Regulation has quickly moved from a dry, backroom topic to front-page news, especially as technology continues to quickly reshape our world. With the UKs Technology Secretary Peter Kyle announcing plans to legislate AI risks this year, and similar being proposed for the US and beyond, how do we safeguard against the dangers of AI while allowing for innovation?The debate over AI regulation is intensifying globally. The EU's ambitious AI Act, often criticized for being too restrictive, has faced backlash from startups claiming it impedes their ability to innovate. Meanwhile, the Australian government is pressing ahead with landmark social media regulation and beginning to develop AI guardrails similar to those of the EU. In contrast, the US is grappling with a patchwork approach, with some voices, like Donald Trump, promising to roll back regulations to unleash innovation.This global regulatory patchwork highlights the need for balance. Regulating AI too loosely risks consequences such as biased systems, unchecked misinformation, and even safety hazards. But over-regulation can also stifle creativity and discourage investment.Striking the Right BalanceNavigating the complexities of AI regulation requires a collaborative effort between regulators and businesses. Its a bit like walking a tightrope: Lean too far one way, and you risk stifling innovation; lean too far the other, and you could compromise safety and trust.Related:The key is finding a balance that prioritizes the key principles.Risk-Based RegulationNot all AI is created equal, and neither is the risk it carries.A healthcare diagnostic tool or an autonomous vehicle clearly requires more robust oversight than, say, a recommendation engine for an online shop. The challenge is ensuring regulation matches the context and scale of potential harm. Stricter standards are essential for high-risk applications, but equally, we need to leave room for lower-risk innovations to thrive without unnecessary bureaucracy holding them back.We all agree that transparency is crucial to building trust and fairness in AI systems, but it shouldnt come at the cost of progress. AI development is hugely competitive and often these AI systems are difficult to monitor with most operating as a black box this raises concerns for regulators as being able to justify reasoning is at the core of establishing intent.As a result, in 2025 there will be an increased demand for explainable AI. As these systems are increasingly applied to fields like medicine or finance there is a greater need for it to demonstrate reasoning, why a bot recommended a particular treatment plan or made a specific trade is a necessary regulatory requirement while something that generates advertising copy likely does not require the same oversight. This will potentially create two lanes of regulation for AI depending on its risk profile. Clear delineation between use cases will support developers and improve confidence for investors and developers currently operating in a legal grey area.Related:Detailed documentation and explainability are vital, but theres a fine line between helpful transparency and paralyzing red tape. We need to make sure that businesses are clear on what they need to do to meet regulatory demands.Encouraging InnovationRegulation shouldnt be a barrier, especially for startups and small businesses.If compliance becomes too costly or complex, we risk leaving behind the very people driving the next wave of AI advancements. Public safety must be balanced, leaving room for experimentation or innovation.My advice? Dont be afraid to experiment. Try out AI in small, manageable ways to see how it fits into your organization. Start with a proof of concept to tackle a specific challenge -- this approach is a fantastic way to test the waters while keeping innovation both exciting and responsible.Related:AI doesnt care about borders, but regulation often does, and thats a problem. Divergent rules between countries create confusion for global businesses and leave loopholes for bad actors to exploit. To tackle this, international cooperation is vital, and we need a consistent global approach to prevent fragmentation and set clear standards everyone can follow.Embedding Ethics into AI DevelopmentEthics shouldnt be an afterthought. Instead of relying on audits after development, businesses should embed fairness, bias mitigation, and data ethics into the AI lifecycle right from the start. This proactive approach not only builds trust but also helps organizations self-regulate while meeting broader legal and ethical standards.Whats also clear is that the conversation must involve businesses, policymakers, technologists, and the public. Regulations must be co-designed with those at the forefront of AI innovation to ensure they are realistic, practical, and forward-looking.As the world grapples with this challenge, it's clear that regulation isnt a barrier to innovation -- its the foundation of trust. Without trust, the potential of AI risks being overshadowed by its dangers.

A model of Cheddar Man, a person who lived in Britain 10,000 years ago, based on analysis of his DNASusie Kearley / AlamyA study of ancient DNA from people who lived in Europe between 1700 and 45,000 years ago suggests that 63 per cent of them had dark skin and 8 per cent had pale skin, with the rest somewhere in between. It was only around 3000 years ago that individuals with intermediate or pale skin started to become a majority.Until a few years ago, it was assumed that the modern humans who moved into

Reviving samples of mouse brain could bring us closer to freezing whole brainsBSIP SA / AlamySlices of mouse brain that were kept at -150C for up to a week have shown near-normal electrical activity after being warmed up. The results could take us a step closer towards cooling and reviving entire brains for purposes such as putting people in suspended animation for space flights.At the moment, it is not possible, but I think there are existing techniques that can be combined to achieve this, and there is room for careful optimism, says Alexander German at

The daughters of one of Target's cofounders say they are "alarmed" at the company's DEI rollback.In letters to the Financial Times and LA Times, they said their father believed in clear principles.Target is one of several companies scaling back diversity efforts amid wider political pressures against DEI.The daughters of one of Target's cofounders say they are "shocked and dismayed" at the company's recent DEI rollback.In letters to the editor published in the Financial Times and the LA Times, Anne and Lucy Dayton said their father, Bruce Dayton, believed in clear principles of happy customers and strong communities."We are alarmed how quickly the business community has given in to the current administration's retaliatory threats," they wrote. "It is not 'illegal' for a company to create a business model based on what it believes to be important ethical and business standards."Bruce Dayton was one of five brothers who grew their father's Minneapolis department store into a national brand, as well as the B. Dalton chain of bookstores. The cofounder died in 2015 at the age of 97.Neither the sisters nor Target immediately responded to requests for comment from Business Insider.Target is one of several companies scaling back diversity efforts amid wider political scrutiny of DEI programs following the reelection of President Donald Trump.CEO Brian Cornell said in 2023 that DEI was "the right thing for society, and it's the great thing for our brand."Days later, the company began pulling LGBTQ+ pride merchandise after conservative activists mounted a campaign against the celebration.More recently, a proposed class-action shareholder lawsuit was filed by the City of Riviera Beach Police Pension Fund against Target alleging the company had made "false and misleading" statements about its DEI strategy's impact on its financial results.While some companies have announced their moves more publicly, others have been comparatively discreet about removing references to DEI from their official communications.Some companies, including Deloitte and Google, have said that as federal contractors, they are required to follow Trump's recent executive order to end DEI programs at federal agencies more closely."By cowering, Target and others are undermining the very principles that have made their companies a success," the Dayton sisters said.

