Anthropic faces lose-lose scenario in Pentagon conflict as deadline for policy change looms

Anthropic has just hours to decide whether it will accede to the Defense Department's demands that it be able to use the company's AI models how it sees fit.

OpenAI closes $110 billion funding round with backing from Amazon, Nvidia, Softbank

OpenAI's latest funding round is even bigger than its prior financing, which was a record amount for private tech companies.

Russia and Ukraine agree local truce to allow repairs at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant

Russian forces have controlled the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant since early 2022, shortly after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Champions League last 16: Manchester City face Real Madrid; Europa League draw – live

⚽ Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend
⚽ Champions League draw from 11am (GMT) | Mail John

Football Association news: Kevin Thelwell has been appointed the FA’s Elite Coach Developer, tasked with supporting the progression of elite homegrown coaches.

The former Rangers and Everton sporting director’s strategic role at St George’s Park will span men’s and women’s football and he will report to Dan Ashworth, the chief football officer at the national football centre.

England v New Zealand: T20 Cricket World Cup Super 8s – live

Updates from the match in Colombo; 1.30pm GMT start
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4th over: New Zealand 28-0 (Seifert 11, Allen 16) Dawson wheels away, Allen trots out of the crease and pulverises a full ball over the bowler’s head for SIX. “If it is up it is off” says Nasser Hussain on the Tv comms. Dawson recovers well though, singles the order of the rest of the over. Archer is coming back for a third on the bounce.

3rd over: New Zealand 17-0 (Seifert 8, Allen 8) Archer is up at 91 MPH and has the opening batters hopping. Seifert scampers a leg bye to get off the mark. Over to Finn Allen… GAS. Archer beats him with a rapid ball first up. He follows up with a slower ball that Allen spots, no doubt breathing a sigh of relief – and smashes over mid on for SIX! Keep the pace on I reckon Jofra.

Trump angering MAHA with glyphosate order gives Democrats an opening

Democrats once counted many of the health-conscious followers of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. among their own ranks.

PM vows to ‘keep fighting’ after Greens sweep past Labour and Reform to win byelection – UK politics live

Green party’s Hannah Spencer secures victory in Gorton and Denton as Reform UK finish second and Labour is pushed into third

• Full story: Resounding victory for Green party

• Analysis: Labour’s worst fears realised

Reform activists are “hearing Matt Goodwin has all but conceded defeat to the Greens”, the UK poll aggregator Britain Elects has posted on X.

The Green party has predicted a “seismic moment” in UK politics, with a party source telling the Press Association:

Things are feeling positive. Not wanting to get ahead of ourselves, but everything that we thought that was going to be happening looks like it’s happening … Whatever happens, I think it’s fair to say that Greens are here to stay now as a progressive voice in British politics.

Core wholesale prices rose 0.8% in January, much more than expected

The core producer price index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.8%, more than the 0.6% gain in December.

Von der Leyen pushes through Mercosur deal, splitting European leaders – Europe live

Trade between the EU and two South American countries may start within two months under a provision application of the deal

Trade between the EU and two South American countries may start within two months under a provision application of the Mercosur deal.

“The law allows the provisional application of the deal can happen two months after notification has been exchanged between both sides in the form of a ‘note verbale’ that the deal will enter into provision application.”

“The president reached out to member states and to MEPS, that’s what it means. She reached out to member states and MEPs, and I remind you that the member states as the European Council, endorsed and approved the EU Mercosur agreement and empowered the European Commission to move forward with provisional application.”

Pakistan declares state of ‘open war’ after bombing major Afghan cities

Wave of strikes comes after Taliban forces attack Pakistani border troops following earlier action from Islamabad

Pakistan has bombed major cities in Afghanistan including the capital, Kabul, with Islamabad’s defence minister declaring that the hostile neighbours were in a state of “open war” as a cycle of retaliatory attacks escalated further.

Witnesses in Kabul and Kandahar, the southern Afghan city, reported explosions and jets overhead until dawn, while the Taliban government said later that Pakistani surveillance aircraft were still flying over Afghanistan.

Previously convicted stowaway sneaks onto flight to Europe again

Svetlana Dali was convicted last year of stowing away after she snuck onto a Delta flight from New York to Paris. The Russian national was arrested again after stowing away on a recent United flight to Milan that departed from Newark Liberty International Airport.

US urges its citizens to leave Israel immediately amid strike threat on Iran

Department of State also authorises non-essential officials and their families to book flights anywhere

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The US has authorised the departure of non-essential government workers and their families from Israel as the threat of an American strike on Iran looms.

US citizens should “consider leaving Israel while commercial flights are available”, the Department of State advisory added. It also urged against travel to Israel.

American among those killed on speedboat in Cuban waters, White House confirms

At least one U.S. citizen was also among the six who were wounded and arrested by Cuban authorities, a U.S. official said.

Football Daily | Dortmund v Bayern: will Der Klassiker live up to its name?

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La Liga has El Clásico, France has Le Classique, and Argentina goes full gun with its Superclásico. English football has no true equivalent, with Liverpool and Manchester United fans unable to agree on a name for their grand-slam meetings. Up in the land of fitba, there’s this weekend’s 450th Old Firm/Glasgow derby (delete as applicable according to your stringency on Scottish company law). And Germany has Der Klassiker, between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. The Bundesliga marketing suits have been out in force this week for the one game, played on Saturday evening, that brings extra eyeballs. Though questions are often raised over whether this is a true, classic rivalry; Dortmund have not won a league title since Jürgen Klopp was making his rounds in 2012.

I just hope the hapless Dortmund defender Ramy Bensebaini (yesterday’s Football Daily) does not follow my path. I too was directly responsible for four opposition goals in one game: one came from my taking a corner that curved behind every one of my teammates, allowing five of the other lot to advance on our puffing centre-back; another was me slicing a clearance so badly that instead of arcing down the touchline, it went at 90 degrees, landing at the feet of an opponent with enough time and space at the edge of our box for his own Grand Designs project. I never again played any form of competitive sport” – Michael Hann.

