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Cyber Insurance Adoption Surges Among Mid-Market Businesses While Small Firms Lag Behind
Mid-market business cyber insurance purchases jumped 34 percentage points since 2024 even as small businesses remain stalled at 42% adoption, according to Nationwide survey.
HHS announces new process for agency’s PPE purchases
A newly introduced quarterly forecast is aimed at “better emergency preparedness,” an agency official says.
Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. $PLAY Shares Newly Purchased by Bank of America Corp DE
Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAY - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 303,445 shares of the re
PS5 Pro Shortage Hits Japan As Sony Limits Console Purchases To Active Playstation Users Ahead Of GTA 6
A lottery system has been introduced in an effort to counter shortages while alleviating scalper concerns ahead of GTA 6
Paramount streaming chief Cindy Holland exits studio
The announcement comes as Paramount waits for a judge's approval of its $111-billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Amid PlayStation 5 Pro Shortages, Sony Implements Lottery System Based on Playtime
No one is exempt from the global DRAM shortage, and today Sony confirmed there might be a way for enthusiastic gamers to purchase the PlayStation 5 Pro console at MSRP. In Japan, Sony is running a lottery system that explicitly allows gamers with 60 hours of playtime to purchase the console....
You Can 'Get Ready' for iPhone Duo Pre-Orders on October 12
People who plan to purchase an iPhone Duo can go through the "Get Ready" process starting on Monday, October 12. The new detail was added to the iPhone Duo product page yesterday, according to Reddit. Get Ready lets users select a preferred color and capacity, confirm their carrier status, choose accessories, choose an AppleCare+ plan, select a trade-in, add a payment method, and set a shipping and billing address.
Amazon Discounting New Mac Mini and Mac Studio Alongside Early Prime Day Deals on Monitors
Amazon has brought back a few discounts on Apple's brand new Mac mini and Mac Studio, with up to $50 off select models. These deals are returning alongside early Prime Big Deal Days discounts on Samsung monitors that make nice pairings with a new Mac. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
New iPhone buyers demand refunds after $1,199 gizmo changes color just weeks after purchase
Color them surprised.
Sylvester Stallone sets the record straight on the real inspiration for “Rocky”
The actor’s memoir “The Steps” is available for purchase wherever books are sold.
How King County is preparing for Capitol Hill crisis center’s 2027 opening
Plans for a mental health crisis center in Capitol Hill are slowly but steadily moving forward, nearly a year after King County approved a building purchase.
U.S. Bank Launches Cards to Meet Small Business Rewards Demand
U.S. Bank has launched two new small business credit cards that are designed to deliver “straight-forward rewards” on everyday business purchases, the
Dave & Buster's Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY) CFO Acquires 4,000 Shares of Company Stock
Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAY - Get Free Report) CFO Cory Hatton purchased 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $6.50 per share, for a total transaction of $26,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 104,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at $679,087.50. This trade represents a 3.98% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.
Harlem Globetrotters to return to Dignity Health Arena
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The Harlem Globetrotters are set to return to Bakersfield on their Rivalry Tour at the Dignity Health Arena in February. There will be new tiers of premium access for fans to purchase as well as new rivals and challenges, according to organizers. Tickets will go on sale at axs.com on Oct. […]
Bobby Kotick’s lawyers sent me a bad email (and later apologized)
The message I had received was unsettling—for a moment. Then it was just really confusing. Back on January 20 of this year, at 5:15pm ET, I received an email with the subject line “Legal Correspondence re Bobby Kotick.” It was from the law firm Clare Locke, a firm I’d heard had been emailing reporters in recent years about their coverage of Kotick, the former, longtime CEO of Activision Blizzard. The letter was threatening. A lawyer from the firm introduced themselves as “defamation counsel to Bobby Kotick.” They issued a “demand” that I “correct” a Game File article I’d published a week prior. The article that had irked them had been a scoop of sorts. I’d written about a a 2022 lawsuit brought by a Swedish pension fund, AP7, over Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard. The suit wasn’t news, but I was first to review and report about Kotick’s extensive pushback to the fund’s claims. The pension fund’s core contention was that the sale had been rushed by Kotick to avoid the consequences of sexual misconduct scandals swirling around the company in 2021. (He’d not been accused of misconduct himself in those suits, to be clear.) As I wrote at the time, Kotick had denied the allegations of the rushed sale. Beyond that, Kotick used a December 2025 reply to the Swedish fund’s lawsuit to assign blame for those workplace scandals, the bad press and even for the AP7 lawsuit. I’d found Kotick’s arguments novel and newsworthy. Across nearly 3,000 words, I explained Kotick’s take: that a Swedish gaming company was behind the Swedish fund’s lawsuit (the Embracer group; they denied it); that the Microsoft-Activision deal was not rushed and was secured at what Kotick felt history had proven to be an optimal price for shareholders; that he believed a conspiracy of people at unions government agencies, PR firms and the media had spun up claims of widespread workplace misconduct at Activision Blizzard in 2021. The article gave context for all of this, letting readers assess the claims and weigh their credibility. As I’d later write to Kotick’s lawyers: I would be surprised if you could point to any news article about Bobby Kotick in the last five years that has spent more of its wordcount articulating his point of view. He is welcome to do an interview with Game File any time. Nonetheless, there they were in my inbox that Tuesday evening: Clare Locke, the law firm that secured a $787.5 million settlement from Fox News over false statements about voting machines. They were emailing me, threatening that failure to comply with their demand could support a claim of “actual malice,” a legal standard for libel. Unless… Unless, they said, I added a key paragraph to my article. This was a paragraph that I already knew Kotick’s lawyers had been emailing reporters about for at least a year, and it was a paragraph that was already in my article. The paragraph they wanted is from a 2023 settlement that California’s Civil Rights Department struck with Activision Blizzard. The settlement had closed a two-year-old lawsuit over alleged sexual discrimination at the game maker. The paragraph basically said that claims of systemic or widespread sexual harassment—or of execs like Kotick tolerating such behavior—had never been proven. I’d already seen proof that Kotick’s lawyers had pushed for the settlement’s language to be added to reports about 2021 sexual discrimination and misconduct lawsuits brought against Activision Blizzard by California and, separately, by the U.S. federal government (both suits were since settled). I knew that Kotick and his lawyers felt that the California settlement language should be mentioned in the same breath as references to an article he hated and denied, a November 2021 Wall Street Journal article claiming Kotick knew “for years” of sexual misconduct at Activision Blizzard. So, in the Game File article that Clare Locke emailed me about, in the interest of ensuring I was being fair and balanced regarding the person I was covering, I had already included the following excerpt from the California settlement [emphasis added in bold]: (Kotick has repeatedly pushed back against that November article in the Wall Street Journal, citing among other things, language from a court-approved consent decree as part of Activision’s 2023 $54 million settlement over the California suit. It states: “no court or any independent investigation has substantiated any allegations that: there has been systemic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard [or] that Activision Blizzard senior executives ignored, condoned, or tolerated a culture of systemic harassment, retaliation, or discrimination.”) On the evening of January 20, I was incredulous. How do you write a four page legal threat about a week-old article and miss this? While scrambling to also make my kids dinner, I wrote a lengthy reply to Clare Locke’s lawyers, basically asking them to cool it with the threats and to start making sense. In part, I wrote: I hope you can understand why I am having trouble understanding what you’re asking for, when the statement you’re demanding to see in Game File’s article already appears in Game File’s article. Actual malice, as you know, refers to a reckless disregard for the truth. I’m not sure what your argument is when my article already states your client’s position. Here is where I should remind you, the reader, that I am an independent journalist. I publish on Substack, and have availed myself of the Substack Defender program that provides writers on the platform with legal support. But I’m no Wall Street Journal or New York Times, nor even IGN or GameSpot when it comes to such things as, well, having a legal department. There are more fun things for me to do as an independent journalist than writing back to a powerful law firm representing a very rich person. On the evening of January 20th, I was just trying to cook some pasta, broccoli and chicken nuggets for hungry twins. Nevertheless, I wrote back to them. Two hours later, I got a reply. Summarizing: A lawyer for Clare Locke said they’d “reviewed an incomplete version” of my article and they “apologize for the confusion.” (My guess: Someone didn’t read past the piece’s paywall, even though they’d had a full week to scrounge up the funds to do so. What I’d published above