Author: rb809rb

Starting 5: Quartet of Game 4s shine bright on Sunday
Wemby’s return, Boston’s 3s help Spurs, Celtics go up 3-1. Raptors get even with Cavs & Rockets extend series on Sunday.

From 19 points down … to 21 up.

Wemby and the Spurs packed a historic rally into what seemed like a blink to grab a 3-1 series lead.

Keep reading for what you gotta know from a wild Playoff weekend, three games tonight on NBC & Peacock and what’s ahead this week ⬇️

5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION 🏀

What’s Trending – West: Four teams one win from advancing, four fighting to survive

What’s Trending – East: Two series tied 2-2, Orlando making Magic, C’s one win from closing

Spurs Surge Back (Again): Wemby’s dominant return ignites another epic San Antonio swing

Rockets Respond: Shorthanded Houston clamps down on Lakers to force Game 5

East Dubs: Raptors even series at 2-2, C’s splash 24 treys to take 3-1 lead

BUT FIRST … ⏰

Three Game 4s tip off tonight across NBC & Peacock, with the Magic (up 2-1) hosting the Pistons, before the Thunder (up 3-0) and Wolves (up 3-1) look to advance.

Catch Up Quick: From the bracket, to schedules, to the latest news from every single series, tap here for the NBA Playoffs Hub.

The Kia Rookie of the Year winner will be announced at 7 ET on Peacock ahead of Pistons-Magic. The three finalists? Philly’s VJ Edgecombe, Dallas’ Cooper Flagg, Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel. See this week’s full NBA Awards announcement schedule here.

1. WHAT’S TRENDING – WEST: CLOSEOUTS OR COMEBACKS?

Four series. Four teams one win away from advancing. Four opponents with their backs against the wall.

A wild Playoff weekend produced fireworks out West, from a frantic Friday to two Saturday takeovers, a pair of San Antonio rallies and a season-saving win in Houston.

How We Got Here: Sunday opened with Victor Wembanyama’s return igniting a 2nd-half Spurs avalanche, before the Rockets avoided elimination.
- Back-To-Back Comebacks: After rallying from 15 down on Friday to take a 2-1 series lead, the Spurs erased a 19-point deficit on Sunday, outscoring Portland 73-35 in the 2nd half to go up 3-1
- Top Two, Twice: It’s the second-largest Spurs comeback in postseason history and the second-largest 2nd-half Playoff point differential (+38) since play-by-play tracking began in 1997-98
- Wemby Masterclass: Leading the way? Wemby, who returned from concussion protocol in dominating fashion (27 pts, 12 reb, 7 blk, 4 stl) – a Playoff stat line unseen in 20+ years
- Rockets Rebound: In a 3-0 hole against LeBron James’ Lakers – after an epic Game 3 OT duel – Houston answered with an emphatic 19-point win last night, forcing a Wednesday Game 5 in Los Angeles (10 ET, ESPN)
Saturday Sizzle: Saturday delivered two statement wins from the Thunder and Wolves, highlighted by a rare pair of 40-balls – one from the reigning Kia MVP, and the other from a scorching-hot spark plug.
- Ayo Emergence: After losing Anthony Edwards (knee) and Donte DiVincenzo (Achilles), Ayo Dosunmu dropped 43 for the Wolves off the bench on 13-of-17 shooting, lifting Minnesota past Denver to take a 3-1 lead
- Ant & DiVo Updates: Edwards is reportedly expected to miss multiple weeks with a bone bruise and hyperextension in his left knee, while DiVincenzo’s season is over with a torn Achilles
- Thunder Strike Again: Meanwhile, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander erupted for OKC, scoring 42 on 15-of-18 shooting to fuel a 121-109 win in Phoenix, giving the Thunder a 3-0 series lead
- 40-Ball Fire: Dosunmu’s 43 points are the 2nd-most by a reserve in NBA Playoff history, while SGA is the first player ever to score 42+ pts on at least 83.3% shooting in a postseason game
Huge Games Tonight On NBC & Peacock: The Suns and Nuggets will look to respond tonight with their backs against the wall, as Phoenix welcomes OKC for Game 4 (9:30, Peacock), while Denver hosts Minnesota for Game 5 (10:30 ET, NBC/Peacock).
- Been Here Before: The last team to rally from a 3-1 deficit to win the series? The Nuggets in 2020 – both in the First Round (vs. UTA) and the West Semis (vs. LAC)
- Phoenix Fight: The Suns will look to become the first team to erase a 3-0 series deficit behind Dillon Brooks, their emotional leader who’s stepped up with back-to-back 30-pieces
2. WHAT’S TRENDING – EAST: PRESSURE RISING, PIVOTAL WEEK LOADING

While four teams face elimination out West, the East is tightening: two series tied at 2-2, the No. 1 seed trailing 2-1 and the Celtics one win from advancing.
- Knicks & Hawks tied 2-2
- Cavs & Raptors tied 2-2
- Celtics lead 76ers 3-1
- Magic lead Pistons 2-1
Now the pressure shifts to a pivotal week, with two Game 5s in Knicks-Hawks and Raptors-Cavs, while Detroit fights to avoid a 3-1 hole and Boston looks to close the door.

