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The "Summer House" star revealed to Andy Cohen the clues he noticed when he became "suspicious" that his castmates were more than friends.

The "Summer House" star revealed to Andy Cohen the clues he noticed when he became "suspicious" that his castmates were more than friends.

Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile Weigh Potential Mega-Merger

A new Bloomberg report states that Deutsche Telekom AG is exploring a mega merger with its U.S. subsidiary, T-Mobile US, in a move that would create a telecom giant valued at roughly $400 billion. If completed, the deal would rank as the largest public M&A transaction ever.

Deutsche Telekom shares fell 4% in Germany on Wednesday morning after Bloomberg reported overnight that the company is in the early stages of considering a combination with T-Mobile US, in which it already holds a 53% stake.

Here's more color from the outlet:

The potential deal would create a single, simplified corporate group that controls the operations of Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile and would be jointly owned by the two companies’ current investors. The combined entity may then seek a listing in the US and a major European exchange, though the details are still being worked out, some of the people said.

. . .

Discussions are at a preliminary stage and any transaction would require political support to move ahead, the people said. Details of the possible deal could also change. The companies have considered a closer tie-up on-and-off for years, and there’s no certainty they will decide to proceed this time, the people said.

Commenting on the report, NewStreet Research analysts told clients earlier that a transatlantic group would provide the companies with "more optionality" to pursue potentially large acquisitions without diluting Deutsche Telekom.

"For that alone, we think this is a highly worthwhile deal for DT to consider, as it would give DT more future options in a consolidating marketplace where convergence could take any form over the next 5 to 10 years," NewStreet Research analysts said, adding that they believe a deal would likely be a "nil-premium merger."

Citigroup analysts are more skeptical: They do not see immediate benefits for T-Mobile shareholders unless Deutsche Telekom offers a meaningful premium.

"The possibility of a merger scenario also raises the question as to whether or not DT would be willing to pay a significant premium to consolidate ownership, especially since DT could argue its non-US operations are already undervalued within the DT share price," Citigroup analysts noted.

If successful, the M&A deal would eclipse the $203 billion Vodafone-Mannesmann merger in 1999, which remains the largest merger on record, according to LSEG data.

Deutsche Telekom currently has a market value of about $159 billion, while T-Mobile is valued at roughly $215 billion.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/22/2026 - 08:20

The Falcons do not have a first-round pick.

Kyle Leahy will lead the visiting Cardinals to a win over the Marlins on Wednesday afternoon, Stitches predicts.

Trump's "Sock Puppet"

By Philip Marey of Rabobank

Summary

• The confirmation hearing of Fed Chair nominee Kevin Warsh by the Senate Banking Committee was a very partisan affair.
• In his prepared remarks, Warsh stressed that monetary policy independence is essential, but he does not believe that the operational independence of monetary policy is particularly threatened when elected officials state their views on interest rates. Warsh thinks the Fed must stay in its lane and avoid straying into fiscal and social policies.
• Warsh was walking a tightrope between convincing the Senate Banking Committee that he is going to be an independent Fed Chair and staying loyal to President Trump. Meanwhile, there was as much interest in Warsh’s personal balance sheet as in the Fed’s balance sheet.
• Obviously, there were several questions about Fed independence and whether Warsh had promised President Trump to cut rates in order to get the nomination. Of course, he denied.
• Warsh repeatedly said that interest rates rather than the balance sheet should be the dominant tool of monetary policy. He did not have a specific target for the balance sheet in mind, and eased fears of a rapid change.
• Warsh wants a robust reform of the inflation framework and improve the data to assess the underlying inflation trend.

Introduction

First Democratic senator Warren called nominee Warsh president Trump’s sock puppet. Then Republican senator Kennedy tried to settle the issue by asking: “Mr Warsh, are you going to be the president’s human sock puppet?” “Absolutely not,” said Warsh. This was clearly a very partisan confirmation hearing for Kevin Warsh and near the end of the 2.5 hour session one of the more empathetic senators asked him why he would want this job. This was a big change from 20 years ago when Warsh was confirmed as Fed Governor with bipartisan support. Warren gave him a couple of litmus tests of his independence by asking whether Trump lost the election of 2021 and if Warsh could name one aspect of Trump’s policies that he disagreed with. Warsh gave evasive answers and the tone for the hearing was set. Warsh was walking a tightrope between convincing the Senate Banking Committee that he is going to be an independent Fed Chair and staying loyal to President Trump.

