Odd News // 4 weeks ago
Logan Paul’s rare Pokémon card auctioned for record-breaking $16M
Feb. 16 (UPI) — A rare Pokémon card famously owned by online celebrity-turned WWE wrestler Logan Paul was auctioned for a record-breaking $16,492,000.
Author: rb809rb
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Jane Fonda Wishes She Delivered Robert Redford Oscars Tribute Instead of Barbra Streisand: “I Have More to Say”
Jane Fonda is playfully teasing Barbra Streisand, who attended the 2026 Oscars to pay tribute to her late co-star and friend Robert Redford.
“I want to know how come Streisand was up there doing that for Redford?” Fonda quipped during an interview with Entertainment Tonight at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Sunday night. “She only made one movie with him; I made four! I have more to say.”
Streisand took to the stage during the award show’s In Memoriam segment to honor Redford, who died in September last year at age 89. During her emotional tribute, the legendary singer performed a section of “The Way We Were,” the title track of Sydney Pollack’s 1973 romantic drama, which starred Redford and Streisand.
“Now, Bob had real backbone on and off the screen,” the Funny Girl actress also said of the late actor in her speech. “He spoke up to defend freedom of the press, protect the environment and encouraged new voices at his Sundance Institute — some of whom are up for Oscars tonight, which is so great. He was thoughtful and bold. I called him an intellectual cowboy who blazed his own trail. … I miss him now more than ever, even though he loved teasing me.”
While the 80 for Brady actress didn’t get to deliver her own tribute during the Oscars telecast, she took a moment while chatting with ET to share a few heartfelt words about Redford.
“I was always in love with him,” Fonda said with a laugh. “The most gorgeous human being and such great values. And he did a lot for movies, he really changed movies, lifted up independent movies.”
Redford and Fonda were frequent collaborators throughout their respective careers, having co-starred in 1960’s The Tall Story, 1966’s The Chase, 1967’s Barefoot in the Park and 2017’s Our Souls at Night.
At the time of the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid star’s death, both Fonda and Streisand took to their respective Instagram accounts to remember the actor.
“Bob made a real difference in all good ways,” Fonda wrote in part. “He represented an America we must now fight to protect. He revolutionized independent film making and made us swoon in so many movies. I am very sad today. Cried all morning. But luckily I can think back on so many joyful, laughter-filled moments when his practical jokes would crack me up. I feel so lucky to have made one of his first big movies with him, Barefoot in the Park (I fell madly in love with him on that one) and his last (the aforementioned Souls at Night).”
Streisand shared at the time, “Every day on the set of The Way We Were was exciting, intense and pure joy. We were such opposites: he was from the world of horses; I was allergic to them! Yet, we kept trying to find out more about each other, just like the characters in the movie. Bob was charismatic, intelligent, intense, always interesting — and one of the finest actors ever. The last time I saw him, when he came to lunch, we discussed art and decided to send each other our first drawings. He was one of a kind and I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him.”
The 98th Academy Awards, hosted by O’Brien, were held on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. Find the full list of winners here, and check out the red carpet arrivals.
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Custom Prenups, Liposuction and Luxury Vacations: What’s Inside “Everyone Wins” Nominee Gift Bags
Distinctive Assets — the L.A.-based entertainment marketing company founded by Lash Fary and credited for hosting the official Grammy Awards backstage gifting lounge — makes sure that there are no sore losers at the end of awards season.
The company distributes “Everyone Wins” nominee gift bags to 25 lucky nominees from the acting and directing categories (though the effort is not affiliated with the Academy in any way), including stars like Michael B. Jordan, Timothee Chalamet, Emma Stone, Jessie Buckley, Teyana Taylor, Rose Byrne, Elle Fanning, Jacob Elordi and more. The gifts are “in no way based on need,” Fary is quick to point out, adding that they simply want to add a little pizzazz to the times.
“We are acknowledging these amazing nominees while elevating and showcasing small businesses, minority-owned brands, female entrepreneurs and companies that give back at a time when everyone can use a little more fun and frivolity,” said Fary.