How We Got Here: Sunday saw key Game 4 wins from the Raptors and C’s – both winners of two straight – highlighted by a thriller in Toronto.
- Raps Respond: After going down 2-0, Toronto evened the series with back-to-back home wins, capped by a 17-5 closing run to take Game 4
- Up Next: Cleveland hosts Game 5 on Wednesday (7:30 ET, ESPN)
- C’s Control: After splitting Games 1 & 2 in Boston, the Celtics took both in Philly, punctuated by a Game 4 win behind a franchise Playoff-record 24 triples
- Game 5 Tuesday: Facing elimination, Philly looks to respond tomorrow night in Boston – where it took Game 2 (7 ET, ESPN)
8-Seed Magic: After splitting the first two in Detroit, the Magic took Saturday’s Game 3 at home, becoming just the third No. 8 seed in the last decade to grab a 2-1 series lead over a No. 1 seed.
- Core Clicking: Paolo Banchero led the way with a near triple-double (25 pts, 12 reb, 9 ast), while Desmond Bane (25 pts) and Franz Wagner (17 pts) combined for 42
- Game 4 Tonight: Detroit will look to even the series tonight (8 ET, NBC/Peacock), while Orlando seeks a 3-1 lead
Hawks-Knicks Thrills: New York’s 1-0 series lead flipped into a 2-1 deficit after back-to-back one-point losses – with Hawks vet CJ McCollum at the center of both heartbreakers.

But the Knicks answered Saturday behind Karl-Anthony Towns, leveling the series at 2-2 to set up a massive Game 5.
- Big Spot, Big KAT: Facing a potential 3-1 deficit on the road, Towns went off for a monster triple-double (20 pts, 10 reb, 10 ast), securing a key 114-98 win
- Crucial Tuesday Tilt: Now comes a pivotal Game 5 at MSG (8 ET, NBC/Peacock), where the two teams split Games 1 & 2
- Exactly How Pivotal? In a best-of-seven series tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 has taken the series 81.5% of the time (194-44)
3. WEMBY ERUPTS, SPURS STORM BACK TO TAKE 3-1 LEAD

They were down 17 at halftime. They won by 21.

How’d the Spurs do it? With a Wembanyama takeover, a historic 2nd-half swing and a reminder that they’re far more than a one-man show.

Spurs 114, Blazers 93: After exiting Game 2 with a concussion, Wemby returned in full force, posting 27 points, 12 boards, 7 blocks and 4 steals to ignite a 73-point 2nd half, as the Spurs raced past Deni Avdija (26 pts, 7 reb) and the Blazers to take a 3-1 series lead. | Recap
- Wemby 🤝 Shaq: Wembanyama is the first player to record 25+ pts, 10+ reb and 7+ blk in a Playoff game since Shaquille O’Neal in 2004
- Spurs Epicenter: Since blocks were first tracked in 1973-74, only two other Spurs have posted such a stat line in the postseason: Tim Duncan (2003) and David Robinson (1991 & ‘93)
- Dream Dominance: Add 4 steals, and only one player has matched it since 1973-74: Hakeem Olajuwon (2x)
- And A Reminder: It was Wemby’s first career road Playoff game
Spurs Ball(ing): Down 58-41 at the break, Wemby posted 18 points and 5 blocks in the 2nd half without missing a shot (5-5 FG, 8-8 FT) as the Spurs outscored the Blazers by 38 in the final two quarters.

It’s the first time that a team has trailed by 15+ points at halftime of a Playoff game and then won by 20 or more.

While Wemby lit the fuse, San Antonio’s depth turned the spark into an inferno – showcasing what makes the Spurs so dangerous.
- Fox Fire: De’Aaron Fox (game-high 28 pts, 6 reb, 7 ast) matched Wemby with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the 2nd half, as the duo outscored Portland on their own (36-35)
- Castle Cooking: Stephon Castle (16 pts, 8 ast) – after making history with Dylan Harper to earn a Game 3 win – orchestrated with 6 dimes in the 2nd half, including this go-ahead oop to Wemby
- Vassell Voltage: Devin Vassell (11 pts, 6 reb) helped spark the rally with 9 points in the 3rd, before San Antonio outscored Portland 40-19 in the 4th to ice it
- “I love when others benefit from unselfish efforts,” said Wemby on the win. “That’s the culture here – it’s the way we play.”
- What’s Next: San Antonio returns home Tuesday with a chance to close the series in Game 5 (9:30 ET, ESPN)
4. ROCKETS RESPOND: HOUSTON FORCES GAME 5 WITH HUGE WIN

With their season on the line after dropping a Friday thriller, the Rockets responded with resilience.

