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Ann Kaplan Mulholland, ex-Toronto Real Housewife, brings cameras to England to buy, restore a castle

Ann Kaplan Mulholland, ex-Toronto Real Housewife, brings cameras to England to buy, restore a castle

Yahoo27-03-2025
A core personality on the 2017 show The Real Housewives of Toronto, Dr. Ann Kaplan Mulholland brought a camera crew with her after purchasing a castle in England. In the new reality show Queen of the Castle (Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. ET on on CTV Life, CTV.ca, and the CTV app, and streaming next day on Crave), Kaplan Mulholland takes home renovation to another, more regal, level.
Interestingly, the original plan for Kaplan Mulholland and her husband, Dr. Stephen Mulholland, was never to purchase a castle, but rather, they were trying to purchase a flat in London. But when Kaplan Mulholland found that the cheapest contender was £8.4 million (now about $15.4 million), she thought to check how much a castle would cost.
That led the purchase of a £5.5 million Lympne Castle (now just over $10 million), with a new plan to renovate and restore the historic property in the small community.
In terms of going back in front of the camera, Kaplan Mulhollan was actually set to star in a different reality show before this castle opportunity came up.
"I was asked to do a TV show about entrepreneurship for women, and ... I said I'd rather do a show on entrepreneurship, because I just feel like it doesn't matter if you're male or female, ... it's the same lessons," Kaplan Mulholland told Yahoo Canada. "I think after years of being in finance and in a man's world, I just felt that I had to rise above that."
"I phoned up one of the producers and said, 'We're looking at this castle.' The offer was in. But the survey wasn't completed. And I said, 'I think it'd be interesting to do a show on a renovation of a castle.' ... And the show got picked up."
Right from the beginning of the series there are questions about how Kaplan Mulholland will integrate with the existing, close-knit British community. But despite some initial resistance, Kaplan Mulholland stressed that she's very much part of this town now.
"These families have lived there forever. There's a few last names in this whole county," Kaplan Mulholland said. "The house on the corner is actually called the corner house."
"I didn't think about it, because we bought the castle without thinking about the community. And then when I joined the church I got to know some people, and didn't realize the impact we had on the community. ... They've opened their arms to me, almost everyone has. ... The castle is a happy place. So the community comes in. We sit and play Scrabble. I go to their houses for dinner. I'm invited home for tea. ... I walk down the street and we give each other hugs. In church, we stop and hug each other. It's really quite lovely. And they're not talking to me about the castle or TV or anything, [it's] how's the kids and things like that. It's really nice, the way a community should be."
But that does't mean that Lympne Castle is void of Kaplan Mulholland's flair, including her desire to put olive trees on the property, which we see in the first episode.
"I had searched to make sure that the olive trees were good for that soil and for that area, and that they would survive," Kaplan Mulholland said. "It was a process, but we did not want to harm the trees."
"And prior to that, just [trying to] find five olive trees the same size and height. And these are old, mature olive trees. So it was quite a process."
Additionally, Kaplan Mulholland certainly brought her fun energy to the show. Kicking off the development of the bistro on the property, The Naughty Dog, with a sausage eating contest, which also created some surprises for the crew.
"The camera crew did not know that they were going to eat out of bowls, and the people that were in the competition did not know they were going to do that, so we brought out the chopped up sausages ... and we had one bowl of mustard and one of ketchup, and then they did not know that I was going to ask them to put their hands behind the back," Kaplan Mulholland explained. "So it was quite funny ... and the camera crew had to film it without knowing, without laughing, and just run with it."
For fans of The Real Housewives of Toronto, or home renovation show lovers, Kaplan Mulholland's series Queen of the Castle, puts her unique spin on both reality TV formats.
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The DeepMind CEO's quest for contro​l
The DeepMind CEO's quest for contro​l

Business Insider

time2 hours ago

  • Business Insider

The DeepMind CEO's quest for contro​l

One of Google's most powerful leaders is someone who long tried to distance his company from the search giant. AI mastermind and chess wiz Demis Hassabis, who founded DeepMind and later sold it to Google in 2014, has been propelled into the center of Google's universe in the past two years amid the frenzied race for AI dominance. After years of trying to create more independence for DeepMind — shielding the AI research lab from the search giant — Hassabis was thrust into the belly of the beast in 2023 when Google merged DeepMind with its internal AI efforts. Now, company insiders close to Hassabis say he is destined for even greater heights that may give him more control over the powerful AI technology he builds — and possibly one day lead the company. Whether he's interested in those ambitions is another matter. For years, Hassabis hoped the AI race would be one led by academics and scientists in research labs, with international organizations to prevent AI's misuse and to map humanity's path through a new era of technological transformation. Hassabis now faces the pressures of pushing the frontiers of AI and also building it into Google's commercial products. He's wrangling a 6,000-plus team inside Google's AI engine room that has accrued increasingly more power and talent—Google DeepMind just poached the core team of the AI coding startup Windsurf, which rival OpenAI had previously planned to acquire. The stakes have never been higher: He has to keep Google ahead of corporate rivals and keep the US ahead of China. "His rise reminds me of Sundar's," said a longtime Google employee who has worked closely with Hassabis and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. "All of a sudden, you started hearing this name Sundar internally, and he kept having more and more responsibility, and all of a sudden, he was the CEO." "Demis' rise has been similar," the employee added. "Now, all of a sudden, he's responsible for what is probably the most important team at Google right now." Business Insider spoke to more than a dozen company insiders for this story. They described how Google tapped its ultimate AI weapon in Hassabis, who has the makings of a CEO — and whose ascent within Google has come with trade-offs. Google declined to make Hassabis available for an interview. Google's AI battle plan A British-born cognitive neuroscience Ph.D., Hassabis cofounded DeepMind in 2010 with the goal of one day creating a general-purpose artificial intelligence. In 2014, Hassabis sold the company to Google for $650 million with a caveat: It would create an AI ethics board that would limit how Google could use DeepMind's technology. In the years to come, Hassabis would take this further, fighting to create legal thicker walls between his lab and the search giant, BI previously reported. For one thing, DeepMind's leaders worried that their AI would be used for military purposes. After ChatGPT became a hit in late 2022, Google leaders ordered several pivots inside the company to address the potential threat to the search giant's business. In DeepMind earlier that year, Hassabis had told staff that he planned to reorient his lab toward building an AI assistant. One former employee said they were confused at the time as to how DeepMind could ever build something that would directly compete with Google's own Assistant. It soon didn't matter. In 2023, after talks to secure DeepMind's independence failed, Pichai announced the unit would fuse with Google's internal AI lab, and they merged their AI assistant efforts. Google was caught flat-footed by OpenAI's ChatGPT and needed a battle plan. 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Bitcoin hits a fresh all-time high above $120,000
Bitcoin hits a fresh all-time high above $120,000