the paywall was balanced, as was what came after.)1 That was almost that, but something about the situation bothered me. The letter had been marked “confidential.” I hadn’t agreed to that, and I disliked the idea that powerful people on the beat that I cover would act like they could unilaterally control what I might tell my readers about. On the morning of the 21st, having already gotten the powerful law firm to back off, I oh-so-wisely re-approached them with just one more thing. I thanked them for clearing things up the night before but noted that I’d never agreed to keep their letter confidential. I’m all for agreeing with a source to keep things off the record, but that’s the thing. We have to agree. You can’t just declare it. I’m not bound by that. I wrote to Clare Locke’s lawyer and said, in part: I trust the matter is resolved. It was disappointing to have to spend less time with my kids last night in order to address your legal letter. Family time’s precious. I will add, for clarity’s sake, that, while your letter stipulated that it was confidential, I did not agree to those terms. In the future, should you wish to communicate with me confidentially, I am happy to agree to classifying our communication as “off the record” prior to the actual communication—as is standard with any professional journalist. The firm’s lawyer replied, not directly addressing the confidentiality issue but asserting that the matter was resolved. Why I didn’t write about this until now In May, I told this story on an episode of Simon Parkin’s podcast My Perfect Console, but I held off on sharing it directly with Game File readers. I held off to avoid stepping on the toes of another reporter, the journalist Mikhail Klimentov. He’d interviewed me in the spring of 2025 about an investigation he was working on regarding Bobby Kotick lawyers pressing the media to add the California settlement language to stories referencing the 2021 lawsuits. And about how some outlets had changed their stories and how some simply deleted them. Initially, I was a third-party source for Klimentov’s reporting, providing on-the-record context about the state of the games media. I’d heard about the letters but hadn’t put the time into pursuing the story. I thought it was interesting, and I was glad he was covering it. When the outlet that Klimentov was going to run his reporting in dropped the story, I began talking to him about potentially publishing his reporting on Game File. This was tentative. Then, in January, when I got my own Clare Locke letter, I told Klimentov that I didn’t think it would make sense for me to publish him, not with me now being part of the story. I had my own version of this situation to tell. But I wished him well and said I’d refrain from telling my tale until he could get his reporting out there. Last Friday, Klimentov finally ran his investigation, in a nearly 48-minute video report for People Make Games. It covers various Clare Locke letters, how media outlets reacted to them and what to make of all this. His video weighs the merits of Kotick’s request and looks at some of the articles that were changed (one of which had a glaring error). I highly recommend watching it: (Note, I did some editorial consulting for a People Make Games video last year but nothing to do with this report.) While many outlets haven’t left any public evidence that they updated their Kotick coverage at Kotick’s counsel’s request, at least one has. Back in October 2025, the mainstream outlet Reuters applied the most transparent article update I’ve seen. On the 3rd of the month, they published an article about the state of the Swedish pension fund’s lawsuit. Days later, they added this: In an October 7 letter sent after publication of this article, Kotick’s defamation counsel disputed claims of widespread harassment at Activision. “Not a single investigation, court finding, verdict, or ruling ever concluded that there was any merit” to the allegations of widespread harassment at Activision, Tom Clare and Nick Brechbill of Clare Locke wrote. I’ve never added a statement to my article on Game File, because none was needed. Not for fairness’ sake, nor to meet any demands of Kotick’s lawyers. I’ve nevertheless wanted to be transparent with Game File readers. If someone powerful is questioning my reporting, is threatening a lawsuit over it… if that threat is part of a pattern involving other games media outlets and if, in my case, the whole thing ran into a ridiculous ditch, I want you to know about it. I also share this as a real example of how I handle threats to Game File. I stand up for my own reporting, even when it’s not comfortable to do so. (In that same category of standing up for the work I do, I’ll point to an incident in late August. Asocial media post I published to X/Twitter regarding reporting I did about Take Two and GTA VI was hit by bogus copyright claim by a firm working for the publisher. I pushed back and got it reversed; even while a bigger games media outlet let themselves be censored. This is the other reason I’m sharing this story: To emphasize that dealing with threats from powerful people is one of the costs of covering the video game industry independently and as fearlessly as possible. This is where you come in. Your support, through free and paid subscriptions (sign up here!), can help me keep doing that. It can ensure that I’ve got the back-up I need. And it can help make fiascoes like this even less of a worry, so I can spend my evenings dealing with more important things, such as making sure I steam the kids’ broccoli just right. 1 That pension fund lawsuit I wrote about in January has all but gone away. In May, the fund and Activision Blizzard owner Microsoft agreed to settle. Lawyers for the fund brokered a $250 million settlement for former Activision Blizzard shareholders. In the settlement, the fund’s lawyers changed their rhetoric. Where once they’d questioned the meaning of the California settlement language, they adopted a version of it for themselves. Several weeks ago, while seeking to get a court to sign off on the terms of the settlement, they proposed their fee for their work in the case: $60 million.
Buckingham buys Blossom Road property in $8M deal
Buckingham Properties and Child Care Council are equal partners in the $8 million purchase of the Blossom Road Business Center.
The Fitzroy Grove in Rogers sells for $51.85 million
A 250-unit luxury apartment complex east of Interstate 49 in Rogers sold recently for $51.85 million. The purchase price equals $207,400 per unit. An Arkansas limited liability company, whose manager...
U.S. Bank Launches New Credit Cards for Small Business Owners with Jessica Alba as Spokesperson
MINNEAPOLIS, September 28, 2026--U.S. Bank doubles down on its commitment to support small business owners with the launch of its U.S. Bank Business EssentialsTM Visa® Card and U.S. Bank Business EssentialsTM Plus Visa Signature® Card. The cards are designed for small business owners looking for straight-forward rewards on their everyday business purchases. Both offer unlimited 2% cash back on eligible purchases, plus the ability to earn higher cash back when paired with qualifying balances in a
Zhongguancun Science-Tech Leasing Co To Purchase CHP Equipment For RMB71.21 Mln
Zhongguancun Science-Tech Leasing Co Ltd HKEX:1601:
Nvidia Stock Rises As AI Chipmaker Plans Huge Share Buyback
Nvidia signaled that it believes its stock is undervalued by announcing a huge increase to its share repurchase program.
In brief: '9 to 5' headed back to theaters and more
Pour yourself a cup of ambition and head out to your local movie theater. 9 to 5 is headed back to movie theaters for a special, weeklong run starting on Oct. 9. This will be a newly restored version of the classic satirical workplace comedy starring the late Dolly Parton. Additionally, Disney is set to donate net proceeds from each ticket purchased for the rerelease in the U.S. to the Dollywood Foundation in support of its flagship program, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Disney is the parent company of ABC News ...Off Campus star Ella Bright has found her next gig. The actress confirmed she will star opposite Mason Thames in the movie Narcs in a post shared to her Instagram Story. This marks Bright's first major studio feature role. The upcoming coming-of-age comedy will be made for Sony Pictures. While the movie's plot is being kept under wraps, it will serve as the directorial debut of John Phillips, the writer of No Hard Feelings, Good Boys and Dirty Grandpa ... TNCMS.AdManager.render({region: 'fixed-big-ad-top-asset', slot: 1, fold: "above"}); Did you miss Evil Dead Burn in theaters? Not to worry. The film is set to make its global streaming debut on HBO Max on Oct. 2. Souheila Yacoub, Tandi Wright, Hunter Doohan, Luciane Buchanan, Erroll Shand and Maude Davey star in the film that was directed by Sébastien Vaniček ...Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Thank you for reading kmaland.comAt KMA, we attempt to be accurate in our reporting. If you see a typo or mistake in a story, please contact us by emailing kmaradio@kmaland.com.
Tranche Update on Clean & Science co., Ltd's Equity Buyback Plan announced on September 7, 2026.
From September 7, 2026 to September 28, 2026, the company has repurchased 161,862 shares, representing 2.65% for KRW 500 million. With this, the company has completed the repurchase of 161,862 shares,...
Clean & Science co., Ltd announces an Equity Buyback for 313,479 shares.
Clean & Science co., Ltd announces a share repurchase program. Under the program, the company will repurchase up to 313,479 shares. The purpose of the program is to stabilize stock price and enhance...
Facianas bet big on Downtown Akron rebound with pair of office high-rises
Barbara and Gino Faciana are the city's largest landlords, thanks to their recent purchases. They say they are keeping their buildings dedicated to office use as the sector and city show signs of strength.
PSA: The Witcher 3 Remastered File Size And Release Time Confirmed, Separate Purchase Required
No automatic upgrades here
State officials approve 14.6% rate increase for individual premiums on ACA marketplace
Marylanders who purchase individual health care plans on the state’s insurance marketplace will see a second year of double-digit increases to their monthly healthcare costs.
