The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) says the Facebook parent failed to report and document a 2018 breach that impacted 29 million users, including 3 million in the European Union.

During a keynote at last weeks Forrester Security & Risk Summit in Baltimore, the research firm presented energy management and industrial automation company Schneider Electric with the Security & Risk Enterprise Leadership Award. Stephanie Balaouras, vice president and group director at Forrester, led a discussion with Mansur Abilkasimov, Schneider Electrics deputy CISO & chief product security officer, and bestowed this years honor.Balaouras noted that the judges, a group of Forrester analysts, voted unanimously to choose Schneider Electric. Barclays was the first recipient of the award in 2023. Schneider Electrics ability to integrate security, privacy, and risk management across the enterprise stood out as a factor in being chosen, according to Balaouras.We wanted to recognize organizations that have figured out how to take these functions, embed them across the enterprise, and actually use them as a driver of business, use them to drive business success and drive results, and improve the organization's reputation for trust with customers, employees, and partners, Balaouras told the audience.A Holistic Approach to Security and TrustSchneider Electric is a company that develops everything from DC chargers to safety instrumented systems. It maintains a holistic approach to energy and management in which security, privacy, and risk do not exist in silos.Related:Carrying out an integrated strategy is a challenge for a company like Schneider Electric given its wide footprint in infrastructure, distribution centers, and factories filled with industrial machines. Abilkasimov told the audience that nobody can achieve 100% visibility, but gaining this visibility as part of risk management is a key challenge for the organization.In his keynote, Abilkasimov stressed that product security is not an afterthought and is integrated in the holistic vision of a products life cycle. In a security by design or security by operations strategy, the manufacturing teams are responsible for security by design as well as security by operation, he said.The company received the award because of its implementation of a Trust Charter that incorporates ethics, safety, cybersecurity, and governance as well as a Trust Center, which addresses the requests of customers and stakeholders in security and data protection.Trust Charter is a document that embodies all our principles and tenants for code of conduct, from AI to cybersecurity, from ethics and compliance to price, from safety to quality, Abilkasimov explained in the keynote.Related:Abilkasimov and his team also organize a Trust Month in which they lead discussions around cybersecurity with employees and partners around trust.Cyber is one of the pillars of this trust, he said.Trust is important for both cybersecurity and talent retention. Forrester recognized Schneider Electric for its ability to find talent for cybersecurity roles in operational technology (OT). according to Balaouras.Companies that are trusted, they earn and retain customers, Balaouras told the audience. They earn and retain the best talent. And what weve also found is customers are actually more willing to share sensitive data with trusted companies and even embrace emerging tech, where in other situations, they would have skepticism or fear of engaging with that emerging tech.Schneider Electric Tackles Third-Party RiskIn his keynote remarks, Abilkasimov described Schneider Electrics approach to managing risk from the companys 52,000 suppliers, which includes suppliers for Internet of Things components and regular IT as well as service providers. He explained that companies must prioritize which suppliers to work with on a security assessment.Its impossible to cover all of the suppliers with a cybersecurity or third-party security program, so sometimes you need to choose your battle, Abilkasimov told InformationWeek after the session.Related:Schneider Electric has added 5,000 suppliers to its third-party cybersecurity program. It started with the 300 most critical IT suppliers, and the company will grow the program further, according to Abilkasimov.We work with those companies on cyber, crisis simulations, partnerships, C-level connections, and continuous monitoring through threat intelligence or cybersecurity scoring platforms, Abilkasimov said in our interview. He added, Be it an IoT supplier or simple product security component supplier, they all go through this process.In Forresters Security Survey 2024, 28% of breaches stemmed from a software supply chain attack. Also, in another Forrester report, What 2023s Most Notable Breaches Mean for Tech Execs, third-party vulnerabilities were the top cause of breaches in 2023 and comprised 23% of all breaches.How Forrester Chooses Its Security Leadership Award WinnersForrester had opened nominations for the award on May 1. Balaouras said the evaluation process is similar to a security maturity assessment. Companies must show metrics or KPIs that prove ROI, and they should exhibit how they approach security by design and privacy by design.We talk about their overall approach to embedding security, privacy and risk management across the enterprise not as discrete functions, but how they embed it across the enterprise, Balaouras told InformationWeek after the session.Balaouras stressed that Forrester doesnt handpick the winners. We put out the award and put out the criteria, and we invite companies and organizations from the public sector to look at them and nominate themselves, she said. Barclays received the award in 2023 for maintaining trust and transparency in its universal banking operations and for its human risk behavior metrics that revamped the companys security culture. A key factor in Schneider Electrics success in managing security and risk is making trust concrete, according to Balaouras.When I compare Barclays to Schneider Electric, I think one thing they had in common was executive-level commitment to security, privacy, and risk management as critical features of building trust, Balaouras said. Both organizations from top to bottom really had buy-in.She continued, When I look at Schneider, they put trust front and center, and they had operationalized it. What was truly unique at Barclays last year was they had really extensive security awareness and training for a large financial institution. They had really mapped out all the complex matrices, all the different stakeholders who work together.Balaouras also noted Schneider Electrics Cyber Risk Register and how the company integrates it in the organization to make people accountable. The cybersecurity team manages the register to track potential threats, such as those that may come from third parties.When it comes to the cybersecurity side, it always comes back to the risk register, Abilkasimov said.

