Cheating Confession, Swords, and Hockey Heat Up News

Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Laegreid's cheating confession at the 2026 Winter Olympics has overshadowed the achievements of his countryman, Johan-Olav Botn, who won gold in the men's 20km individual biathlon race. Laegreid admitted to cheating on his ex-girlfriend during a live television interview after winning a bronze medal, prompting a response from his ex-girlfriend who stated his actions were "hard to forgive," according to Sky News.

Laegreid later apologized to both his ex-girlfriend and Botn. The incident occurred during the Olympics, which, according to Wired, has seen increased viewership due to the popularity of the show "Heated Rivalry." The show follows closeted pro hockey rivals-turned-lovers, and has seemingly sent the entire world into mass psychosis. HBO, which acquired the show for US distribution, is now playing it in well over a dozen countries and says viewership has more than doubled.

In other news, the Lumma Stealer, a malware program that infected nearly 395,000 Windows computers in a two-month span, is back with hard-to-detect attacks, according to Ars Technica. The malware, also known as Lumma Stealer, first appeared in Russian-speaking cybercrime forums in 2022 and uses a cloud-based malware-as-a-service model. Researchers reported that it is once again pilfering credentials and sensitive files.

Meanwhile, in Japan, a traditional swordsmith is seeing renewed interest in the centuries-old art of katana making. According to Euronews, 57-year-old Akihira Kawasaki continues the tradition in Saitama Prefecture, with growing pop culture interest, including anime and video games, drawing a new generation of fans. However, the profession faces challenges, including an ageing workforce and a demanding five-year apprenticeship.

Finally, the use of Large Language Models (LLMs) is raising ethical concerns. According to Hacker News, the question was posed: could LLMs help implement new features in the Pariyatti app more quickly? Indeed it could. But there are ethical concerns to consider before diving into the deep end with LLMs and, unfortunately, they aren't simple concepts to contend with.