Amazon Just Knocked $900 Off Apple's Latest 16-Inch MacBook Pro
Amazon has introduced a major discount on the 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 Max chip, 32-Core GPU, 36GB RAM, and 2TB SSD, now available for $3,499.00, down from $4,399.00. This is a massive $900 markdown on the high-end MacBook Pro, and it's joining a few other MacBook Pro discounts on Amazon this week. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
In Focus: How Sen. Kelda Roys hopes to expand mental health resources
She also talked about the voluntary “do not purchase” list for handguns, and links between mental health and social media.
Maryland officials approve 14.6% rate increase for individual premiums on ACA marketplace
Marylanders who purchase individual health care plans on the state’s insurance marketplace will see a second year of double-digit increases to their monthly healthcare costs.
Eau Claire City-County Health Department to offer discounted well water testing
The health Department offers two different tests for purchase.
Cyber Threats Top Business Concerns Again as AI Reshapes Risk, Travelers Survey Shows
Businesses are boosting cyber defenses and insurance purchases even as artificial intelligence creates new vulnerabilities, according to The Travelers Companies' 2026 Travelers Risk Index.
Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO) Is Back In The Spotlight, What Is Driving Attention?
Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO) drew fresh attention after its Morpheus hotel at City of Dreams received the top-tier Three MICHELIN Keys award, and the group announced a new US$500 million share repurchase authorization. Despite the Morpheus accolade and the new US$500 million buyback plan, Melco Resorts & Entertainment’s short-term share price momentum has been weak, with the stock down 14.78% over 30 days and 12.87% over 90 days. This has contributed to a year-to-date share price...
DC Health Link Not Impacted by Federal Health Insurance Cancellations
Earlier this week, the Trump Administration announced plans to remove more than 750,000 Americans from health insurance plans purchased through healthcare.gov, a marketplace established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The administration alleges that the removed individuals were fraudulently enrolled in the program. In the District of Columbia, the DC Health Benefit Exchange Authority (DCHBX) […]
Health department's monthly farmers' market to return Thursday
The Purchase District Health Department will hold its monthly Neighborhood Farmer's Market on Thursday, with the theme of "Y'all Ready for This? Community Preparedness."
The Franklin Institute is throwing an adults-only Halloween party after dark
Science After Hours: Fright Nite will feature horror-movie effects, planetarium dancing and rooftop stargazing Oct. 16, with food and drinks available for purchase.
Sarasota Memorial approves land purchase for Manatee County campus
Board OKs nearly $60 million deal for 120 acres near I-75 and SR 64.
Launch Discounts Arrive for New Mac Mini and Mac Studio, Plus Massive Deal on Samsung's Portable SSD
Amazon has the first post-launch discounts on Apple's brand new Mac mini and Mac Studio, with up to $49 off select models. One of the best deals is on the M5 Max Mac Studio with 36GB RAM and a 512GB SSD, on sale for $2,449.99, down from $2,499.00. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Quanome Advances AI Cloud Business with $18.8 Million GPU Infrastructure Purchase Agreement
Quanome Technologies (NASDAQ:QNME) has entered into an approximately $18. 8 million GPU infrastructure purchase agreement for its XDT AI cloud business, with its first U.
Quanome Advances Its AI Cloud Business XDT with US$18.8 Million Infrastructure Purchase Agreement
Company Advances Development of First U.S. AI Infrastructure Hub, Executes Its Quantum & AI Systems Strategy ITASCA, Ill., Sept. 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Quanome Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: QNME) (“Quanome” or the “Company”) is advancing its Quantum and AI Systems business through an approximately US$18.8 million purchase agreement for computing infrastructure powered by NVIDIA GPU technology to build its AI cloud business through its subsidiary, XDT Infrastructure I, LLC (“XDT”). The Compan
Ernst Names Small Business of the Week, North Lumber & Home Center
Read the release on Sen. Ernst's website HERE. Throughout this Congress, Chair Ernst plans to recognize a small business in every one of Iowa’s 99 counties. RED OAK, Iowa – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Chair of the Senate Small Business Committee, today announced her Small Business of the Week: North Lumber & Home Center of Decatur County. Throughout the 119th Congress, Chair Ernst plans to recognize a small business in each of Iowa's 99 counties. “North Lumber & Home Center has truly gotten to the root of what it means to be a hardworking, dedicated small business” said Chair Ernst. “For more than four decades, this family-owned and operated business has continued to branch out by providing quality services and staying actively engaged in its community.” In 1980, current owner Sally Dykes and her family purchased North Lumber. As the family continued to expand their inventory and operations to better serve its customers, they renamed the business to North Lumber & Home Center. In 2002, they opened a second store in Lamoni, Iowa. Today, Sally continues to run the lumberyard and building materials supplier business alongside her son, Tony Dykes. Stay tuned as Chair Ernst continues to recognize outstanding Iowa small businesses with her Small Business of the Week award. ###
Duckworth slams Trump for ‘cozying up’ to Xi as Illinois waits on China trade
The Illinois senator says promised Chinese purchases of U.S. farm goods and Boeing aircraft have been slow to materialize as Trump prepares to host Xi Jinping at the White House.
PlaceMKR Acquires Pharr Retail Property in $31.85 Million Deal
Austin-based real estate investment and development firm PlaceMKR has acquired an At Home retail property in Pharr as part of a $31.85 million purchase of five properties across three states, the company announced. The Pharr property, located at 600 W. Kelly Ave., was acquired along with properties in New Braunfels and Grand Prairie, Texas; Gulfport, Mississippi; and Toledo, Ohio.
Beats 360 Pre-Orders Open at Amazon With Cushion Kits on Sale, Plus More Beats Deals
The new Beats 360 headphones were announced today, and can be pre-ordered on Amazon ahead of their launch on Thursday. They're available in Black, Cloud, plus a bundle where you can style the headphones however you'd like thanks to interchangeable ear cushions and headbands. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
How lip-syncing to AI let Forced Entertainment ‘play the game of theatre’
Today we have a fascinating piece by long-time Forced Entertainment fan Ben Kulvichit, speaking to Tim Etchells about their latest show Cold Sweat, how they are integrating lip-sync and AI voices into their work, the question of ‘authenticity’ on stage, and how lip-sync has even opened the door for them to make “something a little bit like drama”. This piece is a paid partnership with the Southbank Centre, where you can see Cold Sweat next month – we’re very grateful to the Southbank Centre for their ongoing support for Exeunt. Holly Williams ‘It was immediately interesting and uncanny’ **By Ben Kulvichit** “Is the microphone on?” So goes one of the opening lines of Signal to Noise, delivered by a human performer lip-syncing to an AI-generated voice. The voice is American, cheery but sluggish, slowed down into a gelatinous drawl. It repeats ad infinitum in a farce of stuckness; an answer never materialises. I find myself asking the same question as I hop on a Google Meet call with Tim Etchells, the artistic director of Forced Entertainment. We spend five or ten minutes frowning at each other, muting and unmuting, me gesticulating in semaphore into my webcam, checking if I am coming through now, restarting the laptop. To Etchells, I appear exaggeratedly mouthing words, my voice missing. In this gloopy purgatory of broken communication, life imitates art imitates life imitates art. We try a Zoom instead. Forced Entertainment, the pioneering British theatre company who have been at the avant-garde of performance since the 1980s, turned an interesting artistic corner with Signal to Noise, created on the occasion of their 40th anniversary. The whole performance employed this lip-sync technique to AI voices; on the face of it a left-field move from a company whose identity has long been grounded in the earthy, immediate presences of its performers and its unassuming, low-tech approach to theatricality. The technique, however, turned out to provide the company with a “rich new seam” of artistic enquiry, and has now spawned a trilogy of works. The second instalment, Cold Sweat, plays at Sheffield Theatres, Southbank Centre, and Lancaster Arts in October, while the third part, Everything Must Go, has been touring in Europe and is slated to come to the UK in 2027. As is often the case with Forced Entertainment shows, the main conceit for this work didn’t arrive until quite late. They were “four or five weeks into rehearsals for Signal to Noise,” Etchells recalls, and getting nowhere. Away from rehearsals, he had been playing around with feeding “weird texts” to AI voices to see how they would cope with them – “basically for my own amusement” – and was compelled by the uniformly “serviceable, benign, good-natured” tone they would read in, no matter how poetic, fractured or experimental the writing. On a hunch, he brought some examples into rehearsals and the performers gave lip-syncing a go. “It was immediately interesting and uncanny,” he recalls, with the performers having to deal in the moment with the problem of mapping themselves onto another artificial ‘performer,’ which itself was dealing with the problem of a very human text. “Almost all the writing for these projects would be useless to us unless it was done in this way,” says