Many AI models are trained on copyrighted materialMetamorworks/Getty ImagesThe UK government has announced plans to allow artificial intelligence models to be trained on copyrighted content, settling one of the big uncertainties of the current AI revolution but the proposal has been criticised by campaigners who worry about the way AI companies already allegedly flout copyright rules.Theres nothing balanced about it, says Ed Newton-Rex, a musician and former executive at AI company Stability AI. It will hand most of the UKs creative work to AI companies, for free, letting them build highly scalable competitors to

A reconstruction of the oldest known gorgonopsianHenry Sutherland SharpeThe oldest known sabre-toothed animal hunted large prey 270 million years ago and its newly discovered remains could help us unravel how early mammal relatives became warm-blooded.The first land-based predators typically hunted relatively small prey. But things changed about 273 million years ago, when an event known as Olsons Extinction shook up ecosystems around the world. Afterwards, much larger terrestrial herbivores began appearing and predators needed new weapons to dispatch such large prey, says Josep Fortuny at the Miquel Crusafont Catalan Institute of Palaeontology in Barcelona, Spain. AdvertisementThis might help explain why the fossilised partial skeleton of an ancient predator which Fortuny and his colleagues have just discovered on the Spanish island of Mallorca had sabre teeth. These fangs are better at injuring large prey, as opposed to grasping and holding smaller animals. It was the first opportunity to have this type of tool to prey on herbivores, says Fortuny.Dating back an estimated 270 million years, the predator is the oldest known member of a group of meat-eaters known as the gorgonopsians, which all had sabre teeth. The largest gorgonopsians grew several metres in length and had canine teeth 15 centimetres long. The Mallorca gorgonopsian was smaller, with a body length of about a metre and canines that were just 5-centimetres long. Fortuny says the researchers are waiting until they have analysed the bones and teeth in more detail before they give the new gorgonopsian a name.The ancient predator is significant for more than just its age. When it roamed Mallorca, the island was located in the tropics as part of a supercontinent called Pangaea, but all previously known gorgonopsian fossils come from areas of the world that were at high latitudes 270 million years ago. The new find suggests that the gorgonopsians actually originated nearer the equator. Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox.Sign up to newsletterIt is possible that the adaptations they developed there including their ability to hunt large prey efficiently allowed them to begin controlling their body temperature so they could spread into cooler habitats away from the equator.Understanding more about this process is important, says Fortuny, because the gorgonopsians belonged to the therapsids, an animal group that also includes mammals. Theres a lot of discussion about the first steps in thermoregulation for this group, he says.Journal referenceNature Communications DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54425-5Topics:

Towana Looney, a 53-year-old woman from Alabama, has become the third living person to receive a kidney transplant from a gene-edited pig. Looney, who donated one of her kidneys to her mother back in 1999, developed kidney failure several years later following a pregnancy complication that caused high blood pressure. She started dialysis treatment in December of 2016 and was put on a waiting list for a kidney transplant soon after, in early 2017. But it was difficult to find a match. So Looneys doctors recommended the experimental pig organ as an alternative. After eight years on the waiting list, Looney was authorized to receive the kidney under the US Food and Drug Administrations expanded access program, which allows people with serious or life-threatening conditions to try experimental treatments. The pig in question was developed by Revivicor, a United Therapeutics company. The companys technique involves making 10 gene edits to a pig cell. The edits are made to prevent too much organ growth, curb inflammation, and, importantly, stop the recipients immune system from rejecting the organ. The edited pig cell is then placed into a pig egg cell that has had its nucleus removed, and the egg is transferred to the uterus of a sow, which eventually gives birth to a gene-edited piglet. JOE CARROTTA FOR NYU LANGONE HEALTH In theory, once the piglet has grown, its organs can be used for human transplantation. Pig organs are similar in size to human ones, after all. A few years ago, David Bennett Sr. became the first person to receive a heart transplant from such a pig. He died two months after the operation, and the heart was later found to have been infected with a pig virus. Richard Slayman was the first person to get a gene-edited pig kidney, which he received in early 2024. He died two months after his surgery, although the hospital treating him said in a statement that it had no indication that it was the result of his recent transplant. In April, Lisa Pisano was reported to be the second person to receive such an organ. Pisano also received a heart pump alongside her kidney transplant. Her kidney failed because of an inadequate blood supply and was removed the following month. She died in July. Looney received her pig kidney during a seven-hour operation that took place at NYU Langone Health in New York City on November 25. The surgery was led by Jayme Locke of the US Health Resources & Services Administration and Robert Montgomery of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute. Looney was discharged from the hospital 11 days after her surgery, to an apartment in New York City. Shell stay in New York for another three months so she can check in with doctors at the hospital for evaluations. Its a blessing, Looney said in a statement. I feel like Ive been given another chance at life. I cannot wait to be able to travel again and spend more quality time with my family and grandchildren. Looneys doctors are hopeful that her kidney will last longer than those of her predecessors. For a start, Looney was in better health to begin withshe had chronic kidney disease and required dialysis, but unlike previous recipients, she was not close to death, Montgomery said in a briefing. He and his colleagues plan to start clinical trials within the next year. There is a huge unmet need for organs. In the US alone, there more than 100,000 people are waiting for one, and 17 people on the waiting list die every day. Researchers hope that gene-edited animals might provide a new source of organs for such individuals. Revivicor isnt the only company working on this. Rival company eGenesis, which has a different approach to gene editing, has used CRISPR to create pigs with around 70 gene edits. Transplant is one of the few therapies that can cure a complex disease overnight, yet there are too few organs to provide a cure for all in need, Locke said in a statement. The thought that we may now have a solution to the organ shortage crisis for others who have languished on our waiting lists invokes the most welcome of feelings: pure joy! Today, Looney is the only person living with a pig organ. I am full of energy. I got an appetite Ive never had in eight years, she said at a briefing. I can put my hand on this kidney and feel it buzzing. This story has been updated with additional information after a press briefing.