Meanwhile, there was as much interest in Warsh’s personal balance sheet as in the Fed’s balance sheet. Warsh said he had made an agreement with relevant authorities to divest his assets before sworn in (or within 90 days of his confirmation), but that answer did not seem satisfactory to several (Democratic) senators. Ironically, Senator Tillis (Rep) – who wants to hold up the confirmation until the case against Powell is dropped – had to come to the rescue by stressing that Warsh was not out of compliance.

Warsh wants the Fed to stay in its lane

Warsh did not read the full text of his prepared remarks that were published a day before the hearing, as Chairman Scott tried to keep the meeting on schedule. In his speech, he stressed that monetary policy independence is essential, but he does not believe that the operational independence of monetary policy is particularly threatened when elected officials – presidents, senators, or member of the House – state their views on interest rates. He said that Fed independence is largely up to the Fed. He highlighted three important implications. First, Congress has tasked the Fed with price stability and that means that low inflation is the Fed’s plot armor (against criticism). Second, Fed independence is at its peak in the operational conduct of monetary policy, but that does not mean that the central bank has the same degree of independence in other areas, such as regulation and supervision. Third, the Fed must stay in its lane and avoid straying into fiscal and social policies. In response to the opening question by Chairman Tim Scott (Rep), Warsh said that he wanted a new inflation framework, that he preferred the interest rate tool over the balance sheet tool, and that he wanted a new communications approach. For a more detailed discussion of the nominee’s ideas, we refer to The Warsh Regime

Rates and independence

Obviously, there were several questions about Fed independence and whether Warsh had promised President Trump to cut rates in order to get the nomination. When Senator Reed (Dem) asked him about Fed independence, Warsh said that presidents (in general, not just Trump) want lower rates, but that independence is up to the Fed. In an answer to Senator Kennedy (Rep), Warsh said that the president never asked him to pre-commit on any interest rate decision. It got really heated when Senator Gallego asked Warsh whether it was his sworn testimony that the President had not asked him to commit to cutting rates. When Warsh confirmed, Gallego (Dem) concluded that either Warsh or Trump was lying, referring to an article in the Wall Street Journal on December 12. In response, Warsh said that these reporters needed better sources and that he took independence very seriously: “the President never asked me and I would never do so.”

There was also a lot of interest in Warsh’s argument that the Fed could cut rates because of AI. Warsh said that he expected the supply effects to outweigh the increase in demand, but he did not really answer the question how fast AI needed to show up for cutting interest rates. Senator Van Hollen (Dem) asked him what would happen if the Fed cut rates to 1% in 2026 as suggested by Trump and thought it implausible that AI could cause a situation where this would be justified. Again Warsh gave an evasive answer.

Fed independence is not just about rate decisions. When Senator Alsobrooks (Dem) asked him a number of questions regarding the court cases of Governor Cook and Chair Powell, Warsh gave evasive answers and managed to briefly mumble “I’ll defend Fed independence” somewhere in between.

Balance sheet reduction

Warsh repeatedly said that interest rates rather than the balance sheet should be the dominant tool of monetary policy, because the distributional effects of the latter favored the rich, while the more pervasive effects of the former reached everybody. He did not have a specific target for the balance sheet in mind, but he did say the Fed should not be holding longer-term assets as if it’s a fiscal authority. In response to Senator Kim’s concerns about fears of a rapid change, Warsh said it should be a public discussion and that any regime change should be deliberate and well-described. He wants to work with the Treasury Secretary to see how the Fed can reduce the balance sheet and get out of fiscal policy.

Communication and inflation framework

Warsh indicated that while at present most FOMC decisions are taken unanimously, he liked messier meetings with “good family fights” and that he was not for pre-deciding meetings. Warsh said there is nothing wrong with dissents. He said that one of his lessons was that there is a lot of groupthink in the economics profession , so openmindedness is important. Warsh said that too many Fed officials give forward guidance and we need central bankers that are humble, nimble, and open minded.

Warsh stressed that the Fed has to deliver on price stability and full employment so that politicians stay out. He gave his own definition of price stability as a change in prices that nobody talks about. He also prefers trimmed averages as measures of inflation. However, Warsh said that we need new data to assess what’s the real underlying inflation rate and that would be one of his first reforms: a data project. Warsh lambasted the 2020 change in the Fed’s inflation framework – the change to Flexible Average Inflation Targeting – that ‘’asked for a little more inflation and got a lot more and we’re still living with it.” Instead, Warsh wants a robust reform of the inflation framework. He said that the cumulative increase in prices in recent years is a legacy of past policy error.

What happens next?

