can count on a goal.”
Bosz and PSV fans should enjoy Pepi for the rest of the season, as he is likely to depart in the summer.
There is a world where he starts next season lining up alongside Robinson at Fulham. The Cottagers worked on a deal to sign him during the winter window and will return to it at the end of this season.
Adams has missed the same number of league games for Bournemouth as Pepi did for PSV, and the midfielder was also back on the pitch at the weekend. The 27-year-old, who suffered a tear to his medial knee ligaments in December, was able to start in Saturday's 0-0 draw at West Ham.
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He played over an hour before being substituted as a precaution, and his return will be a major relief for both club boss Andoni Iraola and Mauricio Pochettino.
“We needed Tyler to start today, play for 66 minutes and we didn't want to risk any longer with him,” said Iraola. “We have some players like him, starting to become available but we have to be safe with them still. They need minutes training and minutes in games but it's good because we want players for the second half of the season.”
In another important return, Christian Pulisic was back in Milan's starting line-up for the first time since January 18 in Serie A.
The bursitis that has hampered him has been carefully managed by Milan's medical team, limiting the USMNT star to brief cameos from the bench.
But he started in Sunday's 1-0 defeat by Parma in San Siro, and lasted a little over an hour before coming off.
He had created a couple of chances for his team, and had a shot which brushed the post but, ultimately, the defeat leaves Milan 10 points behind rivals Inter in first spot.
Folarin Balogun's hot streak continues, with the striker having now scored three goals in his last two games.
The USMNT forward built on his impressive double in the Champions League last week against Paris Saint-Germain with another strike, this time in Ligue 1, as Monaco beat high-flying Lens 3-2.
Balogun's goal started the comeback for his team, who had gone 2-0 down but ran out winners thanks to a second-half rally led by the American. Monaco put AI to good use on social media afterwards to celebrate.
FOLARIN BALOGUN 🇺🇸
3 goals in his last 2 games 🔝 pic.twitter.com/6g8uqwSZOL
— AS Monaco EN 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco_EN) February 21, 2026
Two U.S. defenders had bumpy weekends in more ways than one.
Chris Richards suffered a nasty head-to-head collision with Wolves player Santiago Bueno during their game at Selhurst Park on Sunday.
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Richards, who had earlier almost scored an own goal via an unlucky deflection that dropped just onto the roof of the net, was down receiving treatment for a while.
It was borderline whether he could continue, but the 25-year-old was patched up and bravely played on.
In the end, he was celebrating as Palace picked up a hard-earned win to give them a sense of much-needed momentum after losing to Burnley and drawing with Zrinjski Mostar in the Conference League in their last two games.
In Scotland, there was no upside to Auston Trusty's painful afternoon. He was sent off for violent conduct after chopping at the arm of Hibernian's Jamie McGrath when he grabbed him in the penalty area before a corner.
VAR instructed the referee to intervene and he sent Trusty off after reviewing the incident carefully.
Celtic boss Martin O'Neill felt it was harsh — and the Glasgow club's afternoon got worse as they conceded an 88th-minute goal that cost them vital ground in the title race.
There is more Champions League play-off action to savour this week — with the stakes high for the second leg ties.
See if Balogun can keep scoring and help Monaco pull off an upset by knocking out PSG on Wednesday (3pm, Paramount +) or whether Weston McKennie can help Juventus overcome their 5-2 loss at Galatasaray with a big win in Turin (8pm, Paramount +).
The day before, on Tuesday, Malik Tillman will be hoping he can help Leverkusen finish the job against Olympiakos after they won the first leg 2-0 (Tuesday, 3pm, Paramount +).
In Spain, Johnny Cardoso played all 90 minutes of Atletico Madrid's 4-2 win over Espanyol at the weekend, so he will want to keep that positive form going as his team enter a finely poised second leg with Club Brugge in Madrid (Tuesday, 12:45pm, Paramount +).
Finally, in the UEFA Conference League, Richards will hope for a pain-free evening as Palace try to progress in the second leg of their play-off with Mostar (Thursday, 3pm, Paramount +).
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Greg O'Keeffe is a senior writer for The Athletic covering US soccer players in the UK & Europe.
Previously he spent a decade at the Liverpool Echo covering news and features before an eight-year stint as the paper's Everton correspondent; giving readers the inside track on Goodison Park, a remit he later reprised at The Athletic.
He has also worked as a news and sport journalist for the BBC and hosts a podcast in his spare time. Follow Greg on Twitter @GregOK
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The player who allegedly racially abused Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior, Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni, has been provisionally suspended “without prejudice” by UEFA for one match.
Benfica have announced they will appeal the decision but, as it stands, Prestianni will miss the second leg of the two sides' Champions League play-off in Madrid on Wednesday. Madrid hold a 1-0 lead heading into that game. Prestianni has denied racially abusing Vinicius Jr.
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Last week's first leg match in Lisbon was stopped for around eight minutes after Vinicius Jr, 25, alleged that Prestianni, 20, had abused him following the Brazilian's second-half goal. After speaking to Vinicius Jr, referee Francois Letexier signalled the start of FIFA's racial abuse protocol by crossing his wrists above his head.
The day after the match, UEFA confirmed it would be opening an investigation into the alleged offence, which carries a minimum suspension length of 10 games if proven.
On Monday, the appointed ethics and disciplinary inspector requested that Prestianni be provisionally suspended “without prejudice” for the next match, the second leg of the tie.
Benfica then announced that it will appeal against the decision but acknowledged that the timescale involved meant it was unlikely to stop Prestianni missing the game.
Benfica's statement on Monday read: “The club regrets being deprived of the player while the process is still under investigation and will appeal this UEFA decision, even though the deadlines in question are unlikely to have any practical effect on the second leg of the Champions League play-off.
“(The club) also reaffirms its unwavering commitment to combating all forms of racism or discrimination, values that are part of its historical identity and are reflected in its daily actions, its global community, the work of the Benfica Foundation, and major figures in the club's history, such as Eusebio.”
Sources with knowledge of the matter have told The Athletic that UEFA has already received signed statements from several players, including Vinicius Jr.
“Our club has actively collaborated with the investigation opened by UEFA following the unacceptable episodes of racism experienced during that match,” a previous statement on Madrid's website read.
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“Real Madrid appreciates the unanimous support, backing, and affection that our player Vinicius Jr. has received from all areas of the global football community. Real Madrid will continue working, in collaboration with all institutions, to eradicate racism, violence, and hate in sports and society.”
In 2021, Slavia Prague's Ondrej Kudela was provisionally suspended for one match after Rangers' Glen Kamara alleged that he was racially abused following a Europa League match.
Kudela missed his side's game against Arsenal as a result. He was handed a ten-match ban by UEFA a week later.
Argentina forward Prestianni later denied the allegations in an Instagram post, saying that “at no time did I direct racist insults to Vini Jr, who regrettably misunderstood what he thought he heard”.
Benfica released a statement outlining its “historical and unwavering commitment to defending the values of equality, respect, and inclusion” and that it “fully supports and believes in the version presented by the player Gianluca Prestianni”.
Madrid's Kylian Mbappe said after the match that he heard Prestianni “say that Vinicius is a monkey, five times”.
Benfica head coach Jose Mourinho suggested after the game that Vinicius Jr had incited the incident, also referencing the home side's legend Eusebio, who is Black. The reference to the forward's celebration and the Portuguese club's history was condemned by anti-racism charity Kick it Out, which said on social media that it was “a form of gaslighting” and “sends the wrong message”. Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany described Mourinho's comments as “a huge mistake”.
Mourinho is not due to address the media pre-match, with Benfica announcing that his assistant, Joao Tralhao, would take Tuesday's press conference at the Bernabeu. After receiving a red card in an incident unrelated to the alleged racism, Mourinho is not obligated to speak to the press as he normally would be.
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Vinicius Jr has been the subject of racial abuse multiple times in his career.
Last May, five supporters were handed suspended prison sentences and fined for racist chants directed at the Brazil international during a match against Real Valladolid. Earlier this month, second-tier Spanish side Albacete said they were “pained and ashamed” after a banana was thrown at Vinicius Jr during a Copa de Rey game.
The Brazil forward scored in his first game since the alleged abuse, Madrid's 2-1 defeat at Osasuna on Saturday. La Liga said after the game it was investigating footage that appeared to show Osasuna fans chanting “Vinicius, muerete”, which translates as “Vinicius, die”, during the match. The Athletic has contacted Osasuna for comment.
Analysis by Oliver Kay
The only certain consequence of UEFA's decision is the lessening of at least some of the tension surrounding Wednesday's second leg in Madrid.
Last week's events in Lisbon have led to acrimony at boardroom level, between the two sets of players and potentially between supporters, but the second leg at the Bernabeu will take place without the presence of Benfica forward Prestianni.
There has been a notable change of tone in Benfica's messaging and communications since the immediate aftermath, when Mourinho appeared to blame Vinicius Jr for the incident and the club's social media accounts posted a video which they said “demonstrate (that) the Real Madrid players could not have heard what they claim to have heard”.
On Monday, Benfica said only that it noted and “regret” UEFA's decision, adding that the club will appeal against Prestianni's suspension but that “the deadlines in question are unlikely to have any practical effect” on his availability for Wednesday's match.
It was an unexpected move from UEFA to suspend a player as an interim measure while an investigation is ongoing. UEFA say it has done so “without prejudice to any ruling that the UEFA disciplinary bodies may subsequently make following the conclusion of the ongoing investigation”.
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Liverpool cult hero Emile Heskey believes that USMNT star Christian Pulisic could be a useful replacement for Mohamed Salah at Anfield. The American forward boasts Premier League experience from a stint at Chelsea and has starred in Italy for AC Milan. A return to England is being speculated on, with another winger potentially being required on Merseyside.
Egyptian superstar Salah is tied to a contract with Liverpool through to the summer of 2027. He has, however, cut a frustrated figure at times this season - delivering an explosive outburst at one stage - and seen his output dip. The 33-year-old has not registered a Premier League goal since November 1.
Moves to the Saudi Pro League or MLS have been mooted for Salah, as Liverpool can still generate a fee from any sale, with rumours ramping up regarding potential successors in the Reds' right wing berth.
United States international Pulisic is said to be in the mix there, as he delays the signing of a new contract at San Siro, and Heskey feels ‘Captain America' could be a shrewd addition to Arne Slot's squad.
The former Liverpool striker told OLBG: “I actually quite like Christian Pulisic. He is very direct. He probably didn't get as many goals as I would have liked him to get at Chelsea but I thought he gave defences problems.
“Obviously after a good World Cup, being at home with the pressure on him, he is definitely someone who could offer something different to Mohamed Salah or even Cody Gakpo right now.
“Mo left Chelsea to go to Italy and look at what he's done for Liverpool. I think it'd be great to see someone like Pulisic come back into the Premier League in the same way because I'm guessing he would love to show that his time at Chelsea was just a little blip. He was only a young lad when he came over.”
Several other names have been added to the pot when it comes to attacking additions for Liverpool, with interest said to have been retained in Newcastle forward Anthony Gordon - a former Everton star who grew up as a Reds supporter.
Heskey has named another couple of proven performers that could be considered, with one of those boasting Premier League experience at West Ham, while the other is a Champions League winner with Paris Saint-Germain.
Ex-England star Heskey added: “We're talking about replacing Mohamed Salah and I think as fans you've got to look at something different because you can't replace Mo Salah.
“I remember one season I was speaking to someone who said Mo's had a bad season. He'd scored 25 goals. I'd love to have had that bad of a season! We're talking about someone scoring 20 plus, nearly 30 goals a season for 10 years.
“I think we've just got to look at something different and it might not suit the manager anyway to have someone like Mo Salah. He might want to change the formation. I know that he was talking about a 4-4-2 diamond midfield and not having high and wide wingers and that would need something different.
“I don't think you can replace Mo Salah but I do like the lad from PSG, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. He would be my go-to.
“Would Jarrod Bowen be a downgrade from Mohamed Salah? I think most players are a downgrade compared to Salah but to be honest with you Bowen is a different type of player and he would probably help the formation because he's going to work a little bit harder than Mo.
“I'm not saying Mo doesn't work hard but Bowen has a different work rate and work ethic because he's coming from West Ham and before that the lower leagues. It's totally different. Andrew Robertson was arguably one of our best signings and he came from Hull City.”
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Salah has scored 252 goals for Liverpool through 429 appearances. He is a three-time PFA Player of the Year and winner of four Golden Boots. Two Premier League titles have been landed with the Reds, alongside Champions League and domestic cup honours, and whoever is charged with the task of filling his boots will have a sizable job on their hands.
If they didn't know it beforehand, then Sunday's north London derby seemingly confirmed one thing for those watching on as Tottenham succumbed to Arsenal: Spurs are in a relegation battle. Igor Tudor was supposed to deliver a new-manager bounce after replacing Thomas Frank, but his side looked severely lacking in quality and, perhaps more importantly, belief as they went down 4-1 to the Gunners to leave themselves just four points above the drop zone with 11 matches to play.
That's still more of a quarter of the season, meaning Spurs do have time to get themselves out of this predicament, while the return of a number of injured and suspended stars should give them a boost at some stage. But while they toil away looking for their first league win of 2026, those around Tottenham are picking up points and positioning themselves for late-season runs that they hope will lift them away from danger.
That kind of sequence feels miles away for Spurs right now regardless of the talent available to Tudor. Despite them finishing 17th last season, few felt heading into the new campaign that Spurs wouldn't have enough to steer well clear of the bottom three, with most predicting that they would be back competing for European qualification. They were, by most measures, 'too good to go down'.
Except that's not true of any team should their performances dip below a certain standard, and Spurs' fell below that line a long time ago and are yet to recover. And so while Tudor plots his new team's escape, here's seven cautionary tales from Premier League seasons past of relegations that few saw coming before they happened...
It might seem difficult to believe for those who began following the Premier League after the turn of the century, but Norwich City finished third in the competition's inaugural season as they built on promotion in 1986 to establish themselves in the top-flight. However, just two years after that memorable campaign that resulted in European qualification, the Canaries were on their way back to the second tier.
The thought of Norwich being relegated seemed far-fetched as 1994 became 1995 with John Deehan's side sat in seventh place at New Year. However, a collapse over the course of the second half of the season, which led to Deehan's resignation in April, saw them plummet down the table and finish 20th out of 22 teams. The sales of key forwards Chris Sutton and Mark Robins, as well as an injury to inspirational goalkeeper Bryan Gunn, were blamed, with supporters protesting against owner Robert Chase as Norwich disappeared through the trap door.
The 1996-97 season was one of great highs and lows for Middesbrough. They reached the final of both the FA Cup and League Cup (although they lost both Wembley showpieces), but endured a season to forget in the Premier League despite the presence of Brazilian midfield duo Juninho and Emerson as well as lethal Italian striker Fabrizio Ravanelli.
In fairness to Boro, while their league campaign was disappointing, they actually accrued enough points to finish solidly mid-table in 14th. However, a three-point deduction for failing to fulfil their December fixture against Blackburn Rovers due to a spate of players suffering from injuries and illnesses proved more than a little costly, as that led to them falling five places and suffering relegation on the final day of the campaign.
Heading into the 1998-99 campaign, Blackburn Rovers had finished inside the Premier League's top seven in five of the previous six seasons, including when they surprisingly won the title in 1995. However, they became the first team to win the Premier League and then suffer relegation from it despite kicking-off the campaign as some experts' outside tip to finish top of the tree once more.
Rovers won just two of their opening 15 league games of the season, leading to the sacking of Roy Hodgson as manager and appointment of Brian Kidd as his replacement. The former Manchester United coach only lost seven of his subsequent 23 matches in charge, but too many draws meant Blackburn could not lift themselves away from the bottom three and eventually had their relegation confirmed in the final week of the season.
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West Ham had finished in the top half of the Premier League in four of the previous five seasons heading into 2002-03, and hopes were high that a squad containing the likes of David James, Jermain Defoe, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Paolo Di Canio could push for European qualification under Glenn Roeder. However, expectations soon needed to be lowered after the Irons won just three of their opening 24 games.
Sir Trevor Brooking gave the Hammers hope of survival after the club legend was forced to step in in the wake of Roeder falling ill in April, but they couldn't get the result they needed at Birmingham City on the final day of the season and saw their 10-year stay in the top-flight ended amid emotional scenes at St. Andrew's.
Leeds United reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2001, but it soon became clear that the big spending of chairman Peter Ridsdale had left the club in financial difficulties and thus a slide back down the table felt inevitable. How quickly Leeds fell, however, still came as a huge shock given the players they managed to retain.
Forwards Mark Viduka and Alan Smith had been the strike-force that led Leeds to those European heights three years earlier, future England No.1 Paul Robinson was a mainstay in goal and a teenage James Milner made waves, but neither Peter Reid or club legend Eddie Gray could find a consistent level of performance to lead the Elland Road outfit away from danger, and the 1992 champions of England slipped to the second tier with two games still to play.
The days of Newcastle playing in the Champions League during the early 2000s were firmly in the Magpies' rearview mirror by the time 2008-09 rolled around, but a squad containing Michael Owen, Damien Duff, Shay Given, Nicky Butt and Mark Viduka was still regarded as being competitive when the season began. However, things soon began to unravel when fan-favourite coach Kevin Keegan fell out with the Newcastle hierarchy over transfers and resigned in September 2008.
Caretaker boss Chris Hughton subsequently oversaw two disastrous runs of form that sandwiched Joe Kinnear taking charge for four-and-a-half months before he was forced to step down due to ill health. Newcastle icon Alan Shearer was eventually handed the managerial reins with eight matches to go, but his lack of coaching experience was horribly exposed as he won just one game on the way to the team from Tyneside being relegated.
Leicester City remarkably won the Premier League in 2016. Five years later, they won the FA Cup for the first time in their history while finishing fifth in the league for the second successive campaign under Brendan Rodgers. Foxes fans were getting used to European nights at the King Power Stadium, and while they could only dream of repeating their fairy-tale triumph under Claudio Ranieri, Leicester were establishing themselves as a force within English football.
And then, in 2023, almost out of nowhere, they were relegated. A lack of transfer activity heading into the campaign suggested all was not well behind the scenes, and Rodgers seemed to lose both hope and interest long before he was sacked in April. Regardless, a squad containing the likes of Youri Tielemans, Jamie Vardy, Harvey Barnes and James Maddison - who memorably called out a journalist for suggesting Leicester could be relegated two months before the end of the season - should have had enough to avoid the drop. They did not.
Dutchman steps down for personal reasons
Caribbean island only has population of 150,000
Dick Advocaat led Curaçao to their first World Cup but will not be charge of the team at the tournament itself after resigning from the head coach's post for personal reasons.
“Dick Advocaat has stepped down with immediate effect as head coach of the national football team of Curaçao,” the country's football federation confirmed on social media, the statement going onto say that the 78-year-old will “devote his full attention to his daughter, who is facing health issues”.
“I have always said that family comes before football,” Advocaat added in the statement. The Dutchman, who has managed the Netherlands three times and took charge of Curaçao in 2024, will be replaced by his compatriot Fred Rutten, a former national-team defender who has managed PSV, Anderlecht and Feyenoord.
Advocaat described leading the Caribbean island, which has a population of around 150,000, to the World Cup as the “craziest thing” he had achieved in a managerial career that spans nearly four decades. He would have become the oldest coach in World Cup history.
Curaçao begin their World Cup campaign with a Group E match against Germany in Houston on 14 June.
Dick Advocaat has made the decision to step down as head coach of Curacao due to his daughter's ongoing health issues.
The choice has been made only months before the small Caribbean nation's historic World-Cup opener against four-time champions Germany.
Curacao will be the smallest nation by population to compete at a World Cup having qualified for the first time ever.
The Dutch territory will surpass Iceland's record as they have approximately 156,000 inhabitants, in comparison to 350,000.
The team's success could be largely thanked to its strategic recruitment of players born and raised in the Netherlands.
The country secured FIFA's permission as they changed national eligibility to include players who already represented the Netherlands at youth or U-21s level.
The Dutch manager released a statement saying: "I've always said that family comes before football.
"So this is a natural decision, but that doesn't change the fact that I will miss Curacao, the people there, an my colleagues very much.
"I consider qualifying the smallest FIFA country in the world for the World Cup one of the highlights of my career.
"I'm proud of my players and staff, and the board members who believed in us."
Advocaat was a previous manager of Sunderland, appointed after Gus Poyet in March 2015.
He lost his first match in charge, however he redeemed himself after winning 1-0 against Newcastle United in the Tyne-Wear derby.
The former PSV manager guided the Black Cats to Premier League safety with one game remaining, the team finished in 16th place, three points above the relegation zone.
He left the club a week later, announcing the end of his managerial career yet decided to reverse his decision a few days later and signed a one-year contract with the club.
Nevertheless, the North East side struggled at the start of the season, which meant the Dutchman left in October 2017, with a record of four wins, six draws and nine losses.
Fred Rutten has been named as Advocaat's successor, a manager with similar experience from clubs such as PSV and Feyenoord.
Advocaat, an experienced national manager, has previously led the Netherlands and South Korea to World Cups.
The Caribbean island booked their ticket to the international competition after topping their final stage qualifying group ahead of Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Bermuda.
Gilbert Martina, chairman of the Curacao Football Association has said: "His decision can only be respected.
Dick has made history with the national football team and Curacao will always be grateful to him."
The well-travelled coach has also had a spell with Rangers, where he won two Scottish league titles and three domestic cups.
When he took charge of the Glaswegian club, he became the first foreign manager to do so.
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The player who allegedly racially abused Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior, Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni, has been provisionally suspended “without prejudice” by UEFA for one match.
Benfica have announced they will appeal the decision but, as it stands, Prestianni will miss the second leg of the two sides' Champions League play-off in Madrid on Wednesday. Madrid hold a 1-0 lead heading into that game. Prestianni has denied racially abusing Vinicius Jr.
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Last week's first leg match in Lisbon was stopped for around eight minutes after Vinicius Jr, 25, alleged that Prestianni, 20, had abused him following the Brazilian's second-half goal. After speaking to Vinicius Jr, referee Francois Letexier signalled the start of FIFA's racial abuse protocol by crossing his wrists above his head.
The day after the match, UEFA confirmed it would be opening an investigation into the alleged offence, which carries a minimum suspension length of 10 games if proven.
On Monday, the appointed ethics and disciplinary inspector requested that Prestianni be provisionally suspended “without prejudice” for the next match, the second leg of the tie.
Benfica then announced that it will appeal against the decision but acknowledged that the timescale involved meant it was unlikely to stop Prestianni missing the game.
Benfica's statement on Monday read: “The club regrets being deprived of the player while the process is still under investigation and will appeal this UEFA decision, even though the deadlines in question are unlikely to have any practical effect on the second leg of the Champions League play-off.
“(The club) also reaffirms its unwavering commitment to combating all forms of racism or discrimination, values that are part of its historical identity and are reflected in its daily actions, its global community, the work of the Benfica Foundation, and major figures in the club's history, such as Eusebio.”
Sources with knowledge of the matter have told The Athletic that UEFA has already received signed statements from several players, including Vinicius Jr.
“Our club has actively collaborated with the investigation opened by UEFA following the unacceptable episodes of racism experienced during that match,” a previous statement on Madrid's website read.
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“Real Madrid appreciates the unanimous support, backing, and affection that our player Vinicius Jr. has received from all areas of the global football community. Real Madrid will continue working, in collaboration with all institutions, to eradicate racism, violence, and hate in sports and society.”
In 2021, Slavia Prague's Ondrej Kudela was provisionally suspended for one match after Rangers' Glen Kamara alleged that he was racially abused following a Europa League match.
Kudela missed his side's game against Arsenal as a result. He was handed a ten-match ban by UEFA a week later.
Argentina forward Prestianni later denied the allegations in an Instagram post, saying that “at no time did I direct racist insults to Vini Jr, who regrettably misunderstood what he thought he heard”.
Benfica released a statement outlining its “historical and unwavering commitment to defending the values of equality, respect, and inclusion” and that it “fully supports and believes in the version presented by the player Gianluca Prestianni”.
Madrid's Kylian Mbappe said after the match that he heard Prestianni “say that Vinicius is a monkey, five times”.
Benfica head coach Jose Mourinho suggested after the game that Vinicius Jr had incited the incident, also referencing the home side's legend Eusebio, who is Black. The reference to the forward's celebration and the Portuguese club's history was condemned by anti-racism charity Kick it Out, which said on social media that it was “a form of gaslighting” and “sends the wrong message”. Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany described Mourinho's comments as “a huge mistake”.
Mourinho is not due to address the media pre-match, with Benfica announcing that his assistant, Joao Tralhao, would take Tuesday's press conference at the Bernabeu. After receiving a red card in an incident unrelated to the alleged racism, Mourinho is not obligated to speak to the press as he normally would be.
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Vinicius Jr has been the subject of racial abuse multiple times in his career.
Last May, five supporters were handed suspended prison sentences and fined for racist chants directed at the Brazil international during a match against Real Valladolid. Earlier this month, second-tier Spanish side Albacete said they were “pained and ashamed” after a banana was thrown at Vinicius Jr during a Copa de Rey game.
The Brazil forward scored in his first game since the alleged abuse, Madrid's 2-1 defeat at Osasuna on Saturday. La Liga said after the game it was investigating footage that appeared to show Osasuna fans chanting “Vinicius, muerete”, which translates as “Vinicius, die”, during the match. The Athletic has contacted Osasuna for comment.
Analysis by Oliver Kay
The only certain consequence of UEFA's decision is the lessening of at least some of the tension surrounding Wednesday's second leg in Madrid.
Last week's events in Lisbon have led to acrimony at boardroom level, between the two sets of players and potentially between supporters, but the second leg at the Bernabeu will take place without the presence of Benfica forward Prestianni.
There has been a notable change of tone in Benfica's messaging and communications since the immediate aftermath, when Mourinho appeared to blame Vinicius Jr for the incident and the club's social media accounts posted a video which they said “demonstrate (that) the Real Madrid players could not have heard what they claim to have heard”.
On Monday, Benfica said only that it noted and “regret” UEFA's decision, adding that the club will appeal against Prestianni's suspension but that “the deadlines in question are unlikely to have any practical effect” on his availability for Wednesday's match.
It was an unexpected move from UEFA to suspend a player as an interim measure while an investigation is ongoing. UEFA say it has done so “without prejudice to any ruling that the UEFA disciplinary bodies may subsequently make following the conclusion of the ongoing investigation”.
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Manchester United have been warned off a stunning transfer swoop for Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior. The Brazil international has been making headlines again of late and former Red Devils defender Paul Parker considers the South American to be a “rage baiter”. He is not convinced that Jarrod Bowen should be taken to Old Trafford either, but would like to see a deal done for Aston Villa playmaker Morgan Rogers.
Speculation regarding potential targets for the summer window is beginning to build in Manchester. United are back in the hunt for a top-four finish under interim head coach Michael Carrick and could have Champions League action to offer would-be recruits.
That will make it easier to land top targets, with questions being asked of how long former Ballon d'Or contender Vinicius will be spending at Santiago Bernabeu. He has seen a Premier League move mooted for some time.
Parker is not convinced that the 25-year-old would be the right kind of character for United, telling PariuriX: “It would be very interesting for Vinicius Junior to come to the Premier League, but I would prefer if he did it for another team to be perfectly honest. You don't need anyone like him around. He has so much talent about him, but it is never going to be recognised as such because of the person he is. To me he is just a rage baiter. He is looking for every reason to keep acting the way he is, which is a shame.
“To be that talented and act like that is a real shame. He had the potential to be respected by everyone, but with the way he acts I am sure, he will be difficult to have in the dressing room.
“People out there will be trying to do anything to make him lose his head, which is very easy for him. When he loses his head, he affects the football team. We have seen it so many times in Real Madrid.
“We can talk about 100 things he could be doing in a different way, but one thing I don't like about him or any other player being black or brown is when they are talking about walking off the pitch. I don't want that rubbish. I don't need to see a rage baiter coming to Manchester United. We need footballers. Play 90 minutes and do everything you can, don't turn it into anything else.
“I don't see any other black players doing the same that he is doing. The way he is carrying himself is not normal. At the end of the day there will always be a minority, but he would be respected more just for playing football.
“In many ways he is hated by every football fan. It is the same as with [Marc] Cucurella. Chelsea fans would say they love him, but they would hate him if he played for another club. Brighton fans hate him and he played there. If Vinicius Junior didn't play at Real Madrid the fans would hate him as well.”
While urging United to steer clear of Vinicius, Parker added when asked if West Ham captain Bowen would be a shrewd alternative when it comes to reinforcements on the flanks: “I think Jarrod Bowen is a decent player, but I don't think he is what Man United needs. I also think he has dropped in level, however he is still very important to West Ham.
“Would I be extremely mad at the club bringing him in to be a squad player? Probably not, but he would never be a starter and I think he needs to be a starter. He has always been that and he is not an impact player as such. He is a player who likes to be involved with the game from start to finish.
“I like him, but he wouldn't improve Manchester United. He is the type of player who has a ceiling and in my opinion he has hit that ceiling. He is not going to improve a lot with better players around him and he is not better than what we have.”
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Parker may not be convinced by Bowen but he believes another England international, Villa star Rogers, would make a stunning impact at Old Trafford if domestic rivals could be talked into a sale.
The two-time Premier League title winner said of a man hoping to earn a World Cup starting berth with the Three Lions this summer: “Oh, Morgan Rogers is very, very, very good. Extremely good. At the moment we are looking at him to be a starter for England at the World Cup. If he played for any other club than Aston Villa, he would be one of the first players on the team sheet of England. He is a fantastic player and to me he is the best attacking midfielder in the country.
“The problem is if Aston Villa were to lose him, I think Unai Emery would walk away. He would say he can't continue being the manager. Would he want to see Morgen Rogers coming and destroying him playing for Man United? There is just no way. But I think he would be a fantastic addition to the Man United squad. I just have a hard time seeing it happening, but he would be an amazing signing.”
United will have money to spend this summer, but it is yet to be determined how big that budget will be - as they chase down European qualification - and who said war chest will be handed to, as a permanent successor to Ruben Amorim will not be appointed until the 2025-26 campaign is over.
Dick Advocaat was poised to be the oldest coach at World Cup finals
Curacao will have a new head coach in charge for their World Cup warm-up friendly against Scotland on 30 May after Dick Advocaat stood down for personal reasons.
The former Rangers manager had led the Caribbean island's team to the finals for the first time but will be replaced with fellow Dutchman Fred Rutten.
At 78, Advocaat would have become the oldest coach in World Cup finals history.
He had described leading the island with a population of around 150,000 to the World Cup as the "craziest thing" he had achieved in a managerial career spanning nearly four decades.
But Dutch media reported on Monday that he has stood down because of his daughter's health.
"I've always said family is above football," he said. "So this is a self-evident decision.
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"But, of course, that doesn't change the fact that I'm going to miss Curacao, the people there and my colleagues very much."
Advocaat, who also managed the Netherlands, Belgium, South Korea, PSV Eindhoven and Sunderland, spent two years as Curacao head coach.
Unbeaten over six games, they reached their first finals by topping their CONCACAF qualifying group ahead of Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Bermuda.
Steve Clarke's Scots entertain Japan and Ivory Coast in March friendlies before Curacao visit Hampden for their final warm-up match before the summer finals in the Americas.
By then, the islanders will be led by 63-year-old former Netherlands defender Rutten, who has managed PSV Eindhoven, Anderlecht and Feyenoord.
He had most recently returned to PSV as assistant to Ruud van Nistelrooy and had a spell as caretaker after his fellow Dutchman's departure in 2023.
Rutten's side begin their World Cup campaign with a Group E match against Germany in Houston on 14 June and also face Ivory Coast and Ecuador.
The Scots begin their campaign the previous day against Haiti, with Brazil and Morocco the other sides in Group C.
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Vinicius: Eight years at Real Madrid, 20 cases of alleged racist abuse
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Real Madrid defender Dean Huijsen has found himself at the centre of a social media storm after sharing offensive content to the Asian community. The 20-year-old Spain international sparked immediate backlash after reposting an image on his Instagram that featured derogatory comments. The controversial post, which has since been scrubbed from his profile, included a picture of an Asian person accompanied by captions that Chinese netizens slammed as racist.
In the wake of the growing controversy, the 20-year-old star took to Real Madrid's official Weibo account to issue a formal statement to his followers in East Asia. Looking to mitigate the fallout on a platform that boasts over 582 million monthly active users, the defender expressed his remorse for the incident.
"I sincerely apologize to my Chinese friends," the statement read. "I previously forwarded content that included offensive messages unintentionally. It was completely unintentional, and I regret the distress caused."
While the apology was swift, the nature of the original post has left a bitter taste for many. Reports indicate that the shared image was accompanied by highly offensive remarks from internet users, including one that claimed the subject could be "blindfolded with dental floss." Another comment featured in the screenshot reportedly stated that "even the Chinese call him Chinese," further escalating the tension surrounding the post. The incident has cast a shadow over the rising star's reputation as he continues his development at the Bernabeu.
Despite the official apology, many fans in China remain unsatisfied with the club's handling of the situation. Critics have pointed out that the statement was only released on Weibo, a platform specifically targeted at the Chinese market, and was significantly absent from both Huijsen's and Real Madrid's global Instagram or X accounts. This has led to demands for a more transparent, worldwide apology or a video statement, with supporters questioning whether the remorse is genuine or merely a branding exercise to protect the club's heavy commercial interests in the region.
This is not the first time the Spanish giants have had to navigate tricky diplomatic waters regarding their relationship with China. In 2024, the club was forced to distance itself from a fan who was filmed singing a song containing anti-Chinese slurs prior to the Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund. The Chinese Embassy in Spain took the unusual step of filing a formal protest, describing the fan's behavior as "insulting to China, vulgar, and of bad character." The club responded by condemning the video and insisting the actions of an individual did not reflect Real Madrid's core values.
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The timing of Huijsen's social media blunder is particularly awkward for the Real Madrid hierarchy. The club are currently awaiting the results of a UEFA investigation into alleged racist abuse by Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni, directed at star forward Vinicius Junior during a recent clash. Los Blancoshave been vocal in their support of the Brazilian, who has been a frequent target of discrimination, making any internal disciplinary issues regarding similar topics a major headache for president Florentino Perez and the board.
As the footballing world becomes increasingly globalised, the scrutiny on player conduct across social media has never been higher. For Real Madrid, maintaining a pristine image in Asia is vital for their financial growth, and Huijsen's error serves as a reminder of the responsibilities that come with wearing the famous white shirt. Whether the 20-year-old will face further internal sanctions remains to be seen, but for now, the focus will be on ensuring that his actions on the pitch do more talking with the second leg of their Champions League knockout play-off against Benfica just right on the horizon.
Roberto Martinez maintains that Cristiano Ronaldo should be considered football's GOAT regardless of whether he leads Portugal to World Cup glory or not. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner is yet to get his hands on the most prestigious of international prizes, but will get another shot at that title in 2026. Martinez sees the evergreen frontman being under no pressure to deliver.
Ronaldo has been showing no sign of slowing down at 41 years of age, with remarkable individual standards being maintained when turning out for club and country. He has won league titles with Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus, picking up five Champions League crowns and a handful of Golden Balls along the way.
Two Golden Boots have been secured in the Saudi Pro League with Al-Nassr, while European Championship and Nations League glory has been savoured as a talismanic captain of Portugal who has 226 caps and 143 goals to his name.
Ronaldo has rewritten the history books on a regular basis and Martinez insists there is nothing that CR7 has to achieve in order to be recognised as the greatest of all-time. The Spanish tactician has told the Portugal Football Summit Podcast: “He will be the greatest player ever, whether he wins the World Cup or not.
“Our responsibility is to give ourselves the best possible chance to compete for it. That comes from analysing, improving constantly, and maintaining the same mindset that helped us succeed in the Nations League.”
Martinez added on getting to see what makes Ronaldo special when working with him up close: “I have never worked with a player who, every morning, has this focus on using the day to improve. If we could have Cristiano forever, it would be the easiest way to help younger players when they arrive at the national team. His desire is to use every day to become better.”
Portugal boss Martinez has previously told ESPN of why CR7 continues to set the standard for players around the world despite now being in his 40s: “I think we need to accept that everyone in the world knows Cristiano Ronaldo and has an opinion [about him]. But the Cristiano Ronaldo who joined the national team 21 years ago is not the same Cristiano he is now. Now, he's much more of a positional player, a striker. He's a player who, for us, is a finisher. He's the all-time leading scorer. So, having a player who now has 25 goals in the last 30 games for the national team is a gift.”
Ronaldo has sought to play down his claims to a World Cup crown, claiming that he does not need that validation in order to cement his legacy. He has, however, seen eternal rival Lionel Messi lift that trophy with Argentina.
Portugal are expected to be competitive when another global showpiece opens in North America, with Ronaldo looking to lead by example. He helped to deliver a second UEFA Nations League triumph in 2025.
Martinez believes that success will aid efforts to land another major honour. He added on the Portugal Football Summit Podcast: “It was essential for our confidence and belief. When you analyse the Nations League, it is probably the most demanding format: 10 matches over 10 months, five different camps, and decisive knockout matches. Winning in Germany, where Portugal had not won for 25 years, and facing a European champion in the final, gave the group incredible confidence for the future.”
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Portugal have been placed in Group K at the 2026 World Cup. They will open their quest for global glory against the winner of an inter-confederation play-off in Houston on June 17. From there, they will go on to face Uzbekistan in Texas and Colombia at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
Ronaldo will be called upon if fit and will hope to be closing in on 1,000 career goals by the time that he graces the sixth World Cup finals of his record-shattering career.
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There is just one road that leads to the Estadio Akron, the stadium home to Mexican club Chivas de Guadalajara, which is scheduled to host four group matches at this year's World Cup. As the tournament approaches, traffic has been the main concern about the stadium.
On Sunday, there was a different issue. A little more than a mile away, near the go-kart track named for Mexican Formula One driver Sergio “Checo” Pérez, a burning bus blocked the road.
That did not make it unique Sunday morning in the state of Jalisco. In response to a federal operation that saw their leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes killed, members of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) put blockades all over the region – from central Guadalajara to the coastal city of Puerto Vallarta. In addition to buses and taxis being commandeered and lit on fire – a common tactic known as “narcobloqueos” – shops ranging in size from a Costco in Puerto Vallarta to corner stores also continue to be targets for arson and destruction.