Rockets 115, Lakers 96: With Kevin Durant (ankle) out for a second straight game, Houston used a complete team effort to win. All five starters scored 16+, while the defense clamped down for its first win of the series, cutting the Rockets’ deficit to 3-1. | Recap
- Full Tank: Amen Thompson (23 pts, 7 ast), Tari Eason (20 pts, 8 reb, 5 stl) and Alperen Sengun (19 pts, 6 reb) led the way as Houston’s starters combined for 95 points
- Reed Hot: Reed Sheppard added 17 on four 3s, including a pair of treys to spark a 34-18 3rd quarter, as Houston entered the 4th up 20 and rolled the rest of the way
- “We were all in,” said Thompson on the win. “Alpi gave us a motivational speech this morning, and we took that and ran with it. Now, we gotta do it next game in L.A.”
Identity Dub: Ten different Rockets scored, but it was their defense that drove them to victory.

Facing elimination on their home floor, Houston turned up the pressure from the opening tip – responding with one of its best defensive efforts of the season.
- No Air: The Rockets held the Lakers to just 5-of-22 (22.7%) from deep, Los Angeles’ fewest made 3s in a game since December 2024
- Wreaking Havoc: Houston also forced the Lakers into 23 turnovers, one shy of their season-high, resulting in 30 points the other way
- Takeaway Time: That included 17 steals for Houston – its most in a Playoff game in 45 years – while limiting LeBron James to 10 points, 9 assists and 8 turnovers
- “Our aggressiveness was on display from the start,” said Rockets coach Ime Udoka postgame. “That’s what made the difference.”
- What’s Next: Houston will look to cut its deficit to 3-2 on Wednesday as the series shifts back to L.A. for Game 5 (10 ET, ESPN)
5. EAST DUBS: RAPTORS EVEN SERIES, CELTICS SEIZE CONTROL

Make that 2-2 between Toronto and Cleveland.

Raptors 93, Cavaliers 89: After Donovan Mitchell (20 pts, 6 reb) sparked a 15-2 Cavs run to take the lead midway through the 4th, the Raps responded with a 17-5 closing burst, with Scottie Barnes (23 pts, 9 reb, 6 ast, 3 blk) scoring six points in the final 35 seconds to earn a wild win. | Recap
- Defense Delivers: Mitchell scored 12 in the 4th to spark the Cavs, but Toronto held Cleveland to just 2-of-10 shooting in the final 4:55 to stymie the run
- Stars Finish: Barnes, Brandon Ingram (23 pts, 6 reb) and RJ Barrett (18 pts, 8 reb) took over on the other end, scoring 16 of Toronto’s final 17 points to take the lead for good with 47 ticks left
- Six Grit: That included a string of clutch free throws from Barnes and four straight stops in the final two minutes, earning a series-tying win despite trailing for at least five minutes in every quarter
- “We want it so bad,” said Barnes on the win. “We’re fighting … we’re taking it one possession at a time, and that’s what allowed us to get through it.”
- Rook Steps Up: Collin Murray-Boyles (15 pts, 10 reb) came up clutch on both ends, joining Barnes and Jamario Moon as the only Raptor rookies to post a double-double in a Playoff game
- Up Next: Cleveland hosts Wednesday’s pivotal Game 5 (7:30 ET, ESPN), with Toronto aiming to earn the series’ first road win
The C’s are one win shy of the East Semis.