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. The 8 worst technology failures of 2024 They say you learn more from failure than success. If so, this is the story for you: MIT Technology Reviews annual roll call of the biggest flops, flimflams, and fiascos in all domains of technology. Some of the foul-ups were funny, like the "woke AI which got Google in trouble after it drew Black Nazis. Some caused lawsuits, like a computer error by CrowdStrike that left thousands of Delta passengers stranded. And we also reaped failures among startups that raced to expand from 2020 to 2022, a period of ultra-low interest rates. Check out what made our list of this years biggest technology failures. Antonio Regalado Antonio will be discussing this years worst failures with our executive editor Niall Firth in a subscriber-exclusive online Roundtable event today at 12.00 ET. Register here to make sure you dont miss outf you havent already, subscribe! AIs search for more energy is growing more urgent If you drove by one of the 2,990 data centers in the United States, youd probably think little more than Huh, thats a boring-looking building. You might not even notice it at all. However, these facilities underpin our entire digital world, and they are responsible for tons of greenhouse-gas emissions. New research shows just how much those emissions have skyrocketed during the AI boom. That leaves a big problem for the worlds leading AI companies, which are caught between pressure to meet their own sustainability goals and the relentless competition in AI thats leading them to build bigger models requiring tons of energy. And the trend toward ever more energy-intensive new AI models will only send those numbers higher. Read the full story.James O'Donnell This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Monday. The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 TikTok has asked the US Supreme Court for a lifeline Its asked lawmakers to intervene before the proposed ban kicks in on January 19. (WP $)+ TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew reportedly met with Donald Trump yesterday. (NBC News)+ Trump will take office the following day, on January 20. (WSJ $)+ Meanwhile, the EU is investigating TikToks role in Romanias election. (Politico)2 Waymos autonomous cars are heading to Tokyo In the first overseas venture for the firms vehicles. (The Verge)+ The cars will require human safety drivers initially. (CNBC)+ Whats next for robotaxis in 2024. (MIT Technology Review)3 Chinas tech workers are still keen to work in the US But securing the right to work there is much tougher than it used to be. (Rest of World)4 Digital license plates are vulnerable to hacking And theyre already legal to buy in multiple US states. (Wired $) 5 Were all slaves to the algorithmsFrom the mundane (Spotify) to the essential (housing applications.) (The Atlantic $) + How a group of tenants took on screening systemsand won. (The Guardian)+ The coming war on the hidden algorithms that trap people in poverty. (MIT Technology Review)6 How to build an undetectable submarine The race is on to stay hidden from the competition. (IEEE Spectrum)+ How underwater drones could shape a potential Taiwan-China conflict. (MIT Technology Review)7 How Empower became a viable rival to UberIts refusal to cooperate with authorities is straight out of Ubers early playbook. (NYT $) 8 Even airlines are using AirTags to find lost luggage Bloomberg $) + Heres how to keep tabs on your suitcase as you travel. (Forbes $)9 Youre reading your blood pressure all wrong Keep your feet flat on the floor and ditch your phone, for a start. (WSJ $)10 The rise and rise of the group chat Expressing yourself publicly on social media is so last year. (Insider $)+ How to fix the internet. (MIT Technology Review)Quote of the day Where are the adults in the room? Francesca Marano, a long-time contributor to WordPress, lambasts the platforms decision to require users to check a box reading Pineapple is delicious on pizza to log in, 404 Media reports. The big story Responsible AI has a burnout problem October 2022 Margaret Mitchell had been working at Google for two years before she realized she needed a break. Only after she spoke with a therapist did she understand the problem: she was burnt out. Mitchell, who now works as chief ethics scientist at the AI startup Hugging Face, is far from alone in her experience. Burnout is becoming increasingly common in responsible AI teams. All the practitioners MIT Technology Review interviewed spoke enthusiastically about their work: it is fueled by passion, a sense of urgency, and the satisfaction of building solutions for real problems. But that sense of mission can be overwhelming without the right support. Read the full story. Melissa Heikkil We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet 'em at me.) + This timelapse of a pine tree growing from a tiny pinecone is pretty special + Shaboozeys A Bar Song (Tipsy) is one of 2024s biggest hits. But why has it struck such a chord?+ All hail Londons campest Christmas tree!+ Stay vigilant, Oregons googly eye bandit has struck again

