Tootfinder

UCLA cancels Bari Weiss' Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture on "the future of journalism", following student protests; a source says it will be rescheduled (The Wrap)
https://www.thewrap.com/media-platforms/journalism/bari-weiss-ucla-lecture-canc…

Bari Weiss' UCLA Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture Has Been Rescheduled
The CBS News editor-in-chief was set to appear at the university for a discussion centered on the "future of journalism."

I haven’t tuned into CBS since its morning news promoted that interview (and Weiss) last week. This latest announcement validates my decision.
“CBS News launches town hall series featuring JD Vance following Bari Weiss’ ratings flop”
https://www.indep…

CBS News launches town hall series featuring JD Vance following Bari Weiss’ ratings flop
Following the Bari Weiss-moderated sitdown with Erika Kirk that was a massive ratings flop, CBS News has doubled down on the format and is launching a new town hall series in partnership with Weiss’ “anti-woke” digital media outlet that the network’s parent company recently purchased.

China carbon emissions 'flat or falling' in 2025: analysis #China

China carbon emissions 'flat or falling' in 2025: analysis
China's emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide were "flat or falling" in 2025, analysis showed Thursday, but progress remains fragile and it is not yet clear that emissions have peaked.

Venice, which develops identity security software, emerges from stealth after raising a $25M Series A led by IVP, following an $8M seed round (Meir Orbach/CTech)
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/sk5qcux00we

Rotem Lurie raises $25 million Series A for Venice, an identity security startup backed by Wiz founders
The Israeli company replaces static enterprise permissions with dynamic access control. 

This Week in Sports Trivia: February 19, 2026 https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7055593/2026/02/19/this-week-in-sports-trivia-february-19-2026/

After years of failing to produce a profitable augmented reality platform,
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is pounding one of the final nails into the coffin of its metaverse efforts
— the ones that were once so central to its vision that it renamed the entire company after them.
This week, the Wall Street Journalreported Meta was laying off some 1,500 employees from its Reality Labs division,
-- the department working on Meta’s virtual reality products.
As part of the …

Meta Lays Off Thousands of VR Workers as Zuckerberg’s Vision Fails
The company has laid off some 1,500 virtual reality developers as part of a broader shift toward AI wearable devices.

The US DOJ says at least two DOGE employees accessed Social Security data that was off-limits under a court ruling and shared agency data on third-party servers (April Rubin/Axios)
https://www.axios.com/2026/01/20/doge-employees-social-security-inform…

DOGE employees may have improperly accessed social security data, DOJ says
It's a stunning admission from the Trump administration, after it battled in court over DOGE's rights to access and use Social Security data .

Google advises some employees on visas, including H-1B visas, not to travel outside the US due to processing delays, following new social media screening rules (Business Insider)
https://www.businessinsider.com/google-tells-visa-holders-stamp-le…

Google warns some visa employees not to leave the US due to 'significant' return delays of up to a year
The US State Department said it was "prioritizing thoroughly vetting" each visa case, which could cause delays.

Sources: AMD agrees to backstop a $300M loan from Goldman Sachs for Crusoe to buy AMD AI chips, the first known case of AMD chips used as debt collateral (The Information)
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/amd-backstop-300-million-…

AMD to Backstop $300 Million Crusoe Loan, Following Nvidia Playbook
Chipmaker AMD is pursuing the same growth-driving strategy that has boosted sales at rival Nvidia: lending its financial support to upstart cloud providers buying its chips. AMD will effectively guarantee a $300 million loan for data center and cloud startup Crusoe to purchase AMD’s AI chips and ...

Filings: Michael Saylor's Strategy has bought more than $3B in Bitcoin since January 5, marking its biggest two-week purchase since December 2024 (Melos Ambaye/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-0…