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Monday open thread
CultureYahoo2d ago

Monday open thread

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The hidden AI risk most Cypriot firms are overlooking
Technologycyprus-mail3d ago

The hidden AI risk most Cypriot firms are overlooking

Are Cypriot firms automating authority faster than they are governing it? The AI risk discussion in Cyprus often focuses on the wrong problem. By Petros Nearchou Most of the conversation centres on autonomous systems. More commonly, it focuses on software making unpredictable or wrong decisions and on systems going rogue, as if AI is likely […]

Top 4 Reasons Data Saving Features Have Become Priority For Nigerian Traders
Businessmorocco-world-news5d ago

Top 4 Reasons Data Saving Features Have Become Priority For Nigerian Traders

Nigerian traders are becoming more selective about the tools they use, and the conversation is shifting from flashy features to practical efficiency. For many, a reliable forex trading app is expected to do more than execute trades, it must also help manage data usage in a country where mobile internet costs and network stability can […] The post Top 4 Reasons Data Saving Features Have Become Priority For Nigerian Traders appeared first on Morocco World News.

Thursday open thread
OpinionYahoo6d ago

Thursday open thread

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The biggest scandals of the British royal family
PoliticsReutersbloombergNYT+12wsjThe GuardianAl JazeeraFox Newstimes-ukDWBusiness InsiderThe IndependentTimes of IndiaThe Observerprotothema-entmz13d ago15 sources

