Express Boxes Introduces DIY Custom Box Tool with 12 Base Styles and Expert Approval ProcessPlayers must be assigned female at birth or have transitioned to female before going through male puberty to compete in LPGA tournaments or the eight USGA championships for females under new gender policies published Wednesday. The policies, which begin in 2025, follow more than a year of study involving medicine, science, sport physiology and gender policy law. The updated policies would rule out eligibility for Hailey Davidson, who missed qualifying for the U.S. Women's Open this year by one shot and came up short in LPGA Q-school. Davidson, who turned 32 on Tuesday, began hormone treatments when she was in her early 20s in 2015 and in 2021 underwent gender-affirming surgery, which was required under the LPGA's previous gender policy. She had won this year on a Florida mini-tour called NXXT Golf until the circuit announced in March that players had to be assigned female at birth. “Can't say I didn't see this coming,” Davidson wrote Wednesday on an Instagram story. “Banned from the Epson and the LPGA. All the silence and people wanting to stay ‘neutral’ thanks for absolutely nothing. This happened because of all your silence.” LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who is resigning in January, said the new gender policy "is reflective of an extensive, science-based and inclusive approach." By making it to the second stage of Q-school, Davidson would have had very limited status on the Epson Tour, the pathway to the LPGA. The LPGA and USGA say their policies were geared toward being inclusive of gender identities and expression while striving for equity in competition. The LPGA said its working group of experts advised that the effects of male puberty allowed for competitive advantages in golf compared with players who had not gone through puberty. “Our policy is reflective of an extensive, science-based and inclusive approach,” said LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who announced Monday that she is resigning in January. "The policy represents our continued commitment to ensuring that all feel welcome within our organization, while preserving the fairness and competitive equity of our elite competitions.” Mike Whan, the former LPGA commissioner and now CEO of the USGA, said it developed the updated policy independently and later discovered it was similar to those used by swimming, track and field, and other sports. United States Golf Association CEO Mike Whan said the new policy will prevent anyone from having "a competitive advantage based on their gender." “It starts with competitive fairness as the North star,” Whan said in a telephone interview. “We tried not to get into politics, or state by state or any of that stuff. We just simply said, ‘Where would somebody — at least medically today — where do we believe somebody would have a competitive advantage in the field?’ And we needed to draw a line. “We needed to be able to walk into any women's event and say with confidence that nobody here has a competitive advantage based on their gender. And this policy delivers that.” The “Competitive Fairness Gender Policy” for the USGA takes effect for the 2025 championship season that starts with the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball on May 10-14. Qualifying began late this year, though there were no transgender players who took part. “Will that change in the years to come as medicine changes? Probably,” Whan said. “But I think today this stacks up.” The LPGA “Gender Policy for Competition Eligibility” would apply to the LPGA Tour, Epson Tour, Ladies European Tour and qualifying for the tours. Players assigned male at birth must prove they have not experienced any part of puberty beyond the first stage or after age 12, whichever comes first, and then meet limitation standards for testosterone levels. The LPGA begins its 75th season on Jan. 30 with the Tournament of Champions in Orlando, Florida. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, foreground right, dives toward the end zone to score past San Francisco 49ers defensive end Robert Beal Jr. (51) and linebacker Dee Winters during the second half of an NFL football game in Orchard Park, N.Y., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus) Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green goes up for a dunk during the second half of an Emirates NBA cup basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) Mari Fukada of Japan falls as she competes in the women's Snowboard Big Air qualifying round during the FIS Snowboard & Freeski World Cup 2024 at the Shougang Park in Beijing, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) LSU punter Peyton Todd (38) kneels in prayer before an NCAA college football game against Oklahoma in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. LSU won 37-17. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) South Africa's captain Temba Bavuma misses a catch during the fourth day of the first Test cricket match between South Africa and Sri Lanka, at Kingsmead stadium in Durban, South Africa, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe) Los Angeles Kings left wing Warren Foegele, left, trips San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini, center, during the third period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Nov. 25, 2024, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez) Olympiacos' Francisco Ortega, right, challenges for the ball with FCSB's David Miculescu during the Europa League league phase soccer match between FCSB and Olympiacos at the National Arena stadium, in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) Brazil's Botafogo soccer fans react during the Copa Libertadores title match against Atletico Mineiro in Argentina, during a watch party at Nilton Santos Stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado) Seattle Kraken fans react after a goal by center Matty Beniers against the San Jose Sharks was disallowed due to goaltender interference during the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Seattle. The Sharks won 4-2. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) New York Islanders left wing Anders Lee (27), center, fight for the puck with Boston Bruins defensemen Parker Wotherspoon (29), left, and Brandon Carlo (25), right during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) Jiyai Shin of Korea watches her shot on the 10th hole during the final round of the Australian Open golf championship at the Kingston Heath Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake) Lara Gut-Behrami, of Switzerland, competes during a women's World Cup giant slalom skiing race, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Killington, Vt. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin cools off during first period of an NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) Brazil's Amanda Gutierres, second right, is congratulated by teammate Yasmin, right, after scoring her team's first goal during a soccer international between Brazil and Australia in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Pat Hoelscher) Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers (89) tries to leap over Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Joshua Williams (2) during the first half of an NFL football game in Kansas City, Mo., Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga) Gold medalists Team Netherlands competes in the Team Sprint Women race of the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Beijing 2024 held at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones (33) reaches for an incomplete pass ahead of Arizona Cardinals linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. (2) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) Melanie Meillard, center, of Switzerland, competes during the second run in a women's World Cup slalom skiing race, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Killington, Vt. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) South Carolina guard Maddy McDaniel (1) drives to the basket against UCLA forward Janiah Barker (0) and center Lauren Betts (51) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer) Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, left, is hit by Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey, center, as Eagles wide receiver Parris Campbell (80) looks on during a touchdown run by Barkley in the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough) Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland competes in the women's Freeski Big Air qualifying round during the FIS Snowboard & Freeski World Cup 2024 at the Shougang Park in Beijing, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) Luiz Henrique of Brazil's Botafogo, right. is fouled by goalkeeper Everson of Brazil's Atletico Mineiro inside the penalty area during a Copa Libertadores final soccer match at Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) England's Alessia Russo, left, and United States' Naomi Girma challenge for the ball during the International friendly women soccer match between England and United States at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Sent weekly directly to your inbox!Remembering Manmohan Singh: Architect Of India's Economic Liberalisation

Gemma Atkinson shares dose of Christmas reality with 'five fights' as she tells Gorka Marquez to 'keep trying'Inflation is predicted to average 2.5% this year and 2.6% next year, according to forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility. The British Medical Association said the Government showed a “poor grasp” of unresolved issues from two years of industrial action, and the Royal College of Nursing called the pay recommendation “deeply offensive”. The National Education Union’s chief said teachers were “putting the Government on notice” that the proposed increase “won’t do”. The pay recommendations came after Chancellor Rachel Reeves called for every Government department to cut costs by 5%, as she started work on a sweeping multi-year spending review to be published in 2025. Independent pay review bodies will consider the proposals for pay rises for teachers, NHS workers and senior civil servants. The Department of Health said it viewed 2.8% as a “reasonable amount” to set aside, in its recommendations to the NHS Pay Review Body and the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration Board remit groups. A 2.8% pay rise for teachers in 2025/26 would “maintain the competitiveness of teachers’ pay despite the challenging financial backdrop the Government is facing”, the Department for Education said. The Cabinet Office also suggested pay increases for senior civil servants should be kept to no more than 2.8%. Paul Johnson, director of the influential economics think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), said it was “not a bad ballpark figure” and feels “just about affordable” given the Government’s public spending plans. The downside, he said, is that public sector workers have lost out since 2010 and unions will be upset that this is not making up the gap, he told Sky News’ Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge. “But given the constraints facing the Chancellor I think it’s pretty hard to argue for more for public sector pay when public sector services ... are under real strain,” he said. Unions expressed their disappointment in the recommendations, with some hinting they could be willing to launch industrial action. The Royal College of Nursing general secretary and chief executive called for “open direct talks now” to avoid “further escalation to disputes and ballots”. Professor Nicola Ranger said: “The Government has today told nursing staff they are worth as little as £2 extra a day, less than the price of a coffee. “Nursing is in crisis – there are fewer joining and too many experienced professionals leaving. This is deeply offensive to nursing staff, detrimental to their patients and contradictory to hopes of rebuilding the NHS. “The public understands the value of nursing and they know that meaningful reform of the NHS requires addressing the crisis in nursing. “We pulled out of the Pay Review Body process, alongside other unions, because it is not the route to address the current crisis. “That has been demonstrated today. “Fair pay must be matched by structural reform. Let’s open direct talks now and avoid further escalation to disputes and ballots – I have said that directly to government today.” Professor Philip Banfield, chairman of the British Medical Association’s council, urged the sector’s pay review body to “show it is now truly independent”. “For this Government to give evidence to the doctors’ and dentists’ pay review body (DDRB) believing a 2.8% pay rise is enough, indicates a poor grasp of the unresolved issues from two years of industrial action,” he said. He said the proposal is far below the current rate of inflation and that the Government was “under no illusion” when doctors accepted pay offers in the summer that there was a “very real risk of further industrial action” if “pay erosion” was not addressed in future pay rounds. “This sub-inflationary suggestion from the current Government serves as a test to the DDRB. “The BMA expects it to take this opportunity to show it is now truly independent, to take an objective view of the evidence it receives from all parties, not just the Government, and to make an offer that reflects the value of doctors’ skills and expertise in a global market, and that moves them visibly further along the path to full pay restoration.” The NEU’s general secretary, Daniel Kebede, said teachers’ pay had been cut by more than one-fifth in real terms since 2010. “Along with sky-high workload, the pay cuts have resulted in a devastating recruitment and retention crisis. Teacher shortages across the school system hit pupils and parents too. “A 2.8% increase is likely to be below inflation and behind wage increases in the wider economy. This will only deepen the crisis in education.” In a hint that there could be a return to industrial action he added: “NEU members fought to win the pay increases of 2023 and 2024. “We are putting the Government on notice. Our members care deeply about education and feel the depth of the crisis. This won’t do.” The offer for teachers is the “exact opposite of fixing the foundations” and will result in bigger class sizes and more cuts to the curriculum, Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The inadequacy of the proposed pay award is compounded by the Government’s intention that schools should foot the bill out of their existing allocations. “Given that per-pupil funding will increase on average by less than 1% next year, and the Government’s proposal is for an unfunded 2.8% pay award, it is obvious that this is in fact an announcement of further school cuts.” Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said: This recommendation falls far short of what is needed to restore the competitiveness of the teaching profession, to enable it to retain experienced professionals and attract new talent. Unison head of health Helga Pile said: “The Government has inherited a financial mess from its predecessors, but this is not what NHS workers wanted to hear. “Staff are crucial in turning around the fortunes of the NHS. Improving performance is a key Government pledge, but the pay rise proposed is barely above the cost of living.”