Etchells. “We wouldn’t know what to do with it. It’s too poetic. It’s too fictional. It’s too tangled.” But exploring lip-syncing along to the text has opened “an enormous reservoir of ways of thinking about writing and performing.” Subscribe to Exeunt, and get two in-depth pieces on theatre a week, direct to your inbox Subscribe Forced Entertainment have long been sifting through the detritus of popular culture, from daytime TV to end-of-the-pier vaudeville, magic acts and clown shows, to find frameworks for their own unusual entertainments. Lip-syncing, then, makes sense for them to experiment with. As a mode of performance, it’s wired into popular consciousness through pop stars trying to convince stadium audiences of their liveness, or those same voices as channeled through the made-up lips of contestants on RuPaul’s Drag Race, or movie dialogue spreading virally through the host bodies of TikTok users. For Etchells, lip-syncing is often about “approaching real voices and trying to take on their aura,” subsuming that original human presence into yours. “There’s a very basic, elemental sort of theatre magic to it, produced in this very easy way.” This broad approach resonates with instances of lip-syncing within contemporary performance, too. In works like Re-Member Me and Showmanism, performance artist Dickie Beau acts as a kind of spirit medium for archival recordings (this process of re-membering – as in, giving corporeal form to voices – relies on his masterfully precise actor’s technique), while Frankie Thompson is similarly possessed by a host of characters ranging from a nine-year-old Jacob Rees-Mogg to Cliff Richards, all of whom she finds compellingly nauseating, in the exorcism ritual that is her latest show, Horrible Things. What’s different about Forced Entertainment’s use of lip-syncing is that here, there is no original presence to be channeled. The performers are instead taking on what Etchells describes as “the voices of nobody,” or rather the “phantasmic, aggregated echoes” of the many many voices on whose data the AI has been trained, and which are now conjuring into existence words they never actually said. There is a sort of mournful, empty quality to these voices, having “washed up” far away from the people they originally belonged to, to find themselves in stranger’s mouths listing objects, wondering if anyone can hear them and glitching in interminable loops. There is a cold, sad anonymity to it all. Etchells remarks that occasionally the software company he used has notified him that particular people are withdrawing their voices from the platform, instructing him to cease use of those voices. Using these technologies in performance certainly brings up ethical questions around digital rights, consent, identity and ownership, although in the grand scheme of things, Etchells is fairly blasé about it: of all the purposes someone’s voice might be put to without their knowledge, “an avant-garde performance is probably the least of their worries.” [ ](https://exeuntmagazine.substack.com/p/frankie-thompson-horrible-things-essay-mental-health-compulsive-behaviours-pleasance-courtyard-soho-theatre) [ Frankie Thompson: How I manage my own ‘horrible things’ at the Edinburgh Fringe ](https://exeuntmagazine.substack.com/p/frankie-thompson-horrible-things-essay-mental-health-compulsive-behaviours-pleasance-courtyard-soho-theatre) Exeunt · Aug 25 [ Read full story ](https://exeuntmagazine.substack.com/p/frankie-thompson-horrible-things-essay-mental-health-compulsive-behaviours-pleasance-courtyard-soho-theatre) For the performers, though, lip-syncing to these strange, artificial voices is an odd task, requiring them to bend their live, human presence into the shapes produced by machines. Politically, it mirrors processes that are already at play in the continued computational automation of human life. Etchells brings up James Bridle’s writings on new technologies as a reference point: one example Bridle gives is of “chaotic storage”, a logistics technique employed by Amazon fulfilment centres whereby items are stored not according to traditional methods of categorisation or alphabetisation, but in a way that an algorithm determines to produce the most efficient routes for ‘picking’ based on customer purchase patterns. This appears completely random and incomprehensible to humans, with paddling pools sitting next to USB sticks sitting next to blowtorches, and so for the warehouse workers, the process of picking items becomes completely reliant on technology which tells them where to go. Our world is increasingly being designed not with humans in mind, but rather machines. As Etchells puts it, “technology malforms the space, and then you end up having to live in it.” Initially, Forced Entertainment tried their best to live in the world of machines: “I was in the it’s-got-to-be-perfect school of lip-sync,” says Etchells. But with their aesthetic being so tied to the failing act, the slipping mask, the shoddy costume, “it’s no surprise really that that didn’t last.” Instead, the performers got to enjoy being late for a line, or playing games with each other, “stealing” each other’s voices. Etchells compares it to the principles of ventriloquism, in which a free-floating voice unattached to a body is fundamentally discomforting and “sort of traumatic”. That discomfort is equally as alluring to Forced Entertainment as the satisfaction of precision, the pretence of authenticity only interesting if shown to be a pretence. Lip-sync has also opened up new avenues for the company. Having been allergic all their lives to Plays-with-a-capital-P, with Cold Sweat Forced Entertainment find themselves approaching something a little bit like drama. Rather than the presentational arena of Signal to Noise’s open white stage, Cold Sweat places us more decisively in a “fictional locale”: what appears to be “the aftermath of some disastrous party or backyard drinking binge” where three figures – family members, or neighbours, perhaps – are the last ones standing. “It’s all quite acrimonious and accusatory, everyone’s talking over each other.” For Etchells, this more fictional mode is “a door that we’ve never been able to open. We’ve just never really gone there.” Perhaps it is the technique of lip-syncing, an extra buffer of mediation, that allows them to venture away from the here-and-now without feeling that they have to commit to the “psychological claptrap” that comes along with acting; to be able to “play the game of theatre, without getting one’s hands too dirty.” As I wonder how else the impulses behind Forced Entertainment’s work have changed over time, it occurs to me that over the last ten years of new creations, with the exception of If All Else Fails, the company’s performers haven’t ever spoken on stage: there were two shows without any language at all, Out of Order and Under Bright Light, and then this trilogy of lip-sync works. Etchells agrees it’s a shift away from earlier productions, that were so often about “the actual voices of the performers and their actual presences. We had a lot of money, in some ways, on an authentic approach to what it might mean to speak on the stage.” But this sense of authentic presence itself had a fakeness to it; these days, Etchells can’t stand that mode of being onstage where performers “are here to be cheeky and witty versions of themselves. I don’t want to be charmed.” Pulling back into a more anonymous space has resulted in works that feel slightly sharper-edged, more brutal in a way. “All of these shows are post-Brexit, post-Trump, post-truth, post-everything,” Etchells notes. Speech, charisma, authenticity – these things feel politically loaded, and perhaps warmth and openness just don’t feel like the right tools to reflect the world we’re living in. “It feels like the space is closing down, and we’re trying to deal with the fact that the system, the structure that you’re in, is more oppressive and more powerful. It probably always was, but I think we’re just more tuned to it now.” Yet even without their voices, the performers’ distinctive presences – ones that many audiences have followed around for years, if not decades – still, inevitably, shine through as they physically navigate whatever unending task the system of the piece has set for them. They’re still trying to keep up with the onslaught of text, still running about, changing costumes, moving stuff around. The human is always stuck in the teeth of the machine, jamming the smooth, frictionless cheeriness of the not-real, gesticulating silently, trying desperately to communicate. Cold Sweat is at Sheffield Theatres, 2 to 3 October; Southbank Centre, London, 9 to 10 October; Lancaster Arts, 14 October [ ](https://exeuntmagazine.substack.com/p/exeunt-recommends-the-best-autumn-theatre-2026-lives-of-others-standard-of-living-our-friends-in-the-north-lanny-) [ Exeunt recommends... the best autumn theatre ](https://exeuntmagazine.substack.com/p/exeunt-recommends-the-best-autumn-theatre-2026-lives-of-others-standard-of-living-our-friends-in-the-north-lanny-) Exeunt · Sep 16 [ Read full story ](https://exeuntmagazine.substack.com/p/exeunt-recommends-the-best-autumn-theatre-2026-lives-of-others-standard-of-living-our-friends-in-the-north-lanny-) This piece was paid for by the Southbank Centre. Such support helps Exeunt to keep publishing the most interesting writing, about the most exciting theatre. Interested in partnering with Exeunt? Visit our Advertise with Exeunt page, where you can get more information, download an advertising pack, and find our contact details.
PS Wallet Credit program is live, offering $10 credit on game purchases
Sony was expected to replace its PlayStation Stars program with a Wallet Credit program that now seems to be live. There are a handful of games that have been listed on the PS Store with a limited-time store credit offer.
Weaner Pig Breakeven at $10.44, Down $4.52 From Last Week
When you consider that today’s purchased weaner would be sold in March 2027 using April 2027 futures, the weaner breakeven was $10.44, down $4.52 for the week, and $18.27 below the average cash price for the week of $28.71.