The biggest scandals of the British royal family

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. CTR/ Star Max/ AP Images King Edward VIII rejected the crown in 1936 so he could marry a divorced American woman. In 1995, Diana sat down for a tell-all solo interview and talked about Charles' affair. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office. For centuries, the British royal family has cultivated an image of duty and decorum. As public figures, they've also had their share of scandals. Forbidden romances, tabloid firestorms, and allegations of misconduct have rocked the House of Windsor over the years. Here's a look at some of the biggest scandals involving royal family members. King Edward VIII rejected the crown in 1936 so he could marry a divorced American woman. Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII. Len Putnam/AP Directly after his father died in 1936, Edward VIII took the throne. Less than a year later, he renounced it. That's because he had fallen hard for Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who'd already been divorced once and was working through her second. His proposal of marriage caused social and political uproar, since the Church of England technically forbade Edward from marrying someone who'd been divorced. Eventually, Edward was forced to abdicate. "I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King [...] without the help and support of the woman I love," he said in a radio address to the nation in December 1936. Edward and Simpson married in 1937 and stayed together until Edward's death in 1972. (And she wasn't the only commoner who married into royalty.) Princess Margaret fell in love with a married man. Captain Peter Townsend and Princess Margaret. AP Captain Peter Townsend was a Royal Air Force officer who served as an equerry — essentially an attendant to the royal family. He spent a great deal of time with Margaret, and before long, the two fell in love. The only problem was that he was married. Things got even more scandalous in 1953 when Townsend divorced his wife and proposed to Margaret, but the rules of the Church of England forbade such a marriage. (After all, Margaret's uncle Edward VIII had to relinquish the throne in order to marry a divorcee.) The relationship came to a heartbreaking close in 1955 when they called off the engagement. There was simply no way for Captain Townsend and Princess Margaret to have a happy ending. Her eventual marriage to a different man ended in a high-profile divorce. Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong Jones. AP Not long after calling things off with Townsend, Margaret married photographer Anthony Armstrong Jones. It was the first royal wedding to ever be televised. A few years later, their union became a source of "growing public ridicule," The New York Times reported. They fought in public, Margaret took long vacations without her husband, and rumors swirled around her close friendship with a man 17 years her junior. In 1976, the couple announced their separation, and two years later, they were officially divorced. Margaret became the first royal to divorce since Henry VIII, who reigned way back in the 1500s. Princess Diana and an alleged lover were secretly recorded on the phone. Princess Diana and James Gilbey. Kimimasa Mayama/Reuters; David Jones/AP In 1992 — while then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana were still married — media outlets published the transcript of a conversation between Diana and an alleged lover named James Gilbey. In the conversation, Gilbey told Diana that he loved her and called her by the pet name "Squidgy" 53 times. That's how the scandal earned the memorable moniker "Squidgygate." Later, in an interview, Diana confirmed that the conversation was real, but denied that it was adulterous in nature. The same thing happened to Diana's husband, Charles. Camilla Parker Bowles and Prince Charles. Alistair Grant/AP Not long after Diana's leaked phone call, Charles, Queen Elizabeth's oldest son, had one of his own. An Australian magazine published the transcript of a call between Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles — a longtime married friend. The transcript all but confirmed what many rumors had postulated: That Charles and Camilla were romantically involved. In one of the more confounding parts of the conversation, the couple joked about Charles turning into a tampon in order to "live inside" Camilla's trousers. Later that year, Charles and Diana announced their separation. Then Diana gave a bombshell TV interview, and the marriage collapsed for good. Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1992. AP In 1995, Diana sat down for a tell-all solo interview with journalist Martin Bashir to talk about the immense pressures of public life and her struggles with self-harm, postpartum depression, and bulimia. She also revealed that she knew about Charles' affair with Camilla. ("There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded," she famously quipped.) And Diana even admitted that she'd been unfaithful to Charles, saying that she had been "in love" with James Hewitt, her riding instructor. The BBC interview itself has since come under scrutiny. An article in the Sunday Times in 2020 alleged that Bashir manipulated Diana into doing the interview by showing her brother, Charles Spencer, fake bank statements that purported to show the media had been paying royal associates for information about her. A 2021 inquiry concluded that Bashir acted in a "deceitful" way, and the BBC and Bashir apologized. A few weeks after the interview, the Queen herself urged her son and daughter-in-law to divorce, and the following year, they made it official. Charles and Camilla, on the other hand, wed in 2005 and are still together. Princess Anne divorced her husband and married a member of the royal staff. Mark Phillips and Princess Anne in 1976. AP Princess Anne, the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, married Olympic equestrian Mark Phillips in 1973. The couple spent large swaths of time apart and didn't appear to be happy — People magazine described the marriage as a "joyless sham." Then, in spring 1989, a British newspaper obtained stolen copies of letters written to Anne by one of her equerries, a British naval officer named Timothy Laurence. Though the content of the letters wasn't made public, tabloids described them as "extremely intimate" and "too hot to handle." In 1992, Anne announced that she was divorcing Phillips, and that she planned to marry Laurence. The two have been together ever since. Paparazzi caught Sarah Ferguson in a compromising "toe-licking" incident. Sarah Ferguson. John Redman/AP Sarah Ferguson (popularly known as "Fergie") married Queen Elizabeth's son, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, in 1986. Six years later, scandal erupted: Paparazzi photographers captured Fergie vacationing with an American financial advisor named John Bryan. In one photo — an image quickly plastered on the front page of The Sun — Bryan appeared to be licking Fergie's foot. Things didn't go very well after that. Fergie and Andrew separated in 1992, the same year as Charles and Diana, and divorced in 1996. Later, Fergie was accused of taking a $633,000 bribe. Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew on their wedding day in 1986. AP Fergie's marital drama didn't end after the divorce. In 2010, a News of the World journalist posed as a businessman and said he got Fergie to accept a £500,00 (about $633,000) bribe in exchange for access to her ex-husband, The Guardian reported. A video recording of their meeting was released to the media, and Fergie later apologized, saying she'd made a "serious lapse in judgment," Reuters reported. Prince Harry spent a day (yes, a single day) in rehab. The clinic where Prince Harry spent a single day in 2002. Sion Touhig/Getty Images After admitting to his father that he'd tried marijuana, a 17-year-old Prince Harry spent a day at the Featherstone Lodge rehabilitation center in London, The Telegraph reported. A statement from the royal family said Harry had agreed to visit the clinic "to learn about the possible consequences of starting to take cannabis." He was also photographed wearing a Nazi costume. Prince Harry's Nazi costume made headlines around the world. Adam Butler/AP In January 2005, British paper The Sun published a front-page photo of Harry wearing a Nazi armband, apparently at a costume party. The prince, who was 20 at the time, quickly released a statement of apology that read: "Prince Harry has apologised for any offence or embarrassment he has caused. He realises it was a poor choice of costume." In 2012, Harry got naked at a private party in Las Vegas, and someone leaked the photos to The Sun. Prince Harry in 2012. Sang Tan/AP The British tabloid published the naked photos of the prince in 2012, which were taken by another party-goer during a game of strip billiards in his hotel suite. According to an anonymous source who was in attendance, the prince's security team appeared to be aware that people were taking photos. "No one asked for our phones or anything about us when we arrived at the party," the source told The Sun. "It was obvious people were taking pictures." That same year, Closer Magazine published a photo of Kate Middleton sunbathing topless on its cover. Kate Middleton. WPA Pool/Getty Images At the time the pictures were taken, Prince William and Kate Middleton were staying in a private holiday home owned by the Queen's nephew, Viscount Linley. After the couple won a lawsuit against the company, Closer was ordered to pay $118,000 in damages to William and Kate in 2017. Meghan Markle walked herself down the aisle after her father was caught staging paparazzi photos in the lead-up to her wedding to Harry. Meghan Markle walks herself down the aisle. WPA Pool/Getty Images Thomas Markle's no-show at the royal wedding was thought to be due to his poor health, as he suffered a heart attack just days before Harry and Meghan Markle tied the knot in Windsor back in May 2018. However, in the year that followed, Thomas and the duchess appeared to have a strained relationship, with Thomas even speaking out against his daughter in several interviews with British tabloids. In 2011, Andrew resigned from his job because of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew. Sang Tan/AP Andrew served as the UK's trade envoy from 2001 through 2011, when he stepped down due to mounting criticism over some of his personal relationships, the BBC reported. Namely, he was close friends with American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. This would not be the end of the matter, however. He stepped back from his royal duties altogether in 2019 after new allegations surfaced regarding his relationship with Epstein, culminating in a disastrous BBC interview. Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre, then known as Virginia Roberts, along with Ghislaine Maxwell. This photo was included in an affidavit where Giuffre claimed Prince Andrew directed her to have sex with him. Florida Southern District Court Virginia Giuffre, pictured with Andrew above, accused Epstein of forcing her to have sex with the prince when she was just 17 years old in 2001. The allegations from a 2015 defamation case resurfaced in the media as the case became unsealed. Andrew denied the claims, and a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace "emphatically denied" the allegations in an August 2019 statement provided to Business Insider. Four days after a catastrophic interview with "BBC Newsnight" where he spoke about his friendship with Epstein, Andrew announced he would step down from his royal duties. Epstein was found dead in his prison cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. Giuffre died by suicide in 2025. Meghan Markle launched a lawsuit against British newspaper the Mail on Sunday after it published a private letter she wrote to her father. LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 11: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, attends the annual Remembrance Sunday memorial on November 11, 2018, in London, England. (Photo by Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage) Samir Hussein/WireImage Markle sued the publication over the misuse of private information, infringement of copyright, and breach of the Data Protection Act 2018 after it published excerpts from the letter earlier this year. She won the lawsuit in 2021. "I share this victory with each of you — because we all deserve justice and truth, and we all deserve better," Markle said in a statement. A judge later rejected the publisher's application for permission to appeal but said it can take the application to the Court of Appeals. The publisher, Associated Newspapers, said it would. After months of rumors, Harry and Markle announced they were taking a "step back" from royal life in 2020. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are stepping back from their roles as senior royals. Star Max/AP The announcement said they "intend to step back as 'senior' members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen." They also wrote that they would split their time between North America and the UK. The royal communications office followed up with a statement of their own. "Discussions with The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are at an early stage," the Queen's statement read. "We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through." The couple carried out their last official royal engagement at the annual Commonwealth Day service in London in March 2020. They later bought a home in California. In March 2021, Markle and Harry gave a tell-all interview to Oprah Winfrey about their rift with the royal family, revealing one bombshell after another. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in their interview with Oprah Winfrey. Getty Images The two-hour primetime special was full of stunning revelations. Markle told Winfrey that Kate Middleton made her cry the week of her wedding over a flower girl dress and not the other way around, as had been reported in tabloids. She also said members of the royal family had "concerns and conversations" about how dark Archie's skin would be before he was born, and The Firm told them that Archie wouldn't receive a title or security, breaking from protocol. She also opened up about having suicidal thoughts amid constant tabloid criticism and racism, and said a senior member of the royal institution wouldn't let her seek help. Harry revealed that his family cut him off financially in the first quarter of 2020, and that Charles stopped taking his phone calls before they announced they were stepping back from the royal family. He also said that it hurts that the royal family never acknowledged tabloids' racist treatment of Markle, and that none of the royal family members have reached out to apologize for the reasons he felt he had to leave. Following the interview, Buckingham Palace released a statement on behalf of the Queen. "The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan," the statement read. "The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. Whilst some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. "Harry, Meghan, and Archie will always be much loved family members." Before the interview aired, Buckingham Palace announced they were investigating claims that Markle bullied members of the royal staff — but no such investigations had been publicly made into Andrew's involvement with Epstein. Meghan Markle (second from right), Prince Harry (right), and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (back row, right) with royal family members on Christmas Day in 2017. Chris Jackson/Getty Images The Times of London reported that Markle bullied two senior staff members during her time with the royal family. Buckingham Palace released a statement days before Markle and Harry's tell-all interview, saying that they were "very concerned" about the allegations, and that their HR team was investigating the claims. A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex denied the claims to The Times, saying that the allegations were intended to undermine Prince Harry and Markle's interview with Oprah, calling it a "calculated smear campaign." While the palace launched an investigation into allegations that Markle bullied royal staff, no such investigations were publicly made by the palace when Andrew faced scrutiny over his involvement with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Royal biographers accused the palace of having double standards. Andrew was stripped of his royal patronages and military titles and faced a lawsuit as a private citizen instead of a royal. MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JULY 01: Prince Andrew, Duke of York, attends a commemoration service at Manchester Cathedral marking the 100th anniversary since the start of the Battle of the Somme. July 1, 2016 in Manchester, England. Services are being held across Britain and the world to remember those who died in the Battle of the Somme which began 100 years ago on July 1st 1916. Armies of British and French soldiers fought against the German Empire leading to over one million lives being lost. Christopher Furlong - WPA Pool/Getty Images In August 2021, Virginia Giuffre filed a lawsuit against Andrew, accusing him of sexual assault. She alleged that Epstein forced her to have sex with Andrew in his New York mansion, in London, and on Epstein's private island in the US Virgin Islands in 2001 when she was 17. The day after US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said the duke's motion to dismiss Giuffre's lawsuit was "denied in all respects," Buckingham Palace released a statement announcing that Andrew would no longer hold his royal patronages and military titles. "With The Queen's approval and agreement, The Duke of York's military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen," a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said in a statement sent to Business Insider in 2022. "The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen." In 2022, Andrew and Giuffre reached a settlement for an undisclosed amount. Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office as police opened an investigation into his ties to Epstein. Police officers at the gates at Royal Lodge, the former home of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in Windsor, Berkshire. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office and is in police custody. Picture date: Thursday February 19, 2026. Jonathan Brady - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images Andrew was arrested at his home in Sandringham, Norfolk, on February 19 and was released from police custody several hours later. An investigation is ongoing. The Justice Department's Epstein files revealed additional communications between Andrew and Epstein when the former prince was a UK trade envoy. Police conducted searches of his Sandringham home and at his former home in Windsor, Berkshire. "I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office," Charles said in a statement. "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." The king's statement continued: "In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation. Let me state clearly: the law must take its course. 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." Read the original article on Business Insider