By the late 1800s, industry leaders had accumulated exorbitant amounts of wealth.The 1890s saw extravagant displays of wealth among industry leaders. Bettmann/Getty Images In the latter half of the century, industries like oil, steel, railroads, and manufacturing were growing rapidly in the United States. The Economic History Association estimated that industrial output in the US had reached a value of $9.4 billion by 1890. Nearly five million people were employed by the 350,000 industrial firms operating in the country, and the rapid expansion of business generated unprecedented revenue.The businessmen who led the expanding manufacturing economy amassed massive amounts of personal wealth, even by today's standards.The average family's annual income was around $500 (about $18,000 in today's money), according to an 1892 report from the Senate Finance Committee, yet the top 1% of families owned over half of America's wealth. During this era, known as the Gilded Age, the wealthiest families in America, such as the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts, formed a new social elite akin to European aristocracy.The economic disparity became more obvious through the wealthy's over-the-top displays of their riches in social gatherings like the 1897 Bradley-Martin Ball in New York City, where 700 members of the country's elite gathered in a royalty-themed costume party.Other displays of the elite's wealth included extravagant architecture and fashion.Meanwhile, cities were crowded by immigrants, and workers lived in extreme poverty.A man smoked in his home in the cellar of a New York City tenement house, a common living arrangement by the end of the 19th century. Jacob Riis/Bettmann/Getty Images On the other side of the wealth divide, workers and immigrants faced harsh living conditions.The rapid increase in industrialization drew masses to America, and immigration, particularly from countries in eastern and southern Europe, changed the face of the workforce, according to the Library of Congress.Children, who weren't protected by law from physically challenging labor, had often started contributing to their households by age 10.In New York City, the population doubled every decade from 1800 to 1880. Tenement housing, where families packed as many people as possible into apartments by using cheap materials to create walls or add floors to existing buildings, quickly dominated parts of the city. These settlements often lacked indoor plumbing or ventilation, leading to a rapid increase in the spread of illnesses. The cramped conditions also led to many fires in major cities.Jacob Riis' "How The Other Half Lives," a photojournalism book documenting the lives of poor Americans towards the end of the century, exposed the realities faced by millions of people, such as having 12 adults sleeping in 13-feet-wide rooms and child mortality in tenements being as high as one in 10.Although it was relatively small, a middle class also began to flourish.During this period, department stores rose in popularity amongst the emerging middle and upper classes. Bettmann / Getty Images An average family spent nearly 60% of their annual income on food and rent, and laborers including children often worked six 10-hour days per week.One report of living standards of the time suggested that an average family's dreams would be fulfilled by owning a home valued around $36,000 in today's money, a Sunday dress and suit, a barrel of flour, 5 tons of coal, and $9,000 in today's money in savings.The presence of disposable income led to the establishment of department stores and consumerism in the big cities.For women entering the workforce, retail stores offered a more respectable field of work than the factory work available to them, which was mostly in textile and garment manufacturing. While job opportunities opened for women, their wages remained significantly lower than men's, who were still seen as the breadwinners of the households, according to the Library of Congress.Postwar tariffs and rapid industrialization led to the federal government running a fiscal surplus.By 1900, an estimated 15% of the workforce was employed in factories. FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Prior to the adoption of the federal income tax in 1913, tariffs were the federal government's main source of funding.In an effort to help the economy recover following the Civil War, the government had kept tariffs on foreign goods relatively high compared to pre-war rates, Douglas Irwin, an economics professor at Dartmouth College, wrote for the National Bureau of Economic Research.However, by the late 1880s, a unique problem had arisen: The federal government was taking in too much money from tariffs, resulting in a budget surplus over 40% higher than its spending.Both parties agreed to revisit tariff rates in efforts to reduce it, although each side supported a different alternative in what became known as the Great Tariff Debate of 1888.Ohio representative William McKinley authored the Tariff Act of 1890.William McKinley supported high tariffs on imports to protect the growing domestic industry. Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images Born in 1843 in Niles, Ohio, William McKinley was working as a school teacher when the Civil War broke out in 1861. He enlisted in the Union Army and quickly climbed the ranks. After the war, he attended Albany Law School in New York and began his political career shortly after, being elected to the House of Representatives in 1876.By 1890, he had risen within the congressional chamber and became chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, overseeing taxation and tariffs.Authored by McKinley and later named after him, the Tariff Act of 1890 raised protective tariffs of over 1,500 products by almost 50%.The tariff imposed duties on items like tinplate and wool while eliminating tariffs on sugar, molasses, tea, and coffee. The goal of the act was to "make the duty on foreign-tinplate high enough to insure its manufacture in this country," McKinley said in 1890.It also protected American workers' wages from competition from cheaper labor abroad.Tariffs on goods like wool and steel affected industries differently.The spread of motorized machinery changed the makeup of American labor in the 1800s. Heritage Art/Heritage Images/via Getty Images While miners and farmers of crops like corn, wheat, and potatoes benefited from the stimulus to American production and the rise in foreign competitors' prices, some manufacturing was hurt by the price hikes in raw materials.The tariffs affected consumer products like shoes, clothes, and canned goods, as well as some other 1,500 products, ranging from chemicals and metals to dairy products and grains, to varying degrees.Ultimately, it was everyday people who ended up paying the price for the tariffs, Bolt said."Consumers had to pay a higher price for the manufactured good they wanted," Bolt said. "So there was in fact a political backlash against the McKinley tariff."The spike in prices was not well-received by American consumers.Economic unrest, rising prices, and unfair labor conditions led workers to turn against vendors and employers. Bettmann/Getty Following the adoption of the Tariff Act, McKinley's Republican Party lost control of Congress in the midterm elections of 1890, and the Ohio representative himself was ousted as the party lost 93 seats in the House of Representatives.Over the next two years, as voters continued to feel the impacts of the measure and other economic instabilities, the party also lost the presidential election and both chambers of Congress in 1892.Across the country, economic unrest as prices rose turned workers against vendors and employers, leading to a rise in the labor movement.Strikes erupted