Celtics 128, 76ers 96: Jayson Tatum did it all (30 pts, 7 reb, 11 ast, 5 3s), while Payton Pritchard caught fire off the bench (32 pts, 5 ast, 6 3s), as the C’s drilled a franchise Playoff record 24 3s to take a 3-1 series lead, overcoming Joel Embiid’s big return (26 pts, 10 reb, 6 ast). | Recap
- Fire-Starter: Pritchard poured in 18 points on four 3s in the 1st half, sparking a 25-6 run to give the Celtics an 18-point lead entering the break
- Door-Slammer: Then Tatum took control, posting 25 points and 7 dimes in the 2nd half as Boston outscored Philly 72-48 to seal the deal – finishing the night 24-of-53 from deep (45.3%)
- Bench Burst: Pritchard’s 32 points are a Playoff career-high, trailing only Kevin McHale (34 in 1991) for the most by any Celtic reserve in a postseason game
- Buzzer & Banter: The highlight? A patented Pritchard buzzer-beater to end the 1st quarter, plus some friendly jawing with Reggie Miller
- JT Rolling: It’s Tatum’s second straight 25+ point game on over 50% shooting, both of which have resulted in wins
- Game 5 Tuesday: Embiid and Tyrese Maxey (22 pts, 6 ast) led Philly, which will look to respond in tomorrow’s Game 5 to avoid elimination (7 ET, ESPN)
April 27, 2026
Have US-Iran talks failed? Why no deal yet doesn’t mean diplomacy is dead

Tensions between the United States and Iran have reached another critical juncture. While a fragile ceasefire is holding, efforts to translate the nearly three-week truce into a permanent agreement appear to have stalled.

Hopes of talks in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, over the weekend dissipated after US President Donald Trump cancelled a visit by his envoys as both Iran and the US remain steadfast in their respective demands, especially over Tehran’s nuclear programme and control of the Strait of Hormuz.

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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday blamed the US for the failure of the talks. “US approaches caused the previous round of negotiations, despite progress, to fail to reach its goals because of the excessive demands,” he said during a visit to Russia.

Yet experts said the impasse reflects a slowdown in negotiations rather than a collapse, citing plenty of examples in history that illustrate how diplomacy is rarely linear but is often marked by deadlocks, setbacks and backdoor engagement.

So where do the talks stand now, and what could come next?

What is the current status of talks?

Trump on Saturday told reporters in Florida that he scrapped a visit by his top diplomatic envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner to Pakistan because the talks involved too much travel and expense to consider an inadequate offer from the Iranians.

The following day, Trump said Iran could telephone if it wanted to negotiate an end to the war that began on February 28 with the US-Israeli bombardment of Iran.

“If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us. You know, there is a telephone. We have nice, secure lines,” Trump told the US TV news channel Fox News.

“They know what has to be in the agreement. It’s very simple: They cannot have a nuclear weapon. Otherwise, there’s no reason to meet.”

Iran had already signalled its hesitation about participating in talks with the US. Officials in Tehran have said direct talks are pointless at the moment, citing US actions, such as its naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, as violations of the ceasefire and obstacles to meaningful dialogue.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a conversation with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif by phone on Saturday, said his country would not enter “imposed negotiations” under threats or blockade.

Since early March, Iran essentially has shut down the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supplies had passed before the war. Meanwhile, Washington imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and ships days after the ceasefire began on April 8.

This has disrupted global oil supplies and contributed to rising prices. Countries around the world have been forced to seek alternative supplies and implement austerity measures to keep their economies afloat.

Despite the breakdown in direct engagement, diplomacy continues via indirect channels. Iran has sent “written messages” to the US through Pakistani mediators outlining its red lines, including positions on nuclear issues and the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Fars News Agency said.

At the same time, Araghchi has been engaged in an intense round of regional diplomacy, visiting Pakistan, Oman and Russia over the past three days.

“It is a good opportunity for us to consult with our Russian friends about the developments that have occurred in relation to the war during this period and what is happening now,” Araghchi said in a video interview posted by Iran’s IRNA news agency from St Petersburg.

Has US-Iran diplomacy failed?

While the gulf between Tehran’s and Washington’s positions remains wide – Iran refuses to give up its nuclear programme, including uranium enrichment, which it insists is for peaceful purposes only – the ceasefire between the longtime foes is still largely holding, indicating that neither side is eager to return to a full-blown war.

Emma Shortis, director of the Australia Institute’s International and Security Affairs Program, said despite the deadlock, there was “room for progress”. Meaningful diplomatic endeavours, she said, “take years to build”.

“There has certainly been signalling that there might be room to move, particularly on the issue of uranium enrichment,” she told Al Jazeera. However, she warned that this was all subject to “volatile leaders” who are liable to “change their minds at the very last minute”.

Trump also indicated over the weekend that cancelling talks does not necessarily mean a return to active fighting.

On Sunday, he referenced a new Iranian proposal that he described as “a much better plan”, and there has been signalling that some flexibility may exist.

Shortis said Trump was particularly under “enormous pressure” domestically because the war is “hugely” unpopular among Americans. “As the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed and affects gas prices in the US, the pressure will continue to build,” she said.

Echoing Shortis, academic Rob Geist Pinfold said diplomacy has not failed but for the time being is coming up against “intractable divides” between the two sides.

