Author: Editor-In-Chief
The euro hovered near a one-month low on Wednesday and suffered a sharp decline this week as investors calculated the cost of the U.S.-EU trade deal. Olena Malik | Moments | Getty ImagesThe European Central Bank on Saturday announced plans to expand access to the euro’s liquidity backstop and make it available and permanent around the world, with the aim of strengthening the single currency’s international role.Access to such repo lines, a key source of funding in times of market stress, is largely limited to a handful of Eastern European countries, but ECB President Christine Lagarde has long seen them…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio placed a velvet glove on the Trump administration’s still-clenched fist during a high-profile speech at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, offering some reassurance to European leaders worried that the United States remains committed to its long-standing partnership but will not retreat from fundamental demands for a change of direction on many fronts. Mr. Rubio’s message that the U.S. government has no intention of abandoning the transatlantic alliance was well received by European allies in the audience. Exactly one year ago, Vice President J.D. Vance stood at the same podium and sat stone-faced as he…
Mansfield defeated Burnley in the Premier League to advance to the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time in more than half a century.The Stags, who sit mid-table in League One, arrived at Turf Moor without a win in five games, but they fought back brilliantly from the bottom of the net to claim a 2-1 win. Burnley made up for their lack of chances in the first half with a goal from Josh Laurent in the 21st minute, and it was all about their efforts at half-time. Reece Oates headed home the equalizer in the 53rd…
Elon Musk is “actively” working to make xAI’s Grok chatbot “more free,” according to a former employee who spoke to The Verge about Musk’s recent departure from the AI company. This week, following the announcement that Musk’s SpaceX would acquire xAI (which previously acquired Musk’s social media company X), at least 11 engineers and two co-founders announced they were leaving the company. Some said he was leaving to start something new, but Musk himself suggested this was part of an effort to organize xAI more effectively. But two people who left the company (at least one before the latest wave)…
Scotland reclaimed the Calcutta Cup and eased the pressure on Gregor Townsend with a 31-20 win, ending their rivals’ 12 Test winning streak and unleashing the Murrayfield nightmare on England once again.Chasing their first victory at Murrayfield since 2020, England arrived in Edinburgh full of expectations on the back of a year-long winning streak, only to be confronted with a harsh and all-too-familiar reality. An early sin-bin from Henry Arundel meant England had a disastrous first half. Scotland, led by the inspired Finn Russell, grabbed tries from Huw Jones and Jamie Ritchie within the first 15 minutes and there was…
D Keine | E+ | Getty ImagesThe average tax refund so far this season has increased by 10.9% compared to about the same point in 2025, according to IRS early filing data. The 2026 tax season opens on Jan. 26, and the average refund as of Feb. 6 was $2,290, up from $2,065 about a year ago, the IRS reported Friday night. As of February 6, total refunds totaled more than $16.9 billion, an increase of 1.9% from a year ago, according to an IRS release. This figure reflects only the current year’s revenue. Earlier Friday, Treasury Secretary and Acting…
Sandro Tonali’s sensational double gave Newcastle a dramatic 3-1 victory over 10-man Aston Villa, earning them a place in the FA Cup fifth round.Villa were controversial when Tammy Abraham’s opener was allowed to stand despite VAR not being activated and was clearly offside, but the momentum quickly changed when goalkeeper Marco Bizzotto’s moment of insanity led to a straight red card. In an attempt to stop Newcastle’s counterattack just before half-time, the goalkeeper jumped off his line and brought down Jacob Murphy with a sliding challenge near the halfway line, leaving referee Chris Kavanagh with little choice while the goal…
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, Germany, on February 14, 2026.Thilo Schmuelgen | ReutersU.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that the United States has no intention of abandoning its close alliance with Europe and wants the region to succeed.”We care deeply about you and our future,” Rubio told the Munich Security Conference (MSC).”We want Europe to be strong,” he said. “We believe that Europe must survive, because the two great wars of the last century serve as a great historical reminder that ultimately our destiny is and will always…
Australian authorities have released a recording of the emergency call made by heroic teen Austin Appelby after he swam for hours in rough seas to seek help from his family. In a recording released by Western Australia Police on Wednesday, 13-year-old Austin can be heard calmly explaining the situation and requesting a helicopter to search for his mother and two siblings. The family was paddleboarding and kayaking off the coast of Quindalup, Western Australia, on January 30th when they were swept out to sea. Austin swam 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) to shore and then ran along the beach to reach…
Hollywood groups are objecting to a new AI video model called SeaDance 2.0, claiming it has quickly become a tool for “blatant” copyright infringement. ByteDance, the Chinese company that recently closed a deal to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations (it retains a stake in the new joint venture), launched Seedance 2.0 earlier this week. According to the Wall Street Journal, this updated model is now available to Chinese users of ByteDance’s Jianying app, and the company says it will soon be available to global users of its CapCut app. Similar to tools like OpenAI’s Sora, Seedance allows users to create videos…