Amid Republican interparty contention over H-1B visas and immigration policy, some misconceptions about workers' ability to change employers have been circulating, with some critics of the program likening it to indentured servitude. Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services media team for comment on Sunday. Why It Matters President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on a platform of cracking down on immigration and carrying out mass deportations, pledges supported by many of his loyalists. However, two top Trump advisers, Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk , who are set to co-lead the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), have a less strict stance on the issue, and their social media posts this week have caused blowback within the GOP. At the center of the debate is the H-1B visa program, which allows U.S. companies to employ foreign workers with specialized knowledge or expertise. Some critics of the program are calling it "indentured servitude" of foreign workers, saying that visa holders cannot change jobs. While changing jobs as a visa holder is more logistically challenging and expensive than it is for American citizens, it is possible if the proper paperwork is filed and approved. What To Know This week, Indian American entrepreneur and venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan's appointment as Trump's artificial intelligence (AI) policy adviser caused a stir among supporters, as has Ramaswamy's recent social media post calling out American work culture and Musk saying there aren't enough "super talented" engineers in the U.S. Ramaswamy's lengthy post on X, formerly Twitter , argued that tech companies need foreign workers because Americans don't have a good enough work ethic and that American culture "venerated mediocrity over excellence." For specialized foreign workers to legally work in the U.S., they must be sponsored by employers and approved. Tech companies, financial institutions, and universities are often the most frequent sponsors. In 2024, Amazon , Google , Meta and other major companies dominated the market, each receiving several thousand visas. Musk, a South African naturalized U.S. citizen and owner of SpaceX and Tesla , has professionally and personally benefitted from H-1B visas. He first entered the U.S. on a J-1 academic visa that he says changed to an H-1B visa. Tesla reportedly brought hundreds of employees to the U.S. through the program last year. The H-1B visa program provides temporary stay in the U.S. to specialized foreign workers. There is an annual cap of 65,000 new H-1B visas that can be issued. An "additional 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries with a master's degree or higher from a U.S. institution of higher education are exempt from the cap," according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Extensions and employment changes (like switching employers) are exempt from the annual cap in most cases. According to USCIS data, thousands more applications are filed and approved annually than the 65,000 cap, indicating numerous petitions for new employers and continuing employment extensions. Unlike the definition of indenture servitude, in which someone works for a single employer without pay, visa holders may change employers and are paid. However, visa holders face more obstacles when changing jobs compared to American citizens. Some critics of the program acknowledge that while visa holders can switch employers, they may be unable to secure a higher salary at a better company if the petition process is not approved, reiterating their concerns of "indentured servitude." Others note the limited mobility to the visa holders as they are tied to their sponsoring employers, and some have raised concerns over underpayment. H-1B visa holders can "begin working for the new employer as soon as they properly file a non-frivolous Form I-129 petition on your behalf, or as of the requested start date on that petition, whichever is later," USCIS states. However, they are not guaranteed their updated visa for their new employer will be approved. If a visa holder's petition from a new employer is denied, they may continue working for their previous employer if their authorization period is still valid. However, their "authorization to work based on portability ceases upon denial of the petition." Some visa holders may be laid off, fired, or choose to quit their jobs, in which case they have up to 60 days "or until the end of your authorized validity period, whichever is shorter, to find new employment, change status, or depart the country." As part of the employer's filing on behalf of the applicant, a Labor Condition Application must be included, certified by Department of Labor. The application requires the employer to acknowledge they will comply with labor requirements. One such requirement outlined by the USCIS is: "The employer/agent will pay the H-1B worker a wage which is no less than the wage paid to similarly qualified workers or, if greater, the prevailing wage for the position in the geographic area in which the H-1B worker will be working." What People Are Saying Sohrab Ahmari, an author and columnist, posted on X on Thursday: "It's indentured servitude for the visa recipients. And native-born workers won't do these jobs? Then why are they sometimes asked to train their own H1B replacements *before* they're laid off? Yes, this happens." Ann Coulter, a conservative commentator and author, posted on X on Thursday: "American workers can leave a company. Imported H1B workers can't. Tech wants indentured servants, not "high-skilled" workers." Conservative writer Ana Bredenberg replied to a post on X on Friday : "More indentured servitude with H 1B. The best has never ever come through on H 1B Visas. They come through O-1 Visas. You've been gaslighted." David Bier, director of immigration studies at the think tank Cato Institute, wrote in an April 2024 blog post: "From fiscal year 2005 to 2023, H‐1B workers changed jobs over 1 million times (1,090,890). The number of switches grew from about 24,000 in 2005 to a record 130,576 in 2022—a more than fivefold increase. In fiscal year 2023, H‐1B workers changed jobs 117,153 times, a slight decline from 2022." Later in the post he wrote, "Of course, it is true that H‐1B workers are still not treated equally in the labor market." What Happens Next As of Saturday, Trump has not publicly addressed interparty debates over H-1B visas. He will be inaugurated on January 20, after which the new administration will decide what, if any, changes will be made to the legal