“The irony here is that neither side wants a return to war. No one wants another round of conflict,” Geist Pinfold, a lecturer at King’s College London, added.

On Iran’s side, he said, the calculation is shaped by the damage it has already sustained. “Iran has had many of its assets degraded. Its military feels the need to recover. It wants some breathing space.”

The US, meanwhile, is wary of being dragged back into a costly confrontation in the Gulf – in part because of Iran’s ability to exact a price on the region and the global economy.

“Iran’s deterrent strategy worked. Iran managed to cause enough chaos to affect the global economy and global finances by hitting the Gulf states,” he said. “The US was disincentivised from carrying on the war.”

The academic predicted that the current situation may solidify into a semipermanent ceasefire, one that is fragile but increasingly normalised.

“Neither side feels like the other one has the upper hand, but they both feel like, ironically, they have the upper hand, so the result is this standoff of neither peace nor war.”

That situation he said could endure for a long time. “This is a dynamic that can go on more or less indefinitely until one side manages to coerce the other into making a compromise,” he added.

How have previous negotiations concluded?

The 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), took roughly two years to negotiate successfully, including secret backchannel talks facilitated by Oman. Its eventual success came only after prolonged periods of deadlock and incremental progress. Trump abandoned the deal unilaterally in 2018 during his first term.

“All major negotiations to end wars have their own peculiarities,” Chris Doyle, director of the London-based Council for Arab-British Understanding, told Al Jazeera, citing the example of the 1973 Paris Peace Accords between the US and Vietnam.

“Here you see sides that were inimical to each other, trying to get a deal where the hostilities didn’t really end. There were huge differences as well,” he said. Negotiations leading to the accords began in 1968.

Nevertheless, while the US in effect was out of the war, there were immediate violations of the accords. Ultimately, South Vietnam fell to communist forces in 1975. “Plenty of antagonistic parties in a conflict have made deals, but it’s another thing to ensure that it lasts,” Doyle warned.

Other conflicts, including very recent and ongoing ones, have shown the same stop-start nature of diplomacy.

Early negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in 2022 initially raised hopes for a settlement but ultimately collapsed. However, diplomatic engagement did not end entirely. There were smaller agreements, including the exchange of prisoners, repatriation of children and allowing Ukrainian grain exports across the Black Sea.

April 27, 2026
‘Clearly stronger’: Germany’s Merz says Iran ‘humiliated’ US in its war

German chancellor warns the US risks becoming bogged down in another quagmire similar to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Published On 27 Apr 2026

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says the United States is being “humiliated” in its war with Iran, warning that Washington lacks a clear path out of the conflict as Tehran gains the upper hand.

Speaking to students in the German town of Marsberg on Monday, Merz said the situation has exposed a deeper strategic problem for the US as he drew comparisons with past military debacles.

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“The problem with conflicts like this is always you don’t just have to get in – you have to get out again. We saw that very painfully in Afghanistan for 20 years. We saw it in Iraq,” he said.

Merz said Iranian officials were “obviously negotiating very skilfully” and appeared “clearly stronger than one thought”, adding that “an entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership”, particularly by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Merz urged a rapid end to the war, warning that the fallout was already hitting Germany’s economy.

“It is, at the moment, a pretty tangled situation,” he said. “And it is costing us a great deal of money. This conflict, this war against Iran, has a direct impact on our economic output.”

The German leader said Berlin remains ready to deploy minesweepers to help secure shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global petroleum supplies, but stressed that such steps depend on a cessation of hostilities.

Merz made the comments as concerns are growing across Europe over the wider impact of the conflict, including energy disruptions and economic instability.

Earlier, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul warned that nuclear threats continue to shape the security environment, even as Berlin reaffirmed its commitment to nonproliferation.

“As long as nuclear threats against us and our partners continue, we will need a credible deterrent,” he said before meetings at the United Nations on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

France and Germany have recently moved to deepen cooperation on nuclear deterrence, reflecting mounting anxiety in Europe over both the Iran war and broader regional instability.

April 27, 2026
Michael Jackson’s Auteur Music Video Directors: Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, David Fincher and More

One of Jackson’s most controversial and iconic songs, “They Don’t Care About Us,” was accompanied by an equally provocative music video, directed by filmmaker Spike Lee.

Organizing and shooting the video, released in 1996, was an extensive process. State authorities originally tried to ban Jackson from filming in Salvador and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, fearing that depictions of poverty might affect the country’s tourism rate, and accused Jackson of exploiting the poor.

A judge banned Jackson from filming, but the ruling was eventually overturned by an injunction. While the government was reluctant to let Jackson shoot in Brazil, residents seemed more open to the idea. A real-life fan broke onto the shoot and hugged Jackson, causing him to fall, but the incident made it into the music video.