Iran says US ‘more realistic’ on nuclear issue, as Guards begin drills in Hormuz Strait
PoliticsDawn16d ago

Iran says US ‘more realistic’ on nuclear issue, as Guards begin drills in Hormuz Strait

Iran said on Monday that the United States’s position on Iran’s nuclear programme “has moved towards a more realistic one”, a day ahead of a second round of US-Iranian talks in Geneva. Tehran’s foreign minister arrived in Geneva for the new round of indirect negotiations with the US, as the Revolutionary Guards began military drills in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for oil and gas. The two sides recently resumed indirect talks, mediated by Oman, after US President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened military action against Iran over a deadly crackdown on protesters last month. A previous attempt at negotiations collapsed when Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran, beginning a 12-day war that Washington briefly joined to bomb Iranian nuclear sites. “A cautious assessment is that, from the discussions that have taken place in Muscat to date, at least what we have been told is that the US position on the Iranian nuclear issue has moved towards a more realistic one,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, the official IRNA news agency reported. According to Tehran, talks mediated by Oman will be held on Tuesday in Switzerland. Washington has previously pushed for other topics to be discussed, including Iran’s ballistic missiles and support for armed groups in the region. The war games being conducted by the Guards, the ideological arm of the military, aim to prepare it for “potential security and military threats” in the Strait, Iranian state TV said. Iranian politicians have repeatedly threatened to block the strait, a strategic waterway through which about 20 per cent of global oil passes, as both sides ramp up pressure with talks set to resume. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Monday, “We’re hopeful there’s a deal”. “The president always prefers peaceful outcomes and negotiated outcomes to things.” Meanwhile, Iran’s top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, wrote on X that he was meeting in Geneva with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, “for deep technical discussion”. Grossi later confirmed the meeting on X, calling the conversation with Araghchi “in-depth” ahead of Tuesday’s “important negotiations”. Protest crackdown Araghchi is also set to hold talks with his Swiss and Omani counterparts as well as other international officials, Iran’s foreign ministry said. “I am in Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal. What is not on the table: submission before threats,” Araghchi added on X. Washington has dispatched Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, the White House confirmed on Sunday. The latest talks follow repeated threats from Trump of military action against Tehran, first over Iran’s deadly crackdown on anti-government protests, and then more recently over the country’s nuclear programme. The West fears the programme is aimed at making a bomb, which Tehran denies. On Friday, Trump said a change of government in Iran would be the “best thing that could happen”, as he sent a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East to ratchet up military pressure. His remarks came before demonstrations outside Iran against its authorities swept a number of cities, including in the US, over the weekend. ‘Viable’ deal Iran’s deputy foreign minister told the BBC that Tehran would consider compromises on its uranium stockpile if Washington lifts sanctions that have crippled the country’s economy. “If we see the sincerity on their (American) part, I am sure we will be on a road to have an agreement,” said Majid Takht-Ravanchi. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that any deal must involve the removal of all enriched uranium from Iran as well as Tehran’s ability to enrich more. The whereabouts of Iran’s stockpile of around 400 kilogrammes of uranium enriched to 60 per cent remains unknown, with inspectors having last seen it in June.

Conversations with Herminia
Politicsel-mundo3d ago

Conversations with Herminia

The conversations between Carmen Díaz, Antonio Tejero's wife, and her friend Herminia Collado tell me more than any official document about the moment our democracy was on the verge of...

“I’ve Studied Everything”: AJ Allmendinger Knows Exactly Why Shane van Gisbergen Thrives on NASCAR Road Courses
SportYahoo10d ago

“I’ve Studied Everything”: AJ Allmendinger Knows Exactly Why Shane van Gisbergen Thrives on NASCAR Road Courses

Shane van Gisbergen is now in his second full-time Cup season, yet when the conversation turns to road courses, his name still sits at the head of the table. After Atlanta, the Cup garage will pack up for Circuit of the Americas, and while teams map out how to chase the win, another big question hangs in the air: how do you knock off SVG? His former teammate, AJ Allmendinger, believes he has picked up a few clues, even if cracking the code remains a tall order.

Moroccan director Maryam Touzani returns with 'Calle Málaga', an ode to life in old age
CultureFrance 2413d ago

Moroccan director Maryam Touzani returns with 'Calle Málaga', an ode to life in old age

In this episode of arts24, Eve Jackson speaks to Moroccan filmmaker Maryam Touzani, whose intimate and quietly powerful cinema continues to explore love, identity and the tensions within Moroccan society. After "Adam" and "The Blue Caftan", she returns with her most personal film yet, "Calle Málaga" – a story of memory, mixed identity and belonging set in Tangier's historic Spanish community. At a time when debates around migration and identity feel increasingly polarised, Touzani brings the conversation back to something deeply human. The film is also a tender and rare meditation on ageing and desire – celebrating vitality, intimacy and dignity later in life in ways cinema seldom dares to portray.