Alex Karp grew up in Philadelphia.Karp has described his parents as hippies. Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images His parents were a pediatrician and an artist who Karp has described as hippies, saying they often took him to labor rights demonstrations and anti-Reagan protests when he was young. A 2018 Wall Street Journal profile called Karp a "self-described socialist."Karp got his bachelor's degree at Haverford College in Pennsylvania before attending law school at Stanford University.Karp met Peter Thiel, one of several people with whom he'd later co-found Palantir, at Stanford University, pictured here. Getty At Stanford, he was classmates with PayPal cofounder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel. After law school, Karp began working on a Ph.D. in philosophy at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, studying under famed philosopher Jurgen Habermas.Karp also pursued a Ph.D. in philosophy in Frankfurt, Germany, pictured here. Pigprox/Shutterstock Karp is fluent in German and speaks French as well.Around the same time, an inheritance from his grandfather sparked an interest in investing.Before heading up Palantir, he got into investing on behalf of wealthy clients. Stefani Reynolds for AFP via Getty Images According to Forbes, he quickly became successful at it and created a London-based firm called Caedmon Group, named after his middle name, investing on behalf of high-net-worth clients. By 2003, Thiel, Karp's law school classmate, had already founded and sold PayPal to eBay for $1.5 billion.Palantir was founded by several Stanford and PayPal alums. John Lamparski/Getty Images He decided to launch Palantir, along with Stanford computer science graduates Joe Lonsdale and Stephen Cohen, plus Nathan Gettings, a PayPal engineer. By 2004, Karp joined as CEO.Karp is known for being an eccentric leader.Karp is known for some eccentric behavior. Brendan McDermid/Reuters He often wears brightly colored athletic wear, keeps Tai Chi swords in his offices, and was known to practice martial arts on his Palantir cofounders in the office hallways. Karp is a fan of fitness and wellness who practices Qigong meditation and keeps vitamins and extra swim goggles stocked in his office.He's a fan of Qigong meditation. Yasuyoshi Chiba/Getty Images He told Forbes that the only time he isn't thinking about Palantir is "when I'm swimming, practicing Qigong or during sexual activity." Despite a net worth of around $7.1 billion by Forbes' estimates, Karp doesn't appear to spend lavishly.Palantir was previously based in Palo Alto, California, but since moved its headquarters to Denver. Palantir Karp has been known to sometimes work out of a barn in New Hampshire. He has never been married and told Forbes that the idea of starting a family gives him "hives."Palantir is also pretty secretive. Because of the company's contracts, many employees have government security clearances and receive five-figure bonuses for choosing to live close to the office, according to the Journal. Palantir has courted numerous controversies over the years.Palantir has drawn ire for licensing its tech to law enforcement. Drew Angerer/Getty Images The company has been criticized for licensing its technology to law enforcement, which has used it for practices like predictive policing and tracking cars' routes using just their license plates.Palantir has also come under fire for its contracts with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.Palantir has also faced controversy for its ICE contracts. Reuters/Shannon Stapleton The company provides software that helps the agency gather, store, and search through data on undocumented immigrants. After employees pressed Karp on ending the company's contracts with ICE, he denied that its technology was being used to separate migrant families. Karp has responded boastfully to criticism of the company's contracts with the military.Karp has defended Palantir's use by military and intelligence agencies. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images "The death and pain that is brought to our enemies is mostly, not exclusively, brought by Palantir," he said at a talk in December 2024."You may not agree with that and, bless you, don't work here," Karp said in 2023 of tech workers who have qualms about the company's data mining.The company went public in 2020.Palantir began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2020. Noam Galai/Getty Images It went public via a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2020 at an estimated $20 billion valuation. Following Palantir's Q3 2024 earnings report, Karp boasted about the company's performance and defended himself from critics.Palantir's US revenue increased 44% year-over-year, it said in Q3 2024 earnings. Bertrand Guay/Getty Images "This is a US-driven AI revolution that has taken full hold," he said in an earnings release. "The world will be divided between AI haves and have-nots. At Palantir, we plan to power the winners."During the subsequent earnings call, he said, "Given how strong our results are, I almost feel like we should just go home."Responding to criticisms of his leadership, he said, "Instead of going into every meeting saying, 'Oh, yes, Palantir is great, but their fearless leader is batshit crazy, and he might go off to his commune in New Hampshire,' whatever thing we're saying, it's now like, yes, the products are best, and we have great products."Palantir's stock has since hit an all-time high in December. Now, Karp has a forthcoming book.Karp's book comes out in February. BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images Slated for release on February 18, 2025, his book "The Technological Republic" argues that Silicon Valley has become complacent and lost its ambition.He cowrote the book with Nicholas Zamiska, Palantir's head of corporate affairs and legal counsel to the office of the CEO.