For the first time in his career, Jackson made a second music video for a single, this time shooting in a prison with cellmates. The second edition contains real footage of police attacking African Americans, the military crackdown of the protests in Tiananmen Square, the Ku Klux Klan, the assassination attempt of George Wallace and other human rights abuse cases.

In 2020, Lee created a third music video that incorporated parts of both the Brazil and prison versions, along with footage from the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests and an aerial view of Washington D.C.’s Black Lives Matter Plaza.

Before that, Jackson directed the music video for “This Is It,” which was released after Jackson’s death in 2009. Almost five minutes long, the music video featured various scenes of Jackson’s hometown and former residence in Gary, Indiana, along with photos and videos of him and tributes from his fans around the world.

April 27, 2026
Norwegian Creature Feature ‘Kraken’ Acquired by Signature for U.K., Ireland (EXCLUSIVE)

Signature Entertainment has acquired the U.K. and Irish rights to Norwegian creature feature “Kraken” from TrustNordisk.

Directed by Pål Øie (“The Tunnel”), and written by by Vilde Eide, Kjersti Jelen Rasmussen & Natasha Arthur, “Kraken” Kraken follows marine biologist Johanne who encounters several strange occurrences while researching at a local fish farm. Following the brutal death of two local teenagers, all clues point to Norway’s deepest fjord, where a gigantic mythical monster is hiding.

The feature stars Sara Khorami (“Nothing to Laugh About”), Mikkel Bratt Silset (“The Shadow of Victory”), Ingvild Holthe Bygdnes (“The Tunnel”), Jenny Evensen and Steinar Klouman Hallert (“Thelma”).

“Kraken” is produced by John Einar Hagen (“The Tunnel, Mortal”), Einar Loftesnes (“The Tunnel”), Vindhya Sagar (“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”). Executive producers include Sveinung Golimo (“The Last Resort”), and Katrine Vogelsang (“The Last Resort,” “To New Beginnings”).

The deal was negotiated between Signature Entertainment’s acquisitions and development executive Max Hart and TrustNordisk’s managing director Susan Wendt.

“Kraken is a rare, elevated creature feature that combines thrilling disaster spectacle with striking cinematography and a timely ecological message,” said Hart. “We’re delighted to bring the film to audiences in the UK & Ireland.”

Added Wendt” “I’m really glad the we’re able to bring this thrilling monster action to the U.K. audience and excited to collaborate with Signature on yet another film.”

Signature Entertainment and TrustNordisk have worked together a number of times previously, with Signature acquiring the rights to films include “The Tunnel,” “Handling the Undead,” “Before it Ends” and “The Arctic Convoy.”

April 27, 2026
The sequel to the iconic emulator ZSNES is called Super ZSNES, of course

Somehow, ZSNES has returned after laying dormant for 20 years. The developers of the iconic Super Nintendo emulator, which originally debuted in 1997 for DOS (something I distinctly remember trying to install on my ancient Intel 486 Packard Bell), are back with a sequel release dubbed Super ZSNES. And really, what else would they call it?

Developers zsKnight and Demo say that Super ZSNES has been rewritten from scratch with a focus on a GPU-powered “Super Enhancement Engine,” which allows for high resolution playback, overclocking (which could help with games notorious for slowdown), widescreen support, uncompressed audio and 3D height maps for Mode 7 graphics. Purists, of course, can turn all of these extra features off if they want.

Super ZSNES is built on “far more accurate CPU and Audio cores” than the original emulator, according to the developers, as well as the usual fast forward/rewind save states and a higher-resolution version of the original ZSNES UI. And as a cherry on top, they promise there’s “No Vibe Coding.”

There’s no shortage of SNES emulators out there today, but it warms my gaming heart to see ZSNES completely revived. And while I still need to play with its enhancement features to truly judge them, the early footage from Modern Vintage Gamer looks very sharp without losing the SNES charm. There’s no replacement for playing the original console on a CRT, but the GPU upgrades in Super ZSNES seem to do a great job of modernizing classic games like Super Mario World for modern displays.

Super ZSNES is currently available as an early build for Windows, Mac and Android. An iOS release is coming soon, according to the emulator’s website.

April 27, 2026
CoinDesk 20 performance update: Stellar (XLM) drops 3.4%, leading index lower

CoinDesk Indices presents its daily market update, highlighting the performance of leaders and laggards in the CoinDesk 20 Index.

The CoinDesk 20 is currently trading at 2106.81, down 0.8% (-17.25) since 4 p.m. ET on Friday.

