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Copilot just launched a to‑do list that completes itself, finally giving all of us professional procrastinators the productivity upgrade we absolutely did not earn but will gladly take
Copilot Tasks is a new AI feature that breaks down your task, creates a step by step process to complete that task on your behalf, and checks in when it needs your go‑ahead.
Richard E. Grant discovered his best friend had betrayed him after 29 years of friendship
Why Richard E. Grant immediately cut off a friendship of 29 years, leaving him 'absolutely devastated.'
Your Personal Free Netflix and other Top 5 Tech you Absolutely Need in 2026
Last year I put together a list of products everyone absolutely needed to own in 2025. It included basic stuff, AirTags, GaN chargers, and even some slightly complex gadgets like NAS devices to help you cut the cord on cloud storage subscriptions. This year's list expands on the same philosophy from last year - make
WATCH: Trump 'absolutely ashamed' of 'certain' Supreme Court justices after tariff decision
We tested the 'first wooden, sustainable air purifier' and it's a thing of beauty
The IQAir Atem Earth is the most elegant, eco-friendly air purifier we have ever tested, and we absolutely love it for that. It is by no means flawless, though.
Paris says 'oui' to booming business of romantic proposals
STORY: This Texan couple have been dating for one year.And Josue Perales wanted extra special celebrations with his girlfriend Kayla Balboa. On a candlelit terrace, overlooking the Eiffel Tower, she says "yes".Balboa had always wanted a Paris proposal. "She's always been mentioning how...""This is my dream place.""This is her dream... well, here we are."To make sure every detail was perfect, Perales employed the help of a local marriage proposal planning agency.And he's not the only one.Paris is seeing a surge in demand for elaborate marriage proposals like this one.Thanks to social media, TV shows and events showcasing the "City of Love", the entire industry catering to love-struck couples willing to pay thousands for unforgettable moments is booming.Les Entremetteuses, or "The Matchmakers", helped Perales get his "yes".Founder Pauline Le Tendre says Valentine's Day is her "busiest day of the year."But she says she's busy all year round - after demand started growing in 2019, with a brief lull during the pandemic."Once the borders reopened, it steadily increased. After that, there were a couple of boosts with (the TV show) 'Emily in Paris,' the Paris Olympics also. We had a lot of work after the Games."The company's proposal packages start at 590 euros, or just under $700, for a proposal on the Seine river banks.The average spend can go up to $2,400 - with some clients spending more for extras, like performers.:: Kiss Me in Paris/Artem Martynov & Anastasia KalynaFor those wanting to splurge even more, Kiss Me in Paris has them covered.The agency says its clients typically spend an average of about $12,000 on their experiences - or as much as some $118,000.:: Kiss Me in Paris/Tuan Nguyen FilmsLuxurious proposals are choreographed in high-end hotels, aboard yachts on the Seine, or in authentic French chateaux."To just be able to, in your social circles, say, 'We got engaged in Paris,' is great, right? It has prestige, it has cachet." That's Cengiz Ozelsel, who co-founded Kiss Me in Paris with his wife Chantelle Marie Streete.They say bookings have more than doubled since 2015.While the more budget-friendly Oui Love Paris agency told Reuters, its bookings have quadrupled since 2020.For many planners, though, the payoff is more than just numbers."I absolutely love it because... people are inviting you into their lives at one of the most special times in their lives."
Trump calls Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance ‘absolutely terrible’
President criticises Puerto Rican musician’s half-time show as a ‘slap in the face’ in lengthy tirade on social media
Trump did not like Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show
President Donald Trump called Bad Bunny's halftime show "absolutely terrible."
A tribute to Denver Health’s good work
The latest Colorado health-care facilities ’construction news is that University of Colorado Health (UCH) and Advent Health, two nonprofit hospital systems plan to build hospitals adjacent to one another in Broomfield, an area with more hospital beds than in most of America. We absolutely don’t need more hospitals in this area and I wish the […]
Galaxy S26 Ultra’s Marketing Material Leaks Out, Showing The Flagship In An Absolutely Stunning Cobalt Violet Paint Job
A reliable leaker has shared the marketing material of the Galaxy S26 Ultra, showing Samsung’s top-end flagship in a gorgeous Cobalt Violet color
WMG’s Paul Robinson Accepts Entertainment Law Initiative Award: ‘Absolutely Thrilled’
WMG general counsel Paul Robinson received the Recording Academy’s 2026 Entertainment Law Initiative (ELI) Service Award. Here's a recap of the event.