immigration process.Abortion has become slightly more common despite bans or deep restrictions in most Republican-controlled states, and the legal and political fights over its future are not over yet. It's now been two and a half years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and opened the door for states to implement bans. The policies and their impact have been in flux ever since the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Here's a look at data on where things stand: Overturning Roe and enforcing abortion bans has changed how woman obtain abortions in the U.S. But one thing it hasn't done is put a dent in the number of abortions being obtained. There have been slightly more monthly abortions across the country recently than there were in the months leading up to the June 2022 ruling, even as the number in states with bans dropped to near zero. “Abortion bans don’t actually prevent abortions from happening,” said Ushma Upadhyay, a public health social scientist at the University of California San Francisco. But, she said, they do change care. For women in some states, there are major obstacles to getting abortions — and advocates say that low-income, minority and immigrant women are least likely to be able to get them when they want. For those living in states with bans, the ways to access abortion are through travel or abortion pills. As the bans swept in, abortion pills became a bigger part of the equation. They were involved in about half the abortions before Dobbs. More recently, it’s been closer to two-thirds of them, according to research by the Guttmacher Institute. The uptick of that kind of abortion, usually involving a combination of two drugs, was underway before the ruling. But now, it's become more common for pill prescriptions to be made by telehealth. By the summer of 2024, about 1 in 10 abortions was via pills prescribed via telehealth to patients in states where abortion is banned. As a result, the pills are now at the center of battles over abortion access. This month, Texas sued a New York doctor for prescribing pills to a Texas woman via telemedicine. There's also an effort by Idaho, Kansas and Missouri to roll back their federal approvals and treat them as “controlled dangerous substances,” and a push for the federal government to start enforcing a 19th-century federal law to ban mailing them. Clinics have closed or halted abortions in states with bans. But a network of efforts to get women seeking abortions to places where they're legal has strengthened and travel for abortion is now common. The Guttmacher Institute found that more than twice as many Texas residents obtained abortion in 2023 in New Mexico as New Mexico residents did. And as many Texans received them in Kansas as Kansans. Abortion funds, which benefitted from “rage giving” in 2022, have helped pay the costs for many abortion-seekers. But some funds have had to cap how much they can give . Since the downfall of Roe, the actions of lawmakers and courts have kept shifting where abortion is legal and under what conditions. Here's where it stands now: Florida, the nation’s third most-populous state, began enforcing a ban on abortions after the first six weeks of pregnancy on May 1. That immediately changed the state from one that was a refuge for other Southerners seeking abortion to an exporter of people looking for them. There were about 30% fewer abortions there in May compared with the average for the first three months of the year. And in June, there were 35% fewer. While the ban is not unique, the impact is especially large. The average driving time from Florida to a facility in North Carolina where abortion is available for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy is more than nine hours, according to data maintained by Caitlin Myers, a Middlebury College economics professor. The bans have meant clinics closed or stopped offering abortions in some states. But some states where abortion remains legal until viability – generally considered to be sometime past 21 weeks of pregnancy , though there’s no fixed time for it – have seen clinics open and expand . Illinois, Kansas and New Mexico are among the states with new clinics. There were 799 publicly identifiable abortion providers in the U.S. in May 2022, the month before the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade. And by this November, it was 792, according to a tally by Myers, who is collecting data on abortion providers. But Myers says some hospitals that always provided some abortions have begun advertising it. So they’re now in the count of clinics – even though they might provide few of them. How hospitals handle pregnancy complications , especially those that threaten the lives of the women, has emerged as a major issue since Roe was overturned. President Joe Biden's administration says hospitals must offer abortions when they're needed to prevent organ loss, hemorrhage or deadly infections, even in states with bans. Texas is challenging the administration’s policy and the U.S. Supreme Court this year declined to take it up after the Biden administration sued Idaho. More than 100 pregnant women seeking help in emergency rooms and were turned away or left unstable since 2022, The Associated Press found in an analysis of federal hospital investigative records. Among the complaints were a woman who miscarried in the lobby restroom of Texas emergency room after staff refused to see her and a woman who gave birth in a car after a North Carolina hospital couldn't offer an ultrasound. The baby later died. “It is increasingly less safe to be pregnant and seeking emergency care in an emergency department,” Dara Kass, an emergency medicine doctor and former U.S. Health and Human Services official told the AP earlier this year. Since Roe was overturned, there have been 18 reproductive rights-related statewide ballot questions. Abortion rights advocates have prevailed on 14 of them and lost on four. In the 2024 election , they amended the constitutions in five states to add the right to abortion. Such measures failed in three states: In Florida, where it required 60% support; in Nebraska, which had competing abortion ballot measures; and in South Dakota, where most national abortion rights groups did support the measure. AP VoteCast data found that more than three-fifths of voters in 2024 supported abortion being legal in all or most cases – a slight uptick from 2020. The support came even as voters supported Republicans to control the White House and both houses of Congress. Associated Press writers Linley Sanders, Amanda Seitz and Laura Ungar contributed to this article.

