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Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych, a likely medal contender at the Milan Cortina Games, was barred from racing Thursday after refusing a last-minute plea from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to not use a helmet that honors more than 20 athletes and coaches killed in his country’s war with Russia.The decision came roughly 45 minutes before the start of the competition and ended a three-day saga where Heraskevych knew he was risking being pulled from the Games by wearing the helmet, one that the IOC says breaks rules against making statements on the field of play.The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) said his decision to wear the helmet was “inconsistent with the Olympic Charter and Guidelines on Athlete Expression.” He wore the helmet in training, but the IOC asked for him to wear a different helmet in races. It offered concessions, such as wearing a black armband or letting him display the helmet once he was off the ice.“I believe, deeply, the IBSF and IOC understand that I’m not violating any rules,” Heraskevych said. “Also, I would say (it’s) painful that it really looks like discrimination because many athletes already were expressing themselves. . . . They didn’t face the same things. So, suddenly, just the Ukrainian athlete in this Olympic Games will be disqualified for the helmet.”IOC President Kirsty Coventry, who was slated to be in Cortina d’Ampezzo to see Alpine skiing, went to the sliding center instead to meet Heraskevych. She was waiting at the top of the track when he arrived around 8:15 a.m., and they met privately. After about 10 minutes, Coventry was unable to change Heraskevych’s mind.“We didn’t find common ground in this regard,” Heraskevych said.Tears rolled down Coventry’s face after the meeting. The Olympic champion swimmer made clear that she wanted a different outcome, and the IOC said the decision was made with regret.“As you’ve all seen over the last few days, we’ve allowed for Vladyslav to use his helmet in training,” Coventry said. “No one, no oneespecially meis disagreeing with the messaging. The messaging is a powerful message. It’s a message of remembrance. It’s a message of memory and no one is disagreeing with that. The challenge that we are facing is that we wanted to ask or come up with a solution for just the field of play.”Coventry and Heraskevych agreed that the helmet isn’t clearly visible during races anyway, given that sliders are zipping down the icy chute at around 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour). That, the IOC hoped, was the window to a compromise. Heraskevych would not budge.“Sadly, we’ve not been able to come to that solution,” Coventry said. “I really wanted to see him race today. It’s been an emotional morning.”Heraskevych said he would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but the race went on without him. The first two runs were Thursday, the last two are Friday. Regardless of what CAS says, if anything, his chance to race in these Games is gone. The IOC is letting him keep his credential, meaning he can remain at the Olympics as an athletejust not a competing one.About a dozen Russian athletes are being allowed to compete at the Olympics as neutral individuals along with seven Belarusians. They are not allowed to compete under their national flag or anthem. Heraskevych has spoken out several times about why he believes they shouldn’t be at the Olympics and said the IOC’s decision “plays along with Russian propaganda.”The decision drew immediate condemnation from officials in Ukraine and some athletes.“Sport shouldn’t mean amnesia, and the Olympic movement should help stop wars, not play into the hands of aggressors,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media. “Unfortunately, the decision of the International Olympic Committee to disqualify Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych says otherwise.”“Disqualified. I think that’s enough to understand what the modern IOC really is and how it disgraces the idea of the Olympic movement,” added Ukrainian skier Kateryna Kotsar on Instagram. “Vladyslav Heraskevych, for us and for the whole world, you’re a champion. Even without starting.”The IOC had sided with Ukraine’s top slider before. When he displayed a “No war in Ukraine” sign after his fourth and final run at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, the IOC said he was simply calling for peace and did not find him in violation of the Olympic charter.This time, Heraskevych said he believes there are inconsistencies in how the IOC decides what statements are allowed. Among those he cited: U.S. figure skater Maxim Naumov bringing a photo of his late parentsformer pairs world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who were among the 67 people killed in a plane crash on January 29, 2025to the kiss-and-cry area after his skate in Milan this week, and Israeli skeleton athlete Jared Firestone’s decision to appear at the opening ceremony wearing a kippah that bore the names of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches killed in the 1972 attack during the Munich Games.