The city activated a red alert protocol, effectively freezing activity for ordinary citizens and encouraging them to stay home. Bars and restaurants closed. Sports, too were affected: Sunday's Clásico Nacional between the women's teams of Chivas and Club América was postponed. So was a men's Liga MX contest more than 200 miles away in Querétaro. While no narcobloqueos had been confirmed there at time of writing, the wide-reaching CJNG operation and its affiliates had reportedly blocked roads in at least eight states.
It all brings to the forefront long-simmering questions about what authorities will do to make sure fans are safe and this summer's tournament goes off without incident in Mexico. The idea that a World Cup match in this soccer-loving country would be targeted is something that has concerned political officials, soccer directors and fans for decades.
In August 2011, a gun battle outside Santos Laguna's Estadio Corona sent players sprinting off the field to the locker room during a match against Monarcas Morelia. Panicked fans hit the ground, hiding under their seats. After more than a minute passed, many jumped on to the field and also sought shelter in the locker room area.
While the shooting later was confirmed to be outside the stadium, and everyone inside was safe, it was exactly the type of moment the Mexican league had been pushing against. Liga MX strives to market itself as a family-friendly product and to attract top talent from around the world. Players running for their lives or trying to find their families in the stands to protect them wasn't what the league needed, especially when Mexico already fights against a stereotype of being a dusty desert filled with cartel warfare.
Dorados, a second-division club in the state of Sinaloa, have not played a true home match since October 2024 because of violence between warring factions of the Sinaloa Cartel – the team have temporarily relocated to another state, Baja California –though the local baseball team has played home matches without incident.
That conflict is different, largely being fought between groups of organized crime rather than the state against the criminals. Still, the lessons learned in Sinaloa have resonated. In 2019, authorities tried to capture Ovidio Guzmán López, son of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, to fulfil a US extradition request. The Sinaloa Cartel responded with a show of force, setting up narcobloqueos and firing weapons all over town until Guzmán was released, an incident that became known as the Battle of Culiacán or the Culicanazo.
With that context, plenty in Mexico had wondered what the government would do about security heading into this year's World Cup. A manoeuvre like the one made Sunday to cut off the head of the snake could lead to long-term insecurity, destabilizing a region and leading to more concerns that cartel violence could afflict the thousands of visitors – and thousands of Mexicans – who will head to the stadiums this summer.
Indeed, Mexican national security and organized crime columnist Óscar Balderas has claimed that a high-level source told him that Mexico had “asked the United States not to take any action to capture or eliminate … ‘El Mencho' in 2026 because of the violence it could cause in World Cup cities – a Culicanazo in the style of the CJNG while the eyes of the world are on our country would be disastrous for Mexico's reputation.”
The decision to go after “El Mencho” this week shows that the two governments ultimately went with a different strategy – or that a different opinion won out. Unconfirmed reports in Mexico are emerging that the Americans put pressure on Mexico to lock up El Mencho prior to the tournament.
Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has been balancing domestic interests with Donald Trump's whims since the start of his second term. It's a tightrope Fifa also has been walking, as its president Gianni Infantino pals around with Trump.
Fifa had seemed to be a source of common ground for the North American leaders, with Trump and Sheinbaum meeting in person for the first time when they were brought together by the World Cup draw. Yet for as much influence as Fifa wields, the governing body is at the mercy of its hosts when it comes to keeping fans safe and warding off the chance of a mass-scale city shutdowns at the hands of organized crime. In front of the cameras, Fifa has expressed confidence.
”Fifa's Mexico office has been working for three years with the federal government, and all levels of the government, on the topic of security,” Fifa's executive director in Mexico, Jurgen Mainka, said in November 2025. “We're very sure, very confident that all the protocols and all the plans that are being implemented for the World Cup will give us the security framework necessary for all fans, all teams and all referees in 2026.”
State officials in Jalisco said before a 2025 friendly that they plan to add thousands of security cameras, purchase new law-enforcement vehicles and utilize technology aimed at preventing drones from entering restricted areas.
“Security is being worked on,” Sheinbaum said this past fall. “It has been worked on in a very coordinated manner, with police departments in the host cities, the host states and the [federal] secretary of security and civilian protection, and there's really important work being carried out.”
But that was all before Sunday's images went across social media, shocking for many around the world – perhaps including fans of South Korea, Colombia, Uruguay and Spain who are among fans planning trips to see their team in Jalisco. Yet, the images were all too familiar for many in Mexico who recall the Culicanazo.
With simmering problems boiling over, Mexican politicians must prove they can keep their citizens safe – and along the way avoid repeating the moments of August 2011 when the stranglehold organized crime has had on the country spilled over into a soccer stadium.
THE planned World Cup fan zone in New York has been cancelled – in the latest blow to the tournament.
Football's biggest game will be held in the MetLife Stadium just across the Hudson River from Manhattan on July 19.
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Fifa had promised the official “Fan Festival”, due to run for the entire 39-day event at Liberty State Park in New Jersey, would be a centrepiece of the World Cup in the city.
It was expected to draw millions of fans from across the planet.
Tickets had already been sold for the opening match between Mexico and South Africa on June 11, with fans guaranteed a perfect backdrop of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline.
But in a major U-turn, the entire event has now been canned.
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Local officials blamed the estimated $1million – £740,000 – per DAY cost of putting on the event too much to bear.
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill made the big call after weeks of negotiations and deliberations.
Now New Jersey state officials will organise a series of events on the eight days when matches are played in the MetLife – including England's final group game against Panama on June 27, stumping up £3.7m to cover the costs.
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But the grand plans for the five-week event have been permanently shelved.
Confirming the move, ticket supplier Ticketmaster said: “Unfortunately, the Event Organiser has had to cancel your event. You don't need to do a thing. We'll issue a refund.”
A statement from Jersey City, which runs Liberty State Park, said: “It became increasingly clear that there was no workable, cost-effective way to manage the influx of tens of thousands of fans into Liberty State Park, while maintaining access to the members of the Jersey City community.”
The latest setback for Fifa comes as the world body's former President, disgraced Sepp Blatter, slammed the match ticket prices.
Blatter said: “Asking thousands of dollars for a World Cup match? That's outrageous. It's absurd.
“The World Cup isn't a slot machine. But that's what it's become now. It's all about money, money, money.
“Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump are there to make the World Cup as profitable as possible. But that has never been the purpose of a World Cup.”
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The Delran native says she's "ready and excited" to be on Fox's lead crew of studio analysts once again for the World Cup. The tournament will make six stops in Philly over the course of 104 matches.
In 2022, Fox Networks threw Carli Lloyd into the proverbial fire — on the other side of the world.
Barely a year removed from her own retirement from professional soccer, the Delran native was announced as one of the primary studio analysts for the network's monthlong coverage of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
She handled it all in stride, finding her voice while taking cues from longtime on-air personalities Rob Stone and Alexi Lalas, but it was the first time she'd be a consistent presence, and a different look from what's customary, with her observations of each match being critiqued and analyzed by soccer fans all over the world.
“It was a lot to learn really fast, a lot to take in,” Lloyd recalled during the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Philadelphia last month. “But I was fortunate enough to learn from guys like Alexi and [Fox commentator] Stu [Holden] who helped me along the way really feel confident and like I can really do this.”
Lloyd did it well enough that she'll be among Fox's lead crew of studio analysts once again for the 2026 World Cup as the tournament makes six stops through Philadelphia as part of a 104-match schedule this summer.
It's a task she says she's “ready and excited for” after getting her feet wet in 2022, in addition to the commentary she's been able to provide in the years since — some of which along the way stirred up a bit of controversy.
But a new year finds the tournament on home soil, with the United States hosting the bulk of scheduled matches, also spread across Canada and Mexico. It's the perfect time for the United States to return to the biggest stage and show the world just how far it has evolved as a soccer nation, Lloyd says.
“I wouldn't say there's immense pressure in winning the World Cup,” Lloyd said. “But there's the pressure to show the country that they are there to compete and they're going to fight, and they're going to give everything they have for our country.”
Lloyd can recall being a 12-year-old girl watching the 1994 World Cup, the last time the men's edition was held in America. That tournament, she recalled, sparked her excitement and love for the sport.
Follow that up with the unforgettable 1999 women's edition, also hosted in the States, and those two moments galvanized the idea that Lloyd would do all she could to pursue it as a career.
The World Cup, Lloyd says, has that effect.
“I don't think we all know yet just how massive this is going to be, and the impact that it's going to have on generations to come,” Lloyd said. Those 1994 and 1999 World Cups “jump-started my dream; they were life-changing for me. But I think it's only going to be massive in the United States of America if our team shows up with that grit and that fight and that mentality.”
But it's not just on the fans' side. Lloyd said U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino's decision to leave a lot of the USMNT's bigger names off the roster for the Concacaf Gold Cup, deciding to bring top American talent from Major League Soccer and elsewhere — like the Union's Quinn Sullivan and Nathan Harriel — was an eye-opening experience for those players who might work a bit harder to remain on Pochettino's radar.
“For me personally, I think the Gold Cup was the turning point for this team, leaving a lot of those well-known players off the roster,” Lloyd said. “I think it was the best thing that could have happened to this team going into this World Cup. It gave a lot of the non-European [American] players the confidence, the belief, and [allowed Pochettino] to instill the culture he wants to build.”
Lloyd compared all of that to the success U.S. women's coach Emma Hayes achieved in a short span, becoming the change that was needed after the Americans' shocking exit at the 2023 women's World Cup.
There's no reason, she says, that Pochettino can't find similar success — despite being off to a noticeably slower start.
“Obviously, the 2023 [women's] World Cup didn't end well,” Lloyd said. “The team needed change and almost needed to be blown up in order to be rebuilt again. Emma Hayes comes in. A lot of players retire. She selects different rosters, and they instantly change the culture, the mentality, the pride of wearing the jersey again, and that happened very quickly.
“But with the men's team, I feel like it took a lot of time, and I don't know why it took time. Maybe it was the language barrier [between] coach and the team, and the lack of games and opportunities that they had together.”
The U.S. seemed to find continuity during November's qualifying cycle with a pair of exhibition wins, against Paraguay in Chester and a 5-1 rout of Uruguay in Tampa, Fla., to close the year.
Pochettino will call up a number of players for matches against Belgium on March 28 (3:30 p.m., TNT, Peacock) and Portugal on March 31 (7 p.m., TNT, Peacock), in what will surely be a final audition for many on that roster.
Both matches will be in Atlanta, home of U.S. Soccer's new multimillion-dollar national training center. Lloyd noted that the investment and the caliber of nations the U.S. is bringing in show a commitment to improvement on the global stage.
» READ MORE: The USMNT's players appreciate the team's tough schedule leading up to the World Cup
Now, it's up to the players to cash in, she says.
“I think we saw that fight [during this last FIFA window] in November,” Lloyd said. “You can see there's a different tone within this group. And I'm glad that they found it when they did. There were some big wake-up calls for some players ... and I think that's all we've been wanting to kind of see, these guys having the pride when you put on that jersey. And they sure showed that those last two games in November.
“It's not a vacation when you come into the men's national team anymore. There should be an excitement around it where you want to come in and lay your body on the line and do everything possible for the team and for your country.”
Soccer America
Home for America's Passionate Soccer Fans
At U.S. Soccer's Annual General Meeting in Atlanta, Cindy Parlow Cone was elected (unopposed) to a second term as U.S. Soccer president and the federation provided updates on its Soccer Forward initiative to expand access to grassroots soccer in the USA. We spoke to JT Batson, who has served as U.S. Soccer CEO and General Secretary since September 2022, about his own grassroots soccer history. It led to his current position and experiences such as refereeing Landon Donovan.
SOCCER AMERICA: How did you initially get into soccer?
JT BATSON: At the YMCA in Augusta, Georgia, at about 4 or 5. The name of the team was the “A-Team.” I played recreationally. Then — probably a mile from where we are now — I played my first competitive game with the Augusta Arsenal U-11s, and that was the team I played with my entire childhood, all the way up through U-18.
SA: What positions did you play?
JT BATSON: If the team was good, I played right back, maybe center back. If the team was not quite as good, like high school, I played center mid.
SA: What was it about soccer that turned it into such a big part of your life?
JT BATSON: I did play basketball and baseball in addition to soccer. And my dad was actually a college baseball player and a college baseball coach for a while. And on my mom's side of the family, a lot of college football players, including Ohio State players. So a great history of sports. I really enjoyed baseball, really enjoyed basketball, but soccer was always my love. A big part of it was the people. I had great coaches and great teammates. It really felt like family. I'm still very, very close with all of them today. Even though we haven't lived in the same city for 25 years, we're still very tight. And it's an amazing game. I love it.
SA: Did you also follow soccer as a fan?
JT BATSON: For sure. I remember watching the 1990 World Cup. I remember exactly where I was with one of my teammates on the Augusta Arsenal. I remember, of course, the 1994 World Cup, watching all those games. I was at Mark Berson‘s University of South Carolina soccer camp for the USA-Brazil game, which was at Stanford Stadium. All the campers were in there watching on one of those old-school projector televisions. I remember every one of those games.
My first national team game in person was here in Georgia [Athens] for the '96 Olympics, watching the women's team's semifinal match and also the gold-medal match. They ultimately won the gold medal and I was completely hooked.
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Soccer America Executive Editor Mike Woitalla has written freelance articles about soccer for more than 30 media outlets in nine nations. The winner of eight United Soccer Coaches Writing Contest awards,...
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Soccer America is the source for America's passionate soccer fans. Our expert editorial teams take readers inside the big soccer stories in America and the world. Men's and Women's U.S. National Teams. MLS. Interviews with U.S. and world news makers. Learn More »
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© Copyright 1994 - 2026 ATP Tour, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this site may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way or by any means (including photocopying, recording or storing it in any medium by electronic means), without the written permission of ATP Tour, Inc.. Terms & Conditions | Privacy | Community Social Media Policy | Modern Slavery Statement | Feedback | Cookies | Your Privacy Choices
She's the only player from the Philippines ever to reach the WTA Top 100, and now she's on the cusp of the Top 30.ByJohn BerkokPublished Feb 23, 2026 copy_link
Published Feb 23, 2026
© 2026 Robert Prange
Alexandra Eala continues her meteoric rise up the WTA rankings today, soaring from No. 47 to a new career-high of No. 31 following her run to the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 event in Dubai, where she took out Jasmine Paolini along the way for the third Top 10 win of her career, before ultimately falling to Coco Gauff.She shatters her previous career-high of No. 40, which she set just two weeks ago after reaching the quarterfinals in Abu Dhabi.The 20-year-old is already the only player from the Philippines to reach the Top 100 in WTA rankings history, which dates back to 1975, and now she's on the cusp of breaking into the Top 30.
She shatters her previous career-high of No. 40, which she set just two weeks ago after reaching the quarterfinals in Abu Dhabi.The 20-year-old is already the only player from the Philippines to reach the Top 100 in WTA rankings history, which dates back to 1975, and now she's on the cusp of breaking into the Top 30.
The 20-year-old is already the only player from the Philippines to reach the Top 100 in WTA rankings history, which dates back to 1975, and now she's on the cusp of breaking into the Top 30.
Eala has now climbed more than 100 spots in the last year alone.On this day a year ago she was ranked No. 139, and she went into the 2025 Miami Open at No. 140, but after her breakthrough run to the semifinals of the WTA 1000 event—during which she recorded her first two Top 10 wins against Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek—she soared to No. 75, her aforementioned historic Top 100 debut.She then broke into the Top 50 last November and the Top 40 two weeks ago, after her run in Abu Dhabi, and now she's just one spot away from breaking into yet another elite ranking class.The powerful lefty's ascent has been powered by a string of deep runs at WTA events, reaching the quarterfinals or better at this level for the first six times in her career over the last 11 months. The first three of those came last year, reaching the semifinals of Miami (WTA 1000), the final of Eastbourne (WTA 250) and the quarterfinals in Sao Paulo (WTA 250), and already three more this year, making the semifinals in Auckland (WTA 250), the quarterfinals in Abu Dhabi (WTA 500) and the quarterfinals in Dubai (WTA 1000).
On this day a year ago she was ranked No. 139, and she went into the 2025 Miami Open at No. 140, but after her breakthrough run to the semifinals of the WTA 1000 event—during which she recorded her first two Top 10 wins against Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek—she soared to No. 75, her aforementioned historic Top 100 debut.She then broke into the Top 50 last November and the Top 40 two weeks ago, after her run in Abu Dhabi, and now she's just one spot away from breaking into yet another elite ranking class.The powerful lefty's ascent has been powered by a string of deep runs at WTA events, reaching the quarterfinals or better at this level for the first six times in her career over the last 11 months. The first three of those came last year, reaching the semifinals of Miami (WTA 1000), the final of Eastbourne (WTA 250) and the quarterfinals in Sao Paulo (WTA 250), and already three more this year, making the semifinals in Auckland (WTA 250), the quarterfinals in Abu Dhabi (WTA 500) and the quarterfinals in Dubai (WTA 1000).
She then broke into the Top 50 last November and the Top 40 two weeks ago, after her run in Abu Dhabi, and now she's just one spot away from breaking into yet another elite ranking class.The powerful lefty's ascent has been powered by a string of deep runs at WTA events, reaching the quarterfinals or better at this level for the first six times in her career over the last 11 months. The first three of those came last year, reaching the semifinals of Miami (WTA 1000), the final of Eastbourne (WTA 250) and the quarterfinals in Sao Paulo (WTA 250), and already three more this year, making the semifinals in Auckland (WTA 250), the quarterfinals in Abu Dhabi (WTA 500) and the quarterfinals in Dubai (WTA 1000).
The powerful lefty's ascent has been powered by a string of deep runs at WTA events, reaching the quarterfinals or better at this level for the first six times in her career over the last 11 months. The first three of those came last year, reaching the semifinals of Miami (WTA 1000), the final of Eastbourne (WTA 250) and the quarterfinals in Sao Paulo (WTA 250), and already three more this year, making the semifinals in Auckland (WTA 250), the quarterfinals in Abu Dhabi (WTA 500) and the quarterfinals in Dubai (WTA 1000).
Coco thanks Alex Eala for bringing a new demographic to the sport ❤️💙#DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/OewAtiAfgF
After her victory over Paolini in Dubai last week, Eala talked about the things she's learned since she burst into prominence in Miami.“As the Miami anniversary comes up, I would be coming up on one year of full, really full, just, WTA tournaments. I think that comes with a lot of learnings, a lot of maturity. Especially this past year, 2026, has brought me a lot of love and attention from the fans. It comes with its set of struggles and set of sacrifices, but I think in the end I need to remind myself this is what I've been working my whole life for. How many people would love to be in my position? I make it a point every day to really give my all and be grateful for what I have.”She was then asked about her many, many, many fans. “I saw the stadium was really full. I looked up and there were Filipinos for days!" she described. "It's really such a blessing to be able to play in those sorts of atmospheres. I am really privileged and thankful that I'm able to introduce kind of this new world, or new sporting world, women's tennis, to a new demographic. I think they're really enjoying it. I hope that it would inspire people to take up racquets, young girls and women of all ages to take up sports.”After a week off from competition, Eala will return to action next week at Indian Wells, where she'll be playing for the first time.
“As the Miami anniversary comes up, I would be coming up on one year of full, really full, just, WTA tournaments. I think that comes with a lot of learnings, a lot of maturity. Especially this past year, 2026, has brought me a lot of love and attention from the fans. It comes with its set of struggles and set of sacrifices, but I think in the end I need to remind myself this is what I've been working my whole life for. How many people would love to be in my position? I make it a point every day to really give my all and be grateful for what I have.”She was then asked about her many, many, many fans. “I saw the stadium was really full. I looked up and there were Filipinos for days!" she described. "It's really such a blessing to be able to play in those sorts of atmospheres. I am really privileged and thankful that I'm able to introduce kind of this new world, or new sporting world, women's tennis, to a new demographic. I think they're really enjoying it. I hope that it would inspire people to take up racquets, young girls and women of all ages to take up sports.”After a week off from competition, Eala will return to action next week at Indian Wells, where she'll be playing for the first time.
She was then asked about her many, many, many fans. “I saw the stadium was really full. I looked up and there were Filipinos for days!" she described. "It's really such a blessing to be able to play in those sorts of atmospheres. I am really privileged and thankful that I'm able to introduce kind of this new world, or new sporting world, women's tennis, to a new demographic. I think they're really enjoying it. I hope that it would inspire people to take up racquets, young girls and women of all ages to take up sports.”After a week off from competition, Eala will return to action next week at Indian Wells, where she'll be playing for the first time.
After a week off from competition, Eala will return to action next week at Indian Wells, where she'll be playing for the first time.
Carlos Alcaraz, Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Sebastian Korda won titles during a three-tournament week on the ATP Tour. ATPTour.com looks at the movers of the week as of Monday 23 February.
No. 33 Tomas Martin Etcheverry, +18
The Argentine has jumped 18 places to No. 33 after he won his maiden tour-level title at the Rio Open presented by Claro. Etcheverry won two dramatic three-set matches on the final Sunday following heavy rain on Saturday. The 26-year-old, who beat Alejandro Tabilo in the final, was competing in his fourth tour-level final. It is the first time Etcheverry has been back inside the Top 40 since February last year.
You May Also Like: Etcheverry endures marathon day, clinches first ATP title in Rio de Janeiro
No. 13 Jakub Mensik, +3 (Career High)
Mensik has climbed to a career-high No. 13 in the PIF ATP Rankings following a semi-final run at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. The 20-year-old Czech upset World No. 2 Jannik Sinner at the ATP 500 event.
No. 34 Arthur Fils, +6
Fils' comeback from injury hit new heights in Doha, where he advanced to the championship match. The Frenchman, who returned to Tour at the start of February following a back injury, dropped just one set en route to the championship match before Alcaraz stopped him.
No. 40 Sebastian Korda +10
Korda is back in the Top 40 following success on home soil at the Delray Beach Open. The American defeated Tommy Paul in straight sets in the final to clinch his third tour-level crown. He is the ninth champion at the ATP 250 event.
No. 42 Alejandro Tabilo, +26
Tabilo has surged 26 spots after reaching the biggest final of his career at the ATP 500 event in Rio de Janeiro. The Chilean has now won six of his past eight matches, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, having also reached the quarter-finals in Buenos Aires earlier this month.
Other Notable Top 100 Movers
No. 7 Taylor Fritz, +1
No. 12 Casper Ruud, +1
No. 22 Tommy Paul, +2
No. 65 Vit Kopriva, +22 (Career High)
No. 66 Ignacio Buse, +25 (Career High)
No. 76 Thiago Agustin Tirante, +16 (Career High)
No. 94 Alexander Blockx, +10 (Career High)
No. 100 Luca Van Assche, +30
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No. 13 Jakub Mensik, +3 (Career High)
Mensik has climbed to a career-high No. 13 in the PIF ATP Rankings following a semi-final run at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. The 20-year-old Czech upset World No. 2 Jannik Sinner at the ATP 500 event.
No. 34 Arthur Fils, +6
Fils' comeback from injury hit new heights in Doha, where he advanced to the championship match. The Frenchman, who returned to Tour at the start of February following a back injury, dropped just one set en route to the championship match before Alcaraz stopped him.
No. 40 Sebastian Korda +10
Korda is back in the Top 40 following success on home soil at the Delray Beach Open. The American defeated Tommy Paul in straight sets in the final to clinch his third tour-level crown. He is the ninth champion at the ATP 250 event.
No. 42 Alejandro Tabilo, +26
Tabilo has surged 26 spots after reaching the biggest final of his career at the ATP 500 event in Rio de Janeiro. The Chilean has now won six of his past eight matches, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, having also reached the quarter-finals in Buenos Aires earlier this month.
Other Notable Top 100 Movers
No. 7 Taylor Fritz, +1
No. 12 Casper Ruud, +1
No. 22 Tommy Paul, +2
No. 65 Vit Kopriva, +22 (Career High)
No. 66 Ignacio Buse, +25 (Career High)
No. 76 Thiago Agustin Tirante, +16 (Career High)
No. 94 Alexander Blockx, +10 (Career High)
No. 100 Luca Van Assche, +30
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The American reached his first tour-level final since 2025 Adelaide.ByTENNIS.comPublished Feb 22, 2026 copy_link
Published Feb 22, 2026
© Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Sometimes, the wrong word simply rolls off the tongue and creates an unexpected moment.That's exactly what happened when Sebastian Korda was asked a question on Saturday at the Delray Beach Open.The American booked his first ATP final since January 2025 when he defeated Flavio Cobolli, 7-6 (1), 6-1, in 77 minutes. Taking part in a customary on-court interview, Korda listened as emcee Michelle Yu inquired about his undefeated record against the Italian.
That's exactly what happened when Sebastian Korda was asked a question on Saturday at the Delray Beach Open.The American booked his first ATP final since January 2025 when he defeated Flavio Cobolli, 7-6 (1), 6-1, in 77 minutes. Taking part in a customary on-court interview, Korda listened as emcee Michelle Yu inquired about his undefeated record against the Italian.
The American booked his first ATP final since January 2025 when he defeated Flavio Cobolli, 7-6 (1), 6-1, in 77 minutes. Taking part in a customary on-court interview, Korda listened as emcee Michelle Yu inquired about his undefeated record against the Italian.
Her fumble on one word in particular left little room for recovery, however.“You've played Flavio three times and you've had sex—success all three times. Why is it….,” Yu said she tried to hold back laughter while Korda broke into a wide smile.The 25-year-old then played ball with his comedic response.“He's a good looking guy, so you know…”
“You've played Flavio three times and you've had sex—success all three times. Why is it….,” Yu said she tried to hold back laughter while Korda broke into a wide smile.The 25-year-old then played ball with his comedic response.“He's a good looking guy, so you know…”
The 25-year-old then played ball with his comedic response.“He's a good looking guy, so you know…”
“He's a good looking guy, so you know…”
Korda has seemingly put a disappointing start to the season behind him. When he spoke with TENNIS.com ahead of his runner-up finish at an ATP Challenger Tour event in San Diego, he expressed, “I think especially with how many times I've been injured, you kind of lose that competitiveness when you're not really inside of a tournament. I think that's something that I'm lacking sometimes.”The former world No. 15 has since posted six tour-level wins, following up his Dallas Open quarterfinal showing with a pair of Top 20 wins this week en route to championship Sunday (he ousted Casper Ruud ahead of his victory over Cobolli).Korda is bidding to lift his first trophy since triumphing at 2024 Washington, an ATP 500 event. Five years ago, it was in Delray Beach where Korda contested his first tour-level final. The Bradenton, Fla. native awaits the winner of fourth seed Learner Tien and fifth seed Tommy Paul.
The former world No. 15 has since posted six tour-level wins, following up his Dallas Open quarterfinal showing with a pair of Top 20 wins this week en route to championship Sunday (he ousted Casper Ruud ahead of his victory over Cobolli).Korda is bidding to lift his first trophy since triumphing at 2024 Washington, an ATP 500 event. Five years ago, it was in Delray Beach where Korda contested his first tour-level final. The Bradenton, Fla. native awaits the winner of fourth seed Learner Tien and fifth seed Tommy Paul.
Korda is bidding to lift his first trophy since triumphing at 2024 Washington, an ATP 500 event. Five years ago, it was in Delray Beach where Korda contested his first tour-level final. The Bradenton, Fla. native awaits the winner of fourth seed Learner Tien and fifth seed Tommy Paul.
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F1 is back – and it's all to drive for
Side by side: How different are 2026 cars vs. 2025?
© 2003-2026 Formula One World Championship Limited
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F1 is back – and it's all to drive for
Side by side: How different are 2026 cars vs. 2025?
To mark International Women's Day, Haas' Laura Mueller and Red Bull's Hannah Schmitz will have Turn 6 dedicated to them at the Australian Grand Prix.
Laura Mueller and Hannah Schmitz are set to become the first women to have an F1 circuit corner named after them, with Turn 6 to be dedicated to them at the Australian Grand Prix in celebration of International Women's Day.
Many circuits hold a longstanding tradition of naming corners after influential people in the world of motorsport, and Mueller – Race Engineer to Esteban Ocon at Haas – and Schmitz – Head of Race Strategy at Red Bull – are the next to receive this honour.
It comes amid the In Her Corner initiative, which is part of a partnership between Engineers Australia and the Australian Grand Prix Corporation with the aim of inspiring the next generation of engineers.
Mueller became the first full-time female race engineer in F1 history when she took on the role at the start of the 2025 season, with Ocon going on to state that she is “awesome to work with” and that her trajectory has been “very impressive”.
Schmitz has worked with various drivers during her extensive time in Formula 1 with Red Bull, acting as a key figure in the squad's success across the 2022 and 2023 campaigns. Her strategy calls have been credited as crucial in many of the team's victories and podiums.
Mueller commented: “The ‘In Her Corner' initiative promotes the importance of ‘if you can see it, you can be it,' so the more we can all do to shine a light on the overall achievement of women in engineering is a great thing.
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Mueller has acted as Race Engineer to Ocon since the start of the 2025 season
“To be a part of this acknowledgement so early on in my Formula 1 career is an honour, and I hope it motivates girls and young adults to pursue a career in STEM. It's important to recognise women's accomplishments in motorsport so far, and it's great to be alongside Hannah for this.”
Schmitz added: “I absolutely love my job and if you have the privilege of that choice also then make sure it's the right role for you. I was always curious about how things work and loved cars. At school I had some amazing support and encouragement from teachers that opened my eyes to the world of engineering, they were my inspiration.
“For me it has been an absolute honour to represent the team on the podium. In Qatar last season, it was incredible to be in the fight for the Drivers' Championship, witnessing the way everyone came together as a team was something very special to be a part of.”
Katherine Richards, Engineers Australia Chief Engineer, also said: “Engineers Australia is proud to partner with the Australian Grand Prix Corporation to launch In Her Corner and name a turn on one of the world's most iconic circuits after two women currently shaping Formula 1.
“In Her Corner celebrates the talent, leadership and drive of two engineers who are redefining what's possible, not just in Formula 1, but across engineering, technology and business.”
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Ahead of his sophomore season in F1, Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli has given his take on how pre-season testing unfolded and which teams he expects to be fighting at the front in 2026.
Kimi Antonelli has conceded that pre-season testing in Bahrain was not “the smoothest of tests” for him after experiencing some reliability issues, with the Mercedes driver expecting a “tight fight” amongst the top four teams when the campaign gets underway.
While the Silver Arrows achieved the highest mileage during the second test at the Bahrain International Circuit – recording a total of 432 laps – the squad still suffered some technical problems, including a pneumatic issue on Friday morning that forced Antonelli to stop out on track.
These incidences led George Russell to suggest that the team “need to keep on improving the reliability”, with Mercedes having also experienced issues at the first test.
Antonelli similarly acknowledged these problems whilst speaking to the media on the final day of the test, though suggested that it is better for the outfit to experience gremlins now rather than during the campaign.
“It hasn't been the smoothest of tests for me here in Bahrain, but that's what is testing,” the Italian said. “It's all about testing and it's really important to fix it now and to experience these issues now, to then be fine for the rest of the season.
“The team has been looking into it and already found the issue and also the way to fix it, so hopefully it will be fine for Australia. Other than that the car has felt pretty good – to be fair we've done a lot of work, set-up work, and the car is giving good feelings.
“Of course, the other top teams look pretty good as well – Ferrari looked strong this morning, but also McLaren yesterday looked strong and Red Bull as well, so I think the top four are pretty close together and it's going to be a tight fight.”
Pushed on how different he feels entering into his sophomore season in Formula 1 – compared to when he embarked on his rookie year 12 months ago – Antonelli suggested that there has been a definite change, but went on to reiterate that he is expecting some tough competition in 2026.
“I feel good going into the season, much more prepared compared to last year,” the 19-year-old explained. “Of course there's a lot of expectation around us, but I think the other top teams are very strong as well.
“Ferrari looked very competitive this morning, Red Bull looks in a good place as well and McLaren yesterday looked very, very strong, so I think we just need to keep focusing on ourselves and trying to squeeze as much performance as possible.
“Melbourne is behind the door, testing is almost done, and in Melbourne it's going to be time to really show the performance.”
The Australian Grand Prix kicks off the 2026 season on the weekend of March 6-8.
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“The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” presents what Maverick would call a target-rich environment (you know, if he were a comedian instead of a fighter pilot/incorrigible flirt). Created by Robert Carlock and Sam Means, with Tina Fey completing the “30 Rock” reunion as a non-writing executive producer, NBC‘s new sitcom sets its sights on Reggie Dinkins (Tracy Morgan), a former NFL star who was forced out of the league after admitting to gambling on all of his games. Many years later, he's comfortably retired in his New Jersey mansion, engaged to a beautiful young musician named Brina (Precious Way), and still on great terms with his ex-wife and current agent, Monica (Erika Alexander).
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The only issue? He's a social pariah and embarrassment to his son, Carmelo (Jalyn Hall). So Reggie hires an esteemed documentarian, Arthur Tobin (Daniel Radcliffe), to make a movie about his life, hoping a fluff piece from an Oscar winner will earn him the respect he lost two decades ago. From there, it's a battle of wills, as the immersive filmmaker embeds his crew in Reggie's household to search for the truth his subject is initially unwilling to share.
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The premise comes with two prime marks built-in — gambling in professional sports and puff-piece documentary profiles — plus the genre offers its own satiric opportunities. (The network TV mockumentary, admittedly, jumped the shark a while ago, but remain popular enough to merit a well-intentioned takedown.) With proven writers from “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and “Girls5eva” paired with strong performers like Morgan, Radcliffe, and Bobby Moynihan (the “SNL” alum and “Mr. Mayor” MVP who plays Reggie's live-in best friend, Rusty), “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” has all the elements in place to do what Jack Donaghy only dreamed of: make it 1997 again (or, at least, make audiences pay attention to live-action broadcast sitcoms again).
For the most part, it works. Having screened the full 10-episode first season, “Reggie Dinkins” finds its rhythm quickly and proceeds to hone it well. The cast is all game to try out various pairings, dynamics, and tones until they land on what works near the midway point, and episodes are crisp — quick but not too quick, dense with jokes but not carelessly so, and endearing in a way that's key to sustainability. Best of all, the series doesn't shy away from its subject matter. While critiques of America's pernicious gambling culture and hypocritical application to athletes never overwhelm the story (or even develop beyond a few jabs per episode), Season 1 lays the groundwork to delve deeper later on while hitting plenty of targets here and now.
Having Morgan back in his comfort zone goes a long way, even if the transition from supporting wild card to goofball lead starts out a bit bumpy. Morgan, to be clear, is always funny, but as Tracy Jordan in “30 Rock,” he thrived by creating problems for Liz Lemon to solve — he was the chaos, she was the control. It would've been easy for “Reggie Dinkins” to establish the same dynamic with Tobin and Reggie (especially since Tracy Jordan only joined Liz's TV show because he couldn't get any new movies), but the two men are presented as mirrors more than foils.
After imploding on the set of his first scripted blockbuster, Tobin is introduced in the pilot as just as big of an embarrassment in the film world as Reggie is to sports fans. They've both suffered massive public humiliations, and they're both trying to redeem themselves with the other's help. That leads to episodes where Radcliffe goes goof for goof against the king of the goofs, which a) doesn't always work out so well for the Tony winner, but b) still pushes the eager-to-experiment star into exciting new territory.
(OK, it's not that new if you've seen “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” or the “Kimmy Schmidt” movie, but it's still exciting. Radcliffe is such a fun screen presence precisely because he's so willing to subvert expectations tied to his breakout role. He'll do anything to make viewers forget he's Harry Potter, and he's found a real knack for manic comedy in the process. I'm not sure his career-best performance in “Merrily We Roll Along” even happens without four seasons of “Miracle Workers.”)
The same can be said for the series. While it would be easy to write off “Reggie Dinkins” for trying to coast on audiences' nostalgia for Morgan's greatest role, it's clearly trying to do more. The ensemble comes into its own along with the narrative, the jokes are as unexpected as they are gleeful, and even when some episodes feel out of place, there's enough to enjoy that you'll never regret watching. (Even the abbreviated opening credits music will play pleasantly in your head whenever you think of the title.) We may not be in the heyday of NBC's must-see TV era, but in Hollywood's comedy-barren state, “Reggie Dinkins” goes a long way toward filling the void.
“The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” premieres Monday, February 23 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC with two episodes. New episodes will be released weekly.
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By Max Goldbart, Zac Ntim
Tourette Syndrome campaigner John Davidson has issued a statement after his racial slur at the BAFTA Film Awards dominated the aftermath of the ceremony. Read the statement in full below.
In a statement released this afternoon, Davidson said he was “deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning.”
“I was in attendance to celebrate the film of my life, I Swear, which, more than any film or TV documentary, explains the origins, condition, traits, and manifestations of Tourette Syndrome,” Davidson's statement read.
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“I have spent my life trying to support and empower the Tourette's community and to teach empathy, kindness, and understanding from others, and I will continue to do so. I chose to leave the auditorium early into the ceremony as I was aware of the distress my tics were causing.”
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Davidson, who is the subject of the movie I Swear, could be heard shouting various expletives throughout the ceremony due to his Tourette's, and shouted the N-word when Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting an award at the start of the night. He subsequently left the auditorium.
The fallout has been major, with the BBC criticized for leaving up a version of the ceremony on iPlayer in which the racial slur was audible for 15 hours before it was taken down. We have just analyzed how the BBC missed the slur and was so slow to respond. BAFTA published a statement moments ago. You can read that here.
Davidson's expletives have dominated what should have been a terrific night for Studiocanal's I Swear, which pulled a surprise in the shape of Robert Aramayo winning best actor over the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothée Chalamet.
Davidson has campaigned for rights for people with Tourette Syndrome for decades. The BBC met prior to the BAFTAs to discuss what might happen were he to swear during the broadcast. Lindo told Vanity Fair he wishes a representative for the awards body had reached out to him and Jordan after the word was shouted. Sinners production designer Hannah Beachler, meanwhile, criticized host Alan Cumming's on-stage apology.
