Business

Elon Musk hints new Grok AI could beat Warren Buffett's March Madness bracket challenge

Feb. 18, 2025

Billionaire Elon Musk on Monday said his startup xAI's latest iteration of the Grok chatbot could help college basketball fans pick a perfect bracket once March Madness begins. xAI rolled out its new chatbot Grok-3, which is powered by artificial intelligence (AI), on Monday night, and during its event the company's lead researcher, Jimmy Paul, noted, "We can also do something more fun. For example, how about make a prediction about March Madness?" "This is kind of a fun one where Warren Buffett has a billion bet that if you exactly match the entire winning tree of March Madness, you can win a billion dollars from Warren Buffett," Musk said in reference to the NCAA Basketball tournament bracket.

Weather

'Warming up to 24 below zero:' Record cold surges across central U.S.

Feb. 18, 2025

A bitter blast of Arctic air – which is related to the polar vortex – is roaring south across the central U.S. Tuesday, bringing with it record-cold temperatures and "dangerously" low wind chills. Extreme cold warnings and cold weather advisories span the northern Plains and upper Midwest down to central Texas. "Some of the harshest conditions of the winter will be felt in the upcoming five to seven days," said AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski in an online forecast. "Be sure to dress in layers including a hat, face mask, and gloves if you must go outside," the National Weather Service advised.

Weather

Mount Washington in New Hampshire sees 161-mph wind gust, still short of record high

Feb. 18, 2025

High winds buffeted the Atlantic Coast on Monday from Florida to Maine, but the gusts into the 60s may have seemed like a gentle breeze compared with the howling winds at Mount Washington Observatory in New Hampshire. Mount Washington, known for its harsh and erratic weather, saw its wind gusts top out at 161 mph on Monday, the observatory reported. Wind speeds are relative, however: The mountain still holds the record for the highest surface wind speed ever measured in the United States: 231 mph.`

Weather

Winter storm to bring snow, sleet, ice from central Plains to Mid-Atlantic in coming days

Feb. 18, 2025

The latest – and last – in a string of February winter storms is expected to track from the central Plains to the Mid-Mississippi Valley Tuesday before moving east into the southern Mid-Atlantic Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. The weather service said "widespread upslope snowfall" is expected across the northern Rockies and into the High Plains Tuesday before a jet stream takes the storm eastward into eastern Oklahoma, Arkansas and southern Missouri by Tuesday evening.

Health

Online searches for gambling addiction surge as legalized sports betting expands, study finds

Feb. 18, 2025

Internet searches seeking help for gambling addiction have "increased substantially" as the number of states with legalized sports betting has expanded in recent years, prompting a need for more public health awareness, according to a study released Monday. The findings "suggest that sportsbooks pose a substantial health concern," researchers at the University of California, San Diego, and Bryn Mawr College wrote in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. "A paradigm shift in how regulatory frameworks and health organizations collaborate to address the complexities of gambling harms is needed," the researchers wrote. The study comes as legalized sports betting has exploded into a multibillion-dollar industry following a 2018 Supreme Court ruling that broke up Nevada's monopoly on the practice and cleared the way for state-sponsored sports gambling.

Entertainment

‘Saturday Night Live’ 50th anniversary special watched by nearly 15 million people

Feb. 18, 2025

The “Saturday Night Live” 50th anniversary celebration is NBC’s most-watched prime-time entertainment telecast in five years, reaching nearly 15 million viewers. Sunday night’s 3½ hour extravaganza packed with comedy sketches, superstar musical performances and unexpected cameos, delivered the biggest audience for the network for a night-time entertainment show since the 2020 Golden Globes. Only the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has been a bigger viewership draw in recent years, NBC said Monday

Entertainment

Winners of the 2025 British Academy Film Awards, the BAFTAs

Feb. 17, 2025

Winners of the 2025 British Academy Film Awards, announced Sunday: Film — “Conclave” British Film — “Conclave” Director — Brady Corbet, “The Brutalist” Actor — Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist” Actress — Mikey Madison, “Anora” Supporting Actor — Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain” Supporting Actress — Zoe Saldaña, “Emilia Pérez” Rising Star (voted for by the public) — David Jonsson Outstanding British Debut — “Kneecap” director Rich Peppiatt Original Screenplay — Jesse Eisenberg, “A Real Pain” Adapted Screenplay — Peter Straughan, “Conclave” Film Not in the English Language — “Emilia Pérez” Musical Score — Daniel Blumberg, “The Brutalist” Cinematography — Lol Crawley, “The Brutalist” Editing — “Conclave” Production Design — “Wicked” Costume Design — “Wicked” Sound — “Dune: Part Two” Casting — “Anora” Visual Effects — “Dune: Part Two” Makeup and Hair — “The Substance”

International News

European leaders gather for emergency meeting after Trump shuts them out of Ukraine talks

Feb. 17, 2025

European leaders held an emergency meeting in Paris on Monday to align their position after the Trump administration said they would be excluded from talks with Russia to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. The gathering of several key European leaders aimed to address “the situation in Ukraine and security issues in Europe” by “bringing together all the partners interested in peace and security” in the region, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said in a statement Sunday.

Entertainment

‘Saturday Night Live’ celebrates 50 years with comedy, music and show’s many, many famous friends

Feb. 17, 2025

Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter duetted on Simon’s “Homeward Bound” to open the show, five-decade “Saturday Night Live” luminary Steve Martin delivered the monologue, and Paul McCartney gave an epic closing to a 50th anniversary special celebrating the sketch institution that was overflowing with famous former cast members, superstar hosts and legendary guests. The 83-year-old Simon has been essential to “SNL” since its earliest episodes in 1975, and told the 25-year-old pop sensation of the moment Carpenter that he first performed “Homeward Bound” on “SNL” in 1976. “I was not born then,” Carpenter said, getting a laugh. “And neither were my parents,” she added, getting a bigger laugh. McCartney closed with the rarely performed song cycle from the Beatles’ “Abbey Road,” “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End,” with its wistful ending, “the love you take, is equal to the love you make.”

International News

Zelenskyy tells aides to reject U.S. pitch for 50% of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals

Feb. 17, 2025

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told his aides to reject Trump administration officials' proposal that would grant the United States significant access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, a Ukrainian official close to Zelenskyy confirmed to NBC News. U.S. officials said the proposal would be a form of repayment for the support Washington has provided Kyiv since its war with Russia began, but according to the aide close to him, Zelenskyy did not feel the agreement included adequate security guarantees for Ukraine.