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. Announces Cash Tender Offer for 7.500% Senior Secured Notes Due 2029
LEAWOOD, Kan., September 21, 2026--AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AMC) ("AMC" or the "Company") announced today that it has commenced a cash tender offer (the "Tender Offer") to purchase any and all of the outstanding 7.500% Senior Secured Notes due 2029 (the "Notes") listed in the following table upon the terms and conditions described in the offer to purchase, dated September 21, 2026 (the "Offer to Purchase").
Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. Repurchases $25 Million of MSGE Class A Common Stock
Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: MSGE) (the “Company” or “MSG Entertainment”) today announced that the Company repurchased 314,349 shares of ...
Why politicians should pay more attention to the polls (reprise)
Welcome to the 231st edition of The Week in Polls (TWIP), a polling newsletter that always welcomes new readers. So please don’t keep TWIP a secret; share it with your friends and colleagues: Share The Week in Polls With all the stories swirling around Reform, JL Partners and political polling, I am finally tearing myself away from talking about the regulation of polling this week - and instead re-running a previous piece reminding us why the solution to problems with polls isn’t simply to ban or ignore them. Rather, we need them to play a vital role in making our politics - and politicians - better. This is followed by summaries of the latest national voting intention polls, seat projections from MRPs and the most recent party leader ratings. Subscribers who pay for the full edition can also read ten insights from the latest polls and analyses, including: A trio of organisations and a pair of professors have been casting their eyes over the Liberal Democrats ahead of the party’s autumn conference; What impact did the summer heatwave have on views on climate change? and Which wins out between chocolate and cheese? If you are not yet a paid subscriber, you can read all ten by starting a free trial now: Get FREE 7-day trial For more polling news as it comes in ahead of next week’s edition, you can also follow The Week in Polls on Bluesky. Picking up on my doubt last week about whether or not 35% of British train travellers have tried to order a takeaway for delivery to a railway station or carriage, thank you to reader Iain, who has been in touch to say he has done just that… in India. Another quick pair of updates, this time on the controversies around Reform and polling. Politico has a further scoop - “Farage aide caught in donor sting attended Egypt retreat with JL Partners” - and Ian Dunt has written about the problems with polling too: “Seeing the response of many polling experts in the last few weeks suggests that they are nervous about what is happening and keen to mitigate against it. Seeing the response of journalists, which has been basically non-existent, suggests the precise opposite.” My usual reminder as well: please do hit reply if you’ve spotted a poll, focus group or new piece of poll-based research that you think should be in contention for coverage in a future edition. Thank you! And with that, on with the show. How politicians get public opinion wrong I have written before about the benefits that come from widespread availability of high-quality political polling. We need more polls and more good coverage of polls. However, what I’ve not dug into before is the research into how accurately politicians estimate public opinion on issues. Thankfully we have academic research to tell us. First, the bad news: We present results from a study of 866 politicians in four countries.1 Politicians were asked to estimate the percentage of public support for various policy proposals. Comparing more than 10,000 estimations with actual levels of public support, we conclude that politicians are quite inaccurate estimators of people’s preferences. They make large errors and even regularly misperceive what a majority of the voters wants. Politicians are hardly better at estimating public preferences than ordinary citizens. Walgrave, S., Jansen, A., Sevenans, J., Soontjens, K., Pilet, J.B., Brack, N., Varone, F., Helfer, L., Vliegenthart, R., van der Meer, T., Breunig, C., Bailer, S., Sheffer, L. & Loewen, P.J. (2023a), “Inaccurate Politicians: Elected Representatives’ Estimations of Public Opinion in Four Countries”, The Journal of Politics, 85(1): 209-222. The bad news is not quite as bad as that makes it sound because, when asked whether the majority of public opinion was for or against various policies, politicians picked the wrong option ‘only’ 29% of the time. However, this included getting it wrong even when public opinion is far from evenly split on an issue: They do not only get it wrong when the public is divided and hard to read (e.g., when there is a 51%:49% distribution). Seventy percent of the misplacements occur for policies with a relatively clear distribution of at least 60% (dis)agreeing citizens. Moreover, the public scored only slightly worse than politicians, picking the wrong option 2.7 out of 8 times on average, compared with 2.3 times for politicians. Turning to the other measure of accuracy (not which side is in the lead but what the percentage support is for each side), politicians on average were 18 percentage points out in their guesses. Again, this was only slightly better than the public, whose error came in at 21 percentage points.2 Further research, using the same mix of countries, gives a little more comfort about how (in)accurate perceptions are: We show that politicians have a better understanding of public opinion when they think the issue matters to voters. Further, when an issue is personally important to politicians they more accurately estimate their party supporters’ opinions. The results confirm that politicians hold more accurate perceptions of voters’ preferences when they think it is important to do so but not necessarily when the issues actually are important to voters. Butler, C., Walgrave, S., Soontjens, K. & Loewen, P.J. (2024), “Politicians are better at estimating public opinion when they think it is more salient”, Party Politics: 1–13. Even so, it’s not a good picture. The remedy for this? Politicians should spend more time reading the polls. So forward this newsletter to someone you know… Share For a more general argument against banning polls, see my 2024 piece. Is “Let Bartlet Be Bartlet” good advice or not? The latest episode of my Political Fictions podcast heads across the Atlantic for a dip into one of the political TV classics: Mark and Cory talk about a giant of American political drama for the first time this week, as they tackle The West Wing. They talk about Let Bartlet Be Bartlet, the nineteenth episode of series one. In it, Mark wonders if The West Wing is actually the epitome of the “Boris Johnson school of politics”, Cory outmanoeuvres Mark into confirming we will record a Christmas Special about Love, Actually and they debate whether the central message of this episode has been misunderstood. Cory’s email newsletter is Paperback Rioter and Mark has a family of email newsletters. Subscribe to our newsletter for some additional bonus content and to get alerted whenever a new episode comes out. Our theme tune is “Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” by Kevin MacLeod/incompetech.com and licensed under the Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. You can also listen to our episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the web or YouTube. Elsewhere from me… [ A Lord's Eye View How to fix the problem of money in our politics Welcome to my latest update on work in the House of Lords. This time I am taking a look at how our political system is regulated, and the protections we need to keep democracy safe from becoming simply a contest to see who has the biggest bank account… Read more 5 days ago · 3 likes · 2 comments · Mark Pack ](https://lordseyeview.substack.com/p/how-to-fix-the-problem-of-money-in?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web&embedding_publication_id=1269283) If you spot a factual error… Borrowing an idea from Stuart Ritchie and others, if you spot a factual error in an edition of this newsletter, I will give you a free 12-month subscription to the paid-for version (or an extra 12 months on your existing one). Factual errors qualify, but grammatical errors or disagreements over interpretation do not, and my decision is final. Messages about both of those are always welcome, though. Voting intention and leadership ratings Here are the latest voting intention polls from different pollsters. It is all pretty static at the moment, with a small and consistent Labour lead in nearly all the polls. The table is also online here, along with explanations about what is included. It is updated regularly throughout the week as new polls are released. Next are the seat projections from MRPs, also sorted by fieldwork dates, listing those which are based on dedicated fieldwork (rather than models based on averages of other polls). Because such MRPs are published infrequently, some of the entries below are quite old. Finally, here is a summary of leadership ratings, with a graph from PollCheck: Detailed numbers from the latest polls are online here, and both that and the graph are updated regularly throughout the week as new data comes out. For historical figures on both voting intention and leader approval stretching back to the 1930s, including Parliamentary by-election polls, see PollBase. Catch up on the previous two editions [ ](https://theweekinpolls.substack.com/p/a-crisis-point-for-political-polling) [ A crisis point for political polling Sep 13 ](https://theweekinpolls.substack.com/p/a-crisis-point-for-political-polling) [ Read full story ](https://theweekinpolls.substack.com/p/a-crisis-point-for-political-polling) [ ](https://theweekinpolls.substack.com/p/extra-questions-about-the-polls-in) [ Extra questions about the polls in Reform’s funding scandal Sep 6 ](https://theweekinpolls.substack.com/p/extra-questions-about-the-polls-in) [ Read full story ](https://theweekinpolls.substack.com/p/extra-questions-about-the-polls-in) My privacy policy and other legal information are available here. Links to purchase books or other items are usually affiliate links which pay a commission for each sale. Quotes from social media messages are occasionally lightly edited for punctuation and clarity. If you are subscribed to other email lists of mine, please note that unsubscribing from this one will not automatically remove you from the others. If you wish to be removed from all my lists, simply reply to this email to let me know. A quintet of Lib Dem polling analyses, and 9 other polling insights you shouldn’t miss The following ten findings from the most recent polls and analyses are only for subscribers who pay for the full edition, but you can sign up for a free trial to read them straight away. Ahead of the start of Liberal Democrat conference, we have a trio of organisations and a pair of professors with pieces out about Ed Davey’s party:
Six Flags Entertainment (FUN) Launches Flex Pay, Is The Stock Still Cheap?