I did the math: You absolutely should not buy the $2,900 Galaxy Z TriFold
The Galaxy Z TriFold costs $2,900 in the US. I ran the numbers and have four reasons why you absolutely shouldn't buy it.
Investment and Statecraft: The International Politics of Sovereign Wealth Funds - Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
In 1953, Kuwait established the world’s first sovereign wealth fund to invest the country’s oil revenues and generate returns that would reduce its reliance on a single resource. Since then, over 100 separate funds have been created to preserve national wealth and ensure long-term fiscal sustainability. Today, they manage over $10 trillion in global assets. In this discussion with GJIA, political economist Kathryn Lavelle explains the increasingly novel dynamics that surround fund behavior and what the world can come to expect from their growing presence in international financial markets. GJIA: When it comes to the roles sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) play in global markets and politics, what would you say makes them unique? Kathryn Lavelle: Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) operate on behalf of governments as investors. That in itself is a strange relationship. Within them, a core contest takes place between the state’s interests (or sovereign) part of the dynamic, and the money interests (or wealth) part of it, and these two aspects are frequently in contradiction, serving fundamentally different goals. SWFs are also quite fascinating because when you talk to the people who manage these funds, they have an interest in convincing you that the decisions are made almost exclusively on a financial basis—they really will go to great lengths to differentiate their government owners and those who make the management decisions. At the same time, these people ultimately answer to someone in power. Therefore, for most SWFs, it remains deeply unclear who is actually making the investment decisions and for what purposes. Of course, it is not always clear how other vehicles, such as hedge funds and private equity make the decisions they do, but I think what a lot of people find particularly disconcerting about SWFs is that they seem to act on behalf of people who have a different identity from their own. People who could be trying to manipulate politics and markets in a way that would have a long-term effect on their own populations. Regular investors come and go at will, and they only share an interest in profit as far as most of us understand. However, SWFs have that extra “sovereign” part right behind them that obscures their true interest. GJIA: These funds can be found in countries all across the globe, in both authoritarian states and democracies. Would you say SWFs differ in their goals and structures between regime-type? KL: It is not necessarily regime type that makes the goals and structures of SWFs different. It has to do with their economies. Let’s look at a country like China. There’s going to be a debate about exactly how to characterize the regime, but it is a country with many different kinds of sovereign wealth funds, and a particularly opaque state connection to each. At one time, some of the state-owned Chinese oil companies created specialized investment vehicles listed outside Chinese markets that excluded parts of the firms that were more associated with human rights violations. At the same time, the China Investment Corporation (CIC)—China’s largest SWF—draws a lot of concern, not necessarily because of its investment activities, but because of the dynamics of global politics. So, I wouldn’t really tie differences to regime types themselves in a wholesale way, but rather to how such funds are perceived and how they are structured. Saudi Arabia’s SWF is getting all kinds of attention for its involvement in Hollywood, and this takes me right back to when I was a student in the 1980s, when people were concerned about Japanese investment entities buying assets in Hollywood. They aren’t quite the same in financial terms, but it’s the same kind of concern about foreign investment that drives people to be suspicious, and the whole idea that “foreigners are influencing Hollywood.” This holds true across industries, and it reflects where politics are in places like the United States right now. One metric we can try to look at is transparency, where all the funds will tell you, “we are transparent.” The problem you’ll keep running into with this approach is how you value things. When trying to do comparative studies of equity markets, you’ll find that every country doesn’t use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles like we do in the United States. A fund may appear opaque politically and not want people to show what they’re invested in or what their intent with that investment is, but they could also just not be able to report it because of the way it was purchased, or the kinds of shares they purchased. There are some assets out there that really are difficult to put a monetary value on. GJIA: To what extent do domestic politics shape SWF behavior in both the investing “home” country and the recipient “host” country? KL: This depends on the type of fund present and also on the extent to which voters’ political views are able to influence