“A competitor literally placed the memory of the dead on his head to honor them,” Heraskevych wrote on Instagram. “I frankly do not understand how these two cases are fundamentally different.”Firestone said he admired Heraskevych. “I think he’s a man with strong values,” he said.In Milan, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said if athletes were allowed to display messaging without restrictions on the field of play “that would lead to a chaotic situation.”“Sport without rules cannot function. . . . If we have no rules, we have no sport,” Adams said.Heraskevych was fourth at the world championships last year and was among the fastest in training leading into the Olympic races. A medal was certainly within reach, but to Heraskevych, the helmet mattered more.“The International Olympic Committee destroyed our dreams,” said Mykhailo Heraskevych, the slider’s coach and father. “It’s not fair.” AP journalists Julia Frankel, Vasilisa Stepanenko and Graham Dunbar contributed. AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics Tim Reynolds, AP Sports Writer
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A little known security feature on iPhones is in the spotlight after it stymied efforts by U.S. federal authorities to search devices seized from a reporter.Apple’s Lockdown Mode recently prevented FBI agents from getting into Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s iPhone.Agents seized the phone, as well as two MacBooks and other electronic devices, when they searched Natanson’s home last month as part of an investigation into a Pentagon contractor accused of illegally handling classified information. But the FBI reported that its Computer Analysis Response Team “could not extract” data from the iPhone because it was in Lockdown Mode, according to a court filing.So what is Lockdown Mode? Here’s a rundown of how it works and how to use it: Highest security Apple says Lockdown Mode is an “optional, extreme” protection tool designed to guard against “extremely rare and highly sophisticated cyberattacks.” It’s not for everyone, but instead for “very few individuals” who could be targeted by digital threats because of who they are or what they do.“Most people will never be targeted by attacks of this nature,” Apple’s support page says.It’s available in Apple’s newer operating systems, including iOS 16 and macOS Ventura. It works by putting strict security limits on some apps and features, or even making some unavailable, to reduce the areas that advanced spyware can attack. It also restricts the kinds of browser technologies that websites can use and limits photo sharing. Can Apple turn it off? Apple has previously rejected U.S. government requests to build so-called backdoor access for its devices.In 2016, Apple refused a request by authorities to help bypass lockscreen security for an encrypted iPhone belonging to a shooter who carried out a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. The company also declined to add an ability to input passcodes electronically, which would make it possible to carry out “brute force” attempts to guess the combination using computers.“It would be wrong to intentionally weaken our products with a government-ordered backdoor,” Apple said in explaining its decision. How to turn on Lockdown Mode Make sure your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook has been updated. You’ll have to turn the feature on separately for each of your Apple devices.On your iPhone, go to Settings, then to the Privacy and Security section, scroll down to the bottom and tap on Lockdown Mode. Enter your passcodenot a facial or fingerprint scanto activate it. The device will restart and then you’ll again have to use your passcode to unlock it. On MacBooks, follow a similar procedure from the System Settings menu.Apple recommends that you switch it on for all of the company’s devices that you own. Better than biometrics You might assume that requiring facial or fingerprint recognition to unlock your phone is good enough to protect it from snooping. But experts say passcodes are better than biometrics at protecting your devices from law enforcement, because they could compel you to unlock your device by holding your phone up to your face or forcing you to put your finger on the scanner.FBI agents told Natanson that they “could not compel her to provide her passcodes,” but the warrant they used to execute the search did give them the authority “to use Natanson’s biometrics, such as facial recognition or fingerprints, to open her devices.” According to a court filing, Natanson said she didn’t use biometrics to lock her devices but agents were ultimately able to unlock her MacBook with her finger. This is how it affects your phone Apple says some apps and features will work differently when Lockdown Mode is on.Some websites might load slowly or not work properly, and some images and web fonts could be missing because they block “certain complex web technologies.”In Messages, most types of attachments are blocked, and links and link previews won’t be available. Incoming FaceTime calls are blocked unless it’s from a number you’ve called in the past month.In Photos, location information is stripped from shared photos and shared albums are removed from the app. Focus mode won’t work normally.There are also tighter restrictions on connecting your phone or computer to unsecure Wi-Fi networks or to other computers and accessories.When I tried it out on my own iPhone, some apps warned me that certain functions might not work. I noticed that one of my news apps started using a different font and photos on some websites didn’t appear, replaced by a question mark.The biggest disruption happened when I went to the gym, which involved using a web-based check-in system to scan a QR code. But my phone camera wouldn’t work so I had to turn off Lockdown Mode in order to get in. To be sure, my iPhone’s standalone Code Scanner app still worked, so the problem seemed to center on using a website to activate the camera. Turn it off Follow the same procedure outlined above that you used to turn on Lockdown Mode. You’ll need to enter your passcode and the phone will perform a restart. Is there a tech topic that you think needs explaining? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your suggestions for future editions of One Tech Tip. Kelvin Chan, AP Business Writer
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E-Commerce
Airport lounges used to be a perk. In 2026, they are a battleground. American Express is refreshing Centurion Lounges and adding faster Sidecar formats. Chase is experimenting with champagne parlors and hyperlocal chef partnerships in its Sapphire Lounges. Citi is back in the ultra-premium card game. And Capital One, the relative newcomer, is making a different bet. Instead of building another lounge at LaGuardia Airport, it built a restaurant. The new Capital One Landing at Terminal B is a 12,500-square-foot, chef-driven dining space created with José Andrés. It has a 2,250-square-foot working kitchen, the largest in the terminal, and a menu built around Spanish tapas cooked from scratch. It looks more like a stand-alone dining destination than a cardholder waiting room. That is the point. [Photo: Capital One] From lounges to ‘landings’ Capital One’s airport strategy started with lounges at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, Denver International Airport, and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Those spaces became known for local partnerships, individually plated food made on site, and drinks from neighborhood breweries and distilleries. The idea was that even if you never left the airport, you would still get a sense of the city. The Landing concept is an evolution of that thinking. Instead of adapting lounge food to feel more local, Capital One asked what would happen if the airport space felt like a real restaurant first and a lounge second. When we went to the lounge space, we similarly felt that lounges were becoming totally cookie-cutter . . . They were all kind of buffets. The drinks were the same, lounge to lounge, Matt Knise, SVP of premium products and travel at Capital One, tells Fast Company. The Landing is Capital Ones answer to that sameness. [Photo: Capital One] We felt that there was room for a restaurant type experience, so you could still sit somewhere a little bit more comfortable and put your stuff down and get a really quality restaurant, quality bite of food and still make it to your gate on time, he says. Why a chef matters in a card war To make that work, Capital One sought out someone who could actually run a restaurant inside an airport. We needed a partner on the other side of the equation, the hospitality and food side of the equation, who had the same passion about solving what we saw, and we found that with José and team, Knise says. For Andrés, the project feels personal. For me, in a way, it’s kind of a dream, he says. Capital One helped me build my own kitchen away from home. That kitchen is not decorative. It is central to the pitch. [Photo: Capital One] What makes this differentthis Landing and this placeis that were making the food from scratch,” he says. “It’s not sitting there three, four hours in a place waiting for you to arrive.” In fact, Capital One built Andrés a kitchen with top-of-the-line equipment akin to what you would find in a high-end restaurant outside the terminal. Tapas for travelers on a clock The menu leans into Spanish tapas for a reason. I believe in smaller portions and I believe in in the rainbow of possibilities, says Andrés. I don’t know a lot of concepts that are quicker than tapas. Guests can grab plates from the tapas bar, order via QR code, or take items to go. Dishes like croquetas, the bikini sandwich, cheeses, and flauta bread are designed to be eaten quickly or slowly. Knise says the design balances both. We felt deeply that a great dining experience and a relatively quick dining experience, those two things did not have to be mutually exclusive, he says. Its a bit of a choose your own adventure. Capital One is also leaning into what it calls Daily Rituals. At LGA, that includes tableside martinis, vermouth carts with garnishes and pintxos, oysters during select windows, and dessert carts. [Photo: Capital One] The airport as the new loyalty showroom In the fight for affluent travelers, the airport has become the most visible showroom for what a premium card actually promises. For Capital One. the space itself is part of the strategy. Skylights, a terrace filled with greenery, floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Manhattan skyline, and a 30 foot mural by Queens artist Amrita Marino all reinforce that this is meant to feel like a place, not a waiting area. The thinking is straightforward. If the first memorable part of your trip happens before you even board the plane, and it happens inside