Yahoo

time6 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Bitcoin hits a fresh all-time high above $120,000

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ReGen III Closes $1.75 Million Private Placement
ReGen III Closes $1.75 Million Private Placement

Yahoo

time7 hours ago

  • Yahoo

ReGen III Closes $1.75 Million Private Placement

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 14, 2025) - ReGen III Corp. (TSXV: GIII) (OTCQB: ISRJF) (FSE: PN4) ("ReGen III" or the "Company"), a leading clean technology company specializing in the upcycling of used motor oil ("UMO") into high-value Group III base oils, is pleased to announce it has closed its non-brokered private placement (the "Placement") announced May 27, 2025, issuing an aggregate of 8,750,000 Units (the "Units") at a price of $0.20 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $1,750,000. Each Unit consists of one common share in the capital of the Company (a "Share") and one-half of one common share purchase warrant (each whole warrant a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase an additional Share (a "Warrant Share") at an exercise price of $0.45 per Warrant Share for a period of two (2) years from the date of issuance. All securities issued in the Placement are subject to a hold period expiring on November 12, 2025. 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CEO & President Commentary "On behalf of the Board of Directors and the entire team at ReGen III, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our shareholders — both new and existing — for their continued confidence and support. We are particularly encouraged by the strong participation from insiders, which reflects our team's deep conviction in ReGen III's proprietary technology, unique market opportunity, and long-term potential," stated Tony Weatherill, CEO & President. "We are committed to delivering results in 2025, and this investment positions us to advance our strategic priorities, including commercial arrangements, strategic partnerships, and other opportunities that will accelerate our market entry." Research Coverage ReGen III has engaged Couloir Capital Ltd. ("Couloir"), an arm's length research firm, to provide investor-focused equity research coverage. The Company will pay Couloir a one-time fee of $45,000 for three research reports. Couloir's research reports are disseminated through Bloomberg, FactSet, Capital IQ, LSEG, and other portals, as well as through their social media and email distribution lists. These research reports are intended for information purposes only. The Company has no influence over the content, conclusions, or timing of any reports prepared by Couloir. All reports will include required disclosures under applicable securities regulations. For more information on Couloir please visit: Debt Settlement Update Further to the Company's press release dated July 2, 2025, the Company is pleased to announce that the TSX Venture Exchange has accepted the Company's application to settle certain debts through the issuance of 221,972 common shares of the Company ("Settlement Shares") at a deemed price of $0.2034 per Settlement Share (the "Debt Settlement"). The Settlement Shares were issued on July 11, 2025, and are subject to a four-month hold period until November 12, 2025. See ReGen III's news release dated July 2, 2025, with respect to additional details and related party transaction information. About ReGen III ReGen III is a cleantech company commercializing its patented ReGen™ technology to upcycle UMO into high-value Group III base oils. With a focus on creating sustainable solutions that generate better environmental outcomes and compelling economics, the Company's ReGen™ process is expected to reduce CO2e emissions by 82% as compared to virgin crude derived base oils combusted at end of life. ReGen III has completed FEL2 and value engineering for the Company's 5,600 bpd UMO Texas recycling facility, with the support of world-class engineering, construction and licensed vendor teams - including Koch Project Solutions, LLC, PCL Industrial Management Ltd., Studi Tecnologie Progetti S.p.A., Koch Modular Process Systems and Duke Technologies. Operating in an underserved segment of the base oils market, ReGen III aims to become the world's largest producer of sustainable re-refined Group III base oil. For more information on ReGen III or to subscribe to the Company's mailing list, please visit: and For further information, please contact: Investor & Media inquiries:Email: investors@ Corporate Inquiries:Kimberly HedlinVice President, Corporate FinanceTel: (403) 921-9012Email: info@ Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain information other than statements of historical facts contained in this news release constitutes "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Without limiting the foregoing, such forward-looking information includes statements regarding the Company's business plans, expectations, capital costs and objectives. In this news release, words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "estimate" and similar words and the negative form thereof are used to identify forward-looking information. Forward-looking information should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether, or the times at or by which, such future performance will be achieved. Forward-looking information is based on information available at the time and/or the Company management's good faith belief with respect to future events and is subject to known or unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. For additional information with respect to these and other factors and assumptions underlying the forward-looking information made in this news release, see the Company's most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis and financial statements and other documents filed by the Company with the Canadian securities commissions and the discussion of risk factors set out therein. Such documents are available at under the Company's profile and on the Company's website, The forward-looking information set forth herein reflects the Company's expectations as at the date of this news release and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States To view the source version of this press release, please visit

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