Jake Paul says Sam Altman taught him the value of a 15-minute meeting
BusinessBusiness Insider14d ago

Jake Paul says Sam Altman taught him the value of a 15-minute meeting

Jake Paul said he bonded with Sam Altman over a love of "fast cars." Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images; Gerrit van Keulen/Soccrates/Getty Images Jake Paul said that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman taught him to be "hella productive" with 15-minute meetings. "Time is the most valuable thing, and it's the only reason you can't accomplish more," Paul said on "Sourcery." Paul said that he met Altman at President Donald Trump's inauguration. His fund later invested in OpenAI. Jake Paul was a firebrand YouTuber. Then he was an NFT merchant, and a betting site operator. Now, Paul is a professional boxer — and venture capitalist. And he's learning from one of the biggest names in tech. On "Sourcery," Paul said that he met OpenAI CEO Sam Altman while sitting next to each other at President Donald Trump's inauguration. "Sam likes fast cars, and so do I," Paul said. "So, we just started talking about cars, and then we got along, and that was really it." Paul's Anti Fund — which is also led by his brother Logan and longtime founder Geoffrey Woo — invested in OpenAI in 2025. The biggest lesson he's learned from Altman is efficiency, Paul said. He described the quick-and-tidy meetings that Altman runs. The OpenAI CEO "walks into the room, sits down, let's get right into the conversation, boom boom boom," he said. In 15 minutes alone, Altman was "hella productive," Paul said. Then, Altman can go on to his next meeting and do it all over again. "We'll do hourlong meetings or calls and just waste time," Paul said. "I think that was inspiring because time is the most valuable thing, and it's the only reason you can't accomplish more." Indeed, Altman has long opted for the 15-minute meeting. In a 2018 blog post, he wrote that the ideal meeting time is either around 15 to 20 minutes or 2 hours, but "the default of 1 hour is usually wrong." Paul has worked closely with OpenAI in the last year, beyond participating in fundraising. Remember all of those strange Paul memes running around the internet during the Sora 2 launch? They were by design. Paul said he helped consult on the project and was one of the first to sign over his name, image, and likeness. Woo also appeared on the podcast, and spelled out the thinking behind those far-out memes (such as an AI Paul declaring he was gay). "It was not something that was like, 'Hey, Jake Paul is now gay.' Jake was thoughtful in terms of why we were part of that launch." Woo also said that he had formed a good friendship with Altman and Mark Chen, OpenAI's chief research officer. For the Sora 2 launch, Paul said that he had "regular calls" with OpenAI and offered "super detailed consulting." "Me and my brother have however many years combined of social media experience since the beginning," Paul said. "We were there when the term 'influencer' was even made up." This background, Paul said, helped him give good advice on what OpenAI's social media-like interface should look like. He advised on both what creators and audiences wanted, he said. Anti Fund closed its $30 million fund in September. Other investments include defense tech startup Anduril and prediction market Polymarket. Woo said their ties to OpenAI remain strong. "We were just at OpenAI for three hours looking for other ways to collaborate," he said. "Things might be cooking." Read the original article on Business Insider

Most important in-house free agent
SportYahoo1d ago

Most important in-house free agent

Head to the comments section to share your thoughts and join the conversation. You can sign up for a commenting account below and we have full-time moderators to enforce the Community Guidelines.

Friday open thread
CultureYahoo5d ago

Friday open thread

Head to the comments section to share your thoughts and join the conversation. You can sign up for a commenting account below and we have full-time moderators to enforce the Community Guidelines.

Joan Laporta: “Madrid shouldn’t complain”
SportYahoo10d ago

Joan Laporta: “Madrid shouldn’t complain”

Outside Camp Nou ahead of Barcelona’s league fixture against Levante, Barca president Joan Laporta stopped to speak with reporters — and unsurprisingly, the conversation quickly shifted to Real Madrid. Madrid’s controversial penalty concession in their previous matcha against Osasuna — a call many observers felt was incorrect and one that ultimately cost them crucial points […]

Matt Taibbi: Epstein Files Are "Uniquely Destructive" To Both Political Parties
Businesszerohedge12d ago