On Wednesday, the Senate Banking Committee members have an opportunity to pose additional written questions to the nominee. On Thursday, Warsh is supposed to answer these questions. The crucial vote is Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who wants the DOJ to drop the inquiry into current Fed Chair Jerome Powell before advancing the nomination to the Senate floor. An offramp seems possible because Tillis said he would agree with replacing the DOJ inquiry by a congressional inquiry. However, so far Trump has dismissed this option. If this standoff continues, it may be difficult to get Warsh confirmed by May 15, the end of Powell’s term as Chair. In this case, Powell wants to stay on as Chair pro tempore, but this is disputed by the Trump administration. So we could be heading for some verbal fireworks in DC in the coming weeks.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/22/2026 - 08:05

New Call of Duty games will be added to the subscription service "about a year" after release, Microsoft said.

"He was all in."

A shattered glass panel behind the Los Angeles Kings bench struck coach D.J. Smith during Game 2 vs. the Colorado Avalanche, causing a tense delay before Colorado’s 2-1 overtime win.

Isla Gordon and the Los Angeles Waves are back for Season 2 of Running Point!

Why do the Knicks so often have to make things so hard on themselves?

Mark Mongiardo can reach dangerously high blood alcohol levels without drinking a single drop of alcohol.

The 79-year-old, who wrote "Feelin' Alright?" and "Hole in my Shoe," two of the group's biggest hits, passed away over the weekend.

The 79-year-old, who wrote "Feelin' Alright?" and "Hole in my Shoe," two of the group's biggest hits, passed away over the weekend.

The former girl group singer, who appeared on "The X Factor" in 2013, spoke only to confirm her identity.

Alan, the oldest of the nine Osmond siblings, died on April 20 at the age of 76.

Alan, the oldest of the nine Osmond siblings, died on April 20 at the age of 76.

Golnaz Naraghi, 37, and Venus Hosseininejad, 28, have been out on bail since late March, according to the Iran Human Rights organization in Oslo.

Conservative-Targeting SPLC Indicted By Trump DoJ For Fraudulently Funding KKK & Other Extremist Groups

The Southern Poverty Law Center was indicted on federal fraud charges that accused it of illegally raising millions of dollars to pay informants in white supremacist and other extremist groups, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said.

An Alabama grand jury returned an indictment on April 21 with 11 counts of wire fraud, making false statements, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to the Justice Department (DOJ).

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said SPLC used paid operatives within extremist circles to incite and intensify racial tensions, arguing the group fostered the very threats it claimed to fight.

“The SPLC is manufacturing racism to justify its existence,” Blanche said in a statement.

“Using donor money to allegedly profit off Klansmen cannot go unchecked. This Department of Justice will hold the SPLC and every other fraudulent organization operating with the same deceptive playbook accountable. No entity is above the law.”

A federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama brought 11 charges against the nonprofit, including six counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud, and one count of money laundering.

The indictment covered the years from 2014 through 2023 and alleged that the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) paid at least $3 million to at least eight informants affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan, United Klans of America, the National Socialist Movement, Aryan Nations-affiliated Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club, the National Socialist Party of America, and the American Front.

In a twist that no one saw coming, one of the SPLC’s paid informants was a member of the leadership group that planned the Unite the Right protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 that resulted in one death, according to the DOJ.

“As the indictment lays out, after SPLC paid members of these extremist groups, it created work product that reported on these activities that the members participated in or contributed to,” Blanche explained.

“And to that end, it was doing the exact opposite of what it told its donors it was doing.”

Patel said the SPLC facilitated state and federal crimes by funding these groups.

“The SPLC allegedly engaged in a massive fraud operation to deceive their donors, enrich themselves, and hide their deceptive operations from the public,” Patel stated on X. 

“They lied to their donors, vowing to dismantle violent extremist groups, and actually turned around and paid the leaders of these very extremist groups—even utilizing the funds to have these groups facilitate the commission of state and federal crimes.”

“That is illegal—and this is an ongoing investigation against all individuals involved,” Patel added.

The FBI director accused the SPLC of using donors to pay the leaders of extremist groups to stage “hate crimes”

They used the fraudulently raised money by lying to their donor network—thousands of Americans—to go ahead and actually pay the leadership of these supposed violent extremist groups.

Furthermore, our investigation revealed that the Southern Poverty Law Center—on TOP of perpetuating this widespread decade-long multimillion dollar fraud—conducted more criminal activity.

They attempted to HIDE their criminal activity from our financial banking network.

They set up shell companies and entities around America so that the financial institutions that we rely on as everyday Americans were DECEIVED in believing that money was NOT coming from the Southern Poverty Law Center in the perpetration of this scheme and fraud, but rather fictitious entities they stood up to perpetuate this ongoing fraud.

