By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN

(CNN) — On “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” Elle Fanning’s Margo paints her entire body a metallic green. Her aim? To fully embody her OnlyFans persona, an earthside alien named The Hungry Ghost, who offers mild nudity and harsh criticism of her willing subscribers’ genitalia.

The earnings that Margo, a single mom, collects from this line of work go directly toward supporting her infant son after she loses her restaurant job, which didn’t involve horny people on the internet.

Like Margo, more than 4.6 million people worldwide have become creators on OnlyFans — the subscriber-based platform known for featuring everything from foot fetish photos to explicit adult content. A decade after it was founded, OnlyFans is now also all over mainstream TV, including on “Euphoria,” where Sydney Sweeney’s Cassie ascends to stardom on the platform.

It also plays a role in a storyline on HBO’s “Industry” and was even parodied on ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” the most wholesome show on television. A sign that American culture is going through a phase of hyper-sexualization? More like: people are struggling through a fraught and ever-changing US economy. The characters’ motivations for joining (or thinking about joining) OnlyFans may vary, but the reason is inherently the same: The traditional job market isn’t working for them.

Rufi Thorpe, the author of the novel on which AppleTV’s “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” is based, believes the “increasing financial hardship in this country” has something to do with the rising cultural relevance of a platform like OnlyFans.

“You see the rise of hustle culture, and it could look like driving for DoorDash or driving for Uber, or it could look like OnlyFans,” she said. “But people are trying desperately to afford their rent.”

However fictional the storylines are, they’re rooted in some of the realities that millions of people are facing today.

A new CNN poll has found most Americans are pessimistic about the economy, with high prices and the cost of living prompting them to cut back on spending, including on groceries. Inflation is also rising, cutting into Americans’ wages, while job seekers in most industries have in recent years been facing big challenges in the labor market. Unless you’re looking for a job in health care — one of the only industries that is actually hiring right now and a field none of the characters in these TV shows work in — it’s pretty bleak.

That economic reality is changing the way sex work is being portrayed on TV. For so long, sex workers have largely been portrayed as victims on police procedurals. This season, they’re being shown turning to OnlyFans to do the banal, but crucial, thing of putting money in their pockets.

Legitimization vs stigmatization

Thorpe was inspired to write her 2024 novel after seeing OnlyFans explode during the pandemic.

The platform allows creators to post videos and photos and interact directly with subscribers — and keep 80% of their earnings, according to OnlyFans’ creator policy.

Those who earn more than $600 per year get a 1099 tax form, which in the eyes of many creators legitimizes their work, said Bridget Crawford, a law professor at Pace University who has published studies on the economics behind OnlyFans. Their goal, she said, is to feel “like any other worker.”

Paying taxes on earnings also helps creators have a record so they can get an apartment or a loan, a mindset similar to that of Fannin

By Jack Guy, CNN

(CNN) — When it comes to slowing down our biological aging, engaging with arts and culture is as beneficial as physical activity, a new study suggests.

Researchers from University College London (UCL) analyzed data from seven different aging clocks — which measure the accumulation of different biomarkers to determine a person’s biological age — of more than 3,500 people from the United Kingdom, according to a study published Monday in the journal Innovation in Ageing.

Study co-author Feifei Bu, a research fellow in UCL’s department of behavioral science, told CNN the study found that both the frequency with which people engage with the arts, as well as the number of different ways in which they do so, can slow the aging process.

The results didn’t come as a big surprise to the researchers, as previous studies have demonstrated links between cultural engagement and better health outcomes in areas such as cognition, depression and mortality, she explained, but this is the first one to examine biological aging.

“Theoretically, one way the arts could affect health is through biological processes,” Bu said in a statement Tuesday. “Our study provides evidence supporting this.”

She explained that the arts cover a wide range of activities, with different “active ingredients,” such as aesthetics; sensory or physical stimulation; and social interaction.

According to the study, there were “comparable effect sizes” between physical activity and engagement with the arts. The “findings were generally stronger amongst middle-aged and older adults aged 40 or above,” and the data was controlled for income and a number of other factors.

“Our research shows that both frequency and diversity matter,” Bu said. “The ‘best’ way would depend on the individual — their interests, what’s available to them, and what they enjoy doing consistently.”

She emphasized that the study builds on existing research, “underscoring the potential value of integrating the arts into public health strategies and initiatives.”

Next, the team is planning to analyze similar data across different countries and populations, as well as looking at how other biological outcomes could be affected by cultural engagement, Bu added.

James Stark, a professor of medical humanities at the University of Leeds, England, who was not involved in the study, told CNN that the research is “detailed and robust.”