as growing industrialization stirred labor tensions.The Pullman Strike set the stage for the rise in popularity of progressive politics. Kean Collection/Archive Photos/Getty Images As industries expanded, workers began to unite against industry barons to demand fair work conditions.An 1892 strike demanding improvements in working conditions turned deadly after Carnegie Steel-hired security forces exchanged gunfire with the worker coalition.Across the country, labor movements gained momentum, with the rising hostility between industry leaders and workers ending in fatal incidents.In 1894, the Pullman Strike, after which Labor Day was established, led to dozens of deaths and millions of dollars in damages, pushing then-President Grover Cleveland to legitimize the labor movement by declaring the national holiday.The economy reached a tipping point during the Panic of 1893.The panic was exacerbated by rising unemployment and economic instability. Ken Welsh/Design Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images By 1893, the economy had contracted significantly. Production rates were far exceeding domestic consumption, leading companies to slow down production and lay off workers.The rise in unemployment (which reached 17% by the winter and surpassed 10% for the next half of the decade), along with government spending on Civil War pensions, were some of the factors that contributed to the panic.Following the panic, the Democrats reduced some of McKinley's tariffs with the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act of 1894. Tariffs on some items including iron ore, lumber, and wool were nixed entirely, angering US producers of those products.Following the economic troubles, voters blamed President Grover Cleveland and his Democratic party, which didn't regain power in any branch of government until 1910.After running as a "tariff man standing on a tariff platform," McKinley won the presidential election in 1896.President McKinley promised high tariffs during his presidential campaign, but later changed his mind on foreign trade. MPI/Getty Images Shortly after ending his term as governor of Ohio, serving from 1892 to 1896, McKinley ran for president on a protectionist platform that aimed to benefit American industries while discouraging trade with foreign nations."Free trade gives to the foreign producer equal privileges with us," McKinley proclaimed in an 1892 speech. "It destroys our factories or reduces our labor to the level of theirs."McKinley's tariff plans heavily targeted the import of goods like tinplate, wool, yarn, steel, and sugar in an effort to encourage domestic manufacturing.With domestic manufacturing at a high, US companies looked to export goods, but tariffs hindered some of their efforts.A need for exportation pressured the government into facilitating trade with other nations. Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images With domestic industries continuing to grow thanks to widespread industrialization and an increase in goods production, American manufacturers saw a need for exports to an international market.However, America's tariffs on foreign imports led other nations toincrease their duties on American products, limiting the domestic industries' role in foreign trade and hurting the economy as a surplus of production failed to bring in more revenue for manufacturers.Once elected president, McKinley changed his mind on tariffs, supporting a reciprocal approach.Looser tariffs allowed for increased trade of American and foreign products on a global stage. PhotoQuest/Getty Images Once in the White House, President McKinley's approach to tariffs turned to a reciprocal view that would help export American products and stimulate trade rather than penalize it.Staying true to his election promise of high tariffs, McKinley supported the Dingley Tariff Act, which raised previously lowered tariffs back to an average of 49% on imported goods, according to Lewis L. Gould, a professor of American history at the University of Texas. However, the act also granted the president the power to negotiate tariff reductions up to 20% or add products to a tariff "free-list."Using the tariffs as a negotiating tool with foreign markets, McKinley encouraged nations to lower their tariffs on American goods to allow for more exports.Big business grew bigger during his administration.Industry leaders like JP Morgan grew more influential in politics through campaign donations. CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images Major donations from executives from firms like JP Morgan and Standard Oil ensured that the McKinley presidency remained friendly to business interests.McKinley was also in office for part of the Great Merger wave of 1895-1904, in which companies consolidated into larger firms, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. Between 1895 and 1904, the average number of firms disappearing to mergers each year was 301; in 1899 alone, as merger activity peaked, this number rose to 1,028, per the NBER.While the Sherman Antitrust Act a federal law prohibiting businesses from engaging in unfair practices that restrain competition was passed in 1890, it is understood that the McKinley administration failed to strictly enforce the law to prevent large firms from consolidating into even larger monopolies during this period.Meanwhile, in factories and mills, child labor rose as low-income families sought out additional income.Children often worked in coal mines, factories, and mills. Bettmann / Getty Images According to theUS Bureau of Labor Statistics, one out of every eight children was employed by 1870. By 1900, the rate had risen to one in every five, with almost two million kids aged 10 to 15 working full-time jobs.In rural areas, young boys (some even younger than 14) often worked at coal mines, breaking up coal with their bare hands or performing farm labor. In cities, many earned an income through newspaper delivery. In towns, both boys and girls often worked at mills or factories.Labor movements gained momentum.Strikes became more common as workers started unionizing and demanding better conditions and wages. PhotoQuest/Getty Images The unregulated growth of large firms led to more workers getting involved with the labor movement. Between 1897 and 1904, union membership increased from less than 500,000 to over two million workers, according to the US Department of Labor.Workers united to demand fair working conditions, like improved facilities and hours. At the time, the norm for a worker was to work over 10 hours a day in places like factories or mills that exposed them to dangerous chemicals and conditions.As the labor movement gained support, tensions between workers and businesses grew more hostile. One 1897 encounter between coal miners and local authorities, which later became known as the Lattimer Massacre, resulted in the death of 19 strikers.McKinley's administration oversaw the start and end of the Spanish-American war.Images of the wreckage of the USS Maine made the Spanish-American war popular. P. L. Sperr/Archive Photos/Getty Images Sent to Havana Harbor during the Cuban War of Independence against the Spanish, the USS Maine and its accidental explosion set the stage for America's declaration of war with Spain.Unverified reports of a Spanish attack on the ship alarmed Americans and quickly built support for the war, which Americans saw as a just cause for Cuban freedom.On the night after the explosion alone, the Army received over 100,000 volunteers.The Spanish-American war was perhaps the most significant development of the McKinley administration, and might've contributed to the president's shift in tone regarding foreign trade towards the end of his presidency.McKinley's presidency ushered in a new era of