That “fun” is estimated at around $350,000 in value as the bags are filled with a variety of luxe vacations, pricey products and makeover services like smile upgrades and body-sculpting liposuction. Per Fary, more than $200,000 of the value comes from trips including one offer for a luxury Costa Rican villa experience from Essence of Dreams.
Other highlights: Japanese-made luggage sets from Asia Luggage, Danucera Sculpt & Lift waitlisted facial at Rescue Spa, Dr. Simi x Farmacias Similares multivitamins and flavored wellness gummies, nutritional products from Glymate, HydroJug Travelers, comfort slides from OOFOS, body-sculpting liposuction experience from ArtLipo, Ballet’s cryptocurrency storage, Beboe cannabis products, remedies from Beekeeper’s Naturals, a smile makeover package from Beverly Hills Dental Arts, a super villa experience in Ibiza for up to 16 guests from Can Nemo, THC-microdosed liquid packets from Cann Social Tonics, a residential interior design package from CBespoke, self-care spa experience from DESUAR, an electric flosser from Flaus, a seven-day retreat at Golden Door, a GROHE Euphoria 140 shower head, arctic villa getaway with views of the Northern Lights from Hideout Villas, skincare from the Swiss brand INSTYTUTUM, a portrait experience from LIGHT MVMNT STUDIO, small batch handcrafted Suavecito Añejo Tequila, Supergoop! SPF, a custom prenuptial agreement from Trusted Prenup and divorce attorney Jim Sexton, facial rejuvenation procedures from plastic surgeon Dr. Konstantin Vasyukevich, Vital Proteins collagen peptides and more.
“The ‘Everyone Wins’ Gift Bag has become known as the ultimate consolation prize. Win or lose, the nominees have touched our lives with their incredible performances and artistry. This is a small token of our esteem that we hope will be enjoyed and shared,” offered Fary.
A look at the contents inside Distinctive Assets’ “Everyone Wins” nominee gift bag for 2026. “The ‘Everyone Wins’ gift bag has become known as the ultimate consolation prize,” said Fary.
Credit: Olivia Rakowski of LIGHT MVMNT STUDIO/Courtesy of Distinctive Assets
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Trump seeks to delay meeting with China’s Xi by ‘month or so’ amid Iran war
The US president delays March 31-April 2 trip to China to focus on the escalating war against Iran.
Published On 16 Mar 2026
United States President Donald Trump says he is seeking to delay a highly anticipated trip to China in early April by about a month because of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
“We’ve requested that we delay it a month or so,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.
“There’s no tricks to it either,” he added. “It’s very simple. We’ve got a war going on. I think it’s important that I be here.”
China’s embassy in Washington, DC, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump’s requested delay in his scheduled March 31-April 2 trip to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping underscores how the Iran war has upended his foreign policy agenda.
It also risks magnifying tensions between Washington and Beijing, as the war on Iran has joined trade and Taiwan as among the spectrum of issues separating the world’s two biggest economies.
“The president looks forward to visiting China,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
“The dates may be moved. As commander-in-chief, it’s his number-one priority right now to ensure the continued success of this Operation Epic Fury. So we’ll keep you posted on the dates as soon as we can.”
Tensions in the Middle East have escalated since the US and Israel launched a large-scale attack on Iran on February 28, killing more than 1,200 people, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
On Sunday, Trump told The Financial Times he might postpone the meeting if China does not help unblock the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran says is closed to US and Israeli-linked vessels.
Trump has called on numerous nations, including China, to help ships safely cross the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil usually transits. Trump’s request has been largely rebuffed so far. China, which imported about 12 million barrels of oil per day in the first two months of 2026, the most in the world, has not directly responded to his request.
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said earlier on Monday that Trump may need to delay the trip due to coordinating the war effort, not because of China’s unresponsiveness to Trump’s request or because of any trade disagreements.