Article content The dulcet tones of the “Dawson’s Creek” theme song are enough to get any millennial’s pulse racing, and when Joshua Jackson heard the chorus start playing during the Emmy Awards in September, he burst out laughing. He was walking onstage with Matt Bomer to present an award when Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want to Wait” started blasting through the speakers, and Jackson – one of the stars of the WB teen drama that ran from 1998 until 2003 – grinned broadly and shook his head as he arrived at the microphone. Recommended Videos “Ah, yes,” he said to the audience. “This song.” Clips of his charming reaction racked up millions of views on social media, with many comments noting that Jackson, 46, was “aging like fine wine.” Around the same time, Adam Brody sat for interviews where he was asked repeatedly about starring on “The O.C.,” the 2003-2007 Fox teen soap. Brody, 44, stammered adorably when the “Today” show hosts asked about a New York Times profile that said he had carved out a niche as a “Jewish heartthrob” since his “O.C.” days. Later, he good-naturedly responded to Jimmy Kimmel, who said the show’s fans were “thirsting” for Brody to return to TV: “Perhaps! Hopefully.” The actors were making the rounds to promote projects that, coincidentally, debuted on Sept. 26: Brody as a hot rabbi who falls in love with Kristen Bell in the Netflix romantic-comedy series “Nobody Wants This,” and Jackson as the alluring cruise ship doctor in the ABC medical drama “Doctor Odyssey.” Brody and Jackson have been successful working actors for years, but now we’ve arrived at a new point in a future that millennials maybe weren’t quite ready for, populated by middle-aged versions of old TV crushes. “Nobody Wants This” became a viral sensation and a boost to the rom-com genre, while “Doctor Odyssey” turned into a streaming hit laden with “Lost”-level conspiracy theories. Throw in Josh Hartnett, 46 (the star of movies such as 2002 sex comedy “40 Days and 40 Nights”), making a pivot as a serial killer in M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller “Trap,” and it was suddenly a perfect storm of nostalgia and memes that turbocharged another chapter in a current obsession with reliving the early aughts. Online, the reaction was focused on Brody and Jackson, mostly with wistfully excited posts: “Seeing Adam Brody and Joshua Jackson back on screen brings back so many memories of our favorite teen dramas. They really defined that era for us.” There were squabbles between age groups: “These two are GenX. You’re welcome to borrow them, but they must be returned to our shelf.” And perhaps most importantly, dreamy reminiscing: “One day, you’re a kid crushing on Joshua Jackson and Adam Brody’s fictional characters and the next thing you know, you’re an adult crushing on Joshua Jackson and Adam Brody’s fictional characters!” The word “renaissance” has been tossed around, like it always is, this time maybe as a Brodyssance. And it doesn’t hurt that they seem like nice guys in real life: Brody is married and has two children with “Gossip Girl” star Leighton Meester, making it the marriage of millennial dreams, while Jackson shares adorable anecdotes about the young daughter he co-parents with ex-wife Jodie Turner-Smith. Sharon Klein, the head of casting for Disney Entertainment Television (the company’s 20th Television produces “Nobody Wants This” and “Doctor Odyssey”), said the resurgence of these late 1990s and early 2000s stars sounds like a brilliant idea in hindsight, though it was not intentional. It’s a situation that just worked out quite well for everyone involved. Viewers are thrilled to see the evolution of Brody and Jackson into “true leading men,” Klein said, then added the obvious addendum: “sexy” leading men. (People magazine agreed, featuring them both in the Sexiest Man Alive issue this month.) “Both of these guys, ... not only are they exceptional actors, but they are incredible number ones now on a call sheet. They bring a sense of community to the set and confidence to their performances, which has come from working for 20, 25 years,” Klein said. “They are themselves, and I think people are connecting to that as much as anything.” These “icon teen fantasy guys” essentially grew up alongside their millennial fans, Klein said, and now they are all adults who share the same sense of sentimentality. Some actors do not like to be reminded of their first shows and would not find it funny if a producer played their old show’s theme song during a fancy awards show. “That’s what distinguishes these two guys: ... They both understand how to continue their audience, and they appreciate their audience,” Klein said. “I would say 90 percent of people who are still working who are successful actors do have that understanding – but not everybody. And these two in particular do.” “Dawson’s Creek” shaped ideas of high school romance and friendship for millions of students who ignored their homework Wednesday nights to watch the love triangles of small-town teens Dawson (James Van Der Beek), Joey (Katie Holmes) and Jen (Michelle Williams), along with Jackson, who played Pacey Witter. “The O.C.,” set in wealthy Southern California, had enormous influence on music, fashion and pop culture as it chronicled the misadventures of high-schoolers Ryan (Ben McKenzie), Summer (Rachel Bilson), Marissa (Mischa Barton) and Brody’s Seth Cohen. Pacey and Seth may have seemed different – Pacey an underachiever, Seth a book smart comics obsessive – but both had a witty, sometimes dark sense of humor that could mask a sweeter, more vulnerable side that made them more accessible to younger viewers. “Those characters were so important to people growing up,” said Nikki Griffin, who had a recurring role on “The O.C.” as a troubled party girl and once worked as an extra on “Dawson’s Creek.” Griffin, now a talent manager, joined “The O.C.” when the series was already a hit in its second season and on its way to becoming a phenomenon. She theorized that watching shows about high school at a formative time in your own life makes the characters even more significant. (She went through something similar with “90210.”) Plus, Brody and Jackson played the respective “sidekicks” who cracked jokes alongside their stereotypically handsome and brooding friends. “I think what’s so great about these characters in particular is they were written as ‘the best friend’ and they were funny and sardonic and sarcastic – and super cute,” Griffin said. “Obviously there’s people that had crushes on them, but now people realize those are the guys you want: the nice guys, the funny guys, the smart guys.” Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, an author and journalist whose latest book, “So Fetch,” is about the making of 2004’s “Mean Girls,” noticed a similar dynamic with Jonathan Bennett, 43, who had his breakout role in the classic film as dreamy senior athlete Aaron Samuels. His character had to have the sort of appeal to drive the movie’s plot as Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams battled for his attention, Armstrong said, and he did so by being kind, sensitive and smart enough that he could pretend to be a math tutor, instead of just a popular, dumb jock. Bennett has had a steady career as a TV personality and Hallmark star – he came out as gay in 2017 and starred in the network’s first holiday movie led by a same-sex couple – and is now hosting new Hallmark Plus reality competition “Finding Mr. Christmas.” “There’s not an alpha-male thing happening,” Armstrong said, which goes for many of the early-2000s actors who are back in the headlines. “There’s a new model of masculinity at play here. ... These guys have more dimensions, a softness and an accessibility to them.” Because viewers can stream them any time they like, “The O.C.” and “Dawson’s Creek” have remained in the public consciousness. Fans still fondly remember Jackson’s and Brody’s characters even as they move on to new roles. Jackson was a standout on Fox’s spooky sci-fi series “Fringe” from 2008 to 2013 and Showtime’s twisty relationship drama “The Affair,” which ran from 2014 to 2019. Brody has appeared as a faux-nice guy in the 2020 film “Promising Young Woman” and as an eternal bachelor in the 2022 miniseries “Fleishman Is in Trouble.” In such roles, both men were allowed the opportunity to embark on more mature content, distancing themselves from the teenagers they once played. “Something about seeing Pacey – part of you still clocks that, even seeing him do different things,” Armstrong said. “When [actors] can sort of both transcend a previous role and keep a little feeling of it with them, there’s something really powerful about that.” The level of nostalgia toward this programming, of course, would not be remotely the same without social media: The popularization of the GIF was instrumental in keeping “Mean Girls” at the forefront of our minds, Armstrong said. The obsession with going back to our youth has become an entire industry. Erin Miller is a digital creator and nostalgia historian on TikTok with 2.7 million followers to her account the promise of Josh Hartnett. (In a WB-sponsored post, Miller did just that.) Miller, an “O.C.” obsessive in high school, said she watched “Nobody Wants This” because Brody is in it and noted that there’s something intriguing about seeing stars such as him, Jackson and Hartnett play fathers or men who are dating in their 30s and 40s. “These were our teen idols back in the day. We had posters of them on our walls and ripped them out of magazines,” Miller said. “They’re bringing all of this experience and depth they gained over the years and bringing it to new projects.” For creators, one of the most unexpected – but joyous – parts of such public reminiscing is bonding with others who feel just as passionately. Mary Gagliardi and Kelsey Labrot, both born in 1991, launched the “When They Popped” podcast about Y2K pop culture after they went to a Backstreet Boys concert a couple of years ago; the boy band continues to play to packed crowds years after the release of their platinum-selling albums. “We felt like we were sort of always searching for that serotonin hit that came from attending that concert,” Labrot said. Gagliardi agreed that the best part of the podcast has been meeting people who want to build a similar community: “This is our passion project, but just because of all the relationships and friendships we’ve made along the way, it’s really been quite special.” As they pointed out, TV characters can be very personal, because they help young viewers figure out their own identities: Were you a Seth girl or a Ryan girl? Did you like Dawson or Pacey? And it’s especially satisfying when the actors themselves grasp why people still gravitate to their early work. “I think, hopefully, we’re now in a place where no one would be embarrassed about being in a dramatic teen soap opera, and really embrace the important role that it had in people’s lives,” Labrot said. If anything, such work should be celebrated: “It was meaningful to people then, and it can still be meaningful to them now.” – Emily Yahr, The Washington PostSheheryar Munawar ties the knot with Maheen Siddiqui in star-studded ceremony Actor Sheheryar Munawar asks fans to “Keep us in your Duas [prayers]" Showbiz star Sheheryar Munawar and renowned actor Maheen Siddiqui tied the knot in a beautiful star-studded wedding ceremony. Taking to his official Instagram account, Munawar shared the newlywed couple’s dashing picture and urged fans to pray for their happiness in the upcoming life. “Keep Us in your Duas [prayers], he said. Their Nikah was solemnised amid a star-studded ceremony. Besides the prominent figures from the showbiz industry, the event was attended by close family members and couple’s friends. Meanwhile, the venue was adorned with beautiful flowers. Maheen stole the show in a traditional bridal ensemble as her intricately embroidered red and gold lehenga paired with exquisite jewellery was looking beautiful. Meanwhile, the groom chose to wear a dashing ivory sherwani . Lauren Sanchez teams up with celebs to raise funds at Baby2Baby gala Barron Trump sees future with Tom Cruise's daughter Suri Cruise? What did Mahira Khan wear on her birthday? Dave Portnoy takes over social media for providing lifeline to struggling pizzerias