I feel compelled to point out that Ramy Bensebaini played left-sided centre-back of a back three against Atalanta rather than left-back (yesterday’s Football Daily). I noticed this because of the body language of his teammate Daniel Svensson each time Bensebaini recklessly served a goal up on Wednesday. Svensson was the recovering left wing-back at the Algerian’s side, head bowed and shoulders increasingly drooping” – Matthew Parham.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the collection of words at the bottom of Football Daily’s full email edition (that rarely makes any sense to me) are a form of the popular location app what3words and give the venue of that evening’s secret ‘drinks’ for the hard-working hacks. It hasn’t escaped me that, when there are more than three words, my theory sheds more water than something that sheds water” – Shaun.

Regarding yesterday’s last line ‘Hot Parents’ Chat Ahoy’ (full email edition), am I the only one wondering if it is the chat or the parents that are hot? Pray tell” – Martyn Shapter [neither – Football Daily Ed].​​​​

This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in February

Francis Spufford, Manish Chauhan and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments

I’ve been reading a very short book by Claire Baglin, translated by Jordan Stump, On the Clock. Set on the edge of somewhere in Brittany, all run-down blocks, dual carriageways and drive-in eateries, it’s a dark, sometimes funny story of a working-class family and a young woman starting work in a fast-food restaurant. Through a few short scenes we get a real insight into the quotidian soullessness of the work.

Human rights issues swirl around the Women’s Asian Cup. They cannot be ignored | Samantha Lewis

There is a glaring contrast between the Asian Football Confederation’s corporate dream and the structural realities of the tournament in Australia

Just over a year ago, 18 senior players from the Bangladesh women’s national team threatened to retire from international football in protest of their alleged treatment by their head coach.

In an emotional media conference, captain Sabina Khatun stood in front of a tangle of microphones – in an image reminiscent of Lydia Williams when the Matildas went on strike in 2015 – to accuse Peter Butler of verbal abuse, body shaming, mental harassment, and inappropriate comments about their private lives.

Living with hyperphantasia: ‘I remember the clothes people wore the day we met, the things they said word-for-word’

It’s hard to know what people can see in their own mind’s eye. But for Maddie Thomas there was no doubt: she had especially vivid mental imagery

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I close my eyes and picture a boat making its way towards the mainland. Lit only by moonlight, a silhouette walks towards a post box and mails three letters, one by one. Then, the familiar tune of ABBA’s Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) starts to play, and the musical begins.

Sometimes as a child I had trouble falling asleep. But from age 11 and through my early teenage years, recreating the film Mamma Mia! in my head frame-by-frame was my remedy. Running each line of dialogue through my mind and bringing to life the colour of the characters’ clothes, usually by the time they arrive flustered from their journey, I would drift off.

Trump officials move to kill system that protects US from chemical disasters

EPA rolls back rules as chemical firms claim provisions in RMP protection system too expensive to implement

The Trump administration is slowly dismantling the federal disaster management system that protects the nation from chemical catastrophes, such as fires and explosions at high-risk facilities.

The US Environmental Protection Agency’s Response Management Program (RMP) requires more than 12,500 high-risk facilities to develop protocols to prevent catastrophes, or limit fallout, and was largely designed to protect workers, first responders, and fence-line communities.

Bill Clinton to testify today in House committee's Epstein investigation

Bill Clinton's testimony is the first time a former president has been compelled to appear before Congress.

Pentagon shoots down Customs and Border Protection drone in Texas, officials say

The Defense Department on Wednesday shot down a U.S. Customs and Border Protection drone in southwest Texas, federal officials confirmed to CBS News.

‘The American dream is a lie’: Venezuelans left in limbo and losing hope in Mexico – a photo essay

Fearful of returning to their home countries and unable to continue north, many asylum seekers now face eviction as Mexico starts to demolish the camps set up to house them

The road to the “nation of immigrants” has radically changed course over the past months for those hoping for a new life in the United States. A series of executive orders by the US president, Donald Trump, has drastically shifted migration across the Americas.

In the early morning in Mexico City, people living at Vallejo informal migrant camp get ready for the day. It is one of the last of six camps formed to house growing numbers of people arriving mostly from Venezuela and Honduras after changes to US legislation in 2022. Other camps were recently dismantled

Man arrested after Churchill statue outside UK parliament sprayed with graffiti

Met arrests man on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage after slogans including ‘Zionist war criminal’ sprayed

A 38-year-old man has been arrested after the statue of Winston Churchill outside the Houses of Parliament was defaced with graffiti calling the former prime minister a “Zionist war criminal”.

The Metropolitan police said the man was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage on Friday morning.

Holi colours, ice hockey and a dinosaur: photos of the day – Friday

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

Lynx could return to Scotland – but can rewilders win over wary Highlanders?

With most Scots supportive of reintroducing the wild cat, charities are focusing on those whose jobs could be affected

Could lynx, the elusive wild cat driven to extinction in Britain more than 1,000 years ago, become the new Loch Ness monster? “Whether Nessie’s there or not, she draws tourists,” said Margaret Luckwell, a resident of Moray, Scotland. “It would be the same with lynx. I’d love to see a lynx in the wild.”

Luckwell’s view is a majority one among local people gathering at village halls across the Highlands, as a painstaking consultation slowly gathers momentum for the apex predator’s return to Scottish forests.

Man charged after person allegedly enters Manchester mosque with axe

Darren Connor due to appear in court, as police say a second man has not been charged in connection with incident

A man has been charged with possession of an offensive weapon after an individual allegedly entered a mosque in Manchester with an axe.

Darren Connor, 55, was arrested at Manchester Central mosque in Rusholme on Tuesday after police were alerted to him and another man entering the building and apparently acting suspiciously. Police have announced that the second man has not been charged in connection with the incident, but has been charged with an unrelated breach of a criminal behaviour order.

A Spider-Man Universe without Spider-Man is completely pointless. Why won’t Sony sling him in?

Six movies in, the series about characters linked to the web-slinger is looking ever ropier. More are on the way – but with no sign of the obvious way refresh the franchise

The old adage goes that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The news this week that Sony is planning to reboot its once much-vaunted, now completely risible “Spider-Man Universe”, shows there must be a few Hollywood executives who still believe in it.

Speaking on The Town podcast this week, the studio’s chief executive and chair Tom Rothman was asked about the future of the bafflingly superfluous superhero franchise that gave us three lukewarm Venom films, the odious Morbius and the tonally anaemic Madame Web. Despite scant clamour for more movies, he confirmed that the saga will live to fight another day. “Is the larger Spider-Verse dead?” Rothman was asked. “No,” he replied. “Are you going to go back to those at some point?” asked his interviewer. “Yes,” Rothman said. “But it’ll be a fresh reboot?” “Yes.” “New people?” “Yes, yes.” Rothman then added: “Scarcity has value … you got to make the audience miss you.”