a space tied directly to your credit card, the card stops feeling like a payment tool and starts feeling like part of the journey. For years, perks lived on paper. Points multipliers, statement credits, travel portals, concierge access. Useful, but abstract. You only felt the value when you booked a flight or scanned a benefits page. Lounges changed that. They turned benefits into something physical you could walk into, sit inside, and experience before your trip even began. [Photo: Capital One] Now that every major card issuer is investing in lounges, the competition has moved past who has a lounge and into what that lounge feels like. Is it a place to grab a snack, or is it somewhere you plan to arrive early for? Does it feel interchangeable with every other airport space, or does it feel like a destination tied to the city you are in? Knise puts it this way: We want a manifestation of what we stand for as a brand . . . we want them to leave and go, Oh, wow. Capital One is a company that totally has my back and is innovating to make my life easier. For Andrés, the payoff shows up in a different way. Not in brand metrics or cardholder retention, but in what travelers say as they walk out. Ive had people say I cannot wait to travel again so I can come back to eat the croqueta. [That] something like this happens in an airport. It’s very special.
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E-Commerce
Want to use Discord from next month? Youll have to hand over a photo of your ID or a scan of your face to verify youre of age. Its part of a new process introduced by the chat app aimed at ensuring no one underage is using the platform. All new and existing users, the company says, will be given a teen-appropriate experience by default, including content filtering and limited access to spaces that host adult content. To regain the experience they previously had, users will need to prove their age through one of several options, including video selfies or sharing a photo of an identity document. (Discord did not immediately respond to Fast Companys request for comment.) Users have reacted pretty unfavorably toward the proposal, with many saying theyre unhappy about sharing personal data with Discord, which faced a massive data breach reported just months ago. In that instance, ID photos of 70,000 users were potentially leaked after a cyberattack. (Discord said the incident involved a third-party customer support provider, not its own systems.) What worries privacy groups most is not just Discords plan, but the precedent it sets for other platforms. Its a reflection of growing concerns over the erosion of privacy online, and the slippery slope of mandating identity and age verification across the internet, making these systems a prime tool for surveillance and tracking, says Rin Alajaji, associate director of state affairs at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Mandating age verification on a platform like Discord directly undermines the platform and the internet’s long-standing culture of anonymity. There are also broader concerns about the growing requirements for users to prove who they are and how old they are to do things they previously did without scrutiny. U.K. polling suggests that while people may support age checks in principle, they are far more reluctant to hand over ID or facial footage in practice. Willingness to comply drops significantly when specifics are involved, and the public is split on the use of face video and photographic ID. Only 23% of Brits say theyd hand over ID to access discussion forums like Discord. That same tension appears in the U.S.: people want children protected online, but are less comfortable when those protections infringe on their own rights. Elinor Carmi, a senior lecturer in data politics and data justice at City St Georges, University of London, argues the backlash isnt just about biometrics or ID checks in the abstract, but about whether people believe this kind of gatekeeping will actually work. People just don’t think that age verification actually works, she says, adding that users see policymakers and platforms reaching for a patch rather than a fix. The social media platforms and the regulators are basically saying, We have an issue, but let’s not deal with it. And let’s try to solve it in the most technical and easy solution, which is obviously also not working, because you can obviously fake it. Theres also fatigue with the concept, with users feeling the burden is being shifted onto them, including teenagers as well as adults, rather than platforms. And beyond that, there are worries about the consequences of a papers, please era of the web. For many usersespecially vulnerable groups like LGBTQ+ youthhaving a space to connect without revealing their real identities is essential for safety and free expression, says EFF’s Alajaji. Age verification puts that at risk, forcing users to choose between privacy and participation. She calls the decision to ask people to hand over more personal data after some users already lost theirs in last years Discord-linked data breach reckless. People are wary because theyve been burned before and know theyre being asked to trade their likeness and other sensitive information simply to participate online. Many users are understandably alarmed about their data being exposed or misused, Alajaji says.