2024-12-17T16:06:10Z Read in app Angle down iconAn icon in the shape of an angle pointing down. Jaquel Spivey as Damian Hubbard, Angourie Rice as Cady Heron, and Auli'i Cravalho as Janis 'Imi'ike in "Mean Girls." Jojo Whilden/Paramount This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? Remaking movies has been a popular strategy for Hollywood executives."Nosferatu" has received positive reviews ahead of its December 25 international release.But Rupert Sanders' "The Crow" didn't need a resurrection.Hollywood loves a reboot.In January, "Mean Girls" completed its 20-year journey from film to Broadway musical to musical movie; in May, Chris Pratt revived "Garfield"; and in December, Robert Eggers' "Nosferatu" will enter theaters again more than one hundred years after its silent film debut in 1922.It's clear the industry has no intention of retiring old IP and why should it?"Mean Girls" and "The Garfield Movie" grossed upward of $100 million and $200 million, respectively, according to Box Office Mojo, suggesting that audiences are willing to buy the nostalgia they're being sold, even if they're not asking for it.Before 2025 brings even more Disney live-action remakes this time in the form "Snow White" and "Lilo & Stitch" more "Jurassic World" action, and yet another "Superman," here's a look back at the best and worst movie remakes of the year, according to critics.Rotten Tomatoes and Box Office Mojo data were accurate as of December 16. WORST: 4. "Road House"Jake Gyllenhaal and Lukas Gage played Dalton and Billy in "Road House." Amazon Prime Video Rotten Tomatoes Score: 60%Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Elwood Dalton, a former UFC fighter who's been recruited to be bouncer at a bar in the Florida Keys, in this remake of Patrick Swayze's 1989 action adventure.Critics' reactions to the film were mixed. The Washington Post's Ann Hornaday wrote, "Remaking 'Road House' is a supremely dumb idea, so it's fitting that it has morphed into a self-consciously dumb movie," while Time Out's Phil de Semlyen gave the film a three out of five star rating, writing, "The combination of Gyllenhaal's easy charm, some Florida sunshine and at least one fight scene for the ages make this 'Road House' worth stopping by. Just try to grab a seat in a quiet corner." 3. "Lisa Frankenstein"Kathryn Newton played Lisa in "Lisa Frankenstein." Focus Features Rotten Tomatoes Score: 52%Written by Diablo Cody ("Jennifer's Body," "Juno," "Tully") and directed by Zelda Williams (daughter of the late Robin Williams), this new interpretation of "Frankenstein" brings audiences back to the 1980s as teenager Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) develops a relationship with a revived corpse (Cole Sprouse) and causes mayhem in her town."'Lisa Frankenstein' tries to thread a delicate needle, stitching together a mix of horror, comedy, romance, and teen angst, all while adopting a decidedly off-kilter tone," Brian Lowry wrote for CNN. "The result is an interesting misfire, yielding a few amusing moments while adding up to considerably less than the sum of its parts."Meanwhile, The Wrap's Lex Briscuso found that the genrebending film "makes for a ridiculously brilliant spin on a timeless story over 200 years old." 2. "The Garfield Movie"Chris Pratt voices Garfield in 2024's "The Garfield Movie." Sony Pictures Entertainment Rotten Tomatoes Score: 37%In the newest "Garfield" movie it's a reboot of the Garfield franchise, which began in 2004 with "Garfield: The Movie" the lovably lazy tabby cat (voiced by Chris Pratt) meets his long-lost father and goes on a high-stakes adventure to steal milk.Mark Kennedy wrote for the Associated Press that the film is "a curious new animated attempt to monetize the comic icon again by giving him an origin story and then asking him to do things a galaxy away from what he does in the funny pages. It's like if Snoopy ran an underground bare-knuckle fight club."Yet, it was a box-office success, grossing $234.5 million at the global box office. 1. "The Crow"Bill Skarsgrd played Eric Draven and The Crow in "The Crow." Lionsgate Rotten Tomatoes Score: 22%Critics' worst-rated remake of the year was Rupert Sanders' "The Crow," a remake of the 1994 film with the same title. Starring Bill Skarsgrd and FKA Twigs as murdered lovers Eric Draven and Shelly Webster, the film follows Draven's resurrection from the afterlife to avenge their deaths and save Webster."'The Crow' is not a waste of talent or resources; worse, it just hangs there on the screen, as undead as Eric himself," Ryan Lattanzio wrote for IndieWire. BEST: 4. "Mean Girls"Avantika Vandanapu as Karen Shetty, Rene Rapp as Regina George, Bebe Wood as Gretchen Wieners, and Angourie Rice as Cady Heron in "Mean Girls." Jojo Whilden/Paramount Rotten Tomatoes Score: 69%Looks like Tina Fey is still trying to make fetch happen, and with some success, too. Rather than a direct remake of the 2004 classic, 2024's "Mean Girls" is actually a film version of the adapted Broadway musical, complete with songs like "Meet The Plastics," led by Rene Rapp as Regina George, and "Stupid With Love," led by Angourie Rice as Cady Heron."It turns out that 'Mean Girls: The Musical: The Movie' is pretty good, and likely to succeed at its primary purpose, which is to remind you that the original 'Mean Girls' is fun. The movie gets by via a relentlessly self-deprecating awareness of the absurdity of its own existence," Jackson McHenry wrote for Vulture.He added, "Mean girls are everywhere, even among the mathletes. And so long as they flourish, we'll keep returning to 'Mean Girls.'" 3. "The Fall Guy"Ryan Gosling played Colt Seavers in "The Fall Guy." Universal Pictures Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81%Loosely based on the 1980s TV show "The Fall Guy," 2024's film stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt as stuntman Colt Seavers and director Jody Moreno. When the star of Moreno's directorial debut goes missing, it's up to Seavers her former flame to save the show.Maureen Lee Lenker wrote for Entertainment Weekly that the movie is "a joy-ride of a summer blockbuster that packs all the right punches from its action sequences to its chemistry-laden central romance to its meta love for the movies and the unsung heroes who make them feel real.""Every frame is a testament to [director David Leitch's] love for movies and a reminder of why we should love them (and the people who make them), too," she added. 