Cocktail of the week: Nora’s baklava old fashioned - recipe | The good mixer

Honey and cinnamon bring a warming, Istanbul-inspired spin to a classic

The scent of honey and warm pastry that spills out of the late-night baklava shops on Taksim Square in Istanbul is the inspiration for this twist on the classic old fashioned. The honey, cinnamon and walnut slip in perfectly without overpowering proceedings.

Andrea Ena, bar manager, Nora, London E22

Science of sex and gender being misrepresented by Trump officials, experts warn

Scientists say crackdown on gender-affirming care could have impact on healthcare of all Americans

As more health systems end gender-affirming care for patients amid a crackdown from the Trump administration, scientists and advocates say the science of sex and gender is being misrepresented – and will have major repercussions for the healthcare for all Americans.

Trump officials “don’t actually understand the science at all”, said Jey McCreight, who is the founder of Beyond X&Y and has a doctoral degree in human genomics. McCreight, who uses they/them pronouns, added that using misinformation to limit who can seek healthcare is a warning for all patients.

‘You’re sweet – and I’m old!’: Billy Porter and Sam Morrison on teaming up for a comedy about love and death

The Emmy-winning singer and actor was so struck by the standup’s autobiographical one-man show Sugar Daddy that he signed on as producer. The pair discuss ‘bears’, blood sugar and bridging the divides between generations of gay men

Sugar Daddy is a one-man show about “love, grief and insulin” by the 31-year-old standup Sam Morrison. An autobiographical monologue that turns tragedy into comedy, it tells of how Morrison fell in love with Jonathan, who was 24 years his senior, after meeting him at a gay bear festival in Provincetown, Massachusetts. In 2021, two and a half years into their relationship, Jonathan died from Covid.

For the last four years, Morrison has been performing Sugar Daddy around the world; next month he brings an updated version to London’s West End. The co-producer is Billy Porter, 56, the Emmy-winning singer, actor and director whose credits include Pose, American Horror Story and Cabaret.

Trump has embraced a disturbing strategy to silence free speech | David Bralow

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Media Matters over critical coverage. It’s just one example of the administration’s approach

The Trump administration is embracing an intimidation strategy to silence critical media coverage. Here’s how it works: a federal agency launches a pretextual investigation into a perceived enemy, keeps the investigation open to coerce compliance, and resists any effort to have a court review the lawfulness of the agency’s actions.

There’s no better example than the Federal Trade Commission’s retaliatory investigation of Media Matters for America for its critical coverage of one of the Trump administration’s most powerful allies.

David Bralow is counsel to the Intercept

‘I’m fully prepared for our dystopian future!’ Holliday Grainger on AI, firearms training and The Capture

As the actor’s hi-tech conspiracy thriller returns for a third series, she spills the beans on her worst stunt injury – and why the police are now ‘dressing like the cops on the telly’

You’ll never wheel your suitcase through an airport in the same way again. Hit techno-conspiracy drama The Capture makes its long-awaited comeback with a chilling, thrilling opening sequence at Heathrow Terminal 5. When a hostile Russian asset lands in the UK, he hacks CCTV cameras and uses real-time image manipulation to bypass border controls and passport checks. He’s travelling under a deepfake avatar – and let’s just say he’s not in London to visit M&M’s World or see the Paddington musical.

Written and created by former documentary-maker Ben Chanan, The Capture’s ripped-from-the-headlines mix of government AI usage, state-sponsored cyber-attacks, dark web data analytics and deepfake doppelgangers will make you fear for the future. The show’s star Holliday Grainger compares it to “a longform Black Mirror”.

How Americans plan to use their bigger tax refunds this year

Early tax refund data shows the typical check is so far 14% higher than a year ago. Here's what Americans are planning to do with the money.

Liverpool’s title win last season fuelled by Premier League’s highest wage bill

• Wage bill increased by £42m to £428m, accounts show

• Not hard to resist calls to start Ngumoha, says Slot

Liverpool had the highest wage bill in the Premier League when winning their 20th league title last season, the club’s latest set of accounts have revealed.

Liverpool’s wage bill increased by £42m to £428m in the year ending 31 May 2025, when a Premier League title triumph in Arne Slot’s debut season as head coach and a return to the Champions League increased revenue to a record £703m. The club’s wages-to-revenue ratio stood at a healthy 61%. It was the biggest wage bill in the division, ahead of Manchester City on £408m, and included bonuses for the record-equalling title triumph.

Jeep maker Stellantis posts first annual loss in company history after EV write-downs

The results come shortly after the auto giant scaled back its EV ambitions following a major strategic shift.

Takeaways from Hillary Clinton's deposition. And, Paramount outbids for Warner Bros.

Hillary Clinton says the questioning in a closed-door deposition with the House Oversight Committee's Epstein investigation was repetitive. And, Paramount has outbid Netflix for Warner Bros.

Flavor Flav to host Las Vegas event for winning US women’s Olympic ice hockey team

• 66-year-old rapper is longtime women’s sports supporter

• Team did not attend Trump’s State of the Union address

The rapper Flavor Flav will host a Las Vegas event in July to honour the US women’s ice hockey team’s gold medal at the Milano Cortina Olympics and celebrate other female Olympian and Paralympian achievement.

The Hall of Fame rapper announced on X on Thursday that he will host a She Got Game weekend event from 16-19 July in partnership with MGM Resorts to honor the women’s hockey team as well as other female athletes.

Will Trump try to seize voting machines to disrupt the midterm elections?

State election leaders have been raising concerns about the intent behind Trump’s recent moves on elections

After the FBI seized elections materials from Fulton county last month, Donald Trump returned once again to his false claim that he beat Joe Biden in Georgia in the 2020 election.

“The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over,’” Trump said to Dan Bongino on the former FBI staffer’s podcast earlier this month . “We should take over the voting in at least – many – 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.”

Later that week, it was revealed that the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who was present at the Fulton county raid, led an investigation into Puerto Rico’s voting machines – taking some machines to examine – last May to identify what her office said were potential vulnerabilities in the island’s electronic voting systems. Taken together, Trump’s comments and actions are pointing toward a possibility Democratic voters have until now only contemplated: the federal government seizing voting machines across the country in a way that disrupts voting in the 2026 midterms.