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E-Commerce
Valentine’s Day may seem romantic, but to candy companies, it’s serious business. Our annual ode to St. Valentine is one of the most important and competitive days on candy company calendars, and every year, confectioners roll out special-edition heart-shaped chocolate bars and other product innovations to capture consumers’ dollars (nevermind hearts). When it comes to speaking to modern courtship, though, one candy brand has a unique leg up on the competitionand it’s built into the candy itself. Sweethearts were designed to be updated. The pastel-colored conversation hearts stay relevant year over year because their embossed messages can be easily and quickly updated, transforming a generic shape into a crunchy candy canvas that’s adaptable to the moment. That makes the face of these tiny hearts some of the most valuable real estate in the Valentine’s Day candy landscape, because the right quip could convert a passerby into a sale. And this year, their newest messages are all about the struggles of dating in today’s economy. [Photo: Spangler Candy Company] Sweethearts’s latest sayings have been dubbed “Love in This Economy” after an online survey that the brand’s owner, the family-owned, Ohio-based Spangler Candy Company, conducted last December of 2,000 Gen Z and millennials who are single, casually dating, or in a serious relationship, making an edible sort of consumer sentiment index. The candy company’s survey found 80% of respondents said the economy was impacting their Valentine’s Day plans. Their new two-line messages, then”Split Rent,” “Share Logn,” “Car Poll,” “Buy N Bulk,” and “Cook For 2″reflect the realities of dating and courtship during a time of high prices, persistent inflation, and low consumer confidence. But just because the company has introduced new messages doesn’t mean it’s abandoned more evergreen ones. “We’re careful about evolving the sayings because Sweethearts must be both nostalgic and new,” Spangler Candy Company vice president of marketing Evan Brock tells Fast Company. Classic messages like “Marry Me,” “Cutie Pie,” and “Ooo La La” are included every year, while new sayings reflect how people express affection and connection today, she says. “Our role is to strike a balance between enduring tradition and modern expression.” [Photo: Evan-Amos/Wiki Commons Some of the original messages stamped into the first Sweethearts from 1902 were Be Mine, Be True, and Kiss Me,” according to Smithsonian Magazine. But over the years, the candy has been updated with the times. “Fax Me” turned into “Text Me,” and in 2024, the candies were purposefully misprinted to symbolize the confusion and mixed messages of situationships. [Photo: Spangler Candy Company] Unlike M&Ms or Skittles, which use the surface of their candy shells to display their visual brands, Sweethearts has more flexibility to adapt to culture. But even so, it’s thoughtful about adding new sayings. Embossing the hearts is a highly coordinated process that involves engraving new phrases onto custom-made printing plates that will stamp the words onto each individual candy. There’s no understating how important Valentine’s Day is for candy sales. Along with Easter, Halloween, and the winter holiday season, the four holidays generate a whopping 62% of annual sales for the $54 billion confectionery industry, according to the National Confectioners Association. For Sweethearts, it’s practically the whole ballgame, since no one’s buying conversation hearts for Christmas. By tapping into current events and changing trends in courtship, the more-than-a-century-old brand is resonating with Valentine’s Day now.
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E-Commerce
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