“The president wants to remain in DC to coordinate the war effort,” Bessent said. “Traveling abroad at a time like this may not be optimal.”
Bessent made the comments from Paris, where he had travelled for trade negotiations with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.
In the talks, which began on Sunday, the Chinese showed openness to potential additional purchases of US agricultural goods, including poultry, beef and non-soya bean row crops, one source said before the second day of meetings.
They also discussed the flow of rare earth minerals, largely controlled by China, and new approaches to managing trade and investment between the countries.
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Middle East Broadcaster MBC Group Posts 28.5% Revenue Jump as Streaming Side Expands
Leading Middle East broadcaster MBC Group reported a 28.5% year-on-year increase in revenue to SR 5.4 billion ($1.43 billion) for the full fiscal year 2025, and an 8.1% yearly net profit to SR 437.5 million ($116.66 million) boosted by double-digit growth of its Shahid streaming service.
MBC, which besides Shahid operates 19 free-to-air channels across the Middle East and North Africa, came under direct Saudi ownership last September when Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) acquired a 54% stake for roughly $2 billion.
In a statement, MBC Group chairman Waleed Al Ibrahim called the deal, under which PIF has become its majority shareholder, “a defining milestone in the Group’s evolution, reinforcing alignment with national priorities and establishing a stable, long-term ownership framework anchored in the Kingdom’s long-term economic vision.” He also said the group’s 2025 results reflect “the strength and resilience of our operating model and the relevance of our assets across broadcasting, digital platforms and production.”
MBC’s Broadcasting and Other Commercial Activities (BOCA) segment, which is its largest earner, saw revenues of SR2.83 billion ($750 million) in 2025, an increase of 16.8% year-on-year. But BOCA net profit dropped to SR492.9 million ($131 million) in 2025 from SR533.2 million ($ 142 million) in 2024, “partly due to non-core content write-downs and the absence of non-recurring income recorded the previous year,” the statement said.
Shahid, which in 2025 benefited from a password-sharing crackdown and a groundbreaking bundling deal with Netflix, delivered a 28.2% year-on-year revenue rise to SAR 1.38 million ($360,000) supported by unspecified subscriber growth across the MENA region and in international markets.
On the production side, MBC Studios had a prolific scripted and unscripted slate throughout the year, boosting its position as the region’s leading content producer. A significant portion of its 2025 slate was produced in Saudi Arabia. Key productions included Arabic adaptations of “The Voice” and “Top Chef,” as well as Pan-Arab series “Aser,” “Al Dariya,” “Trad,” “Aysheen Ma’Ana” and “Share’ Al A’sha.” MBC were also among the producers of Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s Oscar-nominated feature “The Voice of Hind Rajab.”
“Despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, our business continues to demonstrate the resilience of our operating model as we manage with discipline while investing selectively in content and platform,” said MBC Group CEO Mike Sneesby in the statement. “With strong audience momentum entering Ramadan and a more integrated operating model now in place, we remain well positioned to navigate near-term uncertainty while delivering sustainable long-term value.”
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Etherfuse Launches Low-Cost Dollar-Peso FX
Etherfuse, a blockchain infrastructure company focused on tokenized bonds, has launched Etherfuse FX, a new platform for fast currency conversion between US dollars and Mexican pesos. The company says the system can reduce conversion costs by up to 90% for businesses that regularly move money between the United States and Mexico.
For Mexican peso exposure, the system uses tokenized CETES, short-term government treasury bonds issued by Mexico. According to the company, this structure is designed to provide the type of asset backing familiar to institutional finance while improving transaction speed and efficiency.
The solution is aimed at companies that frequently work with multiple currencies. This includes remittance services, payment processors, B2B software providers, and import-export businesses operating between the US and Mexico.
Businesses can connect to Etherfuse FX through standard APIs that integrate with existing payment and accounting systems. The company says most integrations can be completed within two to three weeks.
Image: Freepik
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No, MAGA is not divided on the Iran war
Sometimes, journalists indulge in myths and delusions they claim to decry.