American imperialism.America's success in the war secured the nation's political and economic dominance in the hemisphere. Bettmann/Getty Images The Spanish-American war greatly expanded America's reach in the hemisphere and beyond.The 16-week war and low casualties on the American front helped raise the national spirit following the economic and political instability of the past century.By absorbing Spain's colonial territories in the Caribbean, the United States became its own imperial power, and an era of imperialism and global prevalence quickly followed.After the war, the United States annexed Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Guam.The annexation of Hawaii increased America's influence in the Pacific and opened trade opportunities. Jim Heimann Collection/Getty Images America's victory in the Spanish-American War and the subsequent annexation of Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Guam ended America's isolationist approach of the 19th century in favor of a globalist view, which was then reflected in the domestic politics adopted by McKinley's leadership.Victory in the war effectively turned a page in American politics as the country was now emboldened by its newly found global power.McKinley announced the end of his protectionist tariff measures at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition.At the Pan-American Exposition, McKinley announced a change of course in regards to foreign trade. Glasshouse Vintage/Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images In a drastic change in views since his Congress days, McKinley openly discouraged the protectionist economy in favor of reciprocal tariffs, saying that "a policy of good will and friendly trade relations will prevent reprisals."His speech at the Pan-American Exposition signaled a shift in the Republican Party's views of trade following the war, and opened the door for an expansionist economy.One day after the convention, McKinley was fatally shot.McKinley's assassination marked a turning point in American politics with the ascension of Theodore Roosevelt. Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images While attending the event, the president was shot by Leon Czolgosz, a Polish-American laborer and anarchist. He died from the wounds eight days later, on September 14, 1901.Despite the economic turmoil of the previous decade, McKinley was widely mourned by the country."It's a great "what-if" in American politics," Bolt said. "If McKinley wasn't assassinated, [would] we [have started] to move towards free trade a lot earlier than we did?"The social instability of the turn-of-the-century economy set the stage for the Progressive Era.President Roosevelt ushered in an era of economic and social reform. Bettmann / Getty Images Following McKinley's death, his successor, President Theodore Roosevelt, and subsequent Progressive politics brought upon changes that alleviated the social and economic tensions of the Gilded Age.Power shifted from the barons and reforms in labor, trust busting, tax policies, and civil rights changed the landscape of American life.While McKinley's presidency is often overshadowed by his successor's, he had a significant impact on setting the stage for a new age in the domestic economy, both through his protectionist tariffs and his undoing of them.

When Mary Fox went to apply for a passport, she brought copies of her birth certificate, certificate of legal name, drivers license, and a check, because the State Department website said passport fees had to be paid by check or cash. They took Apple Pay, Fox, a transgender woman, told Vox. I was worried about the wrong things.Fox handed over the documents, paid, and received a slip for pickup of her passport after January 28 in time for travel she had planned in early February. But when Fox returned on the 29th, the agency official said there was a problem in the system. We dont have authorization right now to issue a passport, he told her in a recording of the conversation, which Vox has reviewed. Fox asked if he knew how long it would be until shed be able to get one. Unfortunately not, theres no time frame, he told her. Fox had expected that there might be issues with getting a passport with a female gender marker in light of President Donald Trumps Day 1 executive order, which requires that government-issued documents reflect a persons sex at conception. (The conception terminology reflects new influence from the anti-abortion movement, which seeks to ascribe full legal personhood to embryos from their earliest stages.) Fox was ultimately fine with being issued a passport with a male gender marker, telling Vox that, being able to travel is more important than the letter on a piece of paper.I dont care what marker you put on it, she said to the agency official, according to the recording. See, from my perspective, all I want is any passport that has my legal name. But Fox was ultimately told that the agency couldnt issue her any passport, male or female. So I cant leave the country? Fox asks incredulously. I cant answer that question, the official replied. Fox shared her story on TikTok, where it went viral, and she was ultimately able to collect her new ID documents albeit with the male identity marker on February 3. But many others have encountered similar, bewildering bureaucratic limbo with no such resolution. These restrictions on transgender peoples passports just one part of a broader campaign by the new administration to intimidate transgender Americans affect more than just international travel. Passports are also frequently used for domestic purposes, such as applying for jobs, housing, loans, or other government benefits. The goal is to make life untenable for transgender and nonbinary folks, ACLU attorney Aditi Fruitwala said. They want to sow fear and chaos and to make everyone extremely afraid to be out and who they are. As of Tuesday afternoon, over 1,700 people had reported concerns to the American Civil Liberties Union regarding new passport issues, Fruitwala told Vox.Trans passports are getting caught in the crosshairsOn Trumps first day back in office, he passed an executive order stating that the government would only recognize a persons sex and not their gender, and that sex was unalterable. After the EO, which also required that government documents accurately reflect the holders sex, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a directive to pause all processing of passports that requested that the gender be changed, leaving many applicants in limbo.The policy change marks a sharp departure from decades of evolving passport rules. The inclusion of gender markers on US passports dates back to 1977, when government officials felt they needed to distinguish between men and women due to increasingly similar fashion trends. Beginning in the early 1990s, transgender Americans could update their passports by providing proof of having undergone gender-affirming surgery. By 2022, the State Department moved to allow for self-attestation. Across the US, the majority of states allow people to update gender markers on their drivers licenses and birth certificates. And the Trump policy shift also comes at a time when other nations have been moving in the opposite direction 14 countries now allow gender self-attestation on passports, and 16 permit X gender markers. In truth, the 1,700 transgender and nonbinary people reported by the ACLU likely far undercounts the number of people who have been struggling with their passports. One such person is Aiden McDermott, a 28-year-old trans man in New York, who applied to renew his expired passport on January 20, requesting a name and gender marker change as well.I honestly wanted the passport in case I needed to make a quick exit, explained