Davidson's statement today was published alongside a statement by Emma McNally, CEO of Tourettes Action. McNally wrote in her statement, “it is vital that the public understands a fundamental truth about Tourette syndrome: tics are involuntary. They are not a reflection of a person's beliefs, intentions, or character.”
“People with Tourette's can say words or phrases they do not mean, do not endorse, and feel great distress about afterwards. These symptoms are neurological, not intentional, and they are something John – like many others with Tourette's – lives with every single day.”
McNally continued to criticize the media's response to the incident. You can read her statement below alongside Davidson's.
John Davidson Statement:
I wanted to thank BAFTA and everyone involved in the awards last night for their support and understanding and inviting me to attend the broadcast. I appreciated the announcement to the auditorium in advance of the recording, warning everyone that my tics are involuntary and are not a reflection of my personal beliefs. I was heartened by the round of applause that followed this announcement and felt welcomed and understood in an environment that would normally be impossible for me. In addition to the announcement by Alan Cumming, the BBC and BAFTA, I can only add that I am, and always have been deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning.
I was in attendance to celebrate the film of my life, I SWEAR, which more than any film or TV documentary, explains the origins, condition, traits and manifestations of Tourette Syndrome. I have spent my life trying to support and empower the Tourette's community and to teach empathy, kindness and understanding from others and I will continue to do so. I chose to leave the auditorium early into the ceremony as I was aware of the distress my tics were causing.
Emma McNally, CEO of Tourettes Action:We are incredibly proud of John and everyone involved in I Swear following last night's BAFTA Awards. The film has already raised so much awareness about Tourette syndrome and the daily reality faced by those living with the condition. The impact it has had on audiences, families, and those within the Tourettes community is huge, and we could not be more grateful for the support the film continues to receive.However, we also want to address the negative comments that have surfaced following John's involuntary vocal tics during the ceremony. We deeply understand that these words can cause hurt but at the same time, it is vital that the public understands a fundamental truth about Tourette syndrome: tics are involuntary. They are not a reflection of a person's beliefs, intentions, or character.People with Tourette's can say words or phrases they do not mean, do not endorse, and feel great distress about afterwards. These symptoms are neurological, not intentional, and they are something John – like many others with Tourette's – lives with every single day.The backlash from certain parts of the media has been extremely saddening, particularly given how hard John works to raise awareness and understanding. What should have been a night of celebration for him became overwhelming, and he made the difficult decision to leave the ceremony. This moment reflects exactly what I Swear shows so openly: the isolation, misunderstanding, and emotional weight that so often accompany this condition. People with Tourette's manage their physical and social environments and symptoms on a constant basis. The price of being misunderstood is increased isolation, risk of anxiety and depression and death by suicide.We hope that those commenting will take the time to watch the film, learn about Tourette's, and understand the experiences behind moments like these. Education is key, and compassion makes a world of difference.
ThanksEmma McNallyChief Executive Officer
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How many words are in the English dictionary…. But that's the one that gets yelled out 🤔
Perhaps that statement might have included an apology to the two Black men who were assaulted with a hateful slur while performing their presenter duties. Yikes.
Why does Tourette's always have to be obscenities? Legit question, why don't they yell out niceties or compliments versus the opposite?
This isn't an apology.
Nope not all
Then what does an appropriate apology look like to you?
Glad he didn't apologise for something he can't control. I hope he has been okay today and surrounded by a strong network.
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BAFTAs backlash.
Jamie Foxx called out Tourette's activist John Davidson for yelling a racial slur while Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting an award at the BAFTA Awards 2026 on Sunday.
Foxx, 58, commented on an Instagram clip of the controversial moment, calling it “unacceptable.”
“nah he meant that s–t,” the Oscar winner wrote. “Out of all the words, you could've said Tourette's makes you say that?”
Davidson hurled the N-word when Jordan, 39, and Lindo, 73, were presenting the award for best visual effects to “Avatar: Fire and Ash” on Sunday.
BAFTA Awards host Alan Cumming apologized for the incident, which wasn't edited out of the BBC One broadcast.
“You may have noticed some strong language in the background. This can be part of how Tourette's syndrome shows up for some people as the film explores that experience,” Cumming told the audience.
The “Traitors” host also noted that “Tourette's syndrome is a disability” and that “the tics you've heard tonight are involuntary.”
“Thanks for your understanding and helping create a respectful space for everyone,” Cumming, 61, added.
The BBC also released a statement apologizing for the incident, with a spokesperson saying, “Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the Bafta Film Awards.
“This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and as explained during the ceremony, it was not intentional,” the statement added.
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Other stars who have reacted to Davidson's use of the racial slur include “Sinners” production designer Hannah Beachler and “The Wire” alum Wendell Pierce.
“The situation is almost impossible, but it happened 3 times that night, and one of the three times was directed at myself on the way to dinner after the show,” Beachler claimed on X after the ceremony.
“I understand and deeply know why this is an impossible situation. I know we must handle this with grace and continue to push through,” the 55-year-old added. “But what made the situation worse was the throw away apology of ‘if you were offended' at the end of the show. Of course we were offended.”
Pierce, meanwhile, called the situation “infuriating” that the “first reactions” from those involved weren't “complete and full throatted [sic] apologies” to Jordan and Lindo.
“The insult to them takes priority,” the 62-year-old added. “It doesn't matter the reasoning for the racist slur.”
Page Six has reached out to reps for Jordan and Lindo.
The BAFTAs (aka the British Oscars) produced some pretty incredible headlines Sunday night: Wunmi Mosaku won best supporting actress and Sean Penn won best supporting actor, giving us no clear favorite for these awards as we enter the Oscars home stretch. Paul Mescal and Gracie Abrams made their red carpet debut as a couple. (Sob.) And English actor Robert Aramayo beat out Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet, Michael B. Jordan, Ethan Hawke, and Jesse Plemons for best actor. (No, I hadn't heard of him either!) Aramayo stars in a British movie called I Swear, about real-life Scottish Tourette Syndrome activist John Davidson who's “[educated] the nation about the condition,” according to the Guardian, and who was given an Order of the British Empire honor by Queen Elizabeth II in 2019. The movie shows him shouting “Fuck the queen!” shortly before meeting her.
Which brings us to the story that's unfortunately becomethe main BAFTA headline. Davidson was in the audience, which makes sense, given that a movie based on his life was nominated for multiple awards. Host Alan Cumming at one point thanked the audience for “understanding and helping create a respectful space for everyone,” while hearing “some strong language in the background [which] can be part of how Tourette's syndrome shows up for some people.” That strong language included a “fuck you” and a “shut the fuck up” and then, horribly, the n-word while Jordan and his co-star Delroy Lindo presented an award.
I've waded through the internet muck this morning so you don't have, but I also suspect you could probably predict how bad the discourse has developed—though if you're cynical enough, people's attempts to out woke-each other on anti-ableism vs. anti-racism might make you snort.
Jamie Foxx has weighed in, and I think it's only a matter of time before other celebrities offer their takes.
Curiously, the BAFTAs took place two hours before they were broadcast on the BBC, so the network had ample time to tweak what the general public saw—and plenty of things were edited out. Akinola Davies Jr., who won the “outstanding debut” award, ended his speech with, “For Nigeria, for London, the Congo, Sudan. Free Palestine.” Guess which phrase was edited out of the broadcast? And the BBC also nixed a line from Cummings comparing the plot of Zootopia 2—”Lies, corrupt leaders, poisoning and persecution of a race”—to the contemporary United States. So thanks, BBC, for causing further offense to countless people and prompting deeply insensitive and uninformed discourse about mental illness. Really, top notch.
I hate to be earnest in our daily gossip column, but the whole situation is just so sad. The incident overshadowed Aramayo's exciting upset win; Jordan and Lindo's movie (Sinners) winning a bunch of awards; and the general excitement of an Oscars where it looks like a lot of races could be anybody's game (except best actress and best director. Jessie Buckley and Paul Thomas Anderson both won again last night).
Anyway, in conclusion, watch TikTokker sh4ysgrwm on the subject.
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Nick Reiner, the son of the late director Rob Reiner, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder of his parents Rob and Michele Singer Reiner.
Reiner entered his plea at an arraignment at a courthouse in Los Angeles on Monday, February 23. It may be a full year until he faces trial, and if convicted, he could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole. Reiner's murder counts carry “special circumstances” that could add time to his sentence if he is convicted. It's unclear if prosecutors will seek the death penalty as punishment.
Reiner's lawyers may plead insanity as part of his defense in connection with a long history of drug use and other mental health disorders. The New York Times has previously reported Reiner has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder and was also placed under a mental health conservatorship. The Times also reported previously that Reiner had been struggling with his medication just weeks before his arrest.
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Reiner, 32, was arrested shortly after the stabbings of Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Singer Reiner, 70, at their home in Brentwood on December 14, 2025.
Nick Reiner's arraignment was originally scheduled for January 7 but was delayed after his initial attorney Alan Jackson, who has represented Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey, among others, left the case. Jackson told Kelly Ripa on SiriusXM that though he couldn't represent Reiner due to legal standards and other ethical obligations, he believed Reiner to be not guilty. Reiner is now represented by Los Angeles County public defender Kimberly Greene. Greene did not address the media following the hearing.
A next preliminary hearing, which will determine if prosecutors have enough evidence to proceed with a trial, has been set for April 29.
If it's found that Reiner did not have the mental capacity to pre-meditate the alleged murders, he may face a less severe murder charge.
Rob Reiner, himself the son of legendary comedian and filmmaker Carl Reiner, was known as an actor on “All in the Family” and then himself a filmmaker on movies like “This Is Spinal Tap,” “The Princess Bride,” “When Harry Met Sally,” “Stand by Me,” and many more.
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By
Nancy Dillon
Nick Reiner has pleaded not guilty to the grisly stabbing murders of his parents, the celebrated Hollywood director Rob Reiner and photographer-philanthropist Michele Reiner.
Nick, 32, appeared Monday in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom wearing a brown jail uniform, his third hearing before a judge in the case. He seemed engaged with the proceeding, looking around the courtroom from a plexiglass holding pen. He entered his plea through his public defender, speaking only once when addressed by the judge. He answered yes when asked if he understood that his case would return on April 29 to set his preliminary hearing.
Speaking after the hearing, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said prosecutors had turned over most of their evidence to the defense but were still awaiting the final coroner's report. He said the case remained eligible for the death penalty and that his office was undertaking a “rigorous process” to determine whether to seek it.
“We will be looking at all aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and we have invited defense counsel to present to us both in writing and orally in a meeting, any arguments that they would like to make in consideration for our going forward or not going forward with the death penalty,” he said. “The most experienced individuals in the DA's office with death penalty experience will be helping me evaluate that information.”
Nick was arrested Dec. 14, 2025, just hours after his parents' bodies were found dead in the primary bedroom of their home in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, police said. Rob Reiner, who acted in the groundbreaking sitcom All in the Family before directing the hit movies This Is Spinal Tap, Stand by Me, and The Princess Bride, and Michele Reiner, who met her husband on the set of his classic comedy When Harry Met Sally, died from “multiple sharp force injuries,” the county medical examiner said. Nicke was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, with prosecutors identifying the alleged murder weapon as a knife.
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After the slayings, Nick's struggles with mental health and drug addiction made headlines. Four days after the arrest, sources confirmed to Rolling Stone that Nick had been treated for schizophrenia before the shocking double homicide. Last month, a source told The New York Times that Nick also had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a condition that combines psychotic symptoms, like schizophrenia, with mood issues, such as depression or mania. Sources reportedly told The Times that Nick had been placed in a confidential conservatorship in 2020. The newspaper further reported Nick had been on psychiatric medication as part of his treatment and that the medication appeared to be working, but that side effects led him to switch to something different about a month before his parents were killed.
It wasn't immediately clear what prompted Nick's conservatorship, but police records obtained by Rolling Stone confirm LAPD officers responded to the Reiner's house twice in 2019. The first call, on Feb. 25, 2019, was listed as a welfare check received at 9:51 p.m. It included a notation for the responding officer to check with a woman at the house. The second call was received at 4:39 p.m. on Sept. 27, 2019, and was listed as a “mental” call involving a male. The logs did not list the person who placed the requests or the subjects. When Nick first appeared before a judge on Dec. 17, he was wearing a sleeveless blue suicide-prevention gown and a waist shackle.
The Reiners attended Conan O'Brien's holiday party the night before they were discovered dead, with sources telling Rolling Stone that Nick “exhibited antisocial behavior” at the gathering, such as staring at people ominously. O'Brien recently broke his silence about the tragedy on a podcast. “I knew Rob and Michele, and then increasingly got closer and closer to them, and I was seeing them a lot. My wife and I were seeing them a lot, and they were so — they were just such lovely people,” said O'Brien when speaking to The New Yorker. “And to have that experience of saying good night to somebody and having them leave and then find out the next day that they're gone…. I think I was in shock for quite a while afterward. I mean, there's no other word for it. It's just very — it's so awful. It's just so awful.”
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Nick previously spoke openly about his years of treatment for drug addiction. He told People in 2016 that he first entered rehab at 15 and later cycled through more than a dozen treatment programs. He also experienced homelessness in Maine, New Jersey, and Texas. He later wrote a film script loosely based on his struggles that became the 2016 movie Being Charlie, directed by his father.
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In a 2015 interview with the Los Angeles Times, the Reiners said they struggled to navigate their son's care. “When Nick would tell us that it wasn't working for him, we wouldn't listen,” Rob said. “We were desperate, and because the people had diplomas on their wall, we listened to them when we should have been listening to our son.”
Speaking on the Dopey podcast in 2018, Nick openly discussed his addiction and recalled a violent episode during a drug binge in which he trashed his parents' guest house. “I went 10 rounds with my guest house,” he said, describing days spent awake on stimulants before he began punching objects, including a television. Asked if he injured himself, he said he couldn't remember. The incident led to another intervention and a flight to Boston, during which he said he suffered a cocaine-induced heart attack. His actions, he said, had “no logic.”
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By Dominic Patten
Executive Editor, Legal, Labor & Politics
UPDATED with DA's remarks: More than two months after the stabbing deaths of Rob and Michelle Reiner, the famed couple's youngest son Monday entered a not guilty plea to two count counts of first-degree murder.
Facing life behind bars or the death penalty under the “special circumstances” charges, Nick Reiner‘s public defender Kimberly Green entered the plea this morning before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Theresa McGonigle, with Reiner speaking only to acknowledge that April 29 as his next court date for a preliminary hearing.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman declared in January that Nick Reiner will be found guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt” by a Los Angeles jury. Reiner was once again not granted bail in today's hearing, which lasted fewer than 10 minutes, in what is certain to be long process even before a trial begins.
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The 32-year-old Reiner, who has battled longtime addiction and mental health issues, was arrested by the LAPD just hours after his parents' bodies were discovered in their West L.A. home December 14. Reiner has been represented by the Public Defenders' Office since his high-profile and pricey attorney Alan Jackson suddenly dropped out of the case without explanation January 7.
“One can probably expect that there will be that additional time sought because of the volume of the discovery that will have to be gone through by defense counsel,” Hochman said today outside the courtroom after the hearing ended. “By the fact that we're still waiting for the coroner's report, and by the fact that if defense counsel wants to see any additional expert testimony, it will certainly take additional time.”
As he has before, Hochman today outlined the process by which his office will evaluate whether Reiner could get the death penalty. Taking no questions, the DA offered no indication of his or his office's thinking on the matter.
Hochman said that not long after Reiner's arrest, he and his team wanted to meet with the family, especially oldest brother Jake, and sisters Romy and Tracy (the latter is the adopted daughter from Reiner's first marriage to Penny Marshall) to gauge their opinion on the death penalty as a punishment for their sibling. The family, who had Nick Reiner under a court-approved conservatorship from 2020-2021, has made it clear to prosecutors that they do not want to go down that road, sources close to events say.
Monday's arraignment marks the younger Reiner's third court appearance since the tragedy late last year.
Similar to his previous stint in court last month, the currently incarcerated Reiner sat behind a glass barrier to the left of the judge. Sporting a shaved head and wearing a jumpsuit, Reiner entered the courtroom around 9:17 a.m. PT.
The fifth-floor courtroom of the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center was jam-packed with media and onlookers as well as prosecutors and defense reps. Throngs of press with cameras and microphones were situated outside.
Rob Reiner and Michelle Reiner were found dead in their sprawling home on the first night of last year's Hanukkah from “multiple sharp force injuries,” according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner in records since sealed by an LAPD-requested court order. Set to have dinner that night with Barack Obama and Michelle Obama and others, the duo were discovered by their 28-year-old daughter Romy and a friend after a massage therapist scheduled to visit the Reiners could not get into the gated home.
In and out of rehab programs and living rough on the streets, Nick Reiner had been staying in a guesthouse on the 78-year-old A Few Good Men director and his 68-year-old photographer wife's Brentwood property for several weeks before the killings.
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What a beautiful and sane country, every lawyer tells you to deny everything and never apologize. And that seems to be working out great!
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From Pirates Of The Caribbean to The Pirates Of Penzance, pop culture depictions of pirates tend to fall squarely on the “goofy” side of the spectrum. Prime Video's new thriller The Bluff is here to remind us all that those seafaring scallywags can be just as intense as any Roman gladiator or turn-of-the-century mobster. Half R-rated action flick, half retro swashbuckler, the Russo-brothers-produced project serves up Die Hard on a 19th-century Caribbean island, with a touch of feminist revenge thriller in the mix. That's great news for anyone who's ever wanted to see Priyanka Chopra Jonas star in what feels like an M-rated, pirate-themed video game.
Indeed, The Bluff is a rollicking good time despite the fact (or maybe because of the fact) that the line between thrilling and ridiculous has never felt more razor thin than it does here. Every character is about three steps away from being a cartoon. That includes Chopra Jones as Ercell Bodden, a kind yet steely mom living in a small, peaceful town in the Cayman Islands in the year 1846. As the film explains more than once, the Golden Age Of Piracy is done. Now only the most brutal pirates remain, doing their best to hunt for a path out of a grueling profession. (Relatable.)
That brings the swaggering, scowling Captain Connor (Karl Urban) and his crew to Ercell's home on Cayman Brac—a multicultural, emancipated British colony. He's looking to settle old scores involving a chest full of missing gold. And while she initially seems like a sweet woman stuck in a bad situation because her husband (Ismael Cruz Córdova) works as a merchant captain, she's got plenty of secrets of her own. There are weapons stashed around her house, hiding places at the ready, traumatic flashbacks weighing on her mind, and fighting skills that let her hold her own against the pirates who invade her home in the middle of the night.
Part of the fun of The Bluff is parsing out Ercell's past and why she's rigged the island with various Home Alone-style traps that can be launched at a moment's notice. Needless to say, she's got a personal connection to Captain Connor, but the specifics are a little more interesting than they might be in a classic damsel-in-distress-defends-herself story. And while Caymanian director Frank E. Flowers doesn't rewrite the action-movie playbook, he demonstrates an appreciable commitment to shooting each of his action sequences in a distinctive way—from a close-quarters oner during the initial break-in to an almost Saving Private Ryan-esque beach invasion sequence.
There are other times where The Bluff seems like it wants to be more of an Indiana Jones-style retro romp too, complete with man-eating alligators and two likeable younger folks Ercell has to protect—her plucky sister-in-law Elizabeth (Safia Oakley-Green) and her even pluckier son Isaac (Vedanten Naidoo). Between that and the film's colorful production design, it's as if Flowers is updating a classic Hollywood swashbuckler with a modern amount of violence. It's a clever idea, even if the film doesn't push the latter quality quite far enough. The sound design is ultimately more graphic than the sword wounds, pistol blasts, and cannon explosions that are actually shown onscreen. And exteriors clearly shot in the sludgy CGI of a volume set do irreparable harm to the tactile aesthetic elsewhere.
Still, if The Bluff only hits the tone it's aiming for about 75% of the time, that's pretty solid—especially for a pirate movie. It helps that Chopra Jonas and Urban are two actors who are more than happy to commit to a high level of camp without winking at the material. Having mastered pretty much every subgenre of sci-fi, fantasy, and superhero storytelling, it feels right that Urban saved his most unabashedly scenery-chewing work for a sexy, angry pirate. And for her part, Chopra Jonas makes for a flinty, committed action heroine who remains just glamorous and poised enough that you know this feminist revenge saga isn't going to push the envelope in traumatic ways. While The Bluff may not exactly be a B-movie hidden treasure, in an era where streaming action flicks have never been more abundant, it at least sets sail towards an ambitious horizon.
Director: Frank E. Flowers
Writer: Joe Ballarini, Frank E. Flowers
Starring: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Karl Urban, Temuera Morrison, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Safia Oakley-Green, Vedanten Naidoo
Release Date: February 25, 2026 (Prime Video)
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By Matt Grobar
Senior Film Reporter
Lily Collins is set to play Audrey Hepburn in a film on the screen icon and the making of her 1961 classic Breakfast at Tiffany's, which her Case Study Films is developing alongside Imagine Entertainment and producer Scott LaStaiti.
With Dickinson‘s Alena Smith aboard to adapt, the film is based on Sam Wasson's bestselling book Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's and the Dawn of the Modern Woman, the first ever complete account of the making of the film. With a cast of characters including Truman Capote, Edith Head, director Blake Edwards, and, of course, Hepburn herself, Wasson immerses readers in the America of the late '50s, when a not-so-virginal girl by the name of Holly Golightly raised eyebrows across the nation, changing fashion, film, and sex, forever.
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One of the defining figures of Hollywood's Golden Age, Hepburn won an Oscar for Roman Holiday and went on to star in additional classics like Sabrina and Funny Face before coming around to Breakfast at Tiffany's, the romantic comedy directed by Blake Edwards for Paramount, based on Truman Capote's novella, which cemented her as a global fashion and cultural icon. Her character, Holly Golightly, is a young New York socialite who becomes interested in a young man new to her apartment building, only for her past to threaten to come between the two. Nominated for five Oscars, with Hepburn competing for Best Actress, the film won two, in Score and Song, and entered the U.S. National Film Registry in 2012.
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Brian Grazer, Jeb Brody and Justin Wilkes will produce the film on Hepburn for Imagine, with Marc Gilbar serving as executive producer and Joyce Choi overseeing development. Collins, Charlie McDowell and Alex Orlovsky will produce for Case Study Films alongside LaStaiti. Sam Wasson and Brandon Millan will executive produce for Felix Farmer Productions, with Michael Shamberg also exec producing.
Currently, Collins can be seen starring in Netflix's hit romantic dramedy Emily in Paris, produced by Imagine Entertainment company Jax Media, which returned for its fifth season in December and has been renewed for a sixth. A Golden Globe and Emmy nominee, who produces that series, she also produced Netflix's 2022 thriller Windfall, in which she starred opposite Jesse Plemons and Jason Segel, with EP credits on The Summer Book and Mubi's recent award-winning indie Lurker. Collins launched Case Study with McDowell and Orlovsky in November 2022. Most recently, they announced an Amazon MGM feature adaptation of Polly Pocket, with Collins set to star and produce alongside Mattel and Hello Sunshine. She is repped by LBI Entertainment, CAA and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.
A writer, director, and showrunner, Smith is known for creating the Peabody Award-winning series Dickinson, starring Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson, for Apple TV+. An EP on FX's upcoming limited series Cry Wolf, she is repped by WME and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
Recent projects from Grazer and Howard's Imagine Entertainment include the series adaptation of The ‘Burbs starring Keke Palmer and Jack Whitehall for NBC/Peacock, Luca Guadagnino's psychological thriller After the Hunt starring Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri, and Howard's Galapagos-set Eden with Jude Law, Sydney Sweeney, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby and Daniel Brühl. In film, their upcoming projects include David Leitch's How to Rob a Bank starring Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz, Anna Sawai and Pete Davidson, Whalefall starring Austin Abrams and Josh Brolin, and The Mosquito Bowl directed by Peter Berg. In television, they have the upcoming Siegfried and Roy series Wild Things at Apple starring Jude Law and Andrew Garfield.
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Rooney Mara should be playing Audrey Hepburn.
And who do you suppose will be playing Mickey Rooney?
Making movies about making movies is the new IP-driven biopic. You had a nice run, music biopic.
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By
Larisha Paul
Charley Crockett has canceled a string of shows scheduled in Canada over the next two weeks. In a statement shared on Instagram, the musician regretfully informed fans that he was denied entry into the country on two occasions this past weekend. The restriction stems from his felony conviction for marijuana possession dating back to 2014.
“Everybody's got a past. Mine's still haunting me,” Crockett wrote on Instagram. He attempted to enter Canada first through Vancouver, where he was promptly detained. He later made another attempt through Kelowna. After the second rejection, he wrote, “I've been advised that it would jeopardize my freedom to try and enter again.”
The report issued to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada notes that if Crockett had been detained in Canada for the same charges he faced in Virginia, the offense “would be punishable by a term of life imprisonment.” In March 2016, Crockett received a suspended sentence and was fined in addition to being placed on probation.
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Crockett's Canadian tour was scheduled to begin on Feb. 23 in Edmonton. Additional stops were set for Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Windsor, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Niagara Falls through March 6. He has performed in most of these cities as recently as 2024. Crockett will resume touring with more shows in the U.S. beginning March 7.
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Canadian ticket holders will receive refunds at their point of purchase, though Crockett hopes to make it up to them eventually. “I apologize to everyone affected. I know I let y'all down,” he wrote. “Canada's such a beautiful country full of some of the best fans in the world, and I've had the time of my life playing shows for y'all. I ain't one to quit and I aim to be back one of these days real soon.”
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Actor Robert Aramayo has defended Tourette's activist John Davidson after he hurled a racial slur at Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo during the BAFTA Awards in London over the weekend.
Aramayo, who scored this year's BAFTA for best actor for his portrayal of Davidson in the biopic “I Swear,” explained that the slur Davidson threw at the “Sinners” co-stars was a “tic” and “not shouting obscenities.”
“First of all, they are tics. He is ticking. We have to understand,” he told a BBC reporter after the ceremony on Sunday, per the Daily Mail. “The way we perceive Tourette's is a joint responsibility. It's not shouting obscenities.”
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“It's not being abusive. It's Tourette's. They are tics,” Aramayo, 33, added. “If it can lead to a deeper understanding of Tourette's, and movies are part of that conversation, then it's an incredible thing.”
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Reps for Aramayo, Jordan and Lindo did not immediately respond to Page Six's requests for comment.
Davidson hurled the N-word at Jordan, 39, and Lindo, 73, as the pair presented the award for best visual effects to “Avatar: Fire and Ash” on Sunday.
The awkward moment wasn't edited out of the BBC One broadcast, and reportedly remained on BBC iPlayer before being removed sometime Monday morning.
BAFTA Awards host Alan Cumming apologized to the audience shortly after Davidson's racist remark, and the BBC has since released two separate statements also apologizing for the incident.
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“We apologise that this was not edited out prior to broadcast and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer,” a spokesperson for the broadcaster said in a statement on Monday.
“Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the Bafta Film Awards,” the BBC said in another statement following backlash.
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“This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and as explained during the ceremony, it was not intentional,” the British broadcaster added.
As for Cumming, he acknowledged that the BAFTA audience “may have noticed some strong language in the background” and explained that “this can be part of how Tourette's syndrome shows up for some people as the film explores that experience.”
The “X-Men” actor later addressed the incident further, noting that “Tourette's syndrome is a disability” and that “the tics you've heard tonight are involuntary.”
“We apologize if you are offended tonight,” he said.
Other celebs who reacted to Davidson's use of the racial slur included “Sinners” production designer Hannah Beachler, “Django Unchained” star Jamie Foxx and “The Wire” alum Wendell Pierce.
“The situation is almost impossible, but it happened 3 times that night, and one of the three times was directed at myself on the way to dinner after the show,” Beachler wrote on X after the ceremony.
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“I understand and deeply know why this is an impossible situation. I know we must handle this with grace and continue to push through,” the 55-year-old added. “But what made the situation worse was the throw away apology of ‘if you were offended' at the end of the show. Of course we were offended.”
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Foxx, in the comments of a video shared by the Neighborhood Talk, wrote that Davidson “meant that s–t” and called it “unacceptable.”
Pierce, meanwhile, took to X to call it “infuriating” that the “first reactions” from those involved weren't “complete and full throatted [sic] apologies” to Jordan and Lindo.
“The insult to them takes priority,” the 62-year-old added. “It doesn't matter the reasoning for the racist slur.”
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But Davidson shouting the N-word at Jordan and Lindo wasn't the only moment his tics could be heard throughout the night, because the activist also reportedly told BAFTA chair Sara Putt to “shut the f–k up” during her introductory speech.
Then, later on in the ceremony, he could be heard shouting “f–k you” as the directors of “Boong” accepted the award for best children's and family film.
Davidson, meanwhile, was said to have voluntarily left the Royal Festival Hall during the second half of the awards ceremony.
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The BBC has released a statement on the clumsily-handled incident, apologizing that the racial slur, shouted as Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented an award, was "not edited out prior to broadcast."
By
Lily Ford
The BBC has apologized for “strong and offensive language” at the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards after a racial slur was not cut from its final broadcast.
A Tourette's campaigner, John Davidson, was heard cursing throughout the show — including shouting the N-word as Sinners duo Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented the best visual effects award to Avatar: Fire and Ash, which prompted gasps across the audience and made for a decidedly uncomfortable atmosphere inside London's Royal Festival Hall.
Davidson is the inspiration behind Kirk Jones' critically-acclaimed film I Swear, following a man's struggle growing up with Tourette's syndrome. The condition is characterized by sudden, involuntary, and repetitive movements or sounds. These are often referred to as “tics,” and can manifest as outbursts such as loud swearing.
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The incident has resulted in widespread debate among the film community and online, as questions are put to BAFTA and the BBC, who chose not to cut the swearing and racial slur, despite the show being aired on a two-hour delay. The broadcaster came under more fire after cutting Akinola Davies Jr.'s speech. The Brit won outstanding debut by a British director for his Nigeria-set My Father's Shadow, and finished his speech with a dedication to “all those whose parents migrated,” as well as to those suffering through “persecution, genocide … your stories matter more than ever,” he said, adding “Free Palestine.” His final remark was reportedly cut from the BBC's broadcast, though the BBC did not respond to a request for comment on this matter.
The British Academy referred The Hollywood Reporter to the BBC about airing Davidson's tics, who eventually provided a fuller statement around midday London time: “Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the BAFTA Film Awards,” said the BBC. “This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and as explained during the ceremony it was not intentional. We apologise that this was not edited out prior to broadcast and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer.”
Host Alan Cumming interrupted his monologues several times across the show to remind viewers: “Tourette's syndrome is a disability and the tics you've heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette's Syndrome has no control over their language. We apologize if you are offended tonight.”
Davidson had been warmly welcomed by a floor manager before the awards show began, and attendees were informed that “John has Tourette's Syndrome, so please be aware you might hear some involuntary noises or movements during the ceremony,” as the housekeeping rules were laid out. A source informed THR that this was the moment presenters were warned about Davidson's tics, minutes prior to the ceremony kicking off. He left the room around 25 minutes into the show (of his own accord, THR understands), shortly after his outburst during Jordan and Lindo's presentation. Other outbursts came before this, including “Bullshit!” when people were asked not to curse, and “Shut the fuck up,” when BAFTA chair Sara Putt made her introductory remarks.
At the Warner Bros. BAFTA afterparty, Lindo told Vanity Fair that he and Jordan “did what we had to do” while they presented the award, but that he also wished “someone from BAFTA spoke to us.” THR understands that conversations between the British Academy and the studios are ongoing.
The consensus on the night differed according to who you were talking to, but most agreed that Black attendees at the BAFTA Film Awards and the Tourette's community have been failed by the handling of this situation. What it has underlined is questions about industry ableism — some posts online have suggested Davidson shouldn't have been invited to the ceremony at all — and the duty of care toward award show guests and audiences watching at home.
Sinners' production designer Hannah Beachler said “the situation is almost impossible” in a post on social media after the show. “I keep trying to write about what happened at the BAFTAs, and I can't find the words,” she wrote on X. “The situation is almost impossible, but it happened 3 times that night, and one of the three times was directed at myself on the way to dinner after the show,” she said about Davidson's tics. “I understand and deeply know why this is an impossible situation. I know we must handle this with grace and continue to push through. But what made the situation worse was the throw-away apology of ‘if you were offended.'”
Aramayo's shock win for his performance in I Swear — over Timothee Chalamet for Marty Supreme — gave the actor an opportunity to bring further awareness to the condition. While picking up an earlier prize, the EE BAFTA Rising Star Award, Aramayo told the crowd: “John Davidson is the most remarkable man I ever met. He's so forthcoming with education and he believes there should be still so much more we need to learn about Tourette's.”
“For people living with Tourette's,” he said, “it's us around them who help them define what their experience is. So, to quote the film, they need support and understanding.”
Social media has, unsurprisingly, only fanned the flames. Some have said Tourette's is “debilitating,” with one person commenting: “Tourette's making you shout really offensive things seems to have surprised people who have no idea what Tourette's actually is.” Others have not been so understanding. Jamie Foxx, for example, commented on an Instagram post that Davidson's outburst was “unacceptable” and “he meant that shit,” which users have criticized as a misunderstanding of what Tourette's is.
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Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter
Send us a tip using our anonymous form.
Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter
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The BBC has released a statement on the clumsily handled incident, apologizing that the racial slur, shouted as Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented an award, was "not edited out prior to broadcast."
By
Lily Ford
The BBC has apologized for “strong and offensive language” at the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards after a racial slur was not cut from its final broadcast.
A Tourette's campaigner, John Davidson, was heard cursing throughout the show — including shouting the N-word as Sinners duo Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented the best visual effects award to Avatar: Fire and Ash, which prompted gasps across the audience and made for a decidedly uncomfortable atmosphere inside London's Royal Festival Hall.
Davidson is the inspiration behind Kirk Jones' critically acclaimed film I Swear, following a man's struggle growing up with Tourette's syndrome. The condition is characterized by sudden, involuntary and repetitive movements or sounds. These are often referred to as “tics,” and can manifest as outbursts such as loud swearing.
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The incident has resulted in widespread debate among the film community and online, as questions are put to BAFTA and the BBC, who chose not to cut the swearing and racial slur, despite the show being aired on a two-hour delay. The broadcaster came under more fire after cutting Akinola Davies Jr.'s speech. The Brit won outstanding debut by a British director for his Nigeria-set My Father's Shadow, and finished his speech with a dedication to “all those whose parents migrated,” as well as to those suffering through “persecution, genocide … your stories matter more than ever,” he said, adding “Free Palestine.” His final remark was reportedly cut from the BBC's broadcast, though the BBC did not respond to a request for comment on this matter.
The British Academy referred The Hollywood Reporter to the BBC about airing Davidson's tics, who eventually provided a fuller statement around midday London time: “Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the BAFTA Film Awards,” said the BBC. “This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and as explained during the ceremony it was not intentional. We apologise that this was not edited out prior to broadcast and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer.”
Host Alan Cumming interrupted his monologues several times across the show to remind viewers: “Tourette's syndrome is a disability and the tics you've heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette's Syndrome has no control over their language. We apologize if you are offended tonight.”
Davidson had been warmly welcomed by a floor manager before the awards show began, and attendees were informed that “John has Tourette's Syndrome, so please be aware you might hear some involuntary noises or movements during the ceremony,” as the housekeeping rules were laid out. A source informed THR that this was the moment presenters were warned about Davidson's tics, minutes prior to the ceremony kicking off. He left the room around 25 minutes into the show (of his own accord, THR understands), shortly after his outburst during Jordan and Lindo's presentation. Other outbursts came before this, including, “Bullshit!” when people were asked not to curse, and, “Shut the fuck up,” when BAFTA chair Sara Putt made her introductory remarks.
At the Warner Bros. BAFTA afterparty, Lindo told Vanity Fair that he and Jordan “did what we had to do” while they presented the award, but that he also wished “someone from BAFTA spoke to us.” THR understands that conversations between the British Academy and the studios are ongoing.
The consensus on the night differed according to who you were talking to, but most agreed that Black attendees at the BAFTA Film Awards and the Tourette's community have been failed by the handling of this situation. What it has underlined is questions about industry ableism — some posts online have suggested Davidson shouldn't have been invited to the ceremony at all — and the duty of care toward awards show guests and audiences watching at home.
Sinners' production designer Hannah Beachler said, “the situation is almost impossible,” in a post on social media after the show. “I keep trying to write about what happened at the BAFTAs, and I can't find the words,” she wrote on X. “The situation is almost impossible, but it happened 3 times that night, and one of the three times was directed at myself on the way to dinner after the show,” she said about Davidson's tics. “I understand and deeply know why this is an impossible situation. I know we must handle this with grace and continue to push through. But what made the situation worse was the throw-away apology of ‘if you were offended.'”
Aramayo's shock win for his performance in I Swear — over Timothée Chalamet for Marty Supreme — gave the actor an opportunity to bring further awareness to the condition. While picking up an earlier prize, the EE BAFTA Rising Star Award, Aramayo told the crowd: “John Davidson is the most remarkable man I ever met. He's so forthcoming with education and he believes there should be still so much more we need to learn about Tourette's.
“For people living with Tourette's,” he said, “it's us around them who help them define what their experience is. So, to quote the film, they need support and understanding.”
Social media has, unsurprisingly, only fanned the flames. Some have said Tourette's is “debilitating,” with one person commenting: “Tourette's making you shout really offensive things seems to have surprised people who have no idea what Tourette's actually is.” Others have not been so understanding. Jamie Foxx, for example, commented on an Instagram post that Davidson's outburst was “unacceptable” and “he meant that shit,” which users have criticized as a misunderstanding of what Tourette's is.
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day
Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter
Send us a tip using our anonymous form.
By
Joseph Hudak
Brandi Carlile says the Highwomen will finally gather to record a new album. The supergroup of Carlile, Maren Morris, Natalie Hemby, and Amanda Shires released their critically acclaimed self-titled debut in 2019.
“We're getting together to do another one,” Carlile told Rolling Stone in an interview following her headlining concert in Minneapolis on Saturday night. “I'm done keeping secrets.”