This grating inclination has been on almost giddy display in the still evolving aftermath of United States President Donald Trump’s rash decision to join Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in launching a war with Iran.
Like falling dominoes, a “narrative” gathered momentum among the America’s “progressive” commentariat, insisting that Trump’s order to go to war offended large swaths of the MAGA movement and set off a seismic split in his ardent base.
It is a silly myth and a seductive delusion.
Sure, a handful of familiar MAGA personalities have grumbled that another Middle East conflict betrays the “America First” pledge that helped propel Trump back to the White House.
Conservative commentator Megyn Kelly has questioned whether the US is drifting, yet again, into an endless war without purpose or meaning. Podcaster Joe Rogan has talked about the conflict’s disastrous, unintended consequences. Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has warned that the unprovoked attack could trigger chaos across an already volatile region.
Trump, of course, parried the backlash with trademark coarseness. He lashed out. He dismissed the naysayers. He mocked allies who briefly turned detractors.
Headlines blared that a domestic quarrel threatened to engulf his MAGA disciples in a “civil war.”
The idea that MAGA has fractured is fantasy. Disquiet is not rupture. Dissent is not rebellion.
The MAGA “movement” is not a conventional coalition held together by consensus around a coherent, considered set of principles or policies.
MAGA remains what it has always been: a political phenomenon built to burnish one man’s ego and narcissism. As long as that man is Trump, the “movement” bends to his designs and whims. It adjusts; and, inevitably, snaps back into loyal line.
That loyalty remains the movement’s signature force.
For nearly a decade, Trump has tested its limits. He has weathered scandals that would have devoured most politicians. Two impeachments. Criminal convictions. A litany of controversies, including his close and lengthy friendship with the architect of a worldwide sex trafficking ring, the notorious paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.
Through it all, MAGA has, if anything, tightened its loving embrace of Trump.
The notion that a fraternal dispute over foreign policy would shatter the vice-like bond is absurd. That bond is emotion. It is visceral.
For his embittered supporters, Trump is the embodiment of grievance-fuelled defiance. He is a charismatic champion against enemies in Washington — the gilded establishment, the media, the global order who treats them with derision and contempt.
Within that parochial framework, Trump’s actions at home and abroad are filtered through the prism of fidelity. When Trump unleashes a war that he once opposed, his devout followers accept his shifting rationales — however obtuse or contradictory. They believe he sees threats others ignore. They believe he acts when others hesitate.
Indeed, polls confirm their steadfast confidence in Trump’s judgement and his enduring appeal.
The Republican Party has always harboured different instincts. Some supporters lean towards isolationism. Others favour aggressive displays of the America’s unparalleled power.
While there may be hints of unease among Republicans about the prospect of a long, costly war with Iran, that unease has not led, and likely will not lead, to a broad revolt anytime soon.
Trump’s standing within the Republican Party remains strong. His approval among Republican voters remains high. They trust him.
That trust trumps the simmering doubts raised by a small, albeit prominent, slice of MAGA fawning pundits and a few recalcitrant members of Congress.
Kelly knows it. Rogan knows it. Carlson knows it.
The trio understands that they operate inside a MAGA universe fashioned and controlled by Trump. Their popularity and influence depend on staying there. They know the defining rule of Trump’s gravitational pull: stray too far and you will be cast out.
Predictably, Carlson avoided escalation.
Instead, he declared his allegiance. He made plain that he still “loves” Trump. He reminded listeners that Trump had reshaped American politics.
Kelly and Rogan may question the risks and dangers of war, but neither would wage a sustained attack on the president. Neither would dare tell Trump’s loyalists to abandon him.
A fleeting disagreement over Trump’s reckless adventure in Iran will not translate into a lasting break.
Even the most high-profile MAGA hucksters recognise that confronting Trump invites retribution and disaster. Their audiences overlap. Their reach thrives in the same ideological ecosystem.
Picking an ultimately losing fight with the ecosystem’s vengeful anchor is rarely good business.