If the federal government declared some digital voting machines off-limits at the last minute, it would set off a chain of emergency court hearings, leaving elections directors scrambling to find another way to print and count ballots before those cases resolved. Early voting could crater. Election Day voting could be curtailed. And results might not be ready for weeks.

Add to playlist: the cliche-correcting medieval music of Idrîsî Ensemble and the week’s best new tracks

The group reimagines Corsica’s ancient music for modern female voices with fresh spiky arrangements that remain heavy with the pain of the past

From London via Corsica/Occitania
Recommended if you like Arooj Aftab, Maria Callas, the choral tragedy of Prioritise Pleasure-era Self Esteem
Up next New single Dieus Sal la Terra out now

Idrîsî Ensemble are a useful corrective to the stereotyping of medieval music as smooth, pious and sleepy. Hearing the howls of this London-based group – sometimes powered by up to 19 members – you’re reminded of song’s inexhaustible capacity for conjuring fresh pain.

My doctor keeps focusing on my weight. What other health metrics matter more?

Our Real Talk with a Doc columnist explains how to push back if your doctor's obsessed with weight loss. And what other health metrics matter more instead.

Shell-shocked and tense: inside the Mexican tourist town where ‘El Mencho’ made his last stand

Tapalpa deserted and scared by day of terror when military raid brought feared drug lord’s reign to an end

Two days before one of the world’s most powerful drug lords was killed while trying to flee a chalet in the hills outside Mexico’s second biggest city, the Tapalpa Country Club posted an advert on Instagram inviting lovers to visit a place where they could “inhale peace [and] exhale stress”.

“Date idea: Escape to Tapalpa,” read the message, advertising romantic private cabins, picnics with spectacular lake views and a golf course “to have fun together”.

Brigitte Bardot tribute at the César awards greeted with boos

A shout of ‘racist’ could also be heard during the segment at France’s version of the Oscars

A tribute to Brigitte Bardot at the Césars, France’s version of the Oscars, on Thursday was greeted with boos. In a video clip posted by Paris Match, boos can clearly be heard among the applause as the tributes, and a shout of “racist!” is also audible.

Bardot, who died in December aged 91, became arguably the most celebrated figure in postwar French cinema for films such as And God Created Woman and Contempt, but after quitting acting in the early 1970s her later years were marred by increasing political activity on the far right, resulting in a string of convictions for inciting racial hatred.

Netflix walks away from Warner Bros deal, clearing way for Paramount takeover

Streaming service says ‘deal no longer financially attractive’ at price required to match Paramount Skydance offer

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Netflix has walked away from its planned takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, declining to raise its offer for the media conglomerate’s storied Hollywood studios and streaming business after it determined a sweetened rival offer from Paramount Skydance to be “superior”.

In a statement on Thursday evening, the Netflix co-chief executives Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said: “At the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive.”

Nottingham Forest turn to former Spurs head of medicine after team’s injury struggles

• Geoff Scott appointed in medical department overhaul

• He had 20 years at Spurs but clashed with Postecoglou

Nottingham Forest have appointed a new director of performance, Tottenham’s former head of medicine and sports science Geoff Scott, amid concerns that injury problems have exacerbated their struggle to avoid relegation.

Scott spent 20 years at Tottenham until leaving two years ago after a clash with the then manager, Ange Postecoglou, who was in charge of Forest for eight matches this season.

Jack Doohan received ‘serious death threats’ and called for police help before Alpine exit

• Australian F1 driver was replaced after 2025 Miami GP

• Doohan revealed threats and abuse on Drive to Survive

Jack Doohan has said he received death threats and called police to resolve an encounter with armed men around the time of last year’s Miami Grand Prix, just before he lost his Formula One drive with Alpine.

In the latest series of the Netflix documentary Drive to Survive, released on Friday, the Australian driver said he had been threatened by email, describing the atmosphere around what proved to be his final race as “pretty heavy stuff”.

Scholar, seductress, alchemist: who was the real Cleopatra?

The Egyptian queen has fascinated me from childhood, but following the archives led only to ancient gossip and Roman propaganda. Fiction was the way to liberate her from misogynist myth

Witch, whore, villain – there are few women who have been as vilified through history as Cleopatra VII. The disdain of ancient sources that sought to dismiss her as exotic and seductive has corrupted her legacy. But I take pleasure in knowing that her name has permeated through time with far more recognition than the men who wrote about her. Ask a 10-year-old child who Plutarch is and they’ll scrunch up their brows – but Cleopatra? Their eyes light up with glee.

Mine did when I was tasked by my schoolteacher to draw Cleopatra. My small hands searched through the box of crayons. I picked up the brown, its tip pristine from lack of use. It was the loneliest colour in the box, used only to draw mud or bark. The face I drew reflected my own in features and colour.

Trump is marching toward war with Iran. He hasn’t bothered to make clear why | Mohamad Bazzi

The US spent months promoting a false case for the invasion of Iraq. This time, we’re in the dark about Washington’s goals

In October 2002, George W Bush laid out his case for taking the US to war against Iraq in a half-hour speech televised around the world. Bush warned that Saddam Hussein’s regime could attack the US “on any given day” with chemical or biological weapons, including anthrax, mustard gas or the nerve agent sarin. He argued Iraq was seeking to acquire nuclear weapons and could develop a bomb in less than a year. And if those warnings weren’t enough to terrify the US public, Bush invoked the ultimate fear of an unprovoked nuclear attack: “Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof – the smoking gun – that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.”

The world soon learned that Bush’s rationale for invading Iraq was based on manipulated intelligence and outright lies; the Iraqi regime no longer had any weapons of mass destruction and was not developing them. But the administration’s relentless campaign to convince Americans that Saddam was a threat had paid off by generating significant support. As the invasion got under way in March 2003, many polls showed public approval of the war at more than 70%. Bush’s own approval rating hovered around a similar high, underscoring that war can boost the popularity of America’s commander-in-chief as few other things can.