2. "Speak No Evil"Aisling Franciosi and James McAvoy play Ciara and Paddy in "Speak No Evil." Universal Pictures Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%As a remake of the same-titled Danish film from 2022, director James Watkins follows an American family (Scoot McNairy, Mackenzie Davis, Alix West Lefler) traveling to the English countryside to stay with a family they met while on vacation in Italy (James McAvoy, Aisling Franciosi, Dan Hough). But their weekend getaway quickly turns into something far more sinister."Watkins has rewired the film's dynamics, switching our focus from the beset husband to Davis's uptight wife. He's made his remake more Hollywood, but, for my money, he's also made it more fun to talk about afterward and during arranging his plot beats to encourage the audience to howl advice at the screen," Amy Nicholson wrote for The Washington Post. 1. "Nosferatu"Nicholas Hoult and Lily-Rose Depp played Thomas and Ellen Hutter in "Nosferatu." Focus Features Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%Director Robert Eggers' "Nosferatu" is the highest-rated remake of the year. Starring Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgrd, Emma Corrin, Willem Dafoe, and more, this remake of 1922's iconic silent film, "Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror" and its 1979 and 1992 successors "Nosferatu the Vampyre" and "Bram Stoker's Dracula" follows Depp as Ellen Hutter, a young woman haunted by disturbing visions and the subject of a vampire's obsession. Though the film is set for international release on December 25, it's already garnered more than 90 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes."Exciting, repulsive, and beautiful in equal measure, this feels like something the writer-director has been working toward since his unsettling 2016 debut feature, 'The Witch,'" David Rooney wrote for The Hollywood Reporter."It's thrilling to experience a movie so assured in the way it builds and sustains fear, so hypnotically scary as it grabs you by the throat and never lets go," he added. Close iconTwo crossed lines that form an 'X'. 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Victory cologne and perfume. Crypto President watches. Limited-edition American Eagle guitars. T-branded golf shoes and Fight Fight Fight high-top sneakers. These are just a sample of the many products licensed to bear President-elect Donald Trumps brand, including some that he has promoted on his social media site Truth Social just weeks before his inauguration. If he continues to hawk his merchandise after returning to the White House, that could raise ethical concerns. Consumer goods may be the least of Trumps issues, however. He has a number of business ventures including his social media platform, a nascent crypto firm, and the Trump Organizations partnerships in the Middle East that could present conflicts of interest, make the presidency vulnerable to foreign influence, and violate federal law. That includes the Constitutions foreign emoluments clause, which prevents the president from receiving gifts from foreign governments. Enforcement of the clause against a sitting president has been rare, in part because previous presidents upheld a norm of divesting from holdings that could present a conflict of interest while in office. Trump, however, broke with that tradition during his first term.While President Jimmy Carter famously put his peanut farm in a blind trust, Trump had his sons take over the Trump Organization when he became president in 2016. His global business empire reaped $2.4 billion in revenue, including from foreign governments, in the four years that followed. Government ethics organizations consequently sued him, claiming that he had violated the foreign emoluments clause, but the litigation was never resolved before he left office. Now, that litigation may be reprised, potentially providing harder limits on presidents ability to benefit financially from their time in office. A representative for the Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment.We saw rampant conflicts of interest, abuses of power, profiting from serving in government during his first administration, said Aaron Scherb, senior director of legislative affairs at Common Cause, a left-leaning watchdog group focused on ethics in government. This next administration, we expect to see more of the same, and unfortunately, it seems like a fairly complicit Congress.Trumps conflicts of interest in his first term, explainedAt the start of his first term, Trump suggested that he would take steps to separate himself from his properties. However, he never divested from his properties, remaining in close contact with his sons about Trump Organization dealings. As president, he made a total of at least 500 visits to his own hotel and golf properties, calling his Florida club Mar-a-Lago the Winter White House. This brought an influx of taxpayer money to those properties.It also sent a message that patronizing his properties might win lobbyists, foreign actors, and others influence in the Trump administration. For instance, diplomats from Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Georgia, and other countries either hosted events at Trump properties or stayed at Trump hotels, including his now-sold Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC. Overall, the government oversight group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) estimated that Trump benefited from about $13.6 million in payments from foreign governments during his first term as a result.CREW has argued that Trumps actions were not just slimy but illegal. In a lawsuit filed shortly after his inauguration in 2017, the organization argued that he had violated the foreign emoluments clause. Attorneys general from Washington, DC, and Maryland made a similar argument in a separate case. Two appeals courts the Second Circuit and the Fourth Circuit allowed those cases to move forward over Trumps objections. The president appealed to the US Supreme Court just before the 2020 election. When he lost the election to Joe Biden, his lawyers argued that the justices should just wait to rule in the cases until after the inauguration, which would make them moot and allow them to be dismissed without creating a precedent. Thats exactly what the justices eventually did. As a result, any future litigation would