By Laura Sharman, CNN

(CNN) — Five years ago, Logan Paul set a world record when he purchased a Pokémon card for $5.275 million. It proved a sound investment – the influencer and wrestler sold that card for a jaw-dropping $16.492 million, with a diamond encrusted necklace thrown in.

The rare Pikachu Illustrator card –– one of just 39 created for a Pokémon illustration competition in the late 90s –– went under the hammer on Goldin auctions on Monday.

It is believed to have earned the WWE star more than $8 million in profit after auction fees, a sale he called “absolutely insane.”

The auction had been running for 42 days but came to an end after hours of extended bidding Monday, with Paul saying “we may have tired someone out” during a YouTube live stream.

“Oh my gosh, this is crazy,” he added once the auction closed and confetti rained down.

Moments later, a Guinness World Records official appeared onscreen and confirmed Paul had sold the most expensive trading card ever at auction.

This time around the card was sold inside a custom necklace worn by Paul at WrestleMania 38 and with his promise to hand-deliver it to the winning bidder.

Pokémon is the world’s highest-grossing media franchise, surpassing even Disney and Star Wars. Cards have rocketed in value, outpacing sports cards and beating the S&P stock market by 3,000% in the past 20 years, Goldin founder and CEO Ken Goldin told CNN in December after Logan confirmed he would be auctioning off the card.

“This is the most coveted trading card in the world,” he said.

Goldin said the Illustrator is considered “the holy grail of all Pokémon cards” and Paul’s card was what everybody wants because it’s virtually flawless – the only Illustrator card considered a Grade 10 card by authentication agency PSA.

As Monday’s bidding drew to a close, the price initially held at $6.882 million until a flurry of last-minute offers during an extended bidding period lasting several hours drove the final auction total to $16.492 million from 97 total bids.

Paul has a reputation for taking collectibles to extreme levels and has spent millions to secure some of the rarest items ever produced, including NFTs – unique, verifiable digital assets traded on the blockchain.

The WWE wrestling star bid farewell to the card on Saturday in an Instagram post, saying “goodbye my friend. What a privilege it’s been to be the owner of the greatest collectible in the world.”

The card is just one of 20 Illustrator cards graded by PSA.

Paul got his hands on the ultra-rare Grade 10 card by swapping a PSA Grade 9 Pikachu Illustrator card he previously owned – worth $1.275 – and $4 million in cash for it in July 2021.

Only eight of the Pikachu Illustrator cards have been awarded a PSA Grade 9 and Paul’s sale is the only PSA Grade 10, the highest and most desirable grade assigned by PSA.

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Análisis por Kasie Hunt, CNN

Muchos de los demócratas que asistieron a la Conferencia de Seguridad de Munich este fin de semana quieren ser presidentes. Pero incluso si alguno de ellos logra ganar la Casa Blanca en 2028, puede que descubra que ya no puede reclamar el título que todos los presidentes estadounidenses han ostentado desde la década de 1940: líder del mundo libre.

El gobernador de California, Gavin Newsom, subió al escenario para insistir en que su estado es más permanente que el presidente Donald Trump. Pero reconoció en una entrevista con CNN que los líderes con los que se reunió creen que el daño a la alianza transatlántica es irreversible.

La estrella progresista, la representante Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez de Nueva York, acudió para promover una política exterior populista de izquierda, pero en cambio fue noticia por un gran tropiezo.

Varios senadores demócratas que esperaban mejorar sus credenciales en política exterior antes de posibles candidaturas presidenciales se encontraron en un momento dolorosamente incómodo con la primera ministra de Dinamarca, mientras algunos demócratas intentaban suavizar los comentarios beligerantes que el senador republicano Lindsey Graham hizo al inicio de la reunión, sugiriendo que Trump no ha renunciado a sus planes sobre Groenlandia, un territorio semiautónomo de Dinamarca.

Y la mayoría de los miembros de la Cámara de Representantes que planeaban asistir no fueron en absoluto, después de que el presidente de la Cámara de Representantes, el republicano Mike Johnson, cancelara la delegación del Congreso.

Los líderes de opinión europeos se limitaron a ofrecer una breve ovación de pie al secretario de Estado Marco Rubio, cuyo discurso fue mucho más conciliador que el que el vicepresidente J. D. Vance pronunció en la misma reunión el año pasado. Pero Rubio comenzó su viaje diciendo a periodistas estadounidenses: “El viejo mundo se ha ido”. También abandonó la conferencia para volar a Eslovaquia y Hungría, dos países gobernados por líderes autoritarios simpatizantes de Trump.

Las palabras de apertura de la conferencia, a cargo del canciller de Alemania, Friedrich Merz, cristalizaron la nueva realidad de Europa en lo que parece estar convirtiéndose rápidamente en un siglo posestadounidense.

“Se ha abierto una brecha entre Europa y Estados Unidos”, dijo Merz el viernes. “La pretensión de liderazgo de Estados Unidos ha sido cuestionada, y posiblemente perdida”.

No son solo palabras. Merz ha dicho que mantuvo “conversaciones confidenciales” con Francia sobre la disuasión nuclear europea. Es una sorprendente admisión de que ya no existe una confianza incondicional en que Estados Unidos hará lo necesario por sus aliados transatlánticos.

“Lo que escucho ahora es que, incluso si logramos reparar estas relaciones, tomará generaciones antes de que se sientan cómodos”, dijo el senador demócrata Mark Kelly, de Arizona, posible aspirante presidencial que viajó a Munich poco después de enterarse de que la administración Trump intentó, sin éxito,

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) It's not everyday fans see Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter at the Soho Restaurant & Music Club or emerging talent Hunter Hawkins perform with the legendary Kenny Loggins.