‘It’s good music, not a guilty pleasure’: how Bruno Mars embraced cheese to become pop’s most popular star

He gets more streams than Taylor Swift or Bad Bunny, thanks to a shamelessly corny and cannily timeless style. Close collaborators and industry experts explain his secret

Sixteen years since his sugary debut Just the Way You Are became a megahit, Bruno Mars is the most-streamed musician in the world. Last year, the Hawaiian-born 40-year-old became the first (and still only) artist to reach 150m monthly listeners on Spotify, and his staying power shows little sign of waning: Mars now has more listeners than even Bad Bunny and Taylor Swift. His latest, funk-inspired single I Just Might – which he performed at the Grammys earlier this month, with a brass band, slick suit and his trademark bandana – shot to the top of the US Hot 100, making him only the fourth male soloist in chart history to achieve 10 No 1 singles there, after Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Drake.

“We always say, I don’t know when that happened,” laughs Philip Lawrence, the songwriter and producer who has helped shape Mars’s story, when asked about their huge success together. The two musicians were introduced in 2006 and bonded over a shared dream to get signed and get on stage. “That was our connection – let’s perform!”

Novartis settles suit over use of woman's "stolen" cells to advance medicine

Novartis has settled a suit by Henrietta Lacks' estate alleging the pharmaceutical giant unjustly profited off cells were taken from her tumor without her knowledge in 1951.

What’s wrong with texting? The Stephen Collins cartoon

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Block shares soar as much as 24% as company slashes workforce by nearly half

Block said Thursday it's laying off more than 4,000 employees, or about half of its head count.

Growing pains: Industry has shown that bigger isn’t always better

The fourth season of TV’s once underrated drama has maxed out on everything – sex, nastiness, nihilism – and it’s been a major miscalculation

There’s a lot of talk about growth on Industry, the hit HBO/BBC drama concerning the ruthless world of London finance. Characters wax poetic and soothingly incoherent (to the layperson) about stocks and shorts, asset values and private funds. Charismatic entrepreneurs peddle the latest groundbreaking green energy company or democratized bank or, to quote one particularly foul-mouthed character in a show full of scoundrels, “the Paypal of bukkake”. All espouse and consecrate the profit motive.

Naturally, there’s a lot of hot air; in the show’s caustic nexus of business, politics and global media – not so much a fun-house mirror as a high-budget, impressionistic rendering of five minutes scrolling X – your worth is not in dollars or pounds but in narrative confidence. “We don’t need proof,” says one short-seller out for the kill, “because we finally have a good story to tell”. Cooked books can be explained as “simply a misalignment between the velocity of my vision and the velocity of regulation”, according to the slippery fintech entrepreneur Whitney Halberstram, played with reptilian cool by Max Minghella, in the fourth season’s most recent episode. The gap in between is “where smart people have always made money”.

Forget the State of the Union. What's the state of your quiz score?

What's the state of your union, quiz-wise? Find out!

Speed Dates is no feeble full-motion video game – it’s a bold art film | Dominik Diamond

With original dialogue in Turkish, this shuffling of potential partners in a sequence of meaningless encounters ranks with the finest auteur movies

I spent Valentine’s Day not with my wife but with 18 Turkish women. No, wait, I can explain. It’s a new game called Speed Dates – Winter Edition, which I only chanced upon when I searched “Winter Games” on Xbox Live hoping for some Olympics fare. And boy, did I find it!

The game is in Turkish, with English subtitles. It already feels arthouse; like those films Channel 4 used to show with a red triangle in the corner of the screen.

Watching Watership Down on acid with Bez: Shaun Ryder releases new memoir 24 Hour Party Person

Happy Mondays frontman says forthcoming book will include bullet-dodging scrapes in Jamaica and New York as well as ‘bust-ups and benders’ with his bands

Happy Mondays and Black Grape frontman Shaun Ryder is publishing a new memoir and will personally sign every copy.

“I’ve done more books now, I think, than Shakespeare, sort of,” said Ryder, announcing the release of 24 Hour Party Person.

Ben Markovits: ‘I used to think any book concerned with people falling in love can’t be very good’

The British-American author on arguing about Jane Austen, the joys of Jerome K Jerome, and revising his opinion of Philip Roth

My earliest reading memory
I used to read Donald Sobol’s Encyclopedia Brown stories with my mother. It’s a classic American kids’ series about a boy detective and his brilliant sidekick, Sally, who protects him as they tackle their arch enemy, Bugs Meany, a kind of high school bully version of Professor Moriarty. We’d sit in the kitchen together and try to solve the crimes. Of course, for me it was also an opportunity to hang out with my mom. I’m one of five kids; attention was hard to come by. But I was also drawn to the picture Sobol paints of small-town all-American life, which I don’t think I ever felt a part of. We moved around too much.

My favourite book growing up
I remember finishing JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings at elementary school and already feeling sad about the fact that I’d never be able to read it again for the first time. I have a dim memory that I was in school, because the feeling has something of the flavour of the school hallway and the bright lights on the shiny tiled floors, and the general sense of being shut in for the rest of the day. Some of my older brother’s friends had already introduced me to Dungeons & Dragons, which shaped the next few years of my life. Most of my favourite novels started with the idea of some lonely figure wandering out into the world to see what the world would do to him. (Later, Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers was another favourite.)

Medicaid is paying for more dental care. GOP cuts threaten to reverse the trend.

More than three dozen states cover dental services for people on Medicaid, but with about $900 billion in cuts expected to hit states over the next decade, many programs could roll back dental coverage.

Weather tracker: US cities close schools and cancel flights amid heavy snowfall

Winter Storm Hernando, which struck north-eastern regions this week, described as a ‘bomb cyclone’

Winter Storm Hernando swept across the north-eastern US on Sunday and into the start of the week, unleashing blizzard conditions across much of the region as heavy snowfall combined with gale-force winds. Blizzard warnings were issued for several cities including New York City, Portland and Boston. More than 10,000 flights were cancelled, and schools closed in many states.

The storm intensified rapidly through Sunday. Coastal areas of Massachusetts and Rhode Island recorded gusts of about 70mph, and Montauk Point in New York reporting stronger gusts of 84mph.

As the U.S. celebrates its 250th birthday, many Latinos question whether they belong

Many U.S.-born Latinos feel afraid and anxious amid the political rhetoric. Still, others wouldn't miss celebrating their country

How do families of missing people cope with the uncertainty?

When a loved one goes missing, relatives can feel guilty simply for eating, says Charlie Shunick, whose sister was kidnapped. Shunick now helps others navigate a nightmare "nobody is prepared for."

How a 3-week babysitting gig turned into a lifelong relationship for two women

Margaret Tobin accepted a three-week babysitting gig in 1989 for a newborn named Audrey that turned into a life-long relationship. The two women talk about their life together.