essentially have to start from scratch in challenging any emoluments clause violations by Trump. Having never suffered adverse legal consequences for his conflicts of interest, Trump upended ethical expectations of the president, as well as those of officials around him, said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, a left-leaning consumer rights advocacy group. Former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, for instance, promoted products marketed by Trumps daughter, Ivanka Trump, potentially violating federal ethics rules preventing executive branch employees from boosting products on behalf of their friends or associates.The fish rots from the head, Gilbert said. Seeing that he was very limited in the constraints he placed on himself absolutely emboldened those around him.How Trump could profit off the presidency this time aroundTrump made an ethics pledge for a second term, but it doesnt make any commitments in terms of how he might resolve his persistent conflicts of interest stemming from his now even more sprawling businesses. This time, there are many more ways that he could use the presidency for his own personal gain and potentially be vulnerable to the influence of foreign actors. Hes essentially flouting ethics rules and conflicts of interest laws much more blatantly, much more obviously than last time, Scherb said. Hes not even trying to hide what hes doing at all this time.Chief among these conflicts of interest is his stake in the publicly traded parent company of Truth Social, the president-elects social media platform. Just after he won the election, that stake was worth $3.5 billion. The value of the companys stock has oscillated in the month since, but Trumps stake still makes up a large portion of his estimated $6.8 billion net worth. Never before has a president had such a significant stake in a publicly traded company, and for good reason: Foreign actors could easily and entirely legally buy up its stock, inflating its value and Trumps net worth. Not only that, they could also threaten to just dump all their shares at once, which would crater his net worth, giving them potentially a huge amount of leverage over the president, said Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson for CREW.The Trump Organization has also recently struck a series of deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars to construct luxury hotels and properties in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as established a partnership with the Saudi-funded LIV Golf. That has drawn Trump into an even closer relationship with the Saudis, which dates back to 2017 when he made the country stop number one on his first overseas trip as president.Thats an easy way for the Saudis to pump money into the Trump org, Libowitz said. In September, Trump also launched a crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, alongside his sons and his new Middle East envoy, billionaire real estate tycoon Steve Witkoff.Libowitz raised concerns about a $30 million investment in the company from Chinese crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, who is currently fighting fraud charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Trump and his family are expected to net roughly $20 million thanks to that deal, according to the BBC. Notably, Trump has recently nominated crypto advocate Paul Atkins to head the SEC.Scherb said he isnt expecting robust oversight of these conflicts of interest from the incoming Republican-controlled Congress. But if Trump again faces lawsuits challenging his conflicts of interest, he may employ a familiar legal strategy: delay, delay, delay. Thats what allowed him to run out the clock at the Supreme Court during the first round of emoluments cases. Team Trump is expert at delaying litigation, as has been shown through his criminal cases over the last four years, Gilbert said. That said, there are going to be a plethora of violations and ways for us to act, so I wouldnt assume they can avoid them all.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

Multiple states on the East Coast and beyond have fielded reports of mysterious drone sightings in the last few weeks, spurring questions and conspiracy theories about what they are, their purpose, and who might be operating them. Details, so far, suggest many cases of misidentification and no signs of risk. In a statement Thursday responding to sightings in New Jersey, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) emphasized that theres no evidence the drones pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus, matching an earlier Pentagon statement. In a statement Monday, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby reiterated the point, noting that the sightings included commercial drones, hobbyist vehicles, law enforcement drones, planes, helicopters, and stars mistaken for drones. As federal authorities previously stated, their investigations revealed that many sightings were actually manned aircraft, operating lawfully.Cases of mistaken identity have been widespread, particularly on social media. Following an investigation into drone sightings in his home state, New Jersey Sen.-elect Andy Kim concluded that many of the sightings he spotted were almost certainly planes. Its also unsurprising that more people are seeing drones, a Pentagon official noted Monday, citing the thousands of drones flown around the US on a daily basis.Related:State leaders and congressional lawmakers have nonetheless expressed concerns about the lack of available information about the drone sightings and requested that the federal government learn and share more. President-elect Donald Trump has chimed in as well, alleging that the federal government has more information it hasnt disclosed. These gaps in information are largely responsible for fueling the anxiety around the sightings: Although many have been found to be legitimate aircraft, the lack of clear explanation has left residents rattled. And while the federal government has tamped down worries that these aircraft are a security threat, officials also havent provided much explanation for whos responsible for them and what theyve been doing.Theres still information we dont know about the drone sightings and what exactly is behind them. Heres what we do know, however.Whats going on and where are the sightings?Reports of drone sightings first began in New Jersey in