McDermott, who has not contacted the ACLU. Since hes adopted from China, hes found his US passport tends to be the easiest way to prove his US citizenship. I just hadnt had the money [to renew earlier] its like $130 so when I finally got the money I was hoping there would be time between Trump entering office and him signing things into law, McDermott told Vox. McDermott received State Department confirmation that his application was received on January 28, and his file was marked online as in progress. But by February 5 his online application status had changed to not available and hes received no further information or update since. A screenshot of McDermotts online application. Courtesy of Aiden McDermottLawyers are taking the new passport rules to courtLast Friday, the ACLU announced it would be suing the Trump administration over the new passport restrictions on behalf of seven transgender and nonbinary Americans. The ACLU alleges that the restrictions violate the Americans right to privacy, the First Amendment, the freedom to travel, and the equal protection clause of the Constitution. Lawyers are also claiming the Trump administration failed to comply with a requirement for a 60-day notice and comment period. ACLU plaintiffs include people like Drew Hall, a 25-year-old PhD student at the University of British Columbia whose passport has been held by the State Department for weeks, preventing them from traveling home to be with family in Wisconsin. They have a US wedding to attend in May and an academic conference in July, and worry about being stuck in Canada. Another plaintiff is Reid Solomon-Lane, a 36-year-old Massachusetts resident who regularly travels to Ireland to visit his mother-in-law. Despite having been openly out and transgender since 2007, he now worries about what could happen to him or his three children if hes stopped while traveling for a discrepancy on his documents.This fear is not theoretical. Any time you need to show multiple forms of identification, and this is especially true when you are traveling abroad, you might be accused of fraud if there is a mismatch, said Fruitwala, who added shes already spoken with a trans person who recently faced hostile questioning like this from a US passport officer.Given all the uncertainty, LGBTQ rights organizations like Lambda Legal are now actively discouraging transgender people who have valid US passports from applying to renew or change their documents. If you have urgent upcoming travel or an emergency need, you should seek out an attorney licensed in your state of residence, the group advises.When asked what the stalled applications mean for people like McDermott, a State Department spokesperson referred Vox to this webpage titled Get My Application Status.Citing new agency guidance issued Monday, the spokesperson also said that if any applicants biological sex at birth is not sufficiently established, the government will hold the application and request more information. Once we have the needed information, we will issue a new passport to you in your biological sex at birth, they told Vox.Per the new guidance, passports previously issued with an X marker will remain valid for travel until their expiration date, and those holding an X passport issued less than a year ago may apply for free to replace it with one that reflects their biological sex at birth. Fruitwala said the new guidance does little to provide clarity. Shes hopeful that the federal courts will soon block the passport policy entirely, even though that wont end the confusion and fear for trans Americans navigating the situation.I think the [government is] scrambling, its all a very confused and confusing policy, she said. They really dont know how to implement this executive order.See More:

There are three things guaranteed in life: death, taxes, and Selena Gomez pissing off the internet. The latest instance occurred on Jan. 27, when Gomez posted (and quickly deleted) an Instagram Story of herself crying in response to President Donald Trumps immigration crackdown, including increased ICE raids and mass deportations. Im so sorry, said Gomez, whos half-Mexican and whose paternal grandparents came to the United States undocumented. All my people are getting attacked, the children. I dont know what to do. Ill try everything. I promise.It wasnt an uncommon sentiment to see online at the time, or from Gomez, who has advocated for DREAMers and better immigration policies. She was also a co-executive producer in the 2019 Netflix docuseries Living Undocumented. Still, from one of the internets most unlikely but repeatedly controversial figures, the emotional outpouring didnt quite land even among those who might have shared the same feelings. Some critics claimed Gomez, a heavily followed billionaire, couldve done more to help at-risk immigrants than post a video. Others suggested she was a hypocrite for acting in the controversial Oscar-nominated film Emilia Prez, which has been lambasted for its sensational depiction of the Mexican border.MAGA, including two Trump-appointed officials, inevitably joined the chorus of boos, denouncing Gomezs sympathy for so-called criminals. A former Republican Senate candidate tweeted that she should be deported.Its an unusual feat, making polar-opposite sides of the internet equally furious over the handling of an issue like deportation. And yet its the kind of fury Gomez repeatedly inspires. In the peak of her career, Gomez is a successful multihyphenate, tabloid fixture, and reported billionaire. Her public persona, calcified through her character on Hulus Only Murders in the Building, is a fairly reserved millennial, introspective, and often struggling with mental health or even confidence issues. At the same time, Gomez has earned a bizarre reputation for her incendiary social media presence. Its not that she has a notable track record of offensive tweets (a la her Emilia Prez co-star Karla Sofa Gascn) or getting into nasty fights with other people online although, her name has been caught up in some silly beefs. Nor can she be classified as a nefarious or provocative celebrity. Her online activity is mostly nothing more than messy; a relatively benign disaster. Its partly the result of a very strange and scattered career thats been prone to scrutiny since she was a child star, but Gomez also has a unique penchant for stepping into chaotic situations. All in all, she remains one of the most mystifying and paradoxical celebrities of the current century. Shes one of the most popular and powerful women in the world who still feels oddly out of place as a public figure.A busy but distracted career For a while, before she founded the bestselling makeup company Rare Beauty in 2019 and starred in and co-produced Only Murders in the Building in 2021, it might have been hard to attach Gomez to specific projects if you didnt grow up watching her on Disney Channel. More than the usual stream of eye-catching creative work, her long-term massive popularity she became the first person to reach 100 million Instagram followers in 2017 can largely be attributed to her candor and relatability as a public figure.Its something Gomez has admitted to herself in a Vogue cover story in 2017: Ive been very vulnerable with my fans, and sometimes I say things I shouldnt. But I have to be honest with them. I feel thats a huge part of why Im where I am. Its not that Gomez hasnt been arduously working from a young age. Following a stint on Barney & Friends around age 10, Gomez became a childhood TV staple playing the sarcastic teenager Alex Russo on Disney Channels Wizards of Waverly Place, which ran from 2007 to 2012. The network quickly maximized her talents, making her the frontwoman of the pop band of Selena Gomez and the Scene and casting her in the Disney Channel Original movie Princess Protection Program, in addition to a Wizards of Waverly Place film. While at Disney, Gomez launched her own production company called July Moon Productions. By the time she had wrapped up four seasons of Wizards, she had three Selena Gomez and the Scene albums under her belt all of which debuted in the top 10 on the Billboard 200. She was not yet 20.By the time Gomez graduated from Disney, she seemed primed for adult success, with a blockbuster acting or singing career at her fingertips. Neither immediately manifested. Her breakout adult role in the 2012 Harmony Korine film Spring Breakers was not followed by many leading acting roles. Despite declaring her aspirations to solely be known as an actor, shes been more consistent as a pop star. Between 2013 and 2021, shes released three No. 1 solo albums Stars Dance, Revival, and Rare a greatest hits album called For You, as well as a Grammy-nominated Spanish-language EP, Revelacin. Selena Gomez performing at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards on April 14, 2013 in Culver City, California. Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagicStill, her hitmaking ability has not always translated into respect for her artistry or musical talent. Shes been mocked frequently online for her vocal ability and lambasted for allegedly lip-syncing during live performances. (This online ridicule has also followed her on-screen career, as clips from Emilia Prez have been circulated on social media to show she cant act.) Gomez has also experienced several mental and physical health emergencies that have presumably kept her from having the laser-focused music career as some of her pop peers. In 2015, she revealed that she received chemotherapy after she was diagnosed with lupus. In 2017, she underwent a kidney transplant. In her 2022 Apple TV+ documentary, My Mind & Me, she shared that she had sought treatment for bipolar disorder in 2018 after going into psychosis. Likewise, her work has historically taken a backseat to headlines about her personal life. Her on-and-off relationship with singer Justin Bieber, which ended in 2018, has cast a shadow over her career until very recently. Her musical output confessional songs like The Heart Wants What It Wants and Lose You to Love Me, for example have largely been used as an occasion to discuss Bieber. Her feuds and friendships have garnered headlines nearly as often as her romantic life has. Likewise, My Mind & Me is partly about the double-edged sword of being valued for your openness and vulnerability when it inevitably overshadows your work.A history of online mishaps So how does a popular and transparent child-star turned-celebrity fixture keep finding herself the center of controversy? Gomezs unvarnished social media presence is the real double-edged sword. She can be sloppy, reactionary, and even contradictory online. There was the time, in 2016, when she gave an acceptance speech at the American Music Awards and told her fans that she didnt want to see their bodies on Instagram. A few weeks later, she posted a semi-nude selfie in a thong and deleted it after fans called her a hypocrite. Despite her previous attempts to distance herself from social media for her well-being, she simply cant stay offline. Around the same time, she made a more consequential flub. While Gomez has done extensive charity work throughout her career, including working as UNICEF ambassador, shes proven to be less eager and fluent in discussing politics and hot-button social issues, a skill the public has increasingly demanded from A-list celebrities with a lot of influence. In 2016, she gave a defensive and dismissive response when asked by a user on Twitter (now X) why she and her friend Taylor Swift hadnt offered their support to the Black Lives Matter movement. Oh lol so that means if I hashtag something I save lives? she responded. No, I could give two fks about sides. You dont know what I do. Two years later, she participated in the March for Our Lives for gun control and posted a photo on Instagram that included the seemingly pointed #NotJustAHashtag. This, of course, drew widespread criticism, with users claiming that she was belittling the Black Lives Matter movement. Like many celebrities in 2020, she would go on to wholeheartedly support the movement and condemn police brutality.In recent years, Gomezs public persona has taken a fascinating shape. Shes become more solidified in her career, producing big projects, like 13 Reasons Why and Only Murders in the Building, and becoming a disruptor in the makeup space with Rare Beauty, which has reportedly boosted her net worth to $1.3 billion. At the same time, her social media activity has gotten increasingly chaotic. Shes become the queen of social media breaks that are ultimately short-lived. Shes often criticized for being too online regarding minor gossip (like when she fired back at multiple Instagram commenters about her then-newly announced relationship with music producer Benny Blanco) and not being vocal or articulate enough during crucial moments (like her reputedly insufficient responses to the recent violence in Gaza). Even in the most innocuous scenarios, like crying over mass deportations or getting caught gossiping at the Golden Globes, she has an inevitable ability to fire up the internet. Occasionally, the mess is fun, like in 2023 when she got caught up in a TikTok beef with her exs wife, Hailey Bieber, and Biebers model friends Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner, and Bella Hadid. It started with a TikTok of Gomezs poorly laminated eyebrows and almost immediately became a war between their stans. (To this day, Bieber and Gomezs stans are still going at it.) That same year, she fired back at critics of her new relationship with Blanco. Meanwhile, she announced a break from social media in response to the violence and terror thats going on in in the world only to return some days later to promote her partners cookbook. Throughout the year, she left and returned to social media several times, mainly over her frustration with users. The rawness that initially made Gomez such a popular Instagram follow has now given her a vexing online reputation as an adult. Understandably, theres an expectation that the more time celebrities spend in the spotlight the better they should be at engaging with the public. For instance, Beyonc and Swift were always skilled in sharing intimate but PR-friendly curations of their life on social media, specifically Tumblr. Rihanna even managed to be an online troll, with enough wit and the right targets to get away with it. However, the later stages of their careers have seen them practice even more restraint and consideration regarding what they post.Gomez, on the other hand, is still lacking this level of grace weighing in, deleting, responding to random users. She has a long track record of missteps, and plenty of followers who have not forgotten about them. Still, in typical Gomez fashion, this uncurated behavior felt extremely familiar to many people who live on the internet. Whats maybe most interesting about Gomez is that shell never not have the publics attention, no matter how bad she is at managing it. She has the glamorous life, the high-profile friends, the nostalgia factor, and the continued professional success. Shes not exactly the self-destructive celebrity train wreck that feels icky to gawk at. Rather, shes constantly putting her foot in her mouth or rubbing someone the wrong way. She is the person we all love to gossip about with our friends, or might be ourselves. Shes, in a word, relatable. See More:

The sequels apparently on track to hit two million sales (Deep Silver)Embracer Group is thrilled with the success of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 as it suddenly realises that good games sell.Whatever your feelings are on Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, the new medieval role-playing game sequel to the original 2018 game, it has undeniably been a success for Embracer Group, the Swedish monolith that owns developer Warhorse Studios and publisher Deep Silver.The game launched last week for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC and not only did it receive positive reviews but it outperformed Embracers expectations by selling a million copies in just 24 hours and is reportedly on track to hit two million very soon.Its the first big win Embracer has had in a long time and apparently an important reminder to the company that if it wants its games to sell well, they need to be good.The success of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a reminder of our core to bring great products to the market, said Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors in the companys latest earnings report.High quality teams need to have the resources and the time to execute their visions, he added. When you have right teams, this trust benefits everyone, including gamers, employees and shareholders.Were admittedly no business savvy CEO, but this all sounds rather obvious to us. Although maybe Embracer did need a reminder, considering it hasnt had the best 2025 fiscal year so far.From April 2024 to December 2024, Embracer has seen a 22% drop in game sales across consoles, PC, and mobile devices. Total net sales for those nine months came to 16,984 million Swedish krona (about 1,257 million), which is significantly less than the 21,651 Swedish krona (about 1,603 million) it made during the same period in 2023.2024 also continued to chart Embracers fall from grace after it spent years hoovering up any other studios it could get its hands on, including buying Crystal Dynamics and Eidos from Square Enix.More TrendingJust like with every other games company that grew too fast in recent years, Embracer soon found itself cancelling projects, shutting down studios, and laying off over a thousand employees as part of restructuring efforts.It also wound up selling off Borderlands studio Gearbox to Take-Two Interactive for $460 million (about 365 million at the time), which was a huge loss considering Embracer paid upwards of $1.3 billion (about 1.03 billion) for it in 2021.This came not long after Embracer had sold Saber Interactive to a private company, though the two are apparently still working together on that Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic remake thats been MIA since 2021.Embracer sounds especially eager to ride the Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 train for as long as it can since the games slated to receive updates and DLC over the next 12 months, ensuring an engaging and continuously evolving experience for the community. Yeah, this is still supposed to be happening (Sony)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Split Fiction is unlikely to split opinion (EA)GameCentral gets to play over three hours of the follow-up to It Takes Two, in what is some of the most enjoyable co-op action ever seen.When we interviewed Split Fiction director Josef Fares recently, the one question he had no answer for is why other companies havent tried to copy him. His previous title, The Game Awards 2021 Game of the Year winner It Takes Two has sold over 23 million copies, and yet it has had no discernible effect on the overall number of co-op games being made and there have been no direct clones.Instead, Swedish developer Hazelight Studios has been left to do everything itself. It Takes Two was preceded by the more grounded A Way Out and is now going to be succeeded by Split Fiction, which has a similar approach in terms of only being playable with a second player but is in all other ways a completely different game, with new characters and story.The game got a new trailer during the State of Play on Wednesday but a few days earlier we had the chance to play three hours of gameplay and speak to Fares about it and the industry in general. We enjoyed both experiences a great deal and the good news is that Split Fiction is out in just a few weeks time, at which point we expect itll be just as successful as its predecessor.The plot for Split Fiction is a peculiar one and revolves around two young novelists, named Zoe and Mio, who are invited by a very obviously evil techbro to test out his new virtual reality machine. The idea is that it allows you to visualise and explore your own stories and imagination, which immediately goes wrong when Mio and Zoes worlds become conjoined.Were not sure where the story is going with all this, as while there are allusions to corporations taking advantage of creatives its all very on the nose and seems to lack subtlety. According to Fares, the main theme of the game is friendship, and you can definitely see that in the burgeoning relationship between Zoe and Mio, although its still fairly by-the-numbers from a narrative perspective.The gameplay conceit though is that, because Mio writes sci-fi and Zoe fantasy, the pair keep ping-ponging between different imagined worlds and that works great. Even if you have to question just how good the pair are as writers, given Zoes worlds are ultra generic Tolkien-esque fantasies and Mios are a fairly straight cross between Blade Runner and Tron.As a game though it works great, in terms of offering up an experience that is both hugely varied and, despite the constant changes in setting and gameplay style, impressively consistent in terms of quality. Although you can play online (like It Takes Two, only one person has to own the game) we were playing split screen with Victoria Kennedy from Eurogamer.Hearing that Hazelight games feature multiple different game styles, that are constantly switching around, might lead you to assume that theyre necessarily shallow, but thats not the case at all. Although there are exceptions, the default gameplay is that of a third person action platformer, complete with double jumps, dashes, and 3D movement while swimming and flying.Right from the start, the games difficulty is not trivial, with some difficult jumps and proper puzzles many of which involve one character doing something to help the other progress, from simply pressing a switch to jumping on a seesaw.This is absolutely not Mario Party with a story and our only concern is what happens when you try to play along with someone else of a very different skill level. That wasnt the case in our preview but if wed had to sit there trying to explain you have to move the camera with the right stick, because we were playing with a casual gamer friend, it would have been a very different experience. Theres also a lot of wall running in a lot of the levels (EA)As it was though, everything was extremely entertaining, with little punishment for failure. The controls were also very intuitive, which is welcome considering what the various buttons do is constantly changing, depending on the level. After a couple of tutorial-ish stages, one in each world, things were immediately taken up a notch as the game started playing around with gravity in new sci-fi levels, allowing you to stick to walls and ceilings and run along them.Mio (who we were playing as) gets a katana and Zoe a whip thing that allows her to grab objects and throw them, although both have grappling hooks that enable them to swing through a Fifth Element style traffic jam of flying cars. A boss battle then involved Mio releasing explosive barrels that Zoe could whip into the air and throw at the bad guy.As we understand, the game doesnt have any It Takes Two style mini-games but instead there are a number of side stories, which are