So, MAGA is, at the moment, experiencing a touch of turbulence. It will pass.
Which is why the constant search by establishment media for a dramatic MAGA schism keeps producing the standard result.
Nothing much changes.
Every time Trump sparks outrage, the same prediction appears. This time, the base will rebel. This time, the coalition will splinter.
This forecast is a tired ritual. It ignores the fundamental nature of the MAGA compact. That connection is not rooted in briefs or blueprints. It is a secular religion where the leader is never wrong.
Myopic scribes mistake a fracas for a collapse. They see tension and hope for a divorce. The believers are not preoccupied with the logistics of war or the mercurial logic of “America First”. They care about the man who gave them a voice.
Once the friction fades, the sceptics will retreat. They have nowhere else to go. The undeniable magnetism of Trump’s celebrity and command of MAGA reels most reluctant strays back.
To leave that agreeable orbit permanently is to vanish into irrelevance — a bleak fate for provocateurs who have forged lucrative careers amplifying Trump’s ignorance, intolerance, and fury.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
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You Can Control an AI Agent’s Crypto Spending With Ledger Hardware Wallets and MoonPay
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Teyana Taylor Confronts ‘Very Rude’ Man Who ‘Shoved’ Her at Oscars: ‘I Don’t Tolerate Disrespect, Especially When It’s Unwarranted and Unprovoked’
“One Battle After Another” star Teyana Taylor had an argument at the Oscars with a man she claims shoved her. In a viral video, the best supporting actress nominee is seen scolding a man in a crowd of people.
“You’re a man putting your hands on a female,” she says in the video, then repeatedly tells the man that he’s “very rude.” She told someone next to her that “he literally shoved me” and “he damn near shoved” another woman.
“Everybody’s having a good time. But when you shove me, it’s a different story,” Taylor explains to a woman next to her. “Do not touch me, do not shove me.”
TMZ spoke with Taylor later in the night, and she explained that the man was a security guard but the situation is “all good.”
“Security was just doing a lot,” she said. “There’s always that one, but I’m perfectly fine. I’m happy. There’s nothing to wonder. The first thing people do is definitely make assumptions. But at the end of the day I just don’t tolerate disrespect, especially when it’s unwarranted and unprovoked.”
Taylor lost the best supporting actress category to “Weapons” star Amy Madigan, but “One Battle After Another” was the big winner at the Oscars, taking home a leading six awards. The Paul Thomas Anderson film won best picture, director, casting, adapted screenplay, editing and supporting actor for Sean Penn. In addition to her Oscar nomination, Taylor also picked up supporting actress nods at the Actor Awards, BAFTAs, Critics Choice and won at the Golden Globes.
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For Trump’s FCC Chairman, Trolling Liberals Is the Point in His Threat to Pull Licenses of TV Networks That Air ‘Fake News’ About Iran War
Over the weekend, Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed FCC chair, scored another win in an area he seems to believe is a key part of his job: rage-baiting the libs.
Carr on Saturday posted a message on X that he knew would stir outrage on the left. He strongly implied the FCC would not renew licenses of broadcasters that perpetrated “hoaxes and news distortions” in their coverage of the Trump administration’s Iran war. Carr quoted Trump’s complaint about media reports that five U.S. Air Force plans were struck and damaged at a base in Saudi Arabia by an Iranian missile strike.
“Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions — also known as the fake news — have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up,” Carr wrote on March 14. “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”
Carr continued: “And frankly, changing course is in their own business interests since trust in legacy media has now fallen to an all time low of just 9% and are ratings disasters. The American people have subsidized broadcasters to the tune of billions of dollars by providing free access to the nation’s airwaves. It is very important to bring trust back into media, which has earned itself the label of fake news.”
Never mind that the news about the five damaged Air Force planes was first reported by the Wall Street Journal — a news outlet the FCC has no jurisdiction over. Forget for a moment that the FCC does not regulate national TV networks or their news programming: The agency has the narrow authority to license local broadcast stations. Also, disregard the reality that any charge the FCC lodged against a local broadcast company about alleged “news distortion” would be tied up in bureaucratic proceedings for months or even years — before it even reached a court, where it would be presumably vigorously challenged, as explained in this CNN article.
Meanwhile, the FCC’s “news distortion” rule is inarguably outdated. It was first adopted in 1949, when broadcast radio and TV were dominant gatekeepers in the distribution of news. Today, that is certainly not the case. And “broadcast” networks today are multiplatform publishers — whatever they publish and stream on the internet is not even under the FCC’s direct authority. (Note that “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” released its interview with Texas State Rep. James Talarico on YouTube after CBS didn’t broadcast it on local TV airwaves because the network’s lawyers feared retribution from Carr’s FCC over the “equal time” rule — resulting in the Talarico interview receiving massive views.)
So why is Carr, who knows all of this, putting forth a straw-man argument threatening unspecified broadcasters about unspecified “fake news” reports, as determined by Carr’s perception of what that means?
Carr is doing this kind of saber-rattling, even if it amounts to empty threats, to provoke those on the left into frothy outrage over government censorship — and thereby reinforce the narrative that he and the FCC are doing their job to reshape media coverage in a way that discourages what the MAGA-sphere sees as left-wing bias. Carr revels in the characterization that he is Trump’s “attack dog” against the media.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was among those who took Carr’s bait. “Constitutional law 101: it’s illegal for the government to censor free speech it just doesn’t like about Trump’s Iran war. This threat is straight out of the authoritarian playbook,” she wrote Saturday on X.
In response, Carr again adopted the posture that he’s not censoring anybody and that he isn’t against free speech — he’s just against “fake news,” and he’s just doing his job to hold spectrum licensees accountable to the “public interest” standard. Carr, replying to Warren, wrote, “No one has a First Amendment right to a license or to monopolize a radio frequency; to deny a station license because ‘the public interest’ requires it ‘is not a denial of free speech,’” citing a Supreme Court decision quoting its 1943 ruling in NBC v. United States. Does broadcasting news that five U.S. planes were damaged by an Iranian attack run counter to “the public interest”? Carr suggests that it is because the president claims it’s false.
“The Left Explodes after Carr Warns Broadcasters about ‘Hoaxes and News Distortions,’” says the headline on the Monday edition of Policyband, penned by longtime D.C. communications policy watcher Ted Hearn. Undoubtedly, this is just the sort of things Carr was hoping for.
Of course, it’s another case of a Trump appointee catering to an audience of one: Donald Trump.
Trump, in a post Sunday on Truth Social, gave an atta-boy to Carr about the FCC chairman’s threat to rescind the licenses of “fake news” broadcasters — and for good measure he threw in a jab at another favorite target, late-night TV hosts.
“I am so thrilled to see Brendan Carr, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), looking at the licenses of some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic ‘News’ Organizations,” Trump wrote. “They get Billions of Dollars of FREE American Airwaves, and use it to perpetuate LIES, both in News and almost all of their Shows, including the Late Night Morons, who get gigantic Salaries for horrible Ratings, and never get, as I used to say in The Apprentice, ‘FIRED.’”
Trump claimed that “The five U.S. Refueling Planes that were supposedly struck down and badly damaged, according to The Wall Street Journal’s false reporting, and others, are all in service, with the exception of one, which will soon be flying the skies.” (The Journal did not report that the planes were “struck down”; it said they were “struck and damaged.”)
Trump also alleged that “Iran, working in close coordination with the Fake News Media,” produced and distributed AI-generated imagery showing the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier “burning uncontrollably in the Ocean. Not only was it not burning, it was not even shot at — Iran knows better than to do that!” Trump didn’t indicate which news outlets were allegedly guilty of falsely reporting that; it is unclear whether any U.S. outlet did inaccurately report that the carrier had been hit as initially suggested by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Navy. But, Trump said, “those Media Outlets that generated it should be brought up on Charges for TREASON for the dissemination of false information!”