2/26: CBS Evening News

What happened during Hillary Clinton's House deposition on Epstein; Boy who lost Pokémon binder gets over 15,000 cards from strangers

Lala Lala: Heaven 2 review – brooding alt-popper fights the urge to run

(Sub Pop)
Lillie West’s fourth album is a hazy, mid-tempo meditation on escape that gets stuck in a numbing mid-tempo mode – though there is a gorgeous moment of release

Over fidgety, impatient keys, Lala Lala – UK-born, US-based Lillie West – declares her intention to leave. “Get me out of America,” she whispers, frustrated, on opener Car Anymore. Yet West’s fourth album (and first for Sub Pop) is about stillness – or trying to fight the urge to run.

After darting between Chicago, New Mexico, Reykjavík and London, West found love in Los Angeles and started to put down roots. But Heaven 2 (produced by Jay Som’s Melina Duterte) is shrouded in uncertainty, with cloaks of reverb, and lyrics buried beneath breathy deflection. Scammer toys with the romantic tension of threatening to split town, over an austere soundscape of purring synths and crisp snare, while Anywave battles a crisis of self – “If I existed, I don’t any more” – across bleary sirens and a spinning drum machine, like a nihilist sibling to Lorde’s Melodrama.

What does the Greens’ victory in Gorton and Denton mean for the future of British politics? Our panel responds

Greens first, Reform second, Labour trailing – and the Tories losing their deposit. This felt like a rejection of the status quo

Trump says he is a savior of women’s sports. His ice hockey joke showed what he really thinks | Austin Killips

The president and his allies have never been interested in helping or elevating female athletes. His true feelings were exposed on Sunday

This past week Team USA won gold in both the women’s and men’s ice hockey at the Winter Olympics, presenting Donald Trump with a golden opportunity. Instead of seizing the easy political points, he embraced his chance to ingratiate himself with the boys by inviting them to the State of the Union address. He followed up his offer of a military jet shuttle to Washington DC with a lament that he would have to also invite the women’s team. It was a bit that lit up the locker room with laughter.

The women’s gold medal had been a prime opportunity for Trump to live up to his stated commitment to “protect opportunities for women and girls to compete in safe and fair sports”, a claim made last February when he sought to position himself as the figure saving women’s sports. Instead, he decided to make a joke at the expense of Olympic champions.

‘Putting on a brave face’: why royal fashion has never been more arresting

Could the royal family’s latest troubles usher in a new era of diplomatic dressing?

As Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was taken into police custody last week, his brother King Charles made a “surprise” appearance on the front row at the opening of London fashion week. Styled in one of his staple jaunty ties, clashing pocket handkerchief and British-made suit, it sent the message loud and clear: this was business as usual.

That message persisted when, at the Baftas at the weekend, the Prince and Princess of Wales showed a united front in coordinated burgundy velvet (“Pantone diplomacy”, as the New York Times put it). Catherine’s blush Gucci gown showed not just solidarity in hue but also, arguably, signalled her ethics in a week when the royal family’s came under fire: she’d worn the dress before, on a previous outing.

Netflix drops bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, paving way for Paramount Skydance

Streaming giant Netflix declined to match Paramount Skydance's $31 per share offer for Warner Bros. Discovery.

Tomeka Reid: Dance! Skip! Hop! review – an early contender for jazz album of the year

(Out of Your Head)
The cellist reunites with guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Jason Roebke and drummer Tomas Fujiwara for five stunning tracks that are boundary-pushing yet populist

US cellist and composer Tomeka Reid and her frequent guitar soulmate Mary Halvorson have collected so many compliments for their jazzily genre-loose innovations over the past decade and a half, that they don’t need to waste a moment proving anything to anybody. These two fearless musicians have played alongside the tough, cerebral Anthony Braxton, and Reid has been part of that great Chicago avant-jazz institution, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). But if they ever considered extending a conciliatory hand to the jazz-averse, it might sound like this entrancing and aptly named set.

This is the fourth release by Reid’s quartet featuring Halvorson, bassist Jason Roebke and drummer Tomas Fujiwara. Over five tracks and almost 50 minutes, they race and cruise through jiving swingers, fast brush-shuffles, Latin-jazzy harmonies, hip-hoppish fuzz-guitar burn-ups, and sensuous acoustic-cello reveries.

Sports quiz of the week: Olympic heroes, world champions and Norwegian stars

Have you been following the big stories in football, rugby, ice hockey, skiing, boxing, cricket and motor racing?

‘I’ve never been so frightened’: the veteran reporter who turned his lens on the empty bedrooms of school shooting victims

The director of an Oscar-nominated documentary that goes into the bedrooms of children killed in US school shootings on why it was his most daunting challenge to date – and the hard task of encouraging people to see it

Steve Hartman has been a CBS correspondent since 1996. In the US, he is known for his feelgood human interest stories. This month he has reported on the retirement of a well-loved New Jersey postman after 33 years on the job and a truck driver who has spent two decades building a balsa wood scale replica of New York City.

But since 1997, Hartman has also been reporting on school shootings, which have become a horrifyingly common feature of American life. (CNN reports that there were at least 78 in 2025, though there is no universal definition of a school shooting, which means that numbers vary depending on the source. Other reports suggest a much higher figure.)

This community festival embraces the joys of a frozen lake — while it still has one

As climate change accelerates, local experts say the date Wisconsin's Lake Mendota freezes over is getting later, making safe conditions for activities that rely on snow and ice harder to predict.

Fashion’s greatest challenges ‘inequality and AI’, say Prada designers

Speaking at Milan fashion week, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons presented a more concentrated, but relatable, show

Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, the co-designers of Prada, said backstage at Milan fashion week that fashion’s greatest challenges were inequality and artificial intelligence.

An interesting perspective, since Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire owner of Meta, and his wife, Priscilla Chan, sat next to Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada’s husband, in the front row.

Hungary’s Viktor Orbán seeking to drum up votes by doing down Ukraine

EU’s longest-serving leader hopes to retain power by telling voters the main threat to country comes from Kyiv

Paid for by its rightwing, populist government and generated using AI, the billboards – showing Volodymyr Zelenskyy and EU officials with their hands outstretched – blanket Hungary. “Our message to Brussels: We won’t pay!” the taxpayer-funded advert reads, echoing the messaging woven through spots on radio, television and social media.