Matt Taibbi: Epstein Files Are "Uniquely Destructive" To Both Political Parties

Matt Taibbi: Epstein Files Are "Uniquely Destructive" To Both Political Parties Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance This week I interviewed Matt Taibbi at a moment when, as he put it, “this is a pretty weird time.” He had just learned that his outlet, Racket News, had been investigated by the British government using what he described as “human intelligence sources and all kinds of crazy stuff.” “It’s been pretty weird,” he told me. What struck him most was how normalized this kind of pressure has become. Governments, he said, now routinely “hire out private intelligence firms and private PR firms to devise strategies to undermine negative press.” If you’re doing adversarial reporting, he added, “you’ll get swept up in this. So you probably have been, you just don’t know it.” From there, we moved into the Epstein story, which has become a political third rail. I asked him whether bipartisan silence around certain issues should worry people. Taibbi said most of what happens in Washington is already bipartisan; the public just doesn’t see it. “The thing that we call the news,” he said, is “a sliver of disagreement” between parties. The rest—“98% of the business that’s done there”—happens with quiet agreement. On the Epstein files, he argued that both parties miscalculated. The Trump camp, he said, built expectations around full transparency and then stumbled. “Dumping tons of stuff out without any context tends to have a lot of unintended consequences,” he said. The result has been politically damaging across the board. He also pushed back on some of the public narrative. The fascination with Epstein, he said, rests on three assumptions: that Epstein worked for intelligence, that he ran a vast trafficking ring, and that the two were connected through political blackmail. “There’s an abundance of evidence” of serious sexual crimes, he acknowledged. But on the intelligence-blackmail theory, “there’s nothing that puts it all together and says that’s what was happening. It could, but it’s just not there yet.” What he does see is a slow-burn release strategy. “You’ll notice that they never fully release everything,” he told me. “It’s like Zeno’s paradox. We’re never going to get all the way to the wall with this.” Each new tranche fuels public demand and media frenzy, with the promise that the next batch might contain the “kill shot” that takes down someone powerful. We then shifted to New York politics and the rise of Zohran Mamdani. Taibbi sees his early proposals—like raising property taxes—as predictable. If state-level backing doesn’t materialize, he suggested, the Democratic Party may distance itself. “The Democratic Party has decided not to back this horse,” he said. In his view, the party faces a structural dilemma: a base that is moving left out of economic frustration, and a national electoral map that may not tolerate that shift. He connected that frustration to student debt and monetary policy. When I brought up inflation and deficit spending, he traced the arc back to post-2008 policies and the explosion of quantitative easing. “All you’re doing is accelerating inequality on the one hand,” he said, “and you’re raising the debt burden for everybody else.” The result, he argued, is a generation that feels locked out of homeownership and upward mobility. On immigration and recent ICE enforcement actions, Taibbi resisted simple partisanship. He said he found neighborhood sweeps and masked agents “scary,” comparing aspects of the approach to “an enhanced federal version of stop and frisk.” At the same time, he criticized the ideological shift that made even basic border enforcement seem taboo. “It’s not like having borders is inherently xenophobic,” he said. “It’s just a part of governance. Part of being a nation.” At the end of the conversation, Taibbi outlined changes at Racket News. He said he had “basically fired” himself as editor-in-chief and brought in new leadership to refocus on document-based investigations. The site, he told me, is doubling down on FOIA-driven reporting and digging into stories like expansive FBI investigations and the British controversy now touching his own outlet. The through line of our discussion was less about left versus right than about institutions under strain—media, parties, law enforcement, and financial systems alike. Taibbi’s core warning was that much of what truly matters happens in the bipartisan shadows, while the public argues over the sliver that makes it onto cable news. (WATCH THE FULL VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH MATT HERE).  Tyler Durden Fri, 02/20/2026 - 10:00

‘It’s not a documentary’: costume designers on ditching accuracy for spectacle
CultureThe Guardian19d ago

‘It’s not a documentary’: costume designers on ditching accuracy for spectacle

Wuthering Heights is the latest film to turn heads over anachronistic costumes, but it’s not by any means the first Emerald Fennell’s retelling of Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel Wuthering Heights finally hits cinema screens this weekend. Ever since the first set of photos were released, the anachronisms of the costumes have been central to the conversation. As fashion industry watchdog Diet Prada put it: “The costume design for Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights scandalised audiences with its freaky mix of Oktoberfest corseting meets 1950’s ballgowns meets futuristic liquid organza meets … Barbie?” Continue reading...