“It draws on cutting-edge tools for measuring biological ageing and uses a large swathe of real-world data,” he told CNN on Tuesday.

“As well as confirming the positive effects of cultural participation on our health, it validates the importance of investment in the arts and culture, and shows that these are not just incidental additions to our lives, but make a real difference to our health,” Stark added.

Another scientist who wasn’t involved in the study, Eamonn Mallon, professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Leicester, England, said the “carefully conducted” research is “the first to ask whether cultural activities might be linked to slower biological ageing at the molecular level.”

“The headline finding is that they are, and by roughly the same amount as physical activity,” he told CNN on Tuesday, before highlighting a caveat.

“This is a single snapshot in time, so we can’t yet say that visiting a museum causes you to age more slowly. It’s possible that people who are biologically younger for their chronological age are simply more likely to get out and do things,” Mallon said.

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By Issy Ronald, CNN

(CNN) — Prince Harry has warned of Britain’s “deeply troubling rise in anti-Semitism” following a string of antisemitic attacks directed against the country’s Jewish community.

In an op-ed published Thursday by British left-wing magazine The New Statesman, Harry outlined his fears for what he called “a divided kingdom” and urged people to separate their protests against the Israeli government from prejudice towards Jewish people.

He did not explicitly name Israel in the piece. Instead, he referred to states whose actions “raise serious questions under international humanitarian law” and acknowledged “images from Gaza, Lebanon and the wider region– of devastated communities and entire neighbourhoods levelled and reduced to rubble – have shaken people to their core.”

Israel’s war in Gaza, launched after Hamas’ deadly terrorist attack in October 2023, has prompted worldwide protests and an independent United Nations inquiry concluded last September that the country had committed genocide against Palestinians in the enclave.

But Harry warned that these “two realities” of protest and prejudice “are being dangerously conflated.”

“When anger is turned toward communities – whether Jewish, Muslim, or any other – it ceases to be a call for justice and becomes something far more corrosive,” he wrote.

Harry referenced recent “lethal violence in London and Manchester,” referring to an attack which killed two Jewish worshippers at a Manchester synagogue in October and the stabbing of two Jewish men in broad daylight in north London last month.

Before that stabbing, London’s Jewish community was already reeling from several antisemitic attacks targeting synagogues and other communal buildings.

“We cannot answer injustice with more injustice,” Harry said. “If we do, we don’t end the cycle, we extend it. The only way to break it is to refuse to pass it on. That means being unequivocal: standing against anti-Semitism wherever it appears, while recognising that anti-Muslim hatred and all forms of racism draw from the same well of division.”

He also said he was “acutely aware of my own mistakes,” an apparent mistake to the time he wore a Nazi costume to a costume party in 2005.

While Britain’s royal family are careful to avoid overt interventions into politics, Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, have become much more outspoken since they stepped back as working royals.

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Por Ivana Kottasová y Daria Tarasova-Markina, CNN

Tras más de cuatro años en el frente ucraniano, el oficial Kyrylo Bondarenko finalmente percibe un cambio. “Podemos ver y sentir cómo está cambiando el ánimo entre las tropas rusas en el frente. Están exhaustos”, declaró Bondarenko a CNN.

“Hemos logrado cambiar el rumbo de la batalla”, comentó a CNN Bondarenko, miembro del Grupo Lazar, la unidad ucraniana de sistemas aéreos no tripulados, que actualmente combate cerca de Zaporiyia.

No es el único que se siente así.

El mes pasado, Ucrania logró liberar más territorio del que Rusia se apoderó. Esta es la primera vez que Moscú sufre una pérdida neta de territorio desde la incursión de Ucrania en agosto de 2024 en la región de Kursk, en el sur de Rusia, según un análisis del Instituto para el Estudio de la Guerra (ISW), un organismo estadounidense de seguimiento de conflictos.

Si bien la cantidad de territorio liberado por Ucrania sigue siendo muy pequeña (Rusia aún controla casi el 20 % del territorio ucraniano), Kyiv parece tener la ventaja, por ahora.

Eso supone un problema para Moscú y el presidente Vladimir Putin, quien siempre ha insistido en que la victoria de Rusia en la guerra es inevitable porque las tropas rusas siguen apoderándose de más territorio ucraniano y, tarde o temprano, tomarán el control de toda la región oriental del Donbás.

Esa narrativa siempre ha sido errónea, dado lo lentos y costosos que han sido los avances rusos desde la invasión inicial a gran escala de 2022, pero ha perjudicado la causa de Ucrania.