It’s a nod to the election strategy that Viktor Orbán, the EU’s longest-serving leader, has unleashed as he lags in most polls before upcoming elections: convincing voters that the country’s greatest threat is not fraying social services, the rising cost of living or economic stagnation, but rather the neighbouring country of Ukraine.

Ancient by Luke Barley review – the secret history of Britain’s woodlands

A former ranger tells the story of how the UK’s forests intimately shaped – and were shaped by – its people

It may not sit well with the politicians who now seek to govern it, but Britain has always been a land of immigrants – our “native” fauna and flora among them. More than 10,000 years ago, in the wake of retreating ice sheets, trees from the warmer south began to re-colonise this chilly north-western fringe of Europe: first birch, then hazel, elm, oak and alder. By the time rising sea levels submerged the marshy lowlands connecting it to the rest of the continent, the new British mainland was covered in a luxuriant tangle of forest. In this primeval wildwood, a squirrel could leap tree-to-tree from north coast to south, east coast to west.

Or so one story goes. In Ancient, woodland expert Luke Barley sets out to tell a more complex and fascinating tale of our forests and the people that have lived with and made use of them. His title points back to the post-ice age woodland and its forerunners in sweltering or wintry deep prehistory, but it also holds a more specific meaning. Under classifications drawn up in the 1970s, a UK wood is considered “ancient” if it was already in existence by 1600 (in Scotland, by 1750), as shown on the earliest accurate maps. These are our last links to the wildwood, places where the undisturbed soil still supports a rich and intricate ecosystem that no human ingenuity can recreate.

Rising anger over ‘lop-sided’ and ‘immoral’ US health funding pacts with African countries

Zimbabwe refuses to sign agreement and Kenya faces a court case over data sharing as new aid deals come under scrutiny

A series of bilateral health agreements being negotiated between African countries and the administration of President Donald Trump have been labelled “clearly lop-sided” and “immoral” amid growing outrage at US demands, including countries being forced to share biological resources and data.

It emerged this week that Zimbabwe had halted negotiations with the US for $350m (£258m) of health funding, saying the proposals risked undermining its sovereignty and independence.

US military used laser to take down Border Protection drone, lawmakers say

The U.S. military used a laser to shoot down a Customs and Border Protection drone, members of Congress said Thursday, and the Federal Aviation Administration responded by closing more airspace near El Paso, Texas.

What to wear with a spring knit

It’s almost time to swap your chunky winter jumper for a knitted polo top. Here are three ways to style it

Benjamina Ebuehi’s recipe for coffee and walnut cookies | The sweet spot

The classic cake reimagined as a cookie

When it comes to British cakes, coffee and walnut is such a staple that if there isn’t one present at a bake sale or coffee morning, I’ll raise an eyebrow. I’ve taken the classic combination and put them in a cookie for something fun and quicker to make. Full of toasty walnuts and a hit of that very nostalgic instant coffee flavour, I finish them off with a white chocolate button as a nod to the sweet, creamy icing.

North Korea’s ‘most beloved’ child: what the key congress revealed about Kim Jong-un’s succession plans

Many observers believe North Korean leader has decided daughter Kim Ju-ae will succeed him, but others say gender politics could block her path to power

When North Korea’s ruling party held a top-level meeting this month there were predictable boasts of unstoppable nuclear development and, more unexpectedly, a suggestion by Kim Jong-un that his country and the US “could get along” – provided that Washington recognised North Korea as a legitimate nuclear power.

But for many North Korea watchers, the Workers’ party congress – held over several days just once every five years – was a rare opportunity to speculate over the identity of the country’s future leader.

Photo of Lutnick on Epstein's island removed from DOJ files now restored

A photo released last month as part of the Epstein files that showed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Epstein's island was removed from the DOJ's website before being restored Thursday night.

‘A living, moving exhibition’: Ukraine Museum opens in Berlin air-raid bunker

Exhibits pay homage to Ukrainians’ resilience and bring home the reality that war is going on in Europe

Descending into the windowless basement of a second world war air-raid bunker built for civilians in central Berlin is arguably an eerie enough evocation of what it means to endure life in a conflict.

But in a modern twist, before they have even walked into the first room of the city’s new Ukraine Museum inside the bunker, visitors are “targeted” by a Russian drone just before its operator prepares to release the lethal shot, and see themselves in the firing line on the screen of the weapon’s camera.

Vanished review – even Kaley Cuoco can’t save this desperately daft mystery caper

With poor Sam Claflin virtually banished from screen, it’s up to the Big Bang Theory star to keep this woefully formulaic show afloat – and it’s a losing battle

Buckle up, buttercups! Three hours of overstuffed nonsense split into four 45-minute bursts is about to come atcha, and fast.

Vanished stars Kaley Cuoco, who found fame in The Big Bang Theory from 2007-2019, then starred in The Flight Attendant a few years back. Cuoco played an ordinary, if functionally alcoholic, stewardess who found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time, and enmeshed in an ever-deepening mystery, then mortal peril. She found unexpected reserves of courage and resourcefulness and managed to stay half a step ahead of the bad guys until it was time for vanquishings and comeuppances all round.

Vanished is on Prime Video now.

‘Everybody wants a bestie like this guy!’ Rush on rock’s most anticipated reunion – and its greatest bromance

After drummer Neil Peart died in 2020, many thought the Canadian prog legends would never reform. As they book a mammoth global tour, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson explain how their lifelong bond drew them back together

The two men on the sofa, Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, have known each other for 60 years now. “When we first met in junior high school, we sat beside each other, and we laughed,” says Lee, the elder by a month. “He’s the funniest guy I’ve ever known, and I make him laugh, too.” Lifeson, who has been gazing at his friend happily, nods vigorously. “Yeah!” The two of them gently tease each other, and speak of each other with such happy admiration, that I feel suffused with warmth from the off. “Everybody wants to have a bestie like this guy!” Lee says at one point, beaming.

It’s only because they like each other so much that they’re in this posh London hotel suite. Lifeson came over to Europe for some health checks, and Lee decided to come with him. Once they were here, they decided they may as well talk to some journalists about Rush’s upcoming R50 reunion tour, and the decision to add 24 European and South American shows to the 58 arena dates they’d already announced for North America (they’ll play the UK in March 2027). The interviews were meant to be separate, but they decided it would be more enjoyable to speak together. Honestly, if you ever want to see a model for male friendship, spend time with Rush and feel cleansed.