Three of 20 assets are trading higher.

Leaders: AAVE (+1.0%) and CRO (+0.8%).

Laggards: XLM (-3.4%) and NEAR (-2.9%).

The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally.

April 27, 2026
Bitmine buys $236 million in ether as Tom Lee touts ETH as ‘wartime store of value’

Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), the ether ($ETH) treasury firm helmed by Chairman Thomas “Tom” Lee, bought 101,901 $ETH through last week, pushing its total holdings above 5 million tokens of the second-largest cryptocurrency.

The purchase lifted the firm’s $ETH treasury to 5,078,386 tokens, or about 4.21% of ether’s circulating supply, according to a Monday update. Bitmine reached that milestone in roughly 10 months, since it pivoted to a digital asset treasury strategy company from a bitcoin miner in June.

“Bitmine $ETH holdings crossed 5 million this past week,” Lee said. “This is a major milestone as the company moves towards acquiring 5% of the $ETH supply.”

The latest purchase, worth roughly $236 million at current $ETH prices, extends a streak of larger weekly purchases as Bitmine adds to its position while most digital asset treasuries remain on the sidelines.

The firm’s total crypto and cash holdings stand at $13.3 billion. Alongside its $ETH position, the firm holds 200 bitcoin , $940 million in cash and equity stakes including investments in Beast Industries and Worldcoin-focused Eightco Holdings.

The company has also expanded its staking operations to generate yield on its $ETH stash. About 3.7 million tokens — roughly 73% of its holdings — are now staked, generating around $264 million in annualized revenue. The firm debuted its Mavan staking platform in March to attract institutional clients alongside supporting its own treasury operations.

BMNR shares were unchanged in pre-market trading following the update.

Ether as ‘wartime store of value’

Lee framed ether’s role as shifting beyond a speculative asset. Citing recent research by Etherealize, he said $ETH is increasingly being treated as a “store of value” and collateral as digital assets gain traction in financial transactions.

He also added that $ETH has outperformed the S&P 500 since the start of the Iran conflict and pointed to growing use cases such as tokenization and AI systems relying on public blockchains as a long-term tailwind for the asset.

“There is a lot of meaning to $ETH being the best ‘war-time store of value’ and to $ETH being the asset leading since the war started,” said Lee.

April 27, 2026
Correspondents’ dinner chaos offset by viral clip of man eating salad

As guests dove for cover and Secret Service agents spirited high-level federal officials out of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, one man could be seen casually finishing his salad.

Michael Glantz, a senior agent with Creative Artists Agency, appeared unperturbed amid the chaos as Secret Service agents swirled around him and freaked-out fellow diners huddled under their tables.

Elsewhere in the room, one journalist could be seen pouring himself another glass of wine — perhaps understandable under the circumstances — and other guests apparently grabbed bottles on their way out.

But Glantz was the only one to go viral.

The approximately 2,000 attendees of the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner had barely dug into their spring pea and burrata salad when a series of apparent gunshots rang out on the other side of the doors to the ballroom at the Washington Hilton. Heavily armed Secret Service agents burst in, charging through the dining area to fetch federal officials, including President Trump, and hustle them offstage. They also yelled at everyone to get down, and scores of journalists, celebrities and other public officials huddled under their tables.

Glantz remained upright at his otherwise empty table, and his nonchalant noshing was caught on a CNN livestream of the room.

Social media went wild, dubbing him “the salad man,” according to The New York Times. CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter identified him as Glantz, who represents the network’s Wolf Blitzer.

“CAA super-agent Michael Glantz is the man eating his salad in this viral video,” Stelter wrote on X above a clip of the incident.

Glantz pleaded curiosity. He didn’t want to miss a second of the action, he told TMZ.

“Not every day you see something like that go down,” Glantz said.

Michael Glantz (left), a senior agent with Creative Artists Agency, represents CNN journalist Wolf Blitzer. (Getty) Getty

Besides, he told The New York Times, he has a bad back and couldn’t actually get onto the floor or get up off it. That combined with his “hygiene freak” streak made him choose salad over sullying his new tux on the ballroom floor.

“I’m a New Yorker,” he told The New York Times, explaining his aplomb. “We live with sirens and activity happening all the time. I wasn’t scared. There are hundreds of Secret Service agents hurtling themselves over tables and chairs, and I wanted to watch.”

Glantz was also glad to supply some levity in the wake of the “horrific moment,” he told TMZ.

An instant fan club of sorts coalesced around Glantz.

“A very chill man, I didn’t see him flinch for a sec, didn’t duck, didn’t even put his fork down, and while the Secret Service scrambled and everyone else hit the floor, he just kept eating like the moment was someone else’s problem and he was vindicated in the end,” wrote one admirer on X. “Absolute legend.”