Six Flags Entertainment (FUN) has rolled out Flex Pay by Upgrade, a pay over time option for eligible online purchases from $49, including Season Passes, that lets guests spread fixed monthly payments. The new Flex Pay option lands at a time when Six Flags Entertainment’s share price has come under pressure, with the stock closing at US$12.22 and recording a 30 day share price return down 26.96% and a 1 year total shareholder return down 45.25%. This signals fading momentum even as management...
State settles infant formula contamination lawsuit, more Health Headlines
Colorado is set to receive nearly $2 million from Abbott Laboratories after settling nationwide allegations that the company misrepresented the safety of powdered infant formula purchased with state and federal
The growing Dodgers 10-strikeout club
Tyler Glasnow on Friday night struck out 10 Giants in his six innings, his most in a start this season. Aside from securing Los Angeles-area folks a free Jumbo Jack with a purchase of a large drink for the 130th time this season and the 27th time in the last 28 days, Friday affirmed the […]
Automated floor scrubber purchased for DNMS
At its Sept. 14 meeting, the USD 260 board of education approved the purchase of an automated floor scrubber for Derby North Middle School, as outlined in the 2026-2027 capital
Apple Watch Ultra 4 Sees First Discount After Launch, Now $779.99 on Amazon
The new Apple Watch Ultra 4 just launched yesterday, and Amazon is offering the first cash discounts on select models for the first time since their launch. You can get the Apple Watch Ultra 4 in Natural with Translucent Gray Ocean Band for $779.99, down from $799.00. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
PENN Entertainment, Inspired, Lovesac, Rush Street Interactive, and Marriott Vacations Stocks Trade Down, What You Need To Know
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after rising Treasury yields and higher interest rates intensified worries over household finances and discretionary consumption, creating headwind conditions for consumer-facing companies. According to Reuters, as borrowing costs on mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards climb, household budgets are increasingly squeezed, encouraging consumers to prioritize saving and basic necessities over non-essential purchases. In addition, recent economic d
Faropoint adds another Long Island property to its portfolio
Faropoint purchased a 33,500-square-foot industrial building in Farmingdale for $6.35 million, expanding its Long Island portfolio.
Investor bets big on Akron’s Centre Plaza with $3.4 million in upgrades
Pioneer Acquisitions purchased the building at a discounted price via auction in 2024 and, since then, has given the interior a new look and upgraded mechanicals.
Beauty, health and wellness are converging into one retail category
As consumers prioritize holistic retail purchases, beauty, health and wellness are increasingly converging into one category and one consumer budget.
Retail sales bounce back across Great Britain
Latest data to defy economic gloom shows 0.5% rise boosted by purchases of sports items, aircon units and fans amid heatwaves
Springfield Business Journal: One local ambulance company purchases another
An emergency ambulance service provider will take over a non-emergency provider.
HCA Healthcare buys Texas allied health college CHCP
HCA Healthcare, the Nashville-based healthcare company that co-owns the Methodist Health System, has purchased an allied health college.
Versant's US$530m Full Swing buy in a busy summer of sports tech deals
Versant's US$530m Full Swing purchase, SI's Magnifi acquisition and TSC's EventAIQ launch: what SportsPro's summer technology coverage means for sports.
125 schools receive Choose Iowa Local Food for Schools grants
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced Wednesday that 125 public and private schools across the state will receive funding through the Choose Iowa Local Food for Schools Program to purchase Iowa-grown and Iowa-raised food. Each school will receive about $1,600 to purchase local food and will match the funding at least dollar-for-dollar. A full…
Lena Dunham welcomes her first baby via surrogacy
(CNN) — Actress and writer Lena Dunham and her husband Luis Felber have welcomed a baby daughter via surrogate.Writing in an op-ed published by Vogue on Wednesday, Dunham, 40, who is best known as the creator of hit TV series “Girls,” revealed that the couple’s first child had arrived 13 days late, before describing the moment of her birth.“I was so focused on our surrogate — in awe at her concentration, her period of quiet followed by what sounded like a roar — I forgot to look down until I heard our baby’s cry,” she wrote.“I saw her face, gasping just as she did. Her eyes, wide and unfocused, taking in the light and shadow, blinking rapidly.”Dunham said she was “bashful and dizzy with joy.”In 2018, Dunham revealed that she’d had a hysterectomy in an attempt to end the pain caused by endometriosis.Endometriosis is a common and often painful condition that happens when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus itself. It’s estimated to affect more than 11% of women between the ages of 15 and 44 across the United States.The surgery removed her cervix and uterus, meaning that she was unable to conceive naturally.On meeting her surrogate, Dunham wrote in the Vogue piece: “While I’ve been known to make friends quickly — airport terminals, veterinary offices — this was the quickest leap from first coffee to gynecological procedure I’d ever done.”Dunham said in the months before the embryo transfer date, as she “got to know our surrogate and to trust her,” she thought she would feel “jealousy” towards her, but she did not.“Instead, I felt a different kind of jealousy — toward said baby, for the chance to be tucked into someone who radiated such safety. I could just tell she knew how to steer an SUV in the snow,” Dunham added.The pregnancy came after “12 years circling the fertility drain,” Dunham wrote, and revealed how she dealt with the nerves of the intervening months.“Powerless and unable to feel the physical changes that signal a growing fetus, I horrified friends and family who adhere to the Jewish superstition prohibiting anticipatory purchases, and I started shopping,” said Dunham, before recounting her journey into the world of baby fashion.“I was looking for garments that allowed her personality to develop and express itself rather than announcing an identity she didn’t yet have,” she said.“She would be a person that we helped to dress, who made an impression on the world based on our choices, until she was old enough to do it herself.”The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.THE-CNN-WIRE (TM) & © 2026 CABLE NEWS NETWORK, INC., A TIME WARNER COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
The Strange New Politics of AI. Plus. . .
It’s Thursday, September 17. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Douglas Murray asks, why do we allow terrorists to die of old age? The American nonprofits backing Hamas. A conversation with Dara Horn and Coleman Hughes. And much more. But first: inside the unlikely coalition warning that AI may kill us all. Last week, an AI researcher named Jacob Coxon made headlines around the world after saying that he had resigned from Anthropic because he believes AI might cause human extinction—and his co-workers do, too. Unlike the rest of us, potentially, the story just won’t die. The Pro-Human Assembly, a conference held Tuesday in Washington, D.C., about the existential dangers of artificial intelligence, couldn’t have come at a better time—or with a more eclectic coalition. The Archbishop of San Francisco was there. So was Steve Bannon, screaming about the Chinese. Bernie Sanders did a quasi-dramatic reading of messages posted to an online forum by rogue AI agents. Ashley Judd paraphrased a graphic Andrea Dworkin quote for reasons that remain a mystery to me still. It was odd. People in the AI industry have talked openly about the possibility of this technology causing human extinction for years, but it hits differently in the wake of the Hugging Face incident. If you don’t know what that is, all the more reason to read my dispatch today. As the doomers see it, the best-case scenario is a future in which humans are basically kept as pets: well cared for, but with zero autonomy. The worst-case scenario, obviously, is the everyone dies thing. What should be done? I heard lots of ideas but no easy answers. There are currently zero federal regulations on AI, which is sort of strange even to think about. After all, we regulate microwaves, and the people running the microwave industry have never once refused to rule out the possibility that their products will end all human life on Earth. What I saw in D.C. left me even more convinced that you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who believes nothing should be done. You know, except for President Trump. — River Page River Page • Tech and Business [ The AI Doomers Have a Plan to Save Us. I Went to Find Out What It Is. ](https://www.thefp.com/p/the-ai-doomers-have-plan-save-bernie-sanders-bannon) Read story How Robert Kraft Made Macklemore a Martyr—and How to Better Fight Antisemitism On Monday, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and a group of other NFL owners banned Macklemore from performing at their stadiums after the rapper delivered a “Free Palestine” speech while opening for Ed Sheeran. Kraft cited the rapper’s “broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery.” Once multiple venues refused to host shows with Macklemore on the lineup, the tour’s promoter officially dropped him. Today, Josh Kaplan says that the move was counterproductive, arguing that though well-intentioned, Kraft’s decision turned an irrelevant footnote into a martyr. “You cannot cancel people into liking you,” Josh writes. Read his column on what a better response to Macklemore would have looked like. Read [ Robert Kraft Made Macklemore a Martyr ](https://www.thefp.com/p/robert-kraft-made-macklemore-martyr-antisemitism-palestine) This raises the question: What actually works against antisemitism? On the latest episode of Conversations with Coleman, recorded in front of a live audience in New York, Dara Horn joins Coleman Hughes to talk about her new book The Final Solution to the Jewish Question. She argues that antisemitism is a script that has repeated itself across countries and ideologies, and that most people don’t understand that well enough to fight it. Don’t miss their conversation. Watch [ The Lie at the Center of Antisemitism, with Dara Horn ](https://www.thefp.com/p/the-lie-at-the-center-of-antisemitism-coleman-hughes-dana-horn) Listen now Douglas Murray • U.S. Politics [ Douglas Murray: The 9/11 Failure That Still Haunts America ](https://www.thefp.com/p/douglas-murray-911-failure-justice-terrorist-guantanamo-bay) Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, the men who planned them have still not faced trial. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and most of the accused have been locked up in Guantanamo Bay since 2002. Judges have retired, and plea deals have collapsed. Today, Douglas Murray examines how this happened and argues that a justice system that allows terrorists to die of old age in an interminable pretrial process is one that has failed. Read his latest column on what that failure says about our unpreparedness for the era we are now living in. Read story The Editors • U.S. Politics [ When Nonprofits Support Terrorists ](https://www.thefp.com/p/when-nonprofits-support-terrorists) A newly declassified CIA brief from 1998 found that Osama bin Laden used nonprofit shell organizations—including U.S.