Carlile's remarks come after Shires told Rolling Stone's Nashville Now podcast earlier this summer that the members, including frequent collaborator Brittney Spencer, were gearing up to write. “Me and Brandi and Maren and Brittney have talked about writing this winter,” Shires said. “All signs point to ‘yes,' if I was the Magic 8-Ball.”
While there's no date on when a new album may arrive, or even when the musicians will enter the studio, the Highwomen are confirmed for at least one appearance. Some iteration of the group is billed to perform at Brandi Carlile's May 31 headlining concert at the Gorge in Washington state.
Carlile, who released her latest album, Returning to Myself, last October spoke at length with Rolling Stone about the ICE protests in Minneapolis and stressed that Trump voters who may object to his administration's tactics of what she calls “violent theater” can still change their mind. Despite the turmoil, however, she said she remains hopeful for the country and connecting with people across the political divide.
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“I'm so lucky to have this job because — and I said it out there onstage — it's not lost on me that I may have limited access to all kinds of people. It's not lost on me that unless I'm singing at the Super Bowl, I may only really get to speak to and sing for one kind of person for the most part. But it trickles out. It aggregates,” she said. “Because everybody has got brothers and sisters and moms and dads and family members. And if the message gets potent and cohesive enough, it'll make it.”
[Reporting by Dan Hyman]
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Wednesday Season 3 has begun production in Ireland, adding Chris Sarandon (Dog Day Afternoon, The Princess Bride), Noah Taylor (Peaky Blinders, Game Of Thrones), Oscar Morgan (A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Gotham Knights), Kennedy Moyer (Task, Roofman) and more to the cast.
They join previously announced Winona Ryder (Stranger Things, Beetlejuice) — whose guest role casting was unveiled earlier this morning — and Eva Green (Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children and Dark Shadows,) who will portray Morticia Addams' sister, Ophelia. Returning cast includes Jenna Ortega (Wednesday Addams), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Morticia Addams), Luis Guzmán (Gomez Addams) and more.
In a promo video for the start of production (see below), Emma Myers, Joy Sunday, Evie Templeton, Isaac Ordonez, Joanna Lumley, Georgie Farmer, Moosa Mustafa, Victor Dorobantu, Fred Armisen, Billie Piper and Hunter Doohan were all listed to return in fashion of a creepy crawly feast by Lurch and another servant. Enid's placard goes up in flames. All Nevermore students except for Tyler had an N above their names, and he has an O. Addams family members like Wednesday, her brother and parents have an A, and Grandmama and Aunt Ophelia have an F for Frump.
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Ryder's character is Tabitha. Noah Taylor will portray Cyrus, Oscar Morgan will play Atticus and Kennedy Moyer will play Daisy. All of these new additional characters have a capital B monogram above their names on their place-setting cards. Chris Sarandon's character is Balthazar. There is a character by that name in the Addams family mythology, Cousin Balthazar, though he is supposedly dead because Gomez and Morticia met at his funeral. This could explain the black bottle on which his name is emblazoned. As for the question mark on the second bottle next to his, that could be a new character or something else entirely Aunt Ophelia (Eva Green) gets a cake. The video ends with a dish lid unveiling Uncle Fester's bald head.
RELATED: Eva Green Joining ‘Wednesday' Season 3 As Aunt Ophelia
“It's our dark delight to fling open Nevermore Academy's gates once more as we begin production on Season Three,” said creators, showrunners and executive producers Al Gough and Miles Millar. “We thank our invincible cast and crew for their continued commitment to doom and gloom. To the fans, we appreciate your patience and ravenous online commentary – your twisted theories have inspired nightmares. This season we welcome new students, new teachers, and excavate some long-rotting Addams Family secrets. Don't say you weren't warned.”
Additional details on Wednesday Season 3 will be released at a later date.
“I'm so excited to be back for Season 3 and it's great to be reunited with all of the original cast,” director and executive producer Tim Burton said. “The addition of some dear friends and past collaborators of mine – Winona, Eva, Chris, Noah…makes this season extra special. I feel very lucky.”
Wednesday Season 2 debuted in 2025, split into two batches. It rose to the #5 most watched English language series of all time, following the record-breaking success of Season 1 of the global hit series, which still remains the most watched English-language series of all time on Netflix.
Season 2 ended with several cliffhangers, such as the reveal that Aunt Ophelia was in Grandmama Hester's (Joanna Lumley) basement, Enid's Alpha wolf-out during the full moon — which may be impossible to reverse — and Isadora Capri's (Billie Piper) offer to Tyler (Hunter Doohan) to join a group of Hydes.
RELATED: ‘Wednesday', ‘Ginny & Georgia', ‘Untamed' & ‘Ransom Canyon' Among Hit Netflix Series Not Expected To Return Until 2027
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One Noah Taylor leaves the cast, another Noah Taylor joins in…
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Meghan Markle's estranged dad, Thomas Markle Sr., is getting ready for life with a prosthetic after his devastating leg amputation.
Thomas Markle Jr. said during a live stream, per the Mirror, that his dad is “going through therapy” and “physical rehab” in the Philippines, where he lives.
“We're going to have to get him fitted for a prosthetic here pretty soon and get that man walking again,” he added, noting that it was their “goal” and “priority” for the 81-year-old.
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In early December, it was revealed that Thomas Sr. was admitted to the intensive care unit after undergoing emergency surgery.
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At the time, his son had told outlets that he had been rushed to the hospital after getting sick at home.
“I took dad to a hospital close to our home and they did various scans and the doctors said his life was in imminent danger,” Thomas Jr., 59, told the Daily Mail.
“They raced us by ambulance, with the sirens going, to a much bigger hospital in the centre of the city.”
Meghan's sister, Samantha Markle, went on to blame his hardships in the last couple of years for his condition, saying, “He is a strong man, but he has been through so much.
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“I am praying that he is strong enough to survive this. My father has been through two heart attacks, a stroke and an earthquake. I hope he can pull through this.”
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On Dec. 5, the retired Hollywood lighting director would go on to undergo a three-hour surgery to have his left leg amputated below the knee after a blood clot cut off circulation.
“My dad is being very brave. His foot turned blue and then black. It happened very quickly,” Thomas Jr. told Daily Mail, explaining that there “was no option” but to amputate as it was now “a case of life or death.”
“It was either ‘we have to operate now and remove the leg or he may die.' It was a life-threatening situation,” he insisted.
Despite their estrangement, Page Six confirmed that Meghan quickly reached out to her dad following his procedure.
Thomas Sr. has always struggled with help, with him having to miss Meghan's 2018 wedding to Prince Harry after undergoing heart surgery.
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He was hospitalized again four years later after suffering from a stroke while living in Tijuana, Mexico.
“I feel hugely grateful and know how lucky I am to be alive,” he told the Daily Mail after he was discharged five days later.
Thomas Sr. welcomed Meghan with Doria Ragland, to whom he was married from 1979 to 1987. Thomas welcomed Samantha and Thomas Jr. with his first ex-wife, Roslyn Markle.
Prince William and Kate Middleton showed signs of tension at the 2026 BAFTA Awards following ex-Prince Andrew's arrest, according to body language expert Judi James.
James told Hello! magazine that while the Prince and Princess of Wales “delivered their usual, impeccable red carpet A-list glamour” at the event in London on Sunday, she noted there were “a handful of tells that might reflect the undeniable tensions of the past week.”
The couple, according to James, did not act the way royals normally do on red carpets.
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“[The royals] walk side by side with their arms hanging loose at their sides, with a closeness of the dangling inner hands suggesting a desire to clasp hands here or perhaps to perform the kind of signature truncated touches, pats and strokes they often give each other to support each other at events like this,” James explained.
“Instead of touching, though, we can see the fingers of William's right hand slightly curled so that his index finger touches his thumb, hinting at a self-soothe ritual,” James added of the future king.
James also said that William, 43, showed “some anxiety” at the BAFTAs in one moment “where his lips [were] pulled inward and his brows pulled into a small frown.”
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William and Kate, 44, made their first public appearance at the BAFTAs in the wake of Andrew's arrest.
The prince wore a Giorgio Armani burgundy velvet evening jacket and black pants, while his wife stunned in a blush-colored Gucci gown.
The royal couple did not speak to press as they arrived at Royal Festival Hall for the award show.
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While inside, William opened up about his current state of mind when he was asked if watched the movie “Hamnet,” which centers around the death William Shakespeare's 11-year-old son.
“I need to be in quite a calm state and I am not at the moment,” the prince per the Daily Mail. “I will save it.”
Andrew, 66, was arrested on his 66th birthday on Thursday over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
He was detained on suspicion of misconduct in public office for allegedly forwarding confidential trade documents to Epstein while working as a British trade envoy.
If convicted, the former prince could face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
King Charles reacted to the news of his brother's arrest with the “deepest concern” as he released a statement addressing the scandal.
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“What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities. In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation,” Charles said.
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“Let me state clearly: the law must take its course,” the monarch added. “As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter. Meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all.”
William and Kate, meanwhile, support King Charles' statement on Andrew's arrest, Page Six learned.
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Among its own ranks and outside the Oscar bubble, it's become a familiar complaint: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science's documentary branch often don't nominate some of the year's most heralded docs.
Matthew Heineman's Netflix documentary “American Symphony” and Davis Guggenheim's Apple doc “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” were snubbed in 2024 — the year the branch failed to nominate any American directors or films distributed by major streamers like Apple and Netflix. In 2025, Dawn Porter's CNN doc “Luther: Never Too Much“ and Josh Greenbaum's Netflix doc “Will & Harper” did not receive nominations.
Related Stories The BBC Apologizes for Racial Slur Outburst During BAFTAs, but Initially Let It Air Unedited on TV and Streaming ‘One Battle After Another' Wins Best Film at 2026 BAFTA Awards (Complete Winners List)
This year, the five nominees include foreign and U.S. filmmakers as well as docs with limited and major distribution. They are: David Borenstein and Pavel Talankin's “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” (Kino Lorber), Geeta Gandbhir's “The Perfect Neighbor” (Netflix), Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman's “The Alabama Solution” (HBO), Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni's “Cutting Through Rocks” (self-distributed), and Ryan White's “Come See Me in the Good Light” (Apple).It's a balanced list, but veteran members of the AMPAS documentary branch still would like to see the category become, in their minds, more democratic. But how? The consensus is yes, change is needed… but the group can't agree on what that means.
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For the last 13 years, members tried to design rule changes that reduced the number of eligible films; now there's more Oscar-eligible films than ever. Branch members complain that the branch favors youth over experience, struggle over success.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, 15 members of the doc branch told IndieWire what they feel is and is not working during Oscar season.
To qualify for Oscar consideration, feature documentaries must have a seven-day run in a theater in one of six U.S. cities, with at least three daily screenings. Docs that win specific top juried prizes at festivals accredited by AMPAS — like Sundance, Berlin, IDFA, Cannes, etc. — are automatically eligible. Last year, a record-breaking 201 feature documentaries qualified (up 32 from last year and 77 from a decade ago).“It's ridiculous,” said a producer who has worked in the doc industry for over two decades and is behind several Oscar-winning films. “People are spending large sums of money to qualify films that have no chance of ever being nominated.”To narrow the number of qualifying films, an Emmy-winning doc producer said only docs with “proper U.S. distribution” should qualify. “If the film doesn't have that and was made in another country, then the film should be in the foreign language category, not the doc category.”
A veteran Oscar-nominated doc filmmaker agreed. “Every film that qualifies needs to have a legitimate theatrical experience, excluding four-walled self-distribution,” the director said.Other branch members thought that was unfair given how hard it is for many docs to find distribution. Last year's winner, “No Other Land,” was released independently and outgrossed the other four nominees.
“The onus of distribution is now placed on filmmakers,” said a producer who previously worked for a streamer. “We are raising money to get films seen.”“It's just so unrealistic,” added Oscar-nominated and Emmy award-winning producer.
As for which films should qualify, a director in the branch said that the Academy's explicit efforts to diversify its membership and embrace the global filmmaking community made the feature doc category an international one.“In 2016, AMPAS said, this Academy is not for American movies,” the director said. “The Academy is for human cinema, and so we should have Chinese filmmakers, and we should have Zimbabwean filmmakers, and we should have Brazilian filmmakers, etc. You can argue whether that was right or wrong, but it was a decision that led to huge growth in the doc branch. So, no one should be surprised when a movie about an American celebrity doesn't get nominated.”From 2016 through 2021, the documentary branch more than doubled its membership. Currently, approximately 30 percent of its 750 voters are based outside the U.S. “There is always grousing about the international [films],” a Peabody award-winning producer said. “But three of the nominated films this year were made by U.S. filmmakers who made films in the U.S. about Americans and U.S. issues.”
An Oscar-winning producer added, “There's like a MAGA part of the doc branch. And the MAGA contingent is like, ‘No foreigners! Keep it American.'”
Being green gives you a leg up in the feature doc category. Since 2020, seven first-time doc directors have won the Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary.
The downside, according to several members of the branch, is win once and it's unlikely that you'll be nominated again, much less win. Another disadvantage: financial success.
“The people who have gotten awards in the past or have a commercial career or who make money, God forbid, are shunted aside,” said an Emmy-winning director.One Oscar-nominated director cited Mstyslav Chernov, who won an Oscar in 2024 for “20 Days in Mariupol.” He was shortlisted this year for his film “2000 Meters to Andriivka” but fell short of nomination. “If he hadn't won two years ago, I think that [film] definitely would've been nominated this year,” the director said.
A celebrated producer and director in the branch disagrees. “We love discovering brilliant new filmmakers,” they said. “But look, Andrew Jarecki is nominated this year and he's like an older white guy who has made incredible movies throughout his career. He has obviously not been blacklisted.”
The documentary category is one of the few Oscar categories in which voters consider a film's potential impact as one of its merits.“We happen to be a branch of people from all walks of life, all regions of life with very different views as to what is the purpose of documentary,” said an Oscar-nominated director. “The people on the feature side, I don't think, have very different views on what the role of a scripted movie should be.
“Some documentarians see docs purely as journalism,” they said. “Some documentarians see it purely as advocacy. Some documentarians are in it for the aesthetics of storytelling, and some are in it for all three. But it's a group of very different people of very different means. You are going to have issues, no matter what, as to determining what the quality is.”One branch member said 10 perceent of his vote goes toward the film's issue, with the other 90 percent based on how powerful, surprising, and well-made the movie is. “That's just me,” he said. “I know people who base 70 percent of their vote on the cause they care about, 30 percent on merit.”Others argue that, year after year, the five nominated films are selected based purely on merit. “Whether film is about a social issue or not, it received a nomination because it was expertly crafted,” said a Emmy-nominated producer. “If it weren't, it wouldn't make it to the final five.”
The 15 films on the documentary shortlist are narrowed to five by the doc branch members' ranked-choice voting. This means that if a movie is the top choice for about 10 percent of voters, it will be nominated.Some feel that the voting system could be more fair if it operated like the international film branch, which allows all Academy members to opt in and vote for the shortlist and eventual nominees.
“It would make it less of a popularity contest,” a doc editor said. “Big-budget films or films that streamers paid a lot of money for [the films] wouldn't be punished.”An Oscar-winning director said opening the shortlist to the entire voting body would likely mean nominations for “sexier, splashier, commercial titles that might not have the artistic merit that the documentary branch cares so deeply about.”
That said, the director is open to the idea. “I would have been very happy for a film like ‘Will & Harper' to be nominated last year,” they said. “I feel like if it had been nominated, it would have definitely won.”
Other branch members believe opening voting to the entire Academy would mean only celebrity-driven streamer films receiving nominations. “I know that there are people who have an incredible amount of success making celebrity and true crime, and they want to hold onto their power and keep the streamers happy,” said an Emmy-winning director. “But what about the undistributed films?”The Peabody-winning producer added, “That's why it's so perfect this year. The streamers are freaking happy, and there are still undistributed films or films that are like looking desperately for distribution.”
Beginning February 26, the entire Academy will have the opportunity to vote for the best documentary feature. The 98th Oscars telecast will be broadcast on Sunday, March 15 and air live on ABC at 7:00 p.m. ET/ 4:00 p.m. PT.
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The BBC has issued a short apology for not editing out a racial slur from the BAFTA Film Awards‘ official broadcast (which aired on Sunday after a standard two-hour tape delay) and will now remove that unedited version of the ceremony from the broadcaster's free streamer, iPlayer. The show is currently not available on the streamer.
While the outburst was not edited out of the show before it went to air and was made available on the streamer, Variety reports that another moment at the event, in which “My Father's Shadow” filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr. accepted his BAFTA Film Award for outstanding debut by a British writer, director, or producer, and ended his speech for a call to “free Palestine,” was.
Related Stories Those Unexpected BAFTA Wins Could Impact the Oscars The Academy's Doc Branch Knows Its Oscar Nomination Process Needs to Change. It Can't Agree on How
It was the latest event in a rapidly unfolding incident that began just minutes before the annual show kicked off. John Davidson, a Tourette syndrome campaigner who is the subject of the fact-based film “I Swear” (which won two awards at the show, plus the Rising Star award for lead Robert Aramayo), was invited to the ceremony and seated in the audience.
Before the show began, The Hollywood Reporter shares that Davidson “was warmly welcomed by a floor manager … and attendees were informed that ‘John has Tourette's Syndrome, so please be aware you might hear some involuntary noises or movements during the ceremony,' as the housekeeping rules were laid out.” THR also adds that “this was the moment presenters were warned about Davidson's tics, minutes prior to the ceremony kicking off.”
During the first thirty minutes of the show, Davidson repeatedly issued loud, involuntary vocal tics that were clear to those in the audience and on clips later circulated on social media. Per THR, Davidson reportedly “yelled ‘Bullshit!' when people were asked not to curse, and ‘Shut the fuck up,' when BAFTA chair Sara Putt made her introductory remarks.”
And when “Sinners” stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo took to the stage to present the award for best visual effects, one of the first awards of the evening, Davidson yelled the n-word at the stage. In both the originally distributed broadcast and clips from the show, it is clear the stars heard the racial slur.
Despite the instant fervor around the incident and a two-hour tape delay before the show aired on BBC One and iPlayer, it was not cut from the first broadcast of the event.
As of Monday morning, the official BBC apology widely shared is as follows: “Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the BAFTA Film Awards. This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and as explained during the ceremony it was not intentional. We apologise that this was not edited out prior to broadcast and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer.”
Additionally, host Alan Cumming reminded both attendees and viewers throughout the night that “Tourette's syndrome is a disability and the tics you've heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette's Syndrome has no control over their language. We apologize if you are offended tonight.”
After the events of the evening, “Sinners” production designer Hannah Beachler, who was nominated at the show, took to X to share her own experience of the incident. “I keep trying to write about what happened at the BAFTAs, and I can't find the words. The situation is almost impossible, but it happened 3 times that night, and one of the three times was directed at myself on the way to dinner after the show,” she wrote. “And a third time at a Black woman. I understand and deeply know why this is an impossible situation. I know we must handle this with grace and continue to push through. But what made the situation worse was the throw away apology of ‘if you were offended' … at the end of the show. Of course we were offended…but our frequency, our spiritual vibration is tuned to a higher level than what happened. I am not [steel], this did not bounce off of me, but I exist above it. It can't take away from who I am as an artist.”
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Kylie Jenner was visibly uncomfortable when host Alan Cumming made a rather cheeky joke at the 2026 BAFTAs Sunday.
During the British Academy Film Awards at London's Royal Festival Hall, Cumming weaved through the A-list audience to hand out “very British snacks.”
Upon coming up on Timothée Chalamet and Jenner, the “Traitors” host handed the actor British pub snack Scampi Fries while the makeup mogul was given a giant Jammie Dodger.
A Jammie Dodger is a popular British shortbread biscuit sandwich with a raspberry or strawberry-flavored jam filling and a heart-shaped cutout on top.
“Kylie, have you ever had your gums around a giant Jammie Dodger?” he asked her before offering her the snack.
Taken aback, she shook her head and said no before accepting the snack and muttering “thank you.”
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Jenner, 28, and Chalamet, 30, kept their award show date night streak going when they pulled up to the BAFTAs in matching black ensembles.
The “Kardashians” star showed off her curves in a vintage black velvet Thierry Mugler gown embellished with colorful jewels at the bodice.
Meanwhile, the “Marty Supreme” actor kept things classy in a custom all-black outfit by Givenchy's Sarah Burton that included a double-breasted tuxedo jacket, pleated trousers, a silk shirt and a bow tie.
Chalamet was nominated in the best leading actor category for his performance in “Marty Supreme.”
The film itself secured a whopping 11 nods this year, including for best film, best director, best original screenplay and best cinematography.
However, Chalamet — as well as the rest of the cast and crew — left completely empty-handed as “Marty Supreme” failed to win any accolades.
After keeping their romance under the radar since April 2023, Chalamet and Jenner have been stepping out during this year's award season.
Most recently, Jenner accompanied Chalamet to the Critics' Choice Awards on Jan. 4 and the Golden Globes on Jan. 11.
During both award shows, Chalamet won the award for best actor and thanked Jenner for her support and love.
By Jake Kanter
International Investigations Editor
The BBC has apologized and removed from iPlayer the BAFTA Film Awards after initially failing to cut a racial slur involuntarily shouted by an audience member with Tourette syndrome.
During the event, Tourette's campaigner John Davidson, who is the subject of biopic I Swear, shouted involuntary remarks from the audience.
At one point, he said the N-word when Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented the award for Best Visual Effects to Avatar: Fire and Ash.
The comment, although not clearly audible, was featured in the BBC's coverage of the ceremony, which was pre-recorded on a two-hour delay before broadcasting on BBC One.
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The incident remained on iPlayer, the BBC's streaming service, for most of the morning, but was finally taken down around 11.30AM local time. The stream was replaced with a page saying: “This episode will be available soon.” It will be edited and re-uploaded.
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In a statement, a BBC spokesperson said: “Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the BAFTA Film Awards. This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and as explained during the ceremony it was not intentional. We apologise that this was not edited out prior to broadcast and it will now be removed from the version on BBC iPlayer.”
Host Alan Cumming also apologized during the ceremony. He said the BAFTA audience “may have noticed” the “strong language,” adding that he was sorry if “anyone was offended.”
Davidson exited the auditorium at one point in the ceremony. It is not clear if he returned to his seat, but the interruptions appeared to end.
Deadline has asked the BBC why it failed to remove the comment from the broadcast, particularly as the producers had made preparations for Davidson's attendance. The BBC and Penny Lane TV did, however, edit a winner's speech in which Akinola Davies Jr. said the words “free Palestine.”
The nature of BAFTA's apology was lamented by Sinners production designer Hannah Beachler, who said she also experienced Davidson's involuntary racial slurs. She said an “impossible situation” was made worse by the “throw-away apology.”
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What? You mean the producers found the lone editor in the UK to remove that word after the shiw aired? BBC found that lone editor to remove political comments before broadcast.
Completely avoidable PR disaster and you've got to wonder why it wasn't avoided.
They didn't fail anything.
It was intentional.
There was a 2hrs delay and yet still decided to release that clip?
He's got tourettes. It's a condition. If you can't get over that you are as much a problem as the words.
Theres no issue with the words that came out of John Davidson's mouth, they were not intentional and not a reflection on him as a person.
But the decision could have been made to remove them from the broadcast – this would have been different if he was on stage presenting at the time, to edit him then would be offensive – but to edit audience sounds is a different thing – its not silencing him, its just preventing (unintentionally) offensive language being broadcast on tv.
John Davidson deserved to be in that room, and he doesn't deserve any disrespect – but that doesnt mean things couldnt have been handled better.
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The British Academy's ceremony in London, hosted by Alan Cumming, saw 'I Swear' star Robert Aramayo surprise the star-studded crowd with two wins in one night, in addition to a casting honor for the film.
By
Georg Szalai
Global Business Editor
Paul Thomas Anderson's political thriller One Battle After Another won six honors at the BAFTA Film Awards on Sunday, with Ryan Coogler's vampire horror drama Sinners earning three, setting a record for the most honors for a movie from a Black filmmaker. And Kirk Jones' Tourette Syndrome advocate dramedy I Swear stunned the crowd at the ceremony, hosted by Alan Cumming, the presenter and producer of The Traitors U.S., at London's Royal Festival Hall, winning two honors voted on by the industry and a third one voted on by the public.
The film's star, Robert Aramayo, in fact, left the event with two statuettes, one for Rising Star, the other for best actor, a star-studded category, in which his win was met with audible gasps by the audience. The other award for I Swear came in the best casting category.
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Benicio Del Toro on Bonding With Leo, Rewriting PTA and His First Oscar Nom in Decades
The BAFTA nominations had set up a thrill ride for the British Academy honors, with One Battle After Another earning 14 nods, narrowly edging out Sinners with 13, and Chloé Zhao's Shakespearean heartbreaker Hamnet and Josh Safdie's ping-pong caper Marty Supreme with 11 nods each.
At the end of the night, One Battle After Another could celebrate half a dozen BAFTAs, namely for best film, best director, best adapted screenplay, best cinematography, editing, as well as best supporting actor Sean Penn.
The best supporting actress honor on Sunday went to Wunmi Mosaku for Sinners, which was also honored with the best original screenplay BAFTA for Coogler and the best original score award. Sinners followed up its record as the most-nominated film by a Black director in the British Academy's history with a record three wins. Coogler also became the first Black winner of an original screenplay BAFTA on Sunday.
Three BAFTAs also went to Frankenstein, namely for production design, costumes, and make-up & hair. And Hamnet was honored twice, as the Outstanding British Film of the year, with star Jessie Buckley also winning the best leading actress award.
At the BAFTA Film Awards 2025, Conclave (best film) and The Brutalist (best director and actor) had won four honors each.
BAFTA chair Sara Putt opened the 2026 festivities Sunday night, lauding this year's nominees and thanking them for providing audiences with “windows into other worlds and sometimes, yes, a respite from this one.” And she touted the excellence they have shown, “no algorithms involved.”
A pre-recorded sketch, starring Cumming discussing marketing ideas for the BAFTAs on a video call with Brian Cox, Warwick Davis, Ken Jeong, Jacobi Jupe, Hannah Waddingham, dog LaLa, a muted and video-less Leo DiCaprio, and Paddington Bear then opened the entertainment portion of the night.
In his opening monologue, Cumming ran through the topics covered by this year's nominees. “Whatever happened to escapism? I'm exhausted,” he concluded. “It's almost as though, I don't know, there are events going on in the real world that are influencing filmmakers. Anyone else, like you Americans in particular?” Cumming then invited everyone in attendance to join him in a collective primal scream at world events.
Director David Borenstein accepted the honor for best documentary for his Mr. Nobody Against Putin with another U.S. reference, saying: “No matter how dark things get, whether in Russia or on the streets of Minneapolis, we always face a moral choice.”
Among other political comments during Sunday's ceremony, My Father's Shadow director Akinola Davies Jr., who won the Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer honor with his writer and brother Wale Davies, ended his acceptance speech with the words, “Free Palestine!”
Also on Sunday, Clare Binns, the creative director of Picturehouse Cinemas and Picturehouse Entertainment and “a driving force in the distribution of films in the U.K.,” was honored with the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award at the ceremony. The world needs more neighborhood cinemas, she told the BAFTA crowd. And she lauded the late Robert Redford for founding the Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival, saying: “He knew that above all, we should be prepared to take risks.”
And Donna Langley, the NBCUniversal Entertainment chair and the first British woman to run a major Hollywood studio, received the BAFTA Fellowship, the British Academy's highest honor, telling the audience that “decency is a superpower.”
At the end of a big BAFTA Awards night for One Battle After Another, director Paul Thomas Anderson, who had received a standing ovation, lauded the strong movies of the past year and had this message for people who say movies are no good anymore: “You can p*** right off!”
Check out the full 2026 BAFTA honors in London below. The winners are highlighted in bold in all announced categories.
Best FilmHAMNET Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, Nicolas Gonda, Steven Spielberg, Sam Mendes MARTY SUPREME Timothée Chalamet, Anthony Katagas, Eli Bush, Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Adam Somner, Sara Murphy, Paul Thomas Anderson SENTIMENTAL VALUE Maria Ekerhovd, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar SINNERS Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, Ryan Coogler
Leading Actress JESSIE BUCKLEY Hamnet ROSE BYRNE If I Had Legs I'd Kick You KATE HUDSON Song Sung Blue CHASE INFINITI One Battle After Another RENATE REINSVE Sentimental Value EMMA STONE Bugonia
Leading Actor ROBERT ARAMAYO I Swear TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET Marty Supreme LEONARDO DICAPRIO One Battle After Another ETHAN HAWKE Blue Moon MICHAEL B. JORDAN Sinners JESSE PLEMONS Bugonia
Supporting Actor BENICIO DEL TORO One Battle After Another JACOB ELORDI Frankenstein PAUL MESCAL Hamnet PETER MULLAN I Swear SEAN PENN One Battle After Another STELLAN SKARSGÅRD Sentimental Value
Supporting ActressODESSA A'ZION Marty Supreme INGA IBSDOTTER LILLEAAS Sentimental Value WUNMI MOSAKU Sinners CAREY MULLIGAN The Ballad of Wallis Island TEYANA TAYLOR One Battle After Another EMILY WATSON Hamnet
DirectorBUGONIA Yorgos Lanthimos HAMNET Chloé Zhao MARTY SUPREME Josh Safdie ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Paul Thomas Anderson SENTIMENTAL VALUE Joachim Trier SINNERS Ryan Coogler
EE Rising Star Award (voted for by the public) Robert Aramayo Miles Caton Chase Infiniti Archie Madekwe Posy Sterling
Outstanding British Film28 YEARS LATER Danny Boyle, Andrew Macdonald, Peter Rice, Bernard Bellew, Alex Garland THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND James Griffiths, Rupert Majendie, Tom Basden, Tim Key BRIDGET JONES: MAD ABOUT THE BOY Michael Morris, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Jo Wallett, Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer, Abi Morgan DIE MY LOVE Lynne Ramsay, Martin Scorsese, Jennifer Lawrence, Justine Cirrocchi, Andrea Calderwood, Enda Walsh, Alice Birch H IS FOR HAWK Philippa Lowthorpe, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Emma Donoghue HAMNET Chloé Zhao, Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, Nicolas Gonda, Steven Speilberg, Sam Mendes, Maggie O'Farrell I SWEAR Kirk Jones, Georgia Bayliff, Piers Tempest MR BURTON Marc Evans, Ed Talfan, Josh Hyams, Hannah Thomas, Trevor Matthews, Tom Bullough PILLION Harry Lighton, Emma Norton, Lee Groombridge, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe STEVE Tim Mielants, Alan Moloney, Cillian Murphy, Max Porter
Film Not in the English Language IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT Jafar Panahi, Philippe Martin THE SECRET AGENT Kleber Mendonça Filho, Emilie Lesclaux SENTIMENTAL VALUE Joachim Trier, Maria Ekerhovd, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar SIRĀT Oliver Laxe, Domingo Corral THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB Kaouther Ben Hania, Nadim Cheikhrouha
Costume Design FRANKENSTEIN Kate Hawley HAMNET Malgosia Turzanska MARTY SUPREME Miyako Bellizzi SINNERS Ruth E. Carter WICKED: FOR GOOD Paul Tazewell
Adapted Screenplay THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND Tom Basden, Tim Key BUGONIA Will Tracy HAMNET Chloé Zhao, Maggie O'Farrell ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Paul Thomas Anderson PILLION Harry Lighton
Original ScoreBUGONIA Jerskin Fendrix FRANKENSTEIN Alexandre Desplat HAMNET Max Richter ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Jonny Greenwood SINNERS Ludwig Göransson
SoundF1 Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, Juan Peralta FRANKENSTEIN Greg Chapman, Nathan Robitallie, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoem ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Jose Antonio Garcia, Christopher Scarabosio, Tony Villaflor SINNERS Chris Welcker, Benny Burtt, Brandon Proctor, Steve Boeddeker, Felipe Pacheco WARFARE Glenn Freemantle, Mitch Low, Ben Barker, Howard Bargroff, Richard Spooner
Cinematography FRANKENSTEIN Dan Laustsen MARTY SUPREME Darius Khondji ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Michael Bauman SINNERS Autumn Durald Arkapaw TRAIN DREAMS Adolpho Veloso
Animated FilmELIO Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina, Mary Alice Drumm LITTLE AMÉLIE Mailys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han, Nidia Santiago, Edwina Liard, Claire Le Combe, Henri Magalon ZOOTROPOLIS 2 Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino
Editing F1 Stephen Mirrione A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE Kirk Baxter MARTY SUPREME Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Andy Jurgensen SINNERS Michael P. Shawver
CastingI SWEAR Lauren Evans MARTY SUPREME Jennifer Venditti ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Cassandra Kulukundis SENTIMENTAL VALUE Yngvill Kolset Haga, Avy Kaufman SINNERS Francine Maisler
Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer THE CEREMONY Jack King (Director, Writer), Hollie Bryan (Producer), Lucy Meer (Producer) MY FATHER'S SHADOW Akinola Davies Jr. (Director), Wale Davies (Writer) PILLION Harry Lighton (Director, Writer) A WANT IN HER Myrid Carten (Director) WASTEMAN Cal McMau (Director), Hunter Andrews (Writer), Eoin Doran (Writer)
Original Screenplay I SWEAR Kirk Jones MARTY SUPREME Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie THE SECRET AGENT Kleber Mendonça Filho SENTIMENTAL VALUE Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier SINNERS Ryan Coogler
British Short AnimationCARDBOARD J.P. Vine, Michaela Manas Malina SOLSTICE Luke Angus TWO BLACK BOYS IN PARADISE Baz Sells, Dean Atta, Ben Jackson British Short Film MAGID / ZAFAR Luis Hindman, Sufiyaan Salam, Aidan Robert Brooks NOSTALGIE Kathryn Ferguson, Stacey Gregg, Marc Robinson, Kath Mattock TERENCE Edem Kelman, Noah Reich THIS IS ENDOMETRIOSIS Georgie Wileman, Matt Houghton, Harriette Wright WELCOME HOME FRECKLES Huiju Park, Nathan Hendren
Documentary2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson-Rath APOCALYPSE IN THE TROPICS Petra Costa, Alessandra Orofino COVER-UP Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus, Olivia Streisand, Yoni Golijev MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN David Borenstein, Helle Faber, Radovan Síbrt, Alžběta Karásková THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR Geeta Gandbhir, Alisa Payne, Nikon Kwantu, Sam Bisbee
Make-up & HairFRANKENSTEIN Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey, Mike Hill, Megan Many HAMNET Nicole Stafford MARTY SUPREME Kyra Panchenko, Kay Georgiou, Mike Fontaine SINNERS Siân Richards, Shunika Terry, Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine WICKED: FOR GOOD Frances Hannon, Laura Blount, Mark Coulier, Sarah Nuth
Production Design FRANKENSTEIN Tamara Deverell, Shane Vieau HAMNET Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton MARTY SUPREME Jack Fisk, Adam Willis ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Florencia Martin, Anthony Carlino SINNERS Hannah Beachler, Monique Champagne
Children's & Family Film ARCO Ugo Bienvenu, Félix De Givry, Sophie Mas, Natalie Portman BOONG Lakshmipriya Devi, Ritesh Sidhwani LILO & STITCH Dean Fleischer Camp, Jonathan Eirich ZOOTROPOLIS 2 Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino
Special Visual EffectsAVATAR: FIRE AND ASH Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Daniel Barrett, Eric Saindon F1 Ryan Tudhope, Keith Alfred Dawson, Nicolas Chevallier, Robert Harrington FRANKENSTEIN Dennis Berardi, Ayo Burgess, Ivan Busquets, José Granell HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Christian Mänz, Francois Lambert, Glen McIntosh, Terry Palmer THE LOST BUS Charlie Noble, Brandon K. McLaughlin, David Zaretti
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A third series, a British political thriller from 'Blue Lights' creators Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn, was also confirmed Monday.
By
Lily Ford
The BBC has unveiled three new dramas coming to our screens in due course, including Shy & Lola with Hayley Squires and Bel Powley.
Shy & Lola, a new six-part drama for BBC iPlayer and BBC One, is written by award-winning screenwriter and novelist Amanda Coe (Apple Tree Yard, The Trial of Christine Keeler) and produced by multi-BAFTA and Emmy award-winning Clerkenwell Films (Baby Reindeer, The Death of Bunny Munro, The End of the F***ing World), part of BBC Studios.
The darkly comic story follows Shy and Lola, two very different women who are forced to become allies when a murder entangles them in the criminal underworld operating in Shy's small coastal town in the North of England. Squires (The Night Manager, I, Daniel Blake) stars as Shy, a cleaner scraping by and dreaming of a new life in Portugal, with Powley (A Small Light, The Diary of a Teenage Girl) playing Lola, an ex-model-turned-grifter who arrives in town with trouble at her heels.
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Filming on the show, based on the French television drama Cheyenne and Lola, will begin this spring in and around the U.K. cities of Hull and Leeds.
Also announced on Monday is D-Notice from writers and executive producers Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn. The six-part British political thriller is set in the world of investigative journalism. Patterson and Lawn are said to “have some experience of” the D-notice mechanism, which allows the government to advise journalists about national security. Now, they've come up with a drama that looks at how truth and power speak to one another. It is their third project for the BBC, following The Salisbury Poisonings and Blue Lights, and their first commission from production company Hot Sauce Pictures, backed by Sony Pictures Television.
The BBC has also commissioned 1536, a new drama series for BBC iPlayer and BBC One, based on Ava Pickett's play of the same name. The eight-part show written by Pickett from Drama Republic (Riot Women, One Day) is set in the heart of Tudor England against the backdrop of Anne Boleyn's arrest and weaves royal scandal with rural struggle.
1536 centers around Anna, Mariella, and Jane: three young women gossiping, arguing, and dreaming in an Essex village, desperately waiting for their lives to start. When the news reaches them that King Henry VIII has had his Queen, Anne Boleyn, arrested, the three of them never suspect that this act will change their lives forever.
Pickett said: “1536 is something I am immensely proud of and I feel so lucky and privileged to have the chance to bring Anna, Jane and Mariella to a wider audience and to build out their lives even more. In a world where every decision made in the corridors of power ricochets through all of our lives, this story feels more relevant than ever. I'm so grateful to Lindsay Salt for being such a champion of it from the start.”
Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, added: “From the moment we saw Ava's play we knew that we had to have the TV version on the BBC. Visceral, funny, provocative, timely and full of courage, this is a piece of work like no other. Ava is an exceptional voice, so we feel very lucky to be working with her and the brilliant team at Drama Republic to bring three iconic female characters to the screen.”
Executive producers are Jude Liknaitzky, Roanna Benn, Rebecca de Souza, Chloe Beeson and Pickett. The series was commissioned by Salt.
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Davidson is the inspiration behind Robert Aramayo's now BAFTA-winning performance in 'I Swear.'
By
Lily Ford
A debate has been sparked among BAFTA Film Awards attendees and online after a Tourette's campaigner, John Davidson, was heard cursing throughout the show.
Davidson is the inspiration behind the BAFTA-nominated I Swear. Robert Aramayo, who depicted the Scotsman in Kirk Jones' widely acclaimed film, nabbed the BAFTA for best actor on Sunday night — over Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothee Chalamet, Ethan Hawke and Michael B. Jordan.
The film follows a man's struggle growing up with Tourette's syndrome, a condition characterized by sudden, involuntary and repetitive movements or sounds. These are known as tics, and they often manifest as outbursts such as loud swearing, which occurred numerous times over the first 20 minutes of the BAFTA ceremony as Davidson shouted, “Boring!” while guests were taken through some of the housekeeping rules before the show began, and “Bullshit!” when people were asked not to curse.
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He also exclaimed, “Shut the fuck up,” while BAFTA chair Sara Putt made her introductory remarks and, later, prompted gasps when he said the n-word as Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented the award for best visual effects to Avatar: Fire and Ash.
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In keeping with the celebratory tone of the evening, Cumming interrupted his hosting several times across the show to remind viewers: “You may have noticed some strong language in the background. This can be part of how Tourette's syndrome shows up for some people as the film explores that experience,” he said, referencing I Swear. “Thanks for your understanding and helping create a respectful space for everyone.”
After Davidson left the ceremony at London's Royal Festival Hall around 25 minutes into the proceedings — which The Hollywood Reporter understands was of his own accord, and not the result of being asked to by BAFTA — Cumming said again: “Tourette's Syndrome is a disability and the tics you've heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette's Syndrome has no control over their language. We apologize if you are offended tonight.”
Guests were also notified before the awards show began that they might occasionally hear Davidson's tics. A floor manager welcomed him, saying: “John has Tourette's Syndrome, so please be aware you might hear some involuntary noises or movements during the ceremony.”
BAFTA referred THR to the BBC when asked for a statement about the incident. The broadcaster, airing the show on a two-hour delay across the U.K., did not immediately respond, though questions have been raised behind the scenes over the decision to not edit out Davidson's cursing.
The incident has prompted discussion among the film community in attendance at the BAFTA Film Awards, with many Brits maintaining that Tourette's is a deeply misunderstood condition. Others, including those from across the pond, were seemingly less tolerant of Davidson's outbursts. Some stressed on the night that his language could have been emotionally triggering for presenters.
Sinners' production designer, Hannah Beachler, took to social media after the show. “I keep trying to write about what happened at the BAFTAs, and I can't find the words,” she wrote on X. “The situation is almost impossible, but it happened 3 times that night, and one of the three times was directed at myself on the way to dinner after the show,” she added about Davidson's tics. “I understand and deeply know why this is an impossible situation. I know we must handle this with grace and continue to push through. But what made the situation worse was the throw away apology of ‘if you were offended.'”
Aramayo, who also won the BAFTA Rising Star Award on Sunday, told the crowd while accepting the prize: “John Davidson is the most remarkable man I ever met. He's so forthcoming with education and he believes there should be still so much more we need to learn about Tourette's.”
“For people living with Tourette's, it's us around them who help them define what their experience is,” Aramayo said. “So, to quote the film, they need support and understanding.”
The discussion moved online, where some users commented that Tourette's is “debilitating” and “really, really awful.”
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By
Emily Zemler
Katherine Heigl posted a lengthy tribute to Eric Dane, who died last week at 53 after a battle with ALS. The actress shared the screen with Dane on ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy for several seasons.
“I debated this post for days,” Heigel shared. “I have never been comfortable grieving publicly. I share my tears, my stories and my memories with those I'm closest to and more times than not I share them only with the heavens alone. But that silence can often look like a lack of care which I could not abide here.”
She continued, speaking directly to Dane's ex-wife and daughters, “Rebecca, Billie, Georgia… There is so little, if in fact anything, one can say about a tragic loss like yours. All the ‘I'm sorries' and ‘my prayers are with you' ring a bit hollow in the midst of so much pain and grief. So I will say the only thing that has ever brought me peace when I've lost someone I love. It is Robert Frost's poem ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay' of which I have tattooed on my body in my parent's handwriting so I will never forget that the moment of gold was worth it.”
Heigl recounted the poem's lines, which read: “Natures first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; but only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, so Dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.”
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She concluded, “I will never forget Eric's gold and I will forever be grateful I got to bask in it for even a brief moment in time. Thank you for sharing him with us. God Speed my old friend…here's to your next great adventure.”
Several of Dane's Grey's costars have shared their memories of the actor in the days following his death. “I spoke to him about a week ago, and some friends of ours went in to see him, and he was really starting to lose his ability to speak,” Patrick Dempsey said during an appearance on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show. “He was bedridden, and it was very hard for him to swallow. So the quality of his life was deteriorating so rapidly.”
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Dane was diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) in April 2025 and died less than one year after that. “He did an incredible job at bringing awareness to this horrible disease in those remaining days, which was really brave of him to do, and it just reminds us that we all have to celebrate every day like it's our last day,” Dempsey said.
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Shonda Rhimes, the creator and showrunner of Grey's Anatomy, praised Dane in a social media post as a “truly a gifted actor whose portrayal of Dr. Mark Sloan left an indelible mark on the series and on audiences around the world.” Rhimes continued, “We are grateful for the artistry, spirit, friendship and humanity he shared with us for so many years. Our hearts are with his family, loved ones, and all who were touched by his work.”
Kate Walsh, who also starred on Grey's Anatomy, paid tribute to Dane. “I literally remember my very first scene with Eric…an elevator scene at Seattle Greys,” she shared on Instagram, alongside a carousel of photos from the set. “So, so long ago. I believe it was his first scene on the show too and he was nervous. He was so handsome and I thought ‘but can this guy act?' and of course he could, and did, and the rest is history.”
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Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2026 Rolling Stone, LLC. All rights reserved.
By
Emily Zemler
EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami, the singers behind Kpop Demon Hunters‘ fictional group HUNTR/X, brought “Golden” overseas for the first time live. The trio took the stage at the 2026 BAFTA Awards, held at London's Royal Festival Hall on Sunday night, to showcase the hit track.
The dynamic rendition, which featured a group of backup dancers, marked the first performance of the sing outside the U.S. — despite the Netflix animated film being ineligible for a BAFTA Award. Although the film was hopeful of a nomination for Best Animated Film, BAFTA ultimately ruled that KPop Demon Hunters did not meet the eligibility criteria for the annual awards because it did not have a qualifying theatrical release.
“Performing at the EE BAFTA Film Awards is a golden moment that our younger selves could never have imagined,” the trio said in a statement when the performance was announced. “We're so proud to represent Netflix's KPop Demon Hunters and spread the film's positive message to fans around the globe.”
“Golden” 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.
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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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Deborah Mailman is the wounded heart of this loose sequel to 2017's ‘Sweet Country,' set on the 1930s colonial frontier a few years after the events of the earlier film.
By
David Rooney
Chief Film Critic
An experienced cinematographer before he turned to directing, Warwick Thornton has a feel for the Central Australian desert and the craggy MacDonnell Ranges that's both epic and intimate. His refined sense of composition is directly informed by the landscape around Alice Springs where he grew up and his subcutaneous connection to it imbues his films with soulful beauty. Wolfram is no exception. A four-chapter saga of escape, pursuit and survival, the film, for all its brutality, ultimately becomes less a lament for stolen lands and stolen children than a stirring account of endurance.
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Family and community are the thematic foundation of this sequel of sorts to Thornton's 2017 drama Sweet Country, again co-written by Steven McGregor and David Tranter. It picks up a few years after the events of the earlier film in and around the same fictional Northern Territory town of Henry, though all but two of the principal characters here are different. That gives the two movies the feel of a shared ancestral map, marked by overlaps and diverging tangents.
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Wolfram
The Bottom Line
Not without flaws, but equal parts haunting and healing.
Venue: Berlin Film Festival (Competition)Cast: Deborah Mailman, Erroll Shand, Joe Bird, Thomas M. Wright, Matt Nable, Pedrea Jackson, Eli Hart, Hazel May Jackson, Ferdinand Hoang, Jason Chong, Aiden Du Chiem, John Howard, Anni Finsterer, Luka May Glynn-Cole, Gibson John, Natassia Gorey-FurberDirector: Warwick ThorntonScreenwriters: Steven McGregor, David Tranter
1 hour 42 minutes
The nominal center this time is Pansy, played with an expressive gaze and few words by the invaluable Deborah Mailman, first seen clutching her newborn and hacking off locks of her hair with a rusty knife. With minimal preamble or exposition, Pansy and new partner Zhang (Jason Chong) set off on a horse and cart for Queensland, their last shot at finding her lost children. She beads the braids of hair with seeds, hanging them on shrubs to mark the way, like a trail of breadcrumbs.
Meanwhile, Indigenous child laborers Max (Hazel May Jackson) and Kid (Eli Hart) chip away at the walls of a tight mine shaft, removing chunks of the ore used to make wolfram (now more commonly known as tungsten) for their ill-tempered boss Billy (Matt Nable).
A separate thread follows the arrival in Henry of criminals Casey (Erroll Shand) and Frank (Joe Bird), all mean attitude and swagger as they look to stake a claim in the area and prospect for gold. Ignoring the advice of the local storekeeper (John Howard) to avoid the back trails where they are likely to encounter “wild Blackfellas,” they head off in that direction. When they come upon young Max, left behind to keep an eye on Billy's camp, Casey and Frank rob the camp and forcibly take the child with them.
Once Kid discovers his sibling is gone, he steals a donkey from the mining site and goes after him, his exit timing helped by a convenient snake bite.
Further off the dusty track on a run-down cattle station, belligerent drunk Kennedy (Thomas M. Wright) benefits from the virtual slave labor of his 18-year-old mixed-race son Philomac (Pedrea Jackson), the two main characters carried over from Sweet Country. (Philomac, then 14, was played by twins Tremayne and Trevon Doolan.)
When Casey and Frank roll up, they pretty much take over, claiming they found Max wandering alone. Kennedy is oddly deferential to the strangers as they start antagonizing Philomac, whose suspicions about them are confirmed when he talks to Max alone.
Just as he did in Sweet Country, Thornton evokes the Old West-style lawlessness of the time and place, particularly as sneering villain Casey and cocky dope Frank go from vaguely menacing to outright ruthless. Their heartless treatment of Black petty thief Archie (Gibson John), another Sweet Country holdover, shocks Philomac into action as the movie shifts gears into a chase thriller. Blood is shed in killings both horrific and gratifying. In the latter case, Thornton reclaims the dignity of First Nations Australians with a rousing image of strength.
Much of the story comes from oral history passed down by his great-grandfather to Tranter, whose family roots on both sides — Indigenous and Chinese — come into play. That said, the narrative feels a tad shapeless at times and the plot turns — one surprise revelation in Part Four aside — often familiar.
The number of significant characters and story strands makes it a challenge for the director and writers to settle on a focus and maintain it until the threads are stitched together. But even when it ambles along rather than races, the movie's heart and integrity keep Wolfram engrossing, buoyed by sterling work from the entire cast.
Pedrea Jackson, sporting an excellent mustache, is a standout as Philomac, contemplative, observant, simmering with indignation and longing to be with his people; Shand makes Casey chillingly contemptible, treating the Aboriginal characters like animals; despite her role being largely symbolic, Mailman is enormously touching, her grace and quiet fortitude standing in for countless mothers whose children were taken from them; and the young actors playing Max and Kid are terrific.
Two Chinese gold prospectors introduced toward the end, Shi (Ferdinand Hoang) and Jimmi (Aiden Du Chiem), indicate the sense of solidarity among victims of discrimination. They become a key part of an affecting conclusion, which maybe ties up the story too neatly, but few will be unmoved by seeing people so dehumanized by colonial rule show their resilience.
Thornton once again serves as his own DP, drawing texture from the rich palette of reds, oranges, golds and browns in the sun-blasted landscape. The movie has no original score as such but makes distinctively atmospheric use of Charlie Barker's saw playing. The director has still not surpassed the poetic simplicity of his lauded 2009 debut, Samson & Delilah. But Wolfram represents a very solid entry in his impressive body of work and a return to form after his more uneven last feature, The New Boy.
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Years from now, in the White Sword Tower of King's Landing, a book gathering dust since the days of the Conqueror will recount the great deeds of Ser Duncan The Tall (Peter Claffey). As we learned in season four of Game Of Thrones, he racks up four full pages in the Kingsguard's White Book—an allotment of glory few knights of the realm can ever hope to claim. (Sorry, Ser Jaime.) Ser Duncan's rowdy exploits at Ashford Meadow won't be chronicled in this tome, though people will sing laments about his Trial Of Seven, which claimed the life of Baelor “Breakspear” Targaryen (Bertie Carvel), the Hand Of The King and heir to the Iron Throne. The lowly hedge knight called Dunk survived a trial by combat foisted on him by Prince Aerion Targaryen (Finn Bennett). Prince Baelor, from whom much was hoped, did not.
“The Morrow,” directed by Sarah Adina Smith and written by Ti Mikkel and series creator Ira Parker, mourns Baelor “Breakspear” in a minor key and a sideways glance. It begins with bluesy horns, as Ser Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) checks on Ser Dunk, who sulks under his elm pavilion like a wounded mastiff. Wine is sipped, sage is burnt, yet the day beckons—as does home, where life pales before the excitement of a good tourney. “Shame it's all over,” Ser Lyonel laments, his maester fumbling at Dunk's bandages. “Home [is] brutally dull.” That's Storm's End, the seat of House Baratheon, where Dunk could find comfort and security as a sworn knight, hawking, hunting, and making merry with a knight who'd love him like a brother. “I'll sharpen that iron of yours so you don't make such a grand fool of yourself next time,” Lyonel promises, leaping up for a piss. It's a grand offer, and indeed, everything Dunk rode to Ashford for. And it arrives just as he decides he wants none of it.
In six exceptionally well-crafted episodes, A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms has explored what identity means in a world where position dictates who thrives and who suffers. In a bold break from the books, it is revealed (in a much shorter flashback than last week‘s) that Ser Arlan Of Pennytree (Danny Webb) taught Dunk decency and how to wield a sword, but never formally knighted him. Dunk is a knight in name only, a fact none know and few suspect. Still, the chivalric virtues of the Seven shaped Dunk as he grew beyond Flea Bottom. He remains committed to those vows, whether he said them before the gods or not. It's why Baelor sided with him over his own blood, why Lyonel rallied to his cause: Aerion forgot these vows, but Ser Duncan never did. “I need good men,” Prince Baelor said to him just before he died. He was speaking for the realm.
Ser Lyonel objects to Dunk's lament for Baelor and notes, rightfully, that his choice to fight for the hedge knight—noble (and awesome) as it was—was a strategy. The Kingsguard in Aerion's Six were oath-bound not to harm their prince, and Ser Steffon Fossoway (Edward Ashley) wouldn't dare imperil his newly minted lordship by striking the Hand. That left only Baelor's family, Princes Maekar (Sam Spruell) and Daeron (Henry Ashton), who loved him. “He risked nothing!” Lyonel booms. “And the gods don't favor a fraud.”
Ser Duncan faked his knighthood until he made it, and people died. If the gods punish frauds, then why, as Prince Valarr (Oscar Morgan) puts it, would they only take Baelor? Why spare Dunk? It's interesting that the next scene following this identity crisis is a visit with Raymun Fossoway (Shaun Thomas) and his blushing new bride, Rowan (Rowan Robinson), the camp follower whom Dunk saw slinking around Ser Manfred Dondarrion (Daniel Monks) earlier in the tourney. Convinced he's knocked her up (quick work if true), Raymun marries Rowan into the Green Apple branch of House Fossoway. She's remade herself under the cover of a useful lie, and Raymun, the poor sap, is too smitten to look closer. Rowan's smooches are her strategy, just like Baelor's gambit on the tourney grounds and Dunk's sad ruse since Ser Arlan died.
These choices raise fascinating questions that aren't easy to answer. What is a lie if it produces virtue? Where does necessity end and rot begin? Dunk struggles under the weight of this morality. The only thing holding him up is a stubborn sense of duty and that humble elm crutch of his. It's sturdy enough to deliver him before Prince Maekar, who, in a scene steeped in tragic irony, simultaneously resents Dunk, regrets his brother's death, and wants nothing but the best for his unruly son, Prince Aegon, known to Dunk as Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell). “Will you take him?” Maekar asks, offering a place for him at the Targaryen castle Summerhall, where he'd master combat and take on Egg as his squire. With his trial decided, the highest doors in all the realm swing open. But this outcome has changed what he wants from life, even if he, too, cares about Egg's future. “I think I'm done with princes,” he tells Maekar, half-heartedly.
Dunk would be wise to leave House Targaryen behind him, with all their madness and betrayals, fire and blood. It was fire that drove Maekar's swing: He saw his son in danger and fought like a dragon to save him, stoving in his brother's head and changing the course of kings. It's like Daeron explains to Dunk during the wake for Sers Hardyng and Beesbury: His house sows madness early. Aerion was once, he says, a “glad child” before royalty's iron machinery bent his mind toward cruelty. What might a Targaryen boy grow up to be free from banners and succession? As Dunk mulls this question, Egg ponders a few of his own, noting in his reflection that his fine silver hair is coming back in, this cherished new identity as “Egg” ready to be devoured by that ancient Targaryen darkness.
That's why A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms is so successful thematically: It flirts with the Martinian abyss, yet its characters thrive just outside its pull. For today, anyway. Egg does not kill Aerion, but instead turns his blade on his own reflection, defiantly cleaning his bald head for the adventures yet to come. While his father forbids his decision, Prince Aegon V Targaryen sheds his royal colors for humbler duds and returns to the service of the hedge knight he admires so. With Egg at his side once more, Duncan rides Thunder a touch taller, less haunted, and more optimistic than he's ever been. Ser Arlan was a good man; Ser Dunk might be a great one. As Dunk and Egg amble down a new path unburdened by the obligation of memory, the book remains thrillingly unwritten—and, as Ser Arlan says, a true knight always finishes his story. So, what will the morrow bring?
Jarrod Jones is a contributor to The A.V. Club.
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The GoFundMe campaign launched to raise funds for Eric Dane‘s daughters has been verified. A rep for the organization confirmed the news to Rolling Stone after donations were temporarily on hold as a trust and safety team reviewed the fundraiser.
The focus of the review was scrutiny over the organizer — the campaign originally didn't include a specific individual tied to the fundraiser, nor had GoFundMe confirmed at the time that proceeds would benefit Dane's family. Following the verification, the actor's widow, Rebecca Gayheart, is now listed as the beneficiary.
In the wake of Dane's death on Thursday, there's been an outpouring of tributes from friends and co-stars, and also generous donations to the campaign. The fundraiser, titled “In the Honor of Eric Dane,” was organized by “Friends of the Dane Family” and created to “support his girls and their future needs.” Its stated goal is to raise $500,000 for his daughters, Billie, 15, and Georgia, 14. As of this evening, over $300,000 has been raised from around 3,200 donors.
Dane, who starred in Grey's Anatomy and Euphoria, died Thursday following a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He was 53.
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Among the notable donors to the GoFundMe campaign are Euphoria creator Sam Levinson and his wife, Ashley Levinson, who contributed $27,000. Following news of Dane's death, Levinson remembered the star in a statement to Variety, writing, “I'm heartbroken by the loss of our dear friend Eric. Working with him was an honor. Being his friend was a gift. Eric's family is in our prayers. May his memory be for a blessing.”
This article was updated on Feb. 22. at 9:53 p.m. ET to include a statement from a GoFundMe rep verifying the fundraiser.
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Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo had the N-word shouted at them while presenting an award at the BAFTAs on Sunday.
The “Sinners” stars were presenting the award for best visual effects to “Avatar: Fire and Ash” when the shocking outburst could be heard by the audience from Tourette's syndrome campaigner John Davidson.
Davidson is the inspiration for the BAFTA-nominated movie “I Swear,” which is based on his real life.
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Jordan and Lindo continued presenting despite the awkward moment, and BAFTA host Alan Cumming apologized afterward.
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“You may have noticed some strong language in the background. This can be part of how Tourette's syndrome shows up for some people as the film explores that experience,” Cumming told the audience, per Variety.
“Thanks for your understanding and helping create a respectful space for everyone.”
Cumming addressed the incident further, noting, “Tourette's syndrome is a disability and the tics you've heard tonight are involuntary, which means the person who has Tourette's syndrome has no control over their language.”
“We apologize if you are offended tonight.”
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Davidson's tics could also be heard when he told BAFTA chair Sara Putt to “shut the f–k up” during her introductory speech, and when he shouted “f–k you” at the directors of “Boong” as they accepted the award for for best children's and family film.
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Davidson appeared to have voluntarily left the awards show during the second half of the ceremony, Variety reported.
He was an “invited guest” and under no circumstances would BAFTA ask him to leave the ceremony, a source told the outlet.
Tourette's syndrome is a disorder that involves repetitive movements or unwanted sounds, or tics, that can't be easily controlled, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Tics — “sudden, brief, intermittent movements or sounds” — are a major symptom of Tourette's syndrome.
Davidson was the subject of the 1989 BBC documentary “John's Not Mad” when he was 16 years old. The documentary followed his life dealing with severe Tourette's syndrome.
He is known as an ambassador for the condition, giving talks and workshops about Tourette's syndrome, for which there is no cure.
By CHRIS MELORE, US ASSISTANT SCIENCE EDITOR
Published: 12:10 EST, 23 February 2026 | Updated: 12:19 EST, 23 February 2026
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A massive public archive of declassified US government files vanished just one day after President Trump ordered the release of all UFO-related documents.
The Black Vault, run by researcher and ufologist John Greenewald Jr, had its main server reportedly wiped clean on February 20, deleting hundreds of gigabytes worth of files on UFOs, declassified CIA projects, and major conspiracies, including the assassination of JFK.
Greenewald shared the news online, explaining that some server directories had their permissions, the safeguards on who can access or edit them, and the file ownership logs changed without explanation.
Black Vault has become a go-to resource for anyone wanting to see exactly what the government has quietly made public over the last 80 years.
Greenewald has spent three decades organizing information on hidden programs and little-known incidents that suggest the US has been involved in top secret efforts to recover and take advantage of alien technology.
Troves of declassified files the public can freely search through on the Black Vault detail military base reports, witness testimonies, and even CIA directives since the 1940s and 50s which have been unsealed without widespread public knowledge.
The researcher has also publicly revealed every time a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was returned by the CIA, FBI, and other government organizations with little or no response.
The timing of the potential sabotage came just hours after the president's history-making declaration, ordering the Pentagon to disclose anything 'related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs).'
Hours after saying Barack Obama acted improperly by allegedly sharing classified information when he said that aliens exist, President Trump ordered the Pentagon to declassify all UFO files
Creator of The Black Vault, John Greenewald Jr, wrote on social media that the website containing 3.8 million declassified files was wiped hours after Trump's UFO order
In a statement released on X, Greenewald said he did not 'fully suspect foul play' but noted that he couldn't rule out the possibility because of the suspicious information he had received from the website hosting provider.
'[They] had no idea what happened, and on their side, they said it was a deletion, not corruption,' the researcher posted on Saturday.
In simpler terms, someone or something intentionally removed every single file from the Black Vault's server, deleting all the records released by the CIA and other groups, without fully shutting down the site so alarms wouldn't go off right away.
Until recently, the US government has flat-out denied that UFOs or extraterrestrial beings existed, maintaining for decades that there has never been any physical evidence recovered that proves something non-human has ever landed on Earth.
However, Trump's February 19 order came after he publicly criticized former President Barack Obama for saying in an interview that aliens were real. Trump claimed the 44th president had revealed 'classified information.'
Greenewald has previously filed over 11,000 FOIA requests with the US government to obtain these documents, including some declassified reports that date back to the alleged UFO crash landing at Roswell in 1947.
His investigations have also provided legitimate paper trails, detailing how former administrations and the intelligence community created secret task forces of high-ranking military and scientific officials to research UFO incidents.
These groups include the Majestic 12 (MJ-12), which was allegedly formed after the Roswell crash and worked for over two decades investigating sightings of alien spacecraft, working with non-human technology, and contacting extraterrestrials.
The Black Vault contains millions of pages of declassified information from the CIA and other sources on UFOs, secret government projects, and investigations into high-profile assassinations
The Black Vault's records stretch back to early files detailing the US government's actions following the alleged crash of a UFO in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947
Luckily for The Black Vault, Greenewald revealed that all of the more than 3.8 million files were backed up in secure locations and the site was restored soon after the mysterious wiping took place.
'It is a stark reminder to us all, me included. Keep backups. Keep them in multiple places. And never be intimidated by anything that comes our way, no matter what we expect may have happened,' the researcher wrote on X.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Greenewald for comment on the incident, which the researcher called a 'very oddly timed server maintenance.'
'In my honest opinion, I feel it was a very odd-timed server maintenance done by the hosting provider, that went awry,' Greenewald posted Saturday.
'They didn't catch it, and when I did, they didn't take blame, and there was no way to fully prove what happened, and by whom. Could I be wrong? Yes. Could it have been foul play? I can't rule it out.'
Data wipes like this can occur in a few ways, often without it being a malicious attack. However, these file wipes can be done intentionally by bad actors.
The most common problem happens when hosting companies perform routine updates or data cleanups.
If a software glitch, human error, or incompatible changes take place, it could accidentally delete files or alter permissions.
Hardware issues, such as failing hard drives, software bugs, or even power outages, could also corrupt or erase data. However, The Black Vault's host allegedly ruled out corruption, pointing to a deliberate erasing of the declassified files.
That leaves the possibility of hackers breaching the server through vulnerabilities, including weak passwords, outdated software, or phishing attacks.
Once in the system, the attackers might delete files to cause chaos, especially if the site deals with sensitive data that some groups might want suppressed.
Critics of the Trump Administration's promise to release all files tied to UFOs and extraterrestrial contact have claimed the move is merely a stunt to distract the public from other political controversies and nothing about aliens will actually be learned.
Many on social media have pointed to the previous releases of the documents detailing President Kennedy's assassination and the Jeffrey Epstein files both containing heavily redacted information that provided no definitive 'smoking gun.'
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American couple trapped in Puerto Vallarta during first trip away from son, four, tell family where to find their WILLS as cartel violence kills 14, resorts run out of food and Cancun vacationers ordered to shelter in place
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Tucker Carlson's interview with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee continues to reverberate this week.
On the sidelines during the imminent threat of war, Arab and Muslim nations condemned one of Huckabee's comments about the Middle East during his interview with Carlson.
Carlson quoted from the book of Genesis in the Bible and asked Huckabee if Israel had a right to the land the Bible describes as Israel's borders.
In part, Huckabee responded, "It would be fine if they took it all." The U.S. Embassy later said the quote was taken out of context. Huckabee's full response had explained, "They're not asking to go back and take all of that, but they are asking to at least take the land that they now occupy, they now live in, they now own legitimately, and it is a safe haven for them."
Huckabee also said Israel isn't trying to take over Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, or Iraq, but is just trying to protect itself.
Carlson also asked how much it cost to move the U.S. military fleet into the Persian Gulf, and instead of offering a dollar figure, Huckabee replied, "A lot less than it would to bury a lot of Americans."
A post shared by Jerusalem Dateline (@jerusalemdateline)
After the interview, Huckabee also released a statement responding to another line of questioning from Carlson that he found perplexing. Here's the ambassador's full response:
"When I sat down with Tucker Carlson on Wednesday, I was expecting a thoughtful conversation and that he would ask questions and give me the opportunity to actually respond – just like he did with the little Nazi sympathizer Nick Fuentes or the guy who thought Hitler was the good guy and Churchill the bad guy. What I wasn't anticipating was a lengthy series of questions where he seemed to be insinuating that the Jews of today aren't really same people as the Jews of the Bible.
I'll first just say something I didn't think to say to Tucker, which is that Ashkenazi Jews, meaning those who families had spent centuries in Europe, are a minority of Israel's Jewish population, only maybe 35-40%. There are far more Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews inside Israel.
But there's a good reason, as it turns out, that I had never encountered this theory that Tucker kept pushing on. That's because it comes from some of the darkest realms of the Internet and social media.
I think it's important to take a moment now and educate Tucker and anyone else who might get sucked in by this dangerous conspiracy theory, just as I have been educated this week.
I'm sharing this information because it has been weaponized by very bad people to delegitimize Jews and strip them of their history.
It's an idea that gained traction in the 80's and 90's with David Duke and other Klansmen and neo-Nazis. It has really caught fire in recent years on the Internet and social media, mostly from some of the most overt anti-Semites and Jew haters you can find.
I don't know why Tucker was so fixated on this, and I'm certainly not saying he knew the origins of this conspiracy theory. I don't know what's in his heart or what he was thinking.
But I do know that the discredited idea that most Ashkenazi or European Jews descended from the ancient Turkic kingdom of Khazaria is bunk. It's also been weaponized by people trying to deligitimize Jews, to strip them of their history, and to call them "imposters" or "fake Jews."
This odious conspiracy theory is peddled by the likes of Candace Owens and Nick Fuentes and by people who love David Duke, as well as Islamist accounts that make up false smears about Israel non-stop and are run out of countries like Pakistan and Turkey.
But we know from genetics and rich volumes of written literature that the Jews of today can trace their lineage back thousands of years to the Israel and the Jewish people of the Bible.
They are as connected together as genetics tell us that the ancient Khazar kingdom is to people living today in Turkey.
And if Tucker wants to tour more than Ben-Gurion Airport on his next trip to Israel, I'm happy to show him places where Jews have lived going back to the time of Jesus Christ and even earlier.
I sincerely hope Tucker will let me know when he actually wants to learn facts about the land and people. Asking me about conspiracy theories should remain on the fringes and not be the heart of the conversation."
WATCH OUR DISCUSSION about the Tucker Interview:
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Julie Stahl is a correspondent for CBN News in the Middle East. A Hebrew speaker, she has been covering news in Israel fulltime for more than 20 years. Julie's life as a journalist has been intertwined with CBN – first as a graduate student in Journalism; then as a journalist with Middle East Television (METV) when it was owned by CBN from 1989-91; and now with the Middle East Bureau of CBN News in Jerusalem since 2009. As a correspondent for CBN News, Julie has covered Israel's wars with Gaza, rocket attacks on Israeli communities, stories on the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and
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James Felton
James Felton
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James is a published author with multiple pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, space, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.
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James is a published author with multiple pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, space, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.
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Nasa's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.
Image credit: Nadezda Murmakova/Shutterstock.com
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NASA has responded to President Donald Trump's latest talk of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs).
UFO enthusiasts have waited decades for presidents of the USA to begin talking about aliens. On that front, February 2026 has probably been a real treat, with two US presidents suddenly discussing the topic. Beginning the extraterrestrial talk was President Barack Obama, who was asked, "Are aliens real?" on journalist Brian Tyler Cohen's podcast during a speed questions section of the show.
"They're real, but I haven't seen them, and they're not being kept in [Area 51]," Obama told Cohen. "There's no underground facility. Unless there's this enormous conspiracy, and they hid it from the president of the United States."
Obama went on to clarify on Instagram that he was not talking about life visiting Earth, but life generally out there, minding its own business in the vast cosmos.
“I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it's gotten attention, let me clarify. Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there's life out there. But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we've been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!”
But before Obama had made these clarifying remarks, President Trump had already reacted, telling journalists on a flight to Georgia that the 44th president had "made a big mistake", essentially accusing him of revealing state secrets.
"He took it out of classified information," Trump told reporters, per Reuters. "He's not supposed to be doing that."
While it is unlikely that Obama accidentally revealed the secret existence of alien life on Earth during a speed round section of a podcast interview, Trump has since said he will direct government agencies to release more information pertaining to these phenomena.
"Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters," Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding an obligatory, "GOD BLESS AMERICA!".
It should be noted that in recent years, the US government has been attempting to be more transparent on the topic, holding public hearings in Congress discussing UAP and UFO sightings. In these hearings, witnesses and other officials have discussed what they have seen and what investigations have concluded about the phenomenon.
Sometimes, the incidents have had definitive explanations, including an old classic: weather balloons. Others are more open-ended and require further investigation, if that is possible given the footage and witness reports available. But the wheels are already in motion, with various US agencies disclosing what they have investigated and the outcome. Responding to Trump's post, NASA Press Secretary Bethany Stevens explained that they would continue to be transparent on all topics.
"We continue to embrace President Trump's open science commitment as an agency. We have fostered open science since our inception so that the public can build upon our innovations. We continue to make all NASA data publicly available, and welcome public participation using our data," Stevens wrote on X.
"As [NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman] has said, there are certainly things he's come across in the job that he can't explain… but they relate more to unnecessarily costly programs than they do to extraterrestrial life!"
Though reassuring, we should point out that Stevens' post wasn't quite accurate either. NASA continues to be one of the most transparent agencies out there, and does release most data to the public, but it does not release all of it.
"Examples of information not releasable [...] include, without limitation, information that is, or is marked as, classified information, procurement sensitive information, information subject to the Privacy Act, other sensitive but unclassified information, and information subject to privilege, such as pre-decisional information or attorney-client communications," NASA explains of its policy of releasing data to the public.
Perhaps NASA has classified secrets squirreled away – for example, the locations of military bases seen with its network of satellites – but don't expect a sudden new release explaining that aliens are real and that they have been hiding from us.
Written by James Felton
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The wildest conspiracy to emerge from the Jan. 30 Epstein Files data dump involves none other than Woody Allen.
Sure, the Oscar winner-turned-Hollywood pariah is an easy target given that his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow has accused him of molesting her when she was 7 years old. (He has vehemently denied it.) And the set-up for his classic film “Manhattan,” with the mid-life protagonist dating a high school girl, was Epstein-esque. Naturally, cyber sleuths looking to catch a predator in the DOJ cache zeroed in on the mountain of correspondence between the “Annie Hall” director, his wife Soon Yi-Previn and the late financier. There are many threads like when Epstein asks Previn in 2014, “have you found a soon to be corpse for lorinda.” Or the time in 2018 when Allen and Epstein invoked infamous rumored cannibal Idi Amin. “At least I'm thinner,” Allen wrote. “Because you also eat the bones providing fiber,” Epstein responded.
But one extended conversation between the two men beginning in October 2016 caught the eye of people who were working with Allen at the time. It was the year before #MeToo would hit Hollywood and leave Allen's famed career in ruins. Allen was in production on the Kate Winslet starrer “Wonder Wheel,” his first movie in a four-picture $68 million deal with Amazon.
Conspiracy theorists point to the strange chain of events laid out in the Epstein Files that have sparked people's memories of Wayfairgate — the Pizzagate-adjacent belief that wealthy sickos order children from the low-cost furniture retailer, typically in the form of large rugs and heavy boxed items. (A Wayfair spokesperson told Newsweek at the time the theory first emerged in 2020: “There is, of course, no truth to these claims.”)
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Some who worked with Allen in 2016 have gone full tin-foil hat based on the strangeness of the now-searchable episode. As best as I can piece it together from the files, Epstein was looking to buy Allen a special 81st birthday present and began planning it two months out in September 2015 in a note to himself “strip club, woody film , woody birthday. party reason, heart hard eyes back teeth.” Despite the advance planning, the gift wasn't much of a surprise.
On Oct. 27, 2016, Allen, who was in production on “Wonder Wheel,” took time away from set to select the gift himself and picked out, of all things, outdoor folding chairs, pasting the Wayfair link to the cheapo item. The order (totaling about $158 per chair) was placed later that day, and Allen received the following message: “Exciting news: Your friend Jeffrey Epstein sent you a gift from Wayfair!” From that point on, a group of at least seven people began obsessing over the shipping details of these low-rent chairs like it was a colonoscopy result.
On Oct. 27, Epstein forwarded the Wayfair email with tracking number to his accountant, Bella Klein. On Oct. 28, Epstein's assistant wrote him enthusiastically: “So delivery should be on or before Nov. 10th…!” On Nov. 5, she wrote her boss again: “Woody's chairs are to ship on Nov 9th and he is to receive Nov 10th! He am watching the status! I'll keep you posted.” On Nov. 7, a person with a redacted name wrote Allen's assistant Laura Cheung — who's credited on his films “Wonder Wheel” and “A Rainy Day in New York” — “Do you think someone will be home to receive the chairs? I'm not sure how deliveries work at Woody's home…”
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Epstein's assistant assured her boss that someone from Allen's staff will be on hand to accept the delivery. “I spoke with Wayfair (the company we purchased Woody's chairs from) – they have confirmed Woody should receive the chairs on Thursday Nov. 10th via Fed Ex. I let Lauren, Woody's assistant know, and she has confirmed either his housekeeper, Gert, or his chef, Richard, will be there to accept them! :)” Simultaneously, Epstein's assistant kept Allen apprised of the delivery specifications. This all while Allen has moved into post-production on “Wonder Wheel.”
But the delivery date changed, and Epstein's assistant let her boss know, “I will keep my eye on them.” Epstein then wrote Previn on Nov. 10: “Woody's Chairs are still at the warehouse!” “I checked on this order and it has NOT left the warehouse as of yet (it was to be delivered today)… Wayfair will be calling me back with an update in 2 hours.”
Mind you, Allen's birthday is still 20 days away on Nov. 30, which isn't typically an ideal time for al fresco dining in NYC.
There was more back and forth among the parties, and then Epstein's assistant wrote Cheung with good news on Nov. 14. “The chairs are to be delivered today! Can you confirm receipt for us…I just want to be able to tell Jeffrey his gift arrived…thanks!” Post-delivery, Epstein's assistant then asked Cheung a strange question for two people talking about furniture. “How did you do…do you need my help…? I have my head above water now! LMK!”