mid-November, and were initially concentrated in Morris County, in the northern part of the state. In recent weeks, theyve come from other New Jersey towns as well, including Bedminster, where Trump has a golf course, and Colts Neck, where the Naval Weapons Station Earle is located. Since then, there have been sightings reported in at least five other states, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. On Friday night, drones were spotted near the New York Stewart International Airport in Hudson Valley, prompting state transportation authorities to shut its runways down for one hour. Drones were reportedly also seen flying over a home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on Thursday night, in a cluster of 10 to 15 vehicles, and near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, on Friday, forcing the facility to close its airspace for four hours. Photos and videos of the sightings have shown a variety of different events, including multiple bright aircraft hovering over a neighborhood or a single aerial object traveling at night. Its not yet clear if these sightings are linked or if theyre all separate from one another.Are these actually drones?The sightings appear to feature a mix of different aircraft, according to federal authorities, including both drones and passenger planes. Many of the reports theyve evaluated have been manned aircraft operating as usual, officials say.DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas noted in an interview with ABC News on Sunday that a fraction of these sightings were drones, while the rest were likely planes or other aircraft that were misidentified. Some of those drone sightings are, in fact, drones, Mayorkas said. Some are manned aircraft that are commonly mistaken for drones. Pentagon Press Secretary Major Gen. Pat Ryder said Monday that the presence of drones including near military bases was also not uncommon as more of these aircraft now populate the skies. As a result, its not that unusual to see drones in the sky, nor is it an indication of malicious activity or any public safety threat, he told reporters.Of more than 5,000 tips theyve received about such aircrafts, officials have deemed around 100 worthy of follow-up investigation, federal authorities said in a press briefing on Saturday. Whos behind them?Theres no evidence these drones are from a foreign adversary or from the US military, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters in remarks last Wednesday. Singhs statement comes after some Republican lawmakers, including Reps. Jeff Van Drew and Chris Smith, have suggested that the drones could have been sent by foreign governments such as China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia.That wouldnt exactly be unprecedented though not a drone, a Chinese surveillance balloon was shot down in US airspace in 2023, sparking a brief diplomatic crisis. China described the balloon as mainly civilian in purpose, but its flight path took it over a number of sensitive sites, according to the Pentagon.Federal authorities have emphasized that the 2024 drone sightings arent a similar phenomenon, with Kirby noting they come from an array of commercial, law enforcement, and civilian sources. One explanation for some of the increased activity could be new regulations, announced in 2023, that allow drones to fly at night, Mayorkas also told ABC News. Have they caused any problems?Some drones, like those near the Stewart International Airport and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, have prompted officials to close down these facilities respective runways and airspace for a brief period. The FAA has also announced temporary flight restrictions over Trumps Bedminster golf course and the Picatinny Arsenal Military Base in Morris County, New Jersey, after drones were seen flying over both. Officials have emphasized, however, that there isnt any indication that these drones pose a danger to the public.Drone operations have also prompted a number of arrests. In Boston, two men were arrested on Saturday for operating a drone dangerously close to Logan International Airport. And in California, a Chinese citizen and legal US resident was arrested on December 10 for operating a drone and taking photos over Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County on November 30. Federal authorities have said they are closely monitoring the reports and sending specialized drone detection systems to New Jersey and New York to assist in state efforts. State leaders, however, including New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, had previously expressed frustration at the pace and opaqueness of the federal response. Murphy and Hochul have both pressed President Joe Biden, with the former emphasizing that residents deserve more concrete information beyond what federal authorities had provided. While I am sincerely grateful for your administrations leadership in addressing this concerning issue, it has become apparent that more resources are needed to fully understand what is behind this activity, Murphy wrote. Trump has also accused the military and federal government of not want[ing] to comment, while alleging that they know more about whats happening than has been disclosed to date. How should people respond if theyre concerned? The FAA encourages people to contact local law enforcement if they believe a drone is flying unsafely or poses a threat. Law enforcement officials have discouraged drone-spotters from taking matters into their own hands, however, warning that shooting at drones, or what people believe to be drones, is both dangerous and illegal. A drone could, for example, create a safety hazard if it falls on people or property after being felled by gunfire, in addition to the danger of shooting at a misidentified manned aircraft.Those warnings come after Trump previously stated that the solution to these drone sightings was to shoot them down!!! if the government failed to provide more information about their purpose and origin.Whats next?The House Intelligence Committee is expected to receive a classified briefing about the issue on Tuesday, and members of Congress have called for the federal government to share as much information as it can with the public about these sightings. For now, however, theres little to do but wait and hope we learn more soon.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More: Politics