the fund. For example, in a democratic home state like Norway, the SWF doesn’t invest in nuclear weapons or tobacco because of social concerns, but there is a continuing debate over whether it should invest in oil, even though that’s where most of the money comes from. The degree to which Norway will continue to make those investments, and whether they contradict the government’s overall climate goals, is an open question in Norwegian politics. Because of the way the fund’s governance is structured, it may not be easy to resolve. On the other hand, some people consider pension funds, like the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) in Ohio, to be quasi-SWF. They have a very strict separation between the people who make up the management division and the fund owners. No teacher or professor would want to invest in things that may harm the future of their students. At the same time, a fund manager might see an opportunity in a diversified multinational corporation that offers a good return, despite it deriving part of its revenue from e-cigarettes. These contests are very apparent. Domestic politics can work in host countries too. A good example is Singapore’s SWF, Temasek, investing in Thailand’s telecommunications sector. If you study political economy, you already know that countries everywhere are uncomfortable with foreign ownership of their telecom sectors because a foreign entity could monitor or manipulate our communications with each other. In the case of Temasek, there was significant pushback from Thai citizens surrounding the deal, which went on to influence national political sentiment toward Singapore as a whole, underscoring the risks some SWFs may face with their investment choices. In this case, fund behavior led to the dissolution of the entire Thai government in 2006 and a subsequent coup d’état. GJIA: To address some of this unease, the Santiago Principles were established in 2009 to ostensibly promote trust and transparency. From your perspective, have these mechanisms actually changed fund behavior? KL: In international relations theory, we always like to have a clear set of norms and best practices—the orientation we want the proverbial ship to be going in. In that regard, the Santiago Principles at least got the discussion going about which direction SWFs should take at a time when people were very skittish about the growing size of these funds. Nobody wanted them to be out there and potentially destabilizing economies, so talks about disclosure, conditions for withdrawal, and the independence of managers were helpful when initiated. The biggest stumbling block was that there wasn’t exactly a good way to measure compliance with the Principles, let alone how to hold funds to them. If you read the Principles, they’re overall quite vague. In general, a fund doesn’t want to reveal how and why they make certain investment decisions because that information is proprietary—a fund makes money off of how and why it makes decisions—so how do you reconcile that with loosely-defined ideas of openness? Some decisions might have a political purpose. The bottom line is that trying to figure out and assign a score to compliance is not easy, and it is therefore the reason why the Santiago Principles never really got off the ground to the point where they could truly direct fund behavior. GJIA: Many emerging markets are looking to build their own SWFs from mineral and oil revenues. Historically, have funds shaped development trajectories in these countries? KL: I think the big story in international emerging markets investment is that the investment is increasingly no longer unidirectional. In the past multinational corporations of primarily Western background were the main form of foreign direct investment in a country. That has changed dramatically, to the point where you have companies from so-called “developing countries” taking over companies in the United States. Therefore, the landscape of international investment has changed, and I think SWFs are certainly a possibility to be the next step in the game. Historically, you didn’t need an entire financial vehicle to reinvest commodity revenues in your country, but as emerging markets get more financially sophisticated, their capacity to operate such funds has increased. SWFs would allow treasuries to move from relying on holding foreign exchange assets like cash or government bonds to having broader financial markets and targeted growth areas, while easing pressure on welfare expenditures. GJIA: With their increasing financial weight, do you see the presence of SWFs being a factor in the political choices leaders will have to make with regard to domestic and foreign policy? KL: It will depend on just how big the funds get. One of the reasons people are already apprehensive is because of their scale, and if certain SWFs in certain countries achieve a large-enough size, the presence will absolutely be cause for concern. The other factor political leaders will have to consider are their objectives. It’s not always clear how to define a SWF, or even where its activity is concentrated, but it is certainly a worry from the perspective of national security of opaque external investment. More than that, I think one of the most interesting questions going forward is