Alas, Previn didn't seem happy with the items and wrote Epstein to complain. “Did you tell them 12 chairs as it seems as if they only ordered six. Am I not seeing something?”
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So much for the well-planned surprise gift for Allen.
(Despite the implausibility of the notion a whole bunch of staff members spoke in code and enabled child trafficking, the conspiracy has blown up online.)
When the bizarre, unfounded Wayfairgate controversy first emerged as a theory, as later propagated by QAnon adherents, the furniture company noted that the high-priced items buried on its website were merely a glitch, commenting to a BBC News “specialist disinformation reporter” for a 2020 piece called, “Wayfair: The false conspiracy about a furniture firm and child trafficking,” “We have temporarily removed the products from our site to rename them and to provide a more in-depth description and photos that accurately depict the product to clarify the price point.”
There are unfortunately still such price glitches on the site six years later, like this item, being sold for $84,999. The price of this 9-by-12-foot rug, which looks like it was photographed in someone's basement, has come down from its original $100,000 during the reporting of this piece. There's also this “bone line” wardrobe made of “solid wood” for nearly $25K.
Polaris, the non-profit that runs the National Human Trafficking Hotline, even previously addressed the hysteria, stating in 2020 that the “extreme volume” of calls about the false Wayfair rumors “made it more difficult for the Trafficking Hotline to provide support and attention to others who are in need of help,” and, “What we can say is that none of the reports we have received involving Wayfair contained any information beyond what has been widely shared online. Nor have any of these reports been made by someone who has a specific connection to any alleged missing children.”
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Epstein ordered a lot of items from Wayfair. The billionaire with the private jet bought rugs and sinks from the retailer that is typically the next step up in home décor after dorm room chic. The items were delivered to his Upper East Side mansion and his Caribbean island. In fact, there are hundreds of Wayfair hits in the Epstein files — and the number is fueling the unfounded conspiracy.
One person who worked with Allen at the time says the idea of a director in the middle of a high-stakes production being kept abreast of the status of a personal delivery — even an expensive one — is difficult to fathom. Says the source: “This is all simply inexplicable.”
Kelli Saam is an anchor for Action News Now and rejoined the
team in 2021.
Kelli Saam is an anchor for Action News Now and rejoined the
team in 2021.
His sister said Redding native Tommy Simpkins was found dead near Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara one week after the Super Bowl was played there. (Simpkins family photo)
REDDING, Calif. - A woman is seeking answers about the mysterious death of her brother, Tommy Simpkins, who was found dead a week after going missing on Super Bowl Sunday. His sister said Simpkins, who grew up in Redding, was discovered dead in a creek behind Levi's Stadium on February 14.
Brandi Stroud, Simpkins' sister, shared that he was last seen leaving a BBQ in San Jose on February 8, the day of the Super Bowl. He was found dead in a creek behind Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara one week later, with his wallet and phone missing.
Stroud tracked down the location where her brother was found through social media rather than law enforcement. She and her family had posted missing person flyers around the Bay Area and shared posts on social media to seek help.
"From all the posts from all the sharing, a woman had gotten in contact with me," said Stroud. "She must've had a police scanner because she sent me the audio... and she told me to call the police... and from there I was able to talk to the coroner and identify my brother by his big Simpkins tattoo on his back," Stroud said.
Kelli Saam of Action News Now confirmed with Stroud that it was a woman on social media who connected the dots between the body found near the stadium and her brother. Stroud said, "That's correct, instantly."
Stroud expressed frustration with the lack of answers. "There's a lot of questions that haven't been answered. I haven't been able to get a hold of a detective... we can't ever begin the healing because we can't get a hold of anybody to tell us what's going on," she said.
Grateful for the community's support, Stroud said, "I thank everybody for their shares and their support and their love and their prayers because without this, I don't think we would've found my brother."
The cause of Simpkins' death is under investigation. He had reportedly called an Uber, but it is unclear how he ended up at Levi's Stadium. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Santa Clara Police Department at 408-615-4700.
The family has set up a GoFundMe to arrange for Simpkins to be brought back to Redding for burial next to his father and brother.
Kelli Saam is an anchor for Action News Now and rejoined the
team in 2021.
Kelli Saam is an anchor for Action News Now and rejoined the
team in 2021.
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Exciting news: the Galileo Project is seeking help from volunteers in labeling objects in the sky!
The Galileo Project's goal is to conduct a systematic scientific search for evidence regarding extraterrestrial technological artifacts. Our research team aims to bring the search for extraterrestrial technological signatures of extraterrestrial technological civilizations from accidental or anecdotal observations to the mainstream of transparent, validated and systematic scientific research. The Galileo Project is complementary to traditional SETI, in that it searches for physical objects near Earth that are associated with extraterrestrial technological equipment, and not for electromagnetic signals from distant stars.
The Galileo Project, headquartered at Harvard University under my leadership, operates three new observatories: one in Massachusetts, another in Pennsylvania and the latest and most advanced — in Nevada. In contrast to common astronomical observatories which seek distant sources, the architecture of the Galileo observatories was designed to focus on objects within the Earth's atmosphere. Our instruments continuously observe the entire sky at each location in the infrared, optical, radio and audio bands. The data stream is being analyzed by artificial intelligence (AI) models in search for anomalous outliers among millions of documented objects every year.
We search for Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) with flight characteristics that deviate from human-made or natural objects. Our goal is to figure out the nature of UAP through detailed observations. Our observatories aim to infer distances of objects through the method of triangulation, by observing them from different directions with multiple units separated by about 10 kilometers from each other.
The classification of sources in the sky into familiar human-made objects — like airplanes, drones, helicopters, balloons or satellites, and familiar natural objects — like birds or clouds, is challenging because each of these objects appears differently depending on the time of the day, the background sky patterns, and its orientation relative to the Sun or the Moon.
In the process of training our AI models, we are seeking help from volunteers who are interested in labeling objects from our latest images. For that purpose, the Galileo research team established a new website which displays images and asks interested volunteers to classify objects in the sky into known categories.
If you are interested in helping out the Galileo Project in its exciting mission, please click on the link here.
While our technology provides the framework, the success of the Galileo Project's mission ultimately depends on human insight. This is where you come in.
Our engineering and data teams are currently focused on infrastructure and model development, meaning that many of the images in our database have never been viewed by a human eye. This is your opportunity to see our data first-hand. By participating, you are directly engaging in the search for UAP. Indeed, there is a real possibility that you might spot something significant that has gone unnoticed.
To ensure our machine learning models can accurately detect, track, and characterize UAP, they require a robust dataset of manually labeled images. We currently lack the internal capacity to label this volume of data alone. We are asking the community to assist us with this essential task to improve the accuracy and reliability of our detection systems.
Last week, former President Obama and current President Trump discussed UAP. Obama said about aliens: “They're real but I haven't seen them,” President Trump responded that Obama gave “classified information, he is not supposed to be doing that.” Shortly afterwards, President Trump released the statement: “Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War and other relevant departments and agencies to begin the process of identifying and releasing government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex but extremely interesting and important matters. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
Of course, we can all wait for the Pentagon or relevant departments in the intelligence agencies to release information about UAP, but while waiting — we can also search the sky for rare and exotic objects. We do not need to rely on the government for data on objects manufactured by non-human intelligence. We can simply look up.
It took the research team of the Galileo Project nearly 5 years to construct three Galileo observatories. Now that these observatories deliver fresh data, we need your help in sorting out objects in our images.
All of us can search for “alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex but extremely interesting and important matters.”
***
At 11 AM Eastern Time on Thursday, February 26, 2026 - which happens to be my birthday, I will be delivering an overview of the Galileo Project in a colloquium, streamed online on YouTube at the following link:
The title and abstract of the talk are as follows (with more details available here):
Over the past decade, the first interstellar objects were discovered. They include several interstellar meteors including IM1 — detected on January 8, 2014, as well as the interstellar objects: 1I/`Oumuamua detected on October 19, 2017, 2I/Borisov detected on August 29, 2019 and 3I/ATLAS detected on July 1, 2025. Among these, the second and fourth appeared anomalous relative to known solar-system rocks whereas the third appeared to be a familiar comet. IM1 exhibited the highest material strength among all meteorites in the CNEOS catalog of NASA. In June 2023 we recovered 850 spherules from the Pacific Ocean site of IM1. A tenth of these submillimeter meteoritic spherules displayed a unique chemical composition, different from familiar solar system materials. 1I/`Oumuamua featured a flat shape and non-gravitational acceleration with no detectable cometary evaporation. 3I/ATLAS has chemical and geometric anomalies, including a trajectory aligned to within 5 degrees of the ecliptic plane. Currently, new Galileo Project Observatories are monitoring millions of objects near Earth in the infrared, optical, radio and audio and analyzing their nature with machine-learning software. Forthcoming data from the Rubin Observatory in Chile will offer additional clues on the nature of interstellar objects. Are products from extraterrestrial technological civilizations lurking among the natural interstellar rocks?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Avi Loeb is the head of the Galileo Project, founding director of Harvard University's — Black Hole Initiative, director of the Institute for Theory and Computation at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and the former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University (2011–2020). He is a former member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and a former chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies. He is the bestselling author of “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” and a co-author of the textbook “Life in the Cosmos”, both published in 2021. The paperback edition of his new book, titled “Interstellar”, was published in August 2024.
Professional website:
https://lweb.cfa.harvard.edu/~loeb/
Social media:
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/https://www.youtube.com/@ProfessorAviLoeb
https://open.spotify.com/show/1zhndXkvSY2b8FdjspFpCdhttps://x.com/ProfAviLoeb
--
--
15
Avi Loeb is the Baird Professor of Science at Harvard U. and a bestselling author. Check out his YouTube Channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@ProfessorAviLoeb
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Exciting news: the Galileo Project is seeking help from volunteers in labeling objects in the sky!
The Galileo Project's goal is to conduct a systematic scientific search for evidence regarding extraterrestrial technological artifacts. Our research team aims to bring the search for extraterrestrial technological signatures of extraterrestrial technological civilizations from accidental or anecdotal observations to the mainstream of transparent, validated and systematic scientific research. The Galileo Project is complementary to traditional SETI, in that it searches for physical objects near Earth that are associated with extraterrestrial technological equipment, and not for electromagnetic signals from distant stars.
The Galileo Project, headquartered at Harvard University under my leadership, operates three new observatories: one in Massachusetts, another in Pennsylvania and the latest and most advanced — in Nevada. In contrast to common astronomical observatories which seek distant sources, the architecture of the Galileo observatories was designed to focus on objects within the Earth's atmosphere. Our instruments continuously observe the entire sky at each location in the infrared, optical, radio and audio bands. The data stream is being analyzed by artificial intelligence (AI) models in search for anomalous outliers among millions of documented objects every year.
We search for Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) with flight characteristics that deviate from human-made or natural objects. Our goal is to figure out the nature of UAP through detailed observations. Our observatories aim to infer distances of objects through the method of triangulation, by observing them from different directions with multiple units separated by about 10 kilometers from each other.
The classification of sources in the sky into familiar human-made objects — like airplanes, drones, helicopters, balloons or satellites, and familiar natural objects — like birds or clouds, is challenging because each of these objects appears differently depending on the time of the day, the background sky patterns, and its orientation relative to the Sun or the Moon.
In the process of training our AI models, we are seeking help from volunteers who are interested in labeling objects from our latest images. For that purpose, the Galileo research team established a new website which displays images and asks interested volunteers to classify objects in the sky into known categories.
If you are interested in helping out the Galileo Project in its exciting mission, please click on the link here.
While our technology provides the framework, the success of the Galileo Project's mission ultimately depends on human insight. This is where you come in.
Our engineering and data teams are currently focused on infrastructure and model development, meaning that many of the images in our database have never been viewed by a human eye. This is your opportunity to see our data first-hand. By participating, you are directly engaging in the search for UAP. Indeed, there is a real possibility that you might spot something significant that has gone unnoticed.
To ensure our machine learning models can accurately detect, track, and characterize UAP, they require a robust dataset of manually labeled images. We currently lack the internal capacity to label this volume of data alone. We are asking the community to assist us with this essential task to improve the accuracy and reliability of our detection systems.
Last week, former President Obama and current President Trump discussed UAP. Obama said about aliens: “They're real but I haven't seen them,” President Trump responded that Obama gave “classified information, he is not supposed to be doing that.” Shortly afterwards, President Trump released the statement: “Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War and other relevant departments and agencies to begin the process of identifying and releasing government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex but extremely interesting and important matters. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
Of course, we can all wait for the Pentagon or relevant departments in the intelligence agencies to release information about UAP, but while waiting — we can also search the sky for rare and exotic objects. We do not need to rely on the government for data on objects manufactured by non-human intelligence. We can simply look up.
It took the research team of the Galileo Project nearly 5 years to construct three Galileo observatories. Now that these observatories deliver fresh data, we need your help in sorting out objects in our images.
All of us can search for “alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex but extremely interesting and important matters.”
***
At 11 AM Eastern Time on Thursday, February 26, 2026 - which happens to be my birthday, I will be delivering an overview of the Galileo Project in a colloquium, streamed online on YouTube at the following link:
The title and abstract of the talk are as follows (with more details available here):
Over the past decade, the first interstellar objects were discovered. They include several interstellar meteors including IM1 — detected on January 8, 2014, as well as the interstellar objects: 1I/`Oumuamua detected on October 19, 2017, 2I/Borisov detected on August 29, 2019 and 3I/ATLAS detected on July 1, 2025. Among these, the second and fourth appeared anomalous relative to known solar-system rocks whereas the third appeared to be a familiar comet. IM1 exhibited the highest material strength among all meteorites in the CNEOS catalog of NASA. In June 2023 we recovered 850 spherules from the Pacific Ocean site of IM1. A tenth of these submillimeter meteoritic spherules displayed a unique chemical composition, different from familiar solar system materials. 1I/`Oumuamua featured a flat shape and non-gravitational acceleration with no detectable cometary evaporation. 3I/ATLAS has chemical and geometric anomalies, including a trajectory aligned to within 5 degrees of the ecliptic plane. Currently, new Galileo Project Observatories are monitoring millions of objects near Earth in the infrared, optical, radio and audio and analyzing their nature with machine-learning software. Forthcoming data from the Rubin Observatory in Chile will offer additional clues on the nature of interstellar objects. Are products from extraterrestrial technological civilizations lurking among the natural interstellar rocks?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Avi Loeb is the head of the Galileo Project, founding director of Harvard University's — Black Hole Initiative, director of the Institute for Theory and Computation at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and the former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University (2011–2020). He is a former member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and a former chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies. He is the bestselling author of “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” and a co-author of the textbook “Life in the Cosmos”, both published in 2021. The paperback edition of his new book, titled “Interstellar”, was published in August 2024.
Professional website:
https://lweb.cfa.harvard.edu/~loeb/
Social media:
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/https://www.youtube.com/@ProfessorAviLoeb
https://open.spotify.com/show/1zhndXkvSY2b8FdjspFpCdhttps://x.com/ProfAviLoeb
--
--
15
Avi Loeb is the Baird Professor of Science at Harvard U. and a bestselling author. Check out his YouTube Channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@ProfessorAviLoeb
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The Singju Post
The Singju Post
Editor's Notes: In this episode of Basement #004, AJ from The Why Files sits down with Chris Bledsoe to explore one of the most extraordinary and well-documented UFO encounters in modern history. The conversation delves into Bledsoe's 2007 experience involving mysterious orbs, missing time, and a miraculous healing that caught the attention of high-level officials from NASA, the CIA, and the Vatican. From discussions about a “divine feminine” presence to the persistent interest of government agencies, this interview investigates a story that challenges our understanding of reality and consciousness. It is a compelling look at a case that continues to intrigue serious investigators and skeptics alike. (Feb 20, 2026)
TRANSCRIPT:
The Why Files: Chris Bledsoe on UFO Contact and Government Secrets
Introduction
AJ GENTILE: Today I'm talking with Chris Bledsoe, a North Carolina businessman who in 2007 was facing the end of everything. His company had collapsed, he was dying from Crohn's disease, and he went down to the Cape Fear River with his teenage son and three of his workers to fish. What happened next changed his life. And honestly, it's one of the most unusual cases in modern UFO history.
Chris and all five witnesses experienced multiple orbs, creatures with glowing red eyes, and a massive Tic Tac shaped craft — and four hours of missing time. Chris came home healed from his Crohn's disease. Four hours of missing time, and he came back healed. Meanwhile, I lose four hours on TikTok and come back with carpal tunnel.
And here's where it gets interesting. Since 2007, senior officials from the CIA, NASA, and even the Vatican have been quietly investigating him. Former CIA officer Jim Semivan wrote the foreword to his book. A NASA engineer spent years trying to debunk him and couldn't. Oh, NASA tried to debunk him, huh? That's the tell. When NASA tries to debunk you, you're over the target.
We're going to talk about the encounter, the healing, the beings, and the entity Chris calls “the Lady” — a divine feminine presence that's been appearing to him since 2012. Okay, let's get back to work. This one goes places you don't expect. I really enjoyed the conversation. Let's go down to the basement.
Chris, thanks for coming today.
Welcome and Background
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Thank you for having me, A.J.
AJ GENTILE: I'm so excited.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Me too. It's my honor. Been a big fan for a long time.
AJ GENTILE: Oh, don't say that. You don't have to say that. So if you know my show — and I'm just going to recap this for the audience — at the end of The Why Files, I do a segment on debunking and analysis. I don't do that here. This is about telling the story and exploring your experiences. So if you feel any pushback, this isn't a gotcha show. We're going to talk about your story.
I guess it all starts at the river. What brought you to the river?
Before the River: Business Collapse and Illness
CHRIS BLEDSOE: It actually started before the river. Let's back up to about 2001, when the World Trade Center disaster happened. At that time, I had been in business nearly 20 years, building upwards of 100 to 130 houses every year, and was one of the biggest builders in our county and in the state. Private company.
When that disaster happened — being that my business is based in a military town, Fort Bragg — housing sales just stopped. Suddenly nobody's buying. And so here I am with $18 million invested in property, and the interest rates had gone up to like 8%. On borrowed money, it was costing me $100,000 a month.
We fast forward, and I was dealing with Crohn's, and that made it worse. It got worse and worse and worse. By the time 2004 came along, I was in the hospital having — and I write about this in my book — a near death experience from a doctor poisoning me. I'd lost everything. It took me five years to go through all the savings I had, liquidating all I could. But I paid the banks off and sold the property. I was left with nothing.
The near death happened in 2004, and in early 2005 I was still recovering. By summer of 2006, I was just getting to where I could go back to work. I'm still sick with Crohn's, and I'd just had this poisoning in the hospital by a doctor.
AJ GENTILE: I'd love to get into that at some point, maybe later today, because you've had two NDEs.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, one from a gunshot when I was 10, and one from over-medication — not checking my vitals, my liver, and my blood work. This doctor just failed to do it, and it caused me to go into toxic shock. Metal poisoning, they call it.
So here I am, all this happened. Sick, recovering, at the end of my rope. I had a million dollar home, four kids, living on a golf course for all these years. And now I'm in a mobile home, getting free lunch money from school. How debilitating and demeaning that was. But that led me to the river.
The Day of the Encounter
AJ GENTILE: What led you to the river? What was that decision?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, it wasn't entirely my decision. I started back to work — just the first job. My dad convinced me to go out and look after a big house that he was contracted to build on the coast, two hours away. So I took a crew of men and had them working there, and we worked four months in 2006, from October to December.
When December came along, it was right before Christmas. I didn't need to go back. We were down to the last 10% of what they owed us, doing a punch list. So on the first or second of January, I sent the crew back, told them to do their work and bring me a check back. And that's exactly what they did.
On January 8th, they called me: “Hey boss, we got your job done.
It was about 2:30 when we got to the river. I was having a hard time mentally — depressed and struggling. So I didn't fish. I had my son there, he's 17, and these three grown men. They were crew leaders, doing roofing and framing — people that had worked with our family, with my dad, for years and years. I thought it'd be nice to get Chris Jr. out of the house.
So we get to the river at 2:30, and I left walking. Once I got them set up, I left at about 3:30 or 4.
AJ GENTILE: Why did you leave?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I wanted to get away and think. I wasn't into fishing. I just wanted to make sure they were settled in. I'm a manager, right? So I managed the crew, and I felt like they were all set up — sitting on the bank with their poles. They're good. I'm going to go find some space and think.
AJ GENTILE: Okay, so you had the intention.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yes.
The Orbs Appear
CHRIS BLEDSOE: So I left walking. Imagine you go to the dead end of a cul-de-sac, drive down into the woods, and it dead-ends into a round grassy area about an acre. I walked into the cul-de-sac to the back of it, looking for deer really — just looking for some away time for myself.
So I'm sitting beside a big tree, and it starts getting dark in the woods a lot earlier than out in the open. I think it was 4:45 when I came walking out of the woods and walked up to where they were fishing. I said, “You guys want to go home or do you want to fish some more?” They said, “We just got here, we want to do some more.” I said, “Well, it's going to get cold tonight. Better get a fire going.”
So all five of us — me, Chris Jr., and the three guys — went around the cul-de-sac picking up dead wood. We had a huge pile of wood and a little fire going by about 10 after 5.
I said, “It's going to be dark soon. I'm going to walk up to the field the way we came in.” Not the end of the cul-de-sac — I walked a quarter mile up to the field. It's uphill, about 100 feet of elevation from the riverbank where we were fishing up to this cornfield. There's a flat field and a gate.
It was about 15 or 20 minutes after 5, so it wasn't dark yet. The sun was setting behind the trees. When I got near the top of that hill, I could see the trees on the far side. I couldn't see the field yet, but I could see what I thought was the top of the summer sun sticking up right above the hill. I looked down because it was muddy and I was walking — I'd look up, take another step.
When I got up to the top of that hill where I could see clearly, I said, “That doesn't look like the sun. That's really weird.” There was fire going around this thing. I looked down, took two more steps, and when I did, I could see a wider peripheral view — because the higher up I got, the more my view spread. There was another one sitting right beside it that I hadn't seen at first. So now I've got two huge balls of fire.
AJ GENTILE: How far away are they?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Probably 300 yards away, about 200 feet in the air, sitting right above the trees. There was this flame going around them, and little tips of fire were shooting off these things.
I immediately froze. I'm a commercial rated pilot. I knew what I was looking at wasn't anything from us at all. And I'd never really studied UFOs — I was dealing with poverty and sickness. It scared me.
I got down on my stomach and raised my head up to look above the hill, because I still had some more hill in front of me. I was just mesmerized. But I started getting worried — my son's down the hill. I need to get back down there and tell them what I'm looking at.
The minute I decided to run, I had it in my thoughts: “I'm going to run.” I turned my body, looking back behind me at it, and stood up to run. And the minute I stood up, right above me, another one appeared and shot down right in front of me.
At that moment, A.J., I knew that it knew what I was thinking. I knew that it saw me. I felt like a lab rat. It was just overwhelming — knowing that this thing had me on its radar. That's when it all changed, when it came at me.
AJ GENTILE: You're a hunter, and now you're on the other side.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, yeah. That's a good explanation.
AJ GENTILE: You knew it was watching you. Was that an animal instinct? Or did you hear it, feel it?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I didn't know it was watching me at first — the two I was looking at, I thought I was hiding from them. But I was thinking, “I've got to run. Oh my God, what am I looking at?” And the minute I went to run, this other one appeared. I knew immediately that it knew I was going to run. It was connected to my thoughts, and I couldn't get away. That was the first thing I knew.
But luckily, they wiped my memory. So I had that moment of fear — and then all of a sudden, the lights went out.
AJ GENTILE: Just everything went dark.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Just everything went dark.
The Missing Time
CHRIS BLEDSOE: And so the next thing I realized, I'm walking up to the fire. I don't remember leaving at the top of the hill. I don't remember any of that. I just remember the last 50 or so feet going up to the fire. So I'm walking in the dark. They can't see me coming. And these three guys are standing at the campfire. They're not fishing anymore. They're standing there. And the fire's burnt down to very little. I left, and it was a pretty good-sized fire.
It scared them bad when I snuck up on them. And I'm like, “Gosh, you won't believe what I just saw.” They're like, “Where have you been?” I said, “I was just up at the hill. I've been gone but 20 minutes.” And they're like, “No, you've been gone all night, and we've been looking for you all night.”
I said, “Well, where's Chris Jr.?” He wasn't there. And so they said, “Well, he went back to the cul-de-sac, where you went earlier today, looking for you, while we took your truck and drove up and down the road. And one guy stayed at the fire the whole time.”
So I panicked. My son's down in that forest, and it goes for 50 miles to Wilmington, with very little to nothing in there. I was just dreading that he was lost.
AJ GENTILE: Sure.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: So I panicked and took off running, ran to the back of the cul-de-sac, where I'd gone in that day. And he knew where I'd gone because he'd been watching me all the time. I cried out to him. I started shouting for him, and nothing — couldn't hear anything. So I started making my way into the forest. I got about 10 feet in there, and I heard him getting up off the ground. He was laying on his stomach underneath these real thick shrubs.
He came up, and he was in tears. He's like, “Oh, my God, Daddy, why'd you leave me?” And I said, “I didn't leave you, son. I just walked up to the field. I was gone 20 minutes.” He said, “No, you've been gone all night. We've been looking.” So I'm like, “Oh, my God. What's happening?”
AJ GENTILE: What happened?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: What's happened? But I wasn't scared anymore.
AJ GENTILE: You weren't?
Creatures in the Dark
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Not at all. From that point forward, it was like amusement. My son is freaked out. He's in shock. These three guys are in shock — they're terrified. So I drag him back to the fire where they were standing. They're very quiet because I was telling them about this ball of light I saw at the top of the hill.
And Chris Jr. is talking about this creature that he had seen coming from a quarter mile away. The road at the end of the cul-de-sac is a quarter mile, and then it makes a left, which is only an eighth of a mile. So he sees this light come out in the road way down at the end — a red glowing light. He thought it was a flashlight. In the military they use a lot of these red lenses on their flashlights. He has guns and infrareds, so that's what he thought it was.
And there were two of them. They went across the road about three feet off the ground, and then they came back out on the road and started towards him. He's standing back, calling for me. The closer they got, the more afraid he got.
AJ GENTILE: Can he see what they are at this point?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, no. He sees these two lights — two red balls of light — coming towards him. So he crawls under these bushes, trying to get away, just because he's afraid. He couldn't go back to the fire because now it's between him and the fire. So he's hiding, and they get within 15 or 20 feet of him.
And there are these two little creatures that were glowing. They could turn — it's like a rheostat — they could turn themselves up and glow brighter, or they could turn themselves down to where they looked almost translucent. In a dark night, they look almost like black figures, but with red eyes. It was their eyes that were red. That's what he was seeing.
AJ GENTILE: Like a humanoid shape?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, they look like humans — like humans in a way. I have a picture I drew and painted. I'll share it with you. I painted this in 2009.
Stars That Weren't Stars
So anyway, I don't know what to think. My son's crying. He's upset. He's seen creatures. He's complaining that I left him, abandoned him. I drag him back to the fire. These guys are freaked out — grown men, tough country boys that don't get afraid in the woods — and now they're very quiet.
Junior's talking about the creatures. I'm talking about the light. And all of a sudden one of the guys says, “Look.” And we all look up, and there are between eight and nine, maybe 10 bright stars — bright as Venus — that just appear. They just come on. And then they started flying around and doing things. It's almost like somebody choreographed it.
AJ GENTILE: And they just appear out of the sky. Just materialize.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, just materialized above us. They were way up there, bright as Venus, each one. And they were playing — flying out and coming back together. We were watching this, and all of a sudden, here come three down, and they land on the other side of the river in front of us. The river is only 60 or 70 yards wide. It's not a big one.
So here they are on the other side of the river in the woods, and pandemonium set in. These guys freaked out. I'm not afraid — I'm mesmerized. Whatever they did to me, I was no longer afraid.
AJ GENTILE: I'd be angry at you because you're so peaceful.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, and they were angry. Sure. They were panicked. So we ran and jumped in the truck. There are three men in the back seat and Chris and I in the front of a four-door Ford pickup.
AJ GENTILE: They didn't let you drive, I hope.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I was driving.
AJ GENTILE: With your arm out and a radio on there screaming at you.
The Tic-Tac in the Road
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, I'm starting up the path right out of there, and this road is muddy — real muddy. The bushes were scrubbing the mirrors as we went down through there. And they're screaming every breath, “Go, go, go.” And Chris Jr. is just saying, “I want to get home, Dad, I want to get home.”
One of them told MUFON, when we reported it, that they had witnessed a red ball of light come out of the woods and follow the truck as we were driving up out of there. So undoubtedly they were still there — they'd never left. They just went invisible.
When we got up to the top of the hill, to where I had my experience, we went up that hill so fast it almost went airborne when I went over. It's a real steep incline there. And there in front of us were the same two red balls of fire in the same exact spot. This is four hours later. The third one that appeared and frightened me — it's no longer a ball of fire, but a Tic-Tac. It's a glowing white egg.
AJ GENTILE: While you're still in the truck?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, it's in the road in front of us. The one that came over and said, “I see you” — that's the one that took me. Now it's an egg in the road. It's not red anymore. It's glowing white. It's 45 to 50 feet long, and it's like a football or an egg.
AJ GENTILE: Can you see that it's a structure, that it's a craft? Or is it just light?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: It was all light.
AJ GENTILE: Just light.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: And the light was doing this — it's like sparkles of light going around. It almost looked like spikes coming out of it. And this thing just pivots. It's only five feet off the ground, 150 yards from us in the road. It pivots, starts towards us, and as it gets closer it starts rising up — right over my sunroof. We watched it through the sunroof, and all the guys were looking out. It was probably 100 feet in the air, totally silent. And then it pivoted and shot off like out of a canyon to the north.
I hit the gas and we took off. And there became a fight between the guys over who gets to go home first.
AJ GENTILE: Are the fire orbs still with you at that point?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: There are just balls of — I haven't seen the fire ones now. We left them. They were still sitting there. So we left because this thing had the path blocked. We couldn't go because the road was blocked. But once it went over us, they were beating on my seat, screaming, “I want to see my wife before it's over.” We thought the world was coming to an end, that we were being invaded. I didn't understand what was happening.
A Road Haunted by Grief
It did something to me. Here's an important thing. We left from that point racing. Only a mile and a half down the street is where I was shot when I was 10 years old. Well, at a mile and a half is also where my first wife was killed. And I found her there when I was just a young 20-year-old guy.
I married this sweetheart that I'd had for four or five years. And on the 11th month and 28th day of our marriage — two days before our one-year anniversary — I'd been out of town hunting. My dad and I and his hunting club would take boats down on the coast and run dogs on islands, chasing deer. Grew up doing that.
And I knew that she was going to be at this party out in the country. A bunch of friends since we were young — we'd always had a cornfield, they'd go hang out and stay out of trouble. Never went to bars and all that.
AJ GENTILE: We find trouble somewhere.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah. We were out in the country, and the law found out about it. They'd come and raid us every now and then, catch young kids drinking beer and stuff. So we had a party. I came in at 9 o'clock and I took off to the party.
And I write about this in detail in my book — why I left. One of her old boyfriends was all snuggled up with her when I got there, and I turned around and I left. I spoke to him and said, “I'm going home.” So I started home, went two miles down the road, and turned around to go back to meet her. Because I'm like, I'm not letting this guy take what's mine. I was just mad.
Of course I turned around to go back, and on the way back, in this very sharp curve, there was a car laying on its side. I could see the bottom side of it. I hit the brakes and jumped out of the car. Didn't know who it was. It was dark, laying on its side. So as I'm looking in the car, the front door of the house opens — the tires are still turning on the car, it just happened, and the motor's still running, laying on its side.
I ran to the door. They came out and looked, they'd heard it. And I said, “You better call the ambulance rescue. Somebody's probably hurt. I can't find who it was.” So I left and started back to the road, and that's where I tripped over her, laying in the shade.
AJ GENTILE: This is your first wife, Dana?
Carrying the Weight of Guilt
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah. She was laying in the shade of the pump house — a water pump. But that night when we left the river, I blamed myself for that all those years. Like I could have — I was part of it. But I wasn't.
AJ GENTILE: You'd forgiven yourself at this point?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I couldn't.
AJ GENTILE: You couldn't.
The First Encounter with the Beings
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah. But that night when we left the river, everybody's freaking out, scared. I'm in la-la land for what had just happened. I don't know. I'm not afraid. It's the biggest thing I remember.
So we get to that mile and a half down from where we worked. We go through that curve. Here's this big, huge thing hovering right over where she was killed. And I slowed down and I'm trying to stop, and they're beating on my seat. “Don't stop.” And I'm like, “I just want to see. I want to see.” And they're having nothing to do with it.
And it spoke to me. It just put this vision in my head, and it said, “You have to forgive yourself. She's fine. Don't worry about this any longer.” And so that was the first time in 25 years that I had peace over that. So all that together over the next couple of years is what made me understand this thing was so much bigger than some alien coming from the Pleiades.
AJ GENTILE: Right.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: That aggravates me. Yeah. But anyhow, not to drag that whole event out too long. We dropped the guys off. Chris Jr. and I head home. He didn't want to go back that way. Going back towards the house was that way — a shortcut — because we'd have had to drive back under that power line and where this thing was. So we took the long way around, got home. It was probably 11:30, and Christopher ran through the house locking everything. He'd opened the bathroom door with no window in it, turned the light on, and locked the door. He had every door locked, all the windows shut, all the floodlights on.
I'm in my room trying to see on TV if the military's coming. We just know there's an invasion. Because it wasn't one — it was probably 15 in total that we were seeing that night. Nine or 10 at once, and then others up on the hill.
AJ GENTILE: I've heard Chris Jr. talk recently, and he still struggles with the story.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, he does. It's traumatic. You can never get over those things. But he's 36 now and has a baby on the way — two children and one coming — and he's very happy and he understands it now a whole lot more. He ran from it for a long time, and it wasn't all his fault. It was pressure from the community and the church that caused a whole lot of problems for us.
Locked Down at Home
AJ GENTILE: Well, when you got home from the experience, your wife Yvonne wasn't there yet?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: No, no, she was off at her mother's, staying with her mom. They were doing something for a couple of days. So we're home now. The house is locked down. Junior comes in my room and he's like, “Have you seen anything?” I'm like, “No,” — this is like total normal. I don't know what's happening.
AJ GENTILE: Are you still peaceful?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, I am. But he's not. He's in shock, sure. And suddenly my dad, who lived next door — we lived out in the country, our houses beside one another — he had dog kennels there where he'd raised hunting dogs all his life. Before I was born, he had dogs. He'd have 30 or 40 all the time. One time he had 104, but he had 15 hounds.
Then all of a sudden, they started barking. All of them. And hounds bark very loud — big, mouthy, deep voice. And I knew that what they were saying was that they were scared. They were doing what I'd call a “boo bark.” Dogs do that — they hear or see something, but they don't know what it is.
AJ GENTILE: Right.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I've seen that with bear hunting. A bear coming out on a dog descent will put them in a panic.
AJ GENTILE: Is that what you thought it was, a bear?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I thought it was a bear or a deer or something. So all the dogs are barking. Then I thought maybe somebody's breaking into Dad's shop. That was my first thought — somebody's breaking into the shop — because the dog kennel is next to his garage. He and I shared this big 40-foot garage. We had boats and fishing gear and tools in it.
So I'm imagining the dogs seeing somebody going into that shop. And I said, “Christopher” — he's freaked out now, he's scared, these dogs are barking — “I'm going outside. I'm going to see who's breaking into that shop.” And he didn't want any part of that. He's like, “Please don't go out there, Daddy, please don't.”
I'm like, “Look, we won't take a flashlight. We got Rosie here — she's a 110-pound Chesapeake. She'll keep anything away from us. We'll just sneak down there and see who we see, maybe scare them away.”
So I opened the door. He had me by the back of the shirt and he never turned me loose. We walked across the yard into the pathway to the dog kennel. It was down in the woods behind the house. We walk in there and I look, and they're all looking out the back of the kennel. They're not looking toward the garage — they're looking into the forest behind it. So immediately I thought maybe it's a bear.
AJ GENTILE: Right.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Because they were barking every breath, facing into the forest. All 15, plus my Chesapeake. She's frozen, her hair standing up, and she's pointing into the bushes. So I'm whispering to Chris, “I'm going to send her in on whoever's in there, whatever. Let's just run back out to the back of the property. We'll make a run for it. We'll go back and hide behind that big oak tree and see what she pushes out of there.” Typical hunting — that's what we did. Try to cut the dogs off, put them in, and get in front of them and see what comes out.
AJ GENTILE: They're trained to do this.
The Glowing Figure in the Forest
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah. So I bumped her on the rear and she took off immediately. So we took off running. You've got to run hard to get down this path and back to the yard and to the back. And I felt Chris turn loose when I made a left turn — the grass was getting frosty and I slipped — and he turned loose. I thought, well, I just outran him.
So I ran as hard as I could. I ran up to this tree and stopped myself — ran up to it in a full run. And I'm trying to be quiet, but I'm breathing heavy and I'm trying to calm my breath. I'm against the tree, and the dog's coming, coming straight at me, very loud. It's quiet at night and this thing — you hear it coming through the forest — it's real loud.
So I turned to look back to see if Christopher was coming. And this all happened so quick. When I looked back, he was gone. He didn't come. He took — he couldn't stand it anymore, so he ran to the house. When he turned loose, he took a right, I took a left.
AJ GENTILE: Yep.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: But when I did, AJ — there, standing behind me about arm's length — was this little figure, yay tall, which I painted. And it was glowing white, about three —
AJ GENTILE: Three feet, three and a half feet.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Three feet. No more than three, probably. And it was glowing white and it had what looked like a triangle on its chest — a dark area, triangle-shaped. And it had red glowing eyes, about this big around. They were round, perfectly round, glowing eyes. And it scared me. Scared me bad when I saw it.
So I backed myself up to the tree to try to get away from it, but I've got a tree behind me. I'm looking at it, so I turn and face it, and I dropped my hands and I said, “I surrender.” And the dogs are still coming.