En ocasiones, incluso el presidente de EE.UU., Donald Trump, pareció creerla, declarando que Rusia estaba ganando la guerra y, en una frase que se hizo famosa, le manifestó al presidente de Ucrania, Volodymyr Zelensky, el año pasado que no tenía la sartén por el mango.

“La premisa fundamental de la táctica de negociación de Putin es utilizar esta guerra cognitiva para convencer a Occidente de que no tiene sentido apoyar a Ucrania y que deberían presionar a Kyiv para que ceda ahora a todas las demandas de Rusia”, declaró a CNN Christina Harward, subdirectora del equipo de Rusia en ISW.

“Esto realmente pone en entredicho toda esa narrativa”, añadió.

El ministro de Defensa de Ucrania, Mykhailo Fedorov, declaró el martes que los últimos meses han sido “históricos” en cuanto a los éxitos de Kyiv en la línea del frente.

“Hemos eliminado a 35.000 rusos tanto en abril como en marzo… Rusia carece de las fuerzas necesarias para continuar las operaciones ofensivas. Las fuerzas ucranianas están agotando a los rusos”, afirmó.

Funcionarios occidentales han afirmado, citando datos de inteligencia, que el número de bajas rusas ronda entre las 30.000 y las 35.000 al mes.

Los recientes éxitos de Ucrania se deben en gran medida a su actual superioridad en el uso de drones.

Tras centrar gran parte de sus esfuerzos en ataques de corto alcance contra posiciones rusas a lo largo de la línea del frente y de largo alcance que penetraban en territorio ruso, Ucrania ha intensificado recientemente sus incursiones de medio alcance, dirigidos contra la logística rusa.

“Hemos observado un aumento drástico en el número de ataques aéreos ucranianos”, declaró Haward. “Esto está afectando la logística rusa. Si ahora se encuentran constantemente bajo la amenaza de ataques con drones ucranianos, su logística se verá seriamente comprometida, ralentizada y obstaculizada”.

Zelensky afirmó en uno de sus discursos nocturnos de la semana pasada que llevar a cabo ataques de alcance medio contra la logística militar rusa, desde depósitos y puest

By Alexandra Banner, CNN

The 2026 World Cup final at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium is already expected to draw millions of viewers worldwide. Now, with a celebrity-packed halftime show, FIFA is turning the championship match into a full-blown pop culture spectacle.

Here’s what else you need to know to get up to speed and on with your day.

1⃣ Historic summit

Chinese leader Xi Jinping hailed a new era of US-China relations defined by “stable” ties during talks with President Donald Trump in Beijing today. Their multi-day summit has struck a notably conciliatory tone, with both leaders extending a hand of partnership as Xi said they agreed to establish a “constructive strategic” relationship over the next three years and beyond. But Xi also warned that Taiwan “is the most important issue in China-US relations” and it could create a “very dangerous situation” if mishandled. Read more.

2⃣ Opioid crisis

Throughout both of his terms, President Trump has repeatedly taken aim at the opioid crisis in the US — specifically, the deadly drug fentanyl, and China’s role in its global trade. China remains the leading source of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl and other synthetic drugs in Mexico and elsewhere, and US officials say Beijing’s efforts to tighten oversight of its pharmaceutical sector still fall short. Read more.

ALSO: New substances are showing up in the US drug supply

3⃣ Nuclear weapons

Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that the US is “making progress” in negotiations with Iran and remains focused on ensuring Tehran can never obtain a nuclear weapon. This comes as the US energy secretary told lawmakers Wednesday that Iran is “frighteningly close” to constructing nuclear weapons, insisting that the country is “weeks away” from enriching one ton of its uranium to weapons-grade levels. Read more.

MEANWHILE: Putin tests powerful nuclear-capable missile dubbed “Satan II”

4⃣ Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is beginning to hand down opinions in key cases for the 2025-2026 term that will have far-reaching implications for millions of Americans. Most of the biggest decisions are typically released in May and June before the justices break for the summer, though the court has already issued a few major rulings this year. Read more.

5⃣ Unruly tourists

A tourist who drew widespread condemnation after allegedly hurling a coconut-sized rock at “Lani” — a beloved and endangered Hawaiian monk seal near a Maui beach — has been arrested. It follows a string of recent incidents worldwide involving unruly tourists, including vandalism at historic landmarks and violent behavior on flights. Read more.

Breakfast browse

Sequins, ruffles and 3D polka dots

Demi Moore, Jane Fonda and Maika Monroe were among the stars showcasing the best looks at the Cannes Film Festival.