If France could lead the world with Minitel in the 1980s, surely Europe can free itself from Silicon Valley’s shackles now? | Alexander Hurst

Back then, France punched above its weight when it came to tech. The EU needs it to rediscover its taste for the cutting edge

In the 1960s, France became the third country, after the US and Soviet Union, to independently place a satellite (Astérix) into orbit, and the only country to send an animal into space and – crucially, for Félicette the catstronaut – bring it back alive. A decade later, the Franco-British Concorde flicked passengers across the Atlantic in three and a half hours and the TGV began to propel them through the countryside first at 250km/h (155mph), and then 320km/h. Then, in the late 1980s, the French space agency designed a crewed spaceplane, Hermès, that corrected for the Nasa space shuttle’s vulnerability by being integrated into its launch vehicle rather than perched atop it.

A concerted buildout of nuclear power left France with one of the least carbon-intensive economies in the world. And then, of course, there was the Minitel. More than a decade before anyone was typing “www” into their web browsers, French users were able to buy train tickets, check film showings, do their banking, play games, find recipes, read their horoscopes, or even log into, yes, erotic chats – la messagerie rose, as it was known.

Pentagon official lashes out at Anthropic as talks break down

The Pentagon's top technology official told CBS News the military has offered compromises to Anthropic, amid a feud over whether its powerful AI technology will be restricted — but Anthropic called the offer inadequate.

Prosecutor defends human smuggling charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia

A federal judge is weighing whether to dismiss the criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia on the grounds the prosecution is vindictive.

Netflix CEO Sarandos visited White House right before streamer said WBD deal is off

President Donald Trump last weekend demanded that Netflix fire former Obama administration official Susan Rice from its board or else “pay the consequences.”

Vegetarians have ‘substantially lower risk’ of five types of cancer

Study shows lower risk for multiple myeloma as well as pancreatic, prostate, breast and kidney cancers

Vegetarians have a substantially lower risk of five types of cancer, a landmark study on the role of diet has revealed.

The research, using data from more than 1.8 million people who were tracked over many years, found that vegetarians had a 21% lower risk of pancreatic cancer, a 12% lower risk of prostate cancer and a 9% lower risk of breast cancer compared with meat eaters. Combined, these cancers account for around a fifth of cancer deaths in the UK.

Boy who lost Pokémon binder gets over 15,000 cards from strangers

A 7-year-old boy was heartbroken after he lost his entire binder of Pokémon cards at the Denver airport. After his dad posted about it online, a United Airlines worker spotted it and spread the word. Tony Dokoupil has the story.

Pentagon locked in standoff with Anthropic over AI guardrails

With less than 24 hours left, Anthropic and the Pentagon are locked in a standoff over access to the company's powerful artificial intelligence. Jo Ling Kent reports.

Hillary Clinton tells House panel she had "no idea" about Epstein's crimes

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in her opening statement before the House Oversight Committee that she had no knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes.

I am in my 30s, unmarried, and afraid I’ve missed my chance. How do I make peace with my fear? | Leading questions

Your life may not look the way you thought it would, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith, but whatever happens it can still be rich and fulfilling

• Read more Leading questions

I am in my early 30s, unmarried, and increasingly afraid that I may have missed my chance at the life I’ve always imagined. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted children and a loving partnership that embodies safety, warmth and a shared sense of joy in living. But lately, that future feels more like a fantasy than a possibility.

Many of my closest friends are in similar positions, yet one friend is happily married with her first child and already planning a second. Watching the tenderness and stability in her marriage is both beautiful and painful. Her husband embodies so many of the qualities I long for in a partner, and I find myself wondering whether that kind of love is something I will ever experience, or whether it simply isn’t meant for me.

FBI moving command post in Nancy Guthrie investigation, source says

The investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie is still running at full speed, a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation told CBS News.

How the Nancy Guthrie investigation is shifting

Nearly four weeks into the investigation of Nancy Guthrie's disappearance, the main crime scene is being turned back over to the family. Jonathan Vigliotti reports.

CoreWeave shares slip 8% as quarterly revenue guidance disappoints

The company's quarterly revenue forecast fell short of consensus.

On a dancefloor at 2am, I heard Jacinda Ardern’s husband say they were moving to Australia. I don’t blame them | Johanna Cosgrove

It’s no surprise that so many Kiwis are leaving New Zealand behind for a nation with much larger capacity for embarrassment: Australia

I got the news that Aotearoa’s most (internationally) famous prime minister is moving to Sydney in a way that is only possible in New Zealand. I was at the final Splore festival in Tāpapakanga at the weekend (one of our longest-running and arguably most beautiful festivals) when Clarke Gayford, Jacinda Ardern’s husband, popped up next to me on the dancefloor dressed as a giant toadstool. “Yeah, we’re moving to Sydney,” he said to a man in funereal pirate garb. “Can’t wait!”

Maybe it was the joy of a perfect tracklist at 2am, maybe it was getting this breaking news from the horse’s mouth, but I felt thrilled for our former first couple. Like Splore, NZ has the hungover malaise of a party being cancelled and the lights going out.

Johanna Cosgrove is an award-winning actor/writer/comedian. She will perform her show Sweetie at the Melbourne international comedy festival and is now in NZ filming an exciting top-secret feature film

Father of alleged gunman breaks down as video of shooting is played at his trial

The prosecution wrapped its case against Colin Gray, the father of a teen accused in a 2024 school shooting in Georgia. Skyler Henry has the latest.

Columbia student released from DHS custody after Mamdani shared concerns with Trump

A Columbia University student was detained by federal agents Thursday morning at one of its residential buildings and was later released after New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani brought up the case in a meeting with President Trump. Tom Hanson has more.

FedEx vows to pass any tariff refunds it gets from U.S. on to customers

FedEx said it will reimburse customers if the Trump administration provides refunds following a Supreme Court ruling that struck down emergency tariffs.

Details emerge about one of men killed on U.S.-registered boat off Cuba

Michael Ortega Casanova is one of four people who were killed after people aboard a U.S.-registered speedboat allegedly opened fire on Cuba's border patrol.

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani meets with President Trump to talk housing

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani traveled to Washington, D.C., Thursday to meet with President Trump.