AJ GENTILE: Rosie's barking.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: She's barking every breath, coming very close.
AJ GENTILE: She sees this.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, she senses it. I think it's the energy. Dogs have a way of seeing things we can't.
AJ GENTILE: I agree.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: So the dogs are definitely coming. This all happened very quick. I'm facing this three-foot thing that's glowing. I'm panicked that I'm going to die. I thought it was going to kill me. And I said, “I surrender. I don't mean you any harm.” And it said, “You don't understand. We're here to help you, not hurt you.” That's exactly what it said. And then the dog comes out of the bushes and this thing vanishes — right in front of me, immediately vanished.
AJ GENTILE: Did it speak, or did you hear this in your mind?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I heard it in my mind. Loud. Sounded like a man's voice — deep, thunderous, loud. That's one of the few times I ever heard an audible voice. You don't hear voices, but I heard that one plain. I heard it when the lady came in 2012 — this audible voice.
AJ GENTILE: Yeah, I would definitely want to get into that.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: “Lady, arise.” Just like that. And so it vanishes. And when MUFON did their investigation, that whole tree started decaying and dying and rotted down. They found some kind of something on it that had radiated it and killed it. That's what they said.
So I go back to the house thinking about how I'm going to tell Christopher about this. I better not say anything. Good call. Yeah. And so I made it to the house and now I'm panicked. I was a smoker then — I had to have a cigarette.
AJ GENTILE: That's why you couldn't outrun this thing.
The Seven-Foot Being
CHRIS BLEDSOE: And so I'm trying to find a cigarette, and Chris is like, “You can't go outside, you can't go outside to smoke.” So I go over to the back of my sunroom and put my knees on the couch and reach over behind it and started raising the window up. I didn't even get the window open. When I raised the blinds, the floodlight on that corner was illuminating this 7-foot-tall being that was walking towards the house. I could see it in the floodlight, 20 feet away. That scared me.
AJ GENTILE: What did that look like?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Like the being on the Crabwood crop circle.
AJ GENTILE: Okay, so this is also a humanoid?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, very tall, skinny thing. And it was scary looking. So I grabbed Junior by the arm — didn't tell him — and I said, “We don't want to stay here tonight. We're going to go somewhere else.” So we went four or five miles away — and this is midnight, one o'clock — where are we going to go? So we went down to a big hayfield and parked in the middle so I could see in every direction until the sun came up. I'm having to manage my child. He's panicking.
Parallels with Devil's Den
AJ GENTILE: Have you ever heard of the incident at Devil's Den?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I've heard of Devil's Den. Yeah.
AJ GENTILE: It's almost the same creatures, really. Small creatures with red eyes and a very large being with them.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Wow, I never knew that.
AJ GENTILE: And they're walking around the forest and they're picking up different objects and surveying them.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: That's what they were doing with Chris. He was sitting there, pinned down under the bushes, and they were 20 feet from him — two of them — and one was on its knees picking up bottles and cans and sticks. It would look at them and put them on the ground, while the other one was staring at him the whole time. And he said that he couldn't scream, he couldn't yell. He felt frozen when it looked at him. He had absolutely no control over himself. He couldn't talk, he couldn't move. And he felt a lot of trauma.
AJ GENTILE: There at Devil's Den, that large creature had a triangle on its chest.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Get the heck out. I'd never heard that.
AJ GENTILE: It shows up in all these stories — the triangle.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I never heard that.
AJ GENTILE: Yeah.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Makes sense why NASA came calling and said, “We'd like to talk about that little being with the triangle on its chest.”
Chronology of Events
AJ GENTILE: Well, where are we chronologically at this point? You're with Junior. Your wife is back?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: She comes back two days later.
AJ GENTILE: Okay.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: So this is on a Tuesday night, I think.
AJ GENTILE: Okay.
The Church's Reaction and Five Years of Darkness
CHRIS BLEDSOE: By the end of the week, Thursday or Friday, she comes home with the other kids. And I had the greatest story to tell. And it was scaring my wife because she was raised in the Pentecostal Holiness Church, and her family is generous. They were part of the whole movement. They brought it to North Carolina. Her grandmothers and ancestors were very big in the conference. So I had that whole weight on my head there. That was the first night. The end of the first night.
AJ GENTILE: When you were telling her the story, were you telling it from that position of peace? Because I can't see her reacting positively.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, I was telling her the story, and Jenner was telling it too. She didn't want to believe it. And then when the other guys came a couple days later, they came back to the house to bring back my fishing poles, because we left everything on the river.
AJ GENTILE: Sure.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: We left coolers and sitting right there, sticks still with rods in them. So she questioned them, and immediately the church condemned it as the devil.
AJ GENTILE: How did the church find out?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, my wife's family is the church. My mom and my family, they're all big in the church. And we live in the Bible Belt, so the whole community knew.
AJ GENTILE: Did she tell them because she was worried?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, she was worried about how to handle this with the children, because the children were frightened.
AJ GENTILE: Sure.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: My 10-year-old daughter thought I was disrupting their school. It just disrupted everything — the school, their sleep. And I have to say, my wife is a very loving person. We've been together 43 years and I couldn't live without her. She's the calm one, she's the mother. She's worried about school in the morning, and I'm like Dustin Hoffman all of a sudden —
AJ GENTILE: — with the mashed potatoes.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, I was just like that. I still am. I mean, I came home and she said I looked wild in the eyes. I was just saying, “Oh my God, you won't believe what happened.” And when she called her family and my family, it turned into, “It was a demonic experience. You're playing with the devil.”
Because the Christian church believes — not the Catholics, not the Protestants — they preach just the devil. Any light you see, if it's not of God, it's got to be evil.
AJ GENTILE: How did you know it wasn't?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Because it healed me, and it told me, “I'm here to help you, not hurt you.” But I struggled with that. Who was it? Was it an alien? It didn't act like what an alien would. It knew my prayer, it heard me. So I started researching the Bible and learned about the chariots of fire, and immediately it started making sense.
I furthered my research by meeting Dr. Diane Salka and Dr. George Zervos and a whole lot of other religious scholars and people who know this. And we started digging into the text and researching — and we're still researching.
Biblical Connections: Clouds of Heaven
AJ GENTILE: What did you find in your research of the Bible that tracks with this story?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: This is something Diana gave me. She said, “I'm going to give you this. I can't talk about it, but I'm going to tell you this. I want you to pay attention to what I'm going to tell you.”
And that is, throughout the Bible — Mark, Matthew, Luke, Revelations, and even in Exodus — there is something called the “clouds of heaven.” This will be in my next book, by the way. But the clouds of heaven — I'm like, “What is that, Diana?” She said, “Well, these clouds, some of them are talking, some of them are shiny, some of them are feeding people, some of them are protecting people.”
For example, in Exodus, it says an angel of the Lord went before the children of Israel for 38 years in a pillar of a cloud — pillar meaning a pylon or cylinder. Wherever that thing went for 38 years, they camped underneath it. It fed them manna in the morning, and it gave them shade by day and warmth and light at night for 38 years.
Matthew 24 talks about Jesus saying, “When I come back, I'm coming in the clouds of heaven. I'm going to come back the way I left.” And it says he was taken up in a cloud. So Diana educated me on this very carefully, and there is just tons of evidence.
AJ GENTILE: Do you know Daniel 10? It talks about him being made of topaz, made of light — if that's the right book.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yes. Daniel, Chapter 10 talks about his angelic vision, what he saw. Daniel saw an angel, and it was so shiny it looked like topaz. And it had red eyes like fire.
AJ GENTILE: Like torches.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, like fire torches. Yeah.
AJ GENTILE: And in Ezekiel 40, he talks about meeting a messenger made of shiny bronze who shows him this temple of the future.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah. Crazy, huh?
AJ GENTILE: And then in Enoch 19, Archangel Uriel takes him up above the clouds and shows him the origins of the wind and the earth, and takes him over Egypt and all these places. And I thought you had an experience kind of like that, didn't you?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: That's where they took me. I didn't know what happened during those four hours. I had no clue. But after Dr. O'Connell came from Harvard and started working on me, he said, “You'll remember it all over time.”
AJ GENTILE: He was a student of Dr. Mack?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yep. John Mack. He trained under Mack.
AJ GENTILE: So John Mack, for folks listening, was an award-winning expert psychiatrist at Harvard who specialized in abduction and contact experiences.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: He actually started all this research.
AJ GENTILE: Yes, he did.
Hypnosis, Hidden Memories, and the Tour of Egypt
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Dr. Michael O'Connell was a student of his and got his degrees there, and he started helping me with hypnosis to get rid of the headache I had. Every time I tried to think about what happened, I'd get this massive headache and eventually pass out. It happened numerous times in front of investigators. My wife would tell you, “You keep asking him those questions, he's going to pass out on you.” Because there was such a block in there — it would become this pressure, and it would get so painful that I would just black out.
He removed that block so I could think about it without the pain. And he said, “If you learned everything overnight, it would probably cause you to melt down. So we're going to program your subconscious to reveal everything over time.” And that's what he did.
So immediately I started having all kinds of weird dreams. I would start yelling and crying in my sleep, and it started scaring my wife and the kids. I go to bed early because I get up early, and they're night owls. They'd come sneaking into the room because they could hear me, and they'd record me talking in my sleep.
AJ GENTILE: What were you saying?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I was saying all kinds of things. One crazy thing I was saying is that they took me to Egypt. It was like a virtual tour, being inside a bubble — something clear and round. I could touch the walls but couldn't see them. And I was looking at the Sphinx and the pyramids and Hathor's temple and all these obelisks, and they were narrating what I was seeing. I was getting the images, not the information.
AJ GENTILE: Were they narrating like a tour guide in a museum?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yep, yep.
AJ GENTILE: So there wasn't a message — it was just, “This is Hathor's temple, this is…”
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah. Well, I didn't know what it was at the time. I just saw it. And that caused me to get into deep research into Egypt. I met Dr. Robert Gilbert, who ran the Vesica Institute — he taught sacred geometry. Sadly, he passed away last year. But he made a lot of sense of what I was seeing.
So it's been a long journey trying to figure it all out. I don't have the answers. The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know. This is so big, we can't imagine what is around us.
But they also took me up over the Midwest. The scary thing — the thing that got the powers that be even more interested — was that I saw the sun start to grow in size in the sky.
AJ GENTILE: Before you get to that — is this before what you call in your book your “Five Years of Darkness”?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: This was during the Five Years of Darkness.
The Five Years of Darkness
AJ GENTILE: Can you tell me a little bit about how you went from this experience where you're feeling peaceful to five years of darkness? That's a lot of darkness. What happened?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, why I call it that is I came home with this story, acting like Dustin Hoffman, and they're looking at me like I've lost it. Because I'm saying all this weird stuff and I'm completely obsessed with it.
AJ GENTILE: Bad.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: And I couldn't control it. And that turned into a backfire, because the more I talked about it, the worse it got. It got so bad that I came home one day and the sheriff pulled up in the yard with social workers.
It got so bad that at elementary schools and high schools, they were questioning my kids, because I was on TV now. MUFON made a DVD in 2008, promised to vindicate me, and they made it worse.
AJ GENTILE: That was a hit job.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, it was a hit job. And so now I've got the school questioning my kids. Next thing I know, social services is at my house trying to remove me from my family. So all of this is the darkness — for five years, it was just constant.
AJ GENTILE: This might be too personal a question, but is your wife on your side at this point?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, she's on my side, but it's out of control now. She's just trying to be a mom, live her normal life, and raise her four kids.
AJ GENTILE: And are you still welcome in church?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, they told me I had to completely stop talking about this if I ever wanted to be involved in the church anymore. And I'm like, “Sorry, I am having church.” To me, it is church. It's not evil, it's not the devil. It's something much greater, and I aim to pursue that. So yeah, they gave me that ultimatum. Although I've been a couple of times during Easter or Mother's Day — going with the wife. But that's about it.
AJ GENTILE: I want us to take a break in just a minute, but can you give us, before we go to break, that final scene — that final moment in the Five Years of Darkness where everything changed?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Okay, yeah. That's when it all changed.
AJ GENTILE: Yeah. And then when we come back, we can get into it further.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Good. So five years of fighting social services, fighting the community's ridicule — it was so bad I wouldn't go to the grocery store anymore. I'd hold my head down. And here I am working with NASA. I've got NASA scientists at my house, and I'm down at Cape Canaveral and all these places. A NASA scientist, Al Palmeyer, went to my mom and dad's house and said, “You need to listen to your son. He's not lying.”
The Breaking Point: Easter 2012
AJ GENTILE: Yeah, don't worry, gang. We're going to get into all that in a moment.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: So at the end of five years, it was Easter of 2012. I was so beat down that Richard Dreyfuss and me had gone into hiding now and shame. The zeal that I had hadn't gone away. But the wall I was hitting was now affecting my kids because my kids were coming home crying. They were being made fun of in school, picked on in the hallways and called out in class by teachers and children.
So I went to bed that night at 9:30. It was a Saturday night of 2012, before Easter. That Sunday morning was Easter. I walked out about 9 o'clock and I looked up at the heavens. And it killed me to say it because I was so deeply moved by what happened, and the Richard Dreyfuss experience, to experience it and to talk about it and to find more. This was all I wanted. And I had to concede. I let the community beat me down, and the church, and the family. And I say extended family. Our family's big in our town and we've been there since the 1700s. So there are two or three hundred cousins and relatives in that town.
So I went out and I shouted at the heavens. “Why did you do this to me? Now I've ruined my children's lives. I was sick. Thank you for healing me. I lost everything. Now I have nothing. It's worse. I can't even get a job now. Nobody will hire me.” I had put in for several jobs. I needed work. I couldn't get any work. Not even family members would hire me. People that had worked for me. It got that bad.
So I shouted at God and I said, “I quit. I'll never talk about this again.” To save my children and what's left. And I went to bed at 9:30.
At 3:00 in the morning, I know it was 3 because when I heard this voice, it was so loud it woke me up out of a dead sleep. My alarm clock on the counter — back then we had the digital ones — it said 3am. So I heard it and I sat up in the bed. And I could see movement, just a flare. It's not very clear, but I could see movement at the end of my bed in my room.
AJ GENTILE: Let's stop there. Let's take a break.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Okay.
AJ GENTILE: It's a good spot for a break.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Good.
The Voice at 3am
AJ GENTILE: We'll be right back. It's Easter 2012 and you shout, “I'm done. I don't want any more to do with this. You ruined my life.” You wake up at 3am and this voice —
CHRIS BLEDSOE: — said, “Arise.” And it sounded like the deepest, most manly voice I'd ever heard. So I wake up, I see this movement at the end of my bed, and I'm like, “Who said that? I know you're in here.” Those are the very words I said.
I don't know what happened, how they're able to control our movements and what we do. Maybe they can turn time off, I don't know. But I got up fully dressed. I had been in my underclothes, but now I'm in full blue jeans, socks, and a coat. And I'm heading outside. So I walk behind these shadowy figures, following them.
AJ GENTILE: You're not afraid?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: No. I haven't been afraid since. Ever since what happened, I lost all fear. It's not here to hurt. And I knew that. I still know that.
So I'm following it, and it leads me out to the dog kennel, right where Chris Jr. and I had put Nelly in the forest and said, “Go get them.” They were standing in the same spot. And one of these shadowy figures hands me something. It stops, reaches out, and hands me this object. And it said, “This is yours, you must keep.” So I reached out and I took it. And when I did, it felt like holding a hedgehog. They had little spikes on them. It felt prickly. So I dropped it on the ground.
AJ GENTILE: No head or tail?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: No head, no tail. It just felt like a bag of bones, like an animal with no legs, no head, no tail.
AJ GENTILE: You're describing a tribble from Star Trek, maybe. Okay, so you dropped it.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I dropped it. And it said, “No, you must keep this.” So I reached down to pick it up, and I'm juggling the thing. I'm scared of it. It's dark, right? And I look up and they're gone. So I'm standing at the dog kennel. I thought, I'm not going to let it get away. I'm not going to lose it. I open the dog kennel, set it in, and close the door.
AJ GENTILE: Are the dogs in there?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: No, they're gone.
AJ GENTILE: So whatever this is, is not safe from the —
CHRIS BLEDSOE: All the dogs are gone.
AJ GENTILE: Okay.
The Vision of the Beautiful Woman
CHRIS BLEDSOE: This is five years later. And the minute I closed that door, I felt this blast of air. This wind just hit me — like physical wind. And it wasn't the trees, it wasn't the wind like you'd normally feel. It was concentrated. It was in front of me. It was almost like somebody blasted me with an air blower, caught me off balance and pushed me over backwards.
So I fell to my back in the leaves, right where all this had happened with the dog back in 2007. And as I'm falling backwards, I see what was coming at me out of this blackness. This hole opens up, and out comes this bull. Like a huge cow, runs right over me. And I could see through it. It was translucent. I could see the stars up in it. And it was just so quick and so powerful. It scared me because of the force from the wind and this thing. I grew up on a farm. My neighbor had a dairy farm, had cows. We had pigs.
But the minute it went over, I landed on my back and rolled to my stomach. So now I'm facing behind me, and I'm getting up to run, all at the same time. And when I do, there's no longer a cow there. About six to eight feet from me, floating, is this most beautiful woman from heaven. That's all I could say. You would think it's an angel, or whatever it is.
And she looks at me, and she leans towards me, and she says, “You know why I'm here.” And I knew why, because it was hard for me to fuss at God and whatever it was. I still try not to label this, because we really don't know. And it's up to everybody to experience it and figure it out on their own.
But she said, “You know why I'm here. You're not going to quit. This is your burden you have to bear. And if you'll continue to do this, I promise you, I'll be with you and I will help you. And on top of that, I'll allow you to film my presence and let you share us with others.”
Before, I couldn't film it. That's one of the things that made me so angry. I'd go out and there's an orb hovering 100 feet over the house. A golden orb. I'd pull my camera out and it says, “Memory Card Error.” Camera doesn't work anymore. Or every time it would appear, when I'd get the camera out, it'd disappear. They wouldn't let me film it.
So right after that, I started amassing a database. I never had any information before. But now I've got a lot.
Hathor: The Divine Feminine
AJ GENTILE: Chris, you mentioned that you were shown Hathor's temple. I don't know if you know this, but she's the goddess of maternity and motherhood. And according to ancient Egypt, she is the sky. She came before everything.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Sophia.
AJ GENTILE: Yes. Which I think in Greek is wisdom. And Hathor is depicted as a cow in ancient Egypt. And whenever she's depicted as a human, she always has horns.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, she told me that because I asked who she was, and she said she had many names. She said she was called Hathor in Egypt. And that resonated with me because the first thing they showed me was Egypt, right? And I saw the faces of Hathor carved in the temples. It's like cow ears and such.
AJ GENTILE: Yes.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: And so immediately that resonated. But she said she had many names — names in many countries, many cultures. From Diana to Demeter to Hera to the White Buffalo Calf Woman of the American Southwest.
AJ GENTILE: American Southwest. Hinduism, Buddhism, Lakshmi. Could it be Mary? Could it be?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, I suppose it could be. But in my research, I know that the word “spirit” — the definition of a spirit — nobody really understands that. But it's the wind, right? And the Holy Spirit is the breath of God. The most impactful thing to me was not only seeing and hearing, but the wind that pushed me over. The cow running over me — I saw it — but the wind, physically, it frightened me. It hit me so hard.
So here there's this force that came at me, only to reveal itself as the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I went from extreme fear to, “Oh my God, what am I looking at?” She's allowed me to share her presence, or the orbs, with everyone.
Thousands of Witnesses
AJ GENTILE: Yes, she has. All those men that were on that trip with you, that fishing trip, have all come forward and corroborated your story. Your son has said it happened. I think orb sightings in your presence are now numbering in the thousands. Hundreds of people have seen them.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Thousands.
AJ GENTILE: Thousands of people?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah. I've had a thousand at one time.
Healing and the Return of the Mission
AJ GENTILE: So now I don't know what to call her — the divine feminine, or whatever. Now you're back on your mission. So take us back through Crohn's disease, which is a very difficult disease with no cure.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Horrible.
AJ GENTILE: And you were cured of that?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: It's gone. I went to Chapel Hill. A doctor sent me to Chapel Hill to find out where it had gone, if the markers were still there. And there are no markers.
AJ GENTILE: When were you cured?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I was cured in 2007. In 2009, I came down with rheumatoid arthritis. It didn't get too bad, but I know the rheumatoid came on from the stress during those five years. I'm in remission now. It did a lot of damage. But even the rheumatoid doctor said — and even Gary Nolan told me — that it was probably a reprieve from the Crohn's, and it came back as RA.
AJ GENTILE: Could be.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I went to Chapel Hill. I have the paper. I'll share it with you. It says there's absolutely no marker there. It did not move from one to the other.
AJ GENTILE: I believe you. So yes, this healing ability you have, unbelievably, you have shared with others.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah.
Summoned to the White House
AJ GENTILE: Can you talk a little bit about that? Because when I say share with others, I don't mean a boy in your neighborhood. I mean you've been summoned to the White House and —
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, well, that was part of what she granted when she came in 2012.
AJ GENTILE: Did it start with Nellie?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: It started with my dog Nellie. Yeah. And believe it or not, she came back in 2013. It didn't happen the first year in 2012. In 2013, she came back and she told me about the situation with Iran and Israel. So it was 2013 when I first got that information. And that's the year that I was asked to put it right into the Pentagon.
AJ GENTILE: What did she say about Iran and Israel?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: She said, “When you see Israel and Iran begin to exchange missiles” — and I saw them in a vision, they give you telepathic images, it's like looking at a television, really — she said, “When you see these happen, that's when we're going to come in and we're going to start waking up the population. We're going to reveal ourselves, which will change the consciousness of people.”
So all this is about disclosure, it's about consciousness. And they're going to make it happen because it opens us up, it turns us into psychic beings, it gives us power. A lot of things this does.
AJ GENTILE: All right, we'll get back to that in a little bit. Can you just start with Nellie? It's such a touching story.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: So this is how it went down, 2013.
Grant Cameron's Visit and the Burning Tree
AJ GENTILE: And there are pictures of all of this.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, there's witnesses, a lot of witnesses. So 2013, Easter. She comes two weeks later, two weeks after Easter. This journalist, UFO researcher out of Canada — good friend of mine, a guy I really have a lot of liking for — is Grant Cameron. Grant is on the way from Congress. They were doing this mock Congress thing in Washington. And he calls me, says, “I'm going to Florida to do an event down there and would love to stop on the way and visit you.” I said, “Why don't you come stay the night?” He says, “Okay,” comes, he stays two days. He goes to Florida. He calls me on the way back and he's like, “Man, can I just stop back by? I'd like to at least take pictures of the burning tree. I didn't get to do that while I was there.”
AJ GENTILE: The burning tree.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, that's something else that happened right after the lady came. I'll show you this. I have the video of it.
AJ GENTILE: There's so many biblical connections to the story.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, true story. We have it on video. And I'll get back to Grant and Nellie. So in October 2012 — because Grant came in 2013 — right after the lady came in April, here it is October. It had been raining for two days. My wife and I and children were living next to my dad on a six-acre property, about 600 feet deep and probably 500 feet wide or something like that.
I was a smoker then. That's when I quit smoking. I quit smoking October 2012, after the lady came. After seeing what I saw, I wouldn't want to smoke anymore.
AJ GENTILE: Good idea.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: So we were watching TV, my wife and I. I said, “I got to smoke.” So I paused the movie we were watching on the cable box. I walked out the back door, lit up a cigarette. I'm on the back patio — it's a concrete patio. The wife says, “I'll be out in a minute.”
She's walking by the back door, which is a full glass door. She looks out at me through the glass and sees, way back in the back of the property, this tree. What looked like somebody lit a couple of bottle rockets off from the ground, and they shot up. She sees that and says, “What?” She opened the door and said, “What's going on with that tree?” I said, “I have no idea. But I saw that too.”
And then all of a sudden, sparks would poof out three feet and they would just kind of do like fireworks, it looked like. Then suddenly, poof — this thing erupted into flames. It's burning 12 feet in the air, from the inside of the tree, shooting up through the tops. She freaks out: “Oh my God, how did this happen?”
We run out, and Ryan, my son, he takes his iPad — he's got it in his hand — and he starts filming. This tree just spontaneously combusted in our backyard. So I run a hose pipe all the way out there, give it to my wife, and she puts it up in the tree, inside of it, and sprays it all and puts it out.
It messed her up so bad she couldn't sleep. I think that was at 9:30. At 12 o'clock, she walks by the back door and looks — and it's burning again.
AJ GENTILE: It's burning again.
The Dog That Was Healed
CHRIS BLEDSOE: So we go out and we put it out the second time. At 3 AM she can't sleep, she goes by the door — there it is, burning again. So she puts it out the third time. 9, 12, and 3.
So Grant is there wanting to see this tree. I have a video — I'll share that Burning Tree video. It's under my name, Chris Bledsoe. “Burning Tree.” You can look that up on YouTube. It's been there since way back then. And that tree became very famous. A lot of people would bring articles of clothing and put them in the tree, and healings would happen and stuff.
So April 2013, Grant Cameron comes two weeks after Easter, and we walk out to the tree. We look at the tree and stand around it for 20 minutes conversating. He's got his camera all in it and around it. And my Black Labrador Nellie is laying beside us — she would just walk wherever we laid down. So she'd been with us the whole time.
Grant's like, “Okay, I'm done.” So we start back — 75 yards from back there to the back door of the house. All my kids are standing on the patio. They have friends there. Grant's got his camera in his hand. He's been filming the tree. And Nellie and Grant and I walk right up to the patio, stop short of the patio. I'm standing on the dirt. He's standing on the patio between me and the house. He was looking at me. I'm looking at the house. Nellie's laying here beside us.
I said, “Grant, if you want, I'll get the kids to get your bags out of the car and you can just stay the night with us.” He's like, “Oh, that'd be fabulous.” So immediately he turns his back to me and starts toward the door.
The back door is open — we live in the country. I'd leave the doors open that time of year, windows and all. And so Nellie takes off to beat us in the door. You know how a dog would do that — they try to cut you and get in front of you. But when she did, I saw her go by and blood shoot out of her neck, right outside of her neck. A long stream of blood went down Grant's pants. There's a string of blood going right on into the back of the house.
I ran in the door, and I tackled her on the floor. It's LVP plank flooring, you know — it's real slippery.
AJ GENTILE: Yep.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Especially with blood. I tackle her and I drag her back out of the house. She's about 80 pounds, and me with rheumatoid arthritis — it was adrenaline that kicked in. So I drag her out and I lay her on the patio. We're all looking, and Grant's down there with the camera. She's got a hole in her neck this long, right across her vein. We don't know how it got there.
My friend at NASA — the Dragon — he suggested maybe I should look into healing, because maybe the phenomenon is trying to tell me something. I didn't think about it at the time, but that's what happened.
Here's how it went. She's laying there bleeding to death. I got my hand on her neck and blood's coming up through my fingers. Every time her heart would beat, blood would shoot out. It's all over the floor, the patio, and Grant's pants. I knew at that moment she wasn't going to live, because we were 30 minutes from a vet out in the country. She was going to bleed to death before I even got her in the car. There was just that much blood.
And so I just kind of — I can remember blocking everyone out. I didn't realize who was standing there at that moment. I just looked up at heaven. I said, “Lord, you got to help her. She's going to die.”
And the minute I said it, I felt her struggle. She went limp. The picture — I'll share it with you — but it has her laying there completely still. Didn't even wiggle. It went on for a while, to where I had Chris Jr. go get a rag. I thought maybe we could put pressure on it and help stop the bleeding. So he went in and got a washcloth.
Everybody sees what's happening. But the minute I said the prayer and she went limp, I lifted the washcloth over her neck — and the hole disappeared. It was gone. She just stood up, wagged her tail, and walked away like nothing happened. Grant saw it. He documented it. He wrote a paper on it, an article or two.
And so I told that to my NASA friends, and I told it to someone. After the lady came, a whole lot of people started showing up.
First Government Contact
AJ GENTILE: Well, when did the government first —
CHRIS BLEDSOE: 2008.
AJ GENTILE: How did they find you? Did you report what happened?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I reported it. Well, let's just say in 2007 is when it happened.
AJ GENTILE: Right.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: In January, under my wife's wishes not to ever talk about it anymore — because it was interrupting the children and the schedule — I decided I wouldn't talk about it and try to help. But I'm Richard Dreyfuss, right? I've got to talk about it.
AJ GENTILE: You have to.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: And so I went in agony. I went into depression and slept in my little office for 10 months. I went and talked to my wife. I was so upset, felt restricted. But I understood her position with the kids. I had so much anxiety, and I just had to talk to somebody.
So I went on the computer and found this outfit called MUFON and saw, “Report your sighting.” So I wrote it up, and I didn't hit send because I knew if I did, I might lose my family. So for two weeks, I looked at it in agony. I finally hit the button.
The very next day, I get a call out of California from a guy named Jim Dimanchi, I think his name was. And he's like, “Man, we want to come visit. We want to investigate.” I'm like, “Hold on. I just wanted to tell somebody. I don't want y'all here. This is going to cause me a problem.” So I said, “No, thank you.”
So January comes along — this is October — they're calling me every week. MUFON's calling, yeah, every week. And January comes, they called me and said, “We're going to officially close the case if you don't want to talk about it.” They'd already opened the case file. I said, “Well, okay, I'll talk about it.”
So within a week — by February of 2008 — I allowed them to come in. So it happened in January of 2007. So I'm in February of 2008, a year and a month later.
AJ GENTILE: Right.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: And we — shoot, I forgot where I was going with that.
AJ GENTILE: How the government first —
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah. So when I reported it, Jim Semivan told me that he knew the very minute that I reported it.
AJ GENTILE: Because some would say MUFON and the government have a little bit of —
MUFON and the Government
CHRIS BLEDSOE: — the same data-gathering apparatus. That's all they do — they gather data, and they use volunteer people to do it. You get a sighting, they ask you, “Hey, A.J., since you had that sighting, you want to become an investigator for MUFON?” And it's exciting, right? And they can tell if you're like Richard Dreyfuss — you'll fall for it every time. They tried to give me a training manual.
But here's what happened next, and it was terrible. This is February 2008. By March, they had six or seven investigators at my house all the time. And they were convincing me to do a documentary on Discovery. “We're going to vindicate you.” This was a month, two months after I met them, and they already had it in place. By June, they had the whole thing shot.
I was determined to prove myself — that I saw this, it really happened. And the community said, “No, it didn't. You're dealing with the devil.” Long story short, it backfired.
AJ GENTILE: Yes, it did. MUFON did a hit job on you. And what everyone points to is that you didn't pass the lie detector test — which, on my channel, I tell everybody that those things do not work.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Right, right.
AJ GENTILE: But what's not emphasized is you passed a psychiatric exam.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Perfectly.
AJ GENTILE: Perfectly sane man.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yep. And the lie detector was a farce. They gave me 34 questions. You're only supposed to have three or four questions.
AJ GENTILE: Right.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: But they asked me 34, over and over, for two hours. And it was an abusive thing. The whole thing was abuse.
They came in and filmed this show — and I write about this in the book — where my little children were so excited. “Hollywood's coming!” My daughter's 10, 11 years old. Here they come, and they've got this assistant going around — a lot like your staff — working to support the production. They come and they take my kids' orders for dinner. They're going to send out for dinner. We were all in my house. They took my whole house over. There's 17 people in their crew. My whole house is rearranged — couches moved, furniture moved, cameras everywhere.
They go out and get dinner, took our order. And when they got back, the kids went to the table — and they didn't have any food for us. And the producer said, “Well, you guys weren't in the budget.”
AJ GENTILE: Wow.
Government Connections and the Intelligence Community
CHRIS BLEDSOE: So they sat there in my house, ordered food and ate without feeding us. And I knew then I was in a mess.
AJ GENTILE: Yeah. And then went and aired a hit job on you.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah. So that's the kind of thing that happened.
AJ GENTILE: And is that where the government—
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, the government, yeah. Jim said he knew immediately it was a hit job, felt sorry for me and he said he could never talk to me until he retired from CIA. But once he overtly retired, then he's the first one I met with. This is Jim Semivan.
AJ GENTILE: Jim Semivan. Yeah. Who wrote the foreword on your book.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah.
AJ GENTILE: So this is a senior CIA official.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah.
AJ GENTILE: When did you first meet him?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I met him in 2013, right after—
AJ GENTILE: Right after the lady.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: After the healing. But the first government person I met was Dr. Hal Povenmire from NASA.
AJ GENTILE: He is a debunker.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, he was. He was, yeah. So they sent him to debunk my case. He's a senior official at NASA, or a contractor with them. An engineer. Still holds a security clearance. When he died, he was 59, 60 years in. He was serious people.
But he shows up one day in the fall or summer, right after the thing aired in June or July — within a month, he knocks on my door. My son Ryan calls me. I'm in town working or something and he calls his dad. “There's this very tall guy from NASA here at the house, wants to meet you.” I said, “NASA?” He said, “Yeah, he drove all the way from Cape Canaveral by chance to find you.” I said, “Well, tell him to hang around, I'll be there in an hour.” So he did.
And I was terrified because I had been told by MUFON's people in the UFO world, “They'll kill you.”
AJ GENTILE: The Men in Black.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah. “They're going to kill you.” And so the whole family is terrified by this giant of a man.
AJ GENTILE: A knock from the government is never good news.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Turned out he was like a family member. He stayed with our family until he died in 2019. Thanksgiving, he and Katie, his wife, were coming to visit us. He was 80 and he fell and hit his head, and he never came to after that.
AJ GENTILE: Was he the one who got you involved in the intelligence community?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, in a way, that and Jim. But he was there in 2008 and he would come every year, two, three, four, five times a year. He'd come to my kids' birthdays, he'd come to my daughter's recitals.
And he told me — he told everybody — “You know, that's what I did. I debunked everything. I was the one that did that.” He said, “But I have to tell you, I could not ever debunk you.” He said, “I found eight witnesses in Gray's Creek where this thing happened on the river.” MUFON didn't go out and look — he went and put in the effort. He went to the airport, he checked behind me, he checked my building records, he checked everything. And he could never debunk it.
Right before he died, he said, “Chris, I know about everything there is to know about this. I've been there a long time and I've always wondered — is it spiritual or is it alien? We all suspect one or the other, but we're not sure.” He said, “But now I know. I know now it's about God.” And that's what a NASA official told me.
The Government's Interest in the Phenomenon
AJ GENTILE: Well, at this point — meaning present day — you've had CIA, DOD, DIA, all of them.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah. Senior leaders, not some low-level people.
AJ GENTILE: What is their interest in this phenomenon?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: This is as much of an interest — it's more of an interest to the government than to us. They're people like us, and they want to know what it is. But they also want to know the technology and how to defend against it.
AJ GENTILE: Yeah. So there's the human curiosity about the spiritual aspect, but there's also fear that there's technology they can't defend against.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, because they don't know. Most people are conditioned to believe alien things are alien — that it's coming from the Pleiades or this or that.
AJ GENTILE: And you don't believe that.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I think it lives right beside us. All the time it's around us, it knows your thoughts. I know this. I can demonstrate it at any time with groups of people.
AJ GENTILE: I believe you.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: It's there.
AJ GENTILE: This is maybe out there, but — what if there's life on other planets? Does this energy exist infinitely?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, I think so. I was concerned about the triangle. I asked people in the government — the Dragon and others — “What does that triangle mean?”
AJ GENTILE: The Dragon, by the way, is Tim Taylor, who's a very elusive figure. And he seems like he could swipe his card and get anywhere.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: The White House, or any king or queen — it doesn't matter. The Vatican. Walk right into the basement of the Vatican, the archives. I know somebody else who can too.
AJ GENTILE: Well, who's that?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: That's a friend out of Washington.
AJ GENTILE: You don't want to name him?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: No, you probably wouldn't want me to do that.
The Vatican's Interest
AJ GENTILE: So the Vatican is interested in this as well.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Oh, yeah.
AJ GENTILE: Have they been in touch with you?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: They have, through several people, yeah.
AJ GENTILE: What is the Vatican's take on this?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: To them, what I'm seeing is the Virgin Mary.
AJ GENTILE: Right.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: And go to Fatima — what do they see? Orbs.
AJ GENTILE: They saw orbs.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Mostly orbs. Sometimes they get the full apparition, but a lot of times at these holy sites they see the orbs.
AJ GENTILE: And I think the Catholic Church has now acknowledged UFOs — I could be wrong. But haven't they revealed at this point the three secrets of Fatima, which were hell, war, and the end of religion? The third secret involved a white bishop being murdered on a mountain. So were you ever shown — we talked earlier about the two timelines, and how we're at an inflection point where we can choose as a species. We can go down a dark path of evil, or we can go down the light path of enlightenment. Where are we headed?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, I think we're heading to the light.
AJ GENTILE: I hope you're right. But were you ever shown—
CHRIS BLEDSOE: What?
AJ GENTILE: Were you ever shown the other side?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah.
AJ GENTILE: Did you tell us?
The Vision: Two Timelines
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, yeah. I saw it in the first four hours when I was gone. Remember the four hours? I started to hit on this earlier.
AJ GENTILE: Yep.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: They showed me Hathor's temple. They showed me the pyramids. They showed me Egypt as a whole.
AJ GENTILE: The same—
CHRIS BLEDSOE: The Sphinx was the biggest thing. Three pyramids. I'm looking over the pyramids at the rear end of the Sphinx — that's the position we were in. Then they transport me up over the United States, somewhere up over the Midwest. We were way up high, and we were looking, and they're talking, they're narrating these things. And all of a sudden I see the sun swell up in the sky. It got real big, to where the whole sky became the sun. And then it flashed, and the lights went out. And I knew then — that was the reset mechanism. And they told me, “This is what we're in for.”
AJ GENTILE: Is this a solar flare, or is this something worse?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Supernova.
AJ GENTILE: Oh, no. That's the end of everything, man.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah.
AJ GENTILE: So that's not the lights going out — that's everything out.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Right. And that's how the tektites got here. Scientists try to say, “Oh, that can't be a supernova.” Well, yeah, it can. It's happened before, and we know it has, because I've studied with Dr. Povenmire, who was the world's expert on tektites.
