‘Abhorrent’: the inside story of the Polymarket gamblers betting millions on war

“Horekunden” was rapidly losing patience.His frustration was with the Institute for the Study of War, a US thinktank which produces a daily map of the frontline in Ukraine.For Horekunden, and other anonymous gamblers, the map was a “disjointed, incoherent mess … like the painting of a five-year-old”. Therefore it was no use to them in their aim: to settle a bet on the online prediction market Polymarket.The map they were unhappy with depicted the city of Kostyantynivka, which Ukrainian troops have been holding for five months amid shelling and swarms of drones

Federal workers struggle to find roles a year after Trump cuts: ‘I’ve applied to over 250 jobs’

Maggie was faced with a tough choice in February 2025: quit her job at the US office of personnel management or be unceremoniously fired.Though she was a few months pregnant at the time, Maggie was offered one of the buyouts that were offered to tens of thousands of federal government employees by the office of personnel management.“I couldn’t be without health insurance through the delivering of my baby,” said Maggie, who requested to omit her last name for fear of professional repercussions. “I was going to have six to seven months of paid parental leave, because I’d been on my job for five years and I accrued time.”She took a buyout offer in May 2025 and, like many federal employees who took buyouts, and was placed on administrative leave until September 2025

Amazon to finally launch Leo satellite internet in ‘mid-2026’, says CEO

Amazon has said its long-awaited satellite internet rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink will finally go live in “mid-2026”.The chief executive, Andy Jassy, said in a letter to shareholders that the technology company was “on the verge of launching Amazon Leo” and had secured “revenue commitments from enterprises and governments” for the scheme.Originally conceived in 2019 as Project Kuiper before being renamed last year, Leo now has 200 low-orbit satellites in space, with Jassy promising “a few thousand more” in the years to come.While on track to make Leo the second commercial satellite presence in space, the plans would still leave it far behind SpaceX’s Starlink, which has nearly 10,000 satellites in space and aims to have as many as 42,000 operational in the future.Jassy promised Leo would incorporate the successful Amazon Web Services cloud computing software into its function, writing: “Leo will seamlessly integrate with AWS to enable enterprises and governments to move data back and forth for storage, analytics, and AI

US summons bank bosses over cyber risks from Anthropic’s latest AI model

The US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, summoned major American bank chiefs to a meeting in Washington this week amid concerns over the cyber risks posed by Anthropic’s latest AI model, according to reports.Jerome Powell, chair of the Rederal Reserve, was said to have been among those gathered at the Treasury headquarters for the meeting after the release of the Claude Mythos AI model that Anthropic says poses unprecedented cybersecurity risks.A recent leak of Claude’s code prompted the startup to publish a blogpost at the beginning of the month saying that AI models had surpassed “all but the most skilled humans at finding and exploiting software vulnerabilities”, adding: “The fallout – for economies, public safety, and national security – could be severe.”This week’s meeting was reportedly called while bank bosses were already in Washington for a lobby group gathering, with a guest list focused on heads of so-called systemically important banks – meaning regulators believe that a major disruption to their operations, or their potential collapse, would put financial stability at risk.Those in attendance included the Goldman Sachs chief executive, David Solomon, Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan, Citigroup’s Jane Fraser, Morgan Stanley’s Ted Pick and the Wells Fargo boss Charlie Scharf, according to Bloomberg, which first reported details of the meeting

Rory McIlroy aims for ‘free’ state of mind in final round of Masters after losing six-shot lead

Rory McIlroy hopes to benefit from a “free” state of mind on the final day of the Masters, despite the defending champion conceding he will have to improve markedly from round three to retain the Green Jacket. McIlroy saw his six-stroke lead evaporate on Saturday, meaning he enters the fourth round in a tie with Cameron Young at the top of the leaderboard. McIlroy was visibly short of his best during a one-over par 73.The Northern Irishman can, however, pull upon the glory of 2025 at the same venue. “I’d like to think that I’ll play a little bit freer and I’ll play, like I’ve already got a Green Jacket, which I do,” McIlroy said

Cameron Young reels in Rory McIlroy with pack on their tails for Masters finale

Rory McIlroy began this Masters in the company of Cameron Young and will finish it in the company of Cameron Young. McIlroy arrived at this tournament as the holder of the Green Jacket. By Sunday night he will …? Goodness only knows. Day three proved predictions are a fool’s errand at the Masters.Such drama played out at Augusta National on Saturday that by close of play it was extraordinary to see McIlroy’s name still atop the leaderboard, albeit now with Young for scoring company