whether the United States, the home to the world’s largest financial markets, will develop its own fund, for which the Trump administration announced a plan. There have also been several proposals in Congress. Were it to come into being, it would have tremendous weight. At the same time, one of the hallmarks of U.S. capitalism is a lack of government ownership of shares, so it would not be clear how such a fund would be received in domestic politics, or which direction it would take. Given how politically fragmented the country is, a Democratic administration would likely be concerned about different sectors of the economy, such as healthcare, and want investment there, rather than a Republican administration, which might prefer defense industries. No investment vehicle could thrive under conditions of such instability. Moreover, it remains unclear where the money to fund a theoretical U.S. SWF would come from. It would be a fundamentally different entity depending on whether it is financed with debt, economic surplus, commodities, or the sale of state companies, as in the case of Singapore. If it is debt, or government borrowing of some form, then the fund would have to outperform whatever the cost of that debt is, which is not an easy thing to do. I think our political leaders have enough on their plate. Our system has worked well keeping political and investment functions generally separate. We have seen different forms of business rise and fall, and even the perception of different countries, all of which funds are tied to. Unless a major SWF either starts—like in the case of the United States—or collapses—an issue that concerns the Saudis, I don’t see any political tsunamis on the horizon. . . . Kathryn Lavelle is the Ellen and Dixon Long Professor of World Affairs at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Her research explores the exchange between domestic and international and political institutions with a particular emphasis on political economy and multilateralism. Dr. Lavelle’s first book, The Politics of Equity Finance in Emerging Markets, explored the political circumstances that surround large issues of stock in the developing world. After being granted tenure at Case Western, she was awarded an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellowship and named the William A. Steiger fellow, a designation given to the most promising political scientist in her class of fellows. While in Washington during 2006-2007, she worked on the staff of the House Committee on Financial Services on issues related to domestic and international monetary policy. Dr. Lavelle holds a PhD in political science from Northwestern University; an M.A. in government and foreign affairs from the University of Virginia; and a bachelor’s degree in international economics from Georgetown University. She is a permanent member of the New York Council on Foreign Relations. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length. Interview conducted by Sid Mehrotra. Image Credit: Jason Leung, Unsplash Content Licenses, via Unsplash
Researchers fire back after scientist calls monumental studies into question: 'The science is absolutely clear'
"We might not have all the details boiled down yet, but that's not disputable."
Microsoft finally reveals Fable in full — A new quality bar for Xbox
Playground Games "Fable" is the first RPG from the iconic racing game studio, and dare I say it, it seems like the studio absolutely cooked.
Ed Miliband defends Starmer’s ‘calm’ response to Trump as world leaders amp up rhetoric
‘Keir Starmer’s leadership is absolutely right on this and I think at this stage, it’s about de-escalation and finding a way through this tricky situation,’ the energy secretary said
Realme teases new phone with 10,001 mAh battery following questionable Oppo merger
Realme has started showing off the Realme P4 Power, a new smartphone with an absolutely massive 10,001 mAh battery that’s...
Rival Roundup, Vol. 78: Get Reading, Bubba!
We’re less than a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting, which means that in about 10 weeks, we’ll have real baseball to cover. Until such time, we’ll be covering something called hypothetical baseball, where the headlines feature player-team combinations that may never come to fruition, proposed storylines that bear absolutely no fruit, and rumors […]
Two Cheers for Abundance: Tech Policy and the Politics of Growth
While President Trump has largely failed to fulfill that promise, Abundance can help lay the groundwork for a moderate coalition to remove government barriers to future growth. There’s much that Klein and Thompson get wrong. But they are absolutely correct that we shouldn’t settle for a political class obsessed with fighting over the scraps of a decayed American empire.
Jamie Dimon says he called Warren Buffett after hiring his protégé
Dimon also said he would "absolutely, positively, no chance, no way, no how for any reason" serve as Fed Chair.
‘Absolutely no detail’: experts alarmed as Trump unveils healthcare plan
Months after Trump boasted of ‘concepts of a plan’, framework offers few specifics – and could stall in Congress
I Honestly Was Not Ready For How Hard I Laughed At These Random People Who Dropped The Funniest Replies Out Of Nowhere
Absolutely nailed it.