Welcome to AI Decoded , Fast Company ’s weekly newsletter that breaks down the most important news in the world of AI. You can sign up to receive this newsletter every week here . This week, I’m dedicating the newsletter to a conversation I had recently with the futurist Zack Kass about some of the risks and myths that will come with the advent of AI across business and society. Kass, who was head of go-to-market at OpenAI, is the author of the upcoming book, The Next Renaissance: AI and the Expansion of Human Potential . What types of risks do you think we might be facing from AI in the next decade? I give it a very low percentage, but I think there is a reasonable chance that we actually build systems that are so smart that we start to devalue critical thinking and sort of decline cognitively. This seems very unlikely because every generation is smarter than the last, but it’s worth calling out. More likely is that, at some point, a percentage of the population will be more interested in the virtual reality than the physical one, and that percentage may grow and actually become sort of dominant, which would obviously be catastrophic for population growth and quality of life. This trend you can sort of see with Gen Z, the anxious generation—the attachment to the device, the addiction to the device era. Do you think that job losses to AI and automation are more of a near-term problem that we’ll have to deal with, along with the effects on the economy? This is the thing that I would love if people spent more time talking about: The risk is not an economic one. I think in a world where we actually automate all our work, something profoundly positive will happen economically. If you can actually figure out how to automate everything and the cost of everything declines so far that you can live freely, it’s more that people may not know what their purpose is in a world where their work changes so frequently and so much. I think that the future is incredibly optional in all sorts of interesting ways, and I really do caution that the risk in all this is simply that people will lack purpose, at least for a couple generations. It will be our generation and maybe the next that bears figuring out what we do in a world where our work is just so dynamic, and maybe relatively less meaningful because the world is so much more robust. That being said, there’s also incredible new opportunities. For every job that goes away, there will probably be a new job created in some interesting new way that we just cannot imagine. And I caution people to consider how they would imagine the economy looking before the internet or before electricity, for that matter. How could you fathom the economy in 1900 or 1800? What about other things like the use of AI to flood the information space with misinformation and disinformation? I don’t even list it as one of my primary concerns because misinformation is one of these things that will have an incredible counterbalance—for every article and every photo that is generated by AI, we will have a system to actually determine its validity. And we will have much more robust truth telling in the future. This has just been true forever. And by the way, I remember going to the grocery store with my mom and looking at magazine covers of women and my mom saying, “Oh God, Cindy Crawford is so beautiful” because for a long time they were Photoshopping photos and just not telling us. Now, of course, we all know that every photo is Photoshopped. We have this lens with which we view the world. I think—and this is what I say to publicists—we will have this return to traditional media if we do it right. We need the institutions to recapture trust, otherwise it will be very hard for people to know what to believe because in a world where people are more interested in Reddit and Quora, this could go a little strangely. In a world where people don’t trust traditional media—and they don’t—the institution has just lost so much trust. And we didn’t even really need AI for that to happen. That’s exactly right. So I think now presents an opportunity for us to find ways, and there’s a lot of historical precedent. The printing press introduced all sorts of incredible ways for people to behave as charlatans, and you don’t have to go back that far. We studied a bunch of people who sold early Ponzi schemes. There was so much financial fraud in the late 19th/early 20th century. There was an incredible amount of financial fraud because people could just print fake securities and sell them, and there was just no way to actually validate things. And obviously, there’s this incredible new way now that we can actually score things. I don’t basically ever talk about blockchain, but I do think blockchain will serve as a means to keep an official record of lots of things, a place that cannot be tampered with. What are your thoughts about longer-term AI risks, the existential risks people like Geoff Hinton and Eliezer Yudkowsky talk about? The existential risk has two parts. The first is, is this machine going to unwittingly do something untoward—are we building something that is going to do something really bad on its own? And that presents the alignment problem. The real risk in all this is not that the machine wakes up one day and says, I’m going to kill all. The theory of the alignment problem basically says we need to make sure that it cares about its unintended consequences because we [humans] may not fully appreciate what we’re doing. And then there’s the bad actor. And this I think is also misunderstood because the real concern around bad actors in my opinion is not high-resource bad actors. I don’t spend time worrying about North Korea with AI. They already have plenty of tools at their disposal to be bad actors, and the reality is we get better at managing high-resource bad actors all the time. The low-resource bad actor problem is a risk. In a world where we embolden anyone to do interesting things with this technology, we should create very punitive measures to police bad acting with it. We should make bad actors terrified to use AI to do bad things—financial crime, deepfakes, etc. And this is something that we could do really easily, like we did with mail theft. We could say, hey, we built a system that’s really fragile, and if we let people steal mail, domestic commerce will collapse. We need to make it a felony offense. What needs to be done to address these risks over the next five years? We should try to figure out how to come up with international standards by which all models are measured, and companies that use models that don’t meet these measures are penalized. We should just make sure that everyone honors alignment standards. Second is explainability standards. The expectation that a model can be perfectly explainable is inherently dangerous because there’s plenty in a model that cannot be explained. But we should set standards by which tasks that require explainability meet explainability standards. For example, if you’re going to use a model to write an insurance policy, it should meet an explainability standard. And then the third thing is bad acting: We just have to make it scary for low-resource bad actors to use this stuff. The market will figure itself out. Europe, I think, is going to have some really serious economic suffocation pretty soon here because they’ve passed a bunch of really strange policies that I don’t even know if it protects the consumers as much as it just gives the policymakers a reason to celebrate. If we can get these things right, the market will behave in a way that serves us the constituents. Was Biden’s executive order on AI