AJ GENTILE: Yeah, he was.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: And how did they get made? They come through a supernova. It didn't come from a solar flare — it came from a supernova. He told me that. And we know that, and that it can happen again.
So the way they explained it was we had two timelines. We had a choice. They said that there were people in power scripting the Book of Revelation to bring about the end of the world. They want to do this — these religious extremists, I guess you would call them. I don't know why they'd want to do that.
AJ GENTILE: I think it's a shadow government. And that's why they're building bunkers. All of that is because they're trying to engineer the end of the world.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah. And that's what she told me — that's what the beings told me. They were trying to bring about the end of the world. And if we go that route, it would end up in Armageddon. Like the Bible says, Jesus comes back and saves the world. That's what I was talking about with Sean Ryan — that timeline.
But the other timeline they said was that the reset didn't have to happen if we made the choice to seek the light and remove the darkness. And that they were going to help — and that's by waking us up.
AJ GENTILE: And does that lead us into the 2026 event?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: 2026 into a time of awakening, not war.
The Prediction of the Lady
AJ GENTILE: And you have been called — I know you don't like the word “prophet.”
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Right.
AJ GENTILE: So let's just call it a prediction. What was the prediction that the Lady made?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, what she told me was — it was a riddle in a way. She said, “When the red star of Regulus—” Now, keep in mind, I don't know anything about astronomy. I don't know what Regulus is. She just put these words out. She said, “When the red star Regulus aligns in the gaze of the Sphinx.” And she showed it to me — it looked like a little red ball. Now, Regulus is blue.
AJ GENTILE: Is blue.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: But she said it would appear red on the horizon just before dawn. When that happens, that point would mark a shift into a new knowledge and awakening of the people. It doesn't mean you're going to flip a switch and we all suddenly know that day. I think it's just the beginning of a new era, a new knowledge. And maybe that's the revealing of the truth of consciousness.
AJ GENTILE: And this will be the Sphinx gazing at Regulus.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah.
AJ GENTILE: Do you know what constellation Regulus is in?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: It's in Leo.
AJ GENTILE: It's in Leo.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Isn't that crazy?
AJ GENTILE: It is.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Why does the Space Force have on their badge a triangle with a Sphinx looking up at a star?
AJ GENTILE: That's funny that you mentioned that. If you look at a lot of the logos — whether it's the NRO or all these agencies — there's all this Egyptian iconography on them.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah.
AJ GENTILE: It makes me think they know something we don't know.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Oh, they do.
AJ GENTILE: They do.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: They do. I can tell you they do.
AJ GENTILE: What do they know, and why won't they tell us?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I wish I could tell you. There is something I do know. But let's just say — without me getting in really serious trouble—
AJ GENTILE: Are you under any NDA? You're not. So you can speak freely.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I can, but I might cut myself off from a stream of information.
Disclosure, Orbs, and the Nature of Consciousness
AJ GENTILE: As the legal counsel, I would advise you to be careful here.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, that's what I'm doing. But I do know that they've documented things over the last several hundred years.
AJ GENTILE: Several hundred years?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Ever since they started keeping records in the US and abroad. Over hundreds of years. Thousands of years. Two thousand or more. The specific thing I'm speaking about.
AJ GENTILE: Well, we can see orbs in paintings that are hundreds of years old.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: And it's like this — the Gelder painting of Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist. There's a cloud up there and it looks like a flying saucer with laser beams.
AJ GENTILE: Yes, it does.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: How did they know to draw laser beams in the 1300s? They didn't have a flashlight. So yeah, there's a whole lot of knowledge we don't have. This hidden knowledge.
AJ GENTILE: Do you think disclosure is happening now?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: We're in post-disclosure.
AJ GENTILE: You think it's just—
CHRIS BLEDSOE: It's already happened. It's happening one person at a time.
AJ GENTILE: Because I'm very suspicious of what we're being told. I don't know what's true and what's not true. So I don't know if this is planned disclosure, and if it is, I don't like that.
The Orbs, Iran, and Government Confusion
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, they're planning it. They're definitely planning it, and they've turned up the notch 100%. Partly because when the drone thing happened — and they weren't drones, they were not drones at all, and we know that — they were orbs. It's the very thing I predicted. I didn't predict it, I just told what I was told: that when Iran and Israel go to exchanging missiles, the orbs would start appearing out of the sea, out of the land, out of the sky. They were firing at one another in November. And what happened in November and December? Orbs appeared everywhere.
So the government freaked out and they started sending their own drones up — big ones — and leaving them for days hanging around. All that was done to confuse the people.
AJ GENTILE: So you're a pilot. I've been shown by another pilot a NOTAM report that showed in advance all these areas where drones would be. But the government never told us that. They never said, “Relax, we've got it, it's us.” They kept us confused and frightened. What would be the purpose of that? Why frighten the population?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I'll tell you why. I was sitting in a restaurant with some people from the Pentagon and some Congress members and others at the Capitol Grille in Washington D.C. this past summer. After that happened — the thing happened in November and December — but this past summer, or spring, not too far after that, we were meeting and they wanted to know my opinion about this.
I said, “I told you — you start shooting missiles with Iran, you're going to get it.” And they're like, “Oh my God, this is catastrophic.” So that term was coined with me sitting at a meeting with these people. They don't want that to happen. They don't want to lose control of the people. They're afraid if they push the button too far, it's going to come down here and wake us all up and take over. They worry about what's going to happen.
AJ GENTILE: And then they lose their power, their control.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Continuity of government.
AJ GENTILE: Continuity of government. So this all points back to the DOD and the Pentagon.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: That's exactly what's going on. So they backed off of Iran, they quit shooting at one another, the whole thing settled down. But it didn't stop. The minute we put F-35s in Poland—
AJ GENTILE: Yep.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: They started shutting down airports over there. The orbs did — not drones, the orbs did.
AJ GENTILE: If there were a nuclear war, do you think these orbs would stop it? Because we know that they have shut down nuclear facilities.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: They told them, “You keep pushing these buttons, we're going to expose you, we're going to stop it.” They keep warning them.
What Are the Orbs?
AJ GENTILE: Are the orbs themselves craft, or are they beings?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Both. They're both. I say both because I have video of beings coming out of orbs. I'll show you one today where this orb approaches myself and two or three ladies — one very sick with cancer. It approaches right up to us, flashes, and out steps a seven-foot-tall glowing white figure. These smaller orbs are beings. When they flash, something just stepped out of it. So I think it's a way they can come into our world through that light.
But I have also seen and filmed many others — flying saucers, metal balls like the Tic Tac, the Bouguer sphere.
AJ GENTILE: We will put all that footage in this episode because it's all there. It's really undebunkable. When I see debunkers try to say that these are airplanes, I just don't get it, because I've seen the video of it happen in real time where an orb will appear and disappear.
And there are places around the world — I think it's the Hessdalen lights, the Marfa lights, and the Brown Mountain lights. Are these orbs as well?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, that's what they are.
AJ GENTILE: Where did they come from? Where did this start?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: They're here. They're around us all the time. We just can't see them. As for the beginning — whoever created consciousness — I look at this a little differently than a lot of people do, and I'm slowly creating a hypothesis. We may not ever know.
AJ GENTILE: I'm wondering where the origin of these things was.
Angels, God, and Consciousness
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, to put it in my own way — and this is somewhat biblical — what are angels? What are they? The Bible says they're messengers. That doesn't mean grandma with wings. Everybody has a misconception about this. Angelic experiences are terrifying. Even Diana told me — every angelic experience is terrifying because they're creatures, they're different than us. A lot different. They can come any way they want to come.
It's a tough question, but I think they're fractals of God or consciousness. The word “God” and “consciousness” are the same thing. And I've had the greatest time watching all these scientists who are atheists saying, “We're studying consciousness.” Well, you're studying God. This is a great thing — we're studying consciousness, which is what God is. It's everything.
AJ GENTILE: It's everything. Whether you call it God or the universe, or whatever you call it—
CHRIS BLEDSOE: It's the source. Who programmed this world we live in? It was all written in code, it was all pre-written. Somebody programmed this thing that we're living in. It's all programmed.
AJ GENTILE: This is a simulation.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, it's a simulation.
AJ GENTILE: So if our souls are spun out of the source, and these orbs are spun out of the source, what's the difference?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: It's a fractal of God. In other words, how can 8 billion people pray and have a personal experience with God at the same time?
AJ GENTILE: We're all connected.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: It's all connected. So these orbs are just a little piece of that — an intelligent piece of God responding to you and me. And that's where Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is within us.” And, “If you had the faith of a mustard seed, you could tell that mountain to move and it would.” So what is he telling us there? They didn't like what he was saying, so they killed him.
AJ GENTILE: Yeah, that's right.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: But I think that we're magical beings with humongous power.
Summoning Orbs — and Why That Word Is Wrong
AJ GENTILE: Do you think we can all do what you do?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, 100%.
AJ GENTILE: How do you do what you do? Because you can summon orbs at will.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I don't call it summoning, because that is kind of a dark term. You don't summon these things.
AJ GENTILE: Okay.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: It's like ordering God what to do. People say summoning is evil — well, they may be summoning something evil. Stay away from that word, because it's not about summoning.
AJ GENTILE: That's in the Bible as well.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: When you talk about summoning — these guys doing psionic summoning — they don't know what they're getting. They're liable to get trouble, really get some bad stuff, because it's out there too.
But I humble myself and I say a little prayer. It's a short one. It's just asking the Holy Spirit — whom I believe is the lady — to come share her presence with us. That's all I do, nothing else. In front of a thousand people, I had a little church service with Gino. He was standing there. The most liberal UFO place you could go to, and I just had a little church for about two minutes.
AJ GENTILE: 300 people saw orbs — or was it a thousand — that appeared when you prayed?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, I just asked a little prayer. I said, “Look, the lady I met — I believe she is a divine being. She was made of light. She was floating. She came at me like the wind spirit. Could it be the Holy Spirit? I don't know.” But that's where I believe. It's okay — we all imagine God in our own way.
The problem we have in this world is that brother Tom over there wants to kill me because I don't think like him.
AJ GENTILE: I know.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: “Kill you because you're blaspheming.” Well, who knows? How do you know?
AJ GENTILE: How do you know?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Right. So that's the problem. We've got to come to understand that this whole thing is not within our imagination. Why try to own it, and name it, and kill people, and have wars over something you have no idea how complex and how mysterious it truly is?
AJ GENTILE: We're living in it in two dimensions. The world is much more complicated.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, it's real complex.
The Dark Force and Earth's Energy Grid
AJ GENTILE: You said something earlier that kind of frightened me — that this energy is here, it's a positive energy, it's a good energy, it's a protective energy. What's it protecting us from?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: The dark force.
AJ GENTILE: Oh boy.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: There is a dark force. Let me say something that gives a little context for where I believe this comes from. I learned this through Dr. Robert Gilbert. He explained something to me about Egypt. He said, “You know what they dig out of the ground in Egypt the most, of all the artifacts they dig up over there?” Pendulums. They get thousands of them out of the soil there. Dr. Gilbert sold a whole kit of different kinds and taught people to use them. The Freemasons, the Templars, and others — people with the old knowledge — they use them.
What the Egyptians knew, and what Robert explained, is that the Earth has these grid lines. They're very close together in some places, further apart in others where they're stretched. It's like a tic-tac-toe pattern.
AJ GENTILE: Some call them ley lines.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah. They're abundant, they're all over the whole world. It's just energy traveling north and south and back and forth.
AJ GENTILE: That's fine.
Energy Lines, Ancient Structures, and the Moon
CHRIS BLEDSOE: He said, those energy lines, some are negative and some are positive. And there are beings running up and down these energy lines, constantly moving back and forth. And if one of those negative lines happened to run through your house to a bedroom where your child slept, that child could develop very bad problems, sickness, die from it, from this constant negative energy and these evil spirits that are in that.
So they took pendulums and they would find these negative lines, they would transmute them up off the surface to clear the area, only leave the positive lines. And then they put these obelisks out there. Those things are tuned — these stones are tuned by somebody that we can't replicate. Why is there one in Central Park from Egypt? Why is there one in Paris from Egypt? London. They went to Egypt and got them and brought them back.
AJ GENTILE: They're tuned to sound frequencies.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: They transmute this negative energy. And that's why all these cities are so big and all the biggest cities have them. And the pyramids were part of that. I think they were tone generators, peaking this frequency to transmute the darkness.
AJ GENTILE: It's been proven that if you send the right frequencies toward the Great Pyramid, it will amplify it and turn into an energy amplifier.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: So I think the water underneath them and the salt that they find in them was creating this frequency, pinging constantly.
AJ GENTILE: I hate to plug my episode, but we do have an episode about the pyramid as a power plant, as a power generator. And there's evidence of it — chemical reactions and hydrogen. And it's all based around sound and music.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: There's a belief that the pyramids were defaced by the Europeans. They were there before Jesus, five or six hundred years. The Greeks were there. But I've heard through Robert that the pyramids used to have musical notes all over them and that somebody stripped that all off.
AJ GENTILE: I haven't heard that.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I'd heard that before.
AJ GENTILE: So if there are negative energy lines, is there also a negative energy source? Like we have our source.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Everything is. The Earth is a dynamo. The sun shining on the Earth creates the energy and you can see it in the aurora. That's all electricity. So it's an electrical machine. And we're all part of that electrical energy from the sun. So this negative energy is like a battery. Everything works on a positive and a negative pole. Same way on Earth — you have positive and negative poles, and you have a battery that cranks a car. Yin and yang, it's all the same.
AJ GENTILE: Okay, that makes sense to me.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Good and evil, light and dark.
What Happens When We Die?
AJ GENTILE: What happens when we die, Chris?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: In my Christian world, they preach about — and I'm still a Christian. I love. I was born and raised on Jesus and always will be.
AJ GENTILE: I don't think anything you said today contradicts religion.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: But I believe a little differently. I don't think that we know enough to demand that when you die, you go to a heaven that's out somewhere far away. I think it's right here around us. And I think we can come back here.
AJ GENTILE: When people ask, like I did, “What do you think happens when we die?” — I'm asking out of fear. Are you afraid?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: No, I'm not afraid at all. And I think that we're friends now and we'll be friends forever, this life and the next. I believe there's a possibility in reincarnation as well.
AJ GENTILE: I agree with that.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah.
AJ GENTILE: I want us to take one more break. If you wouldn't mind coming back for one last segment.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I'd love to.
AJ GENTILE: All right, let's take a break.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I'm having fun.
AJ GENTILE: Having fun. When we come back, I'd like to talk about remote viewing, the Memorial Institute, some of that.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Okay, back in a sec.
Tim Taylor — The Dragon
AJ GENTILE: Tell me about the Dragon. Tim Taylor — the most elusive man in intel and ufology. How did you meet him and what's your relationship with him?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Tim is the most elusive. He's a ghost. I like to say that about him. He's a ghost because of his work. He's pretty much in charge of all the launches at the launch facility.
AJ GENTILE: So NASA?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, NASA, SpaceX, all of them. NASA runs the launch facility, but they all use it — they rent it.
AJ GENTILE: And I think it's public knowledge that he consults with Elon Musk. So he's involved.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: So imagine — from what I know — the National Reconnaissance Office has eyes on everything. They have the satellites, they're running all the observation and reconnaissance. And if you took mission control, with Tim being the Dragon, he's the head of that, he's in charge.
So he has mission control. Let's just say there's a square building — it looks like a mobile home that's been put together, a big double quadruple-wide mobile home, little metal tin on the outside. There's one hallway in the middle, and it's identical on the left and the right. It's a pretty long hallway.
On the right when you walk down the hall, you get past the offices and then there's this big glass wall. You look over through the glass wall — it's kind of depressed in there — and there are all these consoles, people standing there running the launch. The screen on the left is exactly the same, but it's U.S. Air Force people. So over there you've got fatigues on, camouflage, and they're in there running a launch, while the NASA people are on the right.
At the end of the hall is where the general is and where Tim's little office is. He goes in after the launch goes up, and he has these television screens — only for him to see. And he's communicating with the team that's flying.
An old friend of mine — he died a couple of years ago — his name was Peter Chobon. Peter from Houston. I write about him in my book. I love Peter. He was an old Texan. Peter ran the WB-57 program out of Houston, which uses these big high-flying planes — almost like a U-2 spy plane, but bigger — that loiter up there at 50,000 feet.
So the ground-based cameras are looking at the rocket when it takes off. It starts getting blurry up that high. This plane intercepts it and follows it right on up, keeping its cameras on it until it gets to about 100,000 feet. That's when another plane — the F-104 Starfighter, equipped with rockets and flown by pilots in spacesuits — flies way up there and keeps tailing the rocket. There are like seven cameras on that plane following it. Once it gets past its range, it goes into the satellites.
So what are they looking for? Two or three things. The big thing is mechanical failure — if something goes wrong, they need to know how to fix it. But why is the Dragon in that one office?
AJ GENTILE: Right.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Because often these UFOs — flying saucers, orbs — will approach these rockets in space and investigate. And I have seen videos of them shooting them out of the sky or disabling them.
AJ GENTILE: Yeah.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: And I'm like, “Why did they do that? Did they have weapons on that thing?” He said, well, there was a mock nuclear warhead on there. It wasn't active. But they still wouldn't accept it.
AJ GENTILE: You can find that illustration online. I think it talks about a craft flying around a warhead, beaming light at it.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I saw that video.
AJ GENTILE: Until it's disabled. I watched it.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: That's the one. I asked him, “Why did they do that? Was there a weapon on that thing?” And that told me all I needed to know. Because they're protecting — they don't want us up there blowing up warheads and stuff. They don't want weapons in space.
AJ GENTILE: What percentage of astronauts have seen them?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: All of them. Hal told my wife that one night — I'll never forget. Before he died, he would start telling us more things he would never tell us before. He always said, “Don't ask me that. The men in black will come get me.” I'm like, “Who are the men in black, Hal?” He said, “A bunch of CIA guys riding around in black trucks.”
AJ GENTILE: They all work for Tim Taylor.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah.
Did We Land on the Moon?
AJ GENTILE: What do you think? Do you think we landed on the moon?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I'll tell you how confusing they are. They put out disinformation big time. They don't necessarily tell you the truth, but they will tell you some things if you're paying attention. A lot of things they tell you are meant to confuse.
AJ GENTILE: Limited hangout.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah. Tim told me — and I had Hal, who was my best friend. He had the David E. Lord Award for 50 years of occultation grazing — that's the moon. He wrote books on the moon, and he was the guy who supposedly mapped where Apollo landed on the moon. So he's telling me all about this, and that there are buildings up there that we didn't build. Hal would tell me this stuff.
AJ GENTILE: He said there are structures up there.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: He said there are old, ancient structures, and we didn't build them.
AJ GENTILE: So do you think that we landed men on the moon in 1969?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, I hear that, and then Tim tells me — he's planting these ideas in my head. He said, “What do you think of the moon?” I'm like, I don't know. I've been obsessed with it all my life. I wrote about it in the book. I was a little boy, always staring at it. He said, “You think it's real?”
AJ GENTILE: You think the moon is real?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: That's what he told me. He said, “You think it's real?” I said, “Well, I think so.” He said, “Isn't that funny?” And he gave the numbers — how far away it is, and it's in the exact right spot, and it never changes its face, and it's locked in.
AJ GENTILE: Tidally locked.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: And how it got there — he said, “Maybe it was towed into position.”
AJ GENTILE: There are ancient Native American legends about the sky without the moon. And when it arrived, the Earth was covered in mist, and when the moon arrived, that's when the tides and the oceans formed.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I had no idea.
AJ GENTILE: Yeah.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Wow. That's the kind of things these intel people do. They tell you all kinds of things. So I have to try to sift through the data and make my own thoughts. But he insinuated that it may have been pulled here.
AJ GENTILE: A moon that large and that close has never been found on any planet, ever. We've found thousands of planets. We are the only one with this thing.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah.
AJ GENTILE: If I had to guess, I would say we went to the moon, saw some things that maybe the government didn't want us to see, and that's why we didn't go back for a while.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I think that's probably the truth about it — that we did go there, and they were told not to come back.
Remote Viewing and Project Stargate
AJ GENTILE: They were told not to come back, most likely. So that leads me to remote viewing a little bit, because — Project Stargate.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Right.
AJ GENTILE: So Joe McMoneagle is a friend of yours?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Project Stargate. Good friend of mine, yeah.
Remote Viewing, Psychic Awakening, and the Future of Humanity
AJ GENTILE: Ingo Swann was part of that project. He saw aliens on the moon and said we're not welcome there. He saw the structures and all of that. And earlier you mentioned that you had a vision or dream about Bigfoot on Mars, which sounds funny, but Joe remote viewed without knowing what he was looking at. He was given coordinates and he said he saw large beings on Mars. He finally opens up the card and it says it's Mars, one million years ago. You said you can remote view, or you've trained in it.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, yeah. In fact, I'm on the History Channel and I'm with the Monroe Institute. I'm kind of like an ambassador for them and I promote them. I love them. My son is a trainer for them.
AJ GENTILE: We're big fans of them here.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, and so I'm a huge supporter of them. They've helped me out a whole lot. But remote viewing — all of us have that capacity. Everybody. Some people, it comes easy. Some people have it all the time and don't know what's happening. We all have these moments where, say, you think, “I'm going to call my wife.” You pick up the phone and you start dialing, and suddenly your wife thinks about you, and then the phone rings.
AJ GENTILE: Always. We all have it.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Right? That tells you one thing — that when your wife thought of you, you thought of her. Her thoughts fly through space, and you're able to pick up on that. So that's what consciousness is about. It's floating. It's an Internet around us, and our brains are the receiver to it. I think our information is stored throughout our whole body, even in our organs. But that's the computer, that's the CPU that's been shut off and doesn't know this ability.
AJ GENTILE: What did you see when you remote viewed?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: All kinds of things. We're given tasks to do. I've taken training on this stuff. I've been to classes with it. It depends on what the task was, whatever we're working on. But one of the things that NASA told me a long time ago is that people who interact with these orbs become very psychic. So that's a natural part of it. All of humanity starts experiencing this. They become very psychic. And that's kind of alarming to the people in power. They don't want us all becoming psychic.
AJ GENTILE: Well, imagine if all of us could communicate with, or absorb, or remote view.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: And we all can.
AJ GENTILE: And maybe that's the awakening that you've been told about by the lady.
The Great Awakening and Disclosure
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I think that's it 100%. I believe disclosure is happening. And once people, one at a time, begin to realize, “Oh my God, it's real,” then you start awakening and you can develop these powers. And it's happening with Dr. Diane Hennessy Powell and Dalia and Lidu, who are very close friends of mine. I've worked with them. We do a lot of work together. And all these wonderful kids with Kai Dickens. Kai and I were on the World Forum just during Christmas. She told me she ordered one thing for Christmas, and that was your book.
AJ GENTILE: That's what I think.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Pretty cool, right?
AJ GENTILE: Well, let me put you on the spot then. You've said this before — what's the date? What's the date when Regulus turns red?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I don't know that, and I'll tell you why.
AJ GENTILE: Okay.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I was given this riddle by the lady.
AJ GENTILE: You've been misquoted.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, I'm misquoted all the time. I've got people on the Internet saying, “Chris says this,” or “Chris says that.” I've never said that. People say, “Chris says that the Sphinx is going to open up as Paul.”
AJ GENTILE: Right.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I never said that. Edgar Cayce said that. It's all over the Internet. But what you say has a lot of similarities to what Edgar Cayce said about all the records and stuff.
AJ GENTILE: Yeah, yeah. Similarities.
The Regulus Alignment and Egypt
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, it's all part of this progression and studying. I study everybody. I'm on a mission myself. But what I do know is when the lady told me about this many years ago — about Regulus and this star — I immediately called a literary agent friend of mine, Lisa Hagan. Lisa's a very close friend, lives in Virginia, a book publisher. I told her we were working on a manuscript, and we were talking all the time. So I told her about this and she said, “I know a lot of people that do astrology. They write books.” I said, “Well, find out if this is going to happen, if it's really real. I don't know if it's going to happen. It was just a riddle she gave me.”
So she called Kirk Nielsen, who's part of the Edgar Cayce Research Center, among others. And they all came back to me way back then — September of 2026, this is going to take place. So for seven or eight years, that's all I preached about. You can look at many older podcasts and I'm always saying September 2026.
When I wrote the book, I thought I better fact-check this. So I called Lisa back and I said, “Lisa, you remember this? Tell me, am I correct? Wasn't it September?” She said, “Oh, I think we made a mistake there. They now believe it's going to be around Easter, around April.” I thought, well, that makes sense because the lady always comes on Easter. So that's what I went with. But I was never really sold on it — for eight or nine years that's all I said was September. I was never sold on it other than the fact that the lady has always been associated with Easter. That's when she comes.
But now I see that these astrologers are still unsure of when this alignment will happen. Some are saying October.
AJ GENTILE: October 7th. Yeah, October 7th, 2026 at 5:30am — it will line up with the Sphinx. And if the atmospheric conditions are correct, that blue star is going to turn red.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, that's the date.
AJ GENTILE: This is scientific. Like a harvest moon, or that red dust from the Sahara — if that happens, that blue star is turning red that day. October 7, 2026.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Because I'm planning to go in the fall to Egypt. I wasn't really set on Easter. Even though I wrote it in the book, if you read what I wrote, it was just that I've come to believe it.
AJ GENTILE: True.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I was never really sure when that alignment would be, and I'm totally dependent on the experts to tell me when that'll be. And now I'm hearing October 7th. So that's probably when I'll be in Egypt.
AJ GENTILE: And I think it's important for everybody to know that when and if that happens, we're not going to see magical visions in the sky. It could be a very subtle, just a shift.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, I think it's going to be something that comes and goes. But we'll all realize in the next five years, “Boy, that guy really, 12 years ago, made this prediction that the orbs would appear when Israel and Egypt and all that.” Well, it all happened. I've been seeing it for 12 years.
And now I think it's just going to mark a change, a new beginning. I think we're going to learn some things between now and then that are going to shock us all. I think disclosure is going to become more real. The government's going to reveal more things. I have a little birdie telling me that Egypt is about to release something this year that's going to rewrite history.
AJ GENTILE: Is that right?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah. I've been asked to be a part of it.
AJ GENTILE: Can you share any of that?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I can't.
AJ GENTILE: Can you tell me where in Egypt?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I just know it's through the Egyptian government, through the Antiquities Authority.
AJ GENTILE: I don't trust those guys.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I don't either. But there are very credible scientists in the United States that are a part of it.
AJ GENTILE: There are. And there's a lot happening in the Valley of the Kings right now. It could be they just discovered a new pharaoh there. It could be something out of that.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I think it's more about what's under the ground.
AJ GENTILE: Man. I hope we're talking about the Hall of Records.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I don't know. They didn't tell me. They just told me they want me in Egypt this year and that they were going to reveal something that's going to rewrite history.
Dorothy Eady and the Secrets Beneath the Sphinx
AJ GENTILE: There's a story that I tell on the show about Dorothy Eady. I don't know if that rings a bell.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Dorothy who?
AJ GENTILE: Dorothy Eady.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Eady. I don't know her.
AJ GENTILE: She was born in England in the early 1900s. Since she was a child, she was always drawn to ancient Egypt, and her parents didn't know why. They took her to the British Museum one day — she was four or five years old — and she went to the mummy of the pharaoh that might have been Ramses the Great. She was crying and she said, “I know him.” They gave her a book about ancient Egypt as a child, and she was able to pick up hieroglyphics. She could speak the language. She eventually went to Egypt and she knew her way around all the temples. She believed that she was reincarnated from an ancient Egyptian priestess called Amseti. And she said that underneath the Sphinx are these chambers and there's knowledge down there. Dorothy worked with antiquities for years. They trusted her.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Oh, wow.
AJ GENTILE: So you've got scientific evidence with a little bit of the spiritualism of reincarnation. You've got Edgar Cayce's predictions. You've got the people that you know. We've got LiDAR and GPR showing all these cavities. There's something down there, definitely.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: And they're going to tell about it.
AJ GENTILE: This year. If it changes everything.
A New Era: Energy, Disclosure, and the Exposure of Darkness
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah. So I think that'll be part of this new knowledge that's going to happen, going to rewrite the old way. There's a new way, a new knowledge. I think you're going to see fusion energy, helium-3, all of that. Imagine a world tomorrow where Elon doesn't need rockets anymore.
AJ GENTILE: But there are going to be forces that are going to fight that every step of the way.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: They still are.
AJ GENTILE: And they still are.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: They just killed the fusion expert at MIT. They just killed it. And they're planning to roll fusion out. You know what that means? About 80% of everything you buy is energy costs. That's right — energy.
AJ GENTILE: So what happens if energy's free?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Then we become very wealthy, everything gets very cheap, and living becomes a lot different.
AJ GENTILE: And that power structure kind of goes away.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Well, that's part of the new knowledge. The lady said she was going to wake the people up and reveal and expose the darkness. And look at all of what's being exposed right now all around the world — things that people are horrified to see. Dark politics, child trafficking. Whoever thought that going into 2025 we'd be seeing people being trafficked, and the US appears to be the biggest trafficker.
AJ GENTILE: It seems so. I think everybody can sense that something's happening, and can sense that there's an ongoing war between good and evil.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah, I think the good is going to prevail and all the evil is going to be exposed. That's my prediction. That's going to happen. I don't think we're going down the road of Armageddon. I think we're going up to a new time of happiness — after all these dark individuals are exposed, kicking and screaming as this all unfolds.
AJ GENTILE: I'm going to choose to believe you, Chris. Thank you so much for coming today.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Thank you. The name of your book is UFO of God.
AJ GENTILE: UFO of God. And I would say it's an excellent book. Even if you're not into UFOs or religion, it's a fantastic story. It's a great book.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Thank you for that. It's on Amazon and most other outlets. I self-published it. But the crazy thing is that it's been in the top three to five in its categories for three years now.
Closing Thoughts and Farewell
AJ GENTILE: Well, let's get it up to number one. And when's your next book coming out?
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Hopefully by summertime.
AJ GENTILE: Now for fans of The Why Files, you know the saying is there's always a book. Something to keep in mind, folks, is that Chris didn't monetize his story for 15 years.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: 15 years, right. So I never wrote about it until 2022. This started in 2007. And all the research I've done — I have spent more time out filming the sky than any three people you can come up with. Nobody has probably spent the amount of time I have out observing the sky, and I've done it all on my own dime. And I get people saying, “Oh, you got the horrible camera, you should do this, you should do that.” Why don't you go out and do the filming?
AJ GENTILE: Well, let's support his work. Gang, grab that book, and I'll keep everybody posted with what he's doing and how we can support his work. It's very important. I do believe we're in a battle with darkness, and his message is valuable and important. It's a weapon for good, and we all need to wield it.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: I appreciate that, AJ. And if things go right in the next 30 or 45 days, we're going to step it up and start an expedition out your way, and hope to have you and Gino come along with us at times. If you want to, we'll be a part of it. We're going to film this every night and get more serious about it.
AJ GENTILE: We'll be a part of it.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Yeah.
AJ GENTILE: All right, Chris, thanks again.
CHRIS BLEDSOE: Thank you, and God bless.
AJ's Final Takeaway
AJ GENTILE: So we just spent three hours with Chris Bledsoe, and I need to sit with this a minute.
Here's what we know. The January 8, 2007 incident at Cape Fear River is documented. Chris, his 17-year-old son, and three adult coworkers were all present, and all of them reported what they saw. MUFON investigated, though Chris says the investigation became a hit job — and that's probably true.
What's harder to dismiss is who came next. Harold Povenmire, a NASA engineer who worked on Project Apollo and spent 59 years at the agency, investigated Chris for over a decade and couldn't debunk him. Povenmire died in 2019 still believing. Jim Semivan, a 25-year veteran of the CIA's Clandestine Service, wrote the foreword to Chris's book. Dr. Hal Puthoff from SRI — the man who ran the CIA's remote viewing program — has also studied the case. These aren't fringe characters. These are real people.
As for the big claims, Chris says his Crohn's disease was cured after the encounter, and that he has documentation from UNC Chapel Hill showing no markers remain. I couldn't find independent medical verification of that. It's his word and his records.
But here's where it gets interesting. Chris claims orbs interact with nuclear sites. Well, that's actually documented elsewhere. There's the 1967 Malmstrom Air Force Base incident, where Captain Robert Salas reported a glowing red object hovering over the facility right before 10 Minuteman nuclear missiles went offline. That's been testified under oath before Congress. UFO activity around nuclear facilities isn't fringe conspiracy — it's in Pentagon records.
Now here's what I'm still chewing on. The Lady — this feminine being of light that appears to Chris on Easter — that he connects to Hathor, to Fatima, to divine feminine traditions across cultures. And the 2026 prophecy: when the star Regulus aligns in the gaze of the Sphinx, a new knowledge will come into the world.
The astronomy nerds have run the numbers and nobody agrees on the exact date. Some say Easter, some say August, but it's probably going to be October 7th. Chris says he's been saying this since 2012, long before anyone was calculating alignments.
So my take is this: Chris Bledsoe is either sitting on experiences that bridge the gap between UFOs, spirituality, and human consciousness in ways we don't have language for yet — or he's the most convincing experiencer in modern history, with an unusual talent for attracting high-level interest.
What I can't explain away is the caliber of people who investigated him and walked away believers. NASA engineers, CIA officers, Pentagon officials. Something about this case keeps pulling serious people in, and that's what keeps me thinking about it.
Chris's book is UFO of God, available on Amazon. He self-published it and has been in the top five in its category for three years. If you want to go deeper on his story, that's where to start.
Until next time — be safe, be kind, and know that you are appreciated.
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Published
Feb 22, 2026 at 11:33 PM EST
Team USA won its first men's hockey gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games in 46 years on Sunday when Jack Hughes slotted home the game-winner in overtime.
It was a cinematic moment for the United States of America, which, 16 years earlier, lost to Canada in overtime in the Vancouver Games behind the magic of Sidney Crosby.
Canada controlled a majority of the game beginning in the second period, and the Americans held on long enough behind goalie Connor Hellebuyck to push the game to the extra period, where they snatched the victory.
While some would call it a hard-fought victory and perseverance, others are claiming other possible reasons for the Americans winning the gold medal.
One Canadian sports writer believes that something mystical might be the key to why Team USA won to close out the Olympics.
More news: USA Olympic Gold Hero Jack Hughes Linked to Famous Canadian Pop Star
More news: USA Hockey Player's Shocking Post-Gold Medal Meal Goes Viral
"It was almost as if supernatural forces were at play," Sportsnet writer Luke Fox penned about the gold medal clash. "Storming Team USA's net in hungry waves, Canada was all over the Americans, first tying the airtight gold medal game, then pressing their nemeses like paninis, wanting what's golden."
At times, it felt like every small bounce went the United States' way. Although much of that can be attributed to Hellebuyck's phenomenal play, there were some instances in which he would have had no chance of stopping the shot if the Canadians had gotten the puck on target.
Most notably, Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon late in the third period that had a wide open net that he missed.
Earlier in the tournament, the best player for Team USA throughout the Olympics, Quinn Hughes, spoke about his possible connection with the spirits.
"Sometimes you hear some funny stuff out there, but yeah," he said. "As the people say, I'm usually seeing ghosts, so I'm usually focused on myself."
Maybe next time, Canada needs to be more in tune with the ghosts on the ice if they want to walk away with the gold medal.
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Our newsletters are carefully curated, drawing from the best of the corporate and independent media landscape. Each week, we research and summarize over a dozen key media articles that challenge mainstream narratives on important issues shaping society. Once every two weeks, we also send out an inspiring story or news to a separate email list as a balance to the challenging material on cover-ups and corruption.
Our database stands as one of the most comprehensive collections of conspiracy and corruption news, featuring over 13,000+ news article summaries from reliable and credible media sources and many categories for in-depth exploration. We also have over 3,000 news article summaries and 18 subcategories focused on inspirational news and solutions. Our archive has been used by journalists, educators, serious researchers, and everyday truth seekers since our founding.
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Click below for a table providing links to the many information-packed 2-page and 10-page summaries we've put together. These summaries present concise, powerful information on many of the vital topics covered by WantToKnow.info, always with links for verification.
Links are also provided to our many excellent information centers and online lessons covering these vital issues.
A concise essay explores the core reasons there is so much corruption and manipulation in our world and gives inspiring ideas on what we can do to create a brighter future.
This thought-provoking piece examines how the primary means for manipulating are through promoting fear, secrecy, and polarization, and through distracting people from their deeper purpose in life. It also provides concrete ways we can turn all of this around.
Don't lose hope. This inspiring essay reminds us in a most eloquent way that we were made for these times. Here's one paragraph of this poetic writing.
"Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good."
Verifiable information and news on high-level corruption and cover-ups,
and the powerful forces creating positive change and transformation.
CBS News has no plans to drop health guru Peter Attia from his contributor role after his emails to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein surfaced last week. Attia was among the 19 contributors named by CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss when she addressed staff about her future plans for the network on Jan. 28. Two days later, Attia showed up in the latest batch of files on Epstein. A Stanford-trained physician who has gained prominence for his expertise in longevity medicine, Attia had a number of email exchanges with Epstein, including a crude discussion about female genitalia. Another message showed Attia expressing dismay that he could not discuss Epstein's activities. “You [know] the biggest problem with becoming friends with you? The life you lead is so outrageous, and yet I can't tell a soul...,” Attia wrote. Conduct such as Attia's association with Epstein would typically be grounds for a network news organization to cut ties with an individual, especially one who is not a full-time employee. Contributors are usually paid by the appearance. But Weiss is said to be opposed to cutting Attia, according to two people familiar with her thinking. As founder of the digital news site the Free Press and as an opinion writer, Weiss spoke out against so-called cancel culture and does not want to be seen as reacting to the Epstein frenzy. Insiders say even if CBS News' ties to Attia are not publicly severed, it's unlikely he will be seen on the air.
Note: Don't miss Part 1 and Part 2 of our in-depth investigative series on this massive elite crime ring now coming to light in the documents being made public. For more along these lines, read our concise summaries of news articles on Jeffrey Epstein's trafficking ring.