-based Islamic groups—to fund his terror plots. Today, a similar story is unfolding as multiple organizations on American soil present themselves as nonprofits, taking advantage of tax-exempt status while seeking to advance the ideological mission of terrorist groups like Hamas. Read our editorial on the latest evidence of this dangerous trend—and why there’s no excuse for making the same mistake the CIA revealed 28 years ago. Read story Simon Sebag Montefiore and Bari Weiss Live in New York For decades, the Middle East has shaped American foreign policy and loomed large in the public consciousness. Few understand its influence on our politics better than Simon Sebag Montefiore, who argues that America’s quagmires in the Middle East stem from a deep misunderstanding of the region—on both the left and the right. Join him October 1 as he sits down with Bari Weiss live in New York City to kick off his U.S. book tour for The Cauldron: The Making of the Modern Middle East. Get Tickets Now MORE FROM THE FREE PRESS [ Sydney Sweeney’s Naked Truth ](https://www.thefp.com/p/sydney-sweeneys-naked-truth-caitlin-flanagan) Caitlin Flanagan Read story [ I Thought Ukraine Was Losing. Then I Was Almost Hit by a Russian Drone. ](https://www.thefp.com/p/elliot-ackerman-ukraine-drone-gas-station-train) Elliot Ackerman Read story [ The Dangerous Ideology Behind the AI Warnings ](https://www.thefp.com/p/dangerous-ideology-effective-altruism-artificial-intelligence) Shyam Sankar Read story [ Amanda Knox: Patrick Clancy Can’t Win ](https://www.thefp.com/p/amanda-knox-patrick-clancy-grief-internet-crime) Amanda Knox Read story THE NEWS The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter point, its first hike since 2023, signaling that another increase could follow as the central bank tries to bring inflation under control. President Donald Trump fired back by demanding that rates be cut sharply, though he stopped short of criticizing Fed Chair Kevin Warsh by name. The Houthis fired drones and missiles at Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, including a major oil port on the Red Sea, and Saudi jets struck back with air strikes across Yemen in an escalating front of the Middle East war. (For more on the Houthis, read Zineb Riboua’s column from earlier this week.) A sweeping Russia and Iran sanctions bill passed the House in a 262–159 vote and is now heading to Trump for his signature. Named after the late senator Lindsey Graham, the legislation would hit countries that purchase large volumes of Russian oil and gas with tariffs of up to 100 percent, and is aimed at cutting off revenue that funds Russia’s war in Ukraine. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen proposed making Canada the European Union’s first-ever “associate member,” drawing a standing ovation from European lawmakers. The proposal, framed as a response to a world grown more hostile, faces an uncertain path as EU member states would have to approve it, and one diplomat said that “nobody really knows what it means.” The House voted unanimously to send billionaire Leon Black a criminal contempt referral after he defied a congressional subpoena to testify and hand over documents related to his connections to Jeffrey Epstein. Black chose to fight the subpoena in court rather than comply. Charlie Kirk’s family filed a wrongful death notice Wednesday against Utah Valley University, alleging that a series of security failures left him exposed to a rooftop sniper. The notice is a required legal step before the family can sue. Merriam-Webster added 1,400 words and definitions to its dictionary, including looksmaxxing, vibe coding, and cuffing season. The publisher said the new entries offer “a window into the world today.” The Free Press earns a commission from any purchases made through all book links in this article.
Should You Buy PayPal Stock For Its Credit Business?
PayPal (PYPL) has gained 27% over the past three months while the S&P 500 returned 0.7%. Over the trailing twelve months, the stock is still down 18.7%, so the whole gain is recent. A gain that recent still needs an operating reason to hold, and management points to what PayPal lends, not to the checkout button.
“When I announced my Mickey Mantle purchase, it went …
“When I announced my Mickey Mantle purchase, it went …
Former Lincoln College campus to become a business incubator with $1 leases on offer
An investor purchased the property with the intention to offer businesses $1 leases. Nonprofits looking to expand can operate from one of five campus buildings for free.
Get In On Pre-Order Discounts for the New Mac Mini and Mac Studio Before They Launch Next Week
Amazon has the first cash discounts on Apple's brand new Mac mini and Mac Studio, with up to $49 off select models. One of the best deals is on the M5 Max Mac Studio with 36GB RAM and a 512GB SSD, on sale for $2,449.99, down from $2,499.00. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Ukrainian defence tech seeks new ways to scale up
Since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine's defence sector has expanded several-fold, becoming a significant source of military innovation, especially in unmanned systems, counter-drone technologies, electronic warfare and AI-driven combat systems. But finding the funds and personnel to scale up and to reach international markets remains a challenge.Spurred on by the demands of the front-line, Ukrainian defence companies say they can develop a minor component in a couple of weeks, or major hardware or software solutions within a year. This is several times faster than the usual development cycles in the sector. Tencore, founded in 2024, is now one of Ukraine’s largest providers of unmanned ground vehicles, well exceeding the production of NATO members in this category. Odd Systems, a Ukrainian combat cameras developer founded in 2023, launched its first thermal camera in 2024. Less than two years later, it is developing the fourth generation of the product, one that has evolved into a full vision system.According to Michael Singer, managing partner at Verne Capital, a venture capital fund supporting defence companies in Europe, this speed is down to the short feedback loop between the developer and the end user. “Ukrainian companies develop technologies in close interaction with soldiers and military units, test them under real combat conditions and rapidly incorporate feedback into the next generation of the product,” he says. “Sometimes we need to react to feedback and deploy an upgrade within hours,” says Polina Tymchenko, the spokesperson for Himera, which develops electronic warfare-resistant walkie-talkies. “It means that, as a company, you have to have a higher tolerance for risk, and also design your products in a way that fosters those quick changes.”Getting a product deployed by a combat command involves no paperwork other than a purchase order, says Perry Boyle, co-founder and chief executive of Mits Capital, a Ukrainian-US investment group focused on attracting capital for Ukraine's defence tech sector. “New weapons can be developed and deployed based largely on handshakes.”Nevertheless, the speed of development is largely subject to the level of funding, says Iryna Sukhomlyn, head of business development at RMachine, a developer of unmanned ground systems. “Financial support needs to start much earlier, particularly at technology readiness level 3-5, not only when most of the technological risk has already been removed,” she says.In 2025, Ukrainian defence tech companies attracted about $129 million in investment, with the true figure likely higher given the share of undisclosed security-sensitive deals, according to a report published by the Kyiv School of Economics. These investments were primarily concentrated in the AI and software segment, as they are considered a lower financial risk.Scaling production is a major barrierAccording to Iryna Supruniuk, business development director at Odd Systems, proving a defence product in Ukraine is not the end of the development process, but the beginning of a continuous evolution, since operational requirements change rapidly. “Continuous iteration remains our highest priority,” she says.It's also when production must scale up, which represents a major hurdle. “Scaling production requires capital, manufacturing capacity, components, certification, procurement access and reliable supply chains,” Singer says. Scale-up is also hampered by demographic pressures, especially a shortage of young specialists needed to expand engineering teams. Companies have reported struggling to replace specialists lost due to Russian attacks, mobilisation and emigration. In order to meet this scale-up challenge and finance arms production, begun allowing defence technologies to be exported, assuming it has an excess capacity. It has also announced the creation of ten defence and weapons export centres across Europe by the end of 2026.According to Singer, a technology that has demonstrated its value under real combat conditions has a fundamentally different credibility than a product that has only been tested in a laboratory or training environment. But combat validation alone doesn’t automatically create an international business. “Companies still need access to foreign defence ministries and procurement organisations, international certification, financing for production scale-up and, in many cases, local industrial partners,” he says.Already in 2026, the EU has signed several agreements with Ukraine that aim at joint defence technology development and production. These include allowing Ukraine to join the European Defence Fund, signing a financing agreement under the European Defence Industry Programme, and setting up the EU-Ukraine Drone Alliance.For Singer, it is important that European defence companies don’t just see their Ukrainian partners as technology suppliers, but rather as potential innovation partners. “Ukrainian companies bring speed, operational experience and an exceptional ability to iterate. European partners can provide industrial capacity, capital, established supply chains and access to European procurement markets.”Procurement possibilitiesWhen it comes to exports, the procurement and compliance processes involved require time, taking months or even years, and money. In other words, resources that small defence tech companies need if they are to improve and scale up their technologies. According to Sukhomlyn of RMachine, if the priority is to rapidly increase available defence capabilities, then the processes need to reflect that urgency. “If Europe wants defence innovation at wartime speed, its administrative processes also need to operate much closer to wartime speed,” she says, highlighting a need for support with certification, market access and mutual recognition of relevant testing. “Otherwise, we risk having excellent technology available but spending years making it administratively eligible to be purchased.”Related articlesRussia widens targeting of European research centresEU must support research managers in central and eastern Europe, says Visegrad fund headThis is a lesson Europe’s defence sector would do well to learn, Singer says. “Defence innovation needs to be organised around the speed and requirements of the end user, not around the speed of the bureaucracy.”Supruniuk says the European defence sector should rethink the balance between quality and quantity. “In many cases, a good-enough system available in thousands of units creates greater operational value than a perfect system available in dozens.”“For decades, everyone has been looking for that all-powerful, exquisite system that can protect everyone,” adds Tymchenko. “We see in crime that only scalable, dedicated, affordable solutions can actually defend democracies.”