Free speech isn’t a presidential call
There are so many things I want to write about this week. My kindly editor strongly desires that, in Colorado Politics, I write on Colorado politics (Ed: absolutely!). That’s quite reasonable and he is the boss so here goes… So, about President Donald Trump (don’t worry, a Colorado connection is coming). I’ve oft penned remarks […]
Steam Machine Price Leak Has Gamers Horrified:"I'm Good"
The Steam Machine price may have leaked for real this time, and gamers are absolutely horrified by what Valve is asking for its new hardware.
Crimson Desert's Open World Is at Least Twice as Big as Skyrim's, and Larger Than the Red Dead Redemption 2 Map
Crimson Desert is an open-world action-adventure game set on the continent of Pywel. But how big is the open world, exactly? It’s “absolutely massive,” its developer has said, bigger even than that of Bethesda’s Skyrim and Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2.
‘ARC Raiders’ Has Kept 91% Of Its Playerbase, ‘Battlefield 6’ Has Lost 85%
ARC Raiders has absolutely wild player retention, while Battlefield 6, over the same time, has lost tons of players.
All The Video Games I Started But Did Not Finish In 2025
If the commenters of this site and also the Defector Twitch chat are to be believed, I have many problems, but there’s one that haunts me every single day: I am terrible at finishing video games. Just an absolutely dog shit completionist, that’s what I am. I played a lot of games in 2025, thanks…
🎧'Absolutely incredible' - a look back on title number 20
A new hour-long special from BBC Radio Merseyside, titled 'Now, that's what we call number 20', is available to listen to and download on BBC Sounds. The programme looks back on Liverpool's record-breaking 2024-25 title-winning season, where the Reds stormed to their 20th league title in Arne Slot's first year in charge. Paul Salt and Carl Woodward reflect and offer their analysis, before the story of the campaign is told through commentary, interviews and and other soundbites from BBC Radio Merseyside's Total Sport.
World Cup 2026: Fifa's Gianni Infantino defends ticket prices
Fifa president Gianni Infantino defends the cost of World Cup tickets following "absolutely crazy" demand from the public.
'Silly' to change England management
Joe Root says the England players are “absolutely committed” to the team’s management and it would be “silly” to make changes following the Ashes series defeat.
Richmond Buzz: An 'absolutely brutal' blackout weekend
“Richmond Buzz” will be a recurring column on the neighborhood. This edition: Businesses are devastated after the weekend blackout.
RAM is so expensive they’re selling “prebuilt” PCs without it.
It’s no secret that RAM prices are absolutely Out. Of. Control. Paradox Customs is taking an interesting approach, selling “prebuilt” PCs that skip memory entirely. The idea being, if you happen to have spare sticks lying around, you can save some money. Of course, it’s also an alarming sign of what the PC market has come to. [Link: System integrator starts offering prebuilt PCs without RAM | https://videocardz.com/newz/system-integrator-starts-offering-prebuilt-pcs-without-ram | VideoCardz]
'Larian Said They Were Doing Something Absolutely Everyone Is Doing and Got an Insanely Crazy Sh*tstorm' - KCD 2 Dev Talks 'AI Hysteria'
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 lead Daniel Vávra said Larian got embroiled in the 'AI hysteria', since 'absolutely everyone' is doing the same.
Tech's biggest losers of 2025
The companies, products and trends that had an absolutely awful year.
'Leaked' Shenmue 4 trailer has "absolutely no connection" to Ys Net, as studio considers legal action
Ys Net is considering legal action against the perpetrator who uploaded a fake Shenmue 4 trailer last week.
Shenmue 4 Video 'Has Absolutely No Connection' to Developer Ys Net, and Now the Studio Is Threatening Legal Action as the Footage 'Misleads Viewers Into Believing Such Content Is Official'
Shenmue developer Ys Net has threatened legal action over a widely-circulated video designed to look like leaked footage of Shenmue 4.
Trump, 79, Is Absolutely Furious About Intense Scrutiny on His Mental Decline
Insiders say the president spends days obsessing over reports comparing him to “Sleepy Joe.”
Colin Cowherd: CFP Committee Decision-Making 'Is Absolutely Ridiculous'
Colin Cowherd is left confounded by the College Football Playoff committees' factors for determining its field.