Watch the full press conference below:

But it gets even better worse, during an appearance on FOX News, acting AG Todd Blanche reveals the Biden regime actually closed the investigation into the Southern Poverty Law Center — even though they were paying people to stage "hate crimes".

As Nick Sortor noted, the Biden regime was directly involved in the coverup!

🚨 WOW! Acting AG Todd Blanche reveals the Biden regime actually CLOSED the investigation into the Southern Poverty Law Center — even though they were PAYING people to stage "HATE CRIMES"

The Biden regime was DIRECTLY INVOLVED in the coverup!

Biden DOJ officials KNEW! pic.twitter.com/k8fDtloCDz

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) April 21, 2026

America First Legal broke down some additional 'easter eggs' in the whole 

/3 The SPLC also received early access to FBI hate-crime data and drafted talking points for Biden’s DOJ. https://t.co/M42eC5vYg2

— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) April 21, 2026

/5 The SPLC was also personally asked by the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at Biden’s DOJ to flag “civil rights matters” for the department. https://t.co/UV7HJrSJKn

— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) April 21, 2026

Simply put, the SPLC’s hypocrisy is now on full display - At the same time that the SPLC wielded unprecedented influence over federal civil rights enforcement, it was also allegedly bankrolling the very extremist groups it purported to seek to destroy.

As Tom Gantert reports for The Epoch Times, the SPLC announced earlier Tuesday that it was the subject of a Justice Department criminal investigation and was facing possible charges related to its use of “paid confidential informants” to infiltrate alleged “extremist” organizations.

Bryan Fair, interim president of the SPLC, said in a video posted on its website before the DOJ news conference that the investigation was “the most serious” of recent acts against it.

“Although we don’t know all the details, the focus appears to be on the SPLC’s prior use of paid, confidential informants to gather credible intelligence on extremely violent groups,” Fair said.

“This use of informants was necessary because we are no stranger to threats of violence.”

Fair said the SPLC no longer works with paid informants but did frequently share the information gained by them with law enforcement. Fair said the informants risked their lives to infiltrate radical groups and the SPLC began working with them during the height of the Civil Rights Movement.

“There is no question that what we learned from informants saved lives,” Fair said.

Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.) defended the SPLC on X.

“The DOJ uses paid informants all the time—why is it OK for them but not the SPLC?” Goldman wrote.

He said that the organization “plays a vital role in fighting hatred, yet has been unfairly targeted by [President Donald] Trump and House Republicans since day one.”

“This politicized intimidation needs to stop, now,” he said.

Kyle Shideler, the director for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism at the Center for Security Policy, said the issue is not the use of informants—as long as the informants were not involved in criminal activity, which he presumed the DOJ investigation would determine.

“The issue is that the SPLC always sought to use its supposed expertise on Right Wing Extremists to slander their non-extremist opponents,” Shideler said on X.

“Linking groups like [Turning Point USA] (or my employer) to actual violent actors by putting them all on the same list was the political purpose.”

The Republican National Committee adopted a resolution in 2020 refuting the legitimacy of the SPLC when it came to identifying hate groups.

The resolution said the SPLC “makes a practice of incorrectly labeling persons and organizations as ‘hate groups,’” which mobilizes people to act “in hate and violence” against the people on the SPLC’s list.

The group has vowed to “vigorously defend” itself, its staff, and its work against the allegations.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/22/2026 - 07:30

The Middle Corridor Emerges As A Strategic Lifeline For Global Trade

Via RFE/RL,

• Global trade is shifting away from vulnerable maritime chokepoints toward overland routes like the Middle Corridor amid rising geopolitical instability

• A $3.3 billion World Bank-backed investment push aims to address infrastructure gaps and unlock the corridor’s long-term potential

• While promising, the route still faces major capacity and coordination constraints before it can rival established northern trade flows

While diplomatic efforts struggle to stabilize access to the Strait of Hormuz amid tensions between the United States and Iran, Eurasian trade is increasingly being redirected toward overland alternatives, with the Trans-Caspian Transport Route, also known as the Middle Corridor, emerging as a key diversification route in Eurasian logistics.

The World Bank described the Middle Corridor back in 2023 as a strategically important but structurally constrained route. While geopolitical fragmentation, driven in part by Russia's war in Ukraine, has increased the demand for alternative corridors, the World Bank emphasized that the corridor's long-term viability requires coordinated investment, the removal of infrastructure bottlenecks, and improved cross-border customs and transport procedures.

To address these roadblocks, the World Bank and its partners on April 14–15 committed $3.3 billion to strengthening key missing links along the corridor, including $1.9 billion for Turkey's Istanbul North Rail Crossing and a $1.4 billion investment in the reconstruction of Kazakhstan's Karagandy–Zhezkazgan highway.