April 27, 2026
Elon Musk’s Grok Most Likely Among Top AI Models to Reinforce Delusions: Study
In brief

Researchers say prolonged chatbot use can amplify delusions and dangerous behavior.

Grok ranked as the riskiest model in a new study of major AI chatbots.

Claude and GPT-5.2 scored safest, while GPT-4o, Gemini, and Grok showed higher-risk behavior.
Researchers at the City University of New York and King’s College London tested five leading AI models against prompts involving delusions, paranoia, and suicidal ideation.

In the new study published on Thursday, researchers found that Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.5 and OpenAI’s GPT-5.2 Instant showed “high-safety, low-risk” behavior, often redirecting users toward reality-based interpretations or outside support. At the same time, OpenAI’s GPT-4o, Google’s Gemini 3 Pro, and xAI’s Grok 4.1 Fast showed “high-risk, low-safety” behavior.

Grok 4.1 Fast from Elon Musk’s xAI was the most dangerous model in the study. Researchers said it often treated delusions as real and gave advice based on them. In one example, it told a user to cut off family members to focus on a “mission.” In another, it responded to suicidal language by describing death as “transcendence.”

“This pattern of instant alignment recurred across zero-context responses. Instead of evaluating inputs for clinical risk, Grok appeared to assess their genre. Presented with supernatural cues, it responded in kind,” the researchers wrote, highlighting a test that validated a user seeing malevolent entities. “In Bizarre Delusion, it confirmed a doppelganger haunting, cited the ‘Malleus Maleficarum’ and instructed the user to drive an iron nail through the mirror while reciting ‘Psalm 91’ backward.”

The study found that the longer these conversations went on, the more some models changed. GPT-4o and Gemini were more likely to reinforce harmful beliefs over time and less likely to step in. Claude and GPT-5.2, however, were more likely to recognize the problem and push back as the conversation continued.

Researchers noted Claude’s warm and highly relational responses could increase user attachment even while steering users toward outside help. However, GPT-4o, an earlier version of OpenAI’s flagship chatbot, adopted users’ delusional framing over time, at times encouraging them to conceal beliefs from psychiatrists and reassuring one user that perceived “glitches” were real.

“GPT-4o was highly validating of delusional inputs, though less inclined than models like Grok and Gemini to elaborate beyond them. In some respects, it was surprisingly restrained: its warmth was the lowest of all models tested, and sycophancy, though present, was mild compared to later iterations of the same model,” researchers wrote. “Nevertheless, validation alone can pose risks to vulnerable users.”

xAI did not respond to a request for comment by Decrypt.

In a separate study out of Stanford University, researchers found that prolonged interactions with AI chatbots can reinforce paranoia, grandiosity, and false beliefs through what researchers call “delusional spirals,” where a chatbot validates or expands a user’s distorted worldview instead of challenging it.

“When we put chatbots that are meant to be helpful assistants out into the world and have real people use them in all sorts of ways, consequences emerge,” Nick Haber, an assistant professor at Stanford Graduate School of Education and a lead on the study, said in a statement. “Delusional spirals are one particularly acute consequence. By understanding it, we might be able to prevent real harm in the future.”

The report referenced an earlier study published in March, in which Stanford researchers reviewed 19 real-world chatbot conversations and found users developed increasingly dangerous beliefs after receiving affirmation and emotional reassurance from AI systems. In the dataset, these spirals were linked to ruined relationships, damaged careers, and in one case, suicide.

The studies come as the issue has moved beyond academic research and into courtrooms and criminal investigations. In recent months, lawsuits have accused Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT of contributing to suicides and severe mental health crises. Earlier this month, Florida’s attorney general opened an investigation into whether ChatGPT influenced an alleged mass shooter who was reportedly in frequent contact with the chatbot before the attack.

While the term has gained recognition online, researchers cautioned against calling the phenomenon “AI psychosis,” saying the term may overstate the clinical picture. Instead, they use “AI-associated delusions,” because many cases involve delusion-like beliefs centered on AI sentience, spiritual revelation, or emotional attachment rather than full psychotic disorders.

Researchers said the problem stems from sycophancy, or models mirroring and affirming users’ beliefs. Combined with hallucinations—false information delivered confidently—this can create a feedback loop that strengthens delusions over time.

“Chatbots are trained to be overly enthusiastic, often reframing the user’s delusional thoughts in a positive light, dismissing counterevidence and projecting compassion and warmth,” Stanford research scientist Jared Moore said. “This can be destabilizing to a user who is primed for delusion.”

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April 27, 2026