How Biden Reluctantly Agreed to Send Tanks to Ukraine

WASHINGTON — President Biden’s announcement Wednesday that he would send M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine came after weeks of tense back-channel negotiations with the chancellor of Germany and other European leaders, who insisted that the only way to unlock a flow of heavy European arms was for the United States to send tanks of its own.

His decision, however reluctant, now paves the way for German-made Leopard 2 tanks to be delivered to Ukraine in two or three months, provided by several European nations. While it is unclear whether it will make a decisive difference in the spring offensive that President Volodymyr Zelensky is now planning to take back territory seized by Russia, it is the latest in a series of gradual escalations that has inched the United States and its NATO allies closer to direct conflict with Russia.

Twitch open letter provides 2023 monetization roadmap

Twitch, the leading gaming livestreaming platform, released a letter to layout it’s roadmap for new monetization features in 2023. The open letter was penned by Tom Verrilli, chief product officer at Twitch, and Mike Minton, Twitch’s chief monetization officer.

These platform-wide improvements are designed to help streamers monetize effectively, boost discoverability, decrease the intrusiveness of ads and build community on and off the platform.

TMZ Investigates: Lisa Marie Presley’s Life and Death Special coming soon

Fox has released a first look at the upcoming special, “TMZ Investigates: Lisa Marie Presley: Unending Tragedy,” which premieres Jan. 30 at 8 p.m. PT on the network. The all-new special will look into the death of Lisa Marie Presley, the musician and only child of Elvis Presley, who died on Jan. 12 at the age […]

Billionaire friend of Putin’s daughter defied sanctions to import world’s finest wines into Russia

A friend of Vladimir Putin’s daughter managed to import bottles of the world’s most expensive wines into Russia last year despite Western sanctions, according to public filings.

Pharmaceutical billionaire Alexey Repik’s company Ryatiko brought in ten bottles of Henri Jayer wine, which fetched £184,000 a bottle at a Christie’s auction in 2020.

Roger Ailes Accuser Sues Fox News and Trump’s Ex-Comms Director

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

A former Fox News employee who previously came forward with sickening accusations of sexual servitude against Roger Ailes is suing the network, its parent company, and a former producer who worked in the Trump White House.

Laura Luhn, who in 2021 told The Daily Beast that Fox’s lawyers were trying to intimidate her, filed her lawsuit Wednesday in New York state court, detailing the decades of sexual abuse and assault she says she suffered under the late Fox executive.

“Ailes’s abuse of Luhn was among the worst he inflicted on his many victims,” the complaint says. “At their very first encounter, Ailes set the stage by blackmailing Luhn and taking videos of her performing coerced sex acts. He physically forced Luhn to perform oral sex on him regularly. And he constantly reminded Luhn that he ‘owned’ her, that she was his ‘sex slave,’ and that she was forbidden from telling anyone about the abuse or he would make her pay dearly.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here

Update: ‘Squid Game’ Reality Show Players Weren’t Seriously Injured in Cold Weather, Netflix Says

Feature China/Future Publishing via Getty Images

While in the midst of producing Squid Game: The Challenge, its reality competition series spinoff of the narrative dystopian hit Squid Game, Netflix has been forced to address reports of participants suffering under freezing conditions while filming in the UK, Deadline reports.

On Tuesday, The Sun reported that some of the 456 participants in the first game being filmed for the reality series, “Red Light, Green Light,” had to be stretchered off the playing field. Others, according to one anonymous player, “left in tears” due to filming in 27-degree weather.

“It was like a war zone,” one player told The Sun. “Even if hypothermia kicked in then people were willing to stay for as long as possible because a lot of money was on the line,” another said. “Too many were determined not to move, so they stood there for far too long.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Scientists Created a Real-Life T-1000 Terminator That Melts on Command

Photo Illustration by Erin O’Flynn/The Daily Beast/Getty Images

How is real life like the plot of the movie Terminator 2? Let me count the ways.

A scarily powerful artificial intelligence based on a neural network? Check.

Humanity as close as it’s ever been to an apocalypse? Check.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here