full length levels but with a twist. The first one we played transformed us both into pigs, with Zoe having the ability to leap vertically in the air (because the pig was actually one of those toys with a springy head) and Mio can fly horizontally via a rainbow-hued fart.The change in setting and style works great, with more abstract 3D platforming than the rest of the game ending in you being transformed into sausages, that you have to lather with condiments before jumping into a hot dog bun and being eaten.Thats not a spoiler, as it was in the first trailer, but the other side story we played was very obviously based on arcade snowboarding game SSX (for which EA is also the publisher). It had a little more of a sci-fi vibe, because it was one of Mios stories, but it played just like the old games and is hopefully something you can easily access at any time, as wed gladly go back to it.Returning to the standard levels, some of them are feature-length boss battles, such as an entertaining one against a giant robot ball that keeps throwing cars at you and has all sorts of laser beam and rocket attacks. This culminates with Mio having to jump onto it and running around the outside, like a planetoid in Super Mario Galaxy, as Zoe flings explosives at its one vulnerable spot.There are quite a few overt references to other games throughout Split Fiction, with Metroid clearly being a Fares favourite. A lot of the bug-like enemies are straight out of the game, but one whole level has you playing as a morph ball, where Zoe is magnetic and Mio can transform into a swarm of insect-like robots that can form their own parachute.The inspiration might be obvious, but the level and puzzles are very well designed, including when it segues into a pinball section where Zoe is still a morph ball but Mio has to activate the flippers and plungers as she moves through the stage. I am legally distinct Groot (EA)Despite the nods to various games and movies the game never feels derivative, simply because co-op gaming of this complexity is so rare. For example, another fun stage is a sci-fi one where youre racing along on motorbikes, which can also attach to walls and ceilings at certain points and eventually get machineguns to use against enemies.A subsequent fantasy level then has you transforming into different creatures (a fairy and what is basically Groot for Zoe and an ape and some kind of dragon/otter/thing for Mio) in one of the more puzzle-orientated sections.It wasnt entirely clear where these levels came in terms of the overall progress of the game (they were just served up to us automatically, rather than us accessing them organically) but the transforming fantasy level was definitely starting to get tricky, in terms of the level of co-operation needed and the obscurity of the puzzles.A subsequent one, where you both get pet dragons, was even more so, with Zoes being able to roll like a ball and Mios being able to fly and spit acid. This was used in a variety of imaginative ways, in terms of puzzle solving, often also requiring quick reflexes to complete.Somehow, the games difficulty always seemed to be pitched just right and we were never stuck long enough to get frustrated, with the solution always being satisfyingly logical.The final level was also hard and basically a more-puzzle orientated version of Contra, with a soupon of Portal. Not only could you run and jump but you could also aim in all directions with the right stick, like a dual-stick shooter. This led to some tricky colour-coded puzzles, requiring a lot of teamwork, and then a final boss battle which was enjoyably taxing, with constant changes in perspective and tactics.More TrendingIt was certainly more entertaining than the last few official Contra games and underlined that while Split Fiction may sound gimmicky and unfocused in theory it doesnt feel like that at all when youre playing. Especially with someone sat next to you on the same couch, the game is enormously entertaining and its extremely impressive how finally balanced it is.The whole thing should be a confusing mess of random mechanics and unpredictable controls but its not that at all. The visuals, particularly for the sci-fi levels, are a touch bland at times, and were not entirely convinced by the story and characters, but in terms of co-op action this seems a considerable step beyond the already excellent It Takes Two.Formats: PC (previewed), Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5Price: 44.99Publisher: EADeveloper: Hazelight StudiosRelease Date: 6th March 2025Age Rating: 16 Some of the later levels were starting to get enjoyably tricky (EA)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

By AJ Dellinger Published February 13, 2025 | Comments (0) | The Gulf of Mexico as labeled by Google Maps Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images Do you have any hot takes or strong opinions about the Gulf of Mexico? Well, youre going to have to find somewhere other than Google Maps to share them, because the platform is currently restricting users from leaving comments or reviews on the Gulf, as spotted by the BBC, following Googles decision to play along with the Trump administrations decision to change the body of waters name to the Gulf of America. The Gulf current has a 4.5-star rating on Google Maps with nearly 7,000 reviews, which is a pretty strong endorsement of the beautiful bay. But directly under the review score is a notification that says Posting is currently turned off. Google explains: Some types of places are more likely to receive posts, like reviews, that violate Googles policies. To prevent this, Google has turned off posting. Now, the Gulf itself does not appear all that controversial among reviewers, who describe it as one of the most beautiful places on earth, a fishermans paradise, and the Best gulf ever. But if you sort the reviews by most recent, youll notice that no feedback has been left on the Gulf of Mexico since a month ago. That appears to be because Google has taken it upon itself to clean up the one-star reviews that users started leaving after the company changed the bays label to the Gulf of America in accordance with President Trumps executive order. Users definitely did leave negative reviews once the name change took effect. You can find examples on pick your social platform of choice, and there are threads encouraging people to express their displeasure over the change on Reddit. But those started getting cleaned up pretty quickly, and now Google has decided its just best to prevent new reviews from going up at all. The company has also shut off the ability to suggest an edit to the location, presumably because people were suggesting it change the name back to the Gulf of Mexico. Google can reasonably claim that this whole fiasco is just a matter of protocol, from the name change to the handling of the barrage of one-star reviews. Google pulls its location information from the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), so once the name change took effect there at the behest of Trumps penstroke, it showed up on Google Maps. And while the negative review protest is a useful way for users to express their displeasure, Google regularly restricts posts on locations that get flooded with activity.So yeah, its all just company policy in action. And sometimes company policy makes it look like you, as a corporate entity, are kowtowing to the whims of an autocrat. So it goes.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Ed Cara Published February 13, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published February 13, 2025 By AJ Dellinger Published February 13, 2025 By Matt Novak Published February 13, 2025 By Passant Rabie Published February 12, 2025 By Thomas Maxwell Published February 12, 2025