On the same day that this was announced, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Y?lmaz underscored the importance of such investment at a meeting in Astana.

"The Northern Corridor [through Russia] has become unpredictable due to geopolitical tensions. The southern route is pushing the limits of its capacity," he said.

"This situation has made the Middle Corridor not an alternative but a mandatory choice."

Dosym Satpayev, director of the Risk Assessment Group in Almaty -- an independent think tank analyzing political risks, corruption, and foreign policy processes in the region -- says that Russia's war in Ukraine and the resulting sanctions deepened global dependence on maritime chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz. but the current crisis has potentially long-term consequences for global trade.

"Even if the Strait of Hormuz is reopened, I believe that the image of it as a stable transport and logistics route has been damaged for many years, if not permanently," Satpayev said.

"The same applies to the stereotype that the Persian Gulf and Middle Eastern countries can guarantee stable supplies of energy resources and other goods through the Strait of Hormuz."

Uncertainty is already reshaping global pricing and trade behavior, he added, saying that a "risk premium" will most likely be embedded in prices of oil and nitrogen fertilizers.

"About 25–35 percent of global fertilizer supplies pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and this will inevitably be reflected in final prices. Therefore, many countries will seek to diversify routes regardless of how the situation develops. Most likely, instability will persist for a long time, which means risks will remain high. And this is bad for business, because business needs predictability."

A Region Surrounded By Geopolitical Chaos

A key factor behind the growing appeal of the Middle Corridor, Satpayev says, is the relative stability of the regions it passes through. Despite the conflicts raging nearby, Central Asia and the Caucasus have "demonstrated stability in the conditions of geopolitical chaos."

"This has increased interest in it as a platform for transport and logistics projects," he said. "As a result, the region's status at the global level has risen."

The Middle Corridor suits everyone, he added, except Russia.

"We see that major geopolitical players are seeking to strengthen their positions in the region, primarily in the economic and transport-logistics spheres. China and the European Union are particularly active," Satpayev said.

"The Samarkand summit last year demonstrated the EU's interest in developing the Middle Corridor, including investments in hubs around the Caspian Sea. The United States is also showing interest in the Middle Corridor, as it seeks access to critical materials and rare earth metals in Central Asia.”

However, some analysts caution that the Middle Corridor is not yet capable of fully replacing existing trade routes, especially the northern land route via Russia.

Central Asia analyst Temur Umarov of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace argues that while geopolitical narratives increasingly favor diversification, the physical and logistical realities of trade still impose clear constraints.

"The Middle Corridor, however interesting and potentially ambitious it may appear, is not yet developed to a level where it can replace the northern flows through Russia," Umarov said. "The issue is not a lack of interest in the Middle Corridor, but the simple fact that it is technically impossible, for now, to reroute the entire flow of goods and energy resources through it instead of the existing northern routes."

He adds that this structural limitation is not only about infrastructure gaps, but about time and scale.

"From a practical perspective, it is still too early to expect the Middle Corridor to absorb full trade volumes. It will require sustained investment, coordination between multiple countries, and years of development before it can operate at the scale of established northern routes."

What Does The Middle Corridor Mean For Kazakhstan?

For Kazakhstan, the significance of the World Bank-backed highway project extends beyond infrastructure financing. It signals the country's growing role as a central transit hub in a rapidly evolving Eurasian logistics landscape, one increasingly defined not only by geography but by geopolitics, risk diversification, and the search for resilient trade routes.

If Central Asian governments manage the process effectively, investments in the Middle Corridor could also translate into tangible benefits for ordinary people in the region, Satpayev maintains.

"Infrastructure such as railways and roads, especially given the size of Kazakhstan, can revive certain regions that are economically depressed," he said. "From the perspective of building hotels, gas stations, services, and maintenance infrastructure, this can create a multiplier effect that gives such regions a second life."

He added that this potential is not automatic but depends on governance and implementation quality.

"There's hope that if this is implemented under the supervision of investors and international organizations financing these projects, it will also to some extent improve the well-being of citizens in our countries."

The Middle Corridor, formally the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, was established in 2014 by Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia to connect China and Europe via Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, and the South Caucasus, with onward links through Turkey. For years, it remained secondary to the Russian-led northern route.

The corridor is supported by a mix of multilateral lenders such as the World Bank, EBRD, and ADB, alongside EU funding initiatives and major state-led investments from Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey, with China acting as a key trade driver through its Belt and Road connectivity.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/22/2026 - 07:20