The music showcase followed the opening night awards ceremony at the 9th FestForums in Santa Barbara.

Kevin Lyman, who is marking the 30th anniversary of the Vans Warped Tour, was recognized.

"Look how many people come up for a few days to exchange ideas and that is what it is all about," said Lyman.

The honorees also included winemaker Fred Brander, who's wine is a popular part of countless food and wine festivals.

Festforums included more than 100 speakers during panel discussions at the Mar Monte Hotel.

"Anything that can give artists the whole business a kick-in-the-butt is a welcome phenom, it is hard enough for people to figure out this business," said Baxter.

Laurie Kirby has produced FestForums from the start and brings all kinds of festival folks together.

"They learn from each other, we have vendors that can help them elevate their festivals," said Kirby.

American Poet Stephen Kalinich helped open one some of program with his poetry.

Festforums also gave a spotlight to women in the industry with a women's panel entitled "Breaking Barriers:Women in the Festival Industry.

The packed panel included Helen Gover, who created the All My Relations Celebration, marketing leader Olga Rodriguez Santini of OCHOMASDIEZ, Tobi Olanihun of WOW! / COnnect & TEPS, Lisa Oldie of Sundance Film Festival and Abbey Londer of Netflix is a Joke Fest.

 "We are giving a platform to share their experiences and really highlight their stories," said marketing director and speaker Phoebe Choi.

Media Coordinator Natalie Vo was taking it all in.

"I Love festivals, it is just a place where people can escape from the problems of the world and just socialize," said Vo.

Panels covered everything from the State of the Industry to the Impact of AI.

Three-time Oscar winner Scott Ross, who now operated Digital Domain, sees the yin and yang of AI.

"AI is a paradox, so on one hand it is an incredible tool and on the other hand it is the fate of the entire human race," said Ross.

EJ Encarlarde of Festival Productions, Inc. in New Orleans helps up and coming festival founders.

"There is so much to learn from the leadership perspective, to the producer perspective," said Encalarde.

Attendees also had a chance to check out business that cater to festivals and even a Puppy Palooza. 

A couple of puppies were adopted.

Many people plan to return for more Industry inspiration next year .

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By Brad Lendon, CNN

(CNN) — Defense chiefs from two major US allies have issued a rare public plea for people across Europe to support big boosts in defense spending to deter a possible war with an increasingly westward-looking Russia.

The highest-ranking officials from Germany and the United Kingdom warned that European nations “must now confront uncomfortable truths” about its security and make “hard choices” about spending in an article jointly published by The Guardian in the UK and Die Welt in Germany.

“Moscow’s military buildup, combined with its willingness to wage war on our continent, as painfully evidenced in Ukraine, represents an increased risk that demands our collective attention,” Germany’s chief of defense, Gen. Carsten Breuer, and the UK’s chief of defense staff, Air Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, wrote.

“Moscow’s intentions range wider than the current conflict,” the pair added, arguing that the pubic must get behind increased defense spending, even if it means other public service programs – the “peace dividend” from the end of the Cold War – might suffer.

Over the past decade, member states of the European Union – of which the UK is not a member – have already doubled their defense expenditures, but more spending is needed, the defense chiefs argued.

“It’s clear that the threats we face demand a step change in our defence and security,” the pair wrote.

“Rearmament is not warmongering; it is the responsible action of nations determined to protect their people and preserve peace,” they said.

The article comes on the heels of the weekend’s Munich Security Conference, where US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Europe to assume more responsibility for its own defense after relying for decades on Washington’s help as the backbone of its security.

The defense chiefs’ article notes that NATO leaders have already committed to spending 5% of gross domestic product on defense by 2035.

“People must understand the difficult choices governments have to take in order to strengthen deterrence,” the two defense chiefs wrote.

But even in their own countries, the message may be a tough sell.

Only about 25% of Britons favor higher taxes to fund defense spending or cuts to public service to direct more money to arms, according to a January poll by the YouGov research firm.

In Germany, only 24% of the public favors increased defense spending if other programs would suffer, according to a recent Politico poll.

That skeptical public will have to be won over to achieve a key goal the chiefs put forth: “a whole-of-society approach” to defense.

“Defence cannot be the preserve of uniformed personnel alone. It is a task for each and every one of us,” they wrote.

Besides the pledge to increase defense spending, the defense chiefs said their countries are taking concrete steps to improve readiness and deterrence, with Britian building six new munitions factories and Germany repositioning troops near its eastern border.

The British Defense Ministry also announced over the weekend that it will send an aircraft carrier strike group led by the HMS Prince of Wales to the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans this year “to deter Russian aggression and protect vital undersea infrastructure.”

The strike group, which will include the carrier’s F-35 fighter jets, will work with U

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) Pianist Gil Rosas performed an encore show full of romantic songs on the day after Valentine's Day.

Fans filled the Marjorie Luke Theatre to enjoy Rosas show called "Everything's Coming up Rosas!." 

The produced by Rod Lathim also included classical favorites.

Rosas turns 90 on February 24, so the performance was like a birthday celebration.

He is at home behind a grand piano and said learning Chopin keeps his skills sharp.

Rosas was just 17 when he become one of the first staff members at KEYT-TV in the early 1950s.

He played on live broadcasts and has made a living playing piano ever since.

The concert served as a fundraiser for the Center on Successful Aging.

Gary Linker, who has a doctorate in clinical psychology, is the clinical director of the nonprofit.

"We work with low income seniors who have a variety of needs with several programs," said Linker, " senior pier counseling, we have a help line, we have a program to assist people in their homes and we have our successful aging newspaper."

The motto of the Center for Successful Aging is "Ending Loneliness, Building Community."

For more information visit, https://cbbsb.org

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