Espresso network launches ESP token with 10% airdrop amid Ethereum layer-2 debate
The Espresso Network has launched its ESP token, opening participation in securing the network and distributing a community airdrop representing 10% of total supply. The network will eventually transition to a permissionless proof-of-stake model in a few weeks, which follows the rollout of the ESP token, used for staking, securing the network and protocol participation….
AI inference startup Modal Labs in talks to raise at $2.5B valuation, sources say
Modal Labs, a startup specializing in AI inference infrastructure, is talking to VCs about a new round at a valuation of about $2.5 billion, according to four people with knowledge of the deal. Should the deal close at these terms, the funding round would more than double the company’s valuation of $1.1 billion announced less…
Reranking the 2023 ESPN 300 college football recruiting class
Billy TuckerFeb 12, 2026, 06:40 AM ET Close • Recruiting coordinator for ESPN RecruitingNation.• Director, Under Armour All-America Game. • Has been evaluating prospects at ESPN since 2006. Multiple Authors Like any class, college football’s group of 2023 recruits has high-profile hits along with some notable whiffs. Our projections are based off college impact and…
‘Love Story: JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette’ Review: Redundant Dress-Up
Late in “Love Story,” John F. Kennedy Jr. (Paul Kelly) and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy (Sarah Pidgeon) are rocked by tragedy: Diana, Princess of Wales, has died in a car accident. Carolyn, who sees herself in the media-plagued victim, spots William and Harry on TV and says to her husband, “Those poor boys. At least they have…
Aviva Investors to tokenize funds on XRP Ledger in Ripple partnership
Aviva Investors, the asset management arm of U.K. insurer Aviva (AV), plans to tokenize traditional fund structures on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) in a deal with blockchain firm Ripple, the companies said in a press release Wednesday. The collaboration will see Ripple support Aviva Investors in issuing and managing tokenized funds on XRPL, a public…
Former Founders Fund VC Sam Blond launches AI sales startup to upend Salesforce
When Sam Blond left his job as a VC for Founders Fund a year ago — just 18 months after he started — he told the world that being a VC wasn’t for him and he was “going back to operating.” On Wednesday, he officially brought his new startup, Monaco, out of stealth. It…
Super Bowl runner-up rings: What NFL players really think
Elizabeth MerrillFeb 10, 2026, 07:00 AM ET Close Elizabeth Merrill is a senior writer for ESPN. She previously wrote for The Kansas City Star and The Omaha World-Herald. Multiple Authors FOUR MONTHS AFTER the Philadelphia Eagles lost Super Bowl LVII, Cam Jurgens glanced at the team schedule and came upon something that stopped him. “Ring…
Callum Turner and George MacKay in ‘Rose of Nevada’ Trailer — Watch
One dark jewel — pardon, rose — of the 2025 fall festival circuit was a new film from Cornish director Mark Jenkin starring two of the hottest British actors working right now. And it’s a movie IndieWire likened to a “haunting aesthetic nirvana.” George MacKay and Callum Turner play fishermen caught in a time warp…
Fighting Starmer wins another chance, but is still surrounded by peril | Keir Starmer
“Is it over?” That was the question that Labour MPs have been asking themselves and each other. But the meaning has shifted over the last 24 hours. After last Wednesday afternoon’s chaos in the Commons over the release of the Peter Mandelson documents, MPs widely believed it was the final throes of Keir Starmer’s leadership….