New Georgia program lets bosses give workers stipends for health insurance
Georgia employers can now bypass traditional group health insurance plans and instead give workers a fixed monthly cash allowance to purchase their own individual coverage on the state exchange.
New Georgia program lets bosses give workers stipends for health insurance
Georgia employers can now bypass traditional group health insurance plans and instead give workers a fixed monthly cash allowance to purchase their own individual coverage on the state exchange.
New Georgia program lets bosses give workers stipends for health insurance
Georgia employers can now bypass traditional group health insurance plans and instead give workers a fixed monthly cash allowance to purchase their own individual coverage on the state exchange.
New Georgia program lets bosses give workers stipends for health insurance
Georgia employers can now bypass traditional group health insurance plans and instead give workers a fixed monthly cash allowance to purchase their own individual coverage on the state exchange.
New Georgia program lets bosses give workers stipends for health insurance
Georgia employers can now bypass traditional group health insurance plans and instead give workers a fixed monthly cash allowance to purchase their own individual coverage on the state exchange.
New Georgia program lets bosses give workers stipends for health insurance
Georgia employers can now bypass traditional group health insurance plans and instead give workers a fixed monthly cash allowance to purchase their own individual coverage on the state exchange.
New Georgia program lets bosses give workers stipends for health insurance
Georgia employers can now bypass traditional group health insurance plans and instead give workers a fixed monthly cash allowance to purchase their own individual coverage on the state exchange.
New Georgia program lets bosses give workers stipends for health insurance
Georgia employers can now bypass traditional group health insurance plans and instead give workers a fixed monthly cash allowance to purchase their own individual coverage on the state exchange.
New Georgia program lets bosses give workers stipends for health insurance
Georgia employers can now bypass traditional group health insurance plans and instead give workers a fixed monthly cash allowance to purchase their own individual coverage on the state exchange.
New Georgia program lets bosses give workers stipends for health insurance
Georgia employers can now bypass traditional group health insurance plans and instead give workers a fixed monthly cash allowance to purchase their own individual coverage on the state exchange.
New Georgia program lets bosses give workers stipends for health insurance
Georgia employers can now bypass traditional group health insurance plans and instead give workers a fixed monthly cash allowance to purchase their own individual coverage on the state exchange.
Chick-fil-A on Evans Street to close for business relocation
To celebrate their last day at the location near Target, staff say customers can save their receipts for anything purchased after 5 p.m. Tuesday.
JUST IN: Health care coalition leader charged with illegally filming teens in Tysons stores
The recently removed leader of a national coalition of health care purchasers is facing an assortment of criminal charges after allegedly taking obscene videos of teens at Tysons stores. Officers were called to the 1900 block of Chain Bridge Road at around 12:30 p.m. on both Aug. 16 and 17 for reports of unlawful filming,
Roundup: Tariff cuts / Frymaster / Diesel breaks $6
One-year truce: The U.S. and China are discussing targeted tariff cuts on American energy and agricultural products, as well as Chinese manufacturing inputs, potentially helping extend the countries’ one-year trade truce. The talks could produce a limited agreement covering roughly $30 billion in trade, with agriculture playing a key role as China continues purchases of […]
Renew Health + Recovery Purchases Assets of Aware Recovery Care
Renew to operate in-home substance use disorder treatment across 11 statesMIDDLETOWN, CT / ACCESS Newswire / September 15, 2026 / Renew Health + Recovery today announced the completion of a transaction under which it purchased many of the assets of the in-home substance use disorder treatment provider, Aware Recovery Care. Renew will serve without interruption clients and families as it has acquired many of the clinical models and care teams.
Apple Watch Pre-Order Discounts Expand With Up to $20 In Savings
Apple began pre-orders for its new Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 last week, and today it's introduced a few more early discounts on these models. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
This new tax law could save your business money
Elizabeth Gore breaks down two provisions buried in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that small business owners need on their radar: bonus depreciation on equipment and vehicles, and immediate deductions for R&D spending. Gore unpacks what’s changed, why the timing of your purchase matters more than ever, and why this is one conversation worth having with your tax pro before, not after, you buy.
Patuxent Business Park Seeks Developer For 10 Lots
Calvert County and state officials seek one developer to purchase and develop all 10 remaining lots at Patuxent Business Park in Lusby.
Sources: Liverpool's plan for Ronald Araujo purchase option revealed
Football Insider exclusive as Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola stares towards owner John Henry, who watches from a circular inset.
Brentwood eye doctor sentenced to prison in $6.9M health care fraud case. Here’s what we know
Federal prosecutors said she used her practice, Brentwood Eye Care, to submit false claims to Medicare for services patients did not receive and for wound care products she did not purchase or use.
Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Dave & Buster's Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY)
Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAY - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 11,361 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 345% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,551 call options.
6,089 Shares in Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. $LYV Acquired by WINTON GROUP Ltd
WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,089 shares of the company's stock, value
California State Teachers Retirement System Purchases 5,106,487 Shares of Sphere Entertainment Co. $SPHR
California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Sphere Entertainment Co. (NYSE:SPHR - Free Report) by 16,878.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,136,742 shares of the company's stoc
AirPods 5 Pre-Orders Go Live, While Older Models Reach Up to $100 Off This Weekend
Apple just announced the new AirPods 5, and Amazon has them up for pre-order right now starting at $129.00. If you are looking for deals on other models, Amazon also has great prices on AirPods Max 2 at $100 off, AirPods Pro 3 at $50 off, and AirPods 4 at $30 off. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Houston-area restaurant forced to add fees as inflation strains business, owner says
The owner of Lankford's, a staple Houston restaurant, said he has implemented a 3.5% surcharge on credit card purchases because of rising costs for goods and services.
Eggs tied to California producer recalled after salmonella outbreak
Happy Hens voluntarily recalled potentially contaminated eggs purchased by consumers and businesses in Southern California and along the Central Coast.
I've Always Bought AirPods Pro, But AirPods 5 Might Be My New Pick
BGR's own Connor Jewiss has long been a devotee of Apple's AirPods Pro, but some changes made to the new AirPods 5 base model might sway his next purchase.
Best iPhone 18 Pro cases now available for purchase9to5Mac
It is time to take a look at the best new iPhone 18 Pro cases. Pre-orders for Apple’s latest just...
Chico businesses gear up for new Entertainment Zone
Established to encourage economic growth and foot traffic, the Entertainment Zone Ordinance will allow consumers to purchase drinks from participating establishments and carry them within approved districts.