constructive? It was passed at a time where basically no one working on it knew much about what they were talking about. So it’s less that it’s lip service and more that it didn’t actually change behavior. So it really is one of these things like, you know, are you just doing this to appease voters? A lot of people in Congress have the perspective that “we missed the boat on social media and we sure don’t want to miss it again on AI.” All progress has a cost . . . the cost of social media, the cost of the internet, is pretty great. The cost of social media on young children’s minds is terrible. It is also now something that we as individuals are identifying and working through. Passing policy on these things has potentially very dangerous consequences that you cannot unwind—economic consequences, massive learning and development consequences. It’s not that the government “missed the boat” on social media, so to speak. They just weren’t even paying attention. And no one went into this thing with eyes wide open because there was no one in Congress, if you recall, who knew anything about what the internet was. So you basically had Mark Zuckerberg going on stage in front of a bunch of people who were like, “I don’t know.” I’ve written about California’s AI bill that was vetoed by the governor. What are your thoughts on that approach? I fully support the regulation of AI. I’m not asking this to be the Wild West. This is the most important technology that we will build in our lifetime, maybe except for quantum. It’s really scary when people celebrate policy for the sake of policy, especially when it comes at the cost of what could be truly society-improving progress. Like massive amounts of progress are probably going to be found on the other side of this. And that’s not a hot take because that’s what technology does for the world. People spend so much time fixated on what the government will do to solve their problems that they’ve forgotten that technology is basically doing all the things that have been promised to us. You know, the utopias that we build in our mind may actually come to pass. I think they will, for what it’s worth, and not because of government intervention, but because of technological progress; because what one person can do today will pale in comparison to what one person can do [tomorrow]. More AI coverage from Fast Company: We used Google’s AI to analyze 188 predictions of what’s in store for tech in 2025 Andrew Ng is betting big on agentic AI We called 1-800-ChatGPT to see if OpenAI would ruin Christmas As Bible sales boom, so does Christian tech Want exclusive reporting and trend analysis on technology, business innovation, future of work, and design? Sign up for Fast Company Premium.None

LEHI, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 4, 2024-- Gabb , the leading provider of safe tech for kids, celebrated their 2nd “Kid CEO for the Day” by handing the reins of the company to 9-year-old Nova Evenson, an aspiring leader from Naples, Florida, who has used Gabb technology to build connections with others. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241204205495/en/ Nova Evenson, of Naples, FL, serving as Gabb's Kid CEO for the Day. Source: Gabb During her time as CEO, Nova led the monthly companywide meeting where the department leads shared with Nova Gabb’s 2024 reports for her approval. She also led meetings with Gabb executives, product brainstorming sessions, and discussions on safe tech for kids. Because she loves step tracking with her Gabb Watch, she challenged the team to increase their daily steps through “walking meetings.” Nova pitched a campaign to collect everyone’s favorite text messages from their families and friends. This idea was inspired by a treasured text message from her grandfather, who recently passed away. The day also included a service project fulfilling gift wishes and providing free safe tech for the nonprofit Utah Parent Center’s holiday program for kids with disabilities facing financial challenges. “It was so wonderful,” said Nova about her day as CEO. “I wasn’t expecting anything like that. The people made it so great.” Nova and her mom, Angel, and dad, Eric, shared with the company how the Gabb Watch 3 she got for Christmas last year has helped her stay connected after her family moved and how it gave them peace of mind after a particularly challenging bullying situation. “Seeing an entire organization rally around my daughter and all children and place what’s best for them at the forefront means everything to me as a mom,” said Angel Evenson. “We get one shot at this parenting thing, and knowing we have organizations and people helping us do the best we can is comforting. I’ve never felt more surrounded by like-minded people than I did yesterday.” Gabb also celebrated Nova with a special playlist on Gabb Music+ titled Boss Beats . The special edition playlist not only featured a walk-on song but also a collection of inspiring, uplifting and empowering songs from across the family-friendly Gabb Music streaming catalog. “Our Gabb CEO for the Day reminds us all that the heart of our company is safe connections,” said Gabb CEO Nate Randle. “Nova’s Gabb Watch connects her with her family and provides support during tough challenges, but she is the hero of her story. She has exemplified bravery and great leadership. She has left a lasting impact on our Gabb team.” About Gabb Gabb® is safe tech for kids. Founded in 2018, Gabb is a rapidly growing tech company focused on keeping families Safely ConnectedTM by providing safephones, safewatches, apps, and software for kids and teens. Gabb’s flexible, safe technology meets kids and teens where they are, allowing them to focus on their personal development and growth without the risks associated with social media and other harmful digital influences. Discover more at gabb.com . Gabb Kid CEO Photo https://gabb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Gabb-CEO-for-Day.png Broll https://youtu.be/0felIfimw2U View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241204205495/en/ CONTACT: Brandon Jeppson brandon.jeppson@gabb.com KEYWORD: UTAH FLORIDA UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: WEARABLES/MOBILE TECHNOLOGY SECURITY PARENTING OTHER TECHNOLOGY CHILDREN TELECOMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE FAMILY INTERNET HARDWARE CONSUMER CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SOCIAL MEDIA TECHNOLOGY MOBILE/WIRELESS ONLINE PRIVACY COMMUNICATIONS APPS/APPLICATIONS SOURCE: Gabb Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/04/2